USANA Convention Highlights – Day 4 of 4

Writing down my experiences about USANA’s 19^th annual International Convention has been a much larger task than I had anticipated. I had hoped to write about each day the morning after, but here it is three evenings after the last day and I am just now finishing up. For those of you interested in reading the entire series in chronological order, I invite you to start with Part 1 here.

Lots of people started the day with a 5K run/walk to benefit the Children’s Hunger Fund. Although I donate to CHF, I have yet to participate in their 5K. Burnout always seems to set in after three very full days, and I relish the luxury of sleeping in on Saturday morning. The four Training Stages didn’t start until 10 a.m. Here are the ones I attended:

• Utilizing Social Media – Soomin Kim (Ruby Director, 1 step above Gold) and Christa Maclellan (Gold Director) – Soomin talked about Facebook, and Christa about Twitter. Facebook currently has 650 million active users. If it were a country, it would be the third largest in the world. Brand yourself and your lifestyle through social media. Do you want to be different from most? Be positive! Soomin listed some great Facebook do’s and don’ts for promoting your business without being offensive. With Twitter, the first step Christa advised us to do was to upload a photo of our face for our avatar. Otherwise you look anonymous. The next step is to design (or have designed) a custom background. With tweets, content is king. Talk about what has your attention, not what you’re doing. Promote other people. Be interesting and interested. When promoting your business, make it useful. Balance business with personal. When you’re balanced, you can promote more effectively.
• The Benefits of Income Maximizer – Brian Bohlke (Ruby Director) – Income Maximizer is USANA’s Web-based back office to help you manage and build your business more effectively. It includes Web hosting but is so much more, and it costs only $19.95 per four-week cycle. Why everyone doesn’t already have this, I can’t imagine. I enjoy attending sessions on Income Maximizer to learn more tips and techniques for using the tool more effectively. This presentation did not disappoint. One of Brian’s first questions to the audience was, “Who here, by a show of hands, loves to see an Advanced Options button?” Mine was one of the few hands that rose. Through his presentation, however, he convinced many more people to embrace Advanced Features wherever they can be found. Income Maximizer offers the following features:
  • E Cards – Think of this as email on steroids. With one click you can email your entire downline, all of your Preferred Customers, or any targeted subset thereof.
  • Web hosting – This one feature is worth $19.95 per month. It’s easy to customize your own USANA website. Mine can be found at carl.usana.com.
  • Health & Freedom Solution – One of the ways you can present the Health & Freedom Solution is on your website. A popup window appears in front of your USANA website (see an example here), and you can walk your prospects through the products, the business, or both, as you see fit.
  • Webmail – It’s important to brand USANA when you’re writing an email. Which is more professional: carl@usana.com or fuzzybunnyslippers72@hotmail.com? USANA Webmail can help you project a more professional image.
  • DLM (Downline Management) – We’ll hear about this in the next Training Stage I attended.
• Using DLM to Build a Stronger Business – Karen Shumka (Diamond Director, 3 steps above Gold) – Karen is passionate about leadership and growth. Think of DLM as your ATM. By keeping an eye on your downline volume, you can maximize your weekly earnings. According to George Odiorne, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” The Volume Report can help you decide where to place a new Associate or Preferred Customer, and which downline to focus on in any given week. Recognition will make you more money than anything else. Simply recognize the advancers in your organization. Bill Gates avers, “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” Thomas S. Monson said, “When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.” And one final quote by Chuck Coonradt: “In the absence of clearly defined goals, we are forced to concentrate on activity and ultimately become enslaved by it.”
• Media Center: How to Utilize It in Your Business – Brett & Melanie Ethridge (Ruby Directors) – The Media Center is an ever-growing library of USANA’s video snippets, which can be embedded in websites and blogs (I’ve been known to do this from time to time), emailed to prospects, and shared in social media. However, keep in mind that technology supports but does not replace relationship building.

The afternoon’s Closing Session was inspirational and uplifting as always. The highlights for me were the following:

• Christopher Gardner – author of The Pursuit of Happyness – As difficult as the past several years have been for me (and for many of us), I can only begin to imagine the horror of becoming homeless with a one-year-old in tow. Such was Chris Gardner’s story, which was made into a great motion picture starring Will Smith and his son Jaden Christopher Syre Smith. Chris offered many pearls of wisdom in his inspiring keynote speech. “I’m going to become world-class at something.” Find your “button.” The best father sometimes has to be a good mother.
• “Living the Dream” – song and dance number – This was hilarious, inspiring, and of the caliber of a Broadway musical. I hope USANA adds a video of it in the Media Center. I’ll be sure to post it right away. It had actors portraying some of USANA’s top income earners—actors for all but Michael Callejas and Aaron Dinh, who were actually quite talented dancers and singers (or at least lip-synchers).
• Michael Callejas and Aaron Dinh – Gen Y leaders in USANA, I didn’t write down their ranks – I heard Michael Callejas speak at last year’s Convention, and I though he was the best speaker there. I am always amazed by twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings that “get it.” One of Michael’s quotes: “Timing is more important than talent.”
• Matt Chionis – he and his parents are also USANA Associates whose rank I neglected to note – His most memorable word of advice to us: “Help someone else dream again.”
• Alexander Denk – stuntman, chef, and fitness expert, according to What’s Up, USANA? – “The Denkster” is another USANA Associate whose rank I neglected to record. We were treated to a video showing him in action. One quote that stuck with me: “If you help enough people with their problems, your problems disappear.” Now read that back with an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent and you can imagine how fellow Austrian Alexander Denk speaks.

Convention is over, and soon I shall be back home despite Hurricane Irene. But my life has been forever changed by USANA, and now it’s my turn to step up to the plate. It’s time that I helped others to dream once more. The two most common complaints I hear have to do with physical health or financial health. USANA is uniquely qualified to help with both at the same time. I am honored to help spread Dr. Wentz’s vision. Won’t you join me?

I dream of a world free from pain and suffering. I dream of a world free from disease. The USANA family will be the healthiest family on earth. Share my vision. Love life and live it to its fullest in happiness and health.