Outrageous Deductions

You Could Have Taken if You Only Had a Home Business

Sure, there are the obvious: a portion of your mortgage or rent payment, the phone, the utilities, the gas and vehicle expenses, the computer, the office supplies, even the bank charges you grumble about.

Had you just spent the measly $39.95 to establish your own Watkins business during 2010 (plus your local tax – all deductible), you also could have written off the full amount you paid to “Watkinize ” your own home, the costs associated with establishing your own web site, any expenses in advertising, any samples you gave to prospective customers, even any Watkins “gifts” you gave to friends and family that had your business label on it. And the cost to print that label, of course! Other than owning your own home, tax advisors tell their clients that establishing a home business – any business – is the second most beneficial way to increase the size your tax refund. Imagine, getting tax breaks just by being your own boss!

Tax write-offs are wonderful things. Some people – like the managers of the Big Bear Country Store – look upon them as “gifts” to ourselves for all the time spent building our business during the past year. If you are looking for a home business, why not go with a proven winner. Entrepreneur Magazine named Watkins one of the top 10 home-based businesses in America. As we like to mention to individuals contemplating joining our team, “A company that has been in business for more than 140 years must be doing something right.”

So this week, as you struggle to find ways to reduce your tax obligation to Uncle Sam, we suggest you strongly consider clicking on the button below that will save you hundreds of George Washingtons when tax time rolls around next year.

Did you hear the one about a door-to-door salesman who sold a meat tenderizer to a vegetarian?

This is no joke. Bill Porter did just that. He was a Watkins door-to-door salesman with cerebral palsy, who was so persistent – and motivated – that he overcame his adversity to become one of the company’s most effective associates. His story even inspired an award-winning TNT movie starring William Macy, Helen Mirren and Kara Sedgwick.  It’s called Door to Door and available through Block Buster. A book followed written by Porter’s one-time assistant Shelly Brady titled “Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter” that became a New York Times bestseller.

The film and book tell of Porter’s reluctance to give up his direct sales approach and begin using a new contraption called a computer. It was his age, his expanding customer route and growth of the Internet rather than his disability that led Bill to develop his own Watkins web site. Yes, he’s still at it today.

There are now thousands of associates across North America spreading the word about an exceptional product line that has propelled Watkins to become one of the leading names in quality today.  From a handful of products Porter was able to offer his customers in the mid-50s, there are now more than 350 various spices, all-natural body and cleaning products, as well as pain liniments and lotions being sold coast-to-coast and throughout Canada.

Many folks in and around Winona, Minnesota – home of the company’s headquarters and production plant – still enjoy regular visits from their door-to-door Watkins salesperson. Winona is that kind of quiet, neighborly small town where citizens still feel safe opening their front door when the door bell rings.

So it is in Big Bear, California, where a young couple are following in Bill Porter’s footsteps, going door-to-door in this mountain community to peddle the Watkins product line. Brian Campbell and DJ Wilson don’t have to overcome a disability. But they have other obstacles that challenge anyone beginning a home-based business today. Topping the list is the economy in resort communities like Big Bear that rely heavily on folks with enough disposable income to buy a vacation cabin, or rent one for a summer vacation by the lake, or just a winter weekend on the ski slopes.  

But that hasn’t stopped Brian and DJ, who are willing to knock on doors, make cold calls and hit up family and friends to place an order with them.

“Sure, it’s tough,” says Brian, who has difficultly getting his sales pitch out before he hears “No, thank you” and the door closes in his face. “But that didn’t stop Bill and it won’t stop us either.”

He just turned in their first list of orders totaling more than $150. The next goal is becoming “Gold Associates” before the year is out. Yes, Brian and DJ believe in the quality of the Watkins product line, and know that once a person tries Watkins vanilla, cinnamon or pain liniment, they will buy it again and try other products. Bill Porter would be proud; his door-to-door spirit is alive and well in Big Bear.        

March is No More Excuses Month!

Bill Porter

Scary isn't it? One look at the calendar and you'll realize a quarter of 2011 is nearly gone! What happened to all those great New Year's Resolutions you had some 100 days ago? Have you forgotten them, or just decided to wait until December to start up a new list?

Come on, people!  We never would have won our Independence if our forefathers had kept saying, "Maybe next year would be a better year to revolt against Britain." Watkins would never have become a leader in direct marketing if Associates like Bill Porter had given up after a series of doors were slammed in his face.

Okay. Admit it. When you saw that image of Bill Porter with this message you thought we were referring to Bill when we started this posting with the words, "Scary, isn't it?" Actually, many people had that same reaction when they opened their front door and saw Bill standing there with his Watkins briefcase. They felt that a man with cerebral palsy had no business in door-to-door sales. Little did they realize that Bill would go on to be recognized as Watkins "Salesperson of the Year."  Or be an inspiration to another generation of men and women who believed they could build their own business despite a disability, a difficult economy or being laid off from a previous position. If you have not seen the award-winning film about Bill Porter called "Door-to-Door" starring William Macy, Helen Mirren and Kyra Sedgwick, rent is now through www.Blockbuster.com.  You'll be inspired just like we were. 

Both Alan and I are disabled, though with different disabilities. We were both laid off by our previous employers. Today, we are among a handful of Watkins managers who make up the 2011 Watkins All Star Team, with nearly 50 members of our own Big Bear Country Store associate team. And this is only our third year with Watkins!  But I digress. This blog is about you, and about your unfulfilled resolutions and dreams for a better future. I'm reminded about an anonymous prayer I read somewhere that went, "Dear God, my prayer for the coming year is a fat bank account and a thin body.  Please don't mix these up like you did last year.''

We certainly believe in the power of prayer, but God doesn't make mistakes. We humans manage to do quite well on our own in that department. March is the month to get back on track. The kids are settled into school so we can't use that as an excuse. The worst weather is behind us so we can't use that as an excuse. Summer vacations are months away so we can't use that as an excuse.


Spring is here and it's time to get going on your own Watkins business. Quit trying to reinvent the wheel. Remember, the quickest way the start building sales is to throw a Grand Opening party for your new business, or a First Anniversary celebration, because you were so flooded with orders last year you didn't have time to host a party when you first became a Watkins Associate. (Okay, a little fib, but we all know how people love being associated with a winner). Invite your best friends, neighbors and nearby relatives to the party - people that will want to see you succeed (even further)!

Follow up with those who could not come by taking by another copy of the Watkins catalog you mailed them with your party invitation. 
If they tell you there were products they really wanted to order, but didn't have anything left over after paying bills last month, you have the perfect answer for them. Tell them they can get those products FOR FREE just by hosting a Watkins Good Tastings party or a Watkins All Natural Spring Cleaning party in their own home. And you will do all the work!

Or we'll do all the work! If you happen to live in Big Bear, Palm Springs, Victorville or anywhere in between, Alan and I will even drive to your home and bring along our Watkins traveling dog-and-pony show. You can't even use the excuse you don't have any samples or know enough about the products to put on a presentation.  Everything is packed in our Watkins wagon and ready to roll. Already have a date in mind?  Call us at 888-881-7372.  See, you don't even have to use up any of your cell phone minutes!

Help Wanted

Could you sell an ice cube to an Eskimo?  Are you part of a couple who has been looking for a home based business to work together?  Then we want you whether you are a single person looking for work or a couple looking for a career change. 

Watkins is an incredible company to work for.  It's a family owned business that has been around since 1868!  Our products are top quality and those who know our products will immediately claim its superiority over store bought brands?  Those unfamiliar with the brand will become an instant fans.

We have an limited number of spaces available, as we can only work with so many people at once.  There is a minimal investment to start.  Your initial fee is $39.95 + tax.  Then you can choose any one, or all, of the three Upgrade Packages that are priced $69.95 + tax for our beginners' kit, $129.00 for a  $200.00 Gift Certificate, or our Watkinize Your Home Kit for $349.00 + tax.  This WYH kit has the extra feature of a free website setup ($64.95 Value) plus three months of free webhosting ($59.85 Value); after which there is a $19.95 per month webhosting fee.  It also has a $100 bonus feature.

We offer a free $20 Gift Certificate for just signing up.   If you purchase the Watkinize Your Home Kit we will add an additional $20 Gift Certificate.

You can read a lot more about the features our organization by going to http://bigbearcountrystore.com and click on "Join Us" then click on "As an Associate".  There is a whole page that clearly spells out the Watkins Opportunity.

We would love working with you as we are proud Managers our own Watkin Team... the Big Bear Country Store Power Team.

Or call us at 888-881-7372.

Willard? Can I throw a

Watkins Good Tasting Party?

A what?

A Watkins Good Tasting Party!

You remember that nice Watkins man Pete Donahue who would come

by every month with his Watkins wagon?

Yup.

Well, he died. But not before teaching his grandson Charlie about Watkins.

What’s that got to do with you throwing a party?

Charlie told me I could earn my own money without having to sell eggs at the Farmer’s Market by inviting neighbors to a Watkins party and launching my own Watkins business!

Pete would roll over in his grave! I thought he passed his Watkins territory over to his grandson?

Watkins doesn’t have territories. Charlie doesn’t even go door-to-door. He learned to build his Watkins business from some fellows out in California, who run the Big Bear Country Store.

Why did Charlie go to California when he’s too lazy to go door-to-door? During the war, wives kept the home fires burning and bills paid by selling Watkins. You need to focus on farm chores, not these wild ideas about your own Watkins business.

Wake up and smell the Watkins Vanilla coffee brewing, Willard! Charlie learned a new way to market Watkins from the Big Bear Country Store managers without leaving home. He met them though the Internet, which is how they sell Watkins throughout the country! Charlie was impressed with Alan and David because they became Watkins managers in only nine months, built a team of 40 some Associates, then celebrated for a week in Hawaii while Watkins picked up the tab!

Just because some fast-talkin’ Californians have Pete’s grandson thinking he can give up the farm and become rich by selling Watkins, I hope you don’t think the grass is greener outside our own 10 acres of farmland.

I can make enough money from my Watkins Good Tasting party to become a Watkins Associate, buy my own computer and start selling the Watkins fall holiday product line!

 

Web-hosting? Pete operated a pretty good business out of that wagon. I’m calling the kids. Their mother is showing the first signs of Alzheimer’s.

I’ve already called Betty Sue and Johnny. They’re ready to teach me how to use a computer! They’re even talking about becoming Watkins Associates. You should be thrilled you’re part of a growing, self-sufficient Watkins family.

I may become a Watkins Associate myself, or else a Watkins widower! But don’t make me learn how to use those computer contraptions. I’ll start at the barbershop and show you how pitching Watkins can be just as simple as pitching … well, hay!

Sounds like you’re sold on Watkins, Willard.

Yup.

You too can party your way to a successful, home-based business this holiday season, just by introducing your friends and neighbors to the wonderful world of Watkins.

Give the managers of the Big Bear Country Store a toll-free call at

888-881-7372

They can fill you in on how easy it is to host a party. Or check out their web site at

BigBearCountryStore.com

to see how they managed to become the

#6 Top Watkins Consultants in North America

in their first year with the company!



"Expect to get dinged here and there as you pursue your goal, but like wine that gets better with age, you get better when you have failed a time or two and learned from the experience."



Boy, can I identify with this quote by Gary Ryan Blair that recently popped up in my e-mails from Motivation in a Minute. Yes, I do feel like a good wine that has become better with age. I recall early in my career not applying for positions because I couldn’t handle the rejection if I wasn’t called in for an interview!

Well, it took many years and many friends telling me “You were made for this job” before I actually applied and was selected for some pretty good positions. When the current recession rolled around and my employer “downsized” its most senior staff to reduce payroll costs, those self doubts surfaced again. Who was going to hire a guy in his mid-50s when cash-strapped companies had candidates half my age willing to work at half the salary I was earning?

That was when Alan, who was let go from his position after whistle-blowing on his employer for false accounting practices, asked me to join him in starting a home-based Watkins business. I was skeptical at first. Who would be interested in buying spices, liniments, body care and cleaning products from us when companies with million-dollar ad campaigns were pushing similar products on prime-time television? Unlike Alan, who grew up in the mid-West with parents who used many Watkins products, I was raised in a small Arizona town, where there were no Watkins distributors going door-to-door.

“So Watkins is like Tupperware, Amway and Mary Kay?” I asked Alan, recalling three companies I knew that sold products through local representatives ringing door bells. I couldn’t believe Alan expected me to have doors slammed in my face by people more concerned with keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table than spicing up their dinners.

That’s when I saw the salesman side of Alan come out. “If you can show people a better product for less money than the one they now use every day, they will buy it, particularly if it’s only $10 to $15. Besides, Watkins’ best product is its business opportunity.”

To make a long story short (or to keep it from getting too much longer), I bought into this “business opportunity” and am so glad I did. Sure, I felt those old feelings of rejection at first when people would walk by our Watkins booth and not even stop to taste FREE FOOD samples! And then there was the first person I called who inquired about the Watkins business opportunity and never answered my follow-up voicemail messages after I mailed her a full information packet.

These are the little dings that Gary Ryan Blair was referring to that we all encounter on the way toward our goals. I certainly have learned from these experiences by increasing my knowledge about the product line, and improving the manner in which I approach a person with the Watkins business opportunity.



It has been a very good first year of our Watkins business. We were named the sixth most successful new Associates in the entire company (2009)! As we are about to begin the 2010 holiday season – the busiest time of the year for all of us who wear the Watkins label – we would like to pause briefly for a glass of wine to celebrate our own Watkins success. Care to join us? You too can share in the good harvest by calling us toll-free at 888-881-7372. Let us explain how this is the perfect time to launch your own Watkins business.



David Gurzenski
Co-manager of the Big Bear Country Store

Dip into Summer !

Roll out those lazy, hazy days of summer, those days of pretzel, soda and . . . DIPS!

That’s right, dips! Summer certainly arrived in style over Memorial Day weekend at Big Bear Lake! Hundreds of visitors flocked to this mountain resort community for the holiday weekend, which marks the official launch of summer in Big Bear. They came from such desert hot spots as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Palm Springs, where temperatures are already in the 90-to-110-degree range, to enjoy our ideal 65-to-70-degree weather in Big Bear.

A big event in Big Bear every summer holiday weekend is the Peddler’s Market at the Elk’s Lodge. We were there with our Big Bear Country Store blue-and-white striped tent, peddling our Watkins wares to everyone who strolled by, enjoying the ideal weather and soft breezes off the lake. The tent is well known to locals who come by to see us every Tuesday morning at the weekly Big Bear Farmer’s Market. Visitors may not recognize the tent, but many of them are attracted to our Watkins banner, having grown up with the label in their parent’s kitchen cupboards or medicine cabinet.

The biggest hit as temperatures rise and everyone is thinking pool and patio parties are the wide variety of Watkins dips we invite everyone to taste when they stop at our booth. By far the most popular is the Blazin’ Cajun. It seems regular customers can’t get enough of the New Orleans taste that certainly lives up to its name.

Yet in vast contrast to this spicy concoction is the Mandarin Orange dip that has a way of cooling down the taste buds. Perfect for summer, many first-time tasters say it reminds them of the 50-50 bars they enjoyed as kids – part vanilla ice cream and part orange sherbet. While most of the dips we recommend be mixed with sour cream, Mandarin Orange tastes great with plain non-fat yogurt and is perfect for fruit salads. Imagine a bowl of orange slices, strawberries and blueberries blended together in the rich, cool Watkins dip mix! Yummy!

About that mixture. After following the label and adding three tablespoons of the Watkins dip powder to an eight-ounce cup of sour cream or yogurt, most customers (ourselves included) found it to be much too strong. Now, all samples are mixed with just one heaping tablespoon of the dip powder; the consensus is that we have found the perfect balance. You will get eight-to-ten one-cup servings of the dip out of every jar, depending on the coarseness of the dip granules. That works out to about a dollar a serving, which is much more economical than those individual packets you find in the store.

So feel free to provide a variety of these delicious dips to your family and friends the next time you invite them over for a dip in the pool or a tasty outdoor summer barbeque. One more thought. Many of the dips, such as the Garlic and Dill, make great rubs for grilled meats and fish!

We welcome you to visit http://www.bigbearcountrystore.com/ to order one or more of the 13 delicious dip varieties. You also will be able to view the entire Watkins catalog, as well the specials being offered this month.

If you are in the area, we hope you can stop by the Big Bear Farmer’s Market on Tuesday between 8:30 am and 1 pm where we have at least four of these dips to sample, plus other products to sample as well. To get there, just follow this MapQuest link that will take you to the corner of Big Bear Boulevard and Division Drive in Big Bear Lake.

In addition to meeting one or both of the Big Bear Country Store managers, you can meet Peggy Sue, the store’s lovable pooch. (She’s much cuter than us!) She also gets very jealous if we give any attention to other four-legged creatures. So before she pouts about featuring another dog on this blog, here’s her picture.