Books!

 

So, after much consideration and hemming and hawing, I decided to enter into a new business venture!  Meet the newest member of the Usborne Books and More sales consultant team!  I'm super excited about this, and I hope you all don't mind that I'm using my Dashiell blog to express this excitement.  

For a while now I've been trying to think of ways to bring in a little extra cash flow into my life, and many, many months ago I thought, "I could always try being a sales consultant for one of those companies that does home-based sales, like Pampered Chef or something".  But I couldn't think of anything I'd want to sell that badly.  Maybe jewelry, but that seemed like a big upfront cost commitment, plus I felt a little guilty thinking about asking my friends and family to host a party for things they might not really need (you know you always end up buying something you don't need at a Pampered Chef party, admit it!).  Then a few months ago I was invited to an Usborne Books party.  Usborne sells high-quality books for children of all ages - many parents are familiar with the "That's not my..." series (That's not my Monster, That's not my Monkey, and many more).  The majority of their books are non-fiction educational books, and I have to say they're really nice.  We bought Dashiell the "Flip Flap Airport" book before our last trip to Minnesota, and he seriously spent about an hour of the flight looking through it over and over again - there are tons of flaps to lift and things to pull and turn.  It's consistently been one of his favorite books, and he still busts it out at least twice a day to read. 

  

 

 Dashiell enjoying his Flip Flap Airports book

Anyway, once I realized that Usborne was an option, I started giving it some thought.  Then stopped thinking about it for a couple of months until I decided to host my own party.  Then I got more information about becoming a consultant, and thought about it some more, asked a bunch of questions, and finally decided to go for it!  The upfront costs are fairly minimal, and I'd be selling BOOKS.  Books!  Who doesn't want books for the kids in their life?  They won't sit unused in a drawer for years, and while it's likely they'll be gifted to someone, it's unlikely they'll be re-gifted!  Plus Usborne consultants can sell to libraries, schools, book fairs, wherever.  It's not just home sales.  In fact I have a web site!  The address is kind of obscure (http://www.myubam.com/L3173) which is why I've linked it a few times.  At some point I'll get a new domain name, but that's a future venture.  FYI, there are Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals happening, so definitely check out the site then!

So anyway, that's what's new around here!  This will be my "on the side" job - I still work part time in an architecture firm and most likely will stay there for a while.  My life is going to get busier, but I like busy!  Plus, I finally finished painting both of the bathrooms and need something new to do! :)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!