Get Organized! Solution #17: Gather the Miscellaneous

You know all the little (and not so little) stuff that seems to collect near your arm chair or near the dining room table?  You know how much it bugs you?  Well, Longaberger has an attractive and very functional solution to those problems.  Their Sort and Store Small Rectangle Storage Basket (available in four stain colors) can hold a collection of items that you can hide from view with a beautiful woodcraft lid or leave open for easy access.  Put one on the bottom shelf of an end table or next to your bed or arm chair and you can quickly and easily "tidy up" by putting everything in the basket and topping it off with the lid!  Save yourself from going crazy and invest in some  beautiful organizational baskets--they're cheaper than a shrink!

Get Organized! Solution #21: The Medium Market Basket

The Medium Market Basket was Founder Dave Longaberger's favorite basket and he fashioned the company's home office after its design.

This basket can serve multiple purposes when you also have a plastic liner or two and look beautiful while its doing it:

1. Put one in your car to corral all the "stuff" that seems to accumulate there.
2. Remove the liner with the "stuff" and carry the basket into the market when you are picking up just a few items.  How green is that!
3. Keep one near the front door or kitchen to store the unopened mail that usually accumulates on the dining room table.  Sort & open the mail when time allows.
4. Put one in a place that you like to keep neat and use it as a cache for stray items around the house.  With a woodcraft lid you can keep things covered until you can carry the basket around the house and put things where they belong!
5. Put a lidded Market Basket in the kitchen to store accumulating newspapers until you can recycle them.  It looks just beautiful.  Imagine how that will make you feel!

My First Longaberger Open House: Inviting My First Guest

After my experience with the red mug, I was eager to share my discovery of Longaberger with my friends and neighbors. I was a little apprehensive, however, knowing how I sometimes react to people who are trying to sell me something. I decided to include my "Shiny Red Mug" story in the invitations I created and delivered the first one in person to a friend I had not seen in a few weeks.

Sue and her husband, Mike, were both at home when I stopped by and they invited me in to visit. After catching up a bit, I told them I had recently started my own home-based business and that I had come over to deliver an invitation to my first Longaberger Open House. Much to my surprise they both exclaimed, "Longaberger! We love Longaberger!" Sue told me that many years ago she had purchased several Longaberger baskets from a quilting friend who was no longer in business. I had been to their home many times and had never seen the baskets, so I asked if she would show them to me. Sue took me to her office, which had recently been relocated to a downstairs bedroom. There she had a Longaberger waste basket and a storage basket for her papers which the cat had absconded for a bed. We then went to the kitchen where she showed me a basket they used for mail and bills that was hanging on the wall.

Needless to say I was thrilled. Not only did they love the Longaberger baskets, Sue was interested in seeing the Woven Traditions pottery which had not been available when she purchased her baskets. Like me, she was tired of her odd collection of mugs and was wanting to find some new ones that would go with her other dishes. Suddenly, I didn't feel like I was trying to sell something anymore, I felt like I was offering a service to someone who loved this product, and that felt good. I just had to find other people like Sue and Mike, who already loved Longaberger, or people like me, who were looking for Longaberger and didn't even know it.

Guess What Honey! .... My Longaberger Kit Arrives

I decided to become an Independent Longaberger Home Consultant without discussing the idea with anyone--including my husband. This was partly because I was so excited to get started and mostly because I know how he is about spending money and adapting to anything new. Nevertheless, I wanted to tell him about my decision before my Business Kit showed up on the doorstep.

A couple of days before the shipment was due to arrive, I casually mentioned my plans to him while we were fixing dinner. As expected, he was taken aback. "Why did you do that? How much did it cost?!" I explained to him that it was a product that I really liked and that I would be saving money on it by being a home consultant. In addition I would earn a 25% commission on any sales that I made.

Unconvinced, he remained unsettled. He couldn't see me selling anything. Of course, he never has seen me sell anything. I told him that I wanted to do this so that I could meet other women and do something besides sit behind a computer all day. My plans were to earn back all the money I had spent on the business kit.

When the kit finally arrived I was so excited. I unpacked everything and it looked like Christmas in the living room. When my husband arrived home from work, I immediately showed him the Medium Market basket. Much to my surprise he carefully looked it over; inside and out, and upside-down. I could tell he was impressed. "This is really well-made," he commented. He has always enjoyed working with wood and really appreciated the quality workmanship evident in the Longaberger baskets.

The next evening I used the new products to serve dinner. I could tell that my husband appreciated their appearance and usefulness. He no longer had any doubts about my purchase. Now to show him that I was actually serious about being a home consultant as well.