Former Beverly Hills 90210 star Ian Ziering recently addressed the Fairfield County chapter of Over40Females, a networking group for entrepreneurs. The women turned out in force to hear Ziering speak and to learn about social media marketing from Crystal Girgenti.
Over40Females' members have endeavors ranging from Weston-based ballroom dancing lessons to Greenwich-based network distribution business, Xoçai healthy chocolate.
of Norwalk, who markets an online style advice service called turnupyourstyle.com explained why she joined Over40Females. "The group is supportive of each other's work. And it's a lot of fun."
of Fairfield echoed Lew's sentiments. DelAngelo, a "Ruby Executive" with NuSkin said, "Since I have three children, I not only love that I work from home, but also love having a network of women to brainstorm with."
Entrepreneurial Zeal
Ziering, who flies east from California once a month to promote the anti-aging skin care products of Nu Skin, confessed to being 48-years-old, though he looks much younger.
Sharing his enthusiasm for Nu Skin, which he and event hostess Laura Felton both promote, Ziering said, "I can work smart for a lifestyle, knowing that I'm building my own business. Employees don't create wealth. Business owners do. This is my business. This is a business that I can sell, or will to my kids. This is a business that's going to continue to pay me even when I retire."
Hosting the luncheon and guest speakers at her Westport home, Felton, who has promoted Nu Skin products for more than 20 years, earned her first million dollars before turning 26. Describing her success as "all organic," she explained that between positive word-of-mouth and the fact that "people love the product," she was able to stop working at the age of 30 to raise children, yet continue to collect an income based on Nu Skin's business model of "leveraged income."
The Social Strategist
Fairfield County chapter director and Weston resident , arranged for guest speaker Crystal Girgenti, "The Social Strategist," to share her social media marketing expertise.
"It's not enough to just open up a social media account and let it just sit there," warned Girgenti. She advised refreshing sites frequently with content, cautioning that otherwise social media can do more harm than good. She explained that an entrepreneur must exude passion, both in person and in words. "If you try to sell a product, and you're not selling you, then you're going to lose."
The Online and Offline Trick
If there was a theme shared by all three speakers it was the importance of passion. "Be yourself," said Girgenti. "If you swear, swear. If you have tattoos, don't hide them. Be who you are. Follow up your in-person connection with an online conversation."
Felton's success lent credibility to Girgenti's advice. "I had a gift, and that was that I was not afraid of failure," said Felton. Describing early days promoting her Nu Skin business on the streets of Manhattan, she recalled, "I would walk up to complete strangers – always the best looking businessmen – and ask, 'I happen to be starting a business and are you open minded to hear about it?' Then I'd follow up later and say, 'I'm the crazy girl who met you on the street..."
Felton encouraged the room full of entrepreneurs. "If you don't ask, then you'll never know."
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For infomation on Over40Females and events go to Over40females.com. For local chapter events, go to FairfieldCtChapter.over40females.com. The group's next local event will be April 24. For information, contact Christine Oleynick at Over40femalesct@gmail.com
For NuSkin business opportunites or productso to cfo.nsopportunity.com
