💰 Empower Your Child's Future

Today in 5 minutes or less you'll learn:

• 3 reasons why you should teach your kids selling skills

• 3 practical ways to teach them selling skills

• How much hay is required to feed bison?

• What is colloidal silver and it’s potential benefits?

Whether we like it or not selling is an integral part of life. Think about it… no matter your profession or life experiences you regularly have to “sell”. In fact, Dan Pink in his book To Sell is Human, indicates that more than 40% of our professional time is spent selling.

Want a job? You’re going to have to be able to sell yourself. Want to join a special group at school or work? You’ll have to sell why you belong and are a good fit. Want to start a business? You’re definitely going to be selling. Want to jump into politics? This one goes unsaid. The list goes on and on.

However, most people think of only needing sales skills if you’re in a sales position at work. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Every day you’re selling something. Want to get married? Work on those sales skills 😃 💍.

In spite of sales skills being such a core component to ones “success” in life, it will not be taught effectively to our children in school nor its importance.

In fact here’s a quote from a Harvard Business Review article noting that most universities should teach sales but don’t.

Having earned an MBA myself, I can attest that this is true based on my experience. That’s why it’s up to us as parents to create the environment and opportunity for our children to practice and learn the basic principles of sales.

Selling can be uncomfortable and it’s why many in society express that they don’t like it. However, the earlier we get our children comfortable with being uncomfortable the better off and more capable they will be as adults.

In fact, here are three reasons you should consider teaching your children sales skills.

1. Improved Communication: One of the most important benefits of teaching your kids selling skills is that it can improve their communication skills. When children learn how to sell, they learn how to communicate effectively with others, how to listen to their needs, and how to present their ideas in a clear and persuasive way. These skills can be useful not only in sales situations but also in their personal and professional lives.

2. Financial Literacy: Another benefit of teaching your kids selling skills is that it can help them develop financial literacy. Selling involves understanding the value of products or services and learning how to negotiate prices and terms. By learning these skills, children can develop a better understanding of how money works and how to make smart financial decisions.

3. Confidence and Resilience: Finally, teaching your kids selling skills can help them develop confidence and resilience. Selling requires a certain amount of courage and determination, and children who learn these skills will be better equipped to handle rejection and failure. This can help them develop a growth mindset and a willingness to keep trying even in the face of obstacles or setbacks. Ultimately, these skills can help children become more resilient and successful in all areas of their lives.

Now that we’ve determined sales skills are a crucial and a valuable life skill, the next step is identifying practical ways as parents we can teach this to our kids. Here are three practical ideas to teach your kids selling skills:

1. Role-Playing: One effective way to teach kids selling skills is through role-playing. You can set up a mock sales situation with your child and take turns playing the customer and the salesperson. This will give your child the opportunity to practice their communication and negotiation skills in a safe and controlled environment.

2. Practice with Real Products: To teach your kids selling skills, give them an opportunity to practice with real products. Start by brainstorming a list of items your child could sell such as baked goods, crafts, lemonade, or handmade jewelry. Then, help them create a sales pitch and teach them how to approach potential customers. Take them to a local farmers' market, craft fair, or community event where they can set up a booth and sell their products. This will give them hands-on experience in sales and help them develop their communication and negotiation skills.

   

3. Sell Items Online: You can also teach your kids selling skills by helping them sell items online. This can be done through platforms such as eBay, Etsy, or Amazon. Encourage your child to choose items they no longer use or need, and help them create a listing with clear descriptions and photos. This will teach them about online marketing, pricing, and customer service. It will also give them the satisfaction of earning money from their sales.

A recent personal example is that our family created flyers for our children’s book releasing this summer with Harper Collins- Bryson the Brave Bison. While at the grocery store or playground with the kids we give them several flyers to hand out to other families.

We practice with them a very simple sentence or two and in a controlled environment help them hand the flyers out to other families. It’s really fun watching them gain confidence after a few times of doing it, and eventually ask for more flyers to hand out!

Most people respond kindly and with a smile, but every once in awhile they come across a grumpy person who is having a bad day. This makes for a great discussion afterwards.

Be brave and go sell. Happy selling!

Around Memorial weekend the farmer who has been haying the future bison pasture land for years will be completing his first cut. This will work out perfect as we’ll be able to purchase the hay directly from him and store it under the lean-to in the picture.

In order to calculate how much hay we will need over the winter some math is involved ➕. Bison will eat approximately 3% of their body weight in food per day. That can actually dip to 2% during the winter, but we’ll lean towards the higher side. If we multiply the animal live weight x 3% that is the total nutritional consumption. Let’s assume each animal weighs an average of 800 lbs.

800 lbs x 3% = 24 lbs of hay per day. A herd of 6 bison would be 144 lbs of hay per day.

Next we multiply that by how many days they’ll be on exclusively hay. To be on the safe side here in Ohio we can assume November 1st to May 1st which is equal to 180 days.

144lbs x 180 days = 25,920 total lbs.

Each round bale weighs approximately 800 lbs.

25,920 lbs / 800 lbs = 32.5 bales.

And there’s our answer! Therefore, we requested 33 bales of hay from the farmer to have more than an adequate supply our first winter season for 6 bison!

Who knew you would have to do so much math farming?! 🤪 

Next up the bison fencing is scheduled to be installed mid-June by a local Amish crew! Stay tuned!

Colloidal silver is an an alternative option to help support our immune system as well as our kids. If you’ve never researched the potential benefits of silver, check out this short informational video here.

I’m not a medical profession nor do I claim to be, but here are a few of the potential benefits shared by proponents…

• Heal wounds

• Improve skin disorders

• Prevent or treat diseases like flu, herpes, eye infections, cancer.

While more research is needed to identify the real medical potential of silver nanoparticles or colloidal silver, take the time to do your own research and determine if it is an option for you and your family.

If you’re an academic and want to dig in more here’s an article from a naturopathic doctor sharing a review of some of the research that has been completed.

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