Girl Scout Cookie Sales Go High Tech

It's that time of year again with the sale of Girl Scout cookies. My daughter always sets up shop in front of our local supermarket. This is a fun activity for her because she loves to sell the cookies ever year. She gets to spend some time with her friends and I like it because she is developing her social skills.


This year the normal door to door sale of cookies is being updated to use the web. The Girl Scouts have announced they would allow the use of online activities to market their cookies, but actually taking of money and delivering of the product would still happen in person. With this announcement, the Girl Scouts inched toward the inevitable and reinforced what probably has been happening already. However, they put very strict guidelines in place.


The Guidelines are:

• Scouts or their parents should not send emails to parental membership or place of employment lists.
• Scouts or their parents should not set up online ordering or payment on private Web pages.
• No taking of orders from customers outside of the council’s zip code.The new activities allowed are sending emails or texts to friends, families and former customers to solicit sales or notify the arrival of the product. Also using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to market to friends under parent supervision. These activities have already been used but are now officially sanctioned.

I don't allow my daughter to go door to door anyway. We usually just visit the family and friends who really want to buy the cookies. Also setting up shop in front of the supermarket is about as much as we allow her to do.


I am proud of my little Girl Scout cookies seller because she is learning there is no better way to build “business courage” than to talk to someone you do not know and ask for the sale. Interpersonal skills are still best developed in real life and not just over the Web. This is an important skill that all young people need to increasingly learn.

While electronic and social media methods are a very effective means of marketing, we should still teach all young people (Girl Scouts included) the art of the sale. Nothing can replace a prospective buyer standing at their front door being asked by a uniformed Girl Scout if they would like to buy some cookies to help their council. Learning how to hear “no” in business is more important than just hearing “yes” from those people that actually buy.


This year, the Girl Scout Cookies advertising campaign states that every cookie “has a mission.” Important lessons from face-to-face selling are critical to the development of every future business leader. I'm glad my daughter is learning these skills.

Related articles

• Girl Scout Cookies - On Sale Next Week (manolith.com)
• Greener Girl Scout Cookies (doyourpart.com)
• Obama's Labor Dept: If You Let Girl Scouts Sell Cookies, You HAVE to Let Unions Come in Too (chicagonow.com)
• Girl Scout Cookies in Eco-Friendly Packaging, but only in Texas (Video) (thegreengirls.com)
• Starbucks Selling Girl Scout Cookies (pamil-visions.net)
• Obama Labor Department vs Girl Scouts! (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)

The Honey Do Weekend Roundup

Image by autan via Flickr
Another great weekend coming up and there is plenty to do around the house. The grass needs cutting and the bushes need trimming. If it doesn't rain I can get a lot of work done. In my spare time I'll be ready some great posts that came in this week. Here we go.


The Biz Of Life asks Are You Saving Enough for Retirement?

Consumerism Commentary has Life After Salary: One Month Without a Paycheck

My Money Blog  writes No Time To Budget? Track Your Expenses In 15 Minutes

Man vs. Debt adventure begins How to Drive Like A Grandma, Dominate Charades, Lose a Wedding Ring, Get 7 Miles Per Gallon, and Bet $15,000…

Bargaineering writes Are Certificates of Deposit Obsolete?

Five Cent Nickel  tells us Personal Finance Books are Keeping You Poor

Free By 50 writes Rewards Cards Impact on Spending & Debt

DINKS Finance wants you to know Our Financial Personalities

Clever Dude wants to Keep an eye out for these changes to your Form 1040

20 Something Finance writes Billy Walters: The Most Feared Sports Better in History Tells 60 Minutes why he Avoids Wall Street

Money Under 30 says 30 Years, 30 Things I’ve Learned About Money

Financial Highway writes Money and Ignorance

Invest it Wisely Falling Prey to Temptation: Self Control in an Age of Excess

Here's some nice carnivals I was lucky enough to participate in. The quality of these good stories was great this week, as usual.

Carnivals I have participated in.

Carnival of Wealth #21 – Jan 16 2011 Edition

Carnival of Money Stories 89 Happy Birthday Dr. King Edition

Totally Money Blog Carnival #2

Festival of Frugality – Spend It Edition

Also Mentioned on:

DINKS Finance

Enjoy your weekend. I'm going to go and click on some links.

Related articles

• 50 Articles About Understanding the Risks of Transferring Credit Card Balances (balancetransfercreditcards.org)

Rewards For Good Grades: Right or Wrong

It's getting to be that time of year for report cards to come out. Do you ever use money or rewards for good grades? Is it an effective way to encourage a good report card. On the flip side do you punish when grades are not where they should be?


When I was young, my mother would reward me with quarters and dollar bills depending what grade I received on my report card. It was a wonderful reward but really didn't encourage me to do better in school. A fear of punishment was a greater motivator.


It seems parents try to use any kind of motivator to get their kids to do well in school. Even the public school system in some states use a cash reward or gift reward to encourage the students to improve their grades.


Many say we are harming our children by teaching them to do things just for money. To give them money is just wrong and sends the wrong message.


Using money as an incentive can be appropriate if you give small amounts under the right circumstances. For example, rewarding your kids after the fact for behaving well at the supermarket instead of promising them money ahead of time if they don't throw a tantrum. This is not the proper use of the money reward function. Those kids just need a good spanking to encourage proper behavior. The reward comes only from work, not behavior.


Rewarding our kids with money is teaching them the work structure they soon will grow up to be in. That working at your job, producing a service or product for a boss is what you are compensated for. Work for compensation is what we all do everyday. The payment for grades, if done right, will instill in them the equation of Work=Money.


The proper execution of rewards for grades are important. Only top grades are rewarded. Money, if substantial, must be saved for later needs. If the reward money is small then they can spend it on their needs.


The message we are trying to send is that work produces reward. No work or poor work results in zip or punishment. The reward is not a bribe, it's an incentive.


What do you do if junior just refuses to work. We all have one in the house that's like this. Hopefully it's not for long while you adjust behavior with punishment. You have to find a way to promote good actions with a positive reward.


This reward for good grades has been a tool for encouraging hard work for many years. Only when it's used in an extreme way does it get a bad reputation. In moderation it works.

Related articles

• What Would Motivate Our Kids? (coopcatalyst.wordpress.com)
• Report Card Time (wflcenter.wordpress.com)
• Okla. Schools Reward Good Grades With Cell Phones & Minutes (huffingtonpost.com)
• How Should Parents Handle a Bad Report Card? (learning.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Financial reward undermines intrinsic incentives. (mindblog.dericbownds.net)

My Financial Planner Makes House Calls

No, not really. But I wish it was true. To be able to have someone who you could go to whenever you needed some financial advice. That would be fantastic.

I came close once when I met a young man just starting his career over at Ameriprise Financial. He talked me into coming down to his office for help with planning my financial future. I did go and he helped me get organized and made me a nice financial plan.

It's interesting how relationships and your money are the most personal parts of your life. A stranger has to know your needs and plans for your future to help you form a game plan for your financial security.  They need to know all about your plans for your children and wife. They need to see your investments and know how much money you have. If you own your home and all about your debts.

Why do they have to be so nosey in your business? The answer is that they want to give you the best possible financial plan for your life. They want to show you what your doing wrong and also what your doing right. 

This getting to know you meeting lays the basic foundation of your financial plan. I was asked many questions like how much I save and where I save it. He wanted to see my tax returns to see my income and deductions were correctly done. I needed to show my insurance policies and asked if I had a will. All these things were necessary to share if I wanted a complete blueprint for success. 

When we go it alone it's possible to miss something or we just don't have the expertise in the field. when I received my plan it was complete in every way. It covered investments, insurance, cash flow planning, and debt payoff plans. It was complete and I was quite satisfied. It was 3 years ago yet I still refer to it today.

I highly recommend you see a financial planner for a money checkup. They will give you their professional opinion of what you have with any recommendations for improvement. I suggest you chose a planner that has expertise in the details of your life. Whether it's divorce, young families, or elderly. 

The way a financial planner is compensated is payment by the hour, flat-rate, or percentage of assets. I went with the flat-rate because it was right for me. I'll never regret seeing a financial planner because they put me on track and are working hard to keep me there.

If your looking for a financial planner in your area check out the National Association of Personal Financial Planners at www.napfa.org.

Related articles

• Building a Financial Foundation to Help Weather Life's Storms (quizzle.com)
• Financial Planners Are Key to Retirement Success, Regardless of Age (prnewswire.com)
• Financial planners say now's the time to budget for Christmas ()
• Investing at 60 and Beyond: Pacing Yourself for a Secure Retirement (dailyfinance.com)