Check us out! We were featured on the new health-conscious TV series “LunchNYC“.  “LunchNYC” premiered in October 2010 on NYC Life, which is a subsidiary of NYC Media, the official TV, radio and online network of NYC.

From the website:

“Throughout the 12-episode series “LunchNYC” will introduce viewers to a wide variety of health-conscious individuals, organizations, and events in New York City, and will provide information on how children and adults alike can eat and live healthily in NYC.

From urban farming to organic food carts, tips for quick stretches to which chocolate to choose, “LunchNYC” utilizes the resources of New York City to create a cross section picture of the great things happening in food and health reform in our city!”

We are honored to be have been featured and we look forward to continuing our growth in NYC, and the rest of the United States!

To watch the rest of the episode visit the NYC.gov website.

After working with HUMAN for nearly a year and a half I have learned a TON about the vending industry. I have worked within the HUMAN team playing many roles including freight and machine installation logistics, marketing, sales, customer service, and administrative work.  I have also played an integral part in putting together machine instructional manuals and videos for our partner operators.   Flying around the country with the HUMAN CEO conducting location acquisition campaigns.  Running a business takes hard work, persistence, resilience, and most importantly a positive attitude!

What else could I possibly dive into at HUMAN?  Real world, in the field, vending operations!!  Taking my skills from learning about the vending machines at our warehouse in to the field.  After operating a machine at the Shalhevet School in Los Angeles for two weeks, here is what I have learned:

- You won’t know EXACTLY what the customers at your location will like best until you have a week or two under your belt (usually takes 30-90 days for total optimization). I learned quickly that some products did not move as fast as I’d like. What did I do about it? Got those specific products out of there! I then asked the students what THEY wanted to see instead, and Boom, 2 rows of the new product were both sold out the next day!

- Be 100% clear on what you are allowed to offer! At this specific location (a Jewish School), we are offering an all Kosher product mix. We did our due diligence, found some great kosher products, only to find out that some of the drinks and snacks did not meet their standards. Because of this, the administration actually unplugged the machine TWICE on separate days so the kids would not buy anything!  I headed over to the school immediately and sat down with the administration to see how we could get on the same page…sure enough, they printed out all of the acceptable Kosher signs and the product mix is now totally dialed in.  However, I probably missed out on 30-50 vends from this mistake…that’s cash out of my pocket!!

- Give out samples!!! Don’t be cheap here…I probably gave out 50 snacks and drinks and now have a group of kids who support the program and are happy to buy product.  You should see the smile on these kids face when I am filling the machine and they ask “Can I get a bag of chips?” and “I say sure, what free drink do you want with that?” Simple things like this ‘buy 1 get one 1 free’ tactic when you’re there for 30 minutes filling the machine can pay off HUGE.

- Pre-kit your products the night before. I usually spend an hour each night putting the right products into my containers to get ready for the next day. Doing it this way allows me to head over to the school and not have to worry about scrambling to get product together during my busy work days…business hours are for high-value tasks…do this kind of stuff when you’re hanging out, watching football, or in between sets of your at-home workout!

STATS December 6th -- December 16th:

InOne Technologies (a HUMAN partner) Sales Report Summary

This is a screen shot of sales from December 6th -- December 16th. Keep in mind that the school was not open on the weekend, there was a half day of school on Friday Dec. 10th, and they unplugged the machine twice in the middle of the day (losing at least 4 hours of prime time vending). We are looking at 9 days worth of sales!  These 414 vends equates to and avg. of 46 vends per day!

STACKS:

Yes, I took a picture of my money. I like money!

This is what 10 days of vending looks like at 46 vends per day! This does not include the huge bank bag of change I have.  No, they are not all twenties, but there are a lot plus some ones ; )

Now that President Obama has made this a child nutrition law, schools across the country will start to determine how the new legislation impacts their own meal and vending programs.

Sean Kelly, CEO of HUMAN Healthy Vending, the nation’s first and only, philanthropic, completely healthy vending-machine company says the bill couldn’t have come soon enough.

“With childhood obesity skyrocketing and a shortage of healthy food options in so many schools across the country, this bill is just what school districts need to kick start healthier eating habits,” Kelly says.

School food has a major impact on the nation’s health.  More than 80% of the schools surveyed in a report by the Journal of Adolescent Health examining the impact of vending machine foods on 5,930 students at 152 schools, had vending machines selling foods with minimal nutritional value, including chips, sodas and sweets.

Supporters of the child nutrition law said it could reduce the prevalence of obesity among children, as the school lunch program feeds more than 31 million children a day in more than 101,000 public and private schools.

Ahead of the vending health curve, HUMAN manufactures and distributes digitally interactive, eco-friendly vending machines that sell 100% healthy foods and drinks such as all-natural trail mix, organic granola bars, pure fruit juice, organic milk and electrolyte-rich coconut water in their vending machines. They also provide education via 23-inch high-definition LCD screens that display nutritional information and health tips.

“Our mission is to make health foods, drinks, and information universally accessible,” Kelly says. “This bill will provide children with healthier options in schools, so they can develop new habits to lead more balanced healthy, happy lives.”

The Future’s Present

Looking back at the past, the world thirty years ago seems like a simpler time when compared to the present. The video game crash of ’83 bankrupted Atari and paved the way for Nintendo’s success. Floppy disks were literally floppy. Back to the Future became a successful pop culture icon. Children were more worried about cooties than being teased about how bulky they were.

Wait, what?

Believe it or not, childhood obesity has tripled within the past three decades with one in three children born after 2000 suffering or will suffer from health problems including, but not limited to, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and asthma. Back then, kids were more active, adults had time to make home-cooked meals and the food industry used food ingredients that didn’t sound like they were ripped from chemistry textbooks. Nowadays, youths have the internet, adults struggle with the economy, and fast food is a way of life. The quality of food has diminished, food portions have exploded to an additional 200 calories per day and the once-natural foods of the 80s have led to unnatural ingredients triggering abnormal hunger and cravings which leads, unsurprisingly, to weight gain in both youths and adults alike.

The Facts

The addition of trans fats and high fructose corn syrup in the American diet has increased our calorie intake by 31 percent, fat intake by 56 percent and sugars/sweeteners by 14 percent. The daily recommended calorie limit for teens and above is 2,000 or less, 1,200-1,600 for preteens. Since it takes 3,500 calories to equal one pound of body fat and most foods and beverages have unneeded ingredients that can wreak havoc throughout the human body, all it takes is an extra 500 calories per day to increase one’s body fat by one pound a week, 52 pounds in a year.

Don’t think 500 calories is so bad? Check the snacks and so-called “fruit drinks” that kids are given in one day. The numbers might surprise you. The high sugars and fat content keep the body from doing its job of burning those calories and instead store them as fat reserves. Even if children were highly active (meaning full-body physically active and not just thumbing a text to their friends in another class), unless they have a naturally high metabolism, they’re going to retain that body fat and it’ll keep building upon itself rapidly, causing physical, mental, and financial strain as the expenses of buying more food and larger clothing pile up.

Scared about the future of our children? Fortunately, the First Lady has had enough of the general public hiding behind the excuse of ignorance and launched the “Let’s Move” program to end the childhood obesity epidemic within a generation. The entire campaign can be summarized in five objectives:

1. Educating About Childhood Obesity

You can’t help fight against the obesity problem unless they know what it is first. Put simply, obesity is excess body fat. However, body fat can’t be measured by a simple scale because of the amount of water the human body contains at all times. One’s weight can fluctuate about two pounds over a typical day. This is why obesity is often measured by body mass index or BMI, a measuring of weight in relation to height. While an adult’s BMI is easy to measure, children and adolescents are harder to gauge because their bodies are still developing. The BMI is not to be a replacement for a physical checkup; but it is used to help to determine a person’s overall health.

The rise of childhood obesity eventually causes health problems such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes (a disease that prevents your body from breaking down the sugars necessary for your body to function), asthma (difficulty breathing) and sleep apnea (abnormal slowing or lack of breathing while sleeping). It can also cause social discrimination for children, shattering self-esteem and causing depression. This can harm their academic studies and can affect their social standings throughout adolescence.

2. Start Eating Healthy

In the battle against childhood obesity, the first line of defense starts with parents, guardians and caretakers. Although it’s easy to put all the blame on the food companies or the kids themselves, prevention of overindulgence begins with the adult’s choices on what to feed their kids. To do that, the “Let’s Move” program offers them the equipment necessary to make healthier choices and engrave healthy lifestyles into their offspring.

Provide Nutritional Information

Obviously one of the key tools needed to make any informed decisions about food, nutritional information is science-based advice for individuals over the age of two. Yes, the white labels on the back are considered advice. They can be ignored, but it’s highly recommended that they’re at least checked. Of course, the labels are just like baseball scores; they’re meaningless unless you knows how to read them. Some guidelines to remember would be:

• Servings Per Container: Any data on the label must be multiplied by this number.
• Total Fat: Saturated Fat is bad, Trans Fat is dangerous, Poly- and Monounsaturated Fats are the healthy types of fat.
• Sodium: The more there is, the more likely the body will retain fat than burn it off.
• Dietary Fiber and Protein: These are a couple of the most essential statistics; the higher the number, the less likely hunger cravings will appear.
• Sugar and Sugar Alcohol: Limit the sugar intake. They can cause hyperactivity in children and may cause energy crashes at the most inopportune times. Sugar alcohol provides fewer calories, but due to the inability to be absorbed easily by the body, they may cause bloating and gas. Consume with caution.
• Ingredients: Due to national law, the ingredient list must be ordered from most to least. Avoid high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oil and saccharin. Sucralose and neotame are known as the FDA’s “healthiest” sugar substitutes. Also, the fewer the ingredients, the more likely it’s healthier.

Food Pyramid 2.0 at mypyramid.gov

Back in the 80s, the government realized that people were becoming complacent and were completely ignorant to what exactly was considered a healthy diet. Since this was before the internet, the food pyramid was mainly seen in schools and pediatrics offices. They were shown as building blocks for a healthy diet and people tended to follow the suggestions. That is, they did until food started becoming processed cheaply and became nothing more than science experiments with foreign agents flowing through your body. Because there were those that actually believed a deep-dish pizza was considered a “well-balanced meal,” the Department of Agriculture realized that a new generation called for a new pyramid. This “Food Pyramid 2.0” not only shows that you need a well-balanced diet, it also requires physical exercise due to the decrease of physical activity over the years (i.e. a reason for the obesity and diabetes epidemic). Although the new pyramid is a great tool for those who need nutritional guidance, if you’re trying to lose weight and eat healthier, there’s another food pyramid that narrows down the food spectrum to the healthiest and most nutritional foods possible. We have partnered with the USDA’s MyPyramid program to do our part to prevent childhood obesity.

Front of Package Labeling

Because this is the “Age of Convenience,” many adults don’t want to have to grab every package of food they see just to view the nutritional label, especially if they were following the nutritional guidelines mentioned above. To help the public out, the FDA is working with retailers and manufacturers to print the important information on the front of the product to make healthy choices easier. In recent years, this has been more noticeable on cereal and snack packaging.

Eliminating Junk Food from Schools

There are several ways that schools can better nourish their students. After all, if the cafeteria food tastes and looks like generic processed science experiments, they probably aren’t healthy for the kids. But it’s not just the cafeteria that’s to blame. Between lunch periods, youths usually go for the most convenient entity that’s open 24/7: the vending machine. Most vending machines are like the slots: insert coins, press one or two buttons and hope that the prize is beneficial. The stocked brand-named junk food is most likely not healthy and can actually do more harm than good. Fortunately, technology is always improving. A healthy vending machine eliminates most of the negative aspects of the regular apparatus by being stocked with healthier products, LCD touchscreens, and card readers to compliment the coin input.

3. Getting People Active

Considering how complacent people have gotten over the years, it’s no surprise that the food pyramid was changed to include physical activity along a healthy diet. After all, children can eat all they want, but unless they have some way to burn off excess calories, controlling weight, staying healthy and developing strong bones, muscles and joints is a lost cause. That’s why the “Let’s Move” program is striving to increase opportunities for kids to be active in and out of school, and develop some lasting bonds with their families as well.

Active Families

To encourage youths to be physically active, they must be led by good example. Being in a supportive and physically active environment means the child will most likely grow up to be physically active as well. They should participate in at least an hour of physical activity per day (not necessarily all at once) and get enough sleep (9-11 hours depending on their age). A lack of sleep means less energy and a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese.

Active Schools

The 60 minutes of physical activity can mainly take place at school due to the fact that students spend most of their week there. A quality PE program combined with other physical activity breaks can help benefit a youth’s physical lifestyle. Although some school leaders may believe that a comprehensive activity program is too expensive, the “Let’s Move” initiative takes several low or no-cost actions to help encourage more physical activity in schools, such as expanding the President’s Physical Fitness Challenge and the creation of a “Safe and Healthy Schools” fund to help schools improve the quality of the learning environment inside and outside the classroom.

Active Communities

Outside of school, a child’s environment is a key factor in their development of a healthy lifestyle. Being in a safe environment to be physically active can promote good habits and a higher likelihood to encourage others to move as well. Non-profit organizations and local businesses can offer afterschool activities, walking or biking to school can help a healthy lifestyle, and outdoor activities in a well-maintained community park or playground offer opportunities for youths to be “on the go” in a free and unstructured play.

4. Helping People Take Action

Part of the “Let’s Move” initiative has numerous “5 simple step” plans that people can take to help improve a child’s lifestyle. There are different plans for parents, schools, community leaders, chefs, health care providers, mayors & local officials and the kids themselves. For example, the parent’s “5 step” plan is as follows:

Step 1. Keep Fresh Fruit in a Bowl within Your Child’s Reach to grab as a Quick Snack

Fruits and vegetables provide the nutrients necessary for the human body to function at optimum levels. If these types of foods are in easy reach, the more likely they’ll be consumed when hungry. Are the kids turned off by the look of the multi-colored food spectrum? Tell them that each color represents “stat increases.” A wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables will increase the likelihood of maintaining a healthy diet.

Step 2. Take a Walk With Your Family After Dinner

Staying active is more fun and satisfying if the whole family is involved. Kids need a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity and what better way to stay motivated than to interact with the ones they love? Set goals for the family to achieve by setting aside time for physical activity, most likely when everyone’s the least busy. If something comes up, don’t cancel it; just make it up sometime later.

Step 3. Plan a Menu for the Week. Get Children Involved in Planning and Cooking

Healthy meals don’t have to be difficult or expensive, they just take planning. Make a shopping list with your children and try new foods that have never been tried before. Getting them involved teaches them responsibility in taking care of themselves and others. When choosing healthier options, consider cutting back on sugar. Besides candies and sugary cereals, eliminate sodas and switch to reduced/non-fat milk or 100% fruit juice. Of course, you could also go with nature’s all-natural weight loss potion, water (with some fresh fruit squeezed for taste if desired). NEVER skip breakfast. This causes a higher food intake later in the day than if breakfast was consumed. Watch the portion sizes and keep them to just enough to make your child comfortable and not bloated. Remember that it takes 20 minutes for your body to receive “full” signals. Try not to inhale the food. Nothing is more important than spending quality time together as a family.

Step 4. Turn Off the TV During Meals and Share Some Family Time

For healthier, active lifestyles, this is a no-brainer. Set time limits for the television and the computer (unless they’re needed for work or homework). Being in front of a screen most of the day can lead to laziness and the likelihood of straining and degenerating your child’s eyes. The time spent in front of the screen can be used to be active instead. Also, try not to emphasize TV as a reward or punishment. This just makes it seem more important to kids. And if they really must watch TV, make sure you understand what they’re watching, especially the commercials. Teach your children that just because something looks good on TV, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good for them.

Step 5. Talk to the Principal About Organizing a School Health Team

Because of the importance of getting involved with the school environment, parents can help by supporting any USDA-approved “School Health Team/Council/Advisory Council/etc.” Talk to the principal or PTA president about an active health team and whether it’s possible to join (or organize one if there isn’t any). Use the School Health Index to help plan and assess any strengths or weaknesses in the school’s health policies. Be aware of food and beverages outside of the cafeteria’s meals, mainly the products received from vending machines. The best way is to swap the regular apparatuses with healthy vending machines that are guaranteed to be stocked with better choices than the junk food provided. Any actions taken by the school health team should be important and achievable. There should be no set goal, because improving school nutrition is an ongoing process that can always be adaptable to the changing environment.

5. Joining People Together

If you’re still reading this article, you’re probably thinking that the “Let’s Move” campaign is worth supporting, especially when it’s the future generation at stake. You’re also probably wondering what you can do to help this program succeed. There’s many ways to do this at no cost to you, absolutely free. For instance, you can join the cause by taking the Let’s Move pledge, signing up through E-mail. You can also find or organize a “Let’s Move Meetup” in your city by signing up through their Facebook, Twitter or Flickr. After all, the childhood obesity epidemic can’t be solved just by Washington alone. The Meetups give power to the people, giving the tools and information necessary to take action. With the “Partnership for a Healthier America,” regardless of social status, job or income, every person will be empowered to combat the problem at every level.

This epidemic isn’t something to be taken lightly. If no action is taken and ignorance prevails, the United States will raise a generation of children that may have a shorter lifespan than their parents. That’s a future that no one wants to experience.

This quirky video – Office Space meets The Office meets Joe Versus the Volcano all in 4 minutes – is a huge reason for starting a vending machine business.  You might not think vending machines provide the escape you’re looking for, but keep this video in mind and read to discover more reasons that it is.  (Aside: Joe Versus the Volcano is a 1990 Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks film that I watched after enjoying You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. Not on the same level. Very strange.)

1) Your Ideal Job is Out There

As a recent graduate with a degree in something I do not want to do, I have spent a lot of time lately looking for my ideal job. The elusive dream. I only have a few small requirements:

a) I want to do something meaningful. I want to work for the good of humanity and feel like my time is well spent. Forget flipping burgers or endless data entry — I want to make a difference. Life is too short to spend it on meaningless pursuits. I want to leave a legacy for future generations.

b) I want to do something profitable. I have a lot of skills. Sure, at the moment they seem to not be that marketable, but if Joe Techno down the road can get 35 dollars an hour, possessing the social prowess of an irritated donkey, I — a well-rounded, well-read, smart, social, motivated, working woman — should be able to find something that people will pay me well for.

c) I want to do something flexible. Let’s face it: there are a lot of jobs, even meaningful, profitable ones, that are soul-killing in their practice. Take being a surgeon, for example. Yes, you are saving people’s lives and making a ton of money. But that schedule!  You never see your family — if, that is, you found time somewhere between medical school and interning to start one.  Your social life revolves around the nurses’ station and patients’ paperwork. You are in surgery for hours and come out so brain-dead you might as well be the next one on the table, and you find you have 10 hours left of your shift.

No, thank you!  I want to see my family.  I want to spend time with friends.  I want a vacation once in a while.  I kind of want to travel to France.  Maybe Turkey. Is that too much to ask?  In America today, sometimes it seems like flexibility (or, what I call, “livability”) is no longer an option.  And then when you ask for all three together --meaningful, profitable, flexible — you might as well ask for the moon.

So when I found something that combined the three, I had to talk about. For all you idealists out there, don’t give up hope!  You’ll never believe what it is: vending machines.  I couldn’t believe it either, but stay tuned in. You can get into the healthy vending machine business and make our own schedule, make money, and make a difference. Vending in general is great, but if you really want to make a difference, health-food vending is the way to go in this day and age.

Why Vending?

It is very easy to start a vending business on your own. You don’t need any special degree; you just have to be a self-motivated individual, willing to learn, with a good dose of common sense. But you’ll find out exactly what you need after you get started. I’m here to ensure that you do.

2) Passive income

After you buy and stock a machine and put it in a great location, your machine is making money for you around the clock. Vending machines require very little attention, which means you can do other things with your time.  Whether you are putting in a 40-hour week, road-tripping with the girls, or getting stuff done around the house, you can be making extra money without even thinking about it. What could be better than that?  Whereas with most employment there’s a 1-to-1 trade-off, (work for pay, or, no work for no pay), passive income generates itself. It’s like an investment: Work up front and reap the benefits for a long time.

2) Flexible schedule

Here’s that livability thing I was talking about. Life happens, whether or not you are around for it.  But there are steps you can take to be around.  One such step is finding a job where you set your own schedule. Vending machines generate passive income, so that already allows you lots of able-to-be-absent time, but they also don’t have office hours. Of course, you have to work with the location, but within reason you can make your “rounds” whenever you want.  Technologically advanced machines help this process even more. With a computer and the Internet, you can remotely monitor stock levels, maintenance needs, and cash flow.  You may get to such a level of comfort that you never have to visit a machine after initial installation.

3) You’re the boss

Making your own schedule is only one benefit of being your own boss.  Think of the others.  No performance reviews.  No micromanaging or politicking.  No conforming to someone else’s vision or demands.  No making money for somebody else.  You work the way you want to achieve the result you’re looking for.  You take home the profit at the end of the day.  Of course, you’ll want to work with a vending franchise, but you aren’t working for them.  A good franchise can help you with location and item selection, machine technology and maintenance, and can offer continuing support.  I mean, you’re new and they’re professionals, so make use of their expertise.  With the Internet, learning from the pros is easy.  This clip gives you an introduction to “vending school.”

5) Healthy Vending Helps People Live Better lives

Now, as a pragmatist, vending makes sense.  But can you really feel good about it?  Before I learned about the healthy trends in the vending market, I would have said no.  Selling junk to people who don’t need it in places they can’t resist is not the way I want to make money.  That scenario is clearly less than ideal on a human level.

It's Not Halloween Everyday

Instead you can make money by providing healthy alternatives to people who need them in places that lack them.  Now doesn’t that sound better?  Downright altruistic.  And America needs some altruists working on their food. According to the Center for Disease Control, childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years.  In 2009, only Colorado and D.C. had a prevalence of obesity less than 20% of the population!  That’s outrageous!  Clearly, people don’t know how to eat the right amount of food for their bodies.  So what do food retailers do?  Make addictive, chemical-filled, calorie-chocked, highly marketed food completely devoid of nutritional value and sell it to us to make ridiculous profits.  That’s unconscionable.

You Don't Always Want or Have Time for This

You can be a part of changing that.  In fact, if you’re getting into the vending industry, you should be a part of it if you’re savvy.  Traditional vending is on its way out.  People are starting to monitor what they’re putting into their bodies, and they’re starting to want it to be something that will benefit them long-term instead of just gratify them in the moment.  Of course, if some little snack could do both, that would be even better.

Bright entrepreneurs are catching on. When bottled water sales started growing by leaps and bounds, thinkers put on their caps and thought: “Perhaps people are looking for something healthier among the sodas and Snickers bars in that machine.  What if everything in that machine were healthy?” Others, like Sean Kelly, founder of one up-and-coming vending movement, saw devout exercisers on the treadmill with a Coke at the gym and thought: “If we don’t have healthy items accessible, how can we expect anyone to get healthier?”

Kelly’s company, H.U.M.A.N., is doing the product research and technological innovation you would not know how to do and ensuring that your healthy vending machines are glitch-free.  They find what products sell – some even interview people at the location of the machine to find what kinds of snacks they prefer – and are making top-of-the-line machines with features like LCD displays, cashless payment options, and infrared vend sensors to ensure that you are making the most efficient profit you can.

So, if you missed the 5 reasons, here’s the quick recap:

1) You don’t want to be in a cubicle

2) Vending creates passive income

3) The schedule’s flexible

4) You’re your own boss

5) Healthy vending helps people live better lives

Now get started. Find a company with a conscience, and the technology to back it up, and start your dream job today.

Who knew that vending could be so interesting?

Recommended Resources

Ready to go?  Become a partner operator with H.U.M.A.N.: http://www.healthyvending.com/contactus/operators

As human beings, we have many traits that are incredibly difficult to escape.  Some of these traits are to our advantage and some are to our disadvantage.  One of these traits that’s to our advantage is the inherent desire to repay people for what they’ve done for us (even in the vending business).  Why?  We are born with a desire to maintain equal footing and be in harmony with our surroundings.  If we’re just paying out or just taking in, that can’t happen.  Repaying is a big part of life.

We Crave Balance

CLICK HERE To Buy "Influence"

If you’ve read the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.  If you haven’t read that book, do so immediately!  Not only is it a fun read, it’s dead-on and will teach you a phenomenal amount about human psychology.

Sure, some people are ok just receiving and never giving…existing in completely one-sided relationships…but that’s not most of us, and those people are never successful.  Furthermore, they’re usually miserable. Because their relationships don’t last!

That’s why the most successful vending business partnerships and the finest relationships are focused on providing value.  Because when one person provides value for the other, the other person, even if they don’t realize it, has an inherent desire or instinct to provide value for that other person.  It might not be immediately, and it may come in many different forms, but it exists, and usually will come into play.   So one party provides value to the other, then the other person repays that value with something more, and this process continues forever.  So what you have here is a spiral of constant back-and-forth value-building and great stuff. It’s amazing! This is what awesome relationships are built on.

You may be thinking “hmmm why don’t I experience these massive value spirals?”

Don’t Think About Yourself

We Still Follow Our Instinct

The answer is because you’re likely not thinking completely selflessly and wondering what you can do to provide value for another person or party.   Instead, you’re thinking about yourself. This is also an inherent natural trait of being human.  We’re survivalists! So we’re trained to think of ourselves and our families first. But if we’re able to go against the grain on this, and first think of others, we’re actually helping ourselves out more than if we just focused on ourselves from the beginning.  Weird, huh?

Does this mean that providing value is in itself selfish?  Well, that’s kind of like saying Mother Theresa was selfish because all that made her feel good and all that she loved to do was help people who were poor and sick.  She received great reward for doing her work, but I don’t think that makes her selfish.  It just makes her smart.

So be selfish, smart or whatever you want to call it.  Just provide value and you’ll be amazed at the massive value that comes back at you.

So, what are the 3 Tips for Putting Yourself in a Massive Value-Creating Mindset?

1. Keep A Notebook By Your Bed

In the morning, upon rising, write down how you’re going to provide value that day. Be specific. Who are you providing value for & how are you going to do it? Aim for at least 3 achievements of value-providing each day. At the end of the day write down your achievements and grade yourself. Go to bed thinking about the value you’re going to provide the next day. Sound silly? It works! Few things are more important in regards to success than planning, planning, and more planning.

2. Pick One Person in Your Life as Your Value-magnet

For this person, you’re going to expect nothing in return.  All you’re going to do is try to selflessly help them.   It doesn’t matter what you do as long as it’s helpful. Send them hand-written letters, refer them to potential friends or clients, buy them lunch/dinner/drinks, and expect nothing in return.

Give a Gift When Someone is Not Expecting

Do this as a test and over a period of 3 months record what happens. What comes back to you because of this? Note: Do NOT use a value-sucker as your value-magnet, because they’re worthless.  Instead, use someone you like…a business contact, a family member, a friend that you’d like to get to know better.  You’ll be amazed by the effects of this test on your life!

3. Continually Reinforce Value-providing Mindset

Do not go a single morning without listening to an audio piece, reading from a book, or watching a video that motivates you to be the most valuable person you can be. Let’s be honest.  We all can wake-up on the wrong side of the bed, and we cannot be at the top of our game all the time.   We’re weak, survival-focusing creatures.  The only way we can become strong, change habits, and live a different, more fulfilled life is by changing our habits or instincts.  This cannot be done naturally! No way…I don’t care how strong you are – it’s impossible.  The strongest and most successful people are those who realize their weaknesses and to guard against them by creating a framework and system through which they’re forced to operate.  Know that you’re weak but desire to be strong.  Use whatever you can to motivate yourself and make a habit of it.


Best in health,

Sean & Andy

Founders, HUMAN Healthy Vending

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How To Sell Your Value

You have decided to start your own business.

You are taking your first steps towards financial freedom, flexibility, and personal fulfillment.

You want to become a value-provider to everyone you come in contact with.

Studying Didn't Teach You How To Sell

So even though you are confident in your product and yourself, why does it feel strange?  Why does it feel like you don’t know what the next step is?  In order to provide value for others, you need to sell your product. So, why does it still feel strange trying to “sell” to others?

If it feels strange, weird, unfamiliar, etc. it’s because we don’t learn how to “sell” in school.  In school, unlike the real world, there isn’t much incentive to “sell” your work.  Instead, we are told as we progress through the education system to follow formulas for success.  “Make sure your assignment looks like this”, or “Take these classes and you will become this”.  These skills are great to learn if you plan on being a tenured University professor, but the reality is very few of us will become professors.

The majority of us will take a job in some sort of business, working 9-5 or 8-6, trying to sell a product for someone else.  A small minority of us will start our own business, and hire people to work 9-5 or 8-6 to sell our product.  I underlined sell in the last two sentences because it is the key word in business.

Whether you like it or not, every company and every person in the world is trying to sell something.  Whether you are selling cars, snuggies, self-help, or charity – everyone is selling something.  There is just one problem.

We are never taught how to sell!

Some like to think of the ability to sell as something innate, and that certain people are born with uncanny abilities to sell.  “Oh, he is great salesman, always has been”, they will say.  I am here to tell you this not the truth.  Nobody has always been a good salesperson, that’s impossible.

There are no “natural” salespeople; there are only people who have acquired an understanding of sales, and embraced it at an earlier age.

This Man Knows How To Sell!

You may ask, how can I become good at sales?

First, you must realize that sales is not a skill, it is a process.

And not only that, you must understand that every sales process is always exactly the same.

Think about every purchase you have ever made.  Why did you make these purchases?  What compelled you to buy these products?  Was there something unique and special about each product you have ever bought?

Maybe, but probably not.  More than likely you bought these products for a combination of three reasons:

Reason #1: You Loved the Product or Idea. Or at Least You Really Liked It, and It Met One of Your Needs

The first step to selling any product is to have something that someone loves (or at the very least really likes).  If you have something that people love instantly you are one step ahead of the game.  If you are selling puppies, most of your work is done for you because everyone likes puppies.  If you are selling vitamins or tofu, on the other hand, you are going to have to give people a reason to love your product.

Reason #2: You Liked the Person Selling to You and Knew They Cared

Have you found that it is easier to sell to your Grandparents, than it is it to sell to perfect strangers?  That is because they know you, they love you, and they trust you.  When you approach a stranger you would like to do business with, they must first decide if they like you, and whether or not they trust you.  Both of these elements are equally valued. They may like you or your salesperson immediately, but if they don’t know if they can trust you, chances are you won’t be doing business together.

This Is The SECRET To Success!

Reason #3: You Trusted the Company and Knew They Would be With You for the Long Haul

Why do corporations like Apple and Nordstrom spend millions of dollars building customer service networks to assist you if their product breaks, or to exchange their product if you don’t like it any more?  Because they understand people buy from companies that are honest, and companies that will stand by them in the long run.  Apple sells millions of iPods, iPads, and computers, and they realize that people continue to buy these expensive products because they know if they have any trouble with the product, it will be fixed quickly and easily.

More or less, these are the three reasons why you buy products.  No matter what the product is, if you have the money AND believe all three of these elements to be true with all your heart, you will buy the product.

This is the secret to sales!  Before you can unlock your value-providing potential, you need to understand these simple elements, and figure out how to convey each of them to your customers.

Unlocking these three elements is the key to the success of master salespeople around the world.  That is why I said earlier, “There are no “natural” salespeople; there are only people who have acquired an understanding of sales, and embraced it at an earlier age.”

If you realize that every sales process is always defined by these three elements, and you focus all your sales efforts on improving  your customer’s feeling towards each element, you will never struggle for success or to provide value to others.  And if you have been following along, you know that providing value IS success.

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Healthy Vending “Operator of the Month”

Tina and Eric Woodall

This marks the first-ever Operator of The Month section of the Crush It Report.  Every month from now on we will feature operators who embody the values and hard-work we encourage at HUMAN.  Tina and Eric have 16 machines in North Carolina and have been working tremendously hard to get their business optimized. It is starting to pay off as they are learning valuable lessons while on their way to becoming healthy vending veteran operators!

Tina and Eric

1. What was the main driving factor and motivation behind you deciding to launch your own HUMAN healthy vending machine business?

We were actively looking for business opportunities that were in the health and nutrition business.  We feel strongly about helping find everyday solutions to help fight obesity, the number one preventable health crisis in this country.

The h.u.m.a.n. business model fit our secondary goals of owning a business that can be scaled into a larger business that can eventually be run passively if we choose.

2. What do you like the BEST about being a HUMAN Operator?

The snacks and drinks!  But seriously we’ve never enjoyed going to our garage so much.

The great thing about being a HUMAN operator is that we immediately started generating cash.  Even though our daily number of vends fell short of our initial estimates at some locations, our deposits were more than our weekly expenses.  Also, the more we learn and operate the business the more opportunities we see to earn more in the future.

3. What is the best piece of advice you can give to operators who are just starting out, and/or future HUMAN Operators?

If you are considering it, just do it.  There won’t be a better time to get into the market.  In my area, there is another healthy vending operator who got his business filed at almost the exact same time as me and is starting to put out some press releases.  Getting to market first to obtain a proven track record will make getting the best locations easier as healthy vending becomes more mainstream.

Secondly, evaluate how you plan on running the business and be realistic as to how it will impact your home and personal life, and possibly your career if you are starting part-time.

The first month is A LOT of work.  Unless you’ve owned or worked in a vending business before, every task you have to do is brand new.  Take the time to do it right and you’ll improve and become more efficient every day.

Also, create an organized and somewhat enjoyable place to store your product.  Spend time reading labels and sampling items that sell and those that don’t.  You start seeing the product in a different way when you combine that with knowledge of what locations sell what.

4. What are the top 3 best-selling healthy snacks & drinks at your machines? What are your personal favorites?

The best selling drinks are basic spring waters, Vitamin Water and Vitamin Water Zero.  The more popular specialized drinks would be Muscle Milk and Speed Stack.

The Pop Chips, Pirate’s Booty and Back to Nature Chocolate Chip Cookies sell well everywhere.

Personal favorites:  Kombucha, Honest Tea, and Verve

5. What does it mean to you to “Crush It” and how do you exemplify “Crushing It” in your every day life.

Well, I don’t think we’re crushing it yet, but we’re super excited about the potential of this business and unlimited opportunities!  Every day we look at the challenges ahead like eating an elephant, one bite at a time and you’ll finish it.

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Send Tips, Comments, Suggestions, or Jokes to crushitreport@healthyvending.com

The internal PC computer keeps your machine on the cutting edge by seamlessly integrating the latest software updates with the machine’s remote monitoring system, and credit card reader. Them Media Mogul’s Eco-friendly design uses 50% less energy than standard vending machines, and it’s strategically-placed infrared sensors refuse to allow misvends and vending errors.

The increased versatility allowed by the conveyor belt dispensing technology, and the larger capacity allows you to stock 40% more of our over 5,000 options.

Because Health and Nutrition Shouldn't Just Be An "Inside" Thing

Refrigerated, ruggedized snack & beverage combination machine designed for the outdoors. This machine has increased capacity, high-security and reliable service.

Give and You Shall Receive

Last week I talked about the importance of Providing Value.  At HUMAN we voraciously believe nothing is more important than this in life…nothing!   In fact, “crushing it” is really just about being a massive value provider.  They’re one and the same.

Who are some examples of value-providers?

Great question.  Everyone knows value-providers because either they or their product is fantastic, and they’re in the public eye.  However, that doesn’t mean that in order to be a massive value-provider you have to be famous!  It’s quite the contrary.

iPAD and iPhone!

Apple

This is an example with which everyone is familiar.   Rarely will you find someone who buys a product from Apple – many times for a good chunk of money – that says it wasn’t worth the money.  Sure, people might complain about the horrible service of the iPhone, but that’s more of an AT&T problem, not an Apple problem.   In fact, people feel that the iPhone provides so much value, that they buy the product in droves despite the terrible service.

That says something about Apple.

They provide products that people are more than happy to pay good money for because in the end the customer feels they get more from the product then they put in (or in this case spend).  I certainly can’t say the same for AT&T though…they’re a value-sucker!  Or am I just a sucker for having an iPhone? Anyway….

My Cleaning Lady

None of you know her.  But she is phenomenal.  She always shows-up to my house happy, is a joy to be around, and equally as important, does a phenomenal job cleaning my place.  In a world of rip-offs, underachievers, and semi or complete scams, this is refreshing.  She takes pride in her work and kicks butt every single time.   She “crushes it” when it comes to cleaning.   I pay her between $80 to $100 each time she cleans and would gladly pay more.   She gives me more value than it costs me to get that value.   She’s just as much, possibly more so, of a value-provider in my life as Apple.

Mentor Bob

I have many mentors in my life (I think few things are more important than mentors when it comes to creating an ideal “crushing it” atmosphere around yourself).   One of these mentors is a guy named Bob.  Beyond being a blast to speak with and being one of the most hilarious guys I know (thus providing value by making me laugh and feel good every time I talk with him), he’s reliable and truly looks out for my best interest.  Sure, as a result of this I’ll always think of him first if something comes up that could help him (i.e. client referrals), but that’s not why he helps me.

He’s simply a guy who is used to giving all the value he can and because of it leads a very fulfilled life.

The Pen is Smart!

LiveScribe

If you don’t know this company check it out.  They have the coolest $150 pens in the world that most people would gladly pay 5-10x for once you see how cool and helpful they can be. Total value-provider. www.LiveScribe.com

As human beings, we have many traits that are incredibly difficult to escape.

Some of these traits are to our advantage and some are to our disadvantage. One of these traits that’s to our advantage is the inherent desire to repay people for what they’ve done for us.

Why do we feel this way…? And why does providing value work?

Check back next week for the answer to these questions, as well as tips for putting yourself in a value-producing mindset.  Have an amazing rest of the week!

Best in health,

Sean & Andy,

Founders, HUMAN Healthy Vending

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Green Hands!

Get Caught GREEN Handed!

Everybody is going to win. And that means YOU.

THAT IS IF you get caught GREEN HANDED!

This week marks our first ever Green Hand Giveaway!

Yesss…But what does that mean?

It means that once a month from now on, we will be giving away some awesome swag to our readers.

And all YOU have to do send  a picture of you, your friend, or you and your friends, with Green Hands.

It doesn’t matter how you do it, whether your hands are covered in paint, marker, frosting, gloves, guacamole, Alien blood,…etc.

The most creative, best entry will win. (P.S. Alien blood will definitely win).

Awesome Stuff

But what do we win?

We have partnered with our friends at HARD Nutrition to give you exclusive access to the Newest, All-Natural Nutritional Drinks on the market…FOR ABSOLUTELY FREE.  Think Vitamin Water with actual vitamins and enzymes.

The Functional Water System is designed for anyone who wants to “crush it” at the next level, whether it is in the gym with WIN, at work with WIDE AWAKE, or in the evening after a long day with FIX IT.

First Prize: Wins the COMPLETE Functional Water System from HARD Nutrition PLUS an awesome cooler that you can take with you to the beach, or the ski-slopes (worth over $60!) or a HUMAN T-shirt.

Boom Boom All-Natural Energizing Inhaler

Second Prize: Wins either the Complete System or a HUMAN T-shirt (depending on what first place chooses).

All entries will win a free Boom Boom Energy Inhaler to help you crush it.

Boom Boom is an awesome all-natural energy booster that can help you get your focus back during long days, drives, or late-nights.

Alright, I want this stuff!  How do I enter?

It is very easy, all we need is three things from you:

Send pictures of you and your friends with GREEN HANDS, along with your full name and mailing address to:

crushitreport@healthyvending.com

DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 23rd, 2010

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How To Turn Your “Dud” Vending Location

In To A “Stud” Location: Part 4

This is your last week, of “Dud” to “Stud”!  If you follow this plan, your vending machines will be cranking.  Please let us know if any of you have followed this program, we want to hear results!

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Send Tips, Comments, Suggestions, or Jokes to crushitreport@healthyvending.com

The Starting Point of All Achievement: BURNING DESIRE

Ah yes…

Can you smell it?

You know, the smell of BURNING DESIRE?

Burning desire is the quintessential, required ingredient every successful entrepreneur MUST have before anything else.

It’s the “thing” that gets you out of bed in the morning, excited to start your day, and fully prepared to “Crush It.” And you know we’re all about “Crushing It” here at HUMAN Healthy Vending

Members of HUMAN Healthy Vending have a burning desire to end obesity...and take goofy pictures on forklifts

So, what is BURNING DESIRE and how do you get it?

Well, Napoleon Hill, maker of millionaires, confidante of presidents, and author of the book Think & Grow Rich, says that a burning desire is the first step toward riches.

Having a burning desire is choosing a definite goal and placing all your energy, willpower, and effort into achieving that goal. Every person who wins in any undertaking in life must be willing to burn his or her ships and cut all sources of retreat. That is the only way you can be sure of maintaining the state of mind known as a burning desire to win. It is essential to success.

Since Napoleon Hill interviewed THOUSANDS of leaders, successful businesspeople, and head’s of state, and since he spent over 20 years of his life compiling the results of these interviews and boiling them down to 16 laws of success, we at HUMAN tend to listen to what he has to say.

At HUMAN Healthy Vending, our BURNING DESIRE is to conquer obesity and obesity-related illnesses (which cost the US healthcare system an extra $147 BILLION per year) by providing fresh healthy vending options for everyone. What gets us jumping out of bed every morning is the burning desire to help 1,000 people get started with their own healthy vending business and to positively affect the eating habits of 100 million people worldwide. Yes, it’s a lofty goal, but one that is completely attainable. And having a burning desire is step #1 in accomplishing our goal.

These kids have a “burning desire” to eat some tasty, healthy snacks!

So, what’s your burning desire? What are you passionate about? What goal will have you jumping out of bed every morning, ready to conquer the day?

Do some introspection and think about it!

If you’re passionate about health and fitness, or helping fight the massive obesity epidemic, or simply being an entrepreneur and running your own business, channel that passion into your well-defined BURNING DESIRE.

Then take action.

…and who knows, maybe becoming a HUMAN Healthy Vending Partner is the right vehicle to manifest this burning desire into your lofty, yet attainable goal.

Talk to you next week!

Sean & Andy

Founders, HUMAN Healthy Vending

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Crush It Quote of the Week:

“If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you.  If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you.  Whatever good things we build end up building us.”

~Jim Rohn

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Why this quote is important

Very few things that have ever been said, ring truer than this quote. Your goals will take you where you want to go, and your plans will show you how to get there. Jim Rohn is remembered as an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, but what many people don’t know is that at age 25, he had dropped out of college and was making $57 a week as a stock clerk for Sears.  It wasn’t until he attended a lecture by entrepreneur John Earl Shoaff, that he decided to change his life.  John Earl Shoaff challenged Jim to set the goal of making one million dollars.   In just six years, he made his first million dollars (this was in the early 60′s, when being a millionaire was still almost unheard of).  If anyone knows about the power of setting goals and crushing them to fruition, it is Jim Rohn. Does this quote sound familiar?  It should, because versions of this quote have been around since ancient Greece. Maybe this one will ring a bell.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” ~Aristotle

Part one of a video where Jim shows you how to “Have Your Best Year Ever” -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don’t Let Your Competition Eat You Alive:

Become an Internet Marketing All-Star Today

CLICK HERE

If you’re in business today and do not know how to effectively market online, your competition will eat you alive.  Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually it’s going to happen. The field of Internet Marketing isn’t black magic. It’s not stuff that only your 16 year old engineering whiz kid can learn.   It’s simply the way business -- especially entrepreneurial business -- is done today. Start your path to making money online and growing your business massively by attending this 100% free internet marketing webinar, which will feature HUMAN Co-Founders Andy Mackensen & Sean Kelly.   The event is LIVE and only offered once, and like I mentioned above, it’s FREE. So get after it!

To Sign-Up for this Free Live Webinar CLICK HERE.

Infuzy, the company behind this live internet marketing webinar knows how to CRUSH IT online big time.  We know -- HUMAN’s learned a lot from these guys.

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Entrepreneurship Tip of the Week

Following our theme of goal setting, watch this quick video and do your homework. Write down your goals and pick just one of them to crush. Brian Tracy knows success and sales better than just about anyone, so take notes!

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Mind Bending Video of the Week

Sales is everything in business, and all sales are driven by marketing.  Marketing is designed to convince consumers that a product is valuable enough for purchase, but what is value?  Take a second to think about this question.  In Lessons From an Ad Man, Rory Sutherland makes the assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value.   His speech is fascinating, pointed, and clever.  Think about how you can use Rory’s ideas to change your mindset and take your business to the next level.

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How To Turn Your “Dud” Vending Location

In To A “Stud” Location: Part 2

We want your machines to be sucking down healthy snacks, and coughing up dollar bills! Get your notebooks out and write this stuff down, because you can use these tips, and should use these tips, right now. In this Crush It Report we will cover weeks 2 to 4 of the Optimization Guide regarding “How to Turn a Dud Location into a Stud Location.”  And FYI, this applies to more than just vending!  Here we will be focusing on optimizing your product mix, and planning your first promotional event. Yeah baby! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tips, Comments, Suggestions, or Jokes send them to crushitreport@healthyvending.com