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I've Picked a Trade Show. Now What Do I Do? |
by D.L. Mayer
Your first step is to plan your booth well. Think about your goals for the show, and plan accordingly. If your goal is to book parties or recruit and you anticipate needing a moment or two to talk to people one on one, then make sure those prospective hostesses or representatives can enter your booth and get information from you. If you are selling product and need to control inventory, then block off part of your booth for your use only.
This is a tricky issue. Some people swear by making their booths accessible and inviting people in, so they put their tables at the back or along the side edges. However, the general public can sometimes be stand-offish. They may avoid your booth because they do not want to get sucked in. (Afraid of a sales pitch and all that.) Others will put their tables across the front of their booth in order to put all their products or literature right where people can reach them. But this puts your set up between you and your potential clients making you unapproachable. And if the show is very busy, your clients will end up standing right in the traffic pattern where they can be swept away. Sometimes your best bet is to arrange your tables about halfway into the booth. This allows people the opportunity to step out of traffic to talk to you without feeling like they are walking into the lion’s den. It also makes it easier to actually carry on a conversation with all the distraction around you (think “eye of the storm”).
In many ways, your booth will be a reflection of your personality. Choose a set up you are comfortable with. The more comfortable you are, the more approachable you will be no matter what the circumstances.
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How Do I Keep My Parties From Canceling? |
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by D.L. Mayer 
The goal of almost every Party Plan consultant is to fill their calendars. After all, the best place to sell your products and book more parties is at a party. But getting those dates filled is only the first step. They only count if they hold. The best maxim for this situation is “the best defense is a good offense.” And in the case of Party Plan businesses, it’s all in the hostess coaching. Hostesses find all sorts of reasons to cancel. Some are, of course, legitimate. In those cases, she most likely will reschedule. But some just aren’t. I think the most unreasonable one I have ever received was the “I have company coming in, and I have a doctor’s appointment (lucky her to get a doctor’s appointment on a Friday night!).” It would be better to never hear the lame excuses, so how do we avoid them? Why do hostesses cancel? Let’s look at three different reasons hostesses cancel and what we can do about them.
1. She procrastinated sending out invitations.
Although she may never admit it, your hostess will usually cancel if she has not sent out invitations. It is easier to not have you show up then to only have one or two people there. This is actually one of the easier situations to avoid. Many companies train their consultants to send out invitations for their hostess. This is a great service for your hostess and a great marketing tool for you. If you don’t already, offer to send out invitations as a way to save your hostess time and money (the cost of stamps). You can accomplish several things just for the cost of stamps by doing this. First, you know the invitations were sent. Second, you can increase her party attendance. Get the hostess to make her last minute calls by telling her that you numbered five of the invitations. If she finds the people with the numbered invitations, she’ll receive a prize at the party. Third, you can follow up with all the people who didn’t attend and possibly increase your party sales or bookings. Usually only 25% to 50% of invited guests actually attend. If you don’t have the guest list, you’ve missed out on reaching half her guests.
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Are You Talking To Your Family and Friends About Your Direct Sales Business? |
by Audrey Okaneko
If you are looking to your family and friends to make the sales to build your business, you just might be looking in the wrong place.
I know I’m always saddened when I read training materials that suggest making a list of everyone you know and then trying to get them to both make a purchase and also join your team. In fact some training materials tell you that if this feels uncomfortable to you then direct sales might not be right for you.
There is a reason that you get a funny feeling in the pit of your stomach when you think about having to contact your long last relatives and friends you’ve not seen since the last big gathering. It feels funny, because it’s not the way to build a business.
My sister in law cuts hair. When she cuts my hair or my kids’ hair, she doesn’t charge us. Her business is not built off making money from those in her family. I have another friend who specializes in the graphic design field. When she helped me with a banner, she did not expect payment. Her business is built off of customers she has found through her marketing efforts. One more friend owns a restaurant. When his family comes to eat, they are not given a bill. They come and eat for free. So, why in direct sales are distributors told to build their businesses off of family and friends?
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Can Article Marketing Help Your Direct Sales Business? |
by Audrey Okaneko
One of the most frequent questions I am asked is “how can I advertise for free?” I have never supported methods such as free classifieds. Nobody reads this. If you look, thousands of folks come and post an ad and never read a thing.
I am a very strong supporter of article writing. Article writing allows you to determine exactly what keywords you are targeting and to get very targeted visitors to your site.
I would rather see someone write 3 articles per week versus placing 100 free classified ads in a week.
If you sell children’s toys or children’s books, write parenting articles. Those who read the articles are the very people who are buying toys. If you sell dietary supplements, write health and wellness articles. Again, those who read your articles are going to be people looking for the very product you offer. If you sell make up and skin care, write articles about fashion and beauty.
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How To Decide Which Direct Sales Company Is Best For You |
by Audrey Okaneko
Your head is swimming, you have been promised thousands of dollars, downlines that will be built for you, products that will change your life, an opportunity to achieve your wildest dreams. Wow and you only had asked the simple question "is starting a home based business for me?"
How do you even begin to piece together the massive amounts of information you've been given so that you can decide which opportunity is best for you?
You need to begin weeding out some of the offers you’ve found. I will tell you one of the first places to start weeding out, are those offers without contact information. If you do not have a name, a phone number and an email address, of the person offering you the opportunity, get rid of it. I can guarantee you if the person doesn't want to be known there is a reason.
Next, you can weed out those offers that promise to do the work for you. In all my years of working at home I have never found an opportunity that paid you to do nothing. Some opportunities hint at someone else doing all the work for you (we’ll fill your downline for you). Helping others is great. I help others every day of my life. I write articles that help others. I help folks learn how to spot scams. I help folks learn the skills to sell. But I don’t promise millions to anyone just for “signing up.”
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Does Everyone in Direct Sales Earn a Six Figure Income? |
by Audrey Okaneko
If we were to rely on the advertisements we see, we just might believe that everyone in direct sales is a million dollar income earner. Not only does everyone claim they are earning millions, but they also claim they do it while the kids are napping.
This just is not reality. If you understand numbers, take a look at the statistics offered by the Direct Sales Association. Their home page is dsa.org. Click on the “about direct selling” link. You’ll see their statistical information listed there.
Looking at the amount of distributors and the amount in dollars of sales you can create averages. Keeping in mind that average commissions on sales is about 30%, you quickly realize that not everyone is a millionaire in direct sales.
If you continue looking at the statistics, you do realize that 80% of all those in direct sales put in under 30 hours per week and only 15% of that is spent on developing a team. This means that the vast majority of time is spent creating sales.
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