For some direct sales consultants January and February can be very slow months. Your customers may be anticipating an upcoming tax bill, or perhaps they’re still recovering from holiday overspending. Or perhaps your marketing efforts took a back seat in December and the results are catching up with you now. Whatever the reason for it, Laurie Ayers has some great tips to help you out of a rut.

7 Steps to Get Out of the Direct Sales Rut

by Laurie Ayers

Business not flowing as well as you would like? Did you have a great holiday rush and now your direct sales business appears to have come to a screeching halt? Here are seven steps you can take to get out of the rut.

1. Direct mailings with your company catalog. Pick a market or two, such as assisted living facilities; nail salons or real estate agencies to name a few. Mail no more than ten catalogs to each market; there’s no sense waiting catalogs and postage without testing the waters first. Be sure to include a sample and/or special offer. Increase chances of having your catalog opened and read by placing a relevant sticker on the front. Highlight what’s in it for them if they open it.
2. Develop a Valentines Day marketing campaign and get it out to the masses NOW. February 14th will be here before you know it. Men will be particularly grateful for gift giving made simple. Think where you can find a group of men – barber shops, auto sales, auto repair, gyms, pro-shops, etc.
3. Create a special offer for Groundhogs Day, February 2. There’s one people don’t see everyday.
4. Call all of your customers, leave voice mail if necessary and merely say, ‘I’m putting in an order and wondered if you were ready for more …”
5. Hire a business coach or join a Mastermind group. Find the right one and your investment will pay off ten-fold.
6. Commit to asking for referrals from three people each day. Not covert dropping of cards and catalogs but actually speaking to strangers. Go into the gas station to pay, instead of using pay at the pump. Hand the cashier a catalog and a sample and say, “If you know of anyone who likes (candles, jewelry, makeup, etc.) could you please pass this along?”
7. Hold an open house. Who cares if you’ve been in the business two years or nine months or anywhere in between? Call it a mid-winter shindig. Pick a theme – Superbowl, Chocolate Martini, After Holidays Rest and Relaxation or Chick Flick Movie Night.

Sometimes there’s no secret to getting out of a rut other than to go back to basics. Remember when you first started your business. You were excited; you were pumped and you definitely were not in a rut. Shake it up a bit; think outside of the bowl. Remember if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve been getting!

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan. She started her first home business in 1988. As a single parent, Laurie has supported her family by working at home as an Independent Consultant and Star Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping others start a candle business. You can find Laurie at http://www.thrivingcandlebusiness.com/ and http://www.Scentsy.com/LA

Nicole Dean just released two videos from some of the material we covered in a recent interview about how direct sellers can use private label rights articles.

In this first video Nicole talks about how PLR can be used to help direct sales consultants earn customer loyalty.

• EasyPLR.com – a variety of topics including packs specifically about direct sales. (I have purchased several article packs at EasyPLR and have been extremely happy with the quality.)
• YummyPLR.com – all about food, cooking, and recipes.

Have you purchased articles from these resources? If so, leave a comment and let us know how you used them. And please feel free to ask any questions you have about using PLR. Nicole and I will be happy to answer.

Affiliate link (Why tell?)

There are more ways than ever to connect with family and friends electronically, but Ivette Muller knows that we all still enjoy and appreciate the thoughtfulness of receiving and sending printed greeting cards through the mail. She’s so sure of it, that last year she signed on as an Independent Distributor for SendOutCards.

According to Ivette, “the SendOutCards system has over 13,000 greeting cards for all occasions – cards that are ordered online and personalized and sent for less than the price of store-bought cards. SendOutCards prints and mails the cards. Customization options include the PicturePlus service which allows customers to upload any JPEG file to create a card, the option to add your own handwriting, the ability to include a gift along with the card, and a contact manager that reminds you of birthdays and special occasions.”

When I asked Ivette what attracted her to the SendOutCards business opportunity she replied, “The system is easy to use, the cards are high quality and low cost, and the income opportunity is unlimited. Distributors earn a commission on all sales in their downline regardless of how deep it is (most companies limit commissions to 6 or 7 levels).”

When asked about customer support, Ivette explained that “both she and the company provide exemplary customer service. Customers can call me or the company to get help with using the system, and there are videos online for them to watch to learn how to use any part of the system.”

Distributors who join her team are offered “great resources to learn how to build a business and learn what you need to do to increase income and self-promote. Basically if someone wants to build a business, we are here to help them succeed in any way we can.”

To purchase a card or to contact Ivette to start your own greeting card business, visit her website at http://www.remembergreetingcards.com/ivette

Do you like to keep everything in its place and in order? Do you enjoy helping friends arrange and organize their homes? Did you develop the filing system and organize all the paperwork at your job? If so, the perfect career for you may be as a professional organizer.

A professional organizer does just what it sounds like they do; they help people get their lives, offices, and/or homes in order. If you watch reality TV, you’ve probably already seen shows that highlight the work of organizers. They come into a house or office, clean out the clutter, install organizational equipment and teach the owner how to stay organized.

There are a few skills that are key to being a successful organizer:

• Organization (of course)
  If you’re going to be a professional organizer, you need to be very highly organized youself. It’s not enough to be able to teach someone else how to get and stay orgainized. If your life is obviously not organized, no one is going to hire you. You have to really love organization. If you aren’t passionate about it, your clients will see right through it.
• Adaptability
  Just because you are great at organizing your own life, doesn’t mean you’ll be great at organizing for someone else. To be a successful professional organizer, you need to be able to understand the needs of others and adapt your methods to each individual client.
• Teaching skills
  Getting someone organized isn’t enough. You have to teach your clients to maintain the changes and make them permanent. This means you not only need to be able to communicate effectively, but you must also be able to read and understand individual people, and have patience if they don’t catch on as quickly as you like.

How to get started as a professional organizer

The easiest way is to start with someone you know. Ask a friend or neighbor to let you organize a room in exchange for referrals or a testimonial. Often an organizer will make such a difference in a person’s life, they’ll be more than willing to spread the word about you, even if you don’t ask them to. If you need to be more active, you can make flyers and advertise in your neighborhood, or make a website and promote yourself online. Once you get your first few customers, you’ll probably find that the business keeps rolling in.

Another option is to join a direct sales party plan company that sells products that help people get organized. You can then base your marketing efforts and home parties on organizing tips and services. There are a few companies that sell products to help organize the home, including Clever Container, Signature HomeStyles, and Tupperware.

You might also consider joining the National Association of Professional Organizers and/or get certified by the Board of Certification for Professional Organizers.

*image courtesy of lunawhimsy

In catching up on email this morning I read a recent lesson from Bob the Teacher titled “Pick a Lane.” In it, he talks about the importance of focus in business. Too many people try to build two or more businesses at once and end up struggling with them all.

All too often direct sales consultants will respond to a struggling business by adding a second or third business. If you aren’t earning enough from your current business, resist the temptation to offer your customers another product line in the hopes that the more things you offer them the more likely they are to buy from you. Before you add a second business, learn how to make your first one a success. Or if it wasn’t the right business to start with, switch businesses. But don’t make the mistake of adding additional businesses to struggle with.

Nearly five years ago I posted about this same topic in “Is joining another direct sales company the right answer?” You might find that article and the linked resource helpful.

As I said in that earlier post, I think it’s a good idea to have multiple streams of income. But to succeed at any of them, you have to get one running smoothly and successfully before adding another.

Whether you write just for your own sites or are branching out as content writer for others, these five tips will help you improve your skills and increase your value online.

1. Read other people’s content. Not only will you get ideas for what to write about, but you may pick up some pointers on style and format.
2. Stay current. Accepted writing practices change, especially online writing practices. You may want a copy of the AP Stylebook, a resource used by reporters and other writers as a guide to spelling, grammar, abbreviations, and more.
3. Keep learning. Set yourself up to be an expert.
4. Choose a niche. If you are going to be an expert, you need to have a field. It is hard to concentrate on three or four different areas. Choose one and establish yourself there before moving on to another area.
5. Find a writing style. Or find your voice. Are you laid back, witty or serious? Every writer has a voice – explore and develop yours.

The best writers are those who never stop learning. There’s always room for improvement.