For many direct sales consultants and other home business owners, September marks the start of their busy season. For some it may be the time to gear up for holiday sales and for others it’s simply a time to refocus and work harder after a more laid-back summer. Whatever the reason, here are some tips to help you handle a more hectic season:

1. Make a plan. A good plan is the basis of a successful busy season. It helps you prepare for the sudden increase in customers and orders and gives you a concrete system to follow when things seem overwhelming. Think back to previous years to incorporate what worked and improve on what didn’t work.

2. Consider hiring help. Small business owners are sometimes reluctant to hire help because it cuts into profit. But often, it has the opposite effect. When you can get more done you can make more sales.

3. Use all your available resources. If possible, let your direct sales company or wholesale distributor drop ship to your customers. If you’re packing and shipping yourself, use online shipping services and have the packaged picked up to save time driving the post office or shipping store and standing in line. Even fifteen minutes saved here and there can be a big help.

4. Don’t be afraid to say no. You may have to turn away some customers. It’s better to be honest and turn away orders that you won’t be able to fulfill than to take orders and not deliver. Make sure you cut off holiday orders early enough to get them all shipped and delivered in plenty of time.

5. Keep communicating with your customers. Even though business may be hectic, customer service should continue to be a priority. Be sure to address the needs of all your customers. If you have problems fulfilling an order or it’s delayed, notify your customer right away and offer an alternative. Customers will understand that problems occur and are much more likely to be forgiving when you communicate openly with them.

Your busy season is an exciting and hectic time that can also be very stressful. With a good plan system in place, you can make it through relatively calmly and profitably.

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Five Tips to Get You Through Your Busy Season

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Good luck Opal, Aqua, and Saphire. With your entrepreneurial spirit and creativity you surely have a successful future with this, or any other business endeavor you pursue.

[Thank you, The Dunwoody Crier, where I first read about the Mermaids of Dunwoody]

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Teenagers Pool Their Talents to Start a Business

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Maybe it’s because there’s so much more competition now. Or perhaps it’s because consumers are more savvy, and more careful about how and when they spend their money. Or maybe, because we’re all bombarded with advertising all day, every day we’ve become resistant to anything that even slightly resembles a sales pitch.

If you are struggling to sell your product or service online, it’s time to stop trying to sell products and services. Instead, start selling yourself as somebody who is trustworthy.

This free report, Relationship Selling – How to Sell Yourself Online shows you how to do just that.

“The one thing you must realize, and if you get nothing else from this report but this, it’s that you can’t sell somebody a product or service until you really do have their trust.”

Start building trust today. Click here to instantly download your free copy of Relationship Selling – How to Sell Yourself Online.

Enjoy! And please come back and leave a comment to let us know what you get out of the report and what changes you’re making.

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The PDF contains our affiliate link(s) to related guides. (Why tell?)

Note: Every effort has been made to accurately represent this product and its potential. Each individual’s success depends on his or her background, dedication, desire and motivation. As with any business endeavor, there is an inherent risk of loss of capital and there is no guarantee that you will earn any money.

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Stop Selling Your Products and Services

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Are you still interacting online with a username that hides your identity or are you using your real name? Have you gone so transparent that everyone knows who you are, what you’re doing, and where you are all day, everyday?

Last week’s release of Facebook Places produced a whole new flurry of discussion about social media and Internet privacy. And frankly, I’m confused.

When I first got started online (more than twelve years ago), most people tried to be anonymous and maintain privacy. I think many were like me – fearful of who would be getting our private information and what they’d do with it. While there are still people whose identity is well hidden online, I think many others have gone way too far over to the other side.

Not only are people using their real names and sharing photos of themselves and their families, but now many are using applications that announce their whereabouts to the world.

Personally I don’t want strangers to know whether or not I’m home, at the coffee shop down the street, or cruising the Caribbean. To me, it’s a safety issue. Did you see the site PleaseRobMe.com? The site no longer post tweets that announce users’ locations; now they are trying to raise awareness of potential dangers of announcing when you’re away from home.

Plus, I just don’t understand the need to tell anyone besides my immediate family where I am.

But that’s me.

At the same time many are sharing their every move online, I think most people would say that they highly value privacy and don’t want their private information shared. Perhaps we have a false sense of security because we use privacy settings to determine who can see what we post. Or perhaps we’ve just given in because the “bad guys” seem to be able to get our information no matter how much we try to protect it.

I’m pretty middle of the road when it comes to what I share online. I use my real name, and I post my picture, and I’m sure other information about me is pretty readily available. But I don’t post much about my family, and I don’t share my exact location or announce when I’m going on vacation.

I’m still of the mind that if you post it online, it’s available to the world. If I don’t want the world to know, I keep it to myself.

How important is privacy to you? How much Internet privacy do you want and how much information are you willing to share?

[Image courtesy of Faithful Chant.]

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Anonymous vs Too Much Information

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Social media marketing can be particularly tricky. It works if worked right. And it’s fun. But if you aren’t careful, it can consume a lot of time – time that could be spent direct selling for immediate profit.

As Lisa Young says in Twitter Tips For Direct Sellers, “…social media and online marketing does not replace your home party business.” Marketing and selling is a balancing act. Use online social media to build relationships that can lead to business, and continue to sell use the proven, basic direct sales methods like home parties and face-to-face sales.

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Remember, Direct Sales is About Selling

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1. Become an independent consultant for a direct sales company. One of the biggest advantages to starting out as a direct sales consultant is that most companies provide training and support to help you succeed. Additionally, it’s relatively inexpensive to get started, you won’t have to stock a lot of inventory, and the company usually offers sales and promotional materials at a reasonable cost.

When looking for a company to join be aware that while there are hundreds of legitimate, worthwhile companies to join, there are also others that are more interested in parting you from your money than in helping you make money. Take your time, do your research, and ask lots of questions before joining any company.

2. Turn your craft into a business. There are many ways to sell your crafts both in your local community and online. If you are a creative person and your friends and family always say “you should sell these,” you might want to consider selling at local craft shows and fairs, through consignment shops, or online through sites like eBay and Etsy.

Keep in mind that your business will be limited to the number of items you can make and sell so you may not be able to make a full-time income selling your items. If your crafts are well received you can expand your business by selling kits and instructions or conducting classes.

3. Clean out your house and sell what you don’t need. While this is just a temporary income, you might be surprised at how much you can make by having a yard sale or selling through online auction sites like eBay or other marketplaces like Amazon. If you find you have a knack for organizing and running a yard sale, you can start a business providing the service for others.

4. Sell a service locally. Your neighbors and others in your community are always looking for someone to perform all kinds of services including lawn mowing and other landscape services, home repair, painting, dog walking and dog sitting, organizing, and tutoring. Anything that requires special skills or that will save people time is marketable.

The hardest part of getting started is finding your first few customers. Consider offering a neighbor a free hour or two in return for a reference. Once you do good work for a couple of people, you’ll like get referred to others and word-of-mouth will become your best advertising.

5. Sell a service online. Many people make a living as a virtual assistant providing all kinds of administrative and marketing help to other business owners. Some of the most in-demand online services are writing and technical help.

Learning to market yourself online is the biggest challenge you will face so be sure to do a little research to see what it takes to get noticed before you take the leap to an online service provider.

6. Write an online blog. If you like to write and are well-versed enough on a topic, blogging can be fun and profitable. You can start for free, but I recommend making a small investment for your own domain and web hosting.

There is a technical learning curve to get started, but there are plenty of tutorials and lots of help from the blogging community.

When you’re ready to start a home business try one of these ideas, or use them as a springboard to come up with your own idea. With a little creativity you can turn almost any skill or interest into a product or service people want to buy.

Need more help deciding which direct sales company to join? Grab your free guide to choosing your opportunity.

—————
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Great Home Business Ideas For Beginners

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Melissa Ingold, the Internet Marketing Sweetie is one of my favorite mentors. She always produces high quality, effective business guides and this one is no exception. And her newly released, The Top 10 Words that Say Buy and Why They Work is another great guide.

Melissa lists the top keywords that “make us want to purchase” and explains why they work. If you incorporate these words into your promotions it’s likely that your sales will increase.

Grab your completely free copy of The Top 10 Words that Say Buy and Why They Work. You don’t even have to supply your email address to download it. It’s my gift to you, courtesy of Melissa, to thank you for reading the Business Opportunity Connection.

Click this link to get your free copy.
To view and print this guide you will need a PDF reader. If you don’t have one, you can get Adobe Reader for free here.

Are you new to our blog or did you miss our other gifts? Find them all here.

Thanks again for sticking with us and as always, we welcome your feedback. You can offer your opinions and make requests and suggestions by leaving a blog post comment or by contacting us.

Enjoy!

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Note: Every effort has been made to accurately represent this product and its potential. Each individual’s success depends on his or her background, dedication, desire and motivation. As with any business endeavor, there is an inherent risk of loss of capital and there is no guarantee that you will earn any money.

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Reader Appreciation – Words That Say “Buy”

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Consultants seem to be very enthusiastic about the new company which offers decorating, entertaining, and organizing products.

Learn more about the company and contact an independent representative by visiting the Willow House company page in the Internet Based Moms Direct Sales Directory.

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Two Companies Combined to Make One

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1. Do what you know. Turn your skills and experience into a successful business. There are hundreds of direct sales companies to choose from and you’ll certainly be able to find one that matches your interests whether it’s food and cooking, candles, home decorating, jewelry, scrapbooking, or almost anything else.

The same applies if you’re starting your own company. If you have spent twenty years writing and editing company marketing materials or you love to groom and care for your many pets, consider how you can take your experience and turn it into a successful business.

2. Do what you love. Success will be an unhappy struggle if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing. Many people try to choose the business that will make them rich and end up regretting it. You may get rich running your own business but if you’re not enjoying what you do you’ll likely be stressed and unhappy.

Note: Many people will advise you to “follow your passion” when choosing a direct sales company or starting your own company. That’s not what I’m saying here. Your passion may be extremely difficult to turn into a profitable business. And trying to turn it into one can completely ruin your passion for it. What I’m suggesting is that you should do something you enjoy enough, and that you know enough about, that you can do it everyday for the long term.

3. It’s okay to do what other people are doing. You may often see direct sales consultants advising you to “get in on the ground floor” of a new company or to join a company where the market isn’t “saturated” in your community. It’s not necessary to be amoung the first consultants to be successful. In fact, selling a well-known and trusted brand may be easier than selling something no one has heard of before.

If you are starting your own company, consider what you want to do, evaluate your competition, and investigate what you can do differently or better than they do. Maybe you want to own an online store that sells camping equipment. Well there a numerous stores that do that already. Is there a market that you can focus on? A niche? Maybe you can sell camping equipment designed for the physically challenged or a camping store just for women.

4. Focus on a niche. The last tip leads right into this one. You can market a popular product in a different way or to a group of people others may be neglecting. Many businesses have gone broke trying to be all things to all people. Try to identify a niche that you would enjoy working in and think about starting a business therein. If you love to work outdoors, consider starting a landscaping business or joining a garden supply direct sales company. Be a specialty shop, not a big box store. Focus on a niche and become an expert in your field.

If you make wise choices in the beginning you’ll be much more likely to follow through to success.

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4 Tips to Help You Decide on the Right Home Business

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Why Use Craft Shows in Your Direct Sales Business? Part 1
by Chris Carroll

The greatest thing about home businesses and the direct sales type of business is the flexibility in how you can market your products. We are not relegated to one type of selling so therefore the opportunities are endless! Brick and mortars stores are somewhat limited as they wait for the customers to find them. We on the other hand, go and find ours.

One of my favorite ways to increase customers, hostesses, business partners and newsletter signups is through craft shows and expos. Looking at the venue of the show, it becomes apparent that this IS your target market ~ Female; usually with extra disposable income And looking for unique products. All of these attributes fit our business perfectly.

Choosing the right venue will be important to your success. Make sure the show is in your market area. Traveling 50 miles to do a show looking for customers may not be a good idea if you have to deliver products after the show. Think about parties as well. If your hostess is an hour away and then her guests are a no show Or maybe you get 5 bookings, Are you willing to keep driving to that area to service those customers? Set yourself a radius of how far you are willing to travel.

Another thing to check out when choosing the right show to do is the amount of the booth. Figure out how much you have to sell to re coop your expenses. If you are doing a one day show for $150 and you sell $2 – $5 items, you are going to have to move a heck of a lot of items to break even.

Make sure that you are selling product that goes along with the theme of the show before writing that check for the entry fees. Specialty shows like scrapbooking or quilt shows may not be the best return for you if you are selling makeup. Several years ago I did a Home and Garden type of show and while my product line fit in wonderfully; there was a cosmetic company there. She was not moving a heck of a lot of product and did not do very well at all. I am actually surprised the promoters allowed her in. So make sure you are not wasting your time with the wrong show.

Check to see how long the show has been in existence. What type of turn out do they get? Sometimes doing a newly formed show is a good risk if it is a local show. Traveling great lengths to go to a new venue may not be something I would recommend. Also check on how they advertise the show. Very important in that you can have a huge amount of vendors attending, but if the event is not publicized well, you will not so well.

Overall, craft shows are an awesome tool for your business if they are researched and handled properly. Building your business in unique ways is the key to the longevity with your business.

Copyright Chris Carroll All Rights Reserved
Chris Carroll is a sales professional that has made direct sales her business of choice and enjoys sharing with others. You can sign up for tips on managing and increasing your business at her site DirectSalesTalk. You can also find her at her business site ShopOnYourSeat If you would like to use this article for your newsletters or website, all links must be live and clickable.

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Craft Show Tips for Direct Sales Consultants

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