Team Online Parties

Keeping your team motivated can be a difficult task sometimes, but
oh-so-very important. Looking for a new and unique way to give your
team that boost it needs? Read on ...

Instead of a traditional online party or a team meeting, how about
combining the two? Hold a Team Online Party. By doing this you'll
accomplish quite a few things:

• First and foremost, you'll motivate your team with a fun and
  unique atmosphere.


• Teach your team more about your products and review important
  information such as company policies, procedures etc.


• Teach members recruiting and sales techniques.


• Help your team obtain business building supplies.

The first thing you'll want to do is choose an online party room. We
highly recommends MomChats.com.

Next you'll want to choose a couple of dates and times that you have
available and contact your team members to vote on a day and time
that works for them. You'll want to try to satisfy as many members
as possible, but remember that there's a good chance that you won't
satisfy everyone.

Once you've picked a date, chosen your room, booked your party and
invited your team members, you'll want to start planning your party
games.

Again, you can choose traditional online party games with a twist.
If your policies and procedures are not listed online, you might
want to request your team members to "bring" them along to the
party. Here are a couple game ideas to get you started:

Trivia
- One of your games could be as simple as simply asking questions
directly from your manual about company policies, procedures etc and
have your members answer them. The team member who answers the most
correctly wins.

Scavenger Hunt
- Another idea would be to help your team become more familiar with
your catalogs or your company websites by holding a scavenger hunt
for products. Have them tell you what page such and such is located
or how much a certain product costs. Again, the member with the most
correct wins.

For the prizes, you'll want to take this opportunity to let them win
business building items such as information products (Ex. ebooks),
business cards and other items needed for their business such as
samples. You can get very nice looking and very inexpensive business
cards from Vista Print as well as many other items such as
promotional magnets, calendars and stationary. Buy samples by the
bulk from your company and break them down into smaller quantities
for prizes. Ebooks with information about home businesses make a
wonderful and very inexpensive prize that will continue to give back
to you. Remember, the more successful your team members are, the
more successful you are too.

You'll also want to take this time to congratulate team members for
any accomplishments. Don't forget to congratulate for even the
smallest accomplishments. This is a perfect time for a little slap
on the back and celebrate.

Just remember to be creative. The more creative you are, the more
fun it will be. The more fun you make it, the more successful it
will be. You'll want to put in as much to planning this as you would
a traditional online party.

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Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank, owners of DirectSalesHelpers.com strive
to help women succeed in direct sales. For additional help with your
next team online party such as more game and prize ideas, visit
http://www.directsaleshelpers.com/team-online-party.html

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The Customer is Sometimes Rude

Business is not all fun and games. If you are running your own business, you absolutely must have a thick skin. Being easily hurt or upset isn't going to get you anywhere.

Imagine for a moment you holding a home party. As the guests are looking at catalogs, one says "Look at this lamp, it's so UGLY!". You note which one they are looking at, and realize you have one just like it in your own home.

You have two options here. Either you get rude right back at her, or you offer to help her find something more her taste. While the second option is obviously the better way to go, sometimes we tend to react on instincts first.

The same is true while networking and being active in business communities online. While these places shouldn't be the main source of customers, know you WILL sell to other business owners. If you react rude to another WAHM, you are going to lose sales pretty fast. Not only are you going to lose out on a possible sale from the person you offended, but also others reading it too.

Customers and business owners are going to have opinions. No matter if it's on your website, your products, or your method of marketing. Some comments may be constructive critisism, others may be down right rude. Regardless, fighting back is NEVER going to look good on your part.

Granted there are always going to be those who will never buy, but that still doesn't mean you should be rude back to them. Word travels regardless of who they are, and your business is going to be hurt. Always keep in mind that bad news travels at least twice as fast as good news.

Bottom line - the next time you feel someone is being rude, grit your teeth and smile. Getting down to their level never helps. Besides, don't forget, you never know who's watching. You're a business owner and your reputation is on the line.

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Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank, owners of DirectSalesHelpers.com strive
to help women succeed in direct sales. For additional help with your direct sales business, visit http://www.directsaleshelpers.com.

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Find Your Marketing Strength - Part 2

In part one we talked about why focus in marketing is so important. This part goes into more detail about various forms of marketing, and why it's so important they be focused on.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Possible one form of marketing that requires the most focus. Just throwing in a few keywords or doing link exchanges without a purposes will get you nowhere in the search engines. SEO must be learned, practiced, and studied. A site is not optimized, a page is. So you need to work on optimizing one page at a time.

Is it worth the time? Absolutely! If this is something which interests you, and you enjoy writing content. If not, you might do better with another form of marketing.

2. Blogs
You may have been told blogs are a great way to pull in traffic. This is true. But it's another form of marketing which requires dedication. Setting up a blog and putting up a few posts a year isn't going to help much. If you use blogging as a marketing tool, be ready to post to your blog at LEAST once a week (more if you want the blog to really help your business).

Blogs make great "search engine food" because they are pure content and updated on a regular basis. This form of marketing works well if you enjoy SEO as well, since they can be easily focused on together. Just like SEO though, if you don't enjoy writing content this isn't for you.

3. Article Marketing
If for some reason a blog is out of the question, article marketing may be a form of marketing for you. Similar to blogging, you need to be able to write. Not quite as much as blogging, but still several articles a month are required for this form of marketing to work.

Basically what you'll do is write articles related to your business. Pick out a few of the top article directories on the net and submit your article. If done on a regular basis, you will soon have a steady flow of traffic to your site. This form works especially well for those attempting to gain subscribers to a newsletter.

4. Forum Marketing
A newer concept in online marketing, but still one which can have a huge impact on your business. In part one we mentioned one of the "basics" of business was some involvement in communities (meaning you are a member of 2 or 3 message boards or groups, and offer advice at least once a week). Forum Marketing (or "network marketing") takes that a step further.

Instead of just stopping in occasionally, this is one of the only tasks you do. You aren't just a member of a few communities, but rather 10 or more. For those who have been told "don't spend all your time at groups and boards", well you will love that we've just given you permission to do just that. If of course you love to help people, share ideas, and spend all your day chatting. Yes this really IS a form of marketing!

The idea behind this is your are making a name for yourself at any given community. You aren't spamming them, but rather becoming a respected member. Although for it to be absolutely beneficial, you must be involved with a community that's also your target market. If you have trouble finding a community, start one. Either a message board or yahoo group works just fine. Actively chatting with your target market is a fantastic form of marketing!

5. Paid Advertising
While some may shy away from this form of marketing just because of the cost, others have built an entire business with nothing but paid ads. Those who enjoy math will flock to this form, since it requires figuring out your return on investment (ROI). The goal is to spend less than you make.......and use money to make money.

It too requires focus, despite what some may think. The rewards can be huge if you unlock this form of marketing though. Testing is required to see which ads pull in the most money for you. You also need to search for various types of paid advertising which will earn you the most ROI.

There are many, many more forms of marketing online and offline as well. We've only just scratched the surface! As we've mentioned in both parts of these articles, focus is required for ANY form of marketing.

However, it is acceptable to focus on more than one IF they are enjoyable and successful for you. As long as you are keeping a focus on what works, your business will succeed.

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Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank, owners of DirectSalesHelpers.com strive
to help women succeed in direct sales. For additional help with your direct sales business, visit http://www.directsaleshelpers.com.

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Find Your Marketing Strength - Part 1

There are hundreds of different ways to market your business both online and offline. While it's good in the beginning to test out various types of marketing, you'll eventually going to want to focus on how you market best.

Finding your strength in marketing is going to have a huge impact on your business. You'll be able to spend your time focused ONLY on what works, instead of scattered in a various directions.

Also, when focused on just two or three different forms of marketing, you are able to gain the maximum benefits from those forms. When your focus is scattered, you aren't going to benefit near as much.

Let us give you an example. Let's say you are good at writing articles, and they have proved to help your business. Not just "alright" at writing, but you can write several articles a day without problems. You spend half your time on the articles, and the rest of the time doing "busy" activities that aren't beneficial to your business. Had you spent all that time on articles, how much further would your business be right now?

Here's another example. You enjoy learning about search engine optimization, but haven't quite fully learned it just yet. Instead of learning more, you throw a few keywords on your website then move on to something else. Will just a few keywords help? Absolutely not. Instead of focusing on that form of marketing, you've only done a small part thus making it almost a pointless task.

Before going any further let us say this - there is NOTHING wrong with seeking out new forms of marketing. However, most marketing is not a "quick fix" or a "set and forget". It takes time to make any form of marketing work in your favor. But if you don't enjoy it nor focus on it, it's never going to work for you.

Also realise there are certain "basics" to any marketing plan that you are going to need to learn. Websites, newsletters, and some imvolvement in communities (we say "some" because "full" involvment is a marketing form all on it's own) are all things you must do.

Bottom line is - marketing is just like chosing your business. Success comes with passion and ability to focus. Now that you understand this, in part two we'll discuss some of the various ways to market and why focus in each are important.

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Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank, owners of DirectSalesHelpers.com strive
to help women succeed in direct sales. For additional help with your direct sales business, visit http://www.directsaleshelpers.com.

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Motivation - Where to Find It

by Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank

While we all have our own ways of finding motivation, sometimes we all need a little shove. We'll tell you what gets us moving when you don't feel like doing anything at all.

One of the perks of owning a business is working your own hours. However, it can be very tempting to just say "I don't feel like working today". You do have the option to do that without "losing your job". But every day you take off, the motivation to work on your business gets a little less.

Before you know it, your motivation is completely gone. You don't feel like working at all, and start to feel your business is failing. Well of course it is if you aren't doing anything!
Obviously what you need to do is get your motivation levels back to normal. You have to WANT to work on your business to succeed. The best way to find motivation is actually pretty simple...

Read.

When you don't feel like working directly on your business (or really don't know what to do), this is the best time to do something indirect. Read, learn about new ideas, soak up information, and find new projects.

Read until you find the spark, and run with it. Which it WILL hit, simply because new ideas get us excited. Business owners love to be busy, or we wouldn't be building a business to begin with.

Visit your favorite WAHM resource websites. First you'll want to browse around the article / resource sections and - yup, you guessed it - read. Read the articles and make notes - no, not mental notes. Open a word processing document or even better, pull out that old notebook and pen. Make notes of anything that jumps out at you. Before you know it, you're note taking session will turn into a "brain dump" listing all your ideas for your next project.

After you've read all the articles you want to, and you're looking for some more motivation ... hop on over to your favorite WAHM message boards. Browse around older topics and join in on some of the conversations. Visit your favorite blogs and read what they have been doing, or resources they recommend.

So the next time you feel your motivation lacking, go and learn something new or review things you've already learned. The main idea is to keep yourself involved one way or another. Keep active and the motivation will stay with you. You'll be surprised how fast your business grows with motivation!

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Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank, owners of DirectSalesHelpers.com strive
to help women succeed in direct sales. For additional help with your direct sales business, visit http://www.directsaleshelpers.com

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Let Them Play

by Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank

The purpose of a craft show or home party is to attract customers. You are also giving them the chance to touch, play, or try on the products. Telling them not to touch is going to have them moving on as quickly as possible.

Here's an example as to how to drive customers away:

We attend quite a few craft shows. It's not always possible to find sitters for the entire day, so my kids are with me sometimes for part of it. They always seem to find the Discovery Toys rep first thing.

Now I'm a parent that watches my kids. I tell them not to touch. I pull them away from the table, especially when I know I'm not going to buy that day. Our regular DT rep who we see on a regular basis always says "hey they're fine, that's what the toys are here for!". Well still, I want to keep her booth open for children of paying customers.

The DT rep we saw this weekend couldn't have been more different. My kids wandered over to the table right off the bat. I was right behind telling them not to touch and trying to herd them out of there. Even still, the rep told my kids to leave certain things alone and put them back. Not really rude, but repeating what I was already saying. This didn't make me happy in the least, because I WAS watching my kids.

Now not only did she upset a qualified potential customer (parent with young children), but she failed to really show off her products. Our normal DT reps knows the more kids playing the more parents it attracts. If space permits, she'll even set up an extra table specifically for the kids to play.

When you see your kid interested in a toy you know is educational, you are more likely to buy. Plus when parents come to collect their kids, our normal rep uses that time to talk about the company and products. Not like this other rep who spent that time scolding the kids for touching toys (how dare they, right?).

At a craft show or home party you aren't just showing the products. You are demonstrating. You are letting potential customers try them out. Candles you let them smell. Food you let them sample. Scrapbooking materials they make a project with. Pampered Chef you cook with. Bath products you have samples sitting out to try. Other products you let them pick up and touch.

Sometimes it's not so easy to let them try products before buying, but you've got to do your best to let them. For example, I once saw a scrapbooking rep at a craft show who had fancy scissors sitting on the table with scrap paper. She encouranged people to use them.

You don't just show the product, but how it's used. Seeing it in action is the best way to push a potential customer right to their checkbook. Even if kids are touching items you don't want them to, just grit your teeth and smile. Let the parents take care of their own children.....and of course, buy from you.

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Anita DeFrank & Kara Kelso, authors of Direct Sales Success, specialize in coaching direct sales representatives to reach their goal of becoming successful in their field. For additional help at offline events, visit http://www.directsaleshelpers.com/offline-events.html

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Craft Shows: Pay and Stay

If you pay for a table at a craft show, it only makes sense to show up. Sure things come up, but you should always try your best to make it. You should also try your best to stay for the entire show.

Over the weekend we attended an outdoor craft show. Our instructions stated we were allowed to set up on Friday night, and stay as late as we wanted to Saturday evening. The schedule of events showed activities clear up to 10pm at night, so we knew we would be there until at least dark.

The tables next to us were obviously new at craft shows. Not only did they not show up until Saturday, but a few left in the afternoon. Sure the sales slowed down a bit, but we knew it would pick up later on that day. The schedule was given to all vendors ahead of time, so we all knew it was coming.

What baffled me the most was what one vendor said to me as she packed up at 2pm. When asked if she was leaving already, she stated "yeah, we have another show tonight".

What??

Now why would you pay for a table at two different places? Not only did they not set up Friday, but they left early Saturday too. They missed out on all those sales in the evening, even though they paid for the table. Right now I'm sure they are thinking they won't return to this show because of lack of sales. Of course they didn't make enough sales if they were only there half the show!

If you want to make the most of your craft show, you MUST be there for the entire show. Don't show up late and don't leave early. Outdoor events are going to have slow periods depending on the type of event and what's scheduled.

Also, don't overbook yourself. You can only be in one place at one time. Paying for two different events on the same day is just throwing profits away.

Bottom line is, if you pay for a table, stay there!


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Anita DeFrank & Kara Kelso, authors of Direct Sales Success, specialize in coaching direct sales representatives to reach their goal of becoming successful in their field. For additional help at offline events, visit http://www.directsaleshelpers.com/offline-events.html

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