New To Direct Sales? The First Is The Worst

Presentations, websites, parties, interviews… in all these instances the old adage is fairly accurate: your first is usually the worst.

Looking back over nearly two decades of building my business online, I cringe when I think about the very first website I built (I designed that crazy logo in “paint” and coded the entire site in “notepad”), the very first show I ever did (one of the guests kept tapping her watch and staring at me, urging me to hurry up), and the early interviews I hosted (everything I said was scripted!). I certainly had a lot of learning to do over the years to improve my performance!

At the time, they weren’t bad, mind you. They were pretty good – especially for the technology of the era, and I certainly practiced my butt off to get them as good as possible in the time I had available.

But comparing that “old me” to the more experienced, confident, and knowledgeable me of today, I can honestly say it was the worst work I’ve ever done.

The same is probably true for you. 

How DOES your garden [oops! I mean business] grow?

Guest Post:  Teresa Romain

Spring is here! YAY!

Which means my husband and I are spending a LOT of time in our HUGE vegetable garden – preparing the soil, planting, weeding, watering. We’ve even begun HARVESTING some things – like the lettuce we planted on our cold frames in March.

This, combined with a coaching call I recently had with one of my direct selling clients inspired this post.

You see, there is much to be learned from growing a garden that applies to growing a thriving direct selling business.

7 Summertime Booking Ideas You Can Use Now

Special Feature Post: Julie Anne Jones

You’ve probably heard that it’s difficult to get bookings during the summer. You may even believe it, but I’m here to tell you I know it’s not true. If you approach bookings with the right attitude and you focus on being creative, you’ll find your schedule for this summer filling up with enthusiastic hosts in no time.

Here are my best ideas for “jump starting” the bookings on your calendar, especially if you don’t have many to start with. Choose one or two out of the seven ideas below and watch what happens!

3 Tips To Prime The Pump For Summer Sales & Bookings

Every year, I think it’s safe to say that millions of direct sellers across give up on their business because it’s Summertime.

Really. Here in the U.S., kids get an extended vacation from school, and many families take at least a portion of that time away from their work to travel, visit with family, or engage in any number of activities that would take them away from home for at least a few days.

At first blush, it can feel like “nobody’s home” all Summer long, making it difficult to book and hold one-on-one meetings or home parties, but that’s simply not true. With more people across the globe staying close to home (they even “staycation” in Scotland), it’s not hard to have a full Summer calendar – if you get started now. Here are three ideas to help prime the pump for a sensational Summer book of direct sales business:

How Not to be Boring On Facebook (Your Fans Will Thank You)

Guest Post: Kelly Paull

[Editor's note: Kelly is our new tech guru in the classroom! Kelly has a wealth of valuable info about online marketing and using technology in your direct sales business. We're excited to share her first post today. If you've been looking for ways to spruce up your facebook page, read on!]

You’ve worked hard to get your fans to your business page, are you doing enough to keep them interested in coming back?  Can you think of a few facebook fan pages off the top of your head that irritate you with their postings or don’t give you any reason to interact?  Don’t be the owner of that page!

Picture this: your fan page is a place that people seek out, they jump in to participate when you ask questions.  Your content gets shared and you have new fans ‘liking’ the page daily.  Your wall has various requests for party bookings, as well as requests for more information about joining your team, and you notice that your website is getting orders while you sleep!

The only problem is that many small businesses, including direct sellers and party planners, simply do not know what to do to engage their followers.

Here are five ways to NOT be boring on your Facebook fan pages: