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!

1. Get Your Catalogs Out There. Your company spends lots of money creating your most important marketing tool – your catalog. Get it out there and it will bring you bookings. Here are some ideas:

• Send a catalog to a friend, neighbor or co-worker who has moved.
• Put a catalog in the teacher’s lounge at your child’s day care.
• Put a catalog in your employee lunchroom.
• Give a catalog to the receptionist at your doctor or dentist office.
• Put current catalog in your neighbor’s door.  Include a 10% off coupon.
• Have your spouse or friends take a catalog to work.

2.  Throw Yourself a Party. Find a reason to celebrate something (your company’s new products, your business anniversary, a promotion, working on a new incentive trip, the fact that it’s summer) and invite everyone you know to come help you celebrate. Offer incentives if they bring a guest and host it as an open house to increase attendance. It could even be a fund raiser for your favorite charity.

3. Get Yourself Out There! If you’re face to face with people, they’ll get your enthusiasm and want to share in it. Here are some ideas for getting out there and meeting new people:

• Work with other consultants in your downline or area and host a booth at your local county fair or summer bazaar.
• Check out local job fairs – they’re filled with people looking for work!

4. Advertise. Get the word out to people who need to know about you. Here are some ideas for where to advertise:

• The service area of your local newspaper
• Your church bulletin
• Your college alumni newsletter

5. Think of New Places and Environments to Host Parties You can do your presentation in some interesting places – not just a host’s home. If you can do an open house format, the possibilities are endless. Here are some ideas:

• Host an office party during lunch or after work. Attendance will be automatic!
• Host a restaurant party – the host doesn’t have to do anything except invite people and show up!
• Hold a “multiple host” event, holding several shows in the same place on the same night.

6. Make your Party a Booking Event!

• Create an awesome booking “commercial” which highlights the benefits of booking a show with you
• At the beginning of the party mention your host’s goals. Have the hostess tell why she decided to host a party.
• Offer a gift-wrapped gift to the host at your show; one booking, she takes off the bow, two bookings, she takes off the wrapper, three bookings, she gets to keep the gift!
• Offer “instant booking gifts” as a bonus for hosts who book on days and/or months you need to make a goal.
• Make your parties fun so your guests will want to book!

7. Use One of These Other Awesome Ideas:

• Include a business card or flyer with ALL your bill payments
• Wear clothing with your company logo on it.
• Have your business information printed directly on your checks
• Call your realtor with suggestions for “new home packages”
• Carry a notepad to jot down names of potential hosts as you think of them.

Do you have any ideas I missed?

Julie Anne Jones is a direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read more blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.

I’ve talked before about connecting with your clients through a website for your business and have mentioned the use of an email contact service like MailChimp. I love MailChimp for their humor and I refer my clients to them all the time. Best of all, for small lists, their service is free.

Connecting and establishing positive rapport with your customers is so very important. You want them to shop with you over and over again. You want them to refer all of their friends to you. You want to be “top of mind” to them. You want them to be your RAVING fans regardless of what company you represent and what products you offer. By developing and nurturing your relationships you will create that long term connection. Some quick tips to do that:

Make it visual (think Pinterest)

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social media sites. It is all about pictures. Google + and Facebook are now very visual as well. The magazines and catalogs you enjoy looking at grab your attention with beautiful pictures and great headlines. Be sure to use pictures that tie into what you are talking about.

Make it real

Some easy ways to create connection is talk like you are writing just to them. Use their name if you can. Write in short paragraphs. Online the rules are a bit different than when you wrote that term paper for high school. You have permission to have a one sentence paragraph!

Make it interesting

Be sure to keep things interesting. Be sure to change your format up once in awhile with video, a survey or something new. You can use Google docs or Survey Monkey to embed a survey. Have contests. Keep it fun (and simple).

Make it about THEM

Your raving fans want to feel special. Make everything you do be for them. It’s not about you! Do things you know they like. Stroke their ego. Make them feel like a million bucks. This past weekend I went to a very upscale, highly rated hotel in Charleston, SC. One or two people there made me feel welcome. But many of the staff were not friendly. Whether you are in person, on the phone, writing an email or blog post, make them feel that it was worth their time to interact with you. Make them feel great and they will love you for it.

About the Author:

Elian Evans is a social media marketing specialist for small business, groups and organizations (for and non-profit). She provides consulting (and some services) with regards to websites, Facebook, Twitter, QR codes, mobile and traditional marketing. Learn more at www.ElianEvans.com.

If you are not getting bookings at parties, making cold calls can be very hard! Here is how I am guessing it goes in your mind…

” I need to make booking calls. I should do that today when I have an hour of time. It is only an hour…how hard can that be? But I need to do laundry and go to the grocery store. I will do that first and then do the calls. That way, I have nothing hanging over my head and I can just focus on the calls.”

Then something else comes up in your head and you don’t ever make the calls, right?. It can be pretty intimidating!

However…what if you said you needed to call a girlfriend about how her interview went?

Could you make that call without getting stressed out?

I am betting you could. So why not gather all that personal information about your customers and hostesses when you’re at a home show and use that as a reason to call them. This way, it is just like calling a friend!

When someone at a home show tells you she has a class coming up for her job soon that she has to attend, use that as a reason to send her an email or call her when she gets back from the training class. Ask her how it went, etc. Become her friend. I know I say this over and over…but it is so true. Then after you have established a relationship, ask her about doing a home show or tell her about a sale.

You don’t mind calling your friends if you have something to talk to them about, do you?

Why not think of your customers as your friends?

You will be surprised how much easier making those contacts will be and how much less stress you will feel while doing it!

Jen Fitzgerald is the owner of The Client Angel, the proven tool for the Direct Selling community. It is the premier tool for Direct Sellers helping them to build relationships with their customers by providing better follow-up causing their businesses to soar! See a demo at: www.theclientangel.com.

You just have to keep your eyes open.

This is what I’ve coined the “Sales Cycle” – and it’s where you can find customers at any point in your business. Some people you are just meeting, others, you have been doing business with for a long time, while others still have known you, but never done business with you.

It works kind of like a wheel. You are at the hub, and each “spoke” represents a public-facing point in your business where you could potentially meet new customers. The right half of the image is where most people think of meeting new clients (Meet, Lead, Client), but customers are also found on the left half of the Cycle.

But like Thomas Edison once said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work“. The left side of the Cycle takes a little more work, but produces far better customers as a result.

We dig in deep on this concept in Direct Sales 104, and as part of the updated, expanded Direct Sales 101, I’ll be sharing specific examples of each. For now, let’s give you an overview of what each spoke represents in your business. That just may give you all the fuel you need to make fast progress at attracting new customers to your direct sales business.

1. Meet People – this is something you do every day of your life. You’re online or off, you’re connecting with strangers, and adding them to your circle. Some of these people will pretty much stay strangers in your life – you may never encounter them again. Many of them, however, have the potential of becoming…

2. Leads – these are the folks that have at least a remote interest in who you are and what you’re doing. Over time, if they have a need, and know you, like you, and trust you to their satisfaction, they’ll cross a threshold into…

3. Clients – people that pay you money for what you do! Too often, we think these people are the only people that exist. While it’s true that you’ll spend less money to keep current clients than you will to attract new ones, that is only helpful if you actually have clients in the first place – and enough of them to keep you in business. For most of direct sales professionals, with a re-order rate of 1.1 (meaning for every eleven people that buy from you, ONE of them will make a repeat purchase – and only once), this group won’t be helpful on their own, unless you move them into…

4. Delivery – this is where the client relationship is fortified. Typically, it begins at the time of product delivery, which is why I call this spoke delivery. But it could just as easily begin as soon as you take the order – before they’ve received anything more than your good will and gratitude.  How you deliver to the client is far more important than what you deliver or when. All of them are necessary, but it’s the how that often determines repeat business. When it’s done right, it’s a…

5. Bonus – this is where the client relationship is intensified. When you go out of your way to surprise and delight your clients with occasional bonuses, they are oft wont to talk you up, referring to you favorably with their friends and colleagues. Positive referrals beget more business, more customers, and the opportunity to build deeper, richer client relationships. This ultimately gives you the opportunity to…

6. Reciprocate (giving back) – call it charity, tithing, or donating your time or money, the name doesn’t matter. Reciprocity is when you give of your blessings to bless others. You might think it strange to include this as part of the Sales Cycle, since it can often be such an intangible thing to measure. However, my experience, and that of my clients has proven time and again that some of the best business (and positive public exposure) comes from giving back to the community – and often it’s better to give of your time than your money, so there’s very little cost involved to make it happen. People talk about you when you’re going out of your way to make a positive impact in the world. Your direct sales business can be a vehicle for great things, if you remember to include giving back in your Sales Cycle. The best part? Getting involved and giving back often puts you in a position to…

7. Meet People – oh! here we are at the top of the Cycle again. See how that works?

You could easily find yourself on different spokes of the Sales Cycle at the same time with different people. Unlike a “funnel” where you’re trying to “push” clients through it to your desired end result, this Sales Cycle gives you an at-a-glance approach to dealing with each person uniquely. You can see quickly where they fall in the Cycle, and what your best approach is to working with them.

Over time, the Sales Cycle becomes a powerful tool to help you track the opportunities in your business, by making it clear where to focus your business development. Not generating enough leads? Take a look at what you’re doing to meet the right people for your business. Surprising and delighting your customers, but not seeing referrals? How are you handling delivery? If you keep an eye on each of the spokes of the Sales Cycle, your business will continue to roll along nicely.

I told her that this was an opportunity to get excited instead of getting bummed. Because now, the playing field truly was level, and everyone could market themselves rather than the company they represented.

See, sites like Facebook and Twitter make it easy for any consultant to create an online outpost for their direct sales company. The problem is that, sooner or later (usually sooner), some consultant gets a little too overzealous, and makes a claim or a comment that sounds like it’s coming straight from the home office, rather than the company. Customers can’t tell the difference between a page created by a consultant or one created by the home office.

How are they supposed to know what claims are accurate, and which ones are being made by a new consultant that doesn’t have a clue?

They can’t, and so many companies have tried to create rules, guidelines and policies to “protect the brand”.

To most consultants (especially new consultants), it feels as if they’re not just protecting the brand, they’re just making it harder to do business online.

Here’s the truth: If you’re counting on your company’s brand name or logo to keep you in business, then you’re absolutely right. By restricting the use of those corporate owned identities, they are restricting your business.

But that’s not their problem, because in reality, you’re relying on the wrong elements of your business to market yourself.

See, I could get a ton of traffic to my facebook page if I called it “The biggest Justin Bieber Fan Club of all time”, and created “pictures” of the J-man with my direct sales products. I could probably sell a ton of them too. But as soon as Big-J got wind of it, I’m sure his legal eagles would be all over me with a cease and desist order, citing my use of his image as being a violation of his rights to use his likeness to promote a product.

So yes, I could get a short-term gain of new leads, but at what cost? This is an extreme example, to be sure, but this is exactly what you’re doing when you use pictures from your company catalog, use the company brand name, or any unauthorized company logos to promote yourself in ANY venue (online or offline). Because it’s challenging for direct sales companies to track all the ever-expanding social media outlets, most companies create policies that focus on the big 4: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube. It would be virtually impossible to create an exhaustive list of sites, which forces many companies to just say “no online advertising of any kind,” essentially throwing out the baby with the bath water.

My colleague Jennifer Fong has been leading this crusade for a few years now, and slowly the tide is turning, but for those of you stuck in a “no-way” company policy, here are some options to help you continue to market online – without violating company policies:

1. Make your page about you, not your products or company. Stop blathering on about your super-duper product of the month in public areas of the web. Use your facebook page to talk about you, not your special offers. Take photos of your trips, and the incentives you’ve won. Post pictures from parties, and tag hosts/guests (with their permission). Don’t talk about what company you’re with, just let people ask. Then, you can send them a private message or a link with more details.
2. Market from a mailing list. Use social media sites as a place for your clients to learn more about you as a public persona, and drive traffic from those sites to an opt-in mailing list. I don’t know any company that presently prohibits you from sending an email to your own list of clients to let them know about your company, your products, and your specials. Plus, this makes a great way to screen prospective leads. They get on your list, THEN they get to learn about your company, your products, your business opportunity.
3. Stop using logos as your avatar. People want to know, like and trust you, not your logo. Put your friendly face on your online outposts so people can start to see you everywhere, instead of the company logo. Besides, if you ever switch companies (it does happen, you know), then, all your online efforts won’t have to be scrapped.
4. Stop product pushing and keep it social. Social media is a great funnel, but it’s lousy at converting prospects into customers. What it is GREAT at is turning strangers into friends. Just like your home shows, turning strangers into friends takes time, but ultimately yields better results.
5. Give them a reason to want to know you. Your product isn’t enough. If you look at the majority of folks that are in your social media circle, it’s probably not because you used the company name on your blog or in your page title. Chances are good that while that may have been why they first ventured to your page, they stick around because they know you, like you or trust you (there it is again!). Do more for your existing online community so that they have more reasons to want to talk to you – and share you with their online community.
6. Stop trying to circumvent the party. Yes, you can make good money online.  It takes effort, but it’s possible. Yes, you can do it without doing parties. It takes a lot more effort, but it’s possible. BUT… your parties (face-to-face interactions) will always be the most lucrative means of developing a solid direct sales business. The personal touch outshines an email or facebook “like” any day of the week.

I’ve yet to see a company that can prohibit you from having a blog, website or other social media presence that talks about you, rather than your company or product line. By marketing yourself, instead of your company or products, you become the focus of your business – and clients can gravitate toward you. While it sounds a little self-centered, it’s actually creates an asset for your business, because your clients are following you then your product, not the other way around.