For some direct selling consultants, November is the busiest month of the year bringing with it record sales.  Notwithstanding, those record sales bring about an increased need to be extra vigilant with your personal safety. Below are a couple tips to remember to ensure your personal safety.

• Don’t brag about the day’s sales. All too often I have heard other vendors ask each other at the end of an event, “How’d you do today?” Some of the responses I’ve overheard include: “Fantastic!” or “I sold about $700”.  Okay good for you; but you basically just told strangers that you have a wad of cash.  Just in case someone was looking to rob a vendor on the way out, you’d be a great target.
• Keep money with you at all times. Use a fanny pack, apron or pocket to keep your stash.  If you choose to use a cash box, make sure it is locked and out of sight; but not out of sight so much that if you turn to talk to a customer someone could unknowingly take it.
• Keep your hands free. Loading and unloading your vehicle to set up for an event can be a real pain in the dupa.  We try to make as few trips as possible and carry as much with us so that we don’t have to make an event just out of setting up.  However doing so, ensures that you are not hands free, thereby making you an easy victim should someone want to attack you in the dark or unattended parking lot.  Instead use a roll-cart, suit case or take multiple trips so that you’re not so encumbered you’re unable to defend yourself should the occasion arise.

Ideally it’d be nice to have someone with you at these events. I realize that is not always possible.  I’ve done more than a few by myself and it was fine.  However if you can encourage a spouse, friend, teen, neighbor, someone to at least be with you during set up and tear down phase, it’ll provide an extra layer of protection.  Otherwise, just be vigilant and make wise choices.

Give yourself plenty of time so that you’re not rushed into cutting corners or taking chances that you might not otherwise, if you did not feel compelled to beat the clock.  Enjoy your business; enjoy your customers and have a safe holiday season!

I’ve also seen some ads that tout the perks of “No Inventory” needed. I can certainly appreciate that lack of necessity or requirement for said inventory; however, I do not agree that is necessarily a good thing to be without inventory.

In fact, I contend that inventory is highly encouraged if you wish to grow your direct sales business. Many direct sales companies take one to three weeks to receive product once it is ordered.  In some cases, back orders occur and it can take even longer.  Who wants to pay for something and then wait three weeks before you actually get it?  Sure, many people do that, but imagine how much more your sales would increase if you had cash and carry available.

Whether you’re choosing to work your business via home parties, vendor events or one on one sales – we are in an age of convenience and impatience.  Customers will most likely take what you have rather than place an order and wait weeks.

Also consider the turn around time. If you’re at a vendor event and have on hand inventory, the customer who purchases from you will take the item home and likely either start using it immediately or show someone what she purchased. Assuming your product is a consumable, the customer will need a refill all the more quicker vs. the three weeks of downtime while waiting to receive her initial order.  Or if she shows it to someone that night “Hey look what I picked up at the craft show!” chances are greater for referral business, “Where did you get that? I want one!”

If your recruiting efforts include the words “No Inventory Needed”, you might want to change that to “If you’re able to stock up on a little inventory, it will really increase your sales ten fold.”

You’ve heard it before: It takes money to make money.  A small investment in some on-hand inventory will be money well spent.

Pajama Mama – This is a take on at-home mom costume that mom’s never wear but admittedly I did as a costume in college. The big difference is that not only do you wear your jammies and robe, but you need to accessorize with a large cup of coffee and a laptop or Smartphone!

Twitter Maven – You can do the full deal and dress up like a blue bird. Or simply walk around with your Smartphone commenting on everything. Don’t forget, you have to talk in 140 characters or less!

Facebook Maven – Not into Twitter, then why not dress up as a Facebook Maven.  Get a big piece of card board and cut a hole big enough for your face to show through. Along one side list all the stuff you’ve been doing. Add a quiz to make it realistic. And don’t forget to add a “Facebook Me” option so others can befriend you.

What ideas do have?

For example, if you sell candles, wouldn’t it make the most sense to give away a wax sample of Autumn Sunset?  Or if you sell herbs and spices, wouldn’t you want to provide potential customers with a sampling of your top selling Scampi Blend?

Certainly this may seem like a blinding glimpse of the obvious; but bear with me.  I know of some consultants who take the time and expense to make up labels bearing their contact information and company website, and then purchase mini-chocolate bars and wrap them with their labels.  This would be adorable if you were in the chocolate business or even the customized label business.  Not so much for kitchen gadgets or candles.

Likewise I’ve witnessed some consultants begging for promotional items such as chap-stick, bearing their consultant contact information.  Okay, if you sell cosmetics and you’re offering a sample of your own product line.  However if you’re trying to promote children’s toys, can’t you find something within your own product line to offer rather than someone else’s lip moisturizer?

Consider the bottom line.  Consider profit margin.  Consider whether or not what you’re about to participate in will increase sales – that is, sales of your own product line.  Cute and adorable will only take you so far in business.  If the action you take today won’t lead you closer to the next customer, hostess or recruit, it might be time to rethink your action plan.  If you’re a direct sales independent consultant, you’ll do well to stick to offering your own product line.

When most people think about working at home, they think about the tasks specific to the work. Making their crafts, emailing for a client, completing a report. What is often left out is marketing. Without marketing there is no one to sell crafts to, to email for, or write a report for. The challenge of marketing is that its really like farming. In farming, you plant a seed today, nurture it, and months later you have a feast. Marketing works much the same way. You plant the seeds by either writing an article, sending a press release or running an ad. Then you have wait for the results.

Another challenge is that when results start to come, sometimes people stop planting their marketing seeds and then wonder why a few weeks down the road the sales have dried up.

Serious WAHMs know that something needs to be done today, to insure an income tomorrow and beyond. So as part of your daily to-do list, you should have something related to marketing. It could be contacting a podcaster about doing an interview. Writing an article. Adding your event to your Facebook page.

By doing something everyday, you can spread out the tasks of marketing so its not overwhelming and you insure that you’ll have business in the future. So…what are you doing today to make money tomorrow?

Many direct sales companies also have someone(s) at the corporate level who is responsible to attempt to shut down these prohibited auctions.  Sometimes they are successful, sometimes not. If some consultants want to sell on eBay badly enough it’s not too difficult to have a friend list the items or to conceal their true identity.

All too often I see forum posts and hear consultants complain and whine about the eBay sales.   These very consultants spend far too much time trying to bust eBay sellers and not nearly enough time concentrating on selling their own products to their own customer base.  I tell ya – if these very people would invest as much time and energy in their own business as they do into the eBay sellers, they’d have more time to figure out all the places to spend their commission checks.

Consultants should really stop worrying about eBay sales and consider all the reasons why eBay is not a threat:

1. eBay bidders shop there to get a bargain; not to pay full retail.  Direct sales customers typically don’t mind paying retail; and if they don’t want to, most sign up to become a consultant. Ebay shoppers are not our customers. They will likely never be our customers and therefore eBay is not taking away our sales – they never were our sales.
2. Consultants who sell on eBay typically lose money, or at best, break even.  Consider all the costs involved with the initial cost of goods sold. On average, consultants get items at roughly 25% less than retail.  Then there are eBay and PayPal fees to consider.  And don’t forget that many items sell for less than retail anyway on eBay.

To illustrate, let’s look at a $30 item. And let’s assume that it sold for $20 on eBay (which may be generous depending on supply and demand).  Based on our assumption of 25% discount/commission, the consultant was able to purchase it for $22.50, but let’s just round up to $25 to include tax and shipping the consultant paid.  The consultant would need to pay $.25 basic insertion fee if the starting price was $9.99 or less, and 8.75% final value fee of $1.75; plus don’t forget PayPal fees of $.88.  So now the consultant has $27.88 invested into the $30 item that sold for $20. The consultant lost almost $8.00 by listing it on eBay.

Tell me again why consultants are worried about these folks?

But… but… it’s just not right! We’re not supposed to sell on eBay and she’s doing it and it’s just wrong; she out of compliance and corporate better do something about it and and and …

Knock-knock
Who’s There?
Scot
Scot who?
Scot nothing to do with you, so go sell your wax (or jewelry or kitchenware).

All too frequently I hear companies and existing consultants tout that “Anyone can do this business!”  Ok, perhaps anyone who has $39.99 or $99.95 on their debit card can sign up for a starter kit, but that does not mean that everyone should.

For example, have you seen the latest teen craze in jean pants – Skinny Jeans? I’ve also heard them called cigarette jeans because they’re so skinny, each leg looks like a slender cigarette.  These jeans can be found in a size double zero all the way up to a size 12 and higher. For those not terribly familiar with women’s sizes, a size 12 is not gi-normous by any means, but it is far from skinny. Many women who would attempt to wear a size 12 and higher skinny jean would look like two pigs fighting under a blanket.  Just because they can wear them, does not mean they should.

Same same with direct sales.  I believe in stretching your perceived limits; I embrace growth and challenges; I get benefits of getting out of your comfort zone; yet I don’t support trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole.

Below are some considerations to truthfully ponder before starting a direct sales business.  I know that for every example I cite there are indeed success stories of those who have overcome these challenges and have become financially successful.  However, life is pretty short to have to work so hard at something you don’t love doing or that you have to force yourself to do.

Direct Sales may not be for you if:

1. It looks so easy – some products are an easy sell, but running a direct sales business takes confidence, persistence, dedication, patience, flexibility, organization, creativity, the ability to follow company policies, and the necessity to actually show up for work – ideally on a daily basis.
2. You think others would be doing you a favor by hosting a party – if you have the mindset that your hostesses would be “having a party for you” or “doing you a favor”, you’ll need to change your stinkin’ thinkin’ or find another avenue in which to work at home.  You have to believe that you are offering a fantastic product and will benefit your hostesses.
3. You don’t have much contact with the outside world – if you tend to have a very small circle of friends and associates and don’t have opportunity or desire to leave your home much, it’s going to be challenging to find new customers, hostesses and recruits. Note: not impossible, just an uphill challenge.
4. You don’t have strong Internet marketing skills – if you do have contacts (see #3 above) you could be just fine.  But if you don’t have much contact with the outside (offline) world and intend to work your business by Internet Marketing, yet don’t possess knowledge, skills and abilities in that area, you can certainly learn, but plan on it taking some time. Just because you build your website, they will not come.
5. Public speaking scares the pants off of you – if you’d rather have a root canal and a pap smear at the same time than speak in front of a group of people, a business in product sales may not be for you.
6. You don’t have the financial investment for a start up kit.  Some direct sales starter kits require more financial investment than others; but regardless, if you don’t have the scratch to purchase your own start up kit, then it’s not time to start a business.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you’re not vested in your own business, it has a strong probability of failure.  All businesses require some sort of investment.  While I embrace initially not spending a wad on non-essentials, such as logo wear and other marketing collateral, you will likely need some additional funds for items such as business cards, internet hosting, product samples, etc.
7. Someone talked you into it – if you didn’t have the gnawing sense that you had to be a part of a particular direct sales company, but rather you were pressured, bamboozled, got caught up in some rah-rah hype or simply didn’t have the peace that surpasses all understanding, then don’t do it.  Far too many former consultants fall into this category and have closets full of dusty starter kits.

You might want to pass this article along or bookmark it so that the next time you hear someone say that “Anyone can do direct sales” you can point out that perhaps while anyone can sign up for direct sales, it may not be the best option for all. (Put the skinny jeans down and find a more flattering trouser cut pant!)

Of course, if none of the seven reasons above pertain to you, then you very well may be the next Direct Sales superstar.  What are you waiting for?  I’ll see you at the top!

1) Avoid the same old promises. “We care”, “Turnkey solutions”, “Amazing”, etc are all tired promises that are mostly met with skepticism. If these concepts are important to sales, you need to find new ways of expressing them. What does “we care” mean? Are you available 24/7 to provide support?

2) Stay grounded. Sales is about convincing people that you have the solution. Sales books encourage the use of hyped up words to help do the convincing. But people don’t buy it and if the sales copy is too over the top, they won’t believe it. There is a story about selling a drill, but the person doesn’t want a drill per se, he wants a hole. The drill is the solution to his need. Someone needs a hole from a drill doesn’t need sales copy on how the drill can make a tunnel…that’s hype. Instead the copy should focus on the hole and perhaps how quickly it can be made.

3) Be in your customers shoes. You know how you like to be talked to or what ad tactics turn you off. Be aware of that as you create your own marketing messages. If you’d roll your eyes at your claims, odds are someone else will too. Customers don’t care about you or whether you’re number 1 or are amazing. They only care about how what you have will help them. If you can stay focused on them and filling their need not with a lot of hype but through your features and the benefits they offer, then you’ll have a sale.

Before you say, “But that’s not focusing on the positive, Laurie” let me say that I am positive that if you are currently engaging in any of the actions below; and if after you read this you find yourself with a new awareness that what you’ve been doing isn’t necessarily a best practice, I am positive you will see an increase to your down line.

Join My Team and Get …

Bribing people to join your team is numero uno on my list desperate recruiting moves.  

• Do you really want team members who are just there for the freebies?
• It looks like your company’s business opportunity and/or starter kit isn’t good enough to stand on its own.
• How is this any different than the little elementary school girl who couldn’t get anyone to play with, so she gave away her cookies at lunch just to have friends?
• It’s sending a message that your mentoring and coaching skills are sub-par.  Otherwise you wouldn’t devalue what you have to offer.
• Based on the percentage of royalties you will receive on your new recruit’s sales, have you calculated how much she/he will need to sell before you merely break even on your give away?

I Only Need Two More People To Qualify for the Trip

Do I really need to elaborate how desperate this one makes you look?

Push It… Push it Real Good

Some sales gurus will tout the benefits of creating a sense of urgency. Ok, I’ll give you that some feel this is a good tactic.  However my personal experience with direct sales is that it is not appropriate to push too hard when recruiting team members; doing so only makes you look desperate.

• It’s one thing to let people know if you have a ground floor opportunity or a limited time offer, but will their lives really be that miserable if they don’t act now?
• If you represent a stable company with an awesome opportunity, isn’t it reasonable to expect that you (and the company) will be around for a while?
• You may be able to strong-arm someone into joining your team, or create must-have hype, yet if someone starts a business before she/he is ready, who will that benefit … anyone?
• Some will question the motive behind you pushing so hard to recruit new team members. If it’s a good fit, it should flow naturally.

I have never asked anyone to join my team. Never. I simply make my opportunity and myself visible; those who want to join merely do. I’ve had potential recruits ask if me I am offering any sign-up specials (no) or tell me that another consultant is offering free websites to their recruits (so).  The passive, put-it-out-there-and-then-just-step-back and let-it-simmer approach has worked well for decades (yes decades) with me.

If you need to make some adjustments in your recruiting efforts, there’s no time like the present to do so!

I’m a project and idea queen. I have so many great ideas and usually I just jump right in. The problem is, I have so many projects, that I can’t seem to manage it all. And because I jumped in, many are live and active but aren’t being cultivated. It comes to a point when I have to determine if I stick with it or let it go.

Obviously, I need to do more work before launch to figure out if a project should be pursued. But sometimes I get really excited about it and the potential of it, that I just run with it (I can’t be the only one). So I’m left with doing all the evaluating after the fact. I thought it might be helpful to share how I’ve been trying to determine whether to hold on to a project or fold it up.

1) Do I still have enthusiasm for it. You’ll notice I didn’t ask if it was making money, which is an important factor (see #2). But if I’m really excited about it, I’m willing to work with it for a time until it does make money or re-evaluate it later if it doesn’t.

2) Is it making money? New projects can take time to make money, so at least I need to see traffic or something that tells me its reaching its audience and the audience is starting to respond. After all, I do need to pay the mortgage so I don’t want to waste time on projects that won’t earn its keep.

3) Does it fit my goals? Its so easy to turn a hobby or passion into an online income stream these days. But not all my ideas work off one another and that can be harder. I have priorities and goals that include getting my book sold (which involves PR, marketing, and public speaking), I have a website that needs traffic (SEO and articles), and an information product that needs to be sold (articles, affiliates). All of these are related to working at home so much of my effort overlaps. When I get traffic to my site, they see my book and information products. But then I have some projects that are completely different. And while they can make money, they aren’t helping my goal of getting my book sold.

Even with these criteria, I’m still struggling to let some projects go. They’re like little children that I birthed and nurtured. But when too many projects makes it impossible to be efficient and effective, then something has to give.