One of the biggest mistakes people make when they start an online business is thinking that the sound management principles that are effective in the “real” world don’t apply. It is true that the web is a different environment. To a degree, success there is predicated on search engine visibility and technology that creates round-the-clock value and convenience for the customer.

However, the Internet is still just another “place” merchants set up shop. It’s not a “get rich quick” fount of miracles, but businesses that approach their online presence with a plan and well-selected tools do succeed. Of those tools, the most critical is how payments are received, processed, and completed.

1. All entrepreneurs undertaking an online endeavor should have a business plan that also incorporates what has to happen in the “real” world for their web activities to be a success. This could range from the chain of actions necessary to fulfill orders to the timetable for inventory to become available and be posted online.

2. Next, the merchant must make an informed choice about a payment gateway, specifically getting the cheapest credit card processing rates for the fullest and most flexible menu of services. While comparing merchant service account offers can be both time consuming and tedious, any fees paid, while arguably the “cost of doing business,” also eats into profits.

3. All decisions on payment solutions should be based on estimates of monthly sales volume. Many new online businesses opt to go with PayPal due to ease of set up, but if the business plans to sell more than $2000 a month in products and services, the fee structure of a merchant service account across the entire chain of the transaction is more cost effective and comes with greater options, including tools to detect fraud and to manage inventory.

4. The payment gateway should be tied to the right shopping cart solution that not only offers ease of navigation and use, but ensures the secure capture and transmission of the consumer’s card data. Generally, the merchant service provider will either offer software as part of the account package, or have a list of recommended carts from which the business owner may choose.

5. A critical part of working with a merchant service provider for credit card processing is having 24/7 access to customer and technical support. Any time that a site’s shopping cart is down or that payment information is not passing through the gateway, the business is losing money. Such problems must be detected early and addressed quickly.

Getting hung up on the appearance of an online store over its core functionality is a huge error in judgment. If the store is gorgeous, but won’t take a customer’s order efficiently and quickly, or is incapable of working with all major credit cards, it won’t be a success. Once a solid payment gateway is in place, all other elements of an online presence naturally fall into place.

By chance, have you been receiving a plethora of requests from unknown LinkedIn members hoping to join your network? Don’t be fooled. It’s the latest phishing scam that’s actually redirecting individuals to less savory sites like “Cosmetic Survey Genesis” and “International Legal RX Medications”.

Though the simple act of clicking on such links might seem harmless, especially if you click out of the faux pharmacy, there is the potential to download spyware onto your machine. To help folks identify these scams before they click on them, experts from Virgin Digital Help, a service that helps folks fix or resolve any technical issues has put together the following guidelines:

1.       Check the email address: If a message is being auto-delivered from a professional network the e-mail should reflect that. For example, trust your gut when you see “Alonzo Hoskins” as the sender and the associated e-mail address is listed as barkedcg63(at)LinkedIn(com)com. Genuine correspondence should come from a clean address like member(at)LinkedIn(dot)com.

2.       Not the only recipient?: If someone is requesting to join your network you should be the only recipient. If you see in the delivery header that multiple contacts are receiving the same e-mail – then take note that you are not reading an e-mail that has been specifically crafted for you.

3.       Do some light recon: If the name doesn’t sound familiar check the body of the e-mail to see if there’s a personal message. If the person trying to connect is serious they should explain why they’re reaching out or remind you of when you met. If it’s a colleague ask coworkers if they remember such person.

4.       Don’t let the link fool you: If you have noticed some of these red flags, or you are just unsure about the authenticity of the message – hover your mouse over the link before clicking. Does the pop-up bubble show a hyperlink that looks relevant to the content of the e-mail, or does it look like LinkedIn is trying to get you to shop for Botox? If it doesn’t seem legit, then don’t click.

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We would like to thank our guest post contributor for submitting the post to us so that we can share this valuable information with all of our readers.

As a Direct Sales Team Leader, I often hear consultants say that they have a Phone Phobia. These consultants will avoid making or receiving telephone calls in regards to their home business.

When it comes to making business calls, consultants often fear the following:

1. Fear of not conveying their message correctly.

2. Fear of not getting the results they hope to achieve.

3. Fear of rejection or getting no’s.

4. Fear of not being liked by the person to whom they are calling.

When a person has a genuine case of phone phobia, they will avoid the telephone like it was their worst enemy. In fact, in Direct Sales, the telephone can be a valuable business asset.

Here are a few tips on how you can overcome this problem.

1. Write 3 business related scripts. You will need one for: party hosts, customers and for pitching your home business opportunity. If you are not comfortable with drafting up a telephone script, ask your team leader or sponsor for assistance.

2. Role Play with a fellow consultant or with your team leader. The more you practice, the more comfortable you will get when the time comes to make your business calls.

3. Tag Team with a fellow consultant or with your team leader. When you need to make business calls, see if your team leader will do a three-way call with you and the person you need to call.

Making and receiving business phone calls is an important part of having a Direct Sales home business. Sit down and make a list of why you are avoiding the telephone. Once you have your reasons, try solving the problem with one of the above tips.

Do You Need More Bookings? If so, check out that site!

A few weeks ago I got an email from a gal who is a consultant with one of the Direct Sales candle companies and she wanted my opinion on the following question.

“Shelly, is it okay for me to outsource some of my business tasks to another professional?”

She then went on to tell me that she has been with her candle company for the past 2 1/2 years and that her team has grown to over 50 candle consultants and that she has been working 7 days a week, 10 hours a day to manage it all. She didn’t know if it was okay to outsource some of her smaller business tasks to another professional so that she could “free” up some of her time as she wanted to spend some of that “free” time with her family and some of that “free” time developing her local team.

Here is my reply:

Jane Doe,

Thanks for emailing me your question and YES…it is perfectly fine for you to outsource some of your business tasks to a professional to handle on your behalf.

If you are marketing your business online and want to “free up” some of that “time” then I would suggest hiring a professional ghostwriter or a virtual assistant to handle your online business tasks. A professional in these areas can do your blogging for you, post updates on your Facebook account, post updates for you on Linked-In and they can manage your Twitter account…all on your behalf. They can also write up and publish your online email newsletter, update your web site (if it’s a non-company sponsored site), answer emails that you receive, send emails on your behalf that need sending and other “online” business tasks. You might think that hiring an online ghostwriter or virtual assistant is expensive but many of them can be hired at an affordable price.

If you are marketing your business offline and need help in that area then I would suggest hiring yourself a personal assistant who can help assist you with mailing of catalogs, running business errands, answering your business phone, setting up appointments, lining up your local team meetings and most personal assitants can help assist you with your online business tasks too! Again…a personal assitant can be affordable but in most cases they will cost you more than an online ghostwriter or virtual assitant.

Jane…there is nothing wrong with hiring someone to help assist you with your business but I do suggest that you “shop” around for a “true” professional who at least has some experience in the Direct Sales field. Good luck on finding the right person to help you with your growing Direct Sales Business.

Shelly

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So…I thought I would post her question here on my blog along with my answer to her. If you are in the Direct Selling field and are outsourcing some of your business tasks to another person do you have any tips you want to share with my readers on how to find the “right” assistant/writer for them? If so…leave your suggestions, tips and ideas below. thanks!

Do You Need More Bookings? If so, check out that site!

Network Marketing Recruitment Training by Deb Bixler

4 Question Direct Sales Recruiting Interview

Actually, the direct sales training 4 question recruiting interview could be considered 5 questions. When you use this interview process you will sign up more consultants into your organization. Potential recruits all have almost the same concerns. This 4-5 interview process is simple to use and easy to teach. It is easy to remember and will give you and your organization great recruiting results.

Network Marketing Recruitment

Everyone in any network marketing business should be fine-tuning her or his recruitment skills. Practicing this simple interview will bring all home business representatives better results. The recruiting interview is as follows:

1. Do you have any questions or are you ready to get started?

2. What first interested you in MY TERRIFIC COMPANY?

3. What strengths do you have that would make you a good consultant?

4. What would you like MY FANTASTIC COMPANY to do for you?

1. Do you have any questions or are you ready to get started?

So I guess you can see why it is a dilemma as to whether it is a 4 or 5 question interview. I have always called it the 4 question interview.

Interview The Recruiting potential reps

When meeting with your home party business recruiting prospect, the first question is key. It does not matter whether you are conducting a face-to-face interview, interviewing over the phone, or an on-the-spot conversation at your show. If you skip the first question and they are in fact ready to get started then you may very talk them right out of it by giving them too much information. Most of the time when you ask question number 1 your guest will give you questions to answer.

The lead may ask about the compensation package. In which case you share a very factual piece of information in less than 10 seconds and ask another question to give you more information. So, you may say: “The commission structure varies depending upon your sales level. New consultants may expect to make about $200 per show. How many shows would you be able to do in a week?”

At this point your potential recruit may say she had not thought about it at all. So you go to # 2:

“What first interested you in MY TERRIFIC COMPANY?” She may say something like:

“Well, we could use a bit of extra income and I do not want my husband to have to get another job…”

Your 10-second response could be: “This is so flexible that it is perfect for busy families. We have a young Mom on our team who is going to college and doing MY WONDERFUL COMPANY at the same time for that exact reason. She does not want her new husband to be away from home for more than one job.”

“What strengths do you have that would make you a good consultant?”

Your new potential rep may say that she is a nurse and is very organized, as well as having the ability to get along well with people. So, you just validate that and point out how she would be good at what you do, because it is not hard and it does it takes good organizational skills. You could also point out that what you do is all about connecting, and with her good people skills she would be awesome at it.

What would you like MY FANTASTIC COMPANY to do for you?

The answer may be simple like: “I would just like to get the car payment covered, that’s all.”

So, your response could be: “Would you have time in your schedule to set aside one night a week to focus on your FANTASTIC COMPANY business?

“I think so… actually probably more than one night.”

“You know Lisa, It sounds as though this would be perfect for you, do you have any more questions or are you ready to get started?”

Home Party Business Opportunity Training

party plan training leaders who are good recruiters allow the new consultant to talk themselves into taking the opportunity. When you train your organization to use this simple interview process, you will see your whole team getting better results.

Good recruiting is actually allowing the new rep to make the decision without pressure. The 4-question direct sales recruiting interview is a cycle of questions that allows the new recruit to do exactly that. You are going to continue to cycle around using different versions of the same question. These questions are just guidelines, and may need re-phrased based on the situation.

Here are some samples of other ways to use the same questions. You may say each one, two or three times in different versions during the same interview.

#2: “What did I say today (at the show) that piqued your interest in MY TERRIFIC COMPANY?”

#3: “What would be your goals in joining MY FANTASTIC COMPANY?”

#4: “I know you enjoy nursing, what skills do you use at the hospital that will make you a good consultant?”

#1: “You sound like the perfect rep; do you have any more questions or can we order your kit?”

When you put consistent systems to market your home party plan business into place you will never have to worry about bookings. You can learn more at http://www.CreateACashFlowShow.com.
Article Source: WAHM Articles

Do You Need More Bookings? If so, check out this site!

Are you considering getting into the field of being a “Mystery Shopper”? If so, you need to tread the waters very carefully when selecting a company to join.

Mystery Shopping has gained popularity over the years and with that comes a lot of Mystery Shopping scams! Matter of fact, most of the mystery shopping jobs I see online are scams so you really need to do your “homework” before joining any of the companies.

I have seen companies that charge you a “hefty fee” to even join them. Many of them call it a “registration fee”. Well, a lot of these companies take your registration fee, pocket it and then never contact you for any mystery shopping work. ugh!

Then there are other companies that you can join but you have to “find” your own mystery shopping jobs through the hundreds they have listed and as you scroll through all of the jobs you realize that 99% of them are fake or have already been taken. Again, your hopes are dashed in making any type of money.

A few months ago I talked to a girl who was a mystery shopper and she told me she gets 2-3 jobs a month but most only pay $10 to $25 for her time (along with reimbursement for what she had to purchase which can take weeks to get reimbursed for). As you can see, that little bit of chump change won’t pay for your bills.

With all of that said…there are some “legit” mystery shopping companies and jobs out there…however, they are hard to find and many of them have very long waiting lists.

If you are considering this type of work for your work at home job or career, you need to tread the waters very carefully and ALWAYS check around & do your research on a company before joining one.

Today I am going to share a story on something that happened to me online a few years ago and today…this type of unprofessional behavior is still going on at various wahm (work at home mom) online forums.

I used to spend a lot of time on various wahm forum boards networking with other Direct Sales consultants. I was well-known on these forums because I had been a member of the forums for many years. When I say a member…I chatted and shared information with fellow wahms on these forums. I was NOT one of those who stalked wahm forums to just spam ads and run.

A few years ago I encountered some unprofessional behavior going on at a few of these wahm forums and made the decision to leave the forums since nothing was being done about it. You see…there are Direct Sales consultants who hang on these various WAHM forums and never post a dang thing…or they only post in the Advertise (spam) Your Business Information folders/sections of the forums. These are NOT valuable members of the wahm community at all.

With that said, these few rotten eggs make a point to sit and stalk the forums so that when a newbie comes onto the forums and asks for information on Company A…they are the first ones to pounce on them. (they direct message or email their business spam ad to the newbie lickety split). Not only that…these bad eggs do other unprofessional things too. I have seen them “bash” other Direct Sales consultants to newbies. What do I mean?

I once saw a Jane Doe talking to a Jewelry consultant and getting some biz oppty. information from her. Well this one particular bad egg fired off a message to the newbie telling her to “Not join Susie’s team but to join her team (bad egg’s team) and that she would give her a hefty discount off the sign-up fees if she did. Not only that, she told this newbie a bunch of lies about Susie to turn her against her and so that she wouldn’t join Susie’s team but join her team. How terrible is that? TERRIBLE.

I hate to see this type of unprofessional behavior by some going on. I understand that Direct Sales is a competitive field at times…but c’mon ladies, You all have moral values (or at least I hope you do) and you should behave better than that!

The moral of this story is this…If you are going to hang on these wahm chat forums so that you are networking your business that is great! However, you need to do it the “right” way and make yourself a valuable member of their community. You should not be there to just “spam” your biz ads all over the place and to jump on “newbies” when they join the forum. Furthermore, you should NEVER bash another direct sales consultant to anyone…it is just plain “unprofessional” to do so.

You might not get every “newbie” who joins the community to join your direct sales team…but you can at least hold your head up high, knowing that you are a “true” business professional and that you conduct your business professionally.

Do You Need More Bookings? If so, check out this site!

This blog post was published exclusively for www.workathomebusinessoptions.com

For the past several months I have been really disgusted with how some companies and how some Direct Sales consultants have been marketing their businesses over on Twitter.

Twitter is a major social media networking site and networking means having a 2-way conversation with those who follow you. It doesn’t mean that you do the following unprofessional things!

* You should not be sending Direct Messages to followers with your coupon codes, sales specials, etc. In addition, you should NOT be sending direct messages to your followers asking them to come check out your web site, your blog or to come like your Facebook page.

Tweet out your links to your sites and if folks want to come over to your site or like you on Facebook, they will. You should NEVER send those requests via direct messages or even directly tweet at each follower and ask them to do it. It is UNPROFESSIONAL!

* You should not set up your Twitter account to run on auto-pilot with a handy dandy app and tweet out sales spam 24/7. You need to be over there “live” tweeting more than “auto” tweeting. Folks know that you are “auto” tweeting and trust me, they hate it! If you don’t have time to interact with your followers, why the heck should they interact with you or give you the time of day when you don’t do the same!

* I am one of those who are really against the “Tweet Old Post” app that a lot of wordpress bloggers are using. Why? Because many of them ABUSE IT! They will have that app do all of their tweeting for them on auto-pilot and rarely show up on Twitter to do any live tweeting or to interact with their followers. TERRIBLE.

* Those of you who are using the keyword function over on Twitter and looking up keywords related to your niche is great, if you use it to just go follow those people on Twitter. However, if you are using the keyword function to just send out spam tweets or direct messages to people because they were discussing a keyword that you are trying to market for, well…shame on you! I can guarantee you that it pisses people off and they will report and block you for keyword spam.

What do I mean? Here is an example:

A few days ago I was discussing web site hosting with my business partner on Twitter. Within 5 minutes of me mentioning the word “hosting”  I had 27 @ mention tweets to me from various folks who were not following me giving me their recommendations, coupon codes, affiliate links, blah blah blah blah. All of those tweets got reported as spam by me and those folks got blocked!

If you want to market your business on Twitter, I suggest you learn how to do it the correct way. Otherwise, people will just label you as another Twitter spammer who spams nothing but junk on Twitter. Folks will NOT do business with those who spam them and that is the bottom line!

Twitter is one of the hottest and fastest growing online Social Media web sites and when used properly it can indeed help you grow your business and interact with clients/customers who are craving for your attention.

However, many direct sales consultants, home business owners and even big name brand corporations are improperly marketing their businesses and products on Twitter to the point that it’s overkill. What do I mean?

Well, way too many people & companies are sitting on Twitter 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (including weekends & holidays) and are spamming out promotional message (tweets) constantly. These same people and companies are not interacting often with their followers so all of their promotional tweets/messages are coming off as nothing but SPAM.

Twitter is a NOT a big old classified ad site. It is a big Social Media Networking site. Notice…I said NETWORKING site which means you and your company needs to be interacting and chatting it up with those who are following you. Chatting/Interacting means actually having a 2-way conversation. It does NOT mean you sit on Twitter and spam out promotional messages/ads all day and night long and never have a conversation with those who are following you.

If you want to market & network on Twitter you need to do it the right way so that you are not irking off those who are following you. If you take the time to “chat it up” over on Twitter you will find that your followers will appreciate you and your company a lot more!

10 Ways to Boost Your Online Mailing List by Terri Seymour

One of the most powerful ways to build a successful online business is by creating relationships with your visitors so they can begin to trust you and feel comfortable ordering from you. One way of building these relationships is by having a mailing list so you can keep in contact with your subscribers. This helps form a bond and will start to build that foundation of trust and credibility.

Sending out weekly online newsletters or mailings is a great way to solidify the trust relationship. But who do you send it to? Taking the time and effort to build a responsive email list is not easy but it certainly can be done.

The ten tips below will help you get started building that all important list of names and email addresses!

1. Privacy Guarantee – One of the most important things you can do is guarantee the visitor’s privacy. Be sure to let them know their information will never be given out or sold to anyone under any circumstances!

2. Easy Sign-Up – Be sure to put a quick and easy sign-up form for your visitors. You do not want your potential subscribers chased away by having to click through a maze of forms. Make the sign-up as easy and fast as possible.

3. Multiple Forms – Don’t make the mistake of just putting one sign-up form on your site. Be sure to have one on every page. Not everyone will go to your homepage. Also, be sure to add subscription forms to your Facebook page and other social networking sites.

4. In Plain Sight – When putting the sign-up form on every page of your site, be sure to put them on the top of the page on either the right side or the left side. I have read that the left side is more effective.

5. No Life Story – Don’t ask for a ton of information when trying to get people to sign up for your mailing list. You don’t need to know their phone number, address, gender, birthday, etc. The person is going to wonder what you want all that information for and they will be inclined not to give it to you. A name and an email address is all you need.

6. Double Opt-In – Always provide double opt-in for your subscriptions. So after they sign-up, an email will be sent to them to give them a chance to confirm their subscription. This will protect your subscribers from being added to unwanted lists and it will also protect you from being reported for spam.

7. Free Gift – Always offer a quality free gift to everyone who signs up for your mailing list. Show them you appreciate them and are willing to give something to them as well. I usually offer a free ebook with helpful, quality content. Put the download link in the welcome subscriber email you send out so they can access their gift immediately. Don’t make them contact you or wait for it.

8. Email Signature – Be sure to offer a sign-up form or link in your email signature. A lot of people will sign-up directly from an email.

9. Forward to a Friend – Encourage your subscribers to forward copies of your mailings to their friends and associates. Offer incentive contests. For example whoever gets the most people to subscribe gets a free gift or big discount on their next order.

10. Ad Swaps – Contact other newsletter publishers and ask them to do an ad swap. You will run a blurb about their newsletter if they do the same for you. You can also exchange blurbs on your welcome email that is sent to all new subscribers.

Bonus Tip: Be sure to offer quality content and products in your mailings. Add some contests (for example: a trivia challenge), some fun and encourage your readers’ interaction with you. This will go a long way in building that foundation of trust which in turn will bring you much more business!

About the Author:
Don’t be one of the 95% of people who fail at their online business. Terri Seymour can help you make money online. Find out how to increase your traffic and sales with her popular “How to Build Your Online Business” ebook for FREE at: ==> http://www.SeymourProducts.com
Article Source: WAHM Articles