Stop Gifting Your Customers to Other Consultants

Whether you have been in your direct sales business for years or are brand new, one thing you have probably figured out by now is that you work hard to acquire and maintain customer relationships. Now, I'm not saying that there is a LACK of customers, by any means. In fact, at Successfully Social we do our best to continually encourage you to approach your business with a mindset of abundance. But come on people, you still need to make smart decisions! I am willing to bet that many of you are handing your hard earned customers to other consultants in your company without even realizing it. But that all stops now!

So wait, I know what you're thinking..."NO, not me, I am not doing that." Okay, fair enough. But are you sure? No, I don't think that you're actually taking your customer's phone number and texting it over to the competition. But did you realize that every time you share a product pin from another consultant, every time you share a YouTube product demonstration that another consultant has created, even every time you grab someone else's Facebook party posts that they've shared in a consultant group, you are running the risk of introducing your customers to that other consultant. And I'm quite sure THAT wasn't what you had in mind, right?

Let's take a look at Pinterest first. So often we are jumping on Pinterest quickly in the car line, waiting at the doctor's office, etc. We see something we like and we pin it, if for no other reason so that we can come back to it later and check it out. Sound familiar? But what you might not realize as you're pinning that super cute product usage is that the consultant who originally took the pic and put it up is likely leading people who click all the way through on it over to her blog or her Facebook page, where she then has the opportunity to sell to those folks that ended up there. So then when you re-pin it quick just from that little preview screen without following that link and seeing where it goes, you could be unwittingly advertising for her to all of those friends, customers and hostesses who follow YOU on Pinterest. Instead of going down that road, when you see a product use idea pic you like, take note of it, screenshot it if you like, and then make it a point to go back and use that picture as inspiration to take your very own pic of that item for use in your social media.

The other examples I have for you are pretty similar. Let's just say that someone from your company has created a stellar product demonstration video and put it publicly on YouTube to allow her fellow consultants to use it. Super sweet of her, right? Well, yes and no. While there are certainly many consultants who will share like this just for the sake of the sisterhood, the truly social savvy chicks know that not only will all these consultants sharing her video, liking it, commenting on it, etc. will up her YouTube visibility, but this smart cookie has probably also got that particular video leading into another video on a product, or even the opportunity. And when you're putting that video into a party or into your customer group, you're pointing your customers right at her and saying "check out how cool she is". Hmm...no good, right? So instead (y'all knew this was coming) make your own videos!! They don't need to be amazing production quality with professional sets, but they should be YOU. And a general rule of thumb is...if something has a long shelf life, make a video. If it's a one-off breaking news type event, just use Facebook LIVE.

Okay, finally, grabbing that whole Facebook party from a fellow consultant and calling it your own. Y'all, I get it, writing a Facebook party can be tedious. Particularly with changing monthly specials, new product announcements, etc. And okay, of these three examples, this one is the least risky, assuming you are paying attention to what you're doing. Most of the consultants who are sharing their Facebook party have obviously created it initially for themselves. Only makes sense, yes? So IF you're going to borrow some or all of the posts from a party please at least do yourself a favor and make sure that you've gone through it with a fine tooth comb and removed anything that references back to that consultant's team name, their website, their Facebook business page or albums on their business page, etc. You would think that this would be a no-brainer, but I can't even tell you how many times I have seen one consultant push another consultants info out inside a party. Talk about an oops. Please don't be that girl!!!

Alright, so in closing, as usual, I am advocating for you to create your own stuff for social media absolutely as much as you possibly can. And in particular, be wary in these specific areas.

Your Direct Sales May MAP (Marketing Action Plan)

Use these dates to create engagement posts and theme parties for your Facebook customer VIP groups.

Hostess Coaching Checklist Printable

All this week on our Facebook business page, we have been going LIVE and talking about hostess coaching, so I put together this Hostess Coaching Checklist that you can use when you're coaching your direct sales hostesses. If you're not sure what I mean by the post cards referenced in the chart below, take a look at the post I shared to our group yesterday - there is a video I made explaining the hostess postcard system I developed a few years ago - it's done AMAZING things for my business!

Get the PDF version here on our Facebook Group.

Try This Trick to Increase Your Productivity

To-do lists. We all have them. Whether you keep yours digitally, on paper, or, God forbid, just in your head, odds are you've got a never-ending list somewhere of all the tasks that you should get accomplished. For me, working from home, I have a list that encompasses business related things as well as "life stuff". Yep, all in one list. Cause there is only one me, so why have two separate lists? Makes sense, right?

Personally, I have an on-paper list...which I realize is somewhat odd, being an otherwise digital style girl. But I have found that when I can actually X out an item on a list I find that far more satisfying than just striking it out on the computer or deleting it off a digital list. Personal preference I suppose. In any case, I have a calendar with a two page spread for each week, and in each of those days of the week, I write the tasks for the day. Yes, I do write ahead into days where I know I have a task coming up that will need to be done, but maybe not til next Wednesday or something. Putting my tasks to paper is my brain dump. If I can get it out of my head, it's more likely I will actually get it done on time. And no, things don't always get done exactly on the day that I planned them to. I'm still human, after all, and some days you just don't feel like working.

So, enter what I like to call the "30 Minute Day". This is a concept I started doing a few years ago when my task list was getting long and I was feeling overwhelmed. It's NOT something I do every day, or even every week...just when I need to. Basically, I take a look at my task list and figure out what stuff on there I am procrastinating on that I really need to get a move on, or what stuff just HAS TO get crossed off that list. Ideally for me (again, working from home) that "must do" list is going to be a mix of business and personal tasks. Often you'll find things on my list from "create more team group interaction posts" to "fold laundry" to "plan menu and make grocery list" to "write blog post on vendor events", etc. Ya know, all that "stuff" that isn't difficult but just isn't done. I am sure you can relate.

Once I've got my list, I set the timer on my phone for 30 minutes and start on one of the business related tasks. So that first 30 minutes I will be doing nothing but working on those team interaction posts. The whole time. If by some miracle, I happen to get them done with time to spare, I'll start scheduling them. When the timer goes off, I stop. Whether I'm finished or not. Yes, really. Then I set the timer for another 30 minutes and I tackle one of the personal items on the list, like folding laundry. In my house, that absolutely won't get done in 30 minutes, because I have a tendency to wash a ton and then leave it in like 8 laundry hampers waiting to be folded (raise your hand if you're that girl, too!!) So when the timer goes off, I stop folding laundry and leave the rest for later. Now I set the timer once more for 30 minutes, and this 30 minute block is a BREAK. I can do whatever. Watch some Netflix, play on my iPad. I can do anything I want, EXCEPT go back to that work or the laundry. The break time is essential, and I promise, even though you are technically working fewer hours, you will accomplish more, because your mind has time to relax. Try it.

When break time is over, the cycle starts again. 30 more minutes towards a work task, then a personal task, then a break. I cross more off my to-do list on my 30 minute days than you can imagine, and more importantly, I feel like I can conquer the world!! I dare you to give it a shot.

Three Ideas for Your Direct Sales Business This Spring

Spring is here in the direct sales world, and recently on Successfully Social's page we heard from our members that they wanted to know how to run their businesses in spring. In fact, it was such a popular inquiry that we made it the topic of our Facebook LIVE series this week. So, that said, here are some ideas you can use for your direct sales business right NOW while spring is in full bloom.

But before I get started, let me preface this by saying that both Kelly and I believe that you need to be full steam ahead with your business all year long...not on again off again with the changing of the seasons. Remember that the actions you take in your business right now will have long reaching consequences in the months to come. If you don't believe me, take a look at your calendar...if you took a month off around mid-December to mid-January, are you still feeling the pain of that 75-90 days later? Trust me, give it your all year round and you won't hit that bookings slump that many of your direct selling sisters fall into a couple times a year. Okay, enough with the PSA, let's get to our topic.

1. Go get those Mother's Day orders. Aside from the December holidays, Mother's Day is one of the biggest shopping occasions of the year. And what completely rocks about that is that just about all of our direct sales companies have things that mama would love! From skin care to jewelry to purses to cookware to candles and more, direct sales is an industry geared primarily towards women (and let's face it, women are also the ones most likely to be shopping for mother's day - for their own mom, their mother-in-law, sister-in-law, their grown daughters, etc.) So how can you capitalize on that? Well, I suggest creating three product bundles at three different price points, maybe a $40ish, $75ish and $120ish. Make some cute graphics showcasing these bundles and put them in your Facebook VIP group. Then take those same images and create a printable PDF or printable image with each of the bundles and a little checkbox next to each of the three images. Put on all of your contact information/how to order information and give it a big fun title at the top like "I'm Making Mother's Day Easy For You This Year" and let all those mamas in your VIP group know they can print that out, check off the one they want, and give it to their hubby - you'll take care of the rest. You get some extra sales from the dads, and mom gets what she wants for a change. Win-win!

2. Get out! Outside, that is. Host a Sip and Shop or Spring BBQ for your customers and previous hostesses. For many of us, the weather is starting to get gorgeous and people are ready to get out and about. If you haven't hosted your own spring launch yet to show off new items your company has come out with, now is the time! You can do this poolside, in the backyard under the trees, or even at the playground and let them bring the kids. Do it as a mystery hostess and offer up tickets towards winning the host rewards for anyone that orders.

3. Spring Clean. If you didn't take my advice in the post about turning your retired inventory into bookings, you might be sitting on a bunch of retired items that you're no longer using. Maybe it's time to let some of them go - you could use the idea from that post I just referenced, or you could do something quick like snapping pics of them and selling them off auction style in your VIP group. Then take that cold hard cash and reinvest it in yourself and new products you don't have yet in your display. And side note, think mid to high price range items when you're adding to your party display - people will buy a $10 or $15 item sight unseen, but when it comes to the $90 stuff, they want to be able to see before they buy. And who can blame them?!

Will you try any of these ideas? What else are you doing to make your spring spectacular? Share below.

Integrity & Your Business

All week long on our daily LIVE over on our business page, we've been talking about integrity in business. How you conducting yourself professionally (and personally!) reflects not only on your business but also on that of your parent company as a whole. Today I wanted to continue that discussion. Here are links to our LIVES if you missed them. 

Don't Be "That Girl" - How to Act in Groups and Pages
Are You Poaching from Your Sister Consultants?
Do What You Say You're Going to Do
Treat Your Business Like a Business

So, have you seen these bad behaviors by someone online? What's your take? Do you agree that it's things like this that contribute to the negative impression some have of our industry?

Your April MAP is here

Need ideas to use for your April interaction posts? Here is a compiled list of different fun holidays for the month - some of these would also make great theme parties inside your group, as well.

Get Successfully Social for March

Hey there direct sellers! With March right around the corner, it's time to formulate your Marketing Action Plan (MAP) if you haven't already. Awhile back in our blog post Top Ten Things to Implement in your Direct Sales Customer Group in 2018, we encouraged you to start some new things in your closed Customer Communities this year, and with that in mind I've created you a "cheat sheet" of a few things happening in March that you can use towards your theme parties and random holiday celebrations. 

Theme Parties Ideas for Direct Sellers

So one of the things that Kelly and I recommend doing inside your closed Customer Community is doing a monthly theme party. Why? Because they are fun! Because they get attention! Because you never know what theme is going to strike a chord with your audience!

So, that said, we wanted to give you a few theme ideas that you can use in your own customer group. Comment below if you have some additional favorites you like to use.

New Catalog Coming Out? Read on!

Most companies come out with a new catalog sometime in the first quarter of the year. If this is you, here are a few quick tips to make sure you’re getting those catalogs in the hands of your customers and potential hostesses for the season, and building the excitement of the new products your company has come out with.

Spread the Excitement – think about going live on your customer group with your new products (if you have them in hand) or with your favorite parts of the actual catalog itself if you don’t. This is going to help let your own excitement for the new stuff shine through. If your company offers amazing hostess exclusive items, these are FABULOUS to highlight, as well.

Share pics – once you get that stuff in hand, create some artful displays around your home with your items, if you sell home décor. Or some cute styles you can pair with the new jewelry, if you sell jewelry. Or some fresh new looks with the make-up if that’s your industry. You get the idea. Show items in use, not just photos straight off your website. Let people envision your items in a real-world scenario, not on a closed set. Life isn’t a catalog!!

Have you done a Google form in the past, whether in your Facebook parties, your closed group, in a customer email, etc? Go back through your previous responses of who wanted a catalog last time around and go ahead and send them a new one along with a short handwritten note to check out what’s new and text you with their favorite item for a chance to be entered in your monthly customer drawing.

Haven’t done a Google form? DO IT NOW!!! Create one and post the link to it in your customer group (super easy, I promise, and one of the things Kelly and I walk you through step-by-step in our Facebook Party Course). Give people the opportunity to fill that out and let you know they would like a catalog, and enter all them in your monthly customer drawing. 

If you get home office leads from your company, go back through those leads and reach out to people who had expressed interest in the past – whether for a catalog, hosting, or the business, and let them know about the new catalog, and of course offer to send them one. 

Newness is exciting, and you need to capitalize on that! Yes, I realize catalogs cost you money, but they are hands-down your best marketing piece to get in people’s hands. I know they can see things online, but there is something about sitting on the couch looking at a catalog and dog-earing those pages that makes people want your stuff even more!

Stay tuned next week when I’ll be giving you guys my absolute favorite idea of what to do with all those products you have that are retired from your display (yeah, hoarder, I’m talking to you – time to get it GONE!!!)

5 Things to do for Your Direct Sales Business in December

Most direct sales companies have their holiday shipping guaranteed cut-off date around December 10-15th. Many consultants think that means they can just take the rest of the month off, but that really couldn't be farther from the truth. There ARE ways you can turn those last few weeks of the year into productive time, so let's take a look at a few ideas.

1. Sell. Hold an inventory sale from products you have on hand. Many of us have items that have retired that we still have from our displays - these can be someone's great last minute gift all the way up until Christmas. Host a stop and shop in your home, and offer gift wrapping (or gift bagging) so that people can leave your home with their gifts ready to roll.
2. Book. Work on filling your January calendar! If your last few November and December parties didn't fully book you up for January, NOW is the time to reach out to past January hostesses, potential hostesses who haven't nailed down a date yet, or just anyone who has shown interest in booking. You do not want to roll into the new year without your January calendar solid, so do the work now.
3. Inventory. Take an inventory of your business supplies and figure out what you need to order to start the year off right. Do you have all the catalogs, order forms, hostess goodies, etc. that you are going to need? Many companies change catalogs over in January, and thus make the new book available for consultants to order in December. If this is you, or if you have a couple more months left in your winter book and you aren't going to have enough to get you through til the end, get your order placed. Because remember point 2, you're going to be booking up your January and you're going to need to have those hostess packets ready to mail to all of your excited January hostesses.
4. Marketing. Revamp your marketing plan for the new year if it needs it, or if your marketing plan is solid, make sure you have your necessities stocked. I have a lot of solid systems in my business, such as Hostess Happy Mail and my Customer Follow-Up System, and now is the perfect time of year to make sure that I have all I need from Vistaprint and my back office. If you don't personally have systems in your business that are working for you, now is a great time to start some. The new year is always something of a clean slate, and honestly is when almost every system of mine got it's start, one year or another. 
5. Mastermind. Do you have someone you work closely with in your business? Set aside time to mastermind with them on what you both want from your businesses in the coming year. I have two people I work closely with - Mariekan, from the same direct sales company, who I have partnered with to train our teams together, and Jessica, who is a friend from another company who is my go-to girl to bounce ideas off of. Each December, I have planning meetings with each of these people. With Mariekan, we get together for four days straight and plan out our entire year of team trainings, our schedule for calls, zooms, topics, etc. Yes, it's a lot, but you can't imagine how organized we feel heading into a new year with a solid map for what is to come. With Jessica, we do an overnight, and lay out our goals for our personal businesses in the coming year, talk strategy and marketing, and create vision boards to help keep us on task. Both of these masterminds are crucial to my success, and I highly recommend you do something similar. 

So, what will YOU do with the final few weeks of the year? I suggest you figure it out...and then be on the lookout for another post coming soon about the top 10 things you want to implement in your business next year...

Three Ways to Stand Out at Your Holiday Vendor Events

I spent some time the other day thinking about the upcoming holidays and how I can maximize this month and share idea's with others to help them maximize the month while bringing enormous value to our customers. This month's cheque is our holiday cheque and typically the highest cheque of the year. So what's a direct seller to do? Do the things that other's don't, so you can have a business that other's won't.

IDEA 1: Bring a tree to decorate with your products, use your products as gifts under the tree and stuff some stockings with our products INSTEAD of setting up a table display. Ensure the decorations, gifts and stockings are ready for sale. Don't follow the crowd, bring the fun factor and enjoy the festive season!

IDEA 2: Use your table as a gift wrapping station! Bring gift wrap, bows, tags, ribbon, confetti, and stickers, and let people wrap their purchases at your table, play some Christmas music, serve some cocoa and cookies. Put a jar on the table for donations to your favorite charity and ensure your finger is ready to help them tie the perfect bow! Providing a service invites people to your booth and gives you a chance to start some conversations; we are in the relationship marketing business after all! Have a sheet for them to fill out their contact information so you can send a thank you card and forward to the charity for tax donation receipts.

IDEA 3: Expand your Social Media following by sharing the fun of your booth with your audience. You are going to be announcing on your social media channels the amount raised for your charity, so ask them to follow you (it's easy they have their phone with them, after all). Create a contest around the day by offering a special drawing for those that share a selfie (with their fabulously wrapped gift) on your business page, and let them know they will get a second chance of winning by liking your page! Remember to follow through, comment on their pictures, and ensure that you have a strong content plan for after the event.

Now go out and ROCK your vendor events and remember to take some time to brainstorm some ideas of your own.

Your Store is Open, But Are Your Customers Coming In?

Your Facebook Business Page
In the realm of Facebook, you can think of your Facebook Business Page as your storefront. It's searchable by Google, you can list items for sale right on it, and anyone looking for you can find you, even if you are not connected on Facebook. But if you're not getting interactions on your page, that's a lot like opening your doors and nobody coming in to see you.

It's a bit of a vicious cycle...if you aren't getting interactions you'll rank low on Facebook's algorithm, and if you rank low on Facebook's algorithm, your content won't be displayed very frequently in your fan's news feeds, thus making it more difficult to get interactions. See the problem? So how do you break out of the cycle? First let's look at the Facebook algorithm for a second so you understand what I'm referring to when I say that, and then we'll look at how to up your reach.

The Facebook Algorithm
You hear people talk about this all the time, but what does it really mean? The average person now spends nearly two hours of their day on social media, and Facebook wants to own as much of that time as they can, rather than letting it go to YouTube, Pinterest, SnapChat, etc. So, in their continued effort to keep you captivated, they want to display things into your news feed that you are most likely to click on, like, comment on, or share - basically things you will spend your TIME on. So they are more likely to show you items from your friends, pages you like, groups you frequent, IF those items are already performing well. Posts that already have multiple likes, comments and shares have "proven themselves" so to speak, so Facebook deems them hot content and displays them more frequently.

So What's a Determined Direct Seller to do?
The best thing you can do to help increase your Business Page interactions, thus allowing more people to see you, is by putting out creative, unique, relevant content that is specifically of interest to the people who follow your page. Please note that this does NOT mean all business all the time. You might very well sell a fabulous line of jewelry, but if every single post on your page is a piece of jewelry, that is going to get old very quickly for your fans, yes? Instead, why not share relevant articles, such as runway trends, hot colors for the upcoming season, ideas on taking your look from day to evening seamlessly, etc.

Make a Plan, Work Your Plan
Creating content for your business page doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming, but you do need to carve out a little time to do it. As you're getting started, try out our Roadmap to Business Page Engagement below to help you along. Start compiling a list of post ideas - I always just refer to this as a brain dump. Look over your list...what common themes are you seeing? Those might be things you want to create a schedule around, or things that will be part of a multi-day series. We've given you best posting times and a hashtag of the day to get you thinking. Use your creativity to come up with other hashtags that work for you, your products, your company, and your industry.

5 Ideas to Increase Your November Sales (Without Leaving Your House)

If you've been in direct sales for any length of time you know that RIGHT NOW is the busiest time of the year for our industry. But what if your calendar isn't quite where you want it to be? Try one of these easy ideas to get some extra sales in (and some extra cash in your pocket before the holidays!)

1. Hold a turkey trot. You may have heard this term before. Basically, you get a number of people (generally 6 or 12) to agree to collect $100 in orders, and in return they receive a portion of the hostess rewards. So, let's say for example that with a $600 party, your company offers 3 half price items and $100 in free product. You would take those rewards and divide them up between the six people who collected orders, so one person receives $50 free, two people receive $25 free, and three people receive a half price item each. This is a fabulous choice for those that want to reap the rewards of your company without hosting an entire party themselves. Set a deadline by which the orders need to be in, and then draw for who receives which rewards. Boom - an extra $600 or $1200 in sales for you!
2. Create a product bundle and have your hostesses market JUST that bundle to her friends. When she sells a set amount of them, she gets her bundle for free. Let's say you sell make-up. Assemble a bundle with a mascara, an eyeliner, and two eye shadows and figure out how many of that bundle would need to sell in order to accumulate that amount in hostess rewards - that's how many bundles the hostess will need to sell in order to receive her bundle free. The beauty in this is, you're able to reach people who are turned off by the "idea" of hosting. They're not "hosting" per se, they're not earning "hostess rewards", they are just sharing this great bundle set with friends and getting one for free. They get product, you get sales, it's a win-win.
3. Host a holiday theme party inside your Facebook closed customer group. Theme parties are great any time of year, but this time of year is particularly fun, because there are so many fun themes you can come up with, depending on the industry your company falls into. One theme that works well across most any industry would be a "Stocking Stuffers Party". Showcase your less expensive items ($30 and under generally) and encourage people to think about shopping for teachers, aunts, cousins, neighbors, nieces, etc. Turn it into a mystery hostess party and give the rewards away, with guests earning tickets for purchasing, booking their own party, sharing ideas, and commenting on  your posts. 
4. Have a texting party. Give your hostess a graphic to send to her friends asking them if they are interested in participating in a texting party (check out RedStamp.com for creating awesome text able images). Those that respond yes, you will text each of those people once a day for five days with the party link and a product or bundle image. People are busy busy busy, so this can be a great way to pick up some extra sales without a lot of time spent on your party or your customers.
5. Hold a Christmas Stop & Shop cocktail hour on Black Friday in your home. People can come by after hitting the mall and have a couple drinks while shopping either your catalog or your in-stock inventory. Pick up some cute wrapping paper from the Dollar Store and set up a couple wrapping tables, too, so that people can get their essentials wrapped before they take them home (think about how much easier it is on mom to not have to sneak the toys into the house and hide them from the kids after Black Friday shopping - this alone is a HUGE draw!!)

Try one or all of these ideas to give yourself a sales boost this season. Have other ideas? We would love to hear them below!

True or False?

Y'all have no doubt heard the saying "you have to spend money to make money", right? Do you believe that or not? I personally do. Today is Monday Mail Day in my business, and all of these things are happy mail going out to my HOTM club, my VIP hostesses, my upcoming hostesses, or my team members. Yes, it costs me my time to find the things I want to send to them and to package it all up. Yes, it costs me money to purchase them, purchase the envelopes, and the postage. But the rewards I reap make it all worthwhile. These little things show the people receiving them that they are valued. They help strengthen the relationship I have with each one of the recipients. They let these people know they are part of my tribe, and that I was thinking of them when I put these together.You have NO idea how much feedback I get on my "pink mail". Everyone that receives a pink envelope in the mail KNOWS it's something just for them. It's not a bill, it's not a bank statement, it's not just another solicitation...it's something FUN, simply designed to put a smile on their face after a long day at work or a tough day doing the stay-at-home mom gig. And that's priceless.

Customer Facebook Groups That Thrive Not Die

We would like to invite you to join in on our FREE 3 part series on Customer Facebook Groups That Thrive Not Die. Online Customer Communities are CRUCIAL for direct sellers - to build relationships, maintain communication, and continue to find new hostesses and team members. But what if your existing Facebook group is not working for you? Well, we have tips for that! From post ideas to get your customers engaging with you, to how to manage content on your fan page vs. your profile vs. your group, look for tips that you can implement right away to start seeing changes in how you're achieving success online. The free library goes live Monday, September 18th - sign up here: www.fbgroupsuccess.com.