Connecting With Others On The Go

Relationship marketing is at the core how we build a strong, sustainable business. Advertising has changed dramatically, companies are putting their dollars into digital marketing. Not surprising as people can be tied to their phones but they are also happy to connect and do business with others that they know, like and trust.

As you go about your day in your local community do you really connect with others. Do you smile, ask questions, use people's name? Your local community is a gold mine of customers, hostesses, team members, referrals, every person on average can connect you to 300 more. Learning the skills of relationship marketing is truly a must in this business. The classic book "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie is a good read and education on how to successfully connect with others.

However, what I am talking about today is how to connect digitally with the people you meet. And it is so easy! Business cards are still a great tool for connection but having a digital connection is powerful as well. Connecting through Messenger as often as you can is an ideal way to be able to keep in touch with the people you meet. It's as easy as scanning their Messenger Code. Here's how:

From Home, tap your profile picture in the top left corner. Tap your picture at the top of the page. Tap My Code to let someone scan your code, or tap Scan Code to scan someone else's.

Once connected, you can continue the conversation. Think of messenger as digital conversations, not digital sales. Remember the lessons in Dale Carnegie's book!

You can also connect people directly to your public online events. You can create a QR code for these events and people can scan the code and join the event. Here are the steps:

If you're the host of a public event, you can create a QR code to promote your event.

To create a QR code:

Go to your event and click the three dots in the top right

Select Create QR Code

Click Download

These tools are a great way to connect through conversations in your community. Practice them today so you are ready to use these tools next time you leave the house.

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.

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!

If Facebook Were a Country....

So you may have heard, right at the end of June, Facebook reached the 2 billion user mark. Meaning if Facebook were a country, it would be the most populous in the world. After launching only 13 years ago, Facebook now serves 2 billion of the 7.5 billion people on the planet. And there is no end in sight on that growth.

Check out this chart, which can be found in an article from TechCrunch.com

So what does that mean to you, as a business person trying to do business in the land of Facebook? Well, frankly, first and foremost, if you're NOT doing business already on Facebook, you better start. Your competitors are there. Your customers are there. Heck, your customer's mama is there. Everyone is there. If you're not, you are missing the boat. BUT, as we always will tell you at Successfully Social, you better not go in there thinking you can be all business all the time and find that success you're looking for...

Above all else, Facebook is still SOCIAL. It is the perfect place to grow relationships...plant the seeds through your Facebook parties or networking in common interest groups, cultivate those relationships through Facebook Messenger or in your closed customer groups, and ultimately watch those relationships bloom as those customers come back to you, book their own parties, and even become (gasp) FRIENDS of yours outside of the business relationship. That's what this whole crazy Facebook thing is all about.

Look for a future post where we dive deeper into the different areas of Facebook...your personal wall, your business fan page, your closed group...and talk about what is appropriate for each of those different locales.