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!!!)

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!

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.