CANI days for your Facebook Parties

Keeping up with Facebook changes (algorithms, policies, event, group, newsfeed looks, functions and features) and keeping our parties fresh and relevant - including content posts, new products, trends, tips and tutorials...how do we stay up to date?

I highly recommend that you implement Constant and Never Ending Improvement (CANI) Days!! These are days I schedule specifically to freshen up my party posts, my pictures and my videos. I find a quiet place to brainstorm. It could be the library, a quiet corner in my favorite tea shop, or just another area of my home. I settle in and I write down everything I think of around what's working (and what's not working!) in my parties. This is my brain dump, if you will.

Once that is complete, I pull out my Roadmap for Facebook Parties and freshen up or even rebuild parts, or all of my party. 

I use a variety of resources for inspiration: My own notes after my parties (what worked and what didn't), industry magazines, influencer's social media pages and blogs, files on my computer that I keep on things I want to revisit for creative bursts…I even have a Facebook group with just me in it that I share posts into that inspire me to create similar posts with my own spin. You get the idea…things that spark my own creativity to build engaging, fun, or educational party posts.

From there I think, what is working well in my party already, and what needs freshening up? Then I build the new posts, and make plans for new graphics and videos. 

Your Facebook party is an experience that YOU have created through your roadmap. This is not a one-time deal that you just create and forget. You must continue to tweak, enhance, throw out and write new fun posts through your CANI days!!

Be the consultant that doesn't just want to be good at her Facebook parties. Anyone can be “good.” Strive for extraordinary in every post, graphic, video and interaction you have with your hostesses and guests, because Social Media is a blessing and a curse in our business...a blessing because we have 2 Billion potential connections at our finger tips, but then a curse because if we aren't entertaining them with our party content, they can quickly search for a consultant that does. 

So, when are you scheduling your CANI day?

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!

Free Q&A Happening Tomrorow

Who's joining us tomorrow? We've got a LIVE Zoom training and Q&A on "Customer Facebook Groups that Thrive Not Die." Two times to register:

Daytime - Thursday, September 28th

10:30 am PT/11:30 am MT/12:30 pm CT/1:30 pm ET

Evening - Thursday, September 28th

5:30 pm PT/6:30 pm MT/7:30 pm CT/8:30 pm ET

Go here to sign up for the Q&A and receive the free 3 part series: https://social.lifelinecoaches.com/bonus-qa/

We've just launched our "Social Media Communities that WORK" ecourse - your step-by-step program for building a community of customers that increases your income! Visit the library and click on the button that reads ‘Social Media Communities that WORK!

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. 

Creating Amazing Customer Groups

Successfully Social partnered with CinchShare last night to train on VIP Customer Groups and it was a huge success. We had such a good time sharing tips and tricks, and answering questions. If you missed the training, you can catch the whole thing here: https://www.facebook.com/events/260201424485576/

One of the things we covered was 5 adjectives to keep in mind as you are creating content for your social media channels:

• Enchant
• Educate
• Entertain
• Engage
• Empower

How well do you feel you are doing at accomplishing any or all of these "E" words? During the training last night, it seemed that most felt they had the hardest time with "Enchant", so expect to see us talking about that more in the future. In the meantime, comment below and tell us what you're doing to enchant, educate, entertain, engage and empower.

Facebook: Personal vs. Page vs. Group...HUH?

So a lot of people start their business and immediately start blasting about it on their personal Facebook wall. Not calling anyone out, I think we've ALL been guilty of this at one time or another. But the fact of the matter is, your personal wall is NOT where you should be promoting your business, and doing so is against Facebook policies, and quite possibly your company policies as well.

So what is an aspiring entrepreneur to do? You want to market your business, you know your customers are on Facebook...but you don't want to get in trouble, right? With all that in mind, here is a quick and dirty basic breakdown of when and how to use the big three of Facebook: your personal profile, your public page, and your customer group.

Personal Profile: this was likely your first foray into Facebook. Create an account, connect with friends, find out which of your old high school friends got ugly, and share pics of your kids. That, in a nutshell, was what Facebook was created to do. Now that you have a business, this is STILL what your personal profile is for. But you can, from time to time, share business related items in a roundabout way. Now, we are in no way telling you to post "here's my link, buy my stuff" or "I'm looking for a new recruit, who's interested?" Don't be that girl. Your friends will unfollow you, and you do it enough, Facebook will shut down your account. What you CAN do, is post lifestyle pics...say at your national conference, or out at a team dinner, and say things like "I love spending time with my Pretty Pet Palace sisters. #bestjobever". People are watching, they love to see your pics, and you never know who's interest your might spark with something like that. Just keep in mind that overall, your personal profile should remain personal.

Public Page: often referred to as a Business Page, this is a place where you can promote your business, but also have a little fun and build your personal brand. Regardless of what company you might be a rep for, you are NOT your company. You are not Origami Owl, or Pampered Chef, or whatever company you represent, you are YOU, and you want to brand yourself accordingly. Absolutely share company and industry news, but also be sure to put your own spin on things, as well. Run your own contests, share your own pictures, and try to start the relationship with your followers. The great thing about this page is that you do not have to be friends with someone for them to like your page, so your reach has the potential of growing beyond your own circle. You can also, if you like, use the share feature to share things from your public page over to your personal profile. You certainly don't want to do this with every post, but if you've posted something fun over here, then sure, share it. This is also the place that if you plan to spend money via Facebook, here's where you want to do it. If you're running a big contest, those are the types of posts to consider boosting. Just a couple bucks a day can yield you many new likes, comments and contest entries.

Customer Group: this is the spot for you to really connect with your tribe. The people who buy from you, host for you, etc. You absolutely want to invite all your customers to join you here, and you want to make it worth their while to be there by offering them first shot at deals, sneak peeks at new products, etc. before you show the rest of the world. But read that sentence again, please. Invite. That's a big word. Do not just add your friends to this group. Don't even just add your best customer to this group...Invite. It's time to stop kidnapping people and forcing them into your group and time to start captivating them and have them wanting to be there. And even tho this is a business related group, don't be all business all the time. Make it fun. Give them things to respond to that have nothing to do with your company or your product. Play games. Entertain them. They are more likely to come back and keep interacting with you if they don't feel like you are trying to sell them all the time.

So there you have it, the down and dirty of the Facebook big 3. Anything to add, leave us a comment below.