Doin' the Direct Sales Holiday Hustle!

Today is the end of November.

SERIOUSLY how did that happen? It was just the summer I swear. Geeze.

But we have been talking about this season, prepping for this season, and getting ready to rock our businesses for this season for A WHILE so we’re good, right?!

If your December isn’t looking so hot, we have about 14 days (or until your company’s shipping cut off) to rock your businesses’ socks off. Today we’ll talk about a couple of tips to do that.

• First, party. Party this week. Period. Online, find a hostess, in-home, do something. People who are still shopping can be interested in your products for gifts so get a party going.
• Offer personal shopping for customers who don’t have time to shop. Offer to send them a set (2 or 3) of suggestions from your company based off their giftee and their price range.
• Use your company’s promos to purchase “cash and carry” items for after the shipping cut off. Figure out what your most popular items are and have some on-hand for those last minute shoppers.
• If your company has promos this week then run them INTO THE GROUND. Push those promos to your customers until the promos are DEAD. As I tell my team, “Use and abuse them.” They are there to help your customers, help you, and to help your company of course. The first two are the most important ;)
• Talk to men. Many (not all, but many) guys are last minute shoppers OR they don’t really know what to buy. Help them! Call, text, Facebook message them asking about their shopping, how is it going, and is there anything you can help them find? Price range and some info about their giftee(s) please!

As I have said in a previous post, after your shipping cut off your business will get a little dry which is actually a little nice if it’s been a hectic few months for you! What can you do after your shipping cut off is over?

• Plan New Year’s Eve Prep parties – bring your outfit and let’s get it accessorized!
• “I didn’t get what I wanted for Christmas” parties – December 26^th there will be people who were gifted cash or received an item they didn’t want – maybe they will want to shop your site? Offer a mystery hostess party online for those who didn’t get what they wanted.
• Send digital holiday cards to your customers – show them they are appreciated. Make them personalized. Make your customers feel IMPORTANT. Because they are.
• Start booking into winter and spring! Figure out when your new product launches were last year and talk to previous hostesses about hostessing again.

While these are some suggestions, I want to hear what you’re doing this week to #holidayhustle your business. Go to the Direct Sales Mavens Facebook page and let’s talk strategies! Share your strategies with other direct sellers and let’s help each other brainstorm!

Do you find my posts useful? If so, sign up to receive emails in your in box whenever I post – on the right put in your email under Follow By Email! Also, sharing is caring – share my posts with other direct sellers you know so they can check it out! Join the Direct Sales Mavens Facebook Community here and let’s help each other achieve our goals!

Promoting Your Business at Halloween

Happy Zombie Week direct sellers! Yes, it’s almost Halloween (which means it’s almost Thanksgiving, which means it’s almost Christmas…ahhh!). Hopefully you’ve been planting seeds about your business for the holidays as I talked about HERE, but if not, Halloween is a great time to start!

Our pumpkins - the left was done by my artist husband, the right my 5 year old son

How can you promote your business at Halloween? A couple of fun ideas:

• Dress as your business. Are you a jewelry lady? A lash lady? A Posh lady? Do you have a way to “wear” your business or “dress like” your business? If so, do it up! And don’t make it “meh,” make it cray-zay! Boring isn’t remembered, but that lash lady who wore the big clown sized pink glasses with 1-inch plastic lashes? She gets remembered (even if it’s because she’s funny). Sell jewelry? Go big – put on all the statement pieces you can without dragging yourself down the street.
• Attach business cards to the candy you give out. If you’re the one at home handing out candy, then have two buckets – one for the kids (no cards) and one for the adults. Adults get a business card (even a post card sized one would be better) with info about your business and/or opportunity PLUS a piece of chocolate. You know why? As a parent I can tell you that when the candy haul comes home, the kids go through it and want all the good stuff (read: chocolate). So make a special treat just for the parent – their own chocolate.
• Give out business cards if you’re walking the kids around. If you’re a parent who is walking around with their kids (dressed as your company of course), then hand out cards to the people who answer the door. Give THEM a chocolate too (remember, the kiddos want to take all the good stuffs).

Tips on Promoting Your Business this Halloween

If you’re using larger cards or even making a little note with candy attached, what should be on it? What are some ways to plant seeds for holiday gifting (what can be called “gardening”)? What are your goals for the next few months? Sales? Recruiting? Both? Always be sure to include your contact info, your link, and your social media links.

• Have some cards that tell people about your product and how YOU can help THEM with their holiday gifting. Let them know if you have free shipping, will gift wrap for free if they are local to you, and any other perks for shopping with you. Let them know you’re available via email or phone call to help with gift selections.
• Let them know about any future open parties you are having. Are you having a party at your house within the next few weeks? Put the date and time on your card and invite them (and suggest they bring a friend)!
• Suggest they hostess their own party for holiday giving. “Oh what fun it is to shop with my friends in my own living room…hey!” Include your hostess benefit info as well as some options (1 hour party, online, etc.).
• Tell them about your opportunity! Let them know they can make holiday cash by helping others find their holiday gifts by joining your team. Let them know you want to talk to them personally about the opportunity and offer to schedule a time to meet up to chat.

Have a happy Halloween ladies and gents! I would love to hear some more ideas from you (and your team/business) in the comments below!

Do you find my posts useful? If so, sign up to receive emails in your in box whenever I post – on the right put in your email under Follow By Email! Also, sharing is caring – share my posts with other direct sellers you know so they can check it out! Join the Direct Sales Mavens Facebook Community here and let’s help each other achieve our goals!

Don’t Hate On The Holidays - Your Business and Holiday

Before I started direct sales, I thought that the whole “get ready for the holidays early” idea was bad – I mean who wants to see Christmas trees in October??

But as a direct seller, you need to be thinking months ahead in terms of sales, in terms of party/pop up hostesses, and in terms of dates. In this post I’m going to tell you about some things to keep in mind for the rest of this year to help you have an amazing rest of 2015!

Preparation is key to success during holiday. Starting NOW will make your business during holiday amazing.

Let’s work backwards. Think about your product and see which of these dates may be useful for you to promote.

• ·      New Years Eve (Thursday, December 31, 2015)
• ·      Gifting holidays (Christmas [Friday, December 25, 2015], Hanukkah [Sunday, December 6, 2015 – Monday, December 14, 2015])
• ·      Cyber Monday (Monday, November 30, 2015)
• ·      Black Friday (Friday, November 27, 2015)
• ·      Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 26, 2015)
• ·      Halloween (Saturday, October 31, 2015)

If you’re like me, gifting holidays are going to be big. But your company may also offer Black Friday deals as well as Cyber Monday deals. Thanksgiving is a good time to bring your business to the family and have an impromptu “party” with your family who may have started thinking about gifting holidays. If Halloween costumes could include your product then you want to be working on that by mid-September so that you can make sure customers get their product in time.

Things that are important to think about:

• ·      Shipping cut offs (both regular and expedited shipping if your company offers it) – I usually suggest people shop 2 weeks before a holiday date because shipping tends to slow down during the holidays. So think about your cut off in terms of shipping speed (both from your company and the shipping company)
• ·      On hand items: Having items on hand for late shoppers (and have a way to take credit cards such as a Square Card Reader)
• ·      Gift givers may not be your typical customers – men may be more likely to purchase from you during the holiday season if you sell something their significant other may like – so don’t forget men in your outreach! Also, if you have approached people before who said they don’t buy your product for themselves, approach them again for gifting options.

Things to do right now:

• ·      Vendor Events: Find and sign up for Vendor Events in your area related to the holidays. Vendor events are a great time to sell on-hand stuff, so if you sign up for one be ready with some of your best selling products and a way to take credit cards. Also be ready to get leads because that is what vendor events are really good for!
• ·      Calendar: Look at your calendar for the next few months (up until January 1). Block off dates that you have engagements yourself (school plays, work events, etc.).

Let’s talk about that calendar…

Working backwards, your shipping cut off for NYE should be around December 17^th. For Christmas it should be December 11^th. The week of Thanksgiving is NOT a good time to ask for in-home hostesses (but an online event could do well on Black Friday, the 27^th, if you’re offering one). People are busy with Thanksgiving preparations and…it’s just not pretty. I would be attendance would be poor (unless you have a bunch of moms who are looking to get out of the house because it’s school vacation week! HA!). People are also traveling and high travel times usually lead to poor attendance.

November and December will most likely be your highest sales months (3 times your average month maybe) so really, you’re looking at November 1 – November 22 (the Sunday before Thanksgiving week), November 27 – 30, and December 1 – December 17 in terms of possible sales/party dates. After shipping cut offs, your sales plummet. Which makes sense. So really, your “season” is…42 days long. Aside from those last minute shoppers who want to buy from your on-hand stock that is (and I highly suggest you have some, there are a lot of late shoppers out there, people shopping for Christmas the day before…).

How holiday may be different:

• ·      Hostesses may be more interested in partying during the week – weekends fill up quickly during the holidays. Be flexible. Offer weekdays.
• ·      RSVPs may be high and then attendance may be poor. Don’t fret. Follow up with non-attendees and let them know that you’re willing to meet up with them on their time to show them your offerings.
• ·      Remember “Who, who, and you” – who are you shopping for? Who else? What do YOU want for yourself? This is especially useful during in-home events during holiday.

Final thoughts…

• ·      Get your calendar set up.
• ·      Talk to your network. BOOK HOLIDAY NOW. No joke. It will fill up. Show people your available dates and get them hostessing to get those hostess rewards (for themselves and for gifts). Make sure you have literature about your hostess rewards (and a hostess introduction email) ready to go now. Preparation is key to success during holiday.
• ·      Prepare your outreach list early – who is your target market? How might it be different for gifting?
• ·      Think about offering a weekly online shopping event that you invite only 10 customers to – ask each person to invite a +1 and you have a 20 (or more) party. Help them find holiday/gifting items. Make it all about convenience for THEM.
• ·      If it’s November 1 and you have an open date during your 42 days, offer a 5-1-1 party at your home – 1 hour, you invite 5 of your local customers, they bring a +1, you offer wine/beverages and a snack, and we shop. Nothing stressful, nothing big – small and intimate is the goal here. “I’m one of 5 people you invited?! Wow!”

I’m off to offer my VIPs my first set of bookings for the holiday season – what are you doing to prepare for the holiday season for your business?

Do you find my posts useful? If so, sign up to receive emails in your in box whenever I post – on the right put in your email under Follow By Email! Also, sharing is caring – share my posts with other direct sellers you know so they can check it out! Join the Direct Sales Mavens Facebook Community here and let’s help each other achieve our goals!