We’re smack dab in the middle of a busy holiday season.  Direct sellers everywhere are displaying their wares at vendor events and home parties across the country.  Independent consultants set up tables loaded with cash and carry items, hopeful to find customers who are looking for unique Christmas presents, home décor, or a business opportunity.

For some direct selling consultants, November is the busiest month of the year bringing with it record sales.  Notwithstanding, those record sales bring about an increased need to be extra vigilant with your personal safety. Below are a couple tips to remember to ensure your personal safety.

• Don’t brag about the day’s sales. All too often I have heard other vendors ask each other at the end of an event, “How’d you do today?” Some of the responses I’ve overheard include: “Fantastic!” or “I sold about $700”.  Okay good for you; but you basically just told strangers that you have a wad of cash.  Just in case someone was looking to rob a vendor on the way out, you’d be a great target. (more…)

Many direct sales companies advertise that you can start a business for only $39 (or $99 or whatever the cost of a starter kit). While I agree that in some cases you can start a business for that amount, you’ll likely need more of an investment to grow a business.

I’ve also seen some ads that tout the perks of “No Inventory” needed. I can certainly appreciate that lack of necessity or requirement for said inventory; however, I do not agree that is necessarily a good thing to be without inventory.

In fact, I contend that inventory is highly encouraged if you wish to grow your direct sales business. Many direct sales companies take one to three weeks to receive product once it is ordered.  In some cases, back orders occur and it can take even longer.  Who wants to pay for something and then wait three weeks before you actually get it?  Sure, many people do that, but imagine how much more your sales would increase if you had cash and carry available.

Whether you’re choosing to work your business via home parties, vendor events or one on one sales – we are in an age of convenience and impatience.  Customers will most likely take what you have rather than place an order and wait weeks.

Also consider the turn around time. If you’re at a vendor event and have on hand inventory, the customer who purchases from you will take the item home and likely either start using it immediately or show someone what she purchased. Assuming your product is a consumable, the customer will need a refill all the more quicker vs. the three weeks of downtime while waiting to receive her initial order.  Or if she shows it to someone that night “Hey look what I picked up at the craft show!” chances are greater for referral business, “Where did you get that? I want one!”

If your recruiting efforts include the words “No Inventory Needed”, you might want to change that to “If you’re able to stock up on a little inventory, it will really increase your sales ten fold.”

You’ve heard it before: It takes money to make money.  A small investment in some on-hand inventory will be money well spent.

Its that time of year in which we get to dress up and be who we’re not. Or…how about dress up to show off who we are? Here are some Halloween ideas that show the spirit of being a WAHM:

Pajama Mama – This is a take on at-home mom costume that mom’s never wear but admittedly I did as a costume in college. The big difference is that not only do you wear your jammies and robe, but you need to accessorize with a large cup of coffee and a laptop or Smartphone!

Twitter Maven – You can do the full deal and dress up like a blue bird. Or simply walk around with your Smartphone commenting on everything. Don’t forget, you have to talk in 140 characters or less!

Facebook Maven – Not into Twitter, then why not dress up as a Facebook Maven.  Get a big piece of card board and cut a hole big enough for your face to show through. Along one side list all the stuff you’ve been doing. Add a quiz to make it realistic. And don’t forget to add a “Facebook Me” option so others can befriend you.

What ideas do have?

Something has been baffling me for quite some time.  Mayhaps someone can explain it to me.  Why do some direct sales independent consultants use product lines, other than their own, to promote their products?

For example, if you sell candles, wouldn’t it make the most sense to give away a wax sample of Autumn Sunset?  Or if you sell herbs and spices, wouldn’t you want to provide potential customers with a sampling of your top selling Scampi Blend?

Certainly this may seem like a blinding glimpse of the obvious; but bear with me.  I know of some consultants who take the time and expense to make up labels bearing their contact information and company website, and then purchase mini-chocolate bars and wrap them with their labels.  This would be adorable if you were in the chocolate business or even the customized label business.  Not so much for kitchen gadgets or candles. (more…)

When most people think about working at home, they think about the tasks specific to the work. Making their crafts, emailing for a client, completing a report. What is often left out is marketing. Without marketing there is no one to sell crafts to, to email for, or write a report for. The challenge of marketing is that its really like farming. In farming, you plant a seed today, nurture it, and months later you have a feast. Marketing works much the same way. You plant the seeds by either writing an article, sending a press release or running an ad. Then you have wait for the results. (more…)

Most direct sales companies prohibit consultants from selling their products on eBay.  On any given day you can do a search of just about any direct sales product and find them for sale or bid on eBay.  Hmm. Go figure.

Many direct sales companies also have someone(s) at the corporate level who is responsible to attempt to shut down these prohibited auctions.  Sometimes they are successful, sometimes not. If some consultants want to sell on eBay badly enough it’s not too difficult to have a friend list the items or to conceal their true identity.

All too often I see forum posts and hear consultants complain and whine about the eBay sales.   These very consultants spend far too much time trying to bust eBay sellers and not nearly enough time concentrating on selling their own products to their own customer base.  I tell ya – if these very people would invest as much time and energy in their own business as they do into the eBay sellers, they’d have more time to figure out all the places to spend their commission checks. (more…)

Oh yes I did just say that, me – the supposed Direct Sales Queen.  Allow me to repeat: “Direct Sales is not for everyone.”  Personally I’ve been involved in direct sales since 1988 and because of the various platforms available from which to sell (namely internet marketing for me) it is a good fit … for me – but not for everyone.

All too frequently I hear companies and existing consultants tout that “Anyone can do this business!”  Ok, perhaps anyone who has $39.99 or $99.95 on their debit card can sign up for a starter kit, but that does not mean that everyone should.

For example, have you seen the latest teen craze in jean pants – Skinny Jeans? I’ve also heard them called cigarette jeans because they’re so skinny, each leg looks like a slender cigarette.  These jeans can be found in a size double zero all the way up to a size 12 and higher. For those not terribly familiar with women’s sizes, a size 12 is not gi-normous by any means, but it is far from skinny. Many women who would attempt to wear a size 12 and higher skinny jean would look like two pigs fighting under a blanket.  Just because they can wear them, does not mean they should. (more…)

Marketing is crucial to home business success. But marketing is much more than placing an ad or running an article. People are bombarded with marketing messages all the time…every one of them claiming to “care”, “give results”, and be “#1″. For the most part people no longer see or believe these messages. So how can you create a message that highlights your benefits that will also be read?

1) Avoid the same old promises. “We care”, “Turnkey solutions”, “Amazing”, etc are all tired promises that are mostly met with skepticism. If these concepts are important to sales, you need to find new ways of expressing them. What does “we care” mean? Are you available 24/7 to provide support? (more…)

Looking for tips to help increase your recruiting numbers? Prior to talking about some of the things you can do to help grow your team, it’s important to talk about what not to do.

Before you say, “But that’s not focusing on the positive, Laurie” let me say that I am positive that if you are currently engaging in any of the actions below; and if after you read this you find yourself with a new awareness that what you’ve been doing isn’t necessarily a best practice, I am positive you will see an increase to your down line.

Join My Team and Get …

Bribing people to join your team is numero uno on my list desperate recruiting moves.   (more…)

I’m a project and idea queen. I have so many great ideas and usually I just jump right in. The problem is, I have so many projects, that I can’t seem to manage it all. And because I jumped in, many are live and active but aren’t being cultivated. It comes to a point when I have to determine if I stick with it or let it go.

Obviously, I need to do more work before launch to figure out if a project should be pursued. But sometimes I get really excited about it and the potential of it, that I just run with it (I can’t be the only one). So I’m left with doing all the evaluating after the fact. I thought it might be helpful to share how I’ve been trying to determine whether to hold on to a project or fold it up. (more…)