Are you Holiday Ready?

I originally made this video in October 2015. Here are some pointers for capitalizing on holidays with your direct selling business.

1. Share the products your company has to offer for the holidays! Most companies have something for all of the major holidays not just the fall/early winter holidays I mentioned in the video.
2. Think gifts! Who do you know that will need to purchase gifts for these holidays?
3. Think standing out! How can you make yourself stand out as a consultant? What can you offer your customers? Custom gift baskets? Wrapping? Special delivery?
4. Share personal stories! What are you getting your own family and loved ones for the holiday? What are you using personally?
5. Videos and pictures do a great way of sharing these products with potential buyers!
6. What do you have on hand? Focus on selling these products first because you need to make that money back.
7. Take advantage of craft fairs and other shows of that type. High seasons for these fairs is the Fall October-December and the Spring around Easter March-May. Yard sales are great for summer months June-September just remember that people expect cost to be lower at yard sales.

What now?

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Tip Tuesday: Samples Sell

Take note. Samples Sell. People LOVE to try before they buy! Especially with cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, home fragrance, and food products people want to know that they will like the product. Something that sets direct sales consultants apart from other companies and even sometimes representatives apart from other representatives is samples. When people can try before they buy they are more likely to like the product and buy it. If you aren’t doing it with samples, then do it with demonstration products. If you are on the fence about investing in samples and demos then hopefully this video and short post will convince you otherwise. Thanks for watching/reading!

Tip Tuesday: The Power of Follow-Up

In direct sales it is important to follow-up with your leads. Leads can be potential customers or potential business partners. It is important to find a way you can follow-up with these leads and stay in touch so that they come to you should they ever change their mind. There is a difference in following up and pestering the person or following up and spamming the person. One way you can follow-up is to mail brochures to your customer list. Most customers will not buy every campaign, however if they do not have a brochure then they are less likely to buy from you. In Avon, we have new brochures every two weeks. You will have customers that buy every month, every few months, and some that only buy once or twice a year, but bottom line they can’t order from you if they don’t have  a brochure with your information. Customers like to see what items we have to offer at certain times of the year and new items are constantly coming out for our customers to purchase. Not everyone wants to look online, so mailing brochures can be a good way to gain customers and maintain those that you aren’t seeing on a consistent basis. Of course the phone, text, email, and social media can all be used to follow up as well. It is good practice to follow up and contact your leads list every once in awhile to see if you can do anything for them. There are many other videos and articles out there on the importance of following up and I just wanted to put out there that I do agree that follow up is important no matter how you choose to do it or how often you do it.

For more tips like this one you can visit my Tip Tuesday category, Representative center, and New Representative center.

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Tip Tuesday: Start With Who Do You Know

Build Your Who Do You Know List FROGS:

Make a list of these people whether you think they will be interested or not. You may be surprised by how many names you can come up with. Avon recommends challenging yourself to come up with 50 names to start.

• Friends
• Relatives
• Organizations–clubs, school, work, etc.
• Geography–Neighbors–places you go (grocery store, bank, post office, etc)
• Social Media Connections

I bet you if you made a list of your network in all of these points of contact, you’d be surprised how many names you can actually come up with. You can do the list at any point in your business. The key once you’ve made the list is to start contacting people to let them know you are an Avon Rep (or in whatever business you are in). Some will, some won’t, oh well onto the next! Good motto to remember when people tell you they are not interested. Just because they are not interested at first does not mean they will never be interested. Being in business for five years I have come to realize this a few different times.

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How do you spend your weekends? Do you work your business?

How do you spend your weekends? Are you in direct sales? Then, your weekends can be a prime time to work your business. I know for me I spend most weekends working my business, in fact it is the most time that I have to work the business. I usually do vendor shows on the weekends during peak season and then I also use that time to try to grow my online presence. During the week, I do not always have time to write up a blog post or schedule social media posts, so on the weekend is my prime time to do those things.

Tips for working your business on the weekends:

• Hold parties (home or online)
• Meet with clients you can’t reach during the week
• Work on your online marketing
• Vendor Shows
• Yard Sales
• Prospecting time looking for new clients and representatives/consultants

Here is a video that I made talking about this topic on Periscope and the replay is on my YouTube channel. If you are on Periscope (Live Streaming Video App) you can follow me @amandabeautytip.

New Season, New Beginnings

Fourth Quarter is a great time to grow your business! A new season is always the perfect time to grow your business! Fourth quarter is the perfect time because it is the holiday selling season. People are looking to buy gifts for others and you can give that to them by offering the perfect gift for everyone on their list. Here are some quick tips on how to grow your business during the holiday buying season. Watch the video below for more advice on this topic.

1. Offer to be a personal shopper for all of your clients and prospective clients
2. Find holiday helpers and offer them an incentive for getting orders from others that will grow your sales
3. Take part in community festivals and craft fairs (usually a minimal cost is associated with these but they are a wonderful way to get yourself out there.
4. Offer gift wrapping services.
5. If you can figure out a good way to do it and can afford it, offer a layaway service.
6. Spread the word about all of the wonderful products your company has to offer!

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True It Probably Is, How To Avoid Scams and Fraud In Your Business

I see new representatives in my business ask all the time about if something sounds fishy or not. Basically, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is and it is best to go with your gut instinct. The most common red flag will be email scammers that will email you to order products and say they are from out of town and must pay with a cashier’s check, certified check, or money order. It is perfectly fine to accept orders from people you know and let them pay with these formats, but from strangers that is usually the biggest red flag. Plus, they always seem to use the same uniform format for the email something about wanting products for a model photo shoot, wedding, etc. and some story about how they cannot order online and pay by credit card. Also, the email used is nine times out of ten a strange email. These scammers will order a bunch of product and then leave you with it if you actually order, plus if they happen to send any form of payment it is usually too much and doesn’t always go through and if it does go through the scammers will take your information and run. The best thing to do if you get a suspicious email is to either ignore it if it is obviously a scam or I know a lot of representatives will refer the person to the eStore or online website through the direct sales company to order just in case it really isn’t a scam but it usually is and you usually never hear from the person again.

AVON offers some great insights and information on avoiding fraud and scams under youravon.com>web office>resources>frauds/scams As well as in the new rep center in the bottom right under Other Things to Read: Avoiding Frauds and Scams. This area of the website has some great information and insights on avoiding these situations and even gives some example emails that you could be sent from such scammers.

From time to time, you may also receive one via text or even a phone call, but usually it will be in email format. Always use caution with people you do not know and be mindful of the situation and use your best judgement.

Priorities in Your Business, Never Enough Time

Does it ever seem like there is enough time?

Something that I have found while being in business for myself is that it seems like there is never enough hours in the day to get things done the way I want to get them done. Between working full time, personal life and daily activities, and trying to do activities to grow my business I always run out of time. It is very hard to focus and stick to getting done what you want to get done. How can you fix this?…

How to set goals, deadlines, and make priorities

The first things to do are to make a list of things you need to get done. It can be things in your business and in your life. Many people recommend doing this activity on a weekly basis. Sit down and write out what needs to be done for the week and what you’d like to get done. The next step is to put those activities into a schedule of deadlines for them to get done. Things that are set in stone like work, appointments, etc will all have their set times, so start with those. Then, look at what is left on your list and schedule a time and day to do it as if it is an appointment. Calendars are great for this and daily planners. You can even use a phone calendar or calendar such as Google Calendar so that you can set reminders for yourself. When setting out your schedule, be sure to prioritize and start with the things that are most important.

Stick to it no matter what

The most important tip in all of this is once you make your schedule, you have to stick to it. Sometimes life will get in the way and there is nothing you can do to control that, but if you have things that you CAN control, then make sure to stick to the schedule that you set for yourself so that you can get your tasks done in an efficient manner.

Choosing Which Direct Sales Company To Join

Things to Think About When Choosing a Direct Sales/Network Marketing Company:

1. What Products Does the Company Offer? Will you use these products yourself? Is it something you’d feel confident and comfortable selling? Find a company you enjoy the products yourself.
2. What is the Company’s Reputation? Is it positive? Is it an older established company or a newer ground floor company? What kind of company are you looking for (established or ground floor)? Know risks and benefits behind both choices.
3. What resources does the company offer? Incentives, training, support. What are you looking for in these areas? What support does the corporate company offer?
4. What are the commissions offered? What are you looking for in this area?
5. Does the company offer online sales? It is a great add-on to most direct sales businesses to have online sales offered. Are you looking to add additional sales via a website and if so does the company offer a website? Also, what extra fees if any are associated with having a company website for customers to shop with you?
6. Does the company offer leadership opportunities? Does the company offer a sponsorship program? Are you even interested in a sponsorship program? Are there extra commissions and incentives for leadership?
7. What is the time you have to put into this sort of business? That may impact your decision. Is the business one that is easy to put into your current daily schedule?
8. Do you want to be with a home party company or one that can be done without home parties? A strictly home party company will work a little different than one that you have many outlets and ways to gain new customers and recruits. What is it you are looking to do? Most of the companies do offer other ways to sell besides home parties, so don’t let this one necessarily hold you back.
9. Are you a part of multiple companies or just one? I have no opinion on this particular topic, just be aware of individual company policies about not competing (I.e. being a rep for two companies that sell the same types of products) and know what time you are willing to commit.

How does AVON measure up?

1. Products: AVON offers something for everyone. My brother and his friends were just making fun of me for EVERYTHING I own being AVON. Don’t worry it was all in good spirit, but one reason I LOVE being an Avon Rep is getting all of my products at a discount and I am definitely my own best customer. We offer clothing, jewelry, items for men & women, items for children, items for the kitchen, items for the home, candles, makeup, skincare, fragrances, etc. My friends and family are always surprised at everything AVON has to offer.

2. Reputation: AVON is a worldwide known company and has been around for over 125 years! In fact 2016 marks 130 years of AVON! Overall, the company has a positive reputation. Avon has a reputation of empowering women as well as helping customers. The company does its best to satisfy both it’s representatives and customers. The company has three causes: Breast Cancer Crusade, Speak Out Against Domestic Violence, and Healthy Forests Beautiful World. Yes there are rumors out there about the company, but most of these are just that…rumors.

3. Resources: AVON offers representatives a fantastic back office that includes everything you could possibly need to be successful at running your AVON business. Print off professional invoices for customers, place orders online, selling tools and tips, product information, FREE training, etc. Truly some of the best resources out there. Plus the network of representatives helping each other online is incredible so there is plenty of support out there from corporate as well as from the representative network. You never have to be alone in your AVON business even though you are your own boss. Plus, don’t forget the wonderful incentives! Everything from earning trips to tablets to laptops. Plus there is a points award system that allows you to redeem points for whatever you want from the rewards store much like a credit card reward system and there are some incredible things you can purchase with the points.

4. Commissions: AVON sales commissions are based on what the sales level is and range from 0%-50%. Once you reach a certain sales level in a cycle (which now runs on the calendar year as of 2015) you get guaranteed 40% commission on core products and 25% commission on fixed earnings products for the rest of the current cycle and all of the next cycle. We also have commissions that can be earned at certain leadership levels when you build a team of representatives. There are representatives out there with million dollar businesses.

5. Online Sales: AVON provides a state of the art website called the eStore to every representative. You can even customize the home page of it to your liking using the options available. The eStore is free of additional fees because it is covered with the One Simple Fee you will pay when placing your orders in your back office that get delivered to you. Many representatives have grown their businesses by taking advantage of the online sales available. In order to sell AVON online, you must sell using your eStore that AVON provides.

6. Leadership: AVON is a great company for those interested in leadership opportunities. We have an extensive leadership program that awards representatives in fabulous ways. There are certain levels based off of team sales and how many people are on your team and placing orders. Stay tuned for future posts about the leadership program that AVON offers.

7. Time: You can easily choose what sort of time you put into your AVON business. Many representatives work the business full time and many more work the business part time or even as a hobby. There’s even representatives out there that solely joined for the personal discount on their own orders. It is truly up to you how you manage your AVON business including the time you set aside for it.

8. Home parties: While many representatives do offer home parties, you do not have to exclusively do home parties to sell AVON. You can easily run an AVON business without ever doing a home party. You can sell AVON virtually however you wish as long as it is within the policies AVON sets out for representatives.

9. Multiple companies: Many AVON representatives do not sell exclusively AVON. Like I said above, I do not have a particular stance on this subject. To my knowledge at this time AVON does not have a non-compete clause, but do be aware of the policies of other companies and also be warned that being a part of multiple companies can be difficult and can be especially difficult if similar products are sold. AVON does have a clause in the advertising guidelines that you cannot advertise your AVON business alongside other businesses in the same areas such as on the same business card or flyer, etc.

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Is Direct Selling right for you?

If you are unsure of if Direct Selling is for you, maybe this post will help you to decide. Here are some reasons Direct Selling might be for you:

• You are looking to earn extra money
• You want to start your own business
• You want the support of others behind you (upline, other consultants, corporate)
• You love a certain product that is distributed through direct selling (if you love the product anyway, why not get a discount and earn some extra money distributing it yourself?)
• Low Initial Investments
• Many companies to choose from
• You want to work from home

To hear more watch my video below:

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