Work At Home Business Options

Archive for November, 2011

For the past year I have been seeing a slew of advertising online from various direct selling companies and direct sales consultants all “touting” their company or business opportunity as “Recession Proof” and when I see that…it really irks me!!!

My post today is a big OLD VENT on those who run around “touting” their direct sales or network marketing business as “Recession Proof” which is a big old FAT lie!!! Nothing in life…no business large or small, home business, retail store business…whatever…is Recession Proof!!!

It really “irks me off” when I see people and companies throwing around the “Recession Proof” like it’s no big deal and it is!!! People and companies should not be “tricking” people into thinking that the company and/or it’s business plan is recession proof when NO business is 100% recession proof. Goodness people…wake up and quit “touting” that around!

I have seen 30+ year old direct sales companies who were profitting and stable before the recession hit totally fold and go under once we got into the current recession so it doesn’t matter if the company is new, old, big or small…nothing in life is “recession proof” and those who “tout” around that slogan in their advertising should be ashamed of themselves because most of us are not stupid people and we know there are no guarantees in life.

So there you have it…my vent today dealing with folks who “tout” around their “Recession Proof” slogan to try to entice people to join their teams or their companies business program. That is a terrible slogan and should not be used in any form of advertising.

Human beings look at the world and see a complex network of interconnected individuals, each with their own autonomy and free will. This perception is a far cry from what credit card companies see. Instead, they view individuals as big bundles of data from which they can profit.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported both MasterCard and VISA are working on plans targeting online ads to consumers based on previous credit card purchases. The idea is you pick up a bag of dog food from the store and charge it to your credit card. When you get home and go online, you start seeing ads for corresponding products and services, like dog toys and dog grooming.

Despite the massive amount of personal data we transmit every day, there are still ways to protect yourself from targeted online ads. Try a few of these tips to avoid the watchful eye of Big Brother.

1. Don’t Over-share
Countless websites and stores ask us to provide phone numbers, email addresses and ZIP codes to help them build a marketing profile. Don’t bother sharing your details unless they’re essential to your purchase. If the guilt of creating fake information keeps you tossing and turning at night, GuerrillaMail.com provides temporary email addresses that last for just 60 minutes.

2. Cut Down on Cookies
“Cookie” is an important keyword here. These small files are stored on your computer every time you visit a website. They’re the reason you don’t have to log in to Facebook 10 times a day and why you see ads for a pair of shoes viewed yesterday when you’re checking your email today. Luckily, the Network Advertising Initiative can help you opt-out of advertising cookies. With just a few simple steps, you’re able to block major marketers from access to your browsing habits.

3. Privatize Your Purchases
Don’t forget about the main culprits in this personal information panic. All told, VISA and MasterCard process nearly 70 billion transactions each year. All the while, they’re collecting and analyzing this massive amount of data. Avoid having your information inspected by opting-out of their analytics programs. MasterCard makes it especially easy; all you have to do is follow this link and opt out of programs in which you don’t want to participate. VISA makes it more complicated, but look here for details.

4. Beef Up Your Browser
In response to growing discontent over privacy issues, popular Web browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox are making it easier to protect personal information. Their latest versions include a private browsing option you can enable to keep your online habits confidential. The browser then won’t store such information as cookies, passwords and files you download.

5. Leave No Paper Trail
Paperless statements are good for the environment and also good for your security. Not only does online banking eliminate the amount of personal information you dump in the trash, it also lets you track each purchase instantly. It’s a smart security strategy to check your online bank accounts often. This way, you can ensure suspicious items don’t slip through the cracks.

6. Get Off the Grid
Credit has practically become our official currency. If you’re tired of stressing about credit card security, go old-fashioned. While cash doesn’t work online, it doesn’t require you share any personal details, either. Gift cards are another good way to avoid using credit. Buying gift cards at less than face value from sites like GiftCardGranny provides instant savings, plus you can use them both in-store and online. Even better, gift cards aren’t attached to any of your personal info.

7. Avoid Auto-Fill
Keeping your credit card number, billing address and shipping address on file at Amazon is handy, but it also makes you more vulnerable. Something simple like forgetting to log out at the library can place your personal details in the wrong hands. Though it’s tedious and takes extra time, enter your information anew with each order.

8. Ensure You’re Secure
It’s surprisingly easy to confirm an online merchant has secure checkout. Always look for “https” in the Web address, instead of just “http.” That extra “s” shows your connection is encrypted and unauthorized users will have to go to greater measures to get your information. You can learn more about site-specific security by clicking the appropriate box near the address bar in your browser.

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Andrea Woroch is a nationally recognized consumer and money-saving expert, having been featured among such top news outlets as Good Morning America, NBC’s Today, MSNBC, New York Times, Kiplinger Personal Finance, CNNMoney and many more. She is available for in-studio, satellite or skype interviews and to write guest posts or articles.

About 5-6 years ago online parties were the “in” thing with direct sales consultants and these parties were held in a variety of online chat rooms on various direct selling web sites. The online party also known as an “online vendor fair” was an popular way for online direct sales consultants to make a little extra money without leaving their homes.

That trend lasted for 2-3 years and now has “died” off and the reason that it has “died” off is because consultants still had to go out and do all of the marketing and advertising for the online party or vendor event. The majority of time with these “type” of online parties it ended up being consultant buying from consultant or vendor buying from vendor so they really were not a profitable way to market your business online.

There are a few web sites still “touting” the online party or vendor fair but my personal opinion is that your time is better spent elsewhere doing something else to promote your business.

When it comes to online parties you really should advertise the online party option that is connected with most consultant’s company sites and not go out on your own to “pay” money to join in on a direct sales online vendor fair…like I said, 90% of the time it is just other consultants with other companies in the chat room and you might get 1-2 orders from them but they also expect you to buy from THEM!

If your company has an online party option connected to your consultant web site then you should advertise and market that to both of your online and offline customers. This would be a BETTER option than running around participating in online vendor fairs which don’t pay off.

Trust me consultants…been there, done that and used to participate in those and it got me no where! So the truth of the matter is….

Your time is better spent marketing your business in a different way than shelling out money to participate in an online event for several where you “might” get one or two small orders. Time is money and your time is better spent with an in-home party.

Demographers have likened Baby Boomers to a “pig moving through a python,” accounting for one-third of America’s population. More than 78-million strong, the post-World War II generation has long been one of the most profitable consumer demographics, a trend that isn’t likely to slow as retirement nears.

They’re a generation that never gives in, whether to a shrinking job market, boomerang kids or physical infirmities. Despite being faced with plummeting home values and net worth, retailers still hear their roar, as Boomers demand special treatment.

It’s a demand well worth attention. The generation born between 1946 and 1964 presents a $43 billion opportunity for retailers, according to an Information Resources, Inc. report. They also, however, present new challenges. Here’s a look at 10 ways businesses are catering to aging Baby Boomers.

1. Reading the Fine Print
Product packaging hasn’t just gotten harder to open; it’s also harder to read, with instructions and ingredient lists that look like mere ant tracks. According to AARP, CVS is dealing with this problem by attaching magnifying lenses to shelving units. The pharmacy chain also has increased natural-light wattage by uncovering windows.

Target, in turn, heard concerns about prescription labeling and increased type fonts to help customers avoid mistakes.

2. Garden Center Redesigns
Baby Boomers are big on gardening, but aren’t too crazy about gravel-covered paths and narrow greenhouse aisles. According to Garden Center Magazine, the industry is moving towards friendlier access, including hard walking surfaces, wider aisles, tables that make picking up plants easier and white signs printed with black ink for clearer reading.

3. Accessible Online Shopping
The American Life Project found 69 percent of older Boomers (ages 56 to 64) buy online, more than any other generation. Merchants are catering to this by increasing website fonts so consumers with poor vision can more easily navigate online stores. Updated text-to-speech technology helps those with more serious sight problems by reading Web pages aloud.

Online shopping became more popular with aging Boomers when Amazon started the free shipping revolution in 2002. The trend has proven a boon to shoppers who find it difficult to navigate between stores. Free shipping codes bring prices as low, if not lower, than those for brick-and-mortar retailers. Examples include Boomer favorites like Coldwater Creek and Lands’ End, clothing giants who offer free shipping on some, or all, orders.

4. More Online Reviews
According to a 2010 study by the Pew Center, older Boomers tend to research purchases more thoroughly, with 40 percent saying they rate products online before buying.

User reviews are an electronic replacement for this word-of-mouth generation, so e-retailers are catering to their preferences by providing opportunities for customer testimonials and highlighting positive reviews on home pages.

Technology retailer Newegg.com particularly caters to this audience according to Vice President of Marketing Bernard Luthi in an interview with Internet Retailer. “Older consumers called (customer support) more often than other age groups in advance of a purchase. They’d say: ‘I want to understand more about the organization. Let me know who you are and what your return policy is.’ They’re still not as comfortable as a person in his mid-20s about shopping on the Web, but they are a smarter shopper. They ask for a lot more information up front.”

5. Hard Landings
To make sitting and rising more graceful, high-end hotels are switching from soft, deep seating to higher and firmer chairs and couches. These same institutions, along with some banks, are replacing heavy, difficult-to-open doors with automatic ones.

6. Re-shelving
Stretching for the last-remaining box of bran and dipping down for a bulk bag are hard on the back and knees. According to the AARP magazine, both Walgreens and CVS have lowered shelving and reorganized items for easier access.

7. Urbanization of Rural Areas
As children flee the nest, more parents are migrating into rural areas. A 2009 study by the Department of Agriculture, however, indicated these Boomers will still want urban amenities, “such as proximity to health care…and walkable, active communities.” Because many will prefer and eventually have to stop driving, they’ll likely seek more condensed shopping formats that are closer to home.

As a result, areas like Colorado’s Northern Front Range created land plans requiring developers include shopping and gas services within walking distance of each development. Retirement communities were also subject to the same regulations.

Walkability has become such an important factor that Zillow, an online real estate database, now rates the walkability of properties to retail and transit infrastructure.

8. Home-alone Servings
Household size in the 50-plus age range is shrinking, according to American Realty Advisors, leading manufacturers to reduce their package portions. Single-size and two-person servings are more readily available in drugstores and supermarkets. This is a move away from the super-sizing of the 1990s and should benefit stores that cater to this audience, including Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, as opposed to Costco or Sam’s Club.

9. Non-agist Marketing
Baby Boomers work full-time, travel, care for parents and are far more active than the preceding generation. According to Nielsen, they’re turned off by advertising that markets to age and decrepitude, so marketers are creating ads with an appeal for all ages. Talbot’s, for example, traditionally sells clothing for older women, but their present marketing has a more youthful look and message.

10. Brain Games
The generation that made physical fitness a must is now pumping-up brain tissue to stave off the mental ills of aging. An entire industry has grown around this desire for mental calisthenics, sweeping major merchants like Target and Walmart into its wake.

While there’s no end of controversy as to whether puzzles and brain games help slow down memory loss, Boomers are willing to give it a try. Much of this industry is related to board games, thought to slow the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Brain-fitness products generated $265 million in 2009, up from $225 million in 2008 and $100 million in 2005,” said SharpBrains, a San Francisco-based market research firm, in an AARP interview. “Consumers account for about one-third of brain fitness industry sales, or $95 million in 2009. By 2015, the brain fitness market is projected to reach $1 billion.”

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Kate Forgach is a Baby Boomer consumer specialist for Kinoli Inc. She has written about senior issues for 11 years as a Cooperative Extension specialist and for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines. She has been featured in USA Today, Detroit News, New Orleans Times-Picayune, New Yorker magazine, “ABC World News,” NBC’s “TODAY” show and many other media outlets.

I attended a home party a few weeks ago for a candle company X and it was a nice party and my friend (the hostess) did get a lot of orders and bookings at her home party. The consultant who represents candle company X did a really nice job but she missed the opportunity to market the company’s fundraising program to 26 guests who attended the party!

Wow…she really missed the boat on that! When it comes to pitching your direct sales fundraising opportunity program you need to also pitch your fundraising program to those who attend home parties! Many consultants ONLY pitch the fundraising program to schools, groups, athletic teams, charities, etc. and they don’t think about pitching it at a home party which is a big mistake!

Those who attend home parties also volunteer for various charitable groups, they have kid’s who play sports at school, kid’s who participate in scouting groups and so forth. It is important to get your company’s fundraising program in front of EVERYONE you meet that way if they know someone who is looking to raise funds they can recommend you and the company you represent.

You shouldn’t spend an entire hour pitching your fundraising program at a home party but you should spend 3-5 minutes talking about it to your home party guests so that way if they ever need a fundraiser for something that comes up in the future…they will think of you! (or) if they know someone who is looking for new fundraising opportunities they can refer you to them!

The next time you are presenting at a home party make sure you spend a couple of minutes talking about your company’s fundraising program so that you are getting the ‘word’ out about it. Let’s face it, you are in direct sales to make money so don’t miss the boat by not talking about your company’s fundraising program at your home parties.

Incorporating this type of important information into your home party presentation can really boost your fundraising bookings which in turns boosts your sales and income.

Every year the holidays seem to arrive faster than we expect and this year is no exception. With the economy being sluggish, thousands of stay at home moms are wondering what they can do this holiday season to earn some extra money for their family.

Here are 10 ideas that you can do this season to earn some extra cash that don’t require a college education.

1. Gift Wrapping Service – If you have a lot of free time and enjoy wrapping gifts, you could offer a gift wrapping service. You don’t need to be a professional, you just need to be creative and neat with your packaging.

2. Baking Holiday Goodies – People lead very busy lives these days and don’t have a lot of time to spend in their kitchens baking breads, cakes, pies and cookies. If you enjoy baking, you could offer to do the baking for your family and friends.

3. Babysitting Service – Parents are always looking for a few good babysitters so that they can run their errands and do their gift shopping. You will need to be flexible with your time and offer evening and/or weekend babysitting hours.

4. Greeting Cards Service – If you have nice penmanship, you could offer a greeting card service. You would have your customers purchase their own greeting cards and hand you their mailing list. You fill out the cards, address and stamp them…and then mail them off for your customer.

5. Dear Santa Christmas Letters – You can find free templates online on how to type up and send Dear Santa Claus response letters. Children love to get a reply back from Santa Claus along with a little trinket in their envelope.

6. Pet Sitting – A lot of people travel every year for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and they are looking for pet lovers who are responsible to care for their pets while they are away. You are usually required to walk, feed, water and play with the pet while the owner is away on vacation.

7. Gift Shopping – If you like to shop and don’t mind fighting the crowds in the stores, then perhaps this is an option for you. You can have your customer give you a list of the items they want and you go out and purchase them for those on the customer’s holiday gift-giving list.

8. Housecleaning – I know several home owners who hire seasonal housecleaning help. If you enjoy cleaning and if you are only looking to do it for a handful of weeks, this would be a nice option to earn some extra money.

9. Crafts – If you are creative and talented in the crafting medium…there is no better time to host your own craft show. If hosting one is not your cup of tea, you can find numerous Holiday bazaars and craft shows in your own community to participate in.

10. Party Host Services – A few years ago, a friend of mine was hosting a large party for her co-workers in her home. She hired me to come over for the day and evening to help her set up, cook, serve and clean-up after the party. If you enjoy entertaining guests and assisting a party host, this is a great opportunity to earn some extra money.

I hope these 10 ideas have sparked some creative ideas of your own. If you are looking to make some extra money this holiday season…now is the time to prepare a plan, print up some flyers and spread the word about whatever type of service you plan on providing this holiday season.

This article was written by Shelly Hill, copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved.