A couple of weeks ago I emailed a Direct Sales consultant with one of the beauty companies a particular question that I had about the company’s mascara line and she did promptly respond with the answer to my question.

About 2 weeks after that I started getting spammed by her once a week with her weekly customer email newsletter. Wow…I was shocked! I immediately clicked the unsubscribe link in the newsletter and realized it was disabled and not working! I then emailed her (nicely I might add) and asked her to unsubscribe me from her customer newsletter as I did not sign up for it nor did I tell her to add me to it.

The following week…I got another newsletter in my email box from her! ugh! I then fired off a second request for her to remove me. This entire back and forth process took a month or so before I was finally removed from her list!

When it comes to email marketing, customer newsletters and building your email subscriber’s list it is VERY IMPORTANT to never…ever…add a subscriber to your newsletter subscription list without asking their permission first! Better yet, don’t add anyone at all…have an online sign-up box so folks can sign-up for it themselves if they are interested!

Not only does this unprofessional behavior “irk” off customers and potential customers but it is also WRONG and ILLEGAL. You can not fire off emails and sign up folks to your newsletter just because you want to market your business to them. It is considered to be “SPAM” if that person did not sign up for it or request it.

Marketing Strategies for the Holiday Season by Terri Seymour

If you have been in business long you know that the bulk of your sales will come from the months leading up to and going through the holiday season. The time to start your marketing for this season is July or even earlier!

Online sales are expected to reach 12 billion dollars this year so be sure you get a piece of that huge pie! This is a 1.5 to 2 times increase over 1999 as more people adjust to online shopping.

Here are some ideas that could help you get a slice of that holiday shopping pie:

1. You could offer a free holiday gift with every order over $25 or any set amount.

2. Offer free or discounted shipping with every order.

3. Send Christmas cards to your mailing list offering them a special discount or deal.

4. Offer a gift wrapping service for your customers. Make their shopping as easy and hassle free as possible.

5. If you do home parties, have a Christmas shopping party to split the shipping costs and/or wrapping costs. Have a holiday themed party with gift certificates and free samples.

6. Start a gift referral club with other businesses. If a customer is looking for something you do not offer, give them a place they can get it and other businesses will do the same for you.

7. Have a holiday themed contest on your site to draw in more customers.

8. Work with charity. Offer so many dollars off for everyone who brings in a old toy for kids’ charity. For online shoppers have a donation button. This will attract customers as well as provide good publicity for your company.

9. Give a free holiday tips report out with every purchase. Provide tips on saving money, holiday decorating, etc.

10. Make sure everything on your site is working and up to date. Build a special holiday section for your holiday customers.

11. Have a gift ideas section for your shoppers who have trouble picking out gifts. Be sure and have gift certificates or cards available as well.

12. Mail out gift idea cards to your customers/mailing list.

13. Send out coupons with a chance at a free gift with every coupon returned.

14. Do not forget customer service. Provide a little extra for your customers so they come back for more.

15. Become the company with the most Christmas spirit. Donate a portion of all sales to a popular children’s charity.

16. Provide a quality product at a good price along with good customer service and your customers are bound to remain loyal to your company.

Take these ideas and add to them. Once you start trying new ideas you will be able to think of more and more. Don’t be afraid to try new and creative ideas. Test the results and keep track of what works and what doesn’t. What might not work in spring might be very effective during the holiday season.

The holiday marketing season is a chance for you to expand your business and gain more customers, but you must give them a reason to come to you and then to come back to you!
Terri Seymour has several years online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Visit her site at http://www.seymourproducts.com for resources, $1 resell ebooks, wholesale gift business opp, free affiliate programs & a free ezine with bonus report: 77 Ways to Get Traffic! mailto:subscribe@seymourproducts.com .

Article Source: WAHM Articles

 Twitter is one of the hottest social media networking online sites today and that means you and your business need to be utilizing Twitter on almost a daily basis.

If you are not familiar with Twitter, it is basically an instant message system that works in “real” time. What is really cool about Twitter is that each message you send or receive is only 140 characters in length and you can pick and choose who you want to communicate with. It is a great way for you to reach out and network with others in your same niche or it’s a great way for you to market your business online to those who you normally wouldn’t come into contact with. Although you will fine thousands of just “personal users” on Twitter you will also found thousands of “businesses” there too!

When you join Twitter you want to fill out your profile page fully and make it look professional and pretty. Once your profile page is done you want to send out a few messages (known as Tweets) right away because no one wants to follow someone who has a blank Tweet stream. Once you have sent out several messages you will want to find some like-minded people to follow so that they will follow you back if they are interested in you and your business products/services.

One way you find people to follow is by using Twitter’s keyword search function. Here is an example:

If you sell candles you will want to do a keyword search for the word candles. Once your search results come up you will want to read those user’s profile pages to see if you are interested in following them. If yes…click on the follow button…if not, continue through the list.

When using the keyword search function on Twitter it is very important that you use it properly. You never want to keyword search a word and then send out Tweets to those people which sound like spam. In other words…if you see someone chatting about candles you don’t want to tweet out that you sell candles and that they should check out your web sites as most folks consider that to be TWEET SPAM. What you want to do is follow them & hopefully they will follow you back and you can engage them in some conversation. You can also send them a tweet (not a direct message) and just introduce yourself and try to connect and build a rapport with them. Once you do…then you can mention that you sell candles.

There is a wrong and a right way to use the Twitter keyword search function and it is important to use it the right way and not use it for spamming your business info & links because if you spam…I guarantee you that people/users will report you for spam.

To Your Twitter Marketing Success….

Shelly

10 Ways to Intensify Your Article Marketing by Terri Seymour

Article marketing is a method of online and offline marketing in which you write informative articles and make them available for reprint and distribution to various webmasters and print publications. If your article is well-written and contains helpful information it has the potential to give you an enormous amount of exposure for your business. These articles can also help build your reputation as an authority in your field which can help bring you more customers.

Many people have doubts when it comes to writing and distributing articles but with a little time and effort it can be done. Below are ten tips for establishing your article marketing campaign.

1. Keep It Simple – Craft articles that are simple and straightforward. Be sure it contains relevant and helpful information for your readers. There is no need for big, fancy words. Write as if you were simply telling a friend all about the article subject. Let your personality shine through in your words and watch your article come alive!

2. Research Thoroughly – One mistake some people make is to publish information that is outdated or inaccurate. Be sure to research all your facts and be sure everything is up to date and accurate.

3. Keywords – Using relevant keywords in your writing is important for search engine placement so people can find your articles more often. But do not make the mistake of overloading your articles with keywords and phrases to the point that your article will not be well-written or make any sense. Be sure to read your finished article and watch for keyword overload.

4. Attention Grabbing Titles – Your article title could be the deciding factor to whether or not your article gets read. I know when I am sifting through articles the title is what helps me decide which article to read. Use power words in your title to grab and hold a person’s interest.

For example:

Which article would interest you more?

“10 Ways to Increase Your Income”

“10 Guaranteed Ways to Make Money Now”

Both sound interesting but I would probably go after the second title. It has that something extra that gets my attention. Using power words like “Guaranteed” and “Now” will spark emotion in the reader and draw them in.

5. Always Proofread – Even though you are writing an article containing basic information, you want it to look and sound professional. Be sure to use proper grammar and make sure all words are spelled correctly. Unfortunately I have seen some articles that looked as if a 5 year old had written it. Please be sure to check it over at least once. I like to proofread twice as I have missed a thing or two over the years.

6. Effective Resource Box – Always write your resource box in third person format. You want your name to get etched into the reader’s memory. Tell a little about yourself and then list a compelling reason for people to visit your site/business.

Example:

Jane Doe has 15 years experience as a business coach and has worked extensively with major corporations. Visit Jane’s site for free information on how to improve your business and her award-winning book on how to triple your company’s sales. Add your link here.

7. Quality Not Quantity – Some people will say to submit your article to as many places as possible, but I disagree. I would submit each article to a dozen or more of the higher ranked, quality ezine directories. You can see a list of the top ten at my site. It would be impossible, time-wise to submit to all the article directories so making a list of the top 10 or 20 or so would be the best thing to do. I personally submit my articles to a list of 30 with the top one being EzineArticles.

8. Social Bookmarking – Social bookmarking is a way for people to share your articles with friends and/or business associates. This can greatly increase the power of your article. One of the best sites for social bookmarking beginners is Blinklist.

Some others are:

Delicious

Digg

StumbleUpon

9. Follow Guidelines – All article directories will have guidelines for you to follow. Be sure and abide by each site’s guidelines or your article will be rejected. Most directories will require a 500 word minimum with links only being allowed in your resource box. Do not put your site info or link in the article body. Most sites will not allow links of any kind in the article body.

10. Article Spinning: Good or Bad? – Article spinning is taking an article, and using software to change parts of it in an attempt to make it another unique article. In doing so, one article can become 5 or 10 (so-called) unique articles. To me, this is the lazy way of writing articles and in my opinion does not do much for your reputation. Some people say it works for them but it is something I would neither do nor recommend. Writing a true unique quality article can be done in an hour or two and will be much more beneficial than wringing out one article to try to get several.

I have been writing articles for about 12 years or so and still try to learn more on how to improve my article marketing. The above ten tips will go a long way in improving your article marketing success. Much luck to you in your campaign efforts.
About the Author:
Terri Seymour has over twelve years of online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Visit her site for free articles, resources, information, resell ebooks and more. Sign up for the RSS Feed for a free business ebook with MRR. http://www.SeymourProducts.com

Article Source: WAHM Articles

Many consultants who are with Direct Sales companies are turning to online party bookings as a way to help bring in additional bookings and income with their home businesses. A lot of these Direct Sales companies even have online party options that are connected to the consultants “company provided rep site” that a consultant can utilize with their business.

However…many consultants are telling me that they don’t know how to promote an online party…online! Today I am going to give you a few tips. The first thing I do want to say is that if you have a party host…it is HER JOB to promote her own online party and not yours! With that said, if you are trying to get people to book online parties from you and you want to target people online for those bookings here is a few things you can do.

1. Take out an advertisement over on Facebook.com. These ads vary in price but can be effective when you use the right wording and marketing strategy when purchasing them. Facebook has millions of users so you only want your ADs to target those who are in your area or at the very least…in the same country as you. So, don’t waste your advertising dollars by targeting everyone, everywhere, around the world.

2. Utilize Twitter.com as part of your marketing strategy. You will need to spend time on Twitter conversing with your followers, finding new followers, etc. You can NOT just open up a Twitter account and spam your business ads at people 24/7. No one does business with someone who sits there and spams or does self-promoting all day long. You need to network & converse with followers & others on Twitter for it to be effective.

3. Join a few of the work at home mom and/or stay at home mom online forum boards. Again, you can’t just join and spam ads in their business folders. You will need to introduce yourself, converse with members in that community and make yourself a valuable member of that community before folks will do business with you. When posting ads about your online party options you need to make sure you ONLY post them in the designated advertisement folders on those forums.

4. Write some Direct Sales articles on online parties, offline parties or even just general DS business topics. (these can’t be ads, they must be articles & be informative). You can then submit these to various online Direct Sales web sites, DS Blogs and to article directory sites. Make sure your Author’s Resource Box includes a little bit about your biz, online party option, your link, etc. These articles can then be used all over the internet to drive some traffic to your site.

5. Take out some classified ads online that are specifically for your area (online local newspapers, magazines, directory sites, etc.) where you can advertise your online party booking option to those who are local to you & in your area. Often times these little classified online ads are free or extremely low-cost.

6. This next tip is done offline…you want to tell everyone you meet, come into contact with at your home parties, etc. That you have an online party option for those who are too busy for a home show booking. Don’t just assume that people you come into contact with…know this information, many do not! Your offline contacts can be a fabulous source to book online parties from you!

I hope these 6 tips will help you broaden your horizons and help you promote your online Direct Sales business party options.

Do You Need More Bookings? If so, check out that site!

Often times I see consultants giving customers discounts if they purchase products from them. When I ask them why they are giving them these discounts they tell me that they want the customer’s business so giving them a discount will entice the order from the customer.

Well..that might be true and I say “might” because if you are just blindly giving out discounts to people to just get their order it is REALLY going to take a “bite” out of the amount of money that you earn.

In my honest opinion you should not be placing a slew of advertisements (in-print online or offline) offering customers a big discount if they come buy their products from you because you are in a direct sales business to make MONEY. With most direct sales company you earn 25% to 40% in commission and if you are giving a slew of people 10% to 20% off their purchases with you…well…that adds up and that big chunk of discounts takes a huge bite out of your wallet.

I think if you are going to give discounts out to folks it should be LIMITED…like 10% off their FIRST order from you or 10% off their 10th purchase from you or something along those lines. However, I wouldn’t be placing a slew of ads all over the place allowing every Tom, Dick and Harry to take advantage of that discount.

In addition…it should never be a discount with NO expiration date!!! If you really want discounts to work for you they should have an expiration date of 60 days or less so that it encourages the customer to order sooner than later (later…they could forget).

I do believe in giving discounts but on a very limited basis because in direct sales we are not like big retail stores that can take big cuts into our profit line. So my advice…don’t sell yourself short. If you are going to give customer’s discounts…give it to only a few of them at a time and make sure they have a 60 days or less expiration date.

Your thoughts?

10 Major Online Marketing Mistakes by Terri Seymour

Online marketing, also called internet marketing is forever evolving and if you own an online business you need to keep abreast of all the options available to you and your business. Building a business is a learning process and we all will make mistakes. The main thing is to learn from our mistakes so as not to make them again. In my years of online marketing I have learned a lot and want to share with you, what I think, are 10 of the major online marketing mistakes.

1. Not Collecting Email Addresses – Have you ever heard the statement, the money is in the list? Your list can be your goldmine. If you are not collecting email addresses, you need to start now. Put a sign-up form on your site so people can sign up to your mailing list, newsletter, RSS, articles, etc. Offer them a free bonus for signing up. You will be able to collect a list of names with which to send your special offers, sales, etc. and greatly increase your income potential. Be sure to include an opt-out in all mailings. This will give your subscribers the chance to remove themselves from your mailing list if they so choose. Also, never add a person’s email address to your list without their permission.

2. Not Being Social – Social networking has exploded on the internet. Millions of people use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other popular sites. If you are not using these sites for your business, you are making a grave error. People will be finding other businesses and not even know you or your business exist.

If you are not yet social, start now by opening an account on the top three:

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

3. Not Being Available – I have so many people tell me that they have emailed websites and never receive a response. I know from experience this happens way too often. Make it a number one priority to answer email inquiries as quickly as possible. I try to answer within minutes, if possible. This does get a huge response of appreciation. Your visitors need to know that a person is available if they have questions about your products and/or services. This will help in building the relationship and trust needed for an online business.

4. Not Studying Your Web Stats – Your web stats can help you determine how many visitors you get, where they are going, how long they are staying, if they are returning and so on. By analyzing this information, you can develop your website into the most efficient website it can be. One of the best site stats you can use for free is Google Analytics.

5. Not Using Viral Marketing – Viral marketing uses the same concept as the snowball effect. You start with one tiny snowball and roll it down a hill and it turns into a great mass of snow. Viral marketing can do the same thing for your site. You can give away free ebooks, free reports, free articles and other helpful resources. You give one person a free ebook with your name and link info in it and this person passes it onto their visitors and those visitors pass it on to their visitors and so on. One big giant snowball of traffic!

6. Not Keeping Up with Changes – Over the years internet marketing has changed immensely. Some methods become outdated and new innovative marketing concepts come into play. Even though some of the older methods might still work, you still need to keep up with the new innovative changes in marketing such as social media and video marketing. Always be learning and always keep up with new marketing methods.

7. Ignoring Your Competitors – In business you always have to keep an eye on your competitors. You can learn a lot from your competitors and about your own business as well. Visit forums where you and your competitors might be discussed and learn from what is being said. There is software that will help you find such forums called Boardtracker. Visit your competitors’ sites often to see how they are evolving and how it is working for them. Find out their strengths and weaknesses. Find out what works and what doesn’t. Don’t ever ignore your competitors!

8. Not Being Professional – Your business is a business and needs to be treated as such. Your site needs to look professional. Be sure to proofread all your content and add a Privacy Policy page to your site. You should also have a policy page with your shipping, return, exchange, etc. policies so buyers know what to expect. Make your site look, feel and read like a professional site. You also need to respond professionally in emails, forums, social sites, etc. Be polite, courteous, fair and never let your emotions get the better of you.

9. Not Having a User-Friendly Site – I have seen many sites which have caused me to immediately leave.

Some examples would be:

Blaring music that comes on with no way to turn it off.

Flashy irritating graphics all over the place.

Ads plastered all over with no clear way to navigate the site.

No contact info.

Basically no professionalism of any kind.

Don’t let your site fall into these categories. If you have music on your site, give the option of music or not. Always make the pages clean, easy to read and navigate. Be sure to have your contact info on all pages. Don’t have a lot of flashy graphics that will drive your visitors away. Control the amount of ads you have on your site as well.

10. Don’t Give Up! – In my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes people make when they start an online business is giving up too soon. Building a business takes time and you have to commit to it and stick with it. Unfortunately, I have seen many people give up prematurely and then wonder why they can’t make money. I thought of giving up myself many times but stuck with it because I wanted to help my family while being able to stay home and take care of them. I kept on and was persistent and it slowly started paying off. Once I started with ebooks, my business really took off and now I am very grateful I did not give up when I felt discouraged!

If you have found the business you are passionate about, stick with it and do not give up! Keep your passion alive and you can be a great success!

Terri Seymour has over twelve years of online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Visit her site for free articles, resources, information, resell ebooks and more. Sign up for the RSS Feed for a free business ebook with MRR. http://www.SeymourProducts.com

Article Source: WAHM Articles

I know I am probably going to catch some “heat” for this blog post but I have been in direct sales for over 25 years so I feel my opinion is important and I know of hundreds of other direct sales consultants who feel exactly the same way that I do when I see consultants running around “touting” that their company is the best, their team is the best, they have best compensation plan, the best blog, the best consultant web site and on and on and on it goes!

Well…let me tell you…when you throw around the word “BEST” in all of your advertising and social media postings it does nothing but “irk off” those who are in the same industry as you. Just because you feel you have the “best” web site, the “best” compensation plan and/or the “best” products doesn’t mean that others feel the same way. If that was the case…everyone would all be with ONE direct sales company and there wouldn’t be thousands of direct sales companies to choose from. What is “BEST” for you and to you…most likely is not “BEST” to others.

When consultants see you constantly throwing the word “BEST” around in all of your advertising and social media postings it does indeed “irk them off” and “irritate” them to no end! You can advertise your company, it’s products, it’s compensation plan, your team, your site, etc. without constantly shoving it down other peoples throats that you feel it’s the “BEST”! Know what I mean?

My gripe today is solely that…I really wish folks would “lay off” the “BEST” in all of their advertising and social media postings. What is “RIGHT” and “BEST” to you doesn’t mean it is the same for the people reading your ads, facebook postings, tweets, etc. etc. etc. I find that it gets on my nerves and I know it gets on other consultants nerves too.

Now let’s say you have the “BIGGEST” site online or you are involved with the “BIGGEST” direct sales company…that still doesn’t mean it is the “BEST” site online or the “BEST” company to join. Everyone has different tastes, needs, wants, expectations, goals, etc.

So the next time you are drafting up some advertising, facebook posts, tweets, blog posts, flyers, etc. How about you try leaving the word “BEST” out of it?

That’s my gripe today and my 2 cents on the matter.

Do You Need More Bookings? If so, check out that site!

5 Fresh Innovative Marketing Ideas by Terri Seymour

When you own a business it is extremely important to get your name and business brand out to the public. We, as business owners, are always looking for new and cost effective ways of doing that. We do not want to settle into a routine because it works. We should always be looking for fresh new ideas to spread the word about what we offer with our business.

Below are five innovative ideas that you may or may have not yet seen to help get you more traffic, more sales and more income.

1. Introductions in Blog and/or Ezine – This is an effective method of cross promoting for you and fellow online business owners. Search for sites that compliment (not compete with) your site. Email the owner and introduce yourself, let them know a little about you and your site and then ask them if they would be interested in a cross promotion with you. You would introduce each other on your blogs/sites/ezines and tell a little about their business. This would be better than just an ad because it adds a personal touch which people tend to pay more attention to than just ads.

2. Swap Article Resource Boxes – if you write and submit articles, swapping resource boxes with other article marketers could be a great way to increase your traffic, sales, etc. As with the introductions, search for complimentary businesses and then contact the owner. A good place to start would be some of the better article directories. Find quality articles and consider contacting the authors for your proposal.

3. Compile an Article Portfolio – Article marketing is very effective and by compiling your articles all in one convenient portfolio would be a good way to get more of them used by ezine publishers, webmasters, etc. Group your articles together in one large word file. Then convert it to pdf. This is a great way for people to be able to access your articles easily as well as choosing the subject they are interested in. Provide download links to your portfolio in your email signature, on your website, in your ezine, on your blog. Post in on forums, your Facebook page, twitter, etc. The possibilities are endless!

4. Ad Pool – Contact a group of fellow blog owners, ezine publishers, etc and discuss the possibility of forming an ad pool with them. Each person puts in an ad and you all rotate the ads in your ezine, blog, etc. Be selective in the types of ads you accept so they are taken more seriously by your readers.

5. Swap Video Ads – This would be similar to link exchanging and ad swapping but taking it a step further. Choose complimentary businesses and you can actually help bring each other more business by swapping video ads for your site or blog.

It’s not always easy to find, new innovative ideas for your marketing campaign but by putting a new spin on some old ways, it can turn out to be very successful for your business. Helping yourself by helping others is always a plus and the above mentioned ideas all will help you accomplish that!

Terri Seymour (also known as “The eBook Lady”) has over ten years online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Visit her site at http://www.seymourproducts.com for resources, $1 and $2 resell ebooks & software, articles, affiliate programs, RSS feed, and a free business ebook with Master Resell Rights.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

When it comes to promoting a small or large business online it is very important to get involved with article marketing. Article marketing gets you valuable incoming one-way web links to your site along with valuable new traffic. In addition…article marketing is one of the most cost effective ways for you to market you business online and to set yourself up as a leader in the niche that you represent.

For those who wish to market their businesses online via article marketing, here are a few important tips to remember when you begin this marketing journey.

1. Article Length: The length of your article will depend on where you plan on having it published. You will find that the majority of article directories require a minimum of 250 words in length. I personally recommend 400-500 words as a good length to strive for when writing your articles.

2. Article Topics: The topics you write about should pertain to the Direct Sales business that you represent and the content of your article should match the links and information that you include in your author’s resource box. When you are writing articles pertaining to your business you can really set yourself a part from other consultant’s in your same company by marketing your business online via article marketing. Topics can be geared directly towards the type of products you are trying to market and/or towards the Direct Sales or Home Business Industry as a whole.

3. Consistency: You will need to be writing articles often and I recommend around 10 new articles a month so that you consistently have fresh new material going out across the internet on a consistent basis. You most likely won’t see a lot of results in the first month or two when you start this type of marketing and most article marketers start seeing great results after 4-6 months.

4. Proofread For Typos & Grammar Mistakes: When you write articles they should always be proofread 2-3 times for typos and grammar mistakes. You can not rely on spell checker to catch all of your typos and grammar mistakes. First impressions are everything and I don’t know anyone who likes to read an article that is loaded with typos and grammar mistakes. If you can afford it, hire a ghostwriter or assistant to proof all of your articles before you publish them live. Often times a fresh set of eyes can catch mistakes that you the writer can not catch.

5. Author’s Resource Box: An Author’s Resource Box should be included at the end of each and every article that you write and publish online. This box gives the reader important information about you, your business and your expertise. Your resource box should be several sentences in length and include 1-2 web links to your business web sites that are related to the article you just written. It is extremely important to double check the links you include in your resource box to make sure they are correct as broken links do you and your business absolutely no good.

This article was written by Shelly Hill ~ Owner of Work At Home Business Opptions and is exclusive to this (my) web site. Please do not reprint it! Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved.