Work At Home Business Options

Archive for the ‘Booking Ideas’ Category

The holidays are finally over so it’s time to get back down to business and January is the perfect time for you to buckle down & get busy building your direct sales home business!

The majority of direct sales companies launch all kinds of great booking incentives for the month of January each & every year and it is YOUR JOB to use those booking incentives to fill up your January and February booking calendar.

A lot of companies will offer double host rewards, extra 1/2 price off items, attendance specials and other great deals to get people to book parties during the month of January. In addition, they often offer deep discounts and unbeatable deals to guests/customers who attend those booked parties!

Let’s get busy today calling up all of your past party hosts and asking them to book a party right away! They can call up those they want to invite or send them email invitations to the party. You can plan and get a party onto the books and ready to go in just one week. Trust me, it can be done! 

You also want to call up potential hosts who have been dragging their feet in booking a party with you and let them know about all those great booking incentives you have going on for the month. While you are at it let them know about the customer sales deals too…give it all to them and “rev them up” for a party booking! Make sure you sound super excited when speaking to them so that your excitement becomes contagious and they catch it!

If you work hard this first week in January lining up bookings/datings for the month of January that will carry you over into February and March because you will get bookings from those January parties to feed the next 2 months on your calendar.

So what are you waiting for? Time to get busy, make those calls and book those parties!!!

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

Over the past 2 1/2 years I have written several blog posts on promoting your direct sales home business during the holiday season and how to utilize this season to make even more money than what you usually do!

It is now November 4th and you need to GET BUSY booking your holiday parties NOW (if you have not already begun to do so) and since it is the beginning of the holiday season I thought I would make a little list of some tips I have posted over the years regarding direct sales and the holiday season.

You can click on each title/link below and it will take you to the post that I previously made on this blog regarding the subject title.

Fun and Interactive Holiday Party Ideas

Direct Sales – 9 Fall, Winter and Holiday Party Theme Ideas

Are You Booking Your Holiday Parties Now?

Direct Sales – 20 Seasonal Home Party Theme Ideas

In addition…browse around the Direct Sales category here on my blog and you will find 100′s of blog posts to help guide you to a successful holiday selling season!

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

Many consultants jump into Direct Sales and don’t know anything about it and they don’t take the time out to educate themselves on it and this is a big mistake!  Just like any “job” or any “business” you need to know what you are doing and if you don’t know…well, you need to take the time out and educate yourself on it!

One good source of business education when it comes to Direct Sales is education that is provided to you from your corporate offices. This can be training seminars, company sponsored conferences, online webinars, phone teleseminars, etc. Whatever your company offers in business training it is YOUR job to take it! Many consultants “blow it off” and make “excuses” as to why they don’t participate in company sponsored training. Like I said, that is a big mistake!

Many Direct Sales companies already know what works and doesn’t work in regards to having a DS business and they tailor their training programs around what they know to be a successful system. They want to teach this system to you so that you can have a successful business. So…whatever training that is offered to you by the home office, make sure you take it!

Another good source of business education comes from your immediate and distant upline managers and team leaders. As someone who worked in Direct Sales for over 23 years…I can personally tell you that over the years only about 40-45% of my downline team ever attended my meetings and/or rallies. Many said they were too busy, had kids, too tired, blah blah blah and let me tell you…those who did attend my meetings and those who did attend company sponsored training sessions were more successful than those who did not. Now grant ya…this doesn’t apply to everyone but it does apply to those who have NEVER done Direct Sales before and just jump in with no intentions on getting officially trained!

Now…do you need to attend all of the training opportunities that are offered to you? No…we all have real lives and we all are busy people but you should participate in as many of them that you can so that you are constantly learning new business skills and staying on top of what works in Direct Sales and what doesn’t.

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

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!

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

In Direct Sales – Increase The Number Of Bookings From Your Shows

By Jane Deuber

Bookings are the lifeline of your business because they provide immediate income, future bookings, and lead to new team members. Following are four simple ways to increase the number of bookings you receive at every show.

Ask Every Guest

Without a doubt, the most successful Direct Sellers ASK EVERY GUEST “when” (not “if”) they would like to hold a show/party of their own. The more people you ask, the better at it you’ll get, and the more bookings you will receive. In addition, when you ask every guest to hold a show, you are increasing the chances for the current hostess to receive more credit.

Get Your Hostess Involved

Your Hostess is the key to receiving numerous bookings from every show. Ask your hostess to:

1. Have at least one booking before her show

2. Ask friends and relatives who cannot attend to hold a show of their own

3. Let you know which guests are most likely to book a show

4. Play at least one booking game at her show

Also, plan to re-book your hostess for another show within 90 days.

Control Your Schedule

When scheduling shows, use only the current month calendar. If you present a future hostess with an entire year, chances are she will flip ahead to the next month to select her date.

Highlight in a special color “Key Dates” on which you would like to book your next shows and offer an extra incentive for selecting the next open date.

Expand your “income-earning hours” by offering creative daytime alternatives for shows, for example: Office Lunch-hour Shows, Five O’clock Happy Hours, Start-the Day Shows, and Sunday Brunch Shows.

Reduce Cancellations

Do not schedule shows more than 30 days in advance and always fill your booking schedule for the next week before moving to the following week.

Release the “obligation” when someone has booked a show only to help the hostess. “Ellen, I know you booked your show to help our hostess Carol, but I want you to have this show because you want it. Which items are you most excited about receiving FREE with your hostess credit. (Bring them to her.) Great Ellen. Let’s set a goal for you to receive all these products FREE by having a really successful show. Can I count on you?”

Secure the booking “Ellen, I am so excited to hold a show with you. You and your guests will have so much fun! Because this is my business and I always keep my schedule full, I would appreciate holding your show on this date I have reserved for you. I promise I’ll be there come rain or shine. Can I count on you to do the same?” “Great!”

Jane Deuber is a Co-Founder of the only association dedicated to the needs of the independent party plan and network marketing professionals. Discover what makes the DSWA so unique. Listen to three motivating and informative free teleseminars by visiting http://www.mydswa.org/tele_class.asp

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jane_Deuber
http://EzineArticles.com/?In-Direct-Sales—Increase-The-Number-Of-Bookings-From-Your-Shows&id=494325

Several months ago a new consultant with one of the direct sales companies emailed me and asked me for my opinion on this specific question. “Is it okay for me to refuse a party booking if the host lives in an unsafe area here in our city?” Well, I thought I would share my answer and opinion on this topic here on my blog.

In my personal opinion and experience…YES, it is okay for you to refuse that particular party booking. However…you should help the host find a new consultant who doesn’t mind traveling to that area of your city. If you don’t know one, you should refer the host to your company’s corporate office.

An alternative to refusing the booking would be to suggest to your host a different location for her party.

I have refused a handful of party bookings in my 20+ years of being in direct sales…but I don’t do it often and I always help the host find a consultant to do the party for her.

When I have refused a party booking it has been for the following reasons:

I refused 2 bookings because they were in a dangerous area of town that I refuse to travel to. I refused 1 booking because this particular host was a pet hoarder (over 20+ roaming cats & dogs in her home along with the smell that goes with it) and with my severe allergies to dogs…I had to refuse her booking. The only other time I refused a booking was when a lady who I knew called me to book a party but I knew from past experience with her that she writes bad checks, reschedules party dates 4+ times before she actually goes through with them and she only ever has 3-4 guests who only came to her parties to get food and beer (not place orders).

So…in my personal opinion it is okay to refuse a party booking but you do have the responsibility to help that host find another consultants who will do it. If not, refer him/her to your corporate office. With all of that said…you should have a very good valid reason on “why” you are refusing the booking!

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