Work At Home Business Options

Posts Tagged ‘business sense’

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.

6 Email Marketing Tips that Build Trust & Increase Sales by Ms. Liz

Having an opt-in email list is more than just sending subscribers your newsletters, tips, promotions and sales letters; it’s about establishing a positive relationship with your readers. People rarely buy from those they don’t trust but by fostering fond relationships with your subscribers you’re increasing their confidence in you which in turn will dramatically increase sales.

Here are 6 tips that will create reader confidence, build lasting relationships with your subscribers, lessen your opt-out rate and best of all, boost sales.

Tip #1 – Set Expectations for Your Subscribers

Be clear about what your subscribers are signing up for. That means telling them exactly what kind of emails they’ll get such as a newsletter, tips, ecourse, special report, etc. Also specify how often they can expect an email. Also, for easy recognition it’s a good idea to indicate what email address your emails will be coming from.

Tip #2 – Help Viewers Learn About You

Before asking for a sign-up, direct your viewers to your personal page where they can learn about you and your business. Share some personal trivia about yourself and include some pictures and a personal signature. Let your visitors see and relate to the ‘real’ you. The more they come to know and like you the more trust they will bestow in you.

Tip #3 – Respect your Subscribers Time

Your subscribers granted you permission to email them; this is a privilege, not a right so respect that. Send them only information and content that relates to what they signed up for. Introduce new products gradually. Sending blatant sales pitches are a sure way to increase opt-outs.

It’s also important to note that even though it may not be costing your subscribers money to opt-in to your list, it is costing them time to open your emails, read them and take action. Keeping your content relevant and to the point is recognizing that their time is valuable and they will appreciate that.

Tip #4 – Email on a Consistent Basis

Never flood your email subscribers in box, but don’t ignore them either. When you get a new subscriber send them a welcome letter but don’t wait a month or more to send them their next email. People subscribe to things all the time, so without consistent communication they often forget they signed up. Waiting long between emails increases the chance they’ll opt-out or worse yet, hit the spam button. Instead, use a good email autoresponder and send messages consistently.

Tip #5 – Always provide an Unsubscribe Option

No one wants subscribers to opt-out but you must give your subscribers the option. It not only shows your professionalism it also indicates that you’re a legitimate business and not a spammer. Use the double opt-in feature provided with most email autoresponders, it will considerably reduce the number of unsubscribes.

Tip #6 – Promote Less and Help More

People don’t like to be sold to; they like to buy on their own terms. Before they buy they need reasons, benefits and most importantly, trust in who they’re purchasing from. The “buy this because I like it” approach rarely woks and will annoy your readers.

If you have a product to sell use a slow paced approach by demonstrating how your product will benefit your viewers. A subscriber is not likely to stick around if they see you as someone only interested in making a quick sale. Your subscribers have come to you as a resource for help and information so be respectful of that. The more you help them, the more they will see you as genuine resource, then when the time comes for them to buy; they will look to you first.

In summary, don’t target your subscriber list as a way to make money, instead focus on building a strong relationship with them. Treat your subscribers well and they will treat you well.

Check in with Elizabeth for More Free Yet Dynamic Email Marketing Tips that will instantly boost sales no matter what size email list you have.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

Home Based, Work At Home, WAHM, Direct Sales, Home Party Business Owners – Get Organized! by Deb Bixler

The New Year is a time when home party business consultants can revamp their office and add some new organizational techniques to their home business business systems. The classic New Year’s resolution is a perfect excuse to add some new systems to your direct selling office management repetoire.

Becoming More Organized in Party Plan Businesses Next Year

The old year is almost over and the new year is right around the corner. Time to think about a New Year?s resolution or two. If you own a home party business, one of the most common resolutions is to become more organized in the new year. Party plan office organization is one of the best things you can do for your business and your stress level!

As a home based business business owner, it is important to think of January as ?Get Organized Month.? WAHM Business owners often get so busy and consumed by the actual operation of their business that organization begins to crumble and things start to get messy. Use the start of 2012 to get your business organized.

Get Your Party Plan Business Organized In New Year

* Create a WAHM business plan. Every business needs one to succeed. Even if you already have a business plan, the start of a new year is the ideal time to revise the old one. A business plan is the outline for your business and should incorporate all aspects of your business.

* Create a filing system for all your papers and documents. If you already have a filing system, the new year marks a great time to clean it out. Your filing should consist of papers that require immediate action, papers that are important but are not of immediate concern, important documents, reference materials, and stuff you should have thrown out a long time ago. Throw that old junk out!

* For all your papers that you need for reference, create an easy to use system. Many business owners spend an inordinate amount of time looking for information or documents. Start the new year by organizing these papers and you?ll save tons of time during the remainder of the year.

* Go through all your papers, documents, and materials one more time. A large percentage of all saved materials are never used again. When people clean out their closets, they apply the rule that if it hasn?t been worn during the past year, it can be eliminated. This rule works for much of your paperwork, though there are obviously some documents you will need as long as you are in business.

When you take the time to clean house you will be more effective in the new year. All businesses are a work in progress and yours should be no exception. A short afternoon of office re-organization will kick your WAHM business off on a good trackfor the new year.

When you incorporate these home party and other home party
business tips into your business you will create a consistent income year round. Learn more direct sales business success systems that work for all companies at: http://www.CreateACashFlowShow.com

Article Source: WAHM Articles

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

Are Customers Always Right?

10 Vital Elements of Your Web Stats by Terri Seymour

Your web stats are an important collection of information regarding your site’s visitors, referrals, and other essential information. This information is important to you because it can help you measure the success of your marketing campaign, determine where to improve your site and how to tweak your site for success!

Below are ten vital elements of your web stats and why you should study them.

1. Unique Visitors – This component will tell you exactly how many people have come to your website. No matter how many pages this visitor clicks to, he is counted as one visitor. You need to utilize this statistic to see if your traffic is improving over time or getting worse. This will help you determine if you need to enhance your search engine rankings and other methods of getting traffic.

2. Location of Visitors – Knowing where your visitors are coming from is important because you can research how to reach a wider worldwide target market. You can see where the largest percentage of people are coming from and work on expanding your global visitor base.

3. Search Phrases – Your web stats will let you know exactly what search phrases/keywords people are using to get to your site. Studying this critical component can help you fine tune and improve your keywords and site content for better placement in the search engines.

4. Referrals – Referrals are websites or pages from which your visitors have found you. Study them to find out where your traffic originated and exactly how they found you. You can find out who is linking to you and which of your articles are bringing you more traffic. You can then submit these popular articles to more sites.

5. Pages – This item will help you determine which of your site’s pages are the most popular and which ones are not visited much. Analyze this info to see why some pages are so well travelled and some are not being used much at all.

6. Entry and Exit Pages – Analyze this information to find out where people are entering your site and from which page they leave the most. This can help you stress your sales pitch more on certain pages and learn how to keep visitors from leaving other pages. Put special offers on popular landing pages. Spice up or add more interest to pages from which people are leaving. Study those pages to see what could be making them leave as opposed to exploring additional pages.

7. Time of Day – Your web stats will tell you the time of day when each visitor came to your site and visited individual pages. This can help you schedule chats and/or webinars and can help you determine when to publish new content and/or special offers and sales.

8. Days of the Week – This information will help you in much the same way time of day stats help you. Study the stats to find out when to offer specials, teleclasses, chats, contests etc.

9. Length of Visits – This critical information can help you find out if people are lingering on your site and taking the time to read the content or if they are clicking a page and leaving almost immediately. Studying this information can help you find where to improve your pages and find ways to get your visitors to stay longer.

10. Error Reports – Find out if people are having trouble accessing any of your pages and getting error codes. With this info, you can correct these errors promptly so people will not leave your site.

Web stats can look overwhelming and seem a daunting task but it is vital that you learn what all the statistics mean and how to interpret the information they give you. Look at the statistics as a whole to find out the trends but also study the individual stats to see how you can refine your site and your marketing campaigns to bring you more traffic and longer visits to your site, thus increasing the chance for more sales conversions.

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

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.