Work at Home Moms Articles – WAHM Articles

Regardless of what products you sell, the home party business is a year-round enterprise. Consultants that rely on their sales revenue for regular income do not want to see the flow of money stop because sales are seasonal. There are just as many good reasons to host an event in the summer as there are in the winter. When you know the ways to keep your home party business going all year long, you will start to realize the benefits of ongoing income.

- Shatter the Misconception

As a consultant, you come into contact with a lot of people that carry the misconception that your business only operates on a seasonal basis. Business success is often based on perception, and you can change that perception by letting people know that you work all year long.

When you talk to people about scheduling events, remind them that you run a year-round business. Find ways of scheduling events during months that many people think you are not operating. Include small phrases such as “offering year-round service” on all of your literature; that helps to corect the misconception that your business is seasonal.

- Keep Good Data

Momentum is a big part of maintaining a year-round business. Keep comprehensive sales data at all of your events that indicate what your best selling items are and how many of those items you commonly sell. When you find yourself ready to schedule an event at a time that is not traditionally busy, use these hot-selling products in your advertising to gain interest in the event. Attendees who see strong attendance at events scheduled during off-peak months will start to lose the part-time notion of your business.

- Keep Your Marketing Habits

As soon as you stop marketing your business, consumers will begin to think that you are done for the year. When the traditional slow months start to come up in the calendar, you should maintain your marketing efforts. Stay in front of people by hosting as many events as possible and continue to get marketing materials out to prospective customers.

One of your strongest sources of income and new clients is your referral network. Keep working your referral network on a full-time basis all year round. Do not let people tell you that an event will not work because of the time of year. You need to stay focused and keep your business in front of people to keep it going.

Being a year round home party plan consultant means never letting up on your marketing efforts and having an open calendar all year long. When people realize that you work the entire year, you will start to see your business prosper.

Deb Bixler is a home party plan business coach who teaches systems that create success in any party plan business. Incorporating her direct sales business tips into your business you will create a consistent income year round. Learn more about home party plan success systems that work for all companies here.

Success in a home-based business requires organization, promotion, and discipline. Though a home-based business offers more freedom and flexibility than traditional employment, it may require more focus, dedication, and creativity. You are the principal determinant for success or failure and you need to be up to the task.

3 Tips For Business Success

Though success in business requires many different skills and tasks and the list of tips for success would be quite lengthy, here are three that will help get any home business off on the right foot.

Sales Organization

When running a business out of your home, it is imperative that you have an organized and dedicated space for your business. Take a little extra time to organize the space so it works for you and your needs. Arrange the desk, the furniture, and the file cabinets for maximum efficiency. Organize your files so they are easy to find and use a software program or planner for reminders of daily and periodic tasks. Make sure to keep all tax documents, receipts, and income information in clearly marked, accessible files. You may have to try a few different methods before you find one that works for you. If you find that something isn’t working, don’t hesitate to change it.

Promotion For Business Success

Promotion and marketing are the keys to a successful business. If no one knows your business exists, they cannot buy your products or purchase your services. To increase your customer base, you need to market. You will need to try many different methods of marketing to find what works best for your business. Finding the correct marketing strategy is often a constant game of trial and error. Even if you find a strategy that works, it may eventually begin to diminish in effectiveness, and it will be time to look for new promotional methods.

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One of the things you need to include in your direct sales training for all of your consultants is how to deal with difficult people at an event. Even though many of your events are by invitation, there will still be the occasion where you will need to deal with someone who tries to interrupt your presentation, monopolize your time with a series of unnecessary questions or even make your presentation difficult with rude comments.

There are several ways to deal with difficult customers that you and your associates should learn how to use.

Spotlight The Difficult Customer

One of the techniques you need to include in your direct sales training is called “The Spotlight.” Most difficult customers like to make snide comments in the hopes that you will ignore them to try and complete your presentation. One way to stifle difficult people is to acknowledge them by asking if they have any specific questions and indicate that you will not continue with the presentation until all of their questions are answered. In most cases, the customers that are interested will step in and keep the difficult customer under control.

Rally The Interested Customers

If you have a particularly difficult customer who will not cooperate with your presentation, then you can address the problem by saying things such as “The rest of the group is interested in this information.”

When you indicate that the majority of the group is attentive, that can get the rest of the group to focus on the problem customer and get her to either be quiet or leave. As long as your presentation and products spark interest in the majority of the clients, then you can use the interested customers to quiet the problem ones.

The Wise Guy

Many detractors feel that you are giving misinformation on products and they feel that they know more than you do. This is where a well-prepared presentation comes in very handy. If you cite facts in your presentation, then have copies of your source material with you. You also need to know your products inside and out to quiet detractors. The first time you show a wise guy (or gal) to be wrong will be the point when he or she stops being a problem.

Not every presentation is going to go smoothly. A direct sales business puts you in direct contact with customers at every event. You need to learn how to deal with difficult customers to keep your presentation moving smoothly.

Deb Bixler is a home party plan business coach who teaches systems that create success in any party plan business. Incorporating her direct sales business tips into your business you will create a consistent income year round. Learn more about party plan success systems that work for all companies here.

HomeParty Plan Success

The home party plan business is a great business. It provides schedule flexibility, the chance to be your own boss and the opportunity to make good money.

However, it is a business that requires you to be constantly moving forward to achieve success. If you are standing still while everyone else is growing, you are actually moving backwards, and backwards is the wrong direction!

5 Ways to Keep Your Business Moving Forward

Have a daily goal. It can be anything from cleaning up your desk to scheduling two new parties. Having daily goals keeps your mind focused on your business and makes certain that you accomplish something productive each and every day. Having daily goals can also take you out of the normal daily routine, which sometimes becomes a rut. Business ruts mean stagnation and you can’t move forward when you are stagnating!

Start off each month by researching and possibly implementing a new marketing strategy. The success of your business depends on consistent and creative marketing. You will not know if a marketing strategy works until you try it. New marketing strategies are the lifeblood of a growing business and perhaps your most important task. Even if you have a few promotional strategies in place that work, finding new ones will make sure that your business is moving forward.

Start Conversations

Make a point to start conversations with people. Whether you are in a store or at a vendor event, initiating conversations with people may lead to potential contacts or customers. Once you have begun a conversation, you can eventually tell them about your home party plan business. You never know, they just might be interested in what you are selling.

Attend Business and Vendor Events

Attend as many vendor events, expos or fairs as you can fit into your schedule. These events are great places to make business and customer contacts. This is one of the best ways to promote your business. Though you should try to schedule as many as you can, you should schedule wisely as travel costs, time commitments, and booth fees can add up quickly.

Network Your Direct Sales Home Business

Get out and network. Networking is an essential component of most home businesses. Join as many neighborhood, community and business groups as you can. These are great places to meet new contacts and friends. Group meetings and events are the perfect places to promote your business in a casual yet professional environment. Don’t look at networking as a chore; look at it as fun that leads to more business!

In the home party plan business it is important to keep moving forward. Moving forward means that you understand that last year’s success doesn’t ensure success in the new year.

When you move forward in your home party plan business, you will be passing all those other businesses that are standing still.

In a direct sales business, there is a lot of responsibility and tasks that need to be done to keep the business running smoothly. When the business first starts out, the consultant may be able to handle it on her own. But as the referrals keep rolling and the business starts to grow, the consultant will find that she needs help to keep the business going.

When it comes to delegating responsibility, there are a few tips that a sales consultant can use to make sure that the quality of the business does not trail off as the responsibilities start to grow. It is important to remember that just because the business is growing and you need to delegate some of the responsibilities, that does not mean that you should start to lose touch with your own company. You should have your finger on the pulse of your organization at all times.

- Keep a Detailed List

In a direct sales business, keeping lists is critical to your success. When you hand off responsibilities to other people, be sure that you keep a list of what responsibilities you delegated and who you gave them to. If you do not keep a comprehensive list of the tasks that you delegated, then you will have a difficult time keeping track of your business.

- Set Deadlines

Don’t just give people responsibilities; you should also set deadlines for them to meet those responsibilities. For example, if you have someone that orders stock for you, then make Friday the deadline for all orders to be placed so that you have product in time for the next few events. Without deadlines, you are just making suggestions and not delegating responsibility.

- Have Consequences

When you ask someone to help you with your growing direct sales business, you cannot assume that your assistants have the same level of dedication that you do. When you delegate tasks and set deadlines, be sure that you also create consequences for people who do not meet their goals. Consequences mean more to people when you are paying them for their services. It helps you to make sure that jobs get done when they are supposed to.

It is not always easy running a growing sales business, but it can be extremely rewarding. When the time comes for you to delegate tasks to assistants and other people in your organization, be sure that you know how to delegate with authority.

Deb Bixler is a home party plan business coach who teaches systems that create success in any party plan business. Incorporating her direct sales business tips into your business you will create a consistent income year round. Learn more about party plan success systems that work for all companies at: http://www.CreateACashFlowShow.com

In the direct sales business, many sales consultants brand their company. Branding your business gets attention, recognition, and eventually more customers. You can brand your company by getting on the Internet and getting its name, purpose and products out to millions of users online.

* Start a company Facebook page. Invite people who are potential customers. Don’t invite just to achieve high numbers; you want people who are interested in your page and your products.

* Start a business Twitter account with a picture or a logo.

* Get a Foursquare page and use it.

* Create an Aboutme.com page and fill it with information about your company.

* Advertise and send e-mails, but don’t spam. You don’t want your company
branded as a spammer!

Once you’ve branded your company, you are not finished. To truly reap all the benefits the Internet has to offer, you also need to brand yourself. If you have branded your business, you may have already begun the personal branding process. Hopefully, you have put some personal information on your company website pages. Attaching your business to a real person – YOU – helps to create relationships. Even in this fast-paced digital age, relationships are still a part of business success.

How to Brand Yourself

* Get a Facebook page. Having a personal Facebook page in addition to a business one, will increase your search ranking and your online visibility.

* Sign up for a Linkedin account and stay active on it. Join a few discussions groups and start a few of your own.

* Start as many social media accounts as you can properly maintain. If you start one, you need to maintain it. A profile that is never updated is not worth anything.

* Start a blog. This is one of the best ways to brand yourself. Write about topics relevant in your field on a regular basis. Once your blog contains some relevant material, you can post your blog link on various forums or websites. Having and maintaining a blog is one of the best ways to brand yourself as an expert in your field.

As a direct sales consultant, you should not only brand your company, you should brand yourself. You will become recognized as an expert in the direct sales business and people will eventually remember your name. Once they connect your name, your company, and your products, you are on your way to success! Take advantage of the power of the internet and get yourself branded!

In the direct sales business, you gain a positive reputation with your professional demeanor. That is why a smile should be considered one of your most important marketing tools. The next time you head out to a vendor event, go shopping or head out on the town, you want to make sure that you bring your smile with you.

There are several reasons why a genuine and persistent smile can be very powerful in the direct sales business.

A Smile Gives Confidence

A good smile gives your customers and everyone else the feeling that you know what you are doing. When you answer every question with a smile, you are letting people know that you understand what is being asked of you and you have an answer. The trick is making sure that you always do have some sort of answer and in a timely manner.

The direct sales business thrives on people feeling comfortable and confident with you and the products you are selling. When you greet people with a firm handshake and a smile, it instantly helps them to feel a little more at ease and can make your sales presentation more effective.

Sales Consultants With A Smile Show Sincerity

A well-timed smile can let customers know that you are listening to them and that you have a sincere interest in what they have to say. This is where you combine your smiling with another important skill: listening. Take the time to listen to what your customers have to say and know when to use a smile to give a sincere and reassuring answer.

This is also another way to add confidence to the things you say. When you listen intently to a customer and then respond with a smile along with your answer, you project the feeling that you sincerely care about the customer’s concerns or needs. This also helps the customer to feel confident that you will address the issues.

Direct Sales Consultants Convey Honesty

When you look a customer in the eye and offer a confident smile, it helps to convey a sense of honesty. A forced smile or a smirk can make the client feel uneasy. But a genuine smile followed by a gesture of good customer service will help to create strong customer loyalty.

When you head out to represent your company you should always bring your marketing materials and your business cards. But you should also remember to bring your smile. It can mean the difference between a growing customer base and a stagnant business.

Direct sales consultants who take their smile everywhere they go will have an easier time engaging people. You always hear in the industry that you market your direct sales business everywhere you go… it is your smile that makes that possible.

As part of the annual Black Friday Give-Away the CashFlowShow website has launched a direct sales – home business sweepstakes called the Turkey Trot!

Work At Home Training

At the CashFlowShow party plan website Deb Bixler does not like all the big hyped up marketing events that are pitched on Black Friday and Cyber Monday so she does just the opposite….

They have an annual give-away for the clients, friends and website guests! This year she has put together a massive direct sales educational prize package with 3 awards!

The Home Party Sales Training Sweepstakes

The grand prize includes over $2552 in prizes for the lucky direct seller with everything from home party plan training courses to books, CDs, and a newsletter service subscription with newsletter content for a year!!

WAHM Articles Sent You

WOW!! You better get over there and learn how you can win by visiting the largest FREE home party plan training center on the web! Make sure you tell them that “WAHM Articles” sent you so we get extra entries for sending you over!!

This prize package just might have your name on it!! It could be just the thing you need to make 2012 the best year ever!

Getting a steady stream of bookings is essential to the heath and wealth of your business. Without bookings, you won’t have any sales, and without sales, your business won’t make any money. Bookings equal money; it’s as a simple as that!

The more shows you have, the more bookings you will usually receive. However, to pump up your business to a superstar level, you’ll want to get as many bookings as you can out of each show. Playing a great home party game will get the crowd excited and motivated to buy products and book new parties.

There are so many games to play that you should never run out of fresh ideas. A good home party game should be fun for the guests and should elicit conversation and laughter. The more involvement you get, the more you will sell, recruit, and obtain new bookings. Remember, fun is the most important component of a good show. Fun will bring increased sales and bookings. Make sure the game is tons of fun!

Tips For Choosing a Home Party Game

* Fun and upbeat

* Interactive

* Easy to set up

* Effective – gets you more sales and bookings

One of the best games to play is called What’s Your Score? It involves a series of questions designed to elicit as many “yes” responses from the guests as you can. Ultimately, you want all the guests to have similar scores at the end. When all the scores have been tallied, you then offer an extra 20 points for someone who purchases a product, and an extra 30 points for someone who books a show. You should have at least three good prizes to give away. The grand prize should be valuable enough to motivate people to book shows.

The “What’s my Score?” game is especially great if you sell adult products. The questions you can ask will be much racier. The responses will certainly cause spontaneous laughter and provoke plenty of saucy conversation. A wild party is a fun party and a fun party gets more sales and bookings.

Home Party Bookings

Home party bookings are essential to the success of your business. You should spend time researching new games and creating your own variations. Trial and error is the best way to see if a game works. If it works, keep it and create different variations. Use your imagination and be creative. Unique and creative games will help you make your shows fun.

Fun means more bookings and shows. More bookings and shows means more money! Get your free “Talking E-book chock full of FUN home party plan games.

Deb Bixler is a direct sales trainer who provides party plan education and training that insures that consultants never worry about where to find business again. Learn more about turning a casual conversation into a direct sales business lead.

In the direct sales business, it is easy to fall into a rut. It is not uncommon to get complacent when your business is surviving and making a decent profit. However, if you want to pump it up to a new level, you might want to step out of your comfort zone and reach for the stars!

Many direct sales consultants get the majority of their bookings and new recruits from parties or advertising. Though this is often a great way to keep your business going, there are many other ways to locate potential bookings and recruits. Step out of your comfort zone and put your business on the fast track to success by finding unique ways to find new bookings and recruits. Don’t be afraid of something new. New can often mean fun, exciting, and profitable.

New ways To Find Recruits and Bookings

One of the best ways to find new people who may be interested in your business is to join community, school, neighborhood and church groups. There are hundreds of people in these groups and a few of them might be interested in what you have to offer. Involvement in these groups will expose you to more of your neighbors and community members. Make sure to have plenty of business cards with you when you attend any meetings.

Another way to meet with people in your area is to work with charity groups or donate your time. You can get to know a whole new group of people while volunteering your time to help people in need. This is a way to network that many business people often overlook.

Join a business group in your area and network. There are groups for women owners, direct sellers or just community business people. They often have meetings, gatherings, or parties where you can network with other professionals, hand out your business cards, and let a new group of people know about your direct sales business.

Offering to teach classes at a local learning center, school, church, or neighborhood facility is another way to promote your business. You can teach classes on direct selling, staring a business, or marketing. Many students in these classes are looking to improve their lives; your business may be just what they are looking for!

Stepping out of your comfort zone is not always the easiest thing to do. You have to get rid of your fear of the unknown and get off your butt and try new things. However, you may be pleasantly surprised to find out how profitable these new things can be.

Practicing will stretch your comfort zone and as you get more comfortable you will become better at turning a casual conversation into a direct sales business lead.

Deb Bixler is a direct sales trainer who provides party plan education and training that insures that consultants never worry about where to find business again. Learn more about turning a casual conversation into
a direct sales business lead.