Offer "Fun" Specials

A special offer is always great, but its even better when you add a little fun to it to really get people involved. One of the blogs I follow (of a professional organizer) did a contest in January. The person who got rid of the most "bags" of stuff from their house would win a free book. It generated lots of buzz on the blog and I'm sure it got the blog more readers as people talked about what they were doing.

Other ideas?

• Have a "snow day special" on a day when its snowing and everyone is stuck inside - especially good if things are closed down enough that everyone is at home & can take your phone call letting them know about your special!
• Offer special party themes or host gifts that are only available at this time of the year, but remember to make them fun! You might tell your prospects that you have 5 mystery gifts available for the first 5 people who book a party. If they book a party, they get to pick a bag number & that's the bonus gift they'll receive.

Get creative & keep it light & fun. You'll get more interaction & excitement from your customers this way!

Referral Programs

Are you looking for new customers? The best way to add them, in my opinion, is through the customers who already know & love your products . . . that's called a referral. But your current customers don't always think to pass along names to you or to give your contact information to someone who they rave about your product to.

My solution . . . come up with a referral program where you offer a benefit to both your current customer & the person they refer to you. I used vistaprint.com to print up business card coupons. You can either use a percentage off their first order or a flat dollar discount off their first order. Give these coupons to your current customers to pass out to their friends & family. And be sure to let the current customer know that when someone uses a coupon that they gave out, that you'll award them with a discount or dollar amount off of their next purchase.

By giving something to both parties (the original customer & their friend that they refer), the original customer is more likely to actually take some action. They will be happy to give a discount coupon to someone -- who doesn't like to share discounts with their friends? And they'll love the benefit of receiving a discount for themselves from you as a "thank you" for their referral.

So, start with your best customers who RAVE about your products . . . let them know about your new referral program & how they and their friends can benefit, give out your coupons (complete with your contact information, of course) and see what happens!

Celebrate "Business in Your Bathrobe" Day!

I love it! Check out this website to learn how you can celebrate "Business in Your Bathrobe" day!
http://www.webmomz.com/bizinbathrobe2009.shtml

Are you stuck?

The economy, job loss, its January . . . are these reasons piling up & leaving you "stuck" for getting business. People ARE STILL BUYING! Lots of people are still employed in steady jobs, lots of people are still in the same financial position they were before only now with lower gas prices. But many of us may feel "stuck". The key just might be to re-energize & refocus your efforts in your business.

If you sell a consumable product at a great price point that shows for a good value, you're in an especially great position!

So, start brainstorming & coming up with new ideas, new things to do with your business . . .

• start a referral program
• offer fun specials
• do parties where no one is allowed to buy (to generate bookings & customer goodwill)
• offer something of value at no cost to your customers
• get involved with social media (facebook, myspace, twitter, etc.)
• dust off product that has been sitting on your shelves & give it away with an auction or bingo party
• be creative, have fun, & let your personality show through with your marketing

For now, start brainstorming on these & see what you can come up with. In a few days, I'll post some more specific ideas. But you might be amazed what you can come up with yourself if your really think about it.

Information Junkie - Spend with Care!

Are you an "information junkie" like me? My favorite part of my home party business is getting new ideas as I read books & listen to teleconference calls! I have pages & pages of notes of things I want to do & I invest lots of money in new books & audio programs. If you're like me, then I hope my plan of action will help you as well:

1. "Unsubscribe" to most of the e-newsletters that I currently subscribe to; keep only those that are most useful & then create an e-mail folder for "newsletters" that I can sort them into. Instead of having to read through them as I'm going through my e-mail on a daily basis, I can go back to them when I have a few minutes to work on continuing my "education".
2. Before buying, listening to or reading any more materials, go through the ideas I already have written down & start implementing them. File additional ideas that I don't want to implement right now into folders or notebooks according to topic (sponsoring, bookings, parties, etc.).
3. Use FREE resources first! Our local public library has lots of different books on subjects that relate to my home business. Try a search for things like: customer service, management, success in business, employee motivation (for leaders), home business. And look for authors like: Mary Kay Ash, Stephen Lundin, and Ken Blanchard. You can also find a lot of free teleconference recordings online.
4. When you do buy, be wise in your spending. Only buy those things you will actually use and select items that will be the most helpful for areas that you currently need help with.

My current favorite resource to buy is one I'm reading now & I love it! It would be great for any new consultant or one who is looking to take their business to new levels & will help me in guiding my team members to do the same:

Makeup Optional by Lyn Conway
www.getafreshperspective.com

Free Taxes Conference Call

I am having Vicky Collins, a tax professional who deals strictly with
home based businesses, do a conference call for my team at the end of
the month. I wanted to open it up to everyone who reads this site who wants
to attend as well. It will be held on Thursday Jan 29th at 9pm,
eastern. Here's the call-in information & if you'd like to be on the
call, please e-mail me to let me know at kim.milius @goldcanyon.us

Phone number: 712-451-6000
Access code: 643231#

Great Training Offer from Julie Ann Jones

I've already enrolled in this & wanted to pass it along in case anyone else was interested. $24.95 for a year long membership was just perfect for my budget! And the fact that it comes from Julie Ann Jones (Outward Image) made me jump at the offer. Here's the details:


If you're one of those dedicated, intentional direct sales professionals who never passes up an opportunity to improve your business, keep reading!

I have a program that WILL change your business in 2009!

Now, before you delete this e-mail, hear me out for a minute.

I'm sure many of you have joined "membership programs" in the past and been disappointed in either the content or your lack of involvement just because of the sheer volume of information you have to "sort" through each week for your business. You start with the best intention and each month, when you see the membership fee show up on your credit card, you feel guilty because you're not utilizing all the tools you're paying for.

That's why I've decided to do something unique and much more simple instead. Let me explain why.
(If you're impatient to read about the benefits of the program, you can "skip ahead" by scrolling down)

As a business person who works from home, you have a lot to do and time is a constant concern. My goal is always to offer you the greatest value in education while still supporting the balance in your life.

Last year, we launched an incredibly popular and successful program called "Ask the Expert". These monthly calls are offered f*ree of charge and only take an hour of your time once a month with experts and topics specifically relevant to our direct sales profession. Over the course of 2008, over 6,000 people took part in this program.

In April, I decided to offer a membership program just for the "Ask the Expert" calls and include automatic monthly enrollment in each call (decreasing the "hassle" factor for the members) as well as a downloadable recording of the calls sent automatically each month.

I loved Julie's call a few weeks back ("Ask Julie Anne Jones About Recruiting") and wanted to let you know that since the call, I have already recruited 2 new team members and have a bunch more leads that I am working with. Thanks to Julie's training, I realized I had lost my PASSION, the single most important skill that one needs to possess to be a remarkable recruiter! I have even added into my demo the words, " I am passionate".

Shelley Kiekhaefer
The Pampered Chef

Over 150 people took advantage of this program in 2008 and most of them have already re-enrolled for 2009! And they did that even before they knew I had decided to enhance this popular program and essentially make it our only membership program. That means I'm adding an incredible amount of value to the package.

Here's what that means for them (and for you if you decide to enroll); for a one-time fee (which covers the entire year) of only $24.95 (you read that right - that's for the year, NOT monthly!), you'll receive not only all of the "Ask The Expert" calls and replays, but also monthly bonus calls and tools available only to our "Ask the Expert" package members. The value for the individual components of this program is more than $500.00 (and counting since it will increase throughout the year as we add to the bonuses).

Just so you know, on January 1st, 2009, the yearly rate will increase to $39.95 for this valuable program.

Because of the value of this program, we're only offering 250 memberships at this special rate of $24.95. Once those are gone, this special offer of $24.95 will be closed. We've already filled over 100 of those spots with previous members and at the reduced price, the others are sure to sell out soon. Be sure you grab your membership before it's too late!

Click here to enroll now at our 2008 rate or $24.95!
http://www.mcssl.com/SecureCart/ViewCart.aspx?sctoken=25348b8a274347679270174d95db4c83&mid=11B583D8-34E3-4187-9BA9-B13A68E0A9DC&bhcp=1

Here's a sneak peak at what we're offering so far (we'll be adding to this list as the year goes on and the program develops)

* Automatic enrollment in every Expert call (we'll send you an e-mail with call in information and times and dates automatically)
* A downloadable recording of each call after the fact to burn to cd or play on your MP3 player (these recordings retail for $15.00 each)
* Several "bonus" calls throughout the year open only to our package members (including several open "Q&A" calls with me where we can talk about anything you want). You'll receive the downloadable files for these as well.
* A coupon good for 25% off any one of our audio learning programs
* Many more "goodies" throughout the year
* A 100% MONEY BACK guarantee. If at any point during the year you decide that this program isn't the value I promised it would be, I'll cheerfully refund your money, no questions asked!

The gifts begin as soon as you enroll. I'm giving you two downloadable recordings I did this past year ("Booking Tools" and "Recruiting Tools") just for signing up.

I was on the "Ask The Expert" call today! Where HAVE you been all my direct sales life? What a difference! I've never really "gotten" the way they teach you to book, coach, etc., and your way with words makes PERFECT SENSE to me! I can see myself easily saying things the way you do.

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!

Lorian Rivers
Dove Chocolate At Home

Our "Ask The Expert" calls for 2009 promise to be awesome. We've already booked some brand new experts (and a few favorites as well) and we're committed to bringing you training that you can use immediately to increase the results in your business and your life each and every month.

Best of all, you can renew at our 2008 rate of only $24.95 for the entire 2009 year of calls. Remember, the price for this package will increase to $39.95 on January 1st, 2009.


Becoming a member is easy! Simply click here to enroll in this valuable service for the entire 2009 season for only $24.95!

*** PLEASE NOTE - OUR SERVER IS CURRENTLY BEING UPGRADED TO SERVE OUR CLIENTS BETTER IN 2009. IF YOU NEED TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN REGARDS TO THIS SPECIAL OFFER, PLEASE CONTACT NANCY GOLYA BY PHONE @ 410-838-7305.

Please feel free to contact Business Manager Nancy Golya at nancy@outwardimage.com or 410-838-7305 if you have questions.