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Having trouble getting bookings for home parties?  There are generally three main reasons why your booking success leaves much to be desired:

1.    Your peeps are basically non-party people.  Sometimes it’s as simple as that.  Those you know or talk to just don’t get into hosting or attending direct sales home parties. Have you ever tried to convince someone who prefers country music to listen to jazz?  Or how about convincing a true blue dog-person to get a cat?  Sometimes it’s that simple; nothing you say or offer will convert them into party-people.

2.    You haven’t asked.  That may be a BGO (blinding glimpse of the obvious) but are you honestly asking people if they’d like to host a party?  Or are you making up their minds for them? Have you already decided that she wouldn’t want to have party? There might be a market for your mind-reading abilities.

3.    You’re using words and terms that make people run.  Sometimes when people hear “home party” their mind translates that into something as fun as a mammogram or paying taxes. Perhaps you can say the same thing in a more enjoyable manner that will get favorable results.

The Solution

If you fall into one of the above three categories consider these possible solutions:

1.    Review your company policies and procedures to ensure you are permitted to market via methods other than home parties.  Perhaps you’re better suited to participate in vendor events such as craft shows or state fairs.  Can you use Internet marketing?  Perhaps that’s the way to go instead of constantly hitting the wall with home parties.

2.    Open your mouth and give people the opportunity to get free stuff.  And for goodness sake don’t ever use the word “favor.”  Your hostesses aren’t doing YOU a favor – you’re doing THEM a favor by providing them the opportunity to get some products free or greatly reduced. Until you change your mindset about that favor thing, no matter how you ask, you’ll come off that you don’t really believe you’re offering something worthwhile.

3.    Try using creative language.  How about “Free (candles, jewelry, makeup, etc.) For Large Orders”?  That says nothing about a home party but gives potential hostesses the opportunity to merely collect orders or to decide how to go about getting the free goods.   Also try other names for home party – Tasting Event or Scent Samplers.

If what you’re doing isn’t working it’s really as simple as finding a different way to arrive at your destination.  Take a detour; try something different than what you originally thought was the way to go.

About the Author:  Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Star Director with Scentsy Flameless Candles.  She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business.  You can find Laurie at http://www.Scentsy.com/LA or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

Most Business 101 books will tell you not to give away the farm; remember you’re in business to make a profit.  However, when it comes so to direct sales parties, guests will be more likely to remember the fun event if they walk away with a prize.  Just make sure it’s a product prize from your company.  I’m amazed at the number of consultants who give away chocolates, lip balm or other items that don’t even represent their own company product line!

So how do you determine the best way to establish who receives the prizes?

Know your hostess and the crowd.  If you decide that you’re in front of a group of guests who may be open to some games, then play some. People are by nature a bit competitive, some more than others, and a game is a great way to get the party started. It helps people become acquainted and adds a bit of fun competition to the festivities.

Assuming you have a competitive group, pick a game, anything from a trivia game about the products or a game of strategy and skill.  Another benefit to playing games is that it provides the perfect opportunity to find people to donate prizes to.  Depending on how much time you have and how many prizes you have to give away, you can award first, second, and third place a prize.  Or you can play a couple games and the first place winner of each game gets a prize.  Just be sure to give a disclaimer that each person can only win once!

Obviously if you get blank stares or groans when you announce a game, that may not be the best crowd for games. Instead have a simple drawing.  Invite each guest to enter the drawing and the first, second, and third names drawn each receive a prize.  The upside to this method is that a drawing is a great way to generate leads.  Instead of having people simply put their name on a piece of paper, they can actually fill out a pre-set postcard.

Consider asking for the following information:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Email
- If they are interested in becoming a consultant
- If they are interested in hosting a party (and earning free gifts)

Make sure you actually use the information you’ve collected to send out information about promotions and new products.

Whether you choose to host a drawing or ask your attendees to play a game, giving away prizes is a great way to introduce new people to your products and gain future customers.

About the Author:  Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Star Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles.  She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business.  You can find Laurie at http://www.Scentsy.com/LA or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

You’ve either found or are seriously considering a direct sales opportunity that fits you well, therefore you are obviously going to want to tell people about it.  Plan an open house launch party so that everyone you know gets the opportunity to come and support your new venture.  Below are some suggestions for preparing, planning and presenting your first direct sales launch party.

Whether you’re selling candles, gourmet food/spices, jewelry, home decor, makeup or any other product line an open house format will work best.  This will be your official launch party for your new business so you can showcase and roll out the entire line you will be selling.  Referrals will be a wonderful tool in your business; so if people don’t know about your offerings, they won’t be able to give your referrals.  Start with a date.

Prepare

Carefully consider the date for your launch party.  You want maximum exposure, therefore choose a day when the majority of your invitees can come. Remember that no matter what date you select, it won’t be good for some people; just accept that.  Be sure to over invite.  You could invite 150 people and have 12 people show up, and that’s actually a good number of guests!

Weekends tend to work best.  Stay away from holidays unless you know people don’t mind coming.  More people will come if you give them at least a two or three week window before the event.  Ask for R.S.V.P.s so you can get a head count for food. If you don’t get a R.S.V.P. (and chances are you will not receive many) it is vital that you follow up with a personal phone call.  History has shown only those who R.S.V.P. or whom you actually speak with will show, and even then you’ll have some no-shows.

Once the date is set, the fun begins.  It’s time to plan your strategy for the party.  Keep a few goals in mind that you want to accomplish at the party:

* Let people know about the products
* Provide a non-threatening atmosphere with no sales pressure
* Have products available for sale
* Have recruiting information available
* Provide simple snacks

Most direct selling companies provide a starter business kit so that you will have enough supplies to have a show of your own.  You don’t have to keep an inventory for your open house.  It is okay to use your products as advertisements and take orders; just allow enough time to for delivery of the orders for those who purchase for the purpose of gift giving.

Planning

Above all else, keep it simple.  For an open house, there is a window of time when people talk with you, mingle, eat and look at products.  It takes the pressure off since you don’t have to be standing in front of a group the entire four-hour period.

Have a table with your products prominently displayed as well as marketing collateral including business cards (and samples if applicable) to give visitors a way to contact you later if they find that direct sales is an opportunity they are considering.  A table for the food and drinks also keeps you from feeling like you’re waiting on your guests and gives them an opportunity to do as they please according to their time frame.

Present

On the day of your launch party, decorate your mailbox with balloons and/or yard signs to alert all attendees.  Also place a sign on your door that invites guests to “come on in.” Your main assignment for the day is getting introducing your new business and the product line.

Use this opportunity to book hostess parties, sell products, and let people know who and how easy it is to order.  If you have a website or webstore, encourage orders online.  More importantly, relax; have fun; you don’t have to have all the answers; and remember to keep it simple, as you want others to see how easy it is!

About the Author:  Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Star Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles.  She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business.  You can find Laurie at http://www.Scentsy.com/LA or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

Why You Should Avoid Background Music On Your Website

Don’t put background music on your website. If you want a professional website that has high traffic and retains visitors, it’s a good rule of thumb to stick with. There are always rare exceptions (which I will list later), but for the most part, you should take this small tid-bit of wisdom to heart.

Here are the reasons why:

1. Credibility – There are certain hallmarks that newbie website builders cannot help but fall for. Background music on a website is one of them. Unless you’re selling music or music services, having background music play on your website makes it seem unprofessional. This lowers your websites credibility, and thus you lose retentions of your visitors. People aren’t visiting your website to listen to music… they are probably there to find information. Think about it… does Google, Yahoo, Newsweek, Sprint, or Amazon play music on their websites? Do any ‘professional’ or ‘credible’ websites you know of play music? Now think back to all the website that you know of that DO play background music… how credible did they look? Did most of them look like a first grader designed them? Did it look like a MySpace website? How credible are MySpace websites? Would you trust content on websites like these? Hmmmm…..

2. Bandwidth – Streaming a full version of a song (4-5 minutes) as a background music for your website takes up too many resources. That being said, if your website is super slow to load and ‘choppy’ to visitors with slower connections, I can pretty much guarantee you won’t have a lot of returning visitors. Not to mention the fact that every time you refresh or load a new page, the song starts over – super annoying.

3. Repeating Music – Many people will play smaller segment of background music that loop so as to minimize load times to their websites. If anyone comes to your website and spends any amount of respectable time there, it won’t take long before they go crazy listening to a 15-20 second long song segment loop a thousand times. If you ‘play that funky music’… you’re going to have visitors leaving your website in droves.

4. Taste In Music – Everyone has different tastes in music. What songs you like, others may detest. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe not everyone loves Barry Manilow as much as you do, but the last thing you want to do is drive people away before they even look at your content.

5. Music Already Playing – Now days, people spend a lot of time on their computers. Because of this, they often have music playing from Cd’s, MP3s, Internet radio, etc. on their computer to help pass the time. How annoying is it when you visit a website and it starts playing music that mixes in with your music? Nothing fun about trying to listen to two tracks at the same time. The quick fix will be to leave your website.

6. Public Computers – Nothing like being at work and hitting a website that all of a sudden starts blaring ‘The Piña Colada Song’ at 300 decibels. It’s highly unlikely you will get many return visitors if half of them are out on the streets looking for a new jobs.

7. Legal Issues – Do you have the legal right to broadcast the song you want play as background music? If you don’t, you might get away with it for a while, but if you plan on your website ever having any amount of significant traffic, be warned. The more popular your website, the more likely you will get noticed playing songs illegally. Litigation, fines, and law suites are no fun.

8. Browser Compatibility – Not every browser is capable of playing every type of music file. Having background music on your website comes with the risk that some of your users may have older browsers that lock up when the music is attempting to upload or play.
Exceptions

There always exceptions to every rule. Here are a few cases when playing background music would be considered acceptable.

1. Musicians And Bands – If you’re a musician or in a band and are creating a website about your work, then it would only be reasonable to have some of your songs playing in the background.
2. Establishments And Events That Revolve Around Music – Dance clubs, bars, concerts, etc. Playing music might help set the mood of what to expect at your establishment or event.
3. Personal Websites – Personal websites are off the table. Express yourself freely with whatever song you like if this is what you wish to do.

If you feel its appropriate to play background music on your website, be sure to display PLAY, PAUSE, and VOLUME controls one your website in plain view so that people can have the option to turn it off or lower the volume. You might also consider not having any music play upon page load, but instead, offering the option for them to play it if they want to hear it.

Souce: http://doodlekit.com/blog/entry/3774…n-your-website

Take what you like and discard the rest … it may help you with some December bookings.  You would pay for the incentives, but the commissions you make by actually having bookings in this busy month would more than cover it.

TWELVE DAYS OF DECEMBER!

Book your show today on any one of the first twelve days of December and receive the item listed with the day you booked your ScentEvent! * All items will be added to your party order and will be received with the rest of the orders taken from your party!

On the first day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me….one room spray!
On the second day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…2 car candles!
On the third day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…a 3-pack of candle bars for $10.00!
On the fourth day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…4 room sprays for $10.00!
On the fifth day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…5-pointed Rustic Star Warmer at 50% off!
On the sixth day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…6-pack of candle bars for $20.00
On the seventh day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me… 7 Room Sprays at 50% off!
On the eighth day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…8 car candles
On the ninth day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…9 ways to decorate with the Any Warmer for 50% off!
On the tenth day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…10-pack of a variety of samples
On the eleventh day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…an 11 Car Candles for 50% off!
On the twelfth day of December my Scentsy Consultant gave to me…12 Candle Bars for 50% off!

* All prizes and awards are subject to having a minimum of $200 in sales at your show. These offers are in addition to the regular Hostess Program.