1.   Direct mailings with your company catalog. Pick a market or two, such as assisted living facilities; nail salons or real estate agencies to name a few.  Mail no more than ten catalogs to each market; there’s no sense waiting catalogs and postage without testing the waters first.  Be sure to include a sample and/or special offer.  Increase chances of having your catalog opened and read by placing a relevant sticker on the front.  Highlight what’s in it for them if they open it.
2.    Develop a Valentines Day marketing campaign and get it out to the masses NOW.  February 14th is right around the corner, so don’t delay. Your window of opportunity is tiny. Men will be particularly grateful for gift giving made simple.  Think where you can find a group of men – barber shops, auto sales, auto repair, gyms, pro-shops, etc.
3.    Create a special offer for Groundhogs Day, February 2. There’s one people don’t see everyday.
4.    Call all of your customers, leave voice mail if necessary and merely say, ‘I’m putting in an order and wondered if you were ready for more …”
5.    Hire a business coach or join a Mastermind group. Find the right one and your investment will pay off ten-fold.
6.    Commit to asking for referrals from three people each day.  Not covert dropping of cards and catalogs but actually speaking to strangers.  Go into the gas station to pay, instead of using pay at the pump.  Hand the cashier a catalog and a sample and say, “If you know of anyone who likes (candles, jewelry, makeup, etc.) could you please pass this along?”
7.    Hold an open house. Who cares if you’ve been in the business two years or nine months or anywhere in between?  Call it a mid-winter shindig.  Pick a theme – Superbowl, Chocolate Martini, After Holidays Rest and Relaxation or Chick Flick Movie Night.

Sometimes there’s no secret to getting out of a rut other than to go back to basics.  Remember when you first started your business.  You were excited; you were pumped and you definitely were not in a rut. Shake it up a bit; think outside of the bowl.  Remember if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve been getting!

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a Michigan work from home mom and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping men and women start and maintain a home based business in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Germany, Ireland and the UK. To download a FREE Start Up Guide which provides more details about how to start a home business as well as to learn about our compensation plan go to http://www.thrivingcandlebusiness.com/how-to-start-a-candle-business/

In addition to topics on reinvigorating your home business, please browse this site to find more articles about how you can successfully work from home.

Internet Marketing (IM) isn’t something a direct sales sponsor can teach – at least not in the same way the sponsor can teach using a workstation or host coaching. It is a knowledge base that must be learned over a period of years.  There are Internet Marketing gurus who make teaching this subject their full time business.

I would be very leery of any sponsor who promises to teach you IM. The sponsor should be making him/herself available to training and mentoring the entire team on all aspects of their independent businesses, plus taking care of their own customers, while continually working with prospects. When would this person have time to teach a comprehensive skill set that takes years to learn and one that is dynamic and always changing?

I actually worked with a local lady a few years ago who was interested in joining Scentsy. After meeting with and communicating with her over a period of weeks she did eventually sign up to be a consultant. However, she signed up with someone else, who lived on the other side of the country. That fact didn’t bother me so much because I genuinely believe it’s important that you find a good fit with your sponsor before signing up. It was the reason she went with someone else. She said “because he’s an internet marketer!” That was amusing to me because I was one of the original Scentsy consultants to first start working my business online in 2006 and the person she went with was a new consultant with the company with no proven track record. But he promised to “teach her IM”.

Fast forward two plus years, and she was still in the very beginning ranks and eventually quit.  He promised her the moon about teaching internet marketing and didn’t deliver. I’d rather tell people up front that I absolutely will help them with their internet marketing; I will coach them; I will point them in the right direction; I will offer suggestions and share what is working for me – but teach them? No.

Just to make sure we’re clear on the difference between Helping with – and Teaching, consider this example:

My daughter is taking Spanish classes at school. She is in her second year. Her teacher, Mr. Enriquez is teaching her.  That is his full time job – to teach the students Spanish. They learn and practice every day of the week, semester after semester, year after year to become proficient.  The students haves a responsibility not only to show up for class, but to do the work and apply what they learn.

Before tests and quizzes I help my daughter study.  I go through her flash cards with her and I give her some word association ideas on how she can better remember phrases.  I am not teaching her Spanish. My full time job is to be a Scentsy Superstar Director and all that entails. I can’t possibly do that and be a Spanish teacher.  But I can help, mentor, coach and support.

See the difference?

It’s like if you came to me and said “I want to really promote my business to the Hispanic Community.”  I tell you that’s an excellent idea and frequently an underrepresented market. Then I ask you if you speak, read or write Spanish? If you don’t, how are you going to be able to be successful in this market segment?  I can certainly give you ideas on how you can work this niche, but knowing the language is going to be a prerequisite before you come to me for tips.

If you want to work your home based business using Internet Marketing techniques, you absolutely can and should – it’s a wonderful way to build your business. However if you don’t already possess some of the required knowledge, skills and abilities it’s going to be very difficult to build a business using IM. That is not to say you can’t learn, but you’ll have to be committed to learn over a period of time and simultaneously work your business using other methods such as home parties, basket parties, vendor events or fundraisers.

Learning IM is not for the faint at heart. Because it involves technology, it is frequently changing. What I learned in 2006 is now obsolete.  It involves staying ahead of the curve, or at least keeping up with it. It’s also something that requires constant monitoring, measuring and tweaking.

Not sure where to start? I would recommend you chumming up with my buddy, Mr. Google.  He’s a wealth of knowledge.  Take it one small area at a time and immerse yourself in becoming proficient in that topic. Try searching [Topic] then the words “for beginners.”  Your topics might be: blogging, internet marketing, social media, social networking, Facebook, Twitter, SEO, WordPress, Keyword Density, etc.

So the next time you are interviewing sponsors, before you sign up to be an independent consultant ask plenty of questions and be cautious of anyone who promises to teach you Internet Marketing.

Here’s to success!  See you at the top -

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a Michigan work from home mom and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping men and women start and maintain a home based business in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Germany, Ireland and the UK. To download a FREE Start Up Guide which provides more details about how to start a home business as well as to learn about our compensation plan go to http://www.thrivingcandlebusiness.com/how-to-start-a-candle-business/

In addition to topics on Internet Marketing, please browse this site to find more articles about how you can successfully work from home.

Or will you?

If you choose to work from home, then you have a a business that needs consistent, forward activity in order to thrive.  Let’s face it, your last minute holiday orders came in with little effort (at least compared to off-season) – as you had scheduled events and hopefully marketed yourself well.  Therefore, by now you should be thinking about your game plan for 2012. Actually should have been long thinking about it before the ball drops in twelve hours.

Will your home based business be offering any special promotions for January such as limited time product offerings, special host benefits or recruiting specials? If so, don’t wait until January to start spreading the word about these specials.  Promoting January during January is too late.  Do it now. Of course if you’re just  now reading this and it’s already January then it’s a little late, but better late than never I guess. You can plan better for next year.

What about Valentine’s Day? That’s less than 10 weeks away.  Do you offer a product that men would love to give their sweetheart?  It may be a little early to start advertising for Valentine’s Day but it certainly is not too early to start planning.  Perhaps you can do a shopping day during lunch hour at a business that is heavy on male employees.  Have you checked to see if there are any vendor events you can book during this time?

There is a fine balance between looking ahead too far and missing out on sales and business partners who may be right in front of your face.  The key is to consistently project forward. If you do that, then you’ll already have your December and January calendar booked; so your focus will be on February.  After New Year’s Day start thinking about your Spring action plan.

It’s not much different than when you drive your car.  If you were to just look at what was immediately in front of you, you may miss that detour or oncoming traffic.  You need to constantly look ahead of the vehicle and always been looking side to side as well as up ahead.  Same is true for your home based business.

What is your action plan for 2012?  Have you started implementing it yet?  If not, do it now.

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a Michigan work from home mom and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping men and women start and maintain a home based business in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Deutschland, Ireland and the UK.  To download a FREE Start Up Guide which provides more details about how to start a small business as well as to learn about our compensation plan go to http://www.thrivingcandlebusiness.com/how-to-start-a-candle-business/

1. Look around. Your life and people in your life can inspire just about any blog post. If you’re a new mom, perhaps the mere fact that you’re tired all the time, but need to keep getting up even when you don’t feel like it will inspire you to write about working even when you don’t feel like it.

2. Product highlights. The importance of a blog is not to sell, but to inform. Give your readers something they can use. Write about the benefits and features of some of your products.

3. Fun facts or tips about your industry.  Whether about direct sales in general or something about candles, jewelry, cooking, fitness, beauty or whatever industry you’re in there’s always something interesting you can write about.

4. Stories and testimonials. Not self serving promotional stories but rather write about how someone was helped because of your products. Perhaps someone with a challenging skin condition found relief with your lotions or how one missed burning candles because of her rambunctious toddlers but thanks to wickless candles she now enjoys a fresh scented home.

5. FAQ. Do you find your team members or customers tend to ask the same questions? Answer the questions before they ask them by blogging your most frequently asked questions.

6. Team Building. Share some of your experiences about recruiting, sales or hosting that can be of assistance to your team members. If you feel you have proprietary information you’d rather not give away in an open forum, save those gems for your private team forum. Though, I am certain there is other helpful information that isn’t considered top secret that would make great blog topics.

7. Specials and Announcements. Do you have a limited time host-only special or something on sale for the month? Do you have products that are being discontinued or are you releasing a new catalog? These would all make fabulous blog posts.

They key is not to over think this and make it more difficult than it needs to be.  Keep in mind that your purpose is to inform; give readers a reason to check back regularly and find something helpful about your blog.  If you run out of ideas, refer back to #1 above, simply look around your life – you’ll likely be able to turn almost any situation into a business lesson.

Stop stalling and start writing.

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Flameless Candles. She enjoys helping men and women start and maintain a candle business in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Deutschland, Ireland and the UK.  To download a FREE Start Up Guide which provides more details about how to start a candle business as well as to learn about our compensation plan go to http://www.thrivingcandlebusiness.com/how-to-start-a-candle-business/

Anyone who knows me well knows I am a huge Laverne and Shirley fan. One of my favorite episodes is The Diner, where Laverne is the fry cook and Shirley is the waitress. Laverne keeps saying “Betty, pick up. Betty, please pick up your hash blacks.” When Shirley asks why she keeps calling her Betty, Laverne responds, “Because it sounds so much better than ‘Shirl, pick up.’” Watch the first 30 seconds below if you want a refresher of this dynamic duo).

The scene above highlights this concept of using what sounds best in a given situation. For example, if the word “Party” as in Host a Home Party, tends to sour potential hosts, use a different term. Perhaps call it a Scent Event, Open House, Demo, Show, Get Together or even “free items for large orders”.

I’m not at all suggesting you should mislead anyone. Rather I’m talking about speaking a language that your market can identify with or that makes you more comfortable.

Another example is some men in our company are not comfortable saying they are a Scentsy consultant. To some men, the name Scentsy is not a terribly macho word to use. I suppose it’s like being in a fast food restaurant and ordering a Biggy Fry. When this seems to be the case, I tell the gentlemen on our team to just call yourself a “Wax Man” or “Candle Guy” or whatever works for them. Don’t forgo sharing the business because you don’t like a particular word or phrase.

Yet another term that tends to turn off some potential team members is Business Opportunity. True when you start your own direct selling business it’s providing you an opportunity to have a successful business. Though the words Business Opportunity can make some people run. It congers up many 1990’s style, high pressure, recruiting tactics where you’re cornered with some sales rep who wants to draw little circles on a napkin and show you the potential to become a millionaire. Or worse yet, some people equate Business Opportunity with Pyramid Scheme.

Of course those of us in direct sales who run successful, legitimate businesses understand all the positive aspects that go along with a Business Opportunity. However in some circles, those words are taboo. So call it something different. Say they can have their own candle/nutrition/makeup business. Or say they can earn extra money by selling XYZ. Tell the truth; but say what will be best received by your audience.

New consultants tend to give up or get frustrated all too easily claiming “this doesn’t work”. When really it may just be a matter of finding the right words to use with your target market. If you’re finding resistance, try calling what you’re offering something different to see if that doesn’t help.

“Betty, pick up” sounds so much better than “Shirl, pick up.” – Laverne DeFazio

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Deutschland and the UK. You can find Laurie at http://la.Scentsy.us or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

As business owners, we can all take a lesson from this company.  If their philosophy and personality are shining through on a website – so much so that it makes customers want to throw money at them, then refer others, plus create quite a viral buzz, they must be doing something right.

I recently stumbled upon a company that is oozing with personality. I chose to do business with them because they had the item I was looking for at a reasonable price; but more so because of their fun personality. They made me want to give them my hard earned dollars. The fact that they are a fellow Michigan business was just an unexpected bonus.

For starters, I checked their return policy because I was purchasing a gift. Theirs is one of the best return policies I’ve ever seen:

OUR GUARANTEE

If you aren’t thrilled with your purchase, return it AT ANY TIME as long as IT’S IN SELLABLE CONDITION and as long as you aren’t dead. If you are dead, your heirs can still return the goods but they should probably keep them in your honor. We are fully available to answer all your questions and advise you. We were voted “Best Virtual Boot, Clothing, Gear fitters” by made up customer #323. Load bearing climbing equipment like a harness or carabiner, and all Gift Cards, are final sale and cannot be returned. So, if you don’t like your climbing stuff just hang it on your wall to impress your friends and if you don’t want your Gift Card, use it as a ruler.

Oh yeah, proof of purchase required for all returns. IF YOU RETURN THE PRODUCT(S) IN UNSELLABLE CONDITION we will ship the product back to you and will NOT PROVIDE YOU WITH A REFUND. Sorry for being so mean about it.

After I placed the order, I received this ditty:

Your Order Has Been Placed

Way to go. You’ve won the best email receipt we’ve sent out all day. We recommend either printing this receipt and framing it in your foyer or using it as a screensaver. It would probably also be nice for you to forward it around to a couple friends and maybe even an enemy or two.

If you’re bored, check us out on Facebook or Twitter. Our CFO said he doesn’t understand why anyone would use Twitter. He also thinks that a narwhal is a made-up animal. Please don’t tell anyone about it.

If you care more about your order than our nonsense you can track your package right to your doorstep. As soon as we have your tracking information we’ll email you the tracking information. You can also check your order status online. Don’t be scared if you don’t see your order right away. We just have to process it first. Check out your Order Status and Order History.

No chance you’re still reading this but if you are, we’re posting pictures of folks using the products on product pages at Moosejaw.com. If you fall in the folks category please email a photo of your gear in action to Moosejaw and we’ll add your picture to Moosejaw.com and add 100 Reward points to your account. If you have a Moosejaw logo in your picture we’ll double the points. Not sure what MOOSEJAW Reward points are? Check it out. Oh, we only give points on one photo per product and you need to have bought the product from us. A customer tried getting a million points when he sent us his wedding album so we had to write this.

Then today I received the notice that my order has shipped.

Thanks again for placing such a fantastic order at Moosejaw.com!

“Your Order Tracking and Order Summary Information is above in red. We recommend printing this information and mounting it into a mahogany frame for a foyer or living room. If you don’t have a printer they’re very easy to take from a friend and bring back later, just something to keep in mind.

If you have any questions about your order please email us, hop on Live Chat, or give us a call at xxx. Now I’ll stop bothering you.

Love the madness,
Moosejaw”

Do you see what I’m talking about? Can you see the personality of this business? What about the business concepts… did you catch everything they did right?

1. Their web content is stupendous.

2. Their return guarantee is clearly spelled out; and isn’t boring mumbo jumbo.

3. They complimented me on my purchase and gave me a call to action to visit their social media sites and provided info on the order tracking and encouraged me to earn more reward points, thereby increasing the odds I’d be a return customer. Yes, I know that was a run-on sentence but they did a lot in number three.

4. They kept me informed when my order shipped. They again complimented me (one can never have enough compliments). They gave me the tracking information and make their contact information easily available should I have any questions.

Time will tell, but I have the sneaking suspicion I will hear from them again to see how I liked my order and to keep me apprised of more fabulous reasons I didn’t know I had to be a return customer.

What about you? Does your business have personality? Do you have a USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? What sets you apart from your counterparts? Do you have an overwhelming reason I should do business with you and not just any ol’ website that offers the same product?

If you’re just blending in with the rest of your competition it’s time to step out and dare to be different!

Trick or treat, smell my feet; give me something good to eat.

Ah the time of year when all the little vampires and princesses make their way around the neighborhood to fill their pillowcases full of ooey gooey dentists-love-it goodness: Halloween, the candy lover’s holiday.

Yet each year, a number of direct sales consultants see this Snicker’s bar holiday as an opportunity for them to market their business to all the short people who approach their door.  What do you think? Do you think it’s a good idea or a poor idea to suggest handing out samples of your candles, lotions, spices or coupons?

While you’re thinking about it, I’ll share with you my unsolicited opinion of this practice:  FAIL.

I think it’s a terrible idea. Halloween is a children’s holiday. They are begging for something good to eat; not for anti-wrinkle cream and certainly not for an inedible discount coupon.  Not only will the children be disappointed they didn’t get Skittles, they could possibly pop it in their mouth or the sample could contaminate their plastic pumpkin so that now their Tootsie Rolls and Milky Way bars all smell like the hunk of wax you plopped in with their stash.

Some suggest it’s better to hand the children something to rot their teeth, and then say, “And here’s a little treat for Mom” and force the parental unit to approach the door so you can push your wares on the unsuspecting chaperone. To that, I say it’s better than the above, but still not great.

If you’re hell-bent on advertising your business on October 31, the least offensive method of doing so would be for you to hand the homeowner a sample after Jr. gets his Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.  Quickly, and I mean short and to the point – as you’re departing the front porch, hand your neighbor a sample and say, “Hi, I’m Lucy. I just live over on [Elm] Street. If you know anyone who likes [candles] could you please pass this on? Thanks so much.”  Then promptly leave. Don’t linger and don’t give a spiel.

That way it’s not too evasive and it’s non-threatening. You’re not asking them to buy anything but rather just to pass along your info if they know anyone who may be interested.  And it gives you a chance to meet your neighbors.

Just don’t lose sight of the real reason your wee one is wearing her cowgirl costume over her winter coat and you’re standing in the drizzle freezing your hiney off.

Trick or treat, smell my feet; give me something good to eat. And gimme lots of extra chocolate because Mommy is going to eat most of it after she makes me go to bed!

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Deutschland, Ireland and the UK. You can find Laurie at http://la.Scentsy.us or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

So how do you approach realtors?

This is a frequently asked question when it comes to this particular niche.  Another FAQ is What kind of letter do you send? I’ll answer the second question first – as this is a quick and easy answer:  I don’t send letters to realtors.  Working with realtors requires building rapports. Firing off a cold call letter will only cost you time and postage and will mostly likely end up in the trash.

Which leads me into the original question of how do you approach realtors.  It’s all about building relationships.  If you’re going to try to convince other sales professionals – the realtors, that they can trust their closing gifts to you, you’re going to need to take some time building that trust.

The ideal situation in working with realtors is to start with a realtor you know. If you don’t know any then perhaps ask friends or associates for referrals. Almost everyone knows at least one realtor or knows someone who does. Remember that you are not trying to sell a product. You’re offering a service and you’re solving a problem.

Don’t tell the realtor what you have to offer.  Ask the realtor what they need.  Ask what their budget is. Imagine if you offered a $75 gift basket for each closing/settlement and their budget was $25. You would have lost the sale before you even had a chance. Be prepared to have various solutions in different price ranges.  Have samples made up to show. Presentation is everything. Take time to make your gift basket something the realtor can be proud of.

If you’re going to offer client closing gifts you should plan to have on-hand inventory. A realtor will want to call you when they need a gift and they certainly don’t want to hear that it’s going to take 2-3 weeks to order. Stick with something neutral.  Each new home owner will have his/her personal tastes so if you stick with something cream colored you can never go wrong or be concerned with clashing colors.

If you’re thinking that you don’t know any realtors, and you don’t have the funds to have any inventory and you’re not convinced you can beautifully package the gift baskets the perhaps you may want to consider another niche.

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Deutschland, Ireland and the UK. You can find Laurie at http://la.Scentsy.us or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

To get your feet wet and become more comfortable talking to strangers, our resident candle expert, Waxwell Smart, offers a Top Secret Tip on approaching strangers. No matter what your product or service, you’ll be able to use this TST (Top Secret Tip):

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Deutschland, Ireland and the UK. You can find Laurie at http://la.Scentsy.us or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

Yet I see it all the time from new direct selling consultants – both online and offline.  These desperados are under the false impression that there is a race and the first person to pounce on a potential gets the big prize.  Personally, I run the other way when I see someone chase ambulances.  There are some who “call it” (remember when you were little … the person who “called” the front seat first, was the lucky person to sit next to Mom?)  Hard up new consultants will be all over the poor innocent person who just has a simple question and will announce to the world “PMing you (sending you a Private Message) now!”  Meaning to the other forum participants and lurkers: I am sitting here, desperate; doing my impression of a vulture, and by my “calling it” no one else can address this person who has questions.

Personally the passive stance works much better for me.  I make myself and my candle business visible.  I try to help others who have questions without expectation of them buying or signing with me. I can honestly say that I have never asked for the close – contrary to recruiting gurus.  Yet I have a very successful team of consultants who are with me because they chose to be – not because I force fed them and shoved myself down their private message inbox.

Make sure you are not sending the message that you are desperate.  There’s a difference between being assertive and well, just obnoxious.  There are more leads available than anyone could possibly ever get to; chill, relax and enjoy your business.

About the Author:  Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan.  She started her first home business in 1988. As a single parent, Laurie has supported her family by working out of her home.  She is currently an Independent Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles.  You can find Laurie at http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com and http://la.scentsy.us