Marketing

Creating Time to Work Your Business

3 April 2018 By LA Leave a Comment

No Time To Work Your Scentsy Business?

Many consultants also work a full time job – either at home raising children or outside the home as an employee for someone else. Don’t forget all the other obligations such as being taxi driver for the kiddos, cleaning the house, head chef, banker, homework helper, wife or head of the household. When would you possibly have time to start a home business?

The Busiest People Make the Best Consultants

Busy people know people. They know how to get things done. They know how to multitask. Besides, you know we don’t have time – you have to make time. What if you worked your Scentsy business just 20 minutes a day? That’s less than a recommended workout, an episode on TV, or two smoke breaks.

Get up a few minutes early. Work a bit during your lunch or while you are waiting for the load of laundry to finish in the washer. Do something while you’re waiting to pick up your kids. Break it down into two 10-minute work bursts if you seriously don’t feel you have 20 minutes to devote at once.

Small Increments

While you may not have 1-2 hours a day of undivided time to a make a video, write a blog post, schedule social media posts, make some phone calls, enter orders in the computer, bag and tag the product that UPS just delivered or to call a host, you can still get things accomplished in small increments.

Instead of looking for reasons why you can’t make it work, look for reasons why you can create brief pockets of time and work your business in small increments.

Need a Nudge?

Join Scentsy now, while you’ve already paused to read this post.

Ash Ambirge Quote

25 March 2018 By LA Leave a Comment

I have discussed ad nauseum the necessity for direct sellers to stop saying, “Can you do me a favor? [Buy my stuff, host a party, help me earn…]. I won’t belabor the point. Just stop doing it. It gives all direct sales consultants a bad name.

But just in case it hasn’t quite sunk in yet, here’s a lovely visual that may help. It’s a quote by Ash Ambirge of The Middle Finger Project. Sometimes it takes a different person, saying the same thing for it to click.

Ash is probably the only person I’ve ever fan-girled over, if that’s even possible for a 50+ year old professional to do. Simply put, I agree with so much this woman says. That doesn’t happen often.

Tattoo this to the inside of your eyelids. And for the love of puppies, stop trying to convince people to buy your stuff.

Use Samples to Market Your Scentsy Business

3 March 2018 By LA Leave a Comment

We Like to See, Hear, Smell, Taste, and Feel It Before We Buy

We are a society that likes free samples. We like to try it before we buy it. We test drive cars; we lie down on mattresses; and we accept food samples from the lady in the grocery store.

Samples Are An Important Part of Your Scentsy Business

Free samples are one of the top ways to attract new customers. Websites, catalogs, brochures and verbal promotion are all well and good (and needed). However, generally it’s not until someone can smell, taste, feel, hear or see the product offering are they really sold on it.

Lessons From Green Eggs and Ham

Most of us have read Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham book at one time in our lives. If not, here’s a sampling of the text:

You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may, I say. Sam! If you will let me be, I will try them. You will see. Say! I like green eggs and ham! I do! I like them, Sam-I-am! And I would eat them in a boat. And I would eat them with a goat!”

And I will eat them in the rain. And in the dark. And on a train. And in a car. And in a tree. They are so good, so good, you see! So I will eat them in a box. And I will eat them with a fox. And I will eat them in a house. And I will eat them with a mouse. And I will eat them here and there. Say! I will eat them ANYWHERE! I do so like green eggs and ham! Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-am!

Scentsy Samples

Hand out wax samples. Make up laundry care samples with washer whiffs and laundry liquid. Include our body care line of lotions and creams. Give scent circles. Consider a loaner program. “Take this (warmer and wax, bottles of laundry care, or diffuser and oils), home. Try it for a week and if you don’t love it, just return it, otherwise if it’s everything I said, and more, just pay me after you try it.”

Scentsy has a beautiful product catalog, but like all catalogs, almost 100% of the time, the photos still don’t justice to the actual item.

Take some time today to think about how you can get your customers to say:

Say! I like Scentsy I do! I like them, Sam-I-am! And I would smell them in a boat. And I would sniff them with a goat” I do so like Scentsy! Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-am!

Handing Out Business Samples to Trick or Treaters

30 September 2017 By LA 1 Comment

Business Samples at Halloween – good idea or not so much?

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 bad 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.

But, But, But…

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 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!

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Throw Out That List of 100

15 September 2017 By LA 4 Comments

**If one more direct selling company or sponsor encourages new recruits to Make a List of 100 People You Know, I’m going to stick a fork in my eye!**

I’m talking about the practice of spamming the snot out of their friends, family and acquaintances. It goes against the entire concept of target marketing and finding a niche. No wonder the direct selling industry still has a bad reputation in some circles.

This archaic and tired practice claims that if you make a list of 100 people to hound, it’ll be your first networking contact list that will supposedly help launch your new direct sales career. Although, whether you’re selling candles, jewelry, kitchenware, makeup, home decor or any other product offering, wouldn’t you have better results if you presented your new product line specifically to the people whom you believe could benefit from and enjoy your goods?

Market to Those Who Have a Specific Want or Need

This concept of making a list of 100 is ridiculous. What if your dental hygienist started a business selling metal widgets that would help expedite an automobile factory manufacturing process? If this person made a list of 100 people she knows and included you in that list to push her steel vehicle widgets on, you’d think she was totally off her rocker for wasting your time. Yet as direct sellers, we’re supposed to do just that; having no regard to market to those who have a specific want or need.

Instead of investing precious time trying to list and then contact all of the people you know such as: Family, Friends, Neighbors, Your friends’ parents, Your parents’ friends, Your parents’ colleagues, Your children’s friends’ parents, Classmates, Alumni of any school you attended, including high school, Members of the local chamber of commerce, Members of your church, temple, or other faith-based groups, Professors, Teachers, Mentors, Former Bosses, Former or current colleagues, Former or current customers, Former employees whom you managed, Members of the YMCA, YWCA, or other clubs, Members of professional groups to which you belong, Members of a service organization (e.g. the Rotary), School committee members, Counselors, Friends from military service, Coaches (in sports, arts, hobbies, etc.), Your doctor, Your lawyer, Your insurance agent, Your accountant or tax preparer, Your auto mechanic, The manager of your favorite coffee shop, The bartender at your favorite watering hole, The owner of maitre d’ of your favorite restaurant, Your barber/hairstylist, Your mortgage broker, Your real estate broker, Your veterinarian, Your dry cleaner, Any shop or business owners who know you by name (especially in “˜high touch’ businesses like art dealers, florists, dress shop managers, wedding planners, wine dealers””people who have long conversations with others), Any acquaintance who owes you a favor, spend some time defining your target market.

The Likely Results of Spamming the Above List:

You’ll ostracize yourself from them so that in the future they’ll be forced to check Caller-ID before taking your call or find themselves suddenly running late for an appointment and need to promptly depart your presence.
You may get a few mercy purchases from those who have a hard time saying no because they don’t want you to feel discouraged.
If you stumble upon someone who is genuinely interested in what you’re offering, it is mere statistics. If you spray enough bullets you’re bound to eventually hit something. But is that the reputation you really want to start off with? Or would you aim narrow, and therefore miss narrow?

I’m Not The Only One Who Believes This Way

Leslie Truex of Work at Home Success agrees, “Having a business is about finding the market that wants your product/service, not brow beating people you know into supporting you. Plus if you’re successful without the list, your recruitment may go up because talking to friends and family is a major reason why many people avoid direct sales and you’ll be able to show them how to do it without a list.”

Further, Adriaan at Direct Sell Assistant concurs that “90% of new consultants will stay with this list and expect to make a lot of money. I wish more people that get recruited are rather shown how to market a product and find new customers, than to write down that list of a 100.”

If You Said Yes …

Lastly, if you’ve signed up for a company that has a fantastic product line, don’t you think you should be able to find others who enjoy and benefit from it as much as you do? No need to approach your auntie who has severe allergies to buy your candles or your sweet bald mechanic about your organic shampoo. Just because you may know 100 people, doesn’t mean they’d be good customers.

My advice: It’s 2017, time (way past time) to throw out your “List of 100 People You Know.”

*I originally wrote this post in 2008, and periodically revise it to ensure it’s still current.

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