Marketing

Bad for Business: Social Media Accounts Set to Private

1 September 2017 By LA Leave a Comment

It continues to baffle me why a business owner / independent consultant would take time to create profiles, links, and populate their Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts, but have visibility set to PRIVATE!

You’re missing the boat. The objective, especially in direct sales, though it applies to most any business, is to market yourself, your business, your services, your products, your opportunities. The goal is to continue to get new and more customers, hosts and recruits.

So Why Keep Your Business a Secret?

If you’re concerned about personal privacy, don’t be stupid about what personal information you put out there and if you want to be locked down tighter than Fort Knox, then perhaps being a business owner with an online presence isn’t for you.

Don’t Make It So Difficult

Private groups, elite postings, secret stuff – especially in direct sales, screams I’M DOING STUFF I SHOULDN’T BE DOING (going against policies, out of compliance, offering personal specials and giveaways, etc.). You want to be OPEN, you want people to EASILY find you, you want to EXPOSE YOURSELF to as many people as possible. (I still giggle every time I say ‘expose yourself’, I guess because I’m five years old!)

It’s Your Business

True, you are an independent consultant. It’s your business to run as you choose. But unless you already have way too many customers, hosts and team members and you want to make sure your business continues to shrivel and dwindle, I’d highly suggest you un-privatize your social media accounts and come out of the closet – LOUD and PROUD about what you’re doing with your business.

Want a Second Opinion?

You certainly are free to disagree with me. Want a second opinion on this school of thought? Here’s a great article to check out, titled, Pros & Cons of Setting Instagram Photos to Private. It’s mainly about Instagram but it is certainly applicable to any other social platform. Spoiler Alert: Says Aaron Charles, “If you’re wanting to advertise a business, cause or project, a private profile will only work against you.”

Please Like, Share or Post a Comment!

What To Do With Leftover Catalogs

27 August 2017 By LA Leave a Comment

Scentsy consultants are getting ready to switch to a new Fall/Winter catalog starting in September. Inevitably each year some consultants end up sitting on a stack of Spring/Summer catalogs which will soon be obsolete.

What Do You Do With Left Over Catalogs?

The easiest answer is don’t have any left over catalogs.

Whether you have a few days or a few weeks before you switch over to the new season, commit yourself to get rid of them NOW, while they are still current. Step up your marketing efforts to ensure you disburse those catalogs while they are still current.

Do a mailing – either to your existing customers or to new target markets.

Stamp the outside of the catalog, either with an ink stamp or label, highlighting the special – i.e. “Most items 10% off during August.” I have an ink stamp I made at Vista Print that says “Most Items 10% off During February/August at IncomeWax.com.” That way it’s good for both catalog season changes.

Give them away.

Leave them in public restrooms; give them to store clerks, waitresses or your kiddo’s teachers. Get rid of them. Decide that you won’t have any left over as you enter the new season. Don’t try. Do.

But, if for whatever reason you do find yourself still with some leftover catalogs, I’ve heard a few suggestions on what you can do with them, and no surprise here, I do not agree with the masses.

The common suggestion:

Affix a sticker to the front of the catalog with a cutesy poem or little ditty that says something along the lines of “This is a retired catalog, contact me for a current one and claim your free prize.”

Why I don’t agree with this suggestion:

It’s wasting time and money creating the labels or stickers without realizing a return on your investment. Also, if you represent a company that offers great products at a great value, you shouldn’t need to bribe, er a I mean, give them an incentive to call. They’ll either be interested in the products and want to order, or they won’t. A token freebie isn’t going to sway their buying behavior, but it will cut into your profit margin.

A better idea:

Make sure your contact information is clearly displayed on the old catalogs and then just spread them around town. Leave one in public restroom stalls, on the bleachers when you leave the basketball game, in the grocery cart at the grocery store, at the gas pump, on a park bench, near a pay phone, at the airport before you board – you get the idea. No singsong poem, no special bribe, just the catalog.

If someone is interested they’ll contact you or go to your website. If they go to your website they may already see that some of the items in the catalog are no longer available but may also see something else they didn’t know you had. Or if they call you, then merely say “oh you must have an old catalog, let me get you a current one.”

No need to waste your valuable time, stickers, ink or profit trying to get rid of obsolete catalogs. The results will be the same. Someone will contact you or it will end up in the round file. None of us seem to have enough time as it is; work smarter, not harder.

Smart Business Practices:

In every single action you take for your business, ask yourself, “Will this help the bottom line? Or is it just something that is nice to do but won’t change behavior?” If it’s the latter, spend your time more wisely doing something that will be effective to increase sales, hosts and new team members/

Please Like, Share or Post a Comment

Are You Looking for Thriving Candle Business?

23 August 2017 By LA Leave a Comment

Looks a little different around here, doesn’t it?

Are you looking for Laurie Ayers’, Thriving Candle Business? This website below?

You’re in the right place. Truth be told, I was nosing around, experimenting with different wordpress themes and I screwed up my website. I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to WordPress, even though I’ve been using it for years (don’t ask). Nonetheless, I don’t really know what I’m doing but when I tried to put it back the way it was, it was all messed up.

I guess it was a sign it was time for a refresh.

So please bear with me as I try to figure this out. If you find any typos or dead links or wonky anything, please let me know. I would so appreciate it. I’m not sure how long it’ll take to entirely move into my new look. I’ll continue to work on as I’m able to carve out time.

Blog Post Every Day?

10 July 2017 By LA Leave a Comment

You may have you noticed it seems like someone lit a fire under my butt and that I’m blogging every stinkin’ day in July.

That is true. That someone is me.

I got out of the habit of creating regular blog posts on here and my traffic suffered because of it. So I’m going back to basics. But I’m doing so with a vengeance so I can create a new habit.

I’m also challenging myself and holding myself accountable to the 30-day commitment I made to myself. And it has to be a post that I put thought into. I’m not going to just slap up a graphic and call it good – unless it’s so poignant that no editorial is needed. Besides, I like to write too much to just pop up a picture and call it a blog post.

I’ve scheduled a few posts for when I will be at Scentsy’s annual convention later this month. However for the most part, I like to write daily based on whatever is happening or whatever I come across in my life that would make a good post.

Want to know what I’ll post about next? Stick around … you’ll find out.

What about you? Have you fallen out of a good habit you had going? You can start a self-imposed 30-day challenge at any time, y’know. You don’t need to wait until the start of a fresh calendar month. If I can do it, you can do it!

Scentsy is a Personal Preference

19 May 2017 By LA Leave a Comment

Dear Scentsy Consultant: You are doing your business a disservice, and will ultimately hurt it if you promote Scentsy as anything other than a PERSONAL PREFERENCE.

Everyone’s nose works differently. Everyone’s personal preference is entirely different. Other than the mechanics of our products (correct watt light bulb, water in the diffuser, scent soft in the fabric softener bin of your washer, etc.) you should not be giving ANY specific and quantitative values on how many cubes of wax, how many drops of oils, how many scoops of whiffs, etc.

The most important thing you can do for your customers is to inform them how every single person is different and they will find their own preference and have their own experience. It’s not being evasive; it’s being smart, truthful and helpful.

Are You Over-Promising and Under-Delivering?

Consider this – if you think a scent is very strong and only use a half or one cube and tell me that is good to start with, I may not be able to smell a darn thing with that and then I’ll feel duped and that Scentsy doesn’t work.

Likewise if you tell me you use 4, 6 or 8 cubes at a time and it lasts a week, so I try it, and it was indeed, “Wow!” strong the first day or so, then I start to become anosmic to it and by day three I couldn’t really smell it anymore, I’ll feel duped and that Scentsy doesn’t work.

I would personally never tell anyone to only change it once a week. I want to sell wax and I want my customers to mix it up so that they don’t become too immune to the scent. Others will disagree with me on that, which illustrates my point, there isn’t a way to experience Scentsy, there are many ways.