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Direct
Sales & Small Business
Tips, Insights, & FAQ
Article #1
The Basics of Starting an Online Business
© Terri Seymour of
Seymour Products
If you are looking to start your own online business, the first
step is to decide what type of business you want to get into. You
need to choose something that you are interested in and like to
do. If the passion is not there, you will more than likely not
succeed!
Ask yourself these questions:
Can I dedicate myself to this business?
Contrary to what a lot of ads tell you, there is no get rich quick
business. If you start an online business, you will be putting in
hours each day to make that business successful. You will need to
be very dedicated to that business to succeed. Weeks, months, or
even years could go by before you start making any money. Make
sure you are ready for that kind of commitment before you start
your business.
What do I want to accomplish with this business?
Make sure you know exactly what you want to do with your business.
Write out your business plans and goals. This will help you to
realize what you want to do with your business and how you want to
do it.
After you decide on a business, get your goals in order and make
the commitment, the next step is to build a website or get one
built for you. If you decide to build one yourself, there are tons
of resources to help you learn how:
Building and maintaining a website is a constant learning process.
You need to keep up with ever changing information. There are lots
of online resources for beginners trying to build a site. You can
also hire someone to build your site for you, if you have the
budget.
You will also need a host ( place to upload and store your
website). This will make it "live" on the net. One of the best
hosts I have come across for beginners is
ICDSoft. They have easy file managing and an incredible
support system.
You will also need a domain, which will be the name of your site
and business. For example: if you are selling business/office
supplies, try to find a name that really zeros in on what you
offer, like - Affordable Office Supplies or Business Supplies and
More. This would make your domain AffordableOfficeSupplies.com
which would make your URL - http://www.affordableofficesupplies.com
This would be the link and main page to your website.
Once you get all this set up you are ready to start networking,
promoting, advertising, marketing, etc. This is what takes the
time and commitment. You cannot build a website and sit back and
wait for the clients/customers to find you. You have to go out and
find your customers.
There are several methods of promoting and networking online.
Remember to advertise and promote your business offline as well.
Online Promotion:
ad swaps
ezine publishing
forum networking
joint ventures
ezine advertising
directory submissions
link exchanges
contests
and many more!
Offline Promotion:
flyers
bulletin boards
freebies (such as ink pens)
business cards
newspapers
radio stations
and many more!
Article #2
TIPS & SUGGESTIONS FOR A SUCCESSFUL ONLINE PARTY
©Julie Ryals 2001
1. Advertise
Advertise your party everywhere that you can think of.
Exchange links with friends. If you have your own website, offer
to announce a friends specials if she announces your upcoming
online party.
2. Newsletters
There are loads of online newsletters. Many of them will
even advertise your upcoming online party for free. Just ask.
3. Yahoogroups
There are of hundreds of YahooGroups. These groups are a
wonderful way to interact with people. Networking is the key to
any online business' success. Use them to your advantage. If
you are not sure if a group allows advertising, just ask. *If a
group doesn't allow advertising, get familiar with changing your
signature line on your emails and add your upcoming party
announcement. We do suggest not signing up for a list just to
advertise. You always stand to gain what you give.
4. Invitations
Invite everyone that you can think of. Throughout the
years of offering online parties, we have found that the most
successful parties are those that plan and invite. You cannot
hold a successful in-home party and never announce it, right? We
suggest one upcoming party announcement, one reminder the night
before (for those that don't read mail daily) and one "party-now"
reminder. Our lives can get so busy that we simply forget.
Invitations & reminders are important.
5. Have a Party
Hostess
Once you have booked your online party, announce to your
friends, family and acquaintances that you are looking for
hostesses to reap the rewards from your online party. You can
attract hostesses by offering "free" use of your party room for
that party. This is two-fold: You are getting the profits from
the party as a rep and your hostess is actively announcing "her"
upcoming online party. Don't forget to check out our Rebooking
incentives. Many of our clients have had such success with this,
they have booked their party room by the month to continue their
success.
6. Party Games
Everyone loves a party game! There are many games that
can be played online during the party. Popular ones are Search
The Catalog & Answer Questions, Word Scrambles, and Trivia. The
sky's the limit here. Besides the information we have here, check
out
http://networkofconnections.com/resources-partyplans.htm
for more Party Games and Ideas.
7. Specials
We cannot say enough about specials. Competition is
fierce these days online. Make your party "the" party to come
to. Meaning, offer a percent off either for everyone or for the
1st or 5th order for example. Free shipping is a good one too to
consider.
8. Drawings or Giveaways
Drawings and Giveaways are a whole lot of fun. Everyone
loves a freebie. This can be something as simple as a free
coupon on their next order, a buy XX item and get another for half
price, or even a raffle type drawing for a free item. Be creative
and adjust according to your company.
9. Information Request Forms
Information Request Forms are located in every one of our
party rooms. Use these to your advantage. One of the standard
check boxes on the form is "Add me to your mailing list". This is
a great way to build your customer database. Use these forms to
advertise your next upcoming online party, email specials, or
announce new products. We recommend using these forms to select
your drawing or giveaway winners.
10. During your party
Be attentive to your visitors. We suggest greeting every
guest, give them brief instructions to fill out your Information
Request Form, point out your shopping link & specials and then
checking with them within a few minutes to see if they have any
questions. It's not best to let a guest come in and sit without
interacting with them. Be prepared to stay late with a guest to
talk further. This is at no additional charge, of course. We
do not close a room at the end of a party for your convenience.
We do suggest making a set time to hold your game or giveaway
announcement. The best time is when there is the most people
located in your party room. Tip: Make your
guests feel comfortable. Getting to know your clientele is very
important to the future success of your business. Keeping a
client happy is a guaranteed return customer. People like that
one-on-one business relationship. Once the sale is made, that is
not the end of things....
11. Make a party plan
Keep in mind that online parties are similar, yet
different to "in-home" parties. We have found that it is
difficult to plan a minute-by-minute talk session because of the
convenience of coming in and out of a party room at guests'
leisure. People will come and go throughout the evening. So
doing only one introduction or "welcome" would not be fair to
those coming in late.
12. Considerations
Consider the time zones of the world. If you schedule
your party from 5-7pm EST, this means that it is 2-4pm EST on the
West Coast. Many people are not even home from work yet or
picking their children up from school. We recommend either
keeping your party open late or renting a monthly room to take
advantage of 24 Hour Open Room option. Note: This all depends on
the bulk of your clients needs.
We schedule all of our parties in EST. We do this to stop any
confusion over the different time zones by keeping everyone on the
same time thoughts.
Also, consider that people have various things that come up and
interfere with their plans. Don't fret if one or two of your
friends couldn't make it for one reason or another. We're here to
work with you and can leave your party open a day or two to help.
13. Verifying Your Party Room
We always send a direct link to your party room at least
24 hours prior to your party date. Please, make sure that you go
through your room and verify everything. We also need you to
verify with us that you received our "TEST" Information Request
Form and Secure Order Form (if app.) prior to your party. This is
very important. Some freebie email accounts can have problems
with receiving mail and we'd hate to see you lose something
important, like an order. We can carbon copy a private folder for
you if you request this. We can also make any changes to your
room prior to your party.
14. Last but not least...
HAVE FUN!
15. After The Party
A quick "thank you" email/note is a wonderful addition to
the end of your party. Although it takes time to send a
confirmation of an order and a confirmation of delivery, it is
simple etiquette. Remember, even if a customer didn't buy at your
online party when they visited, they may make a purchase a few
days or weeks later. A simple "thank you for visiting" can do
wonders and may bring in that sale even sooner than expected.
Don't forget to make use of your Information Request Forms.
Afterthought
Consider building your downline and renting a monthly
room. Split the costs with your downline and allow them unlimited
use of your party room. What a great way to help them while
helping yourself. This can even be a special bonus to offer your
potential recruits -- free or discounted use of your online party
room!
Article #3
Offline Business Promotion
By Peggy Ross
Copyright 2001
Most of us who sell both on and off line need
offline business promotion.
I receive frequent emails asking me how they can get more exposure
to their businesses off line, especially party plan women and
women who own their own business either by wholesale or making
their own products.
My answer is always the same- Be the talk of your
town in a good way!
I know it may sound off the wall but in 1998 I
found myself the talk of the town and was surprised how easy it
happened and was glad to be the talk of the town in business!
So did I have any special secrets doing it? No, none since I
didn’t even know it was happening until it did.
I did compile a list of some ways to achieve it.
Have your business cards and mouth with you
always!
Business cards in your purse you need to search for can loose you
a chance to hand one or more out! If possible try to keep them in
your pockets in a business card holder or in a front pocket of
your purse if you have no pockets.
And your mouth and words you use. Just know
nothing is private outside your house in public. And if you have
kids sometimes at home nothing is private either. But in public
like stores we have all heard people complain loud and clear. If
you ever need to complain try to do it softly as your next
potential customer could be within ear shot! So giving up bad
language is good for your business and yourself and kids too!
I once sat in the dentist office waiting room and listened to a
mom with her kids seeing the dentist tell the receptionist her
daughters were in local little and jr. miss contests and she
needed to get donations for the events.
Oh yes, I waited till she was done talking and sat down and handed
her my card and offered a donation. She called me the next day and
I drove cross town to drop off 2 items for the raffle with
business cards attached of course. The mom then tells me her son
is in this sport and her sisters kids do this other sport and the
neighbor’s children are in this and that clubs and I left her with
enough business cards with short notes on the back for all of
them!
The result of me opening my mouth in the dentists waiting room
gained me 8 new people having my card and knowing who I was! Plus
the pageants did a list of contributors on the event flyer. If you
have ever needed to find donations for an organization, then you
already know the donation list at events is a great resource to
get donations from down the road when needed. As a PTA Board
member I can tell you we kept a folder with businesses names and
people who were willing to donate things. So being on this list is
a good thing.
Speaking of PTA’s most school have them. Make a
list of schools starting with ones near you and expand the list
out if you need to.
Do a letter to them and send them out or drop them off addressed
to the PTA’s but also mention that if they have teachers who do
fundraisers would the PTA be so kind to pass on the information to
them also. Here where I live the 5th graders go to out
door science camp and they do fundraisers to earn money to help
offset the costs to the parents. Plus schools especially high
schools have booster clubs for their band, different teams like
football, cheerleading, baseball and even some have booster clubs
for chess clubs as they have traveling costs too. The booster list
goes on and usually the High Schools Secretary will have a list of
them all.
Then if you still need more grab the phone book! Look up non-
profits org.s, churches and children’s organizations like local
tee-ball and soccer clubs. Allot of parks and rec. will have the
children’s sports lists.
And let’s not forget women and moms clubs and
church organizations such as the women and men’s church groups and
places like the American Legion and D.A.V. as they hold
fundraisers too.
Start checking the paper, usually on Fridays for
upcoming local events. If it’s to late this year then file their
info and next year send them a letter.
Did you know the average hair dresser, grocery
clerk and so on all either have kids or nieces and nephews who are
in sports.
Once you sit down to make your own talk of the
town list you may find as I did I know more people in clubs and
org.’s then not.
When I get calls from people asking for donations I will ask how
they heard about me and my business. I soon found out the local
chamber of commerce had me on their list of people/businesses who
donate and I never even joined them! So when you have gotten to
the point that people are calling you and you don’t need to reach
out for places and people you are now
“ The Talk Of The Town!”
But I do want to mention the pit falls of this as
there are just a few!
I started receiving so many calls that I ordered
10 things to hand out and found they no longer lasted a few months
but only 2-3 weeks. So if your not getting customers in return for
all the donations it can become expensive!
You may need to set a limit and have to say “sorry
but no” your months limit has been met. Business set limits on
donations since they usually get more requests then they can
handle. While some smaller ones do monthly budgets for donations
most large businesses set their budget in June for their fiscal
year.
Another tip, if your donation is for an event, ask for a ticket or
if they cannot give one away free offer to buy one and go to the
event. If they know that 1 or usually more then 1 of their
donators is there they will acknowledge you!
Just be ready if they ask you to stand to be
acknowledged.
Be sure to have your business cards and mouth ( when appropriate )
with you when you go!
Wear a pant suit with pockets, what I found is
this works well and looks good and professional both!
Check and see if it is tax deductible . * Most
donations to non-profits are tax deductible so be sure to get a
receipt!
Being the talk of the town can be a good thing!
Article #4
Getting Started Online
by
MomCents
© MomCents 2006
Do you have a
GREAT idea or business you want to get online? Here are a few
tips to help you get started!
Before
even choosing a
domain
name,
get an idea of what styles and
color combinations you like.
You may want to look at other websites similar to the product
you have in mind.
2.)
Next, Decide
who your target audience is...
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Are they Male, Female, both?
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How old are they?
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What type of content will
appeal to them?
3.)
Think about
colors, content, a logo, and graphics that you would like to
include:
Do you have special graphics?
or Stock Photos?
4.) Organize your content.
DO NOT BE TOO "WORDY"! You have about 30 sec to get your main
idea across! Highlight your main points. Create pages based on
these points. Example:
5.) NOW we get to
domain names & Hosting!
A
domain name
is what comes after the "www." and before the ".com,.net, .org",
etc. You want to choose a name that is easy to remember and not
hard to spell! If at all possible stay away from LONG names.
EX: "www.supersuccessfulsolutions.com"
good name..hard to remember and takes too long to type!
Hosting: There are so
many to choose from. I will focus on your experience and desire
to build a site, more than prices.
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Hosting with : DIY or WYSIWYG:
"DIY": DO IT YOURSELF "WYSIWYG": WHAT YOU
SEE IS WHAT YOU GET. These are good for the beginner, but
often do not allow room for code manipulation and seo
techniques. If you are a beginner it may take you some time
to put together your site. So you need to weigh time to cost
of hiring a designer. Look at what they offer along with
their Hosting.
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Hosting With "CPANEL"
: Suggested hosting. With Hosting companies that provide
CPANELs it will allow you to have more control and a wide
variety of add on features, such as blogs, forums, photo
galleries. Beginners and more advances are both able to use
this fairly easily.
Have a tip or article you'd
like to share? Submit it to us for review at
answers@homepartyplanit.com
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