Live from the Direct Sales Party Bookings Teleconference with Karen Phelps

Direct Selling Expert, Karen Phelps Specializes In: Industry; Leadership Skills, Image and Self-EsteemI was on the call the evening of December 12, 2007 - got the notes from the call. Very common sense information. It’s about treating your direct sales business like a business. First Karen starts of with the bigger goals such as What is the dollar amount you want to do in January What number of parties you have to have in order to earn that income? Set up dates that you’re willing to conduct parties and put the dates on your booking tree. Determine how you will keep your “store” open for January. Pre-Determine your Monthly offer and limit the information you share to a week so that your hostess doesn’t schedule at the end of the month - leaving the first of the month empty. Say “I know you’ve been wanting ________ from our catalog. I have a few dates in January left to take advantage of the January Double Hostess credit.” Guide your hostess to the date choices YOU want to have booked. Call hostesses that booked last January. Call prospective hostesses that said “Call me after the first of the year” Start call in NOW to book January. Keep a customer information card so follow up calls are easier because of familiarity. Call all of the “Maybe later” - The people that said call me later. Let them know you’ll be calling them at a later date when you need to fill in booking dates. They will expect that you will call them. Call previous hostess that promised they would rebook. If you send out invitations for your hostesses you have copies of their guest list so when you call hostesses to book a new party you can use the last list and just ask her for modifications. Prepare a script - know what you’re going to say. (Karen gave examples of the scripts she has used.) Offer a special bonus - “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to receive _______, in addition to the normal hostess gifts. I have a few bonus booking dates left. I wanted to be sure to call you because I knew you’d want to take advantage of the special bonus. The dates I have available are ________ or ___________. Which date works best for you?” Especially for parties during the first of the New Year - mail invitations for you hostess - make calls for the hostess - It’s too busy during the Christmas. Your hostesses might not get their invitations out if you don’t help them. Do a “Toast the New Year” bring sparkling grape drink Have “Nutty Buddy” parties - two hostesses have party at the same time. Less reschedules and cancellations. Start promoting Valentines Day right after Christmas! SECRET WEAPON  to have a phenomenal January - always run a special with a HUGE romance basket - knock your socks off stuff in basket. Minimum value $100 (not necessarily cost but must on value). Wine Glasses - Wine - gooooooood Chocolate - restaurant gift certificate, movie passes (think date nite), nice candles, bath suds, more gooooood chocolate (don’t limit the gifts in the basket to just your product) make the items stuff that your hostesses would be willing to work for. Start carrying and promoting The Romance Basket as soon as December is booked. Some way to give the basket would be to                    –highest dollar in sales                    –give hostess tickets for different things - returning list in 3 days - per $100 in sales -                        bookings - buying guests in attendance. There was a special bonus package of her best products and other gifts and bonuses using a special link in the call handouts. Go to the Karen Phelps website - www.karenphelps.com This call is available for recorded listening. After the first of the year we will have Karen on www.GetMoreBusinessPodcast.com as a guest. Be listening because her information has many years of experience behind every idea. She’s field tested all of it!

Direct Sales Stocking Stuffing - a Gift to Yourself - OPEN TONIGHT!

Pssst! Hey this is FREE - ZIP - NADA - NO CHARGE!

If you’re in network marketing, relationship marketing, mlm, party business - This is a call you don’t want to miss. It’s TONIGHT.

Read on…

Imagine entering January 2008 with a calendar full of enthusiastic hostesses who can’t wait to have their party with you!!! Imagine having the highest sales ever during the month of January!

Hey guys and gals! Tonight’s the night! Wednesday, December 12, 2007 9:00 p.m. EASTERN. FREE JUMP INTO JANUARY CALL!!!

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! Her name is Karen Phelps and she’s agreed to share with everyone her secrets to having a FULL CALENDAR OF BOOKINGS and “off the chart sales” in January.

Free Jump Into January Teleseminar

Having a super start in January is the best thing you will ever do for your business!!! It is Super Easy to get Hostesses to book and have Super Parties in January! All you need is the right attitude and some simple strategies and you can have outrageous January sales!! We hope you decide to join us for this complimentary teleseminar.

What you will learn:

• How to entice Hostesses to host the first week of January
• What to say when you are calling for January bookings
• How to Hostess Coach for successful January parties
• Karen’s “secret weapon” for promoting huge January parties
• How to use Valentine’s Day specials to build January sales
• Plus many more fun and simple ideas…

The tips and ideas you will learn in this teleseminar could easily add hundreds if not thousands of dollars in income at the beginning of the year. Karen could easily sell this information for $50 per person but she is so concerned with EVERYONE having a great beginning in 2008 that she has decided to share this information at no charge. Lines are limited, so make sure you jump on 5 mins. early.

Jump Into January Teleseminar

This teleseminar will be held TONIGHT, Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 8:00 p.m. Central, 7:00 p.m. Mountain and 6:00 p.m. Pacific. There are a limited number of lines available and this call is always packed to capacity, so mark your calendars! Call In Number:               605-772-3500        Pin: 481899594# If you don’t know who Karen Phelps is check out her website at www.KarenPhelps.com - LOTS OF RESOURCES for direct sales. Karen will be a Guest on the Get more Business Podcast very soon. I’ll keep you posted on when. Keep reading and please email a few of your friends about subscribing to The Small Business Guru RSS Feed. If you are building a business or a direct sales organization this feed is a great source of positive mental attitude building and instruction for success.

My Number One Source of Business

Right now I am so busy with my own business of promotional products that I have little time to go out and find  new customers. My number one source of business is previous customers. My customers hear from me regularly. I keep a steady flow of reminders that I can serve their needs for anything with their custom logo.

All customers who have given my their permission receive an email with a case history of how results were achieved using promotional products. This is to give them an idea of not only what items can be printed with their own customer logo, but also how the items can be used to achieve a desired result. These case history emails go out once every week.

Twice a month a postcard is mailed directly to the customer. These postcards are themed with  a particular product or group of products that is timely for the next promotional opportunity coming up. For example, one of my August mailings was a reminder to place calendar orders for 2007 calendars.

I know many business owners that spend lots of time and money going after new customers, doing absolutely nothing to get previous customers to come back. I have been the customer of many businesses that I never, ever hear from again. For example, I have purchased several brand new cars over the last 15 years or so - not one of the sales people, nor the dealer has EVER contacted me about purchasing another new car. I think I’ve purchased each one of them at a different car lot. No one ever followed up after the sale.

How about a hair dresser or nail tech? I’ve never gone to anyone that has had any type of a follow up system. Just recently my current stylist’s shop started a fun idea to get patrons to schedule their next appointment before they leave the shop. They have a spinning wheel that you get to spin just as you’re paying for the service just completed. When the spinning wheel stops you are the proud winner of a free service on your NEXT visit. On my next visit after  getting my hair cut, I get a mini facial. What a great idea! One day before the scheduled appointment someone calls to make sure you haven’t forgotten the next appointment.

What other ways can you keep in touch and keep your current customer coming back for more of your good service or products?

Make your past and current customers your number one focus. It may be your number one source of business.

The Little Postcard that could

I’m not sure if this an example of the flaws of our postal service or if it is “delivering on the promise.”

After 50 years Mr Harry McGee’s postcard to his wife was finally delivered.

As the story goes Peter Symons, apparently the current resident of 1-1135 Davie St., Vancouver 5, B.C., Canada received a post card with a post mark of November 7, 1955 from Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. bearing a pair of two cent stamps with the image of Thomas Jefferson. This post card was quick sweet note to Mrs McGee on the sender’s arrival at the Fontainebleau Hotel.

Who knows what could have happened to delay that post card from it’s destination for FIFTY YEARS! Yet, it finally made it at least to the address it was sent to.

You can read the story here at Comcast

I suppose that this doesn’t really have anything to do with your business, I just thought it was a cute and curious story that tickles the imagination. I’m a believer in stimulating one’s imagination for greater creativity.

My favorite tool to create and send postcards is Send Cards Get Business. You can completely customize both front and back of card or choose from over 7000 stock designs. Minimum order is 1 card. Select card and manage your data base online. Card goes out via U.S. Postal Service next Business Day. Cost of postcard is less than .50 cents, plus postage.

50 cent Marketing

What can you do with .50 cents? Not much of a marketing budget right? When you consider the cost of a 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ postcard plus postage it makes .50 cent marketing possible. Postcards are the most pleasant “in your face” form of marketing that I can think of. I say “in your face” because a postcard carries your message out there in the open for all to see without opening any packaging. And if you message is graphically appealing it will probably at least get read. Here’s a couple of tips that you can use to get started:

Postcard Marketing Tip #1

Market with consistency.

Postcard marketing is one of the most affordable – in fact, plain out cheapest – methods for reaching your target audience.  It is so affordable that you can do it with consistency on a shoestring budget.  As with any other form of marketing, postcard marketing requires consistency.  Simply put, you have to send out postcards on a periodic basis to the same target audience.  When small business owners ask me how often they should send out a postcard, I recommend every 6 to 8 weeks with consistency to the same recipients.  This enables you to keep your name in front of the same people several times in one year.  The more they see your name, the better the chance of them doing business with you.

Postcard Marketing Tip #2

Use postcards to market specific products to targeted markets.

If you have a broad product line, implement postcards into your marketing mix to reach targeted audiences that may be interested in specific products.  Create a postcard focused on one or more items from a specific product line.  Develop a database of potential and existing clients that have either displayed an interest in those specific products or that you have obtained from a company that specializes in developing mail lists.  Once you have successfully established one target audience, start a second, third, and fourth one.  Rotate your mail outs to ensure you adequately reach each audience with consistency to drive business.

My favorite tool to create and send postcards is Send Cards Get Business. You can completely customize both front and back of card or choose from over 7000 stock designs. Minimum order is 1 card. Select card and manage your data base online. Card goes out via U.S. Postal Service next Business Day. Cost of postcard is less than .50 cents, plus postage.