These days with the power of the internet a direct sales team leader has the ability to recruit and add new members to their team from all over the United States. Once you have built up a national team, you can use that same technology to communicate and train your members.

Over the years I have seen some pretty creative ways to communicate with your members by using the internet that I thought I would share with you today. Let’s take a look at a few of those ideas.

1. Forum Boards: You can set up a public or private forum board for free or get them hosted on your own domain. Forum boards are a great way to for you to post training information, business files, sales notices, etc. so that all of your members can view that information when it is convenient for them. Forums are also a great way for your members to communicate and interact with one another.

2. Email Groups: There are a few online email groups that you can use to communicate with your team. With this type of group the owner of the group would set it up and invite their members to join. The owner of the group can post messages to the group which are then delivered via email to everyone who is subscribed. Members can choose to receive these messages as they are posted or in a daily digest form. Most of these type of groups are free to set up and use. The only draw back to this is most people get enough email and really dislike their email boxes filling up with numerous messages.

3. Facebook Group Page: These days a lot of companies are communicating their customers and clients by setting up Facebook group pages. When you set up this type of group there are some limitations but it is an easy way to communicate with your members and/or fans of your company.

4. Online Webinars: If you are tech savvy, you can look into producing your own sales meeting and recording it. You can then upload it online and schedule a webinar to have with your team. During the webinar members can view your video or slide show presentation and interact with one another in the webinar chat room.

5. Chat Rooms: You can find many different sites that offer free or low cost chat rooms that you can use to conduct your online meetings in plus…some of these chat room providers also offer video chat! If you have your own web site, you can install software on your site and have your own private chat room that members can access at any time.

These 5 methods of online team communication work well for most direct sales team leaders. If you are unsure which method will work best for you, I suggest you talk to other online leaders to see which methods they are using.

When it comes to an office, organization is key. Of course, consumers need to buy the best office supplies for their needs, but if items are not logically placed around the space and kept in an orderly fashion, their benefits will be lost.

It is likely that few people keep their offices strictly organized, but with these tips, even the biggest clutter bug can create a serene and efficient office space.

The filing and paperwork systems must be simple and easy to use, according to Eric Loechner of the website DIY Life. There is no correct way to file, but consumers should make sure that they create a system that matches the way their brains naturally categorize things. Perhaps investing in a labelmaker will help keep files clearly marked. Additionally, only keep current files in folders. Anything older than a year can be “archived” into a different box or file separate from the current space, says Loechner.

A supply drawer should never have too many supplies in it. A good rule of thumb is to keep one item that is needed plus one refill. Make sure everything is in working condition as well. It’s a good idea to have more than one refill, but these can be kept in a separate closet or storage space, advises Loechner.

Home and Garden Television suggests that offices have activity centers. An efficient space is zoned into different areas: a clear workspace with a computer and frequently-used office supplies; a reference center with binders, manuals and professional materials; and a supply center, where printer ink and toner, paper, pens and other necessities are stored.

An office should fit the needs of the worker, so hardware and peripherals should be properly placed, says HGTV. For example, if the printer is used daily, it should be within easy reach. Try to avoid blocking access to drawers or taking up leg room with cords and drives whenever possible.

Adequate office furniture is always a smart investment. If it is a home office, consumers can integrate the style of the furniture into the design and style of the other rooms in the house, but they should also be conscious of the function of each piece. Make sure that the furniture doesn’t just look good, but that it provides ample space for work and storage, as well. When designing a workspace at a place of employment, a worker’s options may be limited. However, a key element for any office is a comfortable and ergonomically correct desk chair. Employees should do all they can to lobby their employer for this necessity.

Cathryn Poth is a business journalist for concordsupplies.com who covers a range of topics including new business trends, printer ink, printer supplies, office supplies and recycling in the office.

Become a Vault Denim Fashion Consultant!

Vault Denim is making history as a 2 yr old company with more than 5200% growth (no, that’s not a typo) in its first year alone! We’d love to have you join us as we continue to break records and revolutionize the industry.

Let’s get to the details:  Vault Denim sells overstock of true designer jeans. Absolutely no knock-offs or seconds and the jeans are all the latest styles you will see in stores and boutiques, just at a much better price (up to 50% off!). You can’t beat having 100+ pairs of jeans in your home with your friends. Guests can try on as many jeans as they want, get their friends’ opinions on the best fits, and leave with them that night. The jeans sell themselves and the best marketing tool is you wearing the jeans! In addition, we just launched MEN’S and GIRL’S lines, with MATERNITY coming early 2012!

$159 to become a Vault Denim Fashion Consultant, which includes:

• Access to all inventories and tools (you don’t buy the jeans – we supply them!)
• Business cards (box of 250)
• Training materials
• Coupon for 50% off your 1st pair of jeans
• Your own website to market and promote your business.

You earn 18-24% commission on your sales and up to 7% of your team’s sales each month.  There are many opportunities to earn additional bonuses based on your sales and your team’s performance each month.

So what’s in it for you?
This is a ground-floor opportunity and the sky is the limit! We are less than 2 years old and have taken the U.S. by storm! We continue to expand into new areas and we are looking for individuals just like you to grow with us. It’s easy and it’s fun!

Vault Denim
Michelle Madison
info@gottahavejeans.com
425.922.7767   
http://www.gottahavejeans.com/

This is probably the number one question that many newbie marketers are asking themselves! There are a few reasons but looking at the main ones that have reared their ugly heads may be of some help and hopefully guidance!

Marketing OnLine – Overwhelm – Here you are – ready to give it your all – ready to commit your time and energy to your new business, whether full-time or part-time – and… suddenly you are in a zoo – a maze – a deep pool of ads and guidelines and websites promising you this is the next best thing out there. The next shiny ball that you absolutely, simply ‘must have’. Widgets, copy-writing skills, traffic sites to give you 1 zillion hits per hour, free leads – at least 1,000 per day (free!!??) and the list goes on. Where do you go and what do you do. You are now in the clutches of one of the ugly sisters – Overwhelm!

Marketing Online means you need to have the experience of those who have gone before and made a success of it. If they did it, then they should know how they did it – makes sense right? So who do you trust? Who should you follow? Is it the highest price for their offers? Is it the biggest website with the brightest colours? Is it the one who sends you 1,000 e-mails every day – they must be great or they wouldn’t do it – right? Wrong!!

Failing At marketing online is down to the fact that you cannot get past this barrage of offers of people and companies who know they know better than you. There is a huge difference between them and you – you are unique – you are your own Unique Selling Point- there is only one of you and thousands of them!

Here is where you start some serious due diligence – you need a mentor – that much is clear – so where do you start? Initially you are looking for integrity – a must in today’s marketplace of so many get rich quick scams. Check out the leaders of the companies you look at – how do you feel about them and their stories? Is their raison d’etre just more money? Do you feel that they might actually care about people? What do they offer? What support is there for the newbie who doesn’t have a huge budget? What is on offer for the business owner who wants to do it differently rather than spending 70 hours a week away from his family? What is on offer for the mom who wants to stay at home with her children? Look at all the levels of what is offered.

Marketing Online – Training – Next step is to look at the training that is offered – are you given a smudged blueprint, charged a monthly fee and told to get on with it? It will be alright – just keep on making the calls, e-mails, blogs, articles etc? If you are – forget it! What you need is what you want – detailed training in the form of webinars covering all the subjects you need such as SEO (including what that means!), how to generate traffic, how to run social media sites and why, how to market yourself, how to brand yourself, how to make videos (gulp!), where to put your content – why is content important, how often, how many etc etc. This is training – somewhere you can ask all the questions you need answered – real people there to hold your hand and give you guidance as to your mistakes and then pat you on the back when you get it right.

Marketing Online – Support Systems – One other area that is so important is what is available for you to use that is already set up. Personally having spent days, hours and weeks trying to set up my own ‘professional’ website I realise that this is an area that I am not professional in at all and no search engine worth their salt is going to find much of what is hidden in its deep and dark pages of my life! Help?? That is why it is important when you are starting out – whether successful business person or newbie – to have systems already in place for you to use.

A sales funnel already set up – you just guide towards it. Sounds simple that statement doesn’t it? Possibly not so simple but with the right training as I have shown it becomes less of a mountain and more of a small hillock! Without a professional sales funnel this is definitely Everest! So, having this done for you – professionally – understanding the wide mouth, the layers, the levels, the pricings, the offers etc is paramount to you.

An amazing offer or product second to none – this is fairly important (!) – seriously if it appeals to you then chances are it will appeal to others – back to your due diligence. It isn’t always the highest price – sometimes it is what is behind the price – the ethos of the founders, their stories, their training levels, their care, their willingness to support everyone. Their genius if you will. Remember – it was this that created their companies in the first place!!

Marketing Online – A Final Summary – The foregoing is an idea of what you should be looking for in your search – it doesn’t matter if you have a lot of money to invest and are looking for a top-tier programme or product or if you are a newbie with a smaller budget – top-tier does not necessarily mean the price – it can mean the training, the commission, the back-end products and the bonus – residual income!

One of the fastest ways to find new customers and partners for your business is to get out of the house and start networking. But to make networking pay off you need to know what to say when the conversation turns to”…. and what do YOU do (for a living)?”

When this question comes up, you have only a small amount of time to communicate who you are and what you do (in order to grab the other person’s attention and generate a positive response).

The Big Mistake – The most common mistake women make when asked “what do you do” is to talk too much about OURSELVES. It’s so easy to launch into a detailed explanation of your company, or share all the interesting facts and science related to your products. (When you have something unique and valuable, it’s hard to not get carried away!)

You may find yourself saying something like “Well…. I’m a wellness consultant with XYZ company and we’ve been in business for 30 years and we have a line of bionic products featuring the latest in nuclear science that keeps anti-aging radicals at bay… (blah blah blah)….”

If you’re like me, and have made this mistake many times – you can pretty much predict how others will respond. They stare blankly (like a deer in headlights), take your business card, make some polite excuse and then wander off. The real crime is that they leave with no real understanding of what you do and, more importantly, what you can DO FOR THEM.

If you really want to grab people’s attention – in a way that’s going to lead to new sales and business for you – you need to focus your conversations on other people (not yourself); the easiest way to do this is with a well crafted “elevator speech.”

You’ve likely heard the term before; if not, an elevator speech is a short, compelling message you share with a prospect during a brief encounter (such as going up a few floors in an elevator) to communicate what you do in a way that will generate some positive interest – and leads to a next step (exchanging your business cards at the very least, or another chance to connect and have a more detailed discussion).

What Should I Say? – The best way to format a compelling “elevator speech” is to keep it simple, and focus as much as possible on “what’s important to the other person” vs talking about yourself. You want to position “what you do” in a way so that other people can easily “get the value” and recognize how your products or business can help them. Here are a few examples you can use to start crafting your own killer elevator speech:

Sample One:

I help ___________________ (your prospect) ________________ (achieve benefit or result you know is important to them).

For Example:

• I help moms to make a great income working from home.
• I help small business owners to boost their monthly income with an extra source of revenue.
• I help baby boomers to feel healthy and have tons of energy.

Sample Two:

A slightly more complex elevator speech focuses on both the IMMEDIATE benefit and LONG TERM benefit of your product/business. The long term benefit captures the overall feeling or experience that the prospect ultimately wants.

I help ________________ (your prospect) to ________________ (get this result/benefit) so they can ________________ (have this experience or feeling, what they REALLY want).

For Example:

• I help moms to make a great income working from home so they can spend more time with their kids during the most important years.
• I help small business owners to boost their monthly income with an extra revenue source so they can retire early and spend more time on the golf course.
• I help baby boomers to be healthy and have tons of energy so they can feel fabulous and really enjoy their retirement years to the fullest.

Sample Three:

Another variation of the elevator speech communicates what people AVOID by using your product/business. Many people will do more to avoid pain than gain pleasure. This approach grabs attention and motivates people to take action.

I help ________________ (your prospect) to _______________ (get this result) so they don’t have to ________________ (feel this pain/or deal with this problem).

For Example:

• I help moms to make a great income working from home so they don’t have to feel guilty about missing out on time with their kids.
• I help small business owners to boost their monthly income so they can sleep better at night, knowing they don’t have to worry about their retirement fund.
• I help baby boomers to feel healthy and have tons of energy so they don’t miss out on the fun retirement years they’ve worked so hard for.

Write It Down  Using the above examples as a guide, write your own elevator speech. Be sure that it:

….Focuses on your PROSPECT (not you)

….Communicates clearly what you can do FOR THEM (results, benefits, experiences, feelings)

….Shows what you help them AVOID (pain, problems, costs, etc.)

….Focuses on WHY (they should use your product or join your business) over WHAT (what’s involved, the details, logistics, etc.).

“Why” connects people to their emotions. It provides them with reasons and motivation to buy your product or take action. “What” focuses on information and logic, such as the features of your product or business. (“What” can be interesting but it won’t motivate people to take action in the same way that “why” does).

Memorize and Use It:  The most important aspect of creating an elevator speech is to MEMORIZE IT.

There’s no point in writing a killer elevator speech if you don’t have it memorized and ready to go. And be sure to practice it-at home, with your kids, on your friends, on your pets (any captive audience will do)

Whether you’re in an elevator, on a play ground, or at a business association meeting, you can use your “elevator speech” to grab people’s attention – and turn a brief meeting into a coffee date or phone call where you’ll have more time to share about your products and business and transform “casual connections” into new customers and business partners.

Sonia Stringer is a professional speaker, coach and popular mentor to women in the network marketing/direct selling profession. Known as “The Women’s Business Coach,” she is fast becoming the “go to expert” for women who want to build a 6-7 figure business from home. Sonia’s unique approach can help you earn a great income AND set up your business so you have more time (to spend with your family or doing what you love). Visit her website and to grab a free copy of her audio CD, “Six Figure Success Secrets for Network Marketing Women”. http://www.SavvyNetworkMarketingWomen.com

We have ALL experienced what you are about to read.  I have not read a truer article in a very long time and I think Julie Anne Jones does an exceptional job explaining to us why it’s so important to “get real” with your direct sales business.