I want to talk about summer sales. Many sales people and just as many business owners bemoan their annual summer sales slump. Their numbers are down and they just can’t understand it.

It’s as if their whole business is paralyzed because sales dry up or customers are on vacation. In my experience, that’s hogwash. When you take that attitude, you are selling yourself a bill of goods not worth the paper it’s printed on.

There is no need to punish ourselves about this (perceived?) seasonal drop in sales, or slower pace of sales. Instead, it’s important to realize the natural cycles people and businesses go through.

In sales for 15 years, I found July and August were totally different than the rest of the year. Peoples’ heads are somewhere else – they don’t want to be sold anything.

That said, there are a number of things those of us on the vendor side can do to offset this tendency.

1. These seasonal sales slumps are an opportunity to do aggressive marketing – which can range from:

• developing promotional copy ( web, direct mail,newspaper/magazine advertising)
• writing articles for a publication
• pounding the pavement for speaking engagements – small and large, near and far
• researching new niches – use the “extra” time to identify new markets
• visiting potential strategic alliances – build your marketing channels

2. Remember, that a week off always precedes an off week. Don’t beat yourself up about it. You need the time off too.

3. Use this situation most wisely by allocating time during this season to seriously work on both your vision and your 3 year plan. From those two pieces, you can continue on to developing new strategies, promotions, products, services, and offerings.

My attitude is that these summer doldrums create the opportunity to build a new level of momentum in your business. That momentum can set you up for a strong and busy fall schedule.

So if sales and business activity are lighter or quieter right now, take advantage of the time that is freed up to lift your sights to the long term vision you have for your business. Spend some time on the pieces that will get you there.

Kerri Salls, MBA runs a virtual business school to train, consult and coach small business CEO’s and entrepreneurs in 10 key strategies to make more profit in less time. Learn more at http://www.breakthrough-business-school.com/products.html or sign up for a free weekly newsletter at http://www.breakthrough-business-school.com/newsletter.shtml

Are you in a direct sales home business and trying to figure out, like me, how to streamline your systems so that you can spend more of your precious business time working on income generating activities? As a home business owner, what you want is productivity, not activity.

Well, I’m here to tell you that there are some simple steps you can take now to help your business for the long term and an Autoresponder is one of those ways. An autoresponder is actually an online program that takes a prewritten email message or series of messages that you’ve created and sends it out automatically when someone signs up at your landing page or squeeze page.

That sounds a whole lot more complicated than it really is. It’s actually pretty easy, let me give you examples that might work in various aspects of your direct sales business to help you see how easy this really is:

1. Follow Up On Leads And Tracking Do you advertise either online or offline? Now with an autoresponder you can put an email address into your advertisement so when one of your potential customers or prospects emails you to find out more about your company, they are automatically sent your initial packet of information instantly. You can even put a different email address into each ad, making it easy to track which ads are producing results and which are not.

2. Generating Leads – Everybody loves free things. Do you have a coupon or e-book that you can probably give away to potential new customers or recruits? Set it up in your autoresponder and create a web form (all free with most systems) that you can place in your blog or on your website. Then you just add a quick statement like, “Get information and get free gifts, like it?” sending interested prospects to your autoresponder where the gift and the information are sent to them automatically!

3. Motivation With Contests – Set up a series of contest emails for either your customer base or your downline. For instance, have a “scavenger hunt” through your catalog and use the autoresponder system to create the excitement over a series of days.

4. Newsletters For Your Downline – If you’ve built a team of distributors under you, you’ll want to stay in touch with them regularly. Now an autoresponder can do that easily. You can set up a first email with a “Welcome to my team” and then you broadcast your team’s newsletters through the list.

You can also greatly boost your team’s production by helping your new consultants get off to a great start in their new business with a series of email training messages geared toward those days when they are waiting for their products to be delivered to their home. Enthusiasm during the first days are really important.

And also it can be used to solve general problems, is there a specific area or problem in your direct sales business that seems to have all the members asking the same question on that specific problem? Set up another series of emails specifically for that problem’s topic and set up your team members there as the questions come in.

5. Newsletters For Your Customers – You can also stay in contact with your customers by using an autoresponder email series just like you do with your downline. Make an automated welcome message is way better than no welcome message at all.

6. Leadership Communication – As your direct sales business grows, you’ll need to have leaders on your team. You can to things like setting up a series of emails congratulating them on their promotion, success and encouraging them in their new role as leader. Many people in direct sales have no idea what it means to lead a team of their own because they have the habit of being led all the time and you can set up a system to get them trained, mentored, and equipped as well and have it work for you continually while you’re doing your things, it’s completely automated.

I’m guessing that most of you, unless you’re brand new to direct sales or a home business, already have much of the information for many of the above idea. With an autoresponder, it’s just a matter of action that uses the information to the system where it can work for you, even when you’re off doing other things. You should really give it a try and almost all autoresponders have a free trial offer so you can check out how they will greatly boost your business before you decide to do it.

Tantawi Sagara is a leader in Internet Marketing and Social Media, offering a chance to people interested in changing their life and learn directly from a leader, read HisStory on his blog, and get more tips on http://freeforyoutosearch.com

One of the great stumbling blocks that people face when trying to achieve success with their business, or any life endeavor for that matter, is creating a vision, and then turning that vision into reality.

People too often think that a lofty wish of where they want to be “someday” (even if it’s “someday soon”) is enough to take them there. But first of all anything lofty is not really a vision at all, and second, the getting there part won’t happen unless it’s a planned out and detailed plan of action.

Those that have seen the greatest success in this world have been those that were great visionaries who painted detailed pictures of what they wanted their lives, careers, and businesses too look like down to the most particular details.

But it doesn’t stop there. Unfortunately a visionary mind without a plan of action to get to that vision is simply a dreamer. Dreamers do just that – they continue to dream and dream while visionary minded people who set in place a detailed and written plan of action actually end up achieving their goals.

So which are you? Are you a dreamer or are you a visionary. Do you have your vision written down and detailed, spelling out exactly how you’re going to get there?

If not then now is the time to start. 2010 could easily be the best year of your life if you’ll turn this one little part of your life completely around.

There are many obvious examples of great visionary achievers and leaders in the business world that we’ve all heard of. Bill Gates envisioned a computer that was easy for anyone to use, and he set out to make this dream come true working endlessly in his garage, even quitting school to do so.

Others that come to mind in the business world are Sam Walton, Donald Trump, J.C. Penny, Steve Jobs, Rupert Murdoch, and the list goes on.

Other great visionaries like Christopher Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and the Great Founders of the United States of America were people who had a vision, and enlisted a plan to create their visions and make them come true.

But that may be a little beyond your scope of imagination to think in such grandiose ways. For you I say that each and everyday there is a small business owner that nobody has ever heard of who is closing the gap on his goals, and working feverishly toward the vision that he has created in his or her mind.

There are home business entrepreneurs… and of course network marketers who are doing the very same with their lives.

It takes imagination and hope to create a vision, and then it takes great courage and fortitude to take that vision from idea to ink and paper, and then carry out the steps that it takes to get there.

Very few of the people who read this will actually do this and succeed. It’s up to you which side of that fence that you want to be on.

David L. Feinstein, noted business coach and home business entrepreneur, is the author of various articles and books that help to empower individuals to excellence. He has become a success coach and mentor to many thousands of people who are looking for a better lifestyle and desire to achieve success. http://www.BuildingDynamicFutures.com

I wish I had more time.

How often have you said that to someone?

Some say that time is much more important than wealth. Most effective people think so and top business leaders mention this in interviews and biographies. They know how to get more time in a day, and they have mastered the art of utilizing time effectively to do more productive things that contribute to their advancement or success. So how do they do it? What is different about their time management and ours?

We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Some people do seem to have more time than others, but no one gets it any differently. So what is the difference? What can we do to become like them? Don’t you deserve to find the time to get things done, have time for your family and enjoy the freedom you desire? Time management is about you being in control of your time instead of letting it control you.

Anyone with a dust-covered day planner on the shelf, or a PDA with nothing entered in the calendar knows that the concept of “time management” can seem like a hollow promise. The harder we try to get a handle on those passing minutes, the more minutes that seem to pass by. Perhaps it is time for you to look at your paradigm of time management. Are you really in control?

The less time you think you have, the more critical it is for you to plan. You might say that you’re so busy you don’t even have time to plan. If this is you, then you know where you need to change. If you want to enjoy the harvest, so you must plant. Can you imagine a farmer that doesn’t put out any seed and then expects a bountiful crop? The planning phase is very important in organizing your thoughts to carry out the desired effects.

Your plan will be your road map for time management. Spend enough time to ponder through the different approaches and activities. Stephen Covey, in his new book The 8th Habit, explains an excellent metaphor of “big rocks.” Your important tasks are the “big rocks” and all the other things are like “sand.” If you let the sand fill up your day, you will not be able to fit in the big rocks, but if you instead schedule in the big rocks, you’ll have room for the sand as it easily fits in between the big rocks.

Know what your big rocks are. The key to effective time management is to honestly manage all of the things which need you. Is spending time with your family important to you? Then it is a big rock and should be in your schedule.

Time management skills require practice and balance. If you only apply time management to work, you will still have the feeling you lack control outside of work. Effective time management is about striving to be effective and honest with yourself when things don’t work the way you planned. It is through this adaptive learning process that we can achieve freedom and balance in life.

Dave Saunders is a professional lecturer, and successful entrepreneur. He enjoys creating interconnections through his writings and lectures to help others create context and see new discoveries and technologies in more a practical light. You can find more time management tips at www.endless abundance.net.

We all have gotten into the MLM Business or Small Business Ownership for a variety of reasons, some stronger than others but no doubt as important. We have started out with a hope for the future and an excitement that we are finally in control of our lives. The work of keeping focused, finding products and pinpointing our marketing can all be a welcomed challenge in the beginning.

I know, without uncertainty, that we can very distinctly describe that very day that we made the final decision to become a business owner. It was the turning point of our personal and business life. Everything was going to be GREAT !!!!! Things were going to begin to look up again.

We then begin our new journey and after awhile our focus begins to fade, we begin to struggle with our own thoughts because things don’t seem to be changing as quickly as we had hoped. The work and the new concepts can become a bit overwhelming; we are beginning to wonder if we made the right decision.

The fist step is to know and to settle inside yourself…that if you’re going to find the seeds of greatness that are inside of you, you need to be the best that you can be right where you are starting. Give yourself the time to learn and grow as a new business owner. You will have to be willing to take on risks and to step out in faith.

A dream is something on the inside of you that doesn’t go away with time, and if this something keeps recurring and coming up in your mind then you have to at some point or another acknowledge it and say that your going to step out and do something about it and follow your heart.

Following Our Dream… Of Owning Our Own Business really has a lot to do with Freedom and Control. Freedom and Control over your own Life and our own Time. We all know that our Time is our most valuable asset.

But seeing the final product of our dream when we are just starting out can seem like a life long journey. And really it is… But it is a journey that is well worth the trip. You will become a better person, a more focused business owner and much more confident.

So where to begin…well first believe that your dream and your goals do have value. And that you do have what it takes to get the job done. This dream in you, this company that you own, this MLM opportunity that you invested in is not just a coincident or a matter of luck. You do have something to offer the world around you…you are a vital part…you do make a difference in peoples lives… and people need you…so stay focused on your WHY.

Entrepreneurs have an ability within themselves, a knowing that they can accomplish anything that they put their minds too. Most people in society have a settling mindset; they accept what life deals out to them and feel like they have no control over it. Entrepreneurs on the other hand, have an ability to see the obstacle in front of them as an Opportunity to accomplish something great. This is a Major Life-Changing Mindset.

We all face problems and obstacles in this journey called life. How we deal with them will distinguish us between the winners and the losers. We have the choice… we can become Better or we can become Bitter. The choice is ours.

Another aspect that I feel is very important in the business world is the ability to fight off the Negative Thoughts that run ramped in our mind. This is not something that can be won overnight. I feel like it can be a life long process with some and others it will be a bit easier. We have all met people that either sees the cup half full or half empty. Most people will fall into one or the other category. But we all deal with these thoughts from time to time… we cant do this…we are going to fail…why try it wont work out anyways…why you…you have nothing of value to offer…who would want to listen to you…the list can go on and on.

There are many book about this subject and if you deal with this more than you feel is right or you want to better yourself, I would suggest that you search them out.

We all have a Right and the Opportunities right in front of us…lets take charge and keep the right mindset to be the successful business owners, don’t give up and give in…Fight For What You Want In Life and For Your Dreams…Its been said….If it’s going to be…It’s up to me. Make it a great ride.

To Your Success My Friend
Donna
Donna@DonnaRios.com
DonnaRios.com

There may be a number of misconceptions that you or your family have when considering working from home.   Most of these misconceptions are a result of unscrupulous marketers, trying to make a swift fortune at your expense. The reality of an at home business is that you are not going to get rich quick.  Especially if you plan on doing no work.

“Make a full time wage in an hour a day!”, or “I made my first million inside of six months!”. These are the kinds of outlandish claims that may draw in some people to work at home scams, costing them money that they cannot afford to lose. What is worse, they lead people to believe that working from home is some kind of get rich quick scheme that requires little to no effort. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

The great thing about starting a direct sales business is that there is, in most cases, a very low start up cost and you have an upline sponsor that is there to help coach, motivate and guide you through the early stages.

Please understand that direct sales does take time, energy and a passion for your business.  If you have these three things plus the understanding that your business will take up some of your time you are well on your way to becoming a very successful direct sales business owner.

Jessica Morgan
Sales MOMS Direct Sales Network Founder