Dallas, Texas-based Mary Kay announced that the company is setting a goal of 1 million hours of community service in honor of International Women’s Day, which was commemorated on March 8.

The Mary Kay Global Month of Service will enlist company employees, consultants and friends in 35 countries to assist those in need around the globe, including victims of domestic violence, orphans, the elderly and disadvantaged children. The program will run from March 8 through April 8.

“At Mary Kay, giving back and having a positive impact in our local communities is part of our organization’s DNA,” said Sheryl Adkins-Green, Executive Vice President of Mary Kay. “We call it ‘Go-Give’ spirit, and we’re proud to continue our legacy of giving through the Mary Kay Global Month of Service.”

To read the full article, click here.

For more information on the Mary Kay Global Month of Service, click here.

You are a home-based business owner in the Direct Sales industry. The commission on your sales is 50%. So, when you sell $1000 worth of products, you should have $500 in profit. Right? Wrong! As a business owner you have other expenses.

First, I advise you to track every business (Mary Kay, Lia Sophia, Thirty-One Gifts, etc.) expense. Only through consistent and complete tracking can you figure out where all the money is going. When you are tracking expenses, be sure to includes postage and shipping, sales aides, presentation supplies (cotton balls, pens, candy, etc.), hostess gifts, meals at Conference, registration for professional development, discounts given, gas, mileage, internet fees, etc.

Then, use a discerning eye on all your expenses. What are the categories where you can cut back? Could you utilize email or phone calls instead of mail? Or, cut down on postage/shipping by keeping full inventory and placing larger orders once a month instead of small orders every few weeks or days. Another expense to examine is sales aides. How many do you really need? For example, many times it is more cost-effective to demo from full size products than from samples. Hostess gifts – use the free products you receive from the company instead of using something in your inventory. With some focused thought, you can come up with a few ways to cut back on your expenses.

Another way consultants lose money is by discounting products. Each time you run a sale, you reduce your profit and you perpetuate the idea that your product is not worth full price. You are selling a great product; your customers love the product – why discount?

Finally, the more you sell the more money you will make. I know this concept makes sense in theory, but often we aren’t sure how to apply it to our everyday business practice. You will spend the same amount of money in samples and demo products for 1 person or for 30 people. The shipping cost for an order from the company is the same whether you order $100, $200, $600, or $1800. The more people you see, the more income you will earn. But, just as importantly, your expenses will not increase dramatically. That is where you start to see the real profit.

Tracking all your expenses and then problem solving ways to reduce those expenses will help you increase your overall profit. Which is why you are in business!

Lisa Crilley Mallis the owner of SystemSavvy Consulting and the creator of the College Success Initiative. She has assisted many students, solopreneurs, and busy moms, increase productivity and decrease clutter. Visit http://www.SystemSavvyConsulting.com for more helpful tips for direct sales professionals.

Many people are looking for ways to make money from home. One popular home based business model is Direct Sales. Sometimes called party plans, direct sales companies include businesses like Avon, Mary Kay, Tupperware, and Ameriplan.

Direct Sales and Party Plan Companies are also called network marketing companies. They focus not only on selling products or services, but also recruiting other salespeople into the company. These type of home based businesses are best for people with outgoing personalities who enjoy hosting parties, inviting people to events, and talking to strangers. If you decide to sell products or services for one of these companies you will usually be an independent sales representative or independent contractor, NOT an employee. You most likely will be paid commissions when you sell a product, or when someone you recruit or sponsor into the business, sells a product. If you don’t make any sales, you won’t make any money.

There are usually costs associated with doing business, and one must consider these costs prior to joining the business. There may be monthly fees to pay, which may cover your company website or national marketing campaigns. There may also be costs associated with the products you sell. The independent consultant may be required to buy the products first at a wholesale rate, then resell the product to customers at retail price, thus keeping their profit. Other companies may NOT require the independent sale representative to carry the inventory, but rather the items are drop shipped directly to the consumer. Customers may be able to order products from a company website or only from the independent representative. The independent sales rep may need to pay to marketing materials, products, samples, training courses and monthly fees.

Before joining any company, find out the actual costs that are mandatory, like a required monthly fee. Then try to get an estimate of variable costs, like advertising expenses, from an independent rep already in the business. You may also want to talk to people who have “failed” or “quit” this business. They may give you a more accurate description of the costs involved. Calculate how many products you would need to sell per month in order to just break even after your expenses are paid. If this number feasible? How many hours or parties will you need to host to meet this minimum amount of sales? Will you have additional income from the sale of products from a company website or do all product sales come from in person transactions? These are all things to consider when deciding to start a home business in direct selling or party plan type companies.

Before joining any company as a sales representative, make sure to check out their credentials with the Direct Selling Association at www.dsa.org. Also make sure to read the Better Business Bureau report on their company.

About the author:
I specialize in small business internet marketing, giving small businesses a website presence. My featured marketing project is for Blue Cactus Pool Service – Phoenix Arizona. Blue Cactus Pool Service LLC provides Phoenix Pool Cleaning, Phoenix Pool Repair, and pool maintenance services in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Anthem Arizona.

Enjoy a fun filled day of shopping and networking at the Spring Stop and Shop!

Saturday, April 30 · 8:00am – 5:00pm
at the Ramada Inn on Church St., Murfreesboro, TN

Your chance to win prizes, get great shopping discounts and find local small businesses.

Booths include:

• Perfect Expressions
• Premier Jewelry
• Mia Bella Candles
• Personalized Creations
• Pure Romance
• Mobile medical Scrubs
• Personalize Me Hair Care
• Body Wraps
• Midway Diner
• Thirty-One
• Tupperware
• Avon
• Arbonne International
• Gold Canyon Candles
• Mary Kay
• I Dream of Bows
• Simply Said
• Pampered Chef
• Li bri Cosmetics
• Scentsy
• and more!

One of the Deadliest Mistakes many direct sales consultants and home party business owners make in their business is lack of follow-up! This deadly mistake is tied to misconception that you are not selling, you are just sharing! Direct Sales is the business. Direct Selling, with they key word being selling is the name of the game. Home parties is the avenue by which these sales are made.

A number days ago I received a call from a prospective client who had been prospected into a travel business while at the grocery store. Intrigued by the concept and spurred on by her love for travel she quickly enrolled. She did the usual 48 hour follow up with her upline where they 3-wayed a number of people. After a few hours of this they parted ways. Her uplines admonition was to enroll at least 1000 people per year, because come December 31st, of the 1000 she enrolled, only 300 will survive.

When you consider that you lose 10% of your influence every month that you are not in contact with your clients, this is valuable advice indeed!

Renegade Coach – One of the Deadliest Mistakes many direct sales consultants and home party business owners make in their business is lack of follow-up! This is definitely a direct sales best practices to make direct sales effort successful. This deadly mistake is tied to misconception that you are not selling, you are just sharing! Direct Sales is the business. Direct Selling, with they key word being selling is the name of the game. Home parties is the avenue by which these sales are made.

You have all heard this one before, The fortune is in the Follow – Up! I have a good friend, involved in Mary Kay, a formidable direct selling company. She has been driving a Pink Cadillac longer than I care to remember. But this article is certainly not about Pink Cadillacs, plush velvet seats and cruising down the streets on a Saturday night! What is impressive about this soon to be National sales director is how loyal her customers are to her and her direct sales business. Get this, she has a 90% retention rate going on 21 years!

Want to know the secret to her success? I bet you do! Its’ called follow up and follow through! It is called validation, it is called appreciation! And boy is she good at it! Kudos Nancy Sutherland!

According to Dun and Bradstreet, the single, most important reason for the failure of businesses in America is lack of sales. And, of course, this refers to resales as well as initial sales. So your job as a direct sales consultant is to create and keep a customer.

No matter how massive or how limitted your marketing budget, (By The Way this is a another deadly home party business mistake, not having a marketing budget) you cannot afford to be without this powerful, inexpensive, relationship building tool. We shall call it a thank you letter and/or thank-you card!

Writing thank you cards and noted need not be an overdrawn process. Thank-you it is said, is the mark of an educated individual.

For the price of a stamp, a card and well written let’s say 25-50 words you stand to make a killing!

Sending business thank you notes is an efficient, inexpensive way to:

1). Turn one-time buyers into loyal lifetime customers. It is also a great way to shorten the intervals between purchases! If you struggle to find thank you messages to write in cards just hop onto the internet, you will find may a template!

2). Business thank you cards or letters will increase your customer referrals. Every bit of business referred costs you nothing in advertising or sales commissions. Now how is that for increasing sales by 50% without increasing your marketing budget?

Direct Sales Marketing Success Tip: When you receive referrals, be sure to send a thank you note as well as a gift! What a lovely way to say thank you and evern better promote your home party company products. Just make the gift appropriate to the recipient.

3). For direct sales business, we all know that the summer months tend to be the slowest. Think of your thank you notes and cards as off season marketing. Hallmark, the card company implemented one such method with outstanding results. They sent out some coupons with their thank you and boy they had some of the highest grossing sales in the months of June, July and August and get this for Christmas stuff!

4) Seth Godin, well known author and uber marketer says “ideas that spread, win!” How true. Sending a card or a note is so unconventional you are bound to create a buzz. Now this is what we call word of mouth. Direct Mail messages consistently beat all other marketing avenues. Why? Because direct mail pieces have a long shelf life. I may not act upon it now, but how many of you have kept cards and advertorials with the intention of getting to it only to forget. Then one day you are pleasantly surprised to find it and act upon it immediately? Get the edge over your competition and keep your name in front of decision makers eyes and records.

As Mark Sanborn asserts “The ultimate objective of a business is profit. The primary purpose of a business is to create customers. Profitability without customers is an impossibility. Remember too that your business is about R.O.I

Relationships,
Outcomes and
Improvements

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ENSURE UNINTERRUPTED HOME PARTY BUSINESS GROWTH AND PROFITS?

I am Party Plan Pat author of The Little Black Book Of Home Party Plans Success Secrets. I was once a struggling home party consultant. I started in the Home Party Plan Industry with zero skills. I did what most other people do, jump from company to company. I kept experiencing failure & I blamed everyone except me. It wasn’t the company,the compensation plan & people didn’t suck. It was me!

Get Your FREE Copy of 10 Deadly Direct Sales And Home Party Business Mistakes Today!

Mary Kay and Avon got the ball rolling. They broke hallowed ground in the business world where only men had previously tread. What exactly is meant by ‘direct sales’? Why is it a strong venture possibility? Why now? This article will ‘break it down’ for you.

Direct sales means earning a percentage commission from selling directly to an end user. There is no ‘middle-person’ as when a manufacturer sells to a local merchant who then retails the goods in their store to the end user.

There are major benefits to direct sales for women:

1) Work from home: Business costs associated with your home office become tax deductions. Gas money is no longer a consideration. You can work while your children are napping. Personal satisfaction can be obtained from helping others succeed at the same time you do.

With a laptop computer, your business can be portable. Take it to the sidelines of your child’s soccer practice.

2) Scheduling: Your schedule is divined by your priorities, not dictated by someone else–huge! You can determine how many hours you want to work per week. You can work late at night, after traditional business hours or on weekends if you choose to.

3) Earning potential: The sky is the limit! It is your efforts, your creativity and your dedication that fuel your success. Presently, direct sales exceed $29 billion in the U.S. and $114 billion globally (Source: Direct Selling Association, 2010). Not small change.

4) The Internet: In addition, many, but not all, of these businesses have no inventory requirement. Online ordering expedites direct mailing.

The internet also mitigates some of the negatives that have kept women from pursuing this kind of venture in the past. Many women do not want to approach friends for anything other than pure, old fashioned socializing.

The thought of using friends for referral business in unacceptable to these women. The thought of home parties with a sales agenda is even worse.

Through various online marketing techniques, all of these drawbacks can be curtailed and even eliminated. All contact is made from home.

Communication skills, particularly the written word, are still necessary. This is not an automatic business. It is still powered by human brains, creativity and drive.

The ability to converse intelligently on the phone is needed as well. Not galling issues for adults who do these things daily.

The internet has exploded marketing businesses from home. Put the old negatives on the shelf. Do your research and find a coach who will guide you in duplicating what is tried and has proved successful.  The time has never been more ripe for women to pursue direct selling opportunities. If not now, when?

To find out more about exciting direct selling opportunities for women, hurry to http://www.maestromom.com 
To check out a mom who works from home and loves it, please also visit http://www.maestrocasa.com