There are many ways to make money with a home party plan business. Spending gas money to go to multiple parties can be avoided. Online parties are a great way to save time and earn more money. Many consultants are hesitant to plan multiple parties due to the time constraints and commute involved. Here are some tips on holding an online party.

Party Plan Online Works – Many home party consultants are looking for flexible options in their direct sales careers. Working has been redefined with the invention of the internet. Having home internet access brings customers to any computer with online capabilities. Online parties are an easy way to have multiple opportunities to make consistent sales without leaving home.

An online party starts in much the same way as traditional parties that take place in someone’s home. Coaching the hostess to plan the party properly is important. Instead of sending out handwritten or printed invitations, invitations are sent by email. Reminder emails are sent 24 hours prior to the start of the party.
Live web conferences are a great tool to allow visitors to clearly see and hear the presentation. There are affordable web conference services available at less than $20 per month. If the current budget is low, consider having the online party with free online chat and voice services.

Check the webcam or laptop camera before the party starts. Always acknowledge all guests that are in attendance. Try to act naturally when doing the party online. Remember to ask for orders clearly and do not hesitate to ask for an upsell. This could be by purchasing an additional item at a discount if a certain dollar amount purchase is made. Ask each person in attendance if they would like to host a party. Briefly mention the benefits of being a hostess. Follow up with all party attendees to ensure they received their merchandise. Emails that are collected can be used in the future for marketing purposes.

Expanding a home party plan business always involves marketing by doing something new. Completing sales opportunities online is a great way to hold parties around the world, and branch out beyond the local community.

Consultants who use every opportunity to available to them to market their business using creative party plan techniques will have a consistent income from home. For More Information visit: www.CreateACashFlowShow.com

The holiday selling season can be the busiest for direct sales professionals. It can also be difficult to pin down a date with potential hosts. Your hosts may complain that everyone is travelling, or that it’s too difficult to get everyone in the same place at the same time to host a party.

One possible solution: hosting an online holiday shopping party.

Online parties are similar to offline parties, in that there’s a host, a presenting consultant, and guests. Beyond that, though, online parties can be very different – and maybe even a little complicated for a host or even a direct sales consultant to figure out. They can also be an incredibly lucrative source of additional sales from a party, so it is worth your time to learn more about online parties.

Here are a few tips for understanding and using online parties during the holidays:

1. Online parties still require a “location”. Chat rooms, webinar, and video streaming sites abound. Use a reliable provider as a central location to bring all your guests to one “location” for hosting the presentation. Prepare any slides, pictures or video content in advance of the party and test your equipment to make sure everything is functional before your event. Chat rooms are basic, text-based, and the most popular style of online party. Webinars and video are quickly gaining popularity because people can talk with and sometimes see each other, which helps in the rapport building process.

2. Understand the similarities. Like an offline party, your online party should have a start and end time, as well as an order of events. Begin with a welcome and introduction, just like you would an offline party. Before you end the party, be sure to plant your booking and recruiting seeds, and close with a strong call to action for placing online orders.

3. Understand the differences. Online parties will require multiple reminders – especially if they’re sent via email or social media. The good news is that you can use social media to attract impulse buyers to the party that may not have been part of the original invitation list. Another difference is that you can’t demo your products the same way you would at an offline event. It becomes even more important that you “romance” your products. I use that term to describe speaking about your products in a way that creates desire. Make sure any images you use in your presentation are very crisp and clear. There’s no point using an image so blurry or small that your clients can’t see it.

4. Follow-up is critical. The “know, like, and trust factor” of an online party is not as high as an in-person, offline event. As such, it’s even more important to follow-up after the party ends. Everyone that places an online order needs an immediate acknowledgement, and it’s important to contact everyone and thank them for participating in the event. The follow-up goes a long way to reassuring technologically fearful clients that they’ve made a great decision in doing business with you.

5. Book early and ship out on time. Be sure to host online parties in plenty of time to have products shipped out before the holidays. There’s nothing worse than using technology to close your show and then have to apologize when product isn’t delivered on time. If you don’t plan to close the party the day of the show, be sure to let clients know when to expect delivery of their products.

The next time a host complains that everyone is travelling, consider an online party. Understanding the basics to running your own online shopping party will help you not just during the holidays, but throughout the year. These basic tips take the guesswork out of navigating your next (or first) online party.

Lisa Robbin Young offers direct sales coaching and training to direct sales professionals looking to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com.

We know once you have a room full of guests at your online party, getting them to play games is the easy part. While hunting for answers to your game, a guest has the chance to see some products they simply cannot do without, thus making you sales!

We also know from experience that getting the visitors to the party in the first place is like pulling teeth. We have given some ideas to increase your party and really being able to talk with your future customers in a chat room is the best. However, for those that you’ll never see in the chat room here is a way to increase some party-like sales without having to hold an actual party.

After you build your list of potential customers (and if you don’t have one – stop right here and do that FIRST. YOUR list of potential customers is your most valuable asset in business!), play a game with them via email. Announce on a Monday or even Friday (and you can test which days get the best responses) the start of a contest by email. Focus on a specific type of products like you would at your party, and set up some type of questions that can be emailed to you. Be sure to cover some good points about your products in a casual way (you know your subscribers want to get down to the contest part of this, so don’t overload them with ads!). You can set this up in any way you wish really, just as long as it’s something interactive you can do with them.

At the end of the week, send out another email with the answers (this might grab a few that didn’t participate before, or maybe got stumped and you never got an entry from). Give the details again of the products, which the answers were related to, and also be sure to announce the winner. You can possibly even give a special incentive to buy the products you featured in the contest, since many of your subscribers have been eyeing these products all week – a special might just give them the extra push to buy.

You can do variations of this, such as having weekly-featured products and instead of giving away prizes each week having a monthly drawing where those that win the weekly contests are entered in. Just as long as you are doing something other than just “weekly sales” you will stand out of the crowd and increase your sales!

Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank, owners of DirectSalesHelpers.com strive to help women succeed in direct sales. For additional help with your direct sales business, visit http://www.directsaleshelpers.com/newsletter.html

We have a few vendor spots still available.  Please visit our website at: http://www.directsalesparty.com/VendorSignUpPayment.html to sign up today.

After Labor Day Party
Thursday, September 9th
9pm – 11pm Eastern Standard Time

t’s An Autumn Online Party!
Tuesday, September 21st
9pm – 11pm Eastern Standard Time

Business Opportunity Online Party
Thursday, September 30th
9pm – 11pm Eastern Standard Time

Direct Sales Party has exciting online parties scheduled through April!  Please visit our website at

http://www.directsalesparty.com/OnlineEventRoomDirectSalesParty.html 

to register as a guest!  It’s ALWAYS FREE to attend as a guest and our vendors are always sharing EXCEPTIONAL deals.  We hope you will join us.

Intimate Expressions Romance Party
Sunday, March 21st
Online Party Times

• 12:30 pm EST
• 7:30 pm EST
•  9:00 pm EST

Business Opportunity Online Party
Tuesday, March 30th
8pm – 10pm EST

• Zamzuu
• AtHome America
• Simply Said
• Earth’s Elements

Spring Into Spring Online Party
Tuesday, April 13th
8pm – 10pm EST

• DOVE Chocolate Discoveries
• Scentsy
• Mary Kay
• Simply Said

Earth Day Online Party
Thursday , April 22nd
8pm – 10pm EST

• Partylite
• Southern Living at Home
• Scentsy Wickless Candles
• Simply Said

Business Opportunity Online Party
Tuesday, April 27th
8pm – 10pm EST

• Scentsy
• DOVE Chocolate Discoveries
• Southern Living at Home
• Simply Said

Since the 1950s, people have been working at home with direct sales or “party plans”. Avon, Mary Kay and Tupperware have been selling in this way for the past 50 years, with agents going door to door or having product parties in their homes. There are still jobs like this today but also the option to use the internet to boost sales and offers an alternative way of working, especially people who have children to look after or who are disabled.

Direct sales literally means one person selling to another. The seller becomes a consultant or representative for the company and will sell the company’s products for commission. The seller will have access to training resources and support but will also be an independent business owner.

If you do not want to work the traditional party plan method, you can opt to work online instead since literally millions of people have internet access and you might be selling what they are looking for. A lot of companies provide websites which you pay a monthly fee for. Customers can find you by looking through the main page and placing orders on the website.

Some companies allow their consultants to advertise their business through email, on their signature line in forums or by purchasing advertising space on other people’s websites. You can gain new recruits by doing this or sell your products. Some companies however ban online advertising, so check their policy before you sign up, if you prefer to advertise this way. It is free to use a signature line but the price of advertising does vary. It is a good idea to experiment with advertising what works and what does not before ploughing a lot of money into it.

You can actually have a “virtual party” now in a web conference room instead of someone’s living room, thanks to technology
. The hostess gets a link to the room and she emails the guests. Then you can upload pictures of what you are selling and give a presentation using the microphone on your computer. The guests listen through their speakers so make sure you sound positive and full of energy.

You could choose to play games and give the winners prizes. If the guests have questions, they can type them to you. the online guests might be able to order products online or they might have to send payment and an order form, depending on the company’s policies.

There are thousands of direct sales companies around today. They offer everything from pet food, craft supplies and clothing to gourmet ingredients. You might want to check out a few direct sales companies offering products which interest you, if you fancy trying your hand at this way of selling.

You should compare the companies before signing up with one. Ask them questions. It is important to find one you can be passionate about because it is difficult to sell something that you aren’t interested in. If you believe in the company and its products, the enthusiasm will come across in your voice when you make presentations. The more you can sell, the more money you can make.