I have had several conversations in the past month with direct sales consultants who have had their emails banned online as spam, so I am providing a quick post on the value of online newsletter providers and specifically MyNewsletterBuilder.com.

If you are sending emails to your team or customers from your home computer, you are running the risk of being marked as a spammer or even black listed.  Home computers are not meant to be used for bulk mailing and normal people don’t bulk mail!

If you work from home and are keeping in touch with your clients, potential recruits or sales team, you need to consider an online service.

There are many!

Pick one that serves your needs properly.  It is important to do your research because it is a pain in the a** to move your list down the road. Below is why I recommend MyNewsletterBuilder as an affordable and user friendly service to those who are new to email marketing online services.

If you choose a different one, make sure the service you select includes the features below.

Affordable Newsletter Service – Direct Sales Business Needs

Direct sales and direct selling professionals have certain special needs that many newsletter services cannot adequately address. Your average retailer, corporation or sales company has one basic contact point for mailings.

A direct sales business needs to be able to address the customers, the potential consultants and their downline consultants simultaneously, and service a vast difference in their needs seamlessly. A direct sales business must have a newsletter service that is capable of growing with them as their sales team and client base grows as well.

MyNewsletterBuilder Loves Direct Sales Professionals

My Newsletter Builder understands how direct sales organizations work.

They have taken special care to serve the needs of direct sellers. Some newsletter services frown on direct sales consultants in general due to the “pyramid” mentality.

Other newsletter services only allow certain product lines to join. My Newsletter Builder recognizes direct sales as a viable business model. They have even put some sales-specific features into their services and welcome all companies and product lines.

Direct Sales Consultants Have Many Categories

Using MyNewsletterBuilder.com, a direct sales consultant can serve multiple lists with little effort.

The back office has the ability to create as many categories of newsletters as you desire. You can have a separate and automatic series of emails going out to your customers with product knowledge and education, to your team with training, and to potential consultants with opportunity updates.

Not only are these categories organized on your back end, they can also be separate opt-in forms and thank you emails for use on your website, blog or social network.

In addition, the entire admin features run very similarly to a WordPress blog, so if you are already blogging, you got it down!

Grow Your Sales Team With Training & Recruiting

Growing your direct sales team is easy using direct sales-specific content that is automatically sent to your downline.

As one of the content corner experts, I provide direct sales training newsletters that give you the ability to provide your team with top-notch training newsletters and weekly tips.

Imagine having some of the CashFlowShow direct sales training content at your fingertips and programmed into your auto series to be delivered to your team on a weekly basis in a newsletter or quick tip.

MyNewsletterBuilder has a wide variety of niche content in the content corner pre-formatted into newsletters to send to your team, recruits or customers so if you are not much of a writer you are all set!

When you maintain a group in your MNB account for possible recruits, it is simple to keep them informed of direct sales incentives that your company is offering or opportunity events. Managing your recruiting leads becomes a no-brainer with MNB.

Grow Your Customer Base

With 100s of content subject areas available, you can surely find content to add value to your customer base.

If you are a company like Mary Kay, Avon, or Jordan Essentials, then MNB offers formatted content for you to send on fashion and cosmetic tips.

If you sell home interior products, then pick out some home design tips for regular mailings to your customer base.

When you bring value to the lives of your customers, they share it with their friends and your customer base grows.

MNB Grows With Your Downline

At MNB they understand the needs of a direct sales organization. Their “Enterprise” account is specifically designed for large organizations. You can push newsletters down to your team from the leadership level or even from the corporate level. When a newsletter is moved down the line, the links are automatically populated with the downline’s website!!

Each consultant’s personal information goes into the newsletter automatically, then it can be forwarded to their team or customers with their own personal website embedded in it!

Visit MyNewsletterBuilder.com and sign up for a FREE 30 day trial to see what it is all about and avoid getting your email address marked as spam!

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It is interesting to me that many consultants who comment on the CashFlowShow direct sales blog do not include a link to their replicated selling website.

The way the internet works and gains power (and network marketing for that matter) is by the connections.

Network Marketing Connections = Success

The more connections you have in network marketing the easier it is to achieve success.

The same is true on the internet.

The internet is the largest network marketing organization in the world.

The more connections you have the easier it is to achieve success.

Business Is Never Easy

No one said it would be easy. Everything good involves effort.

Like your home business offline, it will not happen online by itself either. It takes effort and commitment to achieve business success offline and online.

Connect The Web For Direct Selling

There are hundreds of ways to connect the web for your direct selling business.  Unfortunately, most consultants think it is only about Facebook.

In order to harness the  power of the world wide web you must interconnect your activities online. The more connections you have (read LINKS) the more powerful you will be! There are hundreds of ways to make your web presence more powerful.

• Connect Facebook to your blog and/or replicated site
• Connect Facebook to Twitter
• Twitter to your website
• Comment on this article and put your blog or replicated site in the box where it says: “website”
• Write articles and link to your sales page
• Link from your sales page to Facebook
• Submit guest articles to blogs that accept posts and link somewhere
• Connect your Pinterest account to your website
• Post images that link to your website on Pinterest

I could go on forever but I think you get the point!

Your Direct Selling Online Presence

It takes time and consistency to build an online presence for your direct selling business.

The very fact that you are in direct selling makes it more difficult to make YOUR replicated site show up (it is duplicate content and Google likes unique) but it is not impossible!

It won’t happen by itself though. Just like starting a business…. it is simple to connect the web but it is not that easy or everyone could/would do it!

Connect To YOUR Business Site NOW!

Make a comment below and include your direct selling business website link so that you begin the process of connecting the web!

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A live online Party is not necessarily any easier than a live in-house home party but it can open you up to a wider range of hostesses.

While many of us have attended webinars, online meetings, taken online courses, and are comfortable with the concept of going “online” some have found themselves hesitant to giving an online party a try.

Held completely online using Web Conferencing software, a live online party, like a traditional home party, takes careful planning, hostess coaching and a focused effort.

Hostess Does Not Clean House For Party

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A live party online can be a great alternative for that hostess who doesn’t want to clean her house or has only a limited amount of time.

Think of all the possibilities.  In today’s tough times an online party can result in reaching and helping more people while adding an additional revenue stream to your business.

In-person parties are fun, but can require travel, time, and planning. Wouldn’t it be great if you could sit in your bunny slippers and accomplish the same thing? Everyone is looking for new ways to have fun and be productive, increase their sales, and still provide a valuable service to their clients.

This is not to replace your in-person parties but another offering or service that you provide can be the online party format.

Getting Started With Online Home Business Shows

Offering your products and parties online may seem like a daunting and difficult task but it doesn’t have to be, and it can be a great way to add to your current offerings and make you more money!

These are the steps necessary in getting started in online home parties:

• Online Home Parties Need Web Conferencing:  There are hundreds of them. Some research and investigation is necessary to pick one that matches your technical skills and budget. There are plenty of “free trials” so you do not have to invest before you are committed to continuing online parties. The conference bridge service that I use has a screen sharing service also, which I have never used, but it is FREE!
• Script a line that you may include into your party plan presentation to plant the seed for holding online parties as an alternative service: “I recently started holding Live Online Home Parties too! While they are not as much fun as getting together with friends, they are a great opportunity for getting your favorite products for free or at a discount if you don’t want to clean your house [laugh] or have lots of friends who live on the other side of the world!”
• Make a hostess coaching check list for online meetings: This would be almost the same as a live show. It is important to hostess coach your online meetings as much or more than you would for an in-home party.
• Create an email or technology-based invitation: There are many invitation services you can use if your company does not provide e-invitations.
• Make a registration plan: It is important to have RSVPs that come to you. You want to be able to send out reminders and also links to your website’s online catalog during the show. The easier you make it, the more orders you will get.
• Script your live online home party: This is even more important than in a live meeting. People can easily be distracted when at their own computer.

Script Your Online Party

Your online party, just like your real in-house home party, should be fun, to the point, timely and keep everyone’s attention. I strongly recommend that you set up a power point with your presentation products, games and even a picture of yourself if you are not using a webcam.

Script out your online party and make sure it is less than 45 minutes. Just like a live in-house home party, your guests will not tolerate being bored! It is a lot easier to get up and walk away if they are not in the same room with you, so include all the elements of a live show in your online meeting.

• Testimonials
• Products
• Education
• Bookings & Opportunity Talks
• Fun
• The Wow! Factor
• Guest interaction

Just because they are not in the same room with you does not mean the show will not generate sales. Think about the infomercial and how effective that is for creating desire for a product!

While an online party will never replace the one-on-one connection that a in-person show brings, it can open up a whole new market for you, but don’t expect it to be any easier!

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What Is A QR Code?

A few months back I did not even know what a QR code was and now I am QR code crazy!

A QR code is a code similar to a bar code. The QR stands for quick response. In the East, specifically in Japan they have been using QR codes for over 10 years so in the US we are a bit behind the times.

We all are familiar with the bar code.

A QR code contains information that the creator/owner programs into the code similarly to the way a bar code in the grocery store carries information about the food items.

QR Codes Business Information

When you create a QR code for your business you determine what gets imbedded in it. For example when you scan the CashFlowShow QR code pictured here you will be taken to a web address where you are asked to put in your name and email to get a free recording and e-book.

A URL is one of the most common business uses for a QR code. I scanned one the other day and it took me to the business’s Facebook page and another time I was directed to a YouTube video.  Recently a party plan consultant sent me a catalog and the QR code was on the back next to the contact information and it took me to her online store.

Scan QR Codes With SmartPhone

The world is getting more and more reliant on the SmartPhone. The ease of scanning a QR makes it easier to put contact info into a phone.

This QR which I had made for free at http://qrifier.com/ includes my name, email, phone number and web address.

It is now posted on my about Deb Bixler page for easy scanning on all my websites right next to my contact into.

If someone wants to call me, rather than manually entering my phone number it can be scanned then added as a contact.  Try it!!

How Can Home Party Plan Consultant Use QR?

I think there are a lot of ways that a home party plan consultant can use a QR code.

Please add more ideas on how you might use a QR in the comment section below.

Here are just a few ideas, many of which I have incorporated into my business:

• Put your QR on your catalogs directing scanners to your replicated site.
• Make a nice framed display at your home party that directs them to a newsletter opt-in.
• Make a car window cling – takes the person who scans it to your Facebook page or website.
• Add it to the back of your business card.
• Use it as your Facebook profile picture. Check mine on Facebook.
• Include your QR on all materials, handouts, fliers, envelopes….
• Put an ad in the paper with your QR for a business opportunity video link

Marketing With QR Codes

Before you make your QR think about your marketing goal. The one to the left is the one I put on my car.  The plan is that (hopefully) people will see it and scan it then opt-in to the healthy newsletter and/or learn more information about inviting me to speak to their group.

Start marketing your business with QRs at no charge by creating one online for free using one of the many services or have a fancy branded QR made like the recipe or CashFlowShow one for about $45.

I had mine made by Kristinesque Artistic.

I recommend that you just start watching for things to scan and start scanning to learn more about what other people are doing. Take a few weeks to think about how you could use the QRs for your business.**

Find Party Plan Business With QR

Do you think you will find new party business with QR codes?

I am not sure, but professionals take advantage of every marketing opportunity available to them and this is just one more way to get your business out there.

I can say this….

After only 3 weeks on having my window QR in place I had one phone call and met one person at the market who had surfed through my sites as a result of the code being scanned off my car.

Check out the “Creative Marketing Ideas” pin board to see the window clings and business cards in full color.

**NOTE: You need to have a scanner app in your SmartPhone in order to scan a QR code. Go to your market place. There are 100s. I use i-nigma.

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How Does Square Up Work for Credit Card Processing

Many direct sales companies provide credit card processing and merchant services for their consultants but some require the distributors to provide their own credit card processing in they want to accept credit cards.

Credit Card Sales Increase Business & Sales

In the direct sales business, small business owners can use all the help that they can get. One of the ways to enhance your business services and increase sales is the ability to take credit cards.

It has been shown that when customers put purchase on a credit card they tend to spend more money.  The use of a credit card separates the purchasing pleasure from the pain of payment.

Until now, direct sales business owners had to go through an involved process to get a merchant’s account and procure the proper equipment to be able to take credit cards at an event. But with the new Square Up program, a direct sales business owner can take credit cards at any event in a cost-effective way.

Square UP- Easy Equipment

The best part about the Square Up service is that the equipment needed to take the credit cards is extremely simple to use. The Square Up program offers standard USB interface equipment to be used with a laptop, and it also offers the alternative to use the interface on iPhone, iPad or Android as well.

The convenience of the Smartphone card reader is that you do not need to ask permission to use WiFi connection at your event location. The other advantage is that you can take orders anywhere you can find customers.

Direct Sales Consultants Conduct Business Everywhere – Convenient

Direct sales consultants are known for conducting business everywhere they go. The entire Square Up process is one of the easiest credit card payment methods in the industry and fits in perfectly with the insdustry.

The fee per transaction is only 2.75 percent of the total (1/7/12), and the program accepts all major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. It only takes one swipe and the entire transaction is done.

To get you up and going quickly, the set-up process only takes a few minutes. You can begin accepting credit cards over your laptop or Smartphone within a few minutes of setting up your account.

There is also no guesswork involved when it comes to receiving payments. It only takes one business day for each credit card transaction to be processed. Once the credit card company has approved the transaction, you can expect the payment to show up in your account the next day.

Direct Sales Merchant Services

Applying for an maintaining a conventional merchant account can be expensive. The ability to take credit cards is something that will increase your revenue and expand your customer base.

When you use the Square Up program, you are using one of the simpler methods for accepting credit cards available. The merchant account can be managed online, and the Smartphone capability makes this the ideal solution for any small business owner that has the need to be truly mobile.

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