Marketing yourself as a Leader

To keep active within a company there may be guidelines or minimums you are expected to meet. Besides sales, a lot of companies believe a Leader should be able to recruit a minimum of 3 new recruits a year. This can be very challenging for some Leaders. When you are new and you have 1 or 2 Consultants then meeting those minimums can be very difficult. The fastest way to get more bookings/sales or more recruits is having a web presence, an email opt-in list plus numerous other ways. Here are some ideas to finding those numbers but remember it is more than numbers. It is about forming relationships and meeting needs.

- Marketing You - when it comes to finding an audience it has to start with you. If you are a fun, out going and easy going person then more people will be open to talking and listening to you. This does not have to mean changing who you are but more about learning what impressions you are giving other people. You can start by rehearsing your pitch in front of the mirror. Remember that your pitch is important too (see other postings about this). Also talk to friends and other Consultants about what your clothes or personal style are saying about you too.
- Video promotions - the fastest way these days to find an audience is by promoting yourself through a video. Now the video is not suppose to be about you but rather it should be about the service you provide, what you are looking for. Example: recruiting - demo how easy it is to be a Consultant and how much money you can make. I will say that in doing GOOD videos there is an entire learning curve that goes with it. You may have to purchase/download editing software or audio content software, etc. There are tons of "How to" places where you can post your video as well as "You Tube".
- Social Networking - Places like Facebook can really help you find people, post ads, reach an audience that you may not already have. Create a Facebook business page like "Susan's Partylite Parade" or "Nancy's Tupperware Tribute" - you want to make it stand out and personal to compete with other reps who may have a page on Facebook.
- Opt-In Email Marketing - You should create a list that people can opt-in or join. With privacy rules changing all the time it is best that you have a signature from the people who choose to be on your email list. I believe you should be in contact with these people on a monthly basis. I highly recommend Networking Gals newsletter as a non-selling way to stay in touch with your email list. Having an opt-in email list is a little like having a piece of gold - valuable enough to sell.
- Webinars & Promo Companies - These two categories are both good ideas to get involved in once you have a team and some spare change. They do cost money but can really help you find an audience which in turn gets your message out to more people.
- Blogging - I think that blogging is a great way to communicate without selling or forcing something down peoples throats. It is a great way to talk about your experiences as a Consultant or Leader or Party Plan rep. People like to hear about others experience and you may even find that other Consultants want to hear what you have to say. Share your blog with family/friends but also on Facebook and to your email list.

Without a doubt Leadership is challenging in the beginning but I always say that it is worth every second of it. I loved my time with my Consultants and I learned and grew as a Leader over the course of time. Our world is changing so quickly these days and trying to stay on the pulse of everything is huge. The ideas I shared here are just some but there are many different ways to market yourself. I would love to hear what you do to stay active in the market and how you market yourself! Remember......

                                        Life is too short..................so go out and Party!!!

Spring into Business

One of the hardest jobs of a Leader is keeping your team focused on getting bookings,sales and recruits. The spring is the perfect time to shake things up. You will want to plan some of these ideas around the time your company's spring book/catalogue has come out. First off I highly recommend that you as a Leader offer a couple of small competitions. Such as:

- booking blitz - get your team gathered around a couple of phones and inspire them. They should bring some customer numbers (their Networking Gals "Customer care filer" or " Hostess trackers")

- booking round robin - each take turns phoning customers to try to book them. Great tool to teach open and closing methods.

- Spring Board 2012 - you can do a Spring Board (see Networking Gals "Spring Boards" presentation) as well as each team member can do them. You may want to have a night where everyone brings some supplies and each make one to take home. Your "Spring Board" should include promotions on each day of the month. When Consultant's do show you input their name and total sales into each date. The person who sold the most for that day can win a prize or the person who had the most shows that month can win a bigger prize from you.

Here is what you should be getting your team to consider doing. Remember that in order to keep doing shows as far into summer that you must fill March and April with bookings. Then, May will carry on from the previous bookings and June from May's bookings. Beyond that you will have to be very creative or make sure you are getting 3 or more bookings per show. Challenge your team to be creative and to fill forward their daytimers. (IE: fill forward means work ahead of schedule, book past the 6 week mark) Here are some tips:

- Each Consultant should be talking to all of their past Hostesses and customers about the new catalogue and that's why YOU (the Leader) need to do a booking blitz or Booking round robin.

- Learn how to create and creatively use Networking Gals "Spring Boards" sometimes all a person needs to book is a little extra incentive.

- Teach your Consultants to be creative and to consider doing shows a bit different, such as; in a park, a catalogue show (check out Networking Gals handy "Quickie Book shows") an ice cream party, a fundraiser (see Networking Gals "Fundraisers and Bridal shows") also do a basket show (another Networking Gals "Basket Show")

- Don't forget to get your Consultants taking their Networking Gals "Business in a Box" everywhere they go because business is everywhere.

- It's a great time of year to get those draw boxes out there. You will want to put a minimum of 3 out in cafes, pubs, gym, office lunch rooms, spas, salons, reception areas, bank, etc. (See Networking Gals "How to do a Draw box")

Companies bring out Spring/Summer catalogues to generate new business and keep the interest up over the summer months. If your Consultants are serious about their business then the spring and summer selling season can be the most rewarding. People are naturally more relaxed and energized at this time of year and therefore they are more willing to get out and more receptive to new ideas. Challenge yourself and your team as you take on this great time of year creatively! Remember....

                                                 Life is too short............so go out and Party!

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Goal setting

It is crucial to your business to learn how to set goals. Company heads will speak of this but few actually understand why this is important or are able to teach you how to. When you learn to set AND achieve goals then you make any level of success or acknowledgement achievable!

It doesn’t happen over night because learning to set and accomplish goals can be very difficult for most people. First the goal has to be something you can reasonably achieve. Don’t start off planning to do a show a day for the month when you have zero booking scheduled. That is the same as climbing Mt. Everest!! Now if you have 5 bookings that month and you were to set your goals to 10 bookings to be held in the next 6 weeks then I feel that is totally doable.

 It is very hard in the beginning to learn to set goals when you also have a timeline on it too. Consider getting use to setting and accomplishing goals without a time limit. This gets you use to achieving at a level fairly easy. Once you have been able to achieve many goals (10-15) then consider making them a tiny bit harder and with a time limit.

NEVER get upset that you haven’t reached a goal but instead go back and try again and again if necessary until you do achieve it. Don’t get frustrated with goals, if you are having particular problems with one then go on to a different one.

Setting goals is about understanding that business does not just get handed to you but that you go out and find it. It is also a little bit about learning to quantify your time or realize what time you have available and how to put it to good use. Check out Networking Gals power point presentation on " Calendar Control" as it teaches you some handy ways to improve on managing your time.

Learning to set goals makes you a true business professional. Leaders are where they are in the company because they genuinely earned it and most probably through goal setting and achieving! Check out the Networking Gals handbook “Finding the inspiration a Goal tracker” Take a leap of faith in your business today and you may be pleasantly surprised by your achievement!!! For more about goal setting check out Networking gals ebook "Finding the inspiration a Goal tracker".

                                              Life is too short...................so go out and Party!!!!

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Bookings Questions

Check us out on Facebook today for all your questions on getting/keeping and searching for bookings! This is open to anyone including non-members. We look forward to answering your questions! See you there.

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