Why Your Business Needs a Mailing List

Posted by Chris | Posted on 20-05-2012

Category : Direct Sales Marketing, Small Business Tips

Tags: , , ,

Every business needs to have a mailing list of one kind or another. What is a mailing list? It is list is a list of people who signed up and opted in to receive your mailings, such as newsletters, ecourses, ebooks, and other emails. There are many benefits to having a huge mailing list. Let’s look at a few reasons why you will want to start building one today.

There is an old saying and many sales people know this one: “The money is in the follow up”, and that holds true for your list as well. Your mailing list provides you a way of staying in touch with people who have visited your website. Maybe they didn’t buy anything the first time they visited your site. However, if you stay in touch with them on a regular basis, they may turn into a loyal customer.

There are several types of mailing list formats to choose from and you may want to include each kind on your website. You can offer a general newsletter that people can subscribe to. This is a great way to keep people informed on the updates you have made to your site. You can include excerpts from any articles you recently added with links to the full text. If you offer podcasts, you can include information about upcoming calls, guests and information you will be featuring, etc.

You can also choose to have a tips list or ecourse. People love numbers and are eager to sign up for a tips list, such as “15 Ways to Get Organized Today” or “50 Ways to Work from Home”, etc. These tips can be small emails that are delivered daily or weekly to your mailing list. An ecourse is a great way to promote your information products a bit at a time so you are in front of your customers and potential customers often.

The best way to manage your new mailing list is through an autoresponder service. When you sign up for such a service, you can create a list and load email messages into it. When someone signs up for your list, they will automatically start to receive the messages you have already written. Each person will receive message 1, and the autoresponder will continue to send the messages in the order you selected.

While the main purpose of having a mailing list is to promote products, your visitors will be eager to sign up for them if you provide helpful information. Use your mailing list to allow you to cross promote your products and services and turn “fence sitters” into customers.

Business Cards Still Pack a Powerful Punch for Marketing Your Business

Posted by Chris | Posted on 13-08-2011

Category : Direct Sales Tips, Direct Sales Work at Home Business Tips

Tags: , , , ,

Copyright Chris Carroll and DirectSalesTalk. If you see this on any other site without my byline, please let me know.

Many people think that business cards are a thing of the past. They have been around for years and years and haven’t really changed that much. Many, and I may even go so far as to say, Most people with internet business don’t even have one.. do you?

But here is the drill. Business cards still pack a powerful punch when it comes to using them for marketing your business. If you have an online or and offline business, you need a business card. Why?

Here are a few things to think about regarding this little piece of precious cardstock.

* You are out running errands and run into an old friend who has lost your number and you really want to get back together with her… pull out your business card

* You meet a new friend at the college class that you are taking and want to meet for coffee later in the week… pull out your business card

* You have a friend that knows a friend that wants your products or want to learn more about your business… give her several of your business cards

* You are recommending a friend to another associate and want want the associate to know where the lead came from… give them your business card

* You have a business associate interested in networking with you… swap business cards

* You really want to grow your business both offline and online… have business cards

* When it is hard to describe all of the things you do in your business… have business cards to offer so people can checkout your site

* When you want to promote your business by growing your customer base… use business cards with discount codes on them

* You are at a professional marketing event…. you better have business cards

* You are out networking in your community… you better have business cards

Do any of these scenarios sound like something you have been involved in?

As you can see, these little pieces of paper happiness really carry a powerful impact for your business. You can use them to tell the world about you and your business, regardless if it is offline or online.

You think cards are boring? Spice them up! Get creative! I have seen business cards made in the shape of a circle, in bright colors, out of magnets, in a funky font, use glitter, use leopard print, printed vertically instead of horizontally… whatever you want to do to your business card the better.

Besides it needs to reflect you and your business. So if you want to make an impact, get some business cards and market the heck out of your business!


Copyright Chris Carroll 2011

Are You Maximizing Your Profits in Your Direct Sales Business

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Posted by Chris | Posted on 22-02-2011

Category : Direct Sales Articles, Direct Sales Work at Home Business Tips, Home Party Plan Tips

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Maximizing your profits in your direct sales or party plan business really comes down to how you run your business. So let me ask you. Are you a sales based direct seller or a recruiting based direct seller? Does it really matter?

I am a sales based direct seller. I believe that sales are the foundation and basis of our business in direct sales. By using customer sales and the growth of your business through sales as the main basis of your income, then you will have a stronger business overall. With this said, I am also of the belief that strong sales will lead to strong recruits who also use sales based business model.

Another important reason that I use a sales based business model is that you actually make more money from your team sales as you are getting paid on their sales as well as any increase in income from adding a recruit to your line. I truly believe that sales drive the whole system of getting paid from your recruits. They will also sell product and make money and start then recruiting, just as their upline shows them. And the circle continues and the strenght of the whole team grows. The more product your team sells, the more money you make as well as the company.

Recruit based income is a hard concept for me sometimes. By putting the most eggs in your basket based on recruiting and then hoping that you will build yourself a team that will support you is tough. How do you make a living in the mean time, while you are building your team? And how does your teammember become good at selling the product, if no one is showing them how to? Also, if no one sold product, how can the company continue to exist?

It would make me nervous to expect a team to support me. What if they all quit? What if they didn’t buy anything next month? What if the party circuit dried up for them and their recruting efforts died? If the product doesn’t sell, the company cannot profit either….

Where do you want your business to go? Have you thought about how you have structured your business? Are you maximizing that structure to the benefit of your income and your recruits income as well? Make sure you look at all sides of the business when setting up your business plan and structuring how you do business and share all sides with your recruits as well. Recruits will tend to follow your lead until they can create their own plan and become comfortable with the business as well as learning to maximize their own profitibilty. We certainly have a responsibility to our new business partners to make sure they are being profitable so that we have a long and mutually satisifying relationship.

So now you know the best of part of being a home based business owner. Maximizing your profits and your recruits profits as well. The more you sell, the more you earn!

How to Grow Your Direct Sales Business in the New Year

Posted by Chris | Posted on 26-12-2010

Category : Direct Sales Work at Home Business Tips, Home Party Plan Tips

Tags: , ,

For many direct sellers, January brings fear anew regarding the growth of our direct sales business. Many of us wonder how to grow our business and make a big impact on sales as well as income.

January also bring that dreaded business planning back into focus. Yes, you should have been doing it all along, but now is the perfect time to start planning and making small changes in your business that over the year will bring you big impact.

If you simply make a weekly, monthly & yearly plan for your biz and focus on adding one customer a week and/or one recruit a month, you will see your business grow by leaps and bounds in the coming year. One customer a week is 52 new customers. If you are in a direct sales business, you know those dollars will add up, especially if those customers remain loyal and place a lot of re orders with you.

One recruit a month can also add quite a bit to your income. That is 12 new team members. What will that do to your income level? If your team members also follow your plan, will they also be adding members? You bet. How can that impact your income?

By taking some time to plan on some effective marketing for your business for the new year, making small changes can really grow your business through the year. And remember to track your successes and celebrate them too!

Article Marketing and Your Direct Sales Business – WAHM-Articles BlogTour

Posted by Chris | Posted on 16-12-2010

Category : Article Marketing, Direct Sales Work at Home Business Tips, Ghostwriting for Blogs

Tags: , , , , , ,

I have been invited by Wahm Articles to participate in a blog tour of several sites through the month of December. We are all going to be talking about article marketing and how it would help you in your business. Since I am in the direct sales business, well, what a better topic for me than that. Enjoy the Tour!
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Article marketing can be a huge help in your direct sales business should you decide to embrace it. I know there are those of you out there asking, “why should I use it when I only sell lipsticks and lotions”?

Here is my why. Article marketing is a powerful tool in driving traffic to your website. The more people you can get to your site, the better the chances of making a connection with folks which leads to making sales, as well as recruiting people. You also have the opportunity to invite people to get on your list which will enable you to direct information to them as well. Another opportunity to make a sale and a connection.

Making connections is huge in any online business. Especially a direct sales business. We do not have the luxury of being a big box retailer. We have to forge our own way in the big, bad world of the web. Using articles that are written and directed at your niche, will bring those people that are interested in you, in what you have to say and ultimately in your products, right to your front door by using a well written article and resource box.

When you are a small fish in a big company and even one of many in your home town, making a difference and using different methods can only bring you more. Remember each resource box out there is an incoming link to your site. The more there are that are quality, the better it is for your site and your rankings. This means more traffic for your site.

So embrace article marketing in your direct sales business. There are hundreds of topics you can write about that you know. Start today and start seeing results sooner than you expect!

Footnote…..
Chris, thanks again for allowing WAHM-Articles to stop and visit your blog. We hope this post will help your readers get started with article marketing. We just came from Amy’s blog, so make sure you Click Here to read how we helped her readers. Also, make sure you click here to visit Corrie’s blog on Tuesday to see how we’re going to help her readers with article marketing.

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