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Can Social Media Improve A Direct Sales Business?

In this day and age, direct sales businesses are often struggling to attract new customers. Bringing in the revenue is never a simple affair. These companies must do what they can to succeed on a day-to-day basis, which means striving to bring new customers to the table. Perhaps the most effective and inexpensive option involves social media. Of course, social media is not a new concept, but its business applications are constantly evolving these days and cannot be ignored.

A direct sales business does not rely upon retail stores to bring in revenue. In fact, independent operators must directly bring the product to consumers. That might mean going door-to-door for sales or putting on an exhibition for individual companies. It all depends upon what a particular business is trying to sell as far as inventory is concerned. Luckily, all direct sales companies can benefit from the use of social media in various ways right now without spending money.

For starters, simply signing up for a social media account does not cost a penny. Running these accounts is relatively hassle-free even when a business utilizes multiple sites. All of these accounts can further a company’s goal of selling more products and raking in more profits. Someone who runs a business and properly uses social media to further their sales can see great results right away. Without a doubt, social media is the single most effective advertising tool available today.

Since direct sales businesses must go directly to the consumer, social media is only second to face-to-face interactions with potential customers in effectiveness. This is the case whether you are Zivelo or Amtrak. With that in mind, an independent operator can directly advertise to customers and offer plenty of extra bonuses. Social media can be used to bring in more sales because more potential customers can be reached with ease. The Internet runs at every moment of each day, so reaching customers is not an issue. Obviously, this fact cannot be denied.

For a direct sales business, social media does not guarantee increased sales and success. Business owners that can successfully utilize and manage these accounts will reap the benefits right away. Social media boost the connection between companies and potential customers, and such a connection is otherwise difficult to make. Direct sales are especially difficult nowadays for numerous reasons. However, social media can improve any direct sales business with the right moves. Nobody should count out the power of such sites.

Written by David

Business, company, Direct selling, direct selling and social media, social media, social media and direct selling

04May

Facebook as a Platform for Social Networking and Marketing

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It’s amazing how much controversy as well as addiction a social networking site can create. From the time of its conception Facebook (FB) has faced the heat of both fans as well as detractors; the latter consider it a waste of time and an identity threat. Given the current rise in usage of social media and the need people have to connect on the go, FB has become indispensible though there are people who consciously do without it.

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

Marketing and advertising are features that are attracting not only companies but private entrepreneurs too. For those starting out as freelancers or doing gigs, the page making facility helps get one posted for free on a platform that’s bound to win an audience.

However, 2012 has brought in some amusing incidents where it seems the Facebook team will have to admit, you just can’t please them all. It all started out with the new enemy list application. Now instead of just being able to elevate friends to the status of best buddies or close chums, Facebook allows you to also display an enemy list! It’s rather amusing as some enthusiastic users have waged a war against tomatoes by adding it to this enemy list! But on the more serious side, the advertisement offering services as most users will note, are a big hit as you have ‘n’ amount of people who’ll have a look at your ad .

William Shakespeare had asked, ‘What’s in a name?’ According to Facebook, it could be fake or fabricated and so worthy of being blocked. That’s what happened recently to a community of thousands of Facebook subscribers from the Indian state of Assam as they are named ‘Chutia’ pronounced ‘Sutiya’ whose spelling in Hindi is an expletive.

Another name that generated a lot of heat but unfortunately little light is the controversy about Salman’s Rushdie’s first name which the site insisted was not Salman but a more Islamic sounding one. For his part, Salman insisted that it should be ‘Salman’ as that is the name fans of his books know him.

If you go through the community lists on Facebook, you might end up finding your favorite café digging cyber space with your favorite brand of chocolate or even favorite movie. The marketers have used the fan attracting facility to their advantage as well as the ‘like’ button. What can be a better way to get friends of friends interested in a product or concert than by an advert of it popping up stating so many mutual friends are game on this? Funnily, it has been noted that around three million people have signed a petition for an ‘unlike’ button too!

Our educators too are showing themselves Facebook savvy and many a time you’ll find a professor posting about new notes being distributed or a scheduled class test. Nor are budding writers deterred as making a page devoted to their writings is just a click away. Thus, the world is in its own individual ways using Facebook as a means of social connectivity as well as marketing. Perhaps its ease of use and well designed layout lend it charm that has made many a college student an addict.

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Anthony is a plumbing expert. He believes that a good shower is not the one that has lavish shower rose or a well polished exterior but the one that has high quality and well fitted shower spares and shower pumps.

facebook, facebook and marketing, marketing with social media, Social network, Social network service, Social Networking

02May

How a Blog can Help Direct Sales

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If you’re online, you’ve heard of blogs – you’ve probably even read a couple of them. So you have an idea of what a blog is.

But have you thought about using a blog as a marketing tool in your own business?

It seems too hard

mappa_blog (Photo credit: francescopozzi)

Let’s look at the usual negatives first as you need to answer these before you can see the value of a blog.

I don’t have any money for marketing
Blogging costs more time than money – blog software is free and you can have it hosted for free, too (whether that’s the best option we can discuss another time!) All you have to do is write some posts – any other expenses are optional.
What can I write?
About your products and parties is the simple answer – include stories of people using your products (as intended and in creative ways), testimonials and unusual parties (different times, locations and themes are interesting). Add in company and personal news and things you learn along the way, and your blog is filling up
I’m not good at writing
You don’t have to be Shakespeare to write a blog so don’t be too hard on yourself. If you really can’t write, get some help with the writing or have your work edited, and start reading up to improve your writing skills
My direct sales company won’t let me
Make sure you understand the rules properly – you may be able to blog without naming the company for instance – but this point must be considered to stay with any agreements you have signed.

Advantages of blogging

You’re running a business and you want people to know about it, yes? Well, here are some ways that a blog can help you achieve your goals:

You get more exposure to potential customers and recruits – directly through the blog but also for additional traffic to your main website if you have one
It is cheap so you can blog even if you can’t afford much else in the way of marketing
You can show people who you are – if I read your blog and feel friendly about you I am more likely to host a party with you than if I just see your name in a directory.
You get to show off your knowledge of your products so I can trust you to lead me to the right product for my situation
You show you are generous and caring by sharing information so I trust you – this could be really important if I am dubious about direct sales people
You can build relationships with people – answer queries in the comments section, use real life questions and situations as posts, and refer to real people you do business with (you may be surprised at how happy Mary will be if you post a story about her party and the to-die-for chocolate cake she served.)
If you don’t have a website, a blog can be a central place for people to find your contact details (I bet many people would call you back even years later if only they could find your details again), display testimonials and refer any social media efforts towards

Have you used a blog in your business? What rewards did it give you?

Interested in blogging but unsure of where to start? Tash Hughes’ blog contains tips and ideas about blogging, improving writing skills and communicating effectively.

advertising, Blog, blogging for direct sales, Business, direct sales blogging, Direct selling, Home business, Marketing, Search engine optimization, social media

23Nov

Using Cutting Edge Social Media To Promote Your Direct Sales Business

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Guest post by Sarah Howard

Social media is a new innovation that allows people to connect and interact in a new and exciting way. Businesses are quickly realizing the boundless power of social media and are utilizing it in their business strategies and the way in which they operate. So how can your direct sales business benefit from using social media tools?

Social media tools that direct sales businesses should consider using are:

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Google
Tumblr

You can use social media to allow clients and customers a chance to preview upcoming projects and products. People enjoy feeling as if they are part of the business rather than just another number, so give them a glimpse into how your company works with photos and slide shows. Direct sales businesses may also want to ask for feedback on sites like Facebook and Twitter before launching new features to gauge public opinion before the debut.

YouTube is a great way to show off your company’s expertise in any areas in which you excel. Don’t just tell the public what you do, show them with videos. This gives your direct sales business a unique opportunity to boost its reputation and brand. Videos are also an excellent way to get people excited about new products since they get to see first hand what they are in store for.

If you’re looking to draw more traffic to your website, sites like Digg and StumbleUpon are just the social media tool you need. Digg and StumbleUpon allow users to share and recommend content with their friends. Look into installing a widget like AddThis or Facebook’s “Like” widget that will automatically link to their site.

If you do decide to use social media tools, make sure that you create an interactive experience rather than one that is one-sided. Engage your audience in conversation, answer their questions and ask them questions in return. Let the public see that you are more than just a company or a name brand, let them see who and what they are supporting and giving their money to. Business owners should also think about adding things like coupons and special online deals for their customers. Doing this can bring in new business and keep regulars satisfied and coming back as they spread the word about your excellent service.

Social media is a powerful tool, one that every business can benefit from. Do a bit of research and see how your particular company can implement your direct sales business on Facebook, Twitter or StumbleUpon, and consider posting videos on YouTube to showcase your products and projects. Put your business out there and start socializing.

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Sarah writes on behalf of Team24 a healthcare jobs specialist. Team24 work within locum recruitment and are always on the look out for qualified doctors and nurses nationwide.

Business, Digg, direct sales, direct sales and social media, Direct selling, facebook, social media, social media and direct sales, StumbleUpon, twitter, using social media in direct sales, YouTube

21Nov

Creating a Facebook Fanpage for your Direct Sales Business

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Image via CrunchBase

With the rise of social media, a lot of people are getting onto Facebook and using it as a marketing tool for their direct sales business. Some people just create a second profile for their business, or they decide to create a fan page on their regular Facebook profile. Either way, there are some steps that you need to make sure to take.

Full Profile – Make sure your profile is complete. This includes a picture, your website, and anything else that is relevant to what you want to promote.

Updates – It is important that you post updates as it is easy to forget about something unless it is in your face. Updates can be things such as new inventory, new catalogues, a sale, or anything else that is relevant.

Don’t just Post Business Information – That being said you need to watch what you are putting in your updates. Every post should not be about your direct sales business and buying your product. But why not post a tip on how to use your project in general? For instance, if you sell scarves, maybe a post about what colours of scarves are hot right now, or what the current style is? It is not a blatant post about your direct sales business, but it helps establish you as an expert and trustworthy.

Pictures – People are visual and like pictures. As a result, make sure you have an album that shows some of your product, colours, or whatever you have that you are promoting. Keep your profile picture current, and make sure to add pictures on a regular basis.

Friends – You want friends on your page so that you have success. In order to get friends, start randomly adding people. Make sure you include an introduction such as, this is a page for Scarves, please be my friend. The majority of people will accept you, but it always makes it easier to introduce yourself. If you are a bricks and mortar store, search for friends in your geographical area; if you are an internet business, look for friends that are within your sales areal.

Interests – Join groups on Facebook, especially if they are ones that correspond to what you are promoting. These may be groups such as local events or work at home groups.

With social media, things happen fast, so it is important that you are there and watching what is going on. You need to be keeping up and posting just as fast as everyone else.

Business, direct sales and social media, facebook, how to use social media, social media, social media and direct sales, Updates, User profile, using social media

09Aug

Digital Marketing How To

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This is a guest post by Lily

Because the field of digital marketing is still so new, many businesses find that it can be tempting to become overzealous in their online marketing strategy. Here are several misconceptions about how online marketing can promote your business, and ideas for what you should do instead.

1) SEO

What not to do:

When it comes to SEO, the list of “what not to do” might very well be longer than the list of “what to do!” Because Google and other search engines are constantly working to improve the algorithm they use in their searches, many old SEO tricks are becoming outdated day by day.

These search engines are much smarter than you think! Today, search engines can determine the “authority” of pages that are linking to other pages, which makes buying paid links and using other cheap methods to spread your business’ URL around less effective. Many of the SEO programs you can purchase for your business employ these tactics, which could end up penalizing your business and destroying your search engine rankings in the long run.

Similarly, while “keyword stuffing” was once believed to be a useful method of improving your business’ rankings, search engines have become too smart for this as well. In order to effectively use SEO for your business, you will have to keep track of how search engine algorithms are changing and keep your website up to date.

What to do instead:

The answer is truly quite simple: make your website as useful to your customers as possible, because search engines know the difference! Rankings are being determined more and more by usefulness of content, relevancy to the user, and whether or not the user had a good experience on that site.

Yes, search engines can now determine all of these things. The lesson here? Work on improving your business in general and the experience that your customers have with you, and simply try to keep your website consistent with these good business practices. Keep your content as up to date and informative as possible. This way, the high rankings will happen naturally.

2) Facebook

What not to do:

Using a Facebook page for your business is still a brand new concept to most business owners, and therefore it can be easy to abuse it. First of all, don’t use a personal profile for your business – they created the page feature for a reason.

Once you create a Facebook page, don’t ignore it! Make sure all the content is filled out so your users know how to reach you, or at least access your website. Lastly, don’t become overenthusiastic while logged into your business’ Facebook page. Keep it professional and in line with your business’ customer service standards.

What to do instead:

Keep your customers informed about your Facebook page and encourage them to “like” it. This is essentially the same as having an email list, except many users now check their Facebook profiles more often than their email addresses.

Update your Facebook page whenever there is a new development with your business.

If something noteworthy happens at your business that you would like the public to know, a Facebook page is the perfect place to talk about it.

Conduct surveys and take advantage of the other useful resources provided by Facebook specifically for businesses.

3) Twitter

What not to do:

There is an art to using, and not abusing, your business’ Twitter account. Instead of “tweeting” every single time something happens at your business, try to keep your posts relevant and interesting. Don’t use hashtags after every other word in your tweet – this just makes your tweets incomprehensible. Hashtags actually serve little to no function on twitter unless the word or phrase you are hashtagging is already trending or is something that people would definitely search for.

What to do instead:

Tweet about recent blog posts or recent developments at your business.

Interact with your followers. When people message you on Twitter, always respond enthusiastically. This is an extremely useful method of cultivating good relationships with new and existing customers and expanding your customer base to new areas.

Lily is a blog writer for Entrust Cash Advance, a trusted merchant cash advance company.