thirty-one
Entire Month’s Worth of FREE Engagement Posts for November!
I’m giving away an entire month’s worth of posts EVERY MONTH!
FYI…these posts expire in two weeks! So you better grab them quick!
CLICK HERE to join Directly Social…
and get these links every month for FREE! I just posted your November customer group posts TODAY!
All you have to do is have a Cinchshare account and you will have access to this entire month’s worth of posts!
If you don’t know what CINCHSHARE is, check it out here: LEARN ABOUT CINCHSHARE
So I’m going to share some posts with YOU.
You can schedule an entire month’s worth of posts for November in your customer groups!
The days are themed for:
- Monday Holiday Posts
- Tuesday Engagement Posts
- Wednesday Mix of Inspiration and Funnies
- Thursday Quotes
- Friday: FREE DAY! You should be posting a product spotlight on something you have. Take a personal video (3 minutes or less) or photo and show how YOU use something you sell
CLICK HERE to join Directly Social…
and get these links every month for FREE! I just posted your November customer group posts TODAY!
To sign up for Cinchshare click here: CINCHSHARE (you’ll need to join to get access to those links/posts)
Melissa Fietsam
Theme Party Ideas for your November Direct Sales Parties
Want a TON of November theme party ideas?
How about some free Facebook party BANNERS?!
I have a pretty awesome group of friends over on Directly Social, and they came up with all of these theme ideas for your month of November! You can use these as themes AND posts within your parties!
And if you want some FREE Facebook Party Banners,
join us on DIRECTLY SOCIAL ON FACEBOOK
Here’s some ideas they came up with for November to inspire you a little:
Thankful November
Football
Thanksgiving
Turkey
Bonfires
Changing leaves
Coffee
Holiday Shopping
Sweaters and hoodies
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Spice & everything nice
Thanksgiving Crafts with kids
No Shave November
Black Friday
Apple Pie
Hunting Season-single wife
Veteran’s Day
Traveling for Thanksgiving
Macy’s Day Parade
Small Business Saturday
Fall
Thanksgiving foods: green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, turkey, rolls, pumpkin pie
Blessings
Canned Food drives
Family Gatherings
American Diabetes month
Putting up Christmas Tree after Thanksgiving
Hot drinks, hot chocolate, cinammon
Harvest time
Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving
Warm blankets and cozy sweaters
Remembrance Day
Baking cookies and food
What type of party can you use a theme for?
ANYTHING! Whether you’re doing home shows, online parties, fundraisers, BINGO nights, or even straight retail orders…it doesn’t matter. The problem is everything is BORING! Same old stuff on a different day. Using a theme can help pique some interest and attract new customers as well as engage your current customer base.
Don’t forget to join our Facebook group!
Click here to join DIRECTLY SOCIAL
So how do you use a theme?
So, think about it as if you’re planning an actual party. You plan:
- Plates/cups
- Decorations
- Music
- Food
- Trinkets
- Invitations
You would do the same thing for a home show with a theme.
So what can you do for an online party theme?
- Graphics
- Share recipes (everyone loves a good recipe)
- Facebook banner
- Invitations
- Games (centered around a theme)
- Fun Facts (about your theme)
See where this is going? Train your brain to think differently. Everything you do for a home show, can be done for an online party. ESPECIALLY with Facebook Live now.
Happy (almost) November everyone!
Melissa Fietsam
25 Free Engagement Posts
Best thing about engagement posts…is getting people ENGAGED!
Here’s 25 FREE engagement posts for you below!
These are some fun posts for your pages that will:
- increase interaction
- help you get to know your customers
- help you initiate conversations
- and help bring some entertainment to your groups/pages
Want more tips and tricks for your social media?
Join our FREE Facebook group for Direct Sales and marketing tips:
CLICK HERE TO JOIN DIRECTLY SOCIAL
Remember the key to engagement posts:
You have to ENGAGE yourself! See what your customers answers are and interact. Laugh with them. Be a human being instead of trying to sell to them constantly! If you read between the lines, you can really get to know your customers with some of these posts. And then your customers, well they actually get to know each other too. They will start finding people in your group with similar interests, maybe they were from the same hometown, maybe they owned the same “first car”. Whatever it is, it’s about creating an environment and a community where people actually like to come and interact and smile once a in awhile.
So try scheduling these posts a couple times a week and see what happens!
Melissa Fietsam
@DirectlySocial
You Are NOT Your Company!
Is your Facebook timeline actually leading people AWAY from your business?
I need everyone to repeat after me…you are NOT your company!
A huge mistake I see from so many fellow direct sellers is that they have their timeline profile linked as “I work at this company” and they link the company they sell for. Let me tell you how this is leading people away from you and how to FIX IT!
Facebook has over 1.91 billion people on it. Make sure you’re leading them to the right place!
Learning how to set up your Facebook Business page and your personal timeline will serve you well in the long run!
You have to be willing to learn new things and work smarter, not harder!
Don’t’ forget to SHARE this with your teams so they can do it too!
And follow me here so you don’t miss a beat!
Join me on Facebook
Directly Social FB Group
Join me on Instagram
Join me on Pinterest
Join me on Twitter
Join me on YouTube
Melissa Fietsam
4 Types of Posts to Increase Engagement in your Customer Facebook Groups
Your customer groups on Facebook are an extremely important part of your business.
I’m going to give you 4 ways to increase your engagement with your customers.
Why is this important?
Because this is your tribe. These are your people, your posse. They are in that group because they chose to be. So make it worth their while. You have to create a community for them. Teach them things, make them smile, touch their heart, interact and get to know them. Because people shop with people they know, trust, and love. And you can’t build a community without some effort.
“Nobody comments on anything”
I’m the last person you want to say that to. Because I will be the first to tell you…if your customer group sucks…it’s probably cause you’re doing a sucky job as a consultant. Let’s not sugar coat it.
Either, they’re reciprocating YOUR attitude and effort, or you simply need new people. In every aspect of my business, I create a funnel to get new people into my customer group. Every month, every party, every fundraiser, every newsletter, everything. Always be growing your tribe.
Focusing on increasing engagement in your customer Facebook group will never be a waste of your time and energy.
So here’s 4 ways to Increase your engagement in your Facebook customer groups:
#1 Giveaways:
Do a weekly giveaway. Friday FUNday. Now before you cuss me out and tell me you can’t afford to do giveaways every week, hear me out. Five dollars. You can afford $5 a week for a giveaway. You can send a $5 Dunkin Donuts gift card via text or email. You can send a Starbucks giftcard for $5 via text. You can do anything you want.
By doing a weekly giveaway, you have them do something to earn it. It does not always have to be about your business either. And shouldn’t be.
- Add 5 friends to the group (with their permission. Don’t get me started on adding people to groups without their permission)
- Join this opportunity event (give them link to your next one)
- Comment on this question (post an engagement graphic)
- Anyone who books a party today (post an awesome reason to)
#2 Engagement Questions:
These are simple questions to increase engagement. But you know what the best thing about it is? When they answer, you get to know them. You start creating conversations with your customers and then something crazy starts happening. They start creating relationships with OTHER PEOPLE in your customer group. And then BAM! You’ve got a tribe. A place they want to be. A happy place in a crazy world. And that’s what it’s all about.
Here’s an example of an engagement post. And here’s an entire album of engagement graphics from Cinchshare:
78 FREE ENGAGEMENT GRAPHICS
#3 Cutest Pet Contest
Everybody loves their pets. Some people love them more than their kids…ask my mom…just kidding mom!! Kind of…
Every single time I’ve done a cutest pet contest or a cutest kid contest, I’ve had huge engagement and added tons of people to my group.
Basically, you run this for like 1-2 weeks. They add their picture to your group and the picture with the most “likes” wins. Now the key…is to get them to add their friends to VOTE. And the prize has to be REALLLLLLY GOOD for this one. BIG!
#4 Add a Friend Post
First, don’t EVER EVER EVER add people to your customer group without asking. You do NOT want to be that girl. I run contests all the time and tell them to add 5 people, or 10 people, or person who adds the most people. But I always make sure to tell them to ASK before they add. This will grow your page if you do it consistently. Here’s an example of one of mine. And this is GREAT for your weekly giveaways. Do once a month or every other month. Not too often!
So here’s 4 ideas…let’s brainstorm and let me hear what YOU love doing to get more interaction in your customer groups!
Melissa Fietsam
Hostess Coaching Challenges, Get Your Hostess Working!
My parties were going kinda slow this month, so I decided to try something new.
And guess what? IT WORKED! Because the fact of the matter is, if you’re not working…neither are your hostesses. And I’m totally guilty this month because I’ve been super busy. So what did I do?
Check out this video and then let’s talk about 3 hostess challenges you can do to:
- increase sales
- increase engagement
- increase your hostesses rewards. Happy hostess=happy business
Hostess Challenge #1:
Facebook Live: I have a monthly group for all of my hostesses for that month. I did a quick Facebook Live video and asked them to go live on their Facebook page. I asked them to say 3 things: 1) I’m hosting a 31 party and i want tons of FREE STUFF! 2) The customer special is the large utility tote for $10 and you need one! 3) post below if you’re interested and I can send you the information and get you added to my Facebook party. And if the hostess did…I would give her $5 off her order.
Now, I told her to tag me in the video and I would post her party link and event link for everyone once they started responding. And guess what? THEY DID! #HOLLA
Hostess Challenge #2:
Talk to 20: Today I will be messaging each of my hostesses with a specific “text” to send to 20 people. It will be a reminder of her party, link to shop, link to catalog. Super easy, super simple. Text 20 people this reminder. If she does…and snaps a pic of her messages/texts…I will add another $5 to her order.
Hostess challenge #3:
Last Chance to Order: On the 14th, I will give them a graphic and text to post on their Facebook page and grab some last minute orders. If they tag me…they get $5 off their order.
Love these tips? Follow my pages for more:
YouTube
VIP Group
Facebook Page
Hostess Coaching is one the most important things you can do for your business, and often the most overlooked by consultants.
You can’t expect your hostess to know what to do. Here’s an example for you to think about:
I went to Laser Web with my kids. We all know what to do, right? DUH…pick up the laser gun and whoop your kids tail and make sure they know mom’s still the boss. But…when you go in, they separate you into 2 groups. One group grabs this color, the other group grabs another color. And you’re like…oh…they’re smart.
Then they walk you through the laser tag course and all the rules and most importantly…how to WIN.
We all know how to play laser tag. But if we didn’t get that specific “walk through” and rules of the game…it would not have worked. And more importantly…it wouldn’t have been much FUN.
So think about that. Yeah…our hostesses know how to have a party. But did you give them the tools to be successful and have FUN doing it?
Now, next month, I will be thinking this through thoroughly in order to get the ball rolling on these hostess challenges way in advance and get them possibly: selling a certain # of specials, collecting a certain amount of orders “pre-party”…let’s start brainstorming!
Happy Hostess Coaching ladies!
Melissa Fietsam
What’s the BEST Business Card for Your Direct Sales Business?
Video Posted on
I am STOKED about this marketing tool for my business! I love it and I want to make sure everyone knows about it.
So let me ask you, what does everyone woman carry in her purse-besides a pen? CHAPSTICK!! I have found a website that is super affordable to buy lip balms that are blank on the outside. And then you can also buy the labels for them and print your own labels with your business information!
That is TEN TIMES better than a business card! Cause no sane woman would ever throw away a lip balm, right?!
I bought pens and used them for years. But I like to be different. And this is definitely right up my alley!!
So check out my own below
Now WHAT are you going to do with these?
1. You can give them to cashiers
2. You can put them in the tubes at the bank drive through
3. You can leave them for servers
4. You can hand to ANYONE you’re having a conversation with about your business
5. Give them to your friends and family so THEY always have your business information on them! They may have your regular information…but would they know your BUSINESS information? I think I’ll give my mom some extras to hand out FOR ME!
6. Use these at your parties for prizes and giveaways. Everyone loves lip balm! And that is SO cheap for a giveaway! Heck, it’s so cheap that you could give EVERYONE at your home party at checkout!
7. These would be great for vendor events
8. Great for Nurses and Teachers week!! Pass out mini grab bags. Or any type of swag bags you were asked to donate.
9. What about Halloween?! You could make little bags for the moms!
10. How about Christmas gifts to all your hostesses for the year? Keep your information in front of them!!
11. These would be great to pass out at your kids ball games. “Hey anybody need some chapstick? I just got these in and I love them”. Oh, yeah…sly as a fox…LOL!!!!
The possibilities are truly endless.
The most important thing in your Direct Sales business is to STAND OUT in the sea of consultants in your area. It doesn’t matter how many consultants are in your area. If they’re not marketing their business in a FUN way, or not even marketing at all, people will choose to shop with YOU. And that’s a fact Jack 😉 I am constantly looking for ways to stand out. To reach new people. To make conversations easier and more fun. To get my information into more people’s hands in an effective way. So what are YOU doing?
Here is the website to order your own blank lip balms:
Round lip balm:
http://www.bulkapothecary.com/white-lip-balm-jars-filled-and-unlabeled/
Now I’m not talented enough to make those cute little labels. So Kim, from Night Owl Custom Design on Facebook, made them for me!
You can click the link below to order your own labels if you order these. They’re super affordable and totally worth it!
Here is the link for the round labels:
https://nightowlcustomdesign.ecwid.com/#!/Labels-Personalized-Lip-Balm-Round-labels/p/52409193
and here is the link for the tall lip balm labels –
Happy Marketing ladies!!
#marketing #lipbalm #31 #31bag #31bags #thirtyone #thirtyonegifts #directsales #marketyourbusiness #chapstick #bulk #networking
Starting a Blog for your Direct Sales Business
About 6 years ago, I got the grand idea that I should start a blog.
Like…the chic who knew nothing about blogging, or what platform to use, or cost, or anything really. I just knew I wanted to do it. So I spent an entire weekend learning how.
Was it easy? Not really. Was it worth it? Yep. One of the best things I ever did for my business. Most good things aren’t easy though, right?
So now I blog a couple of times a week, and in fact, I have THREE blogs. So I want to show you how it can help your business.
What is a blog?
A blog is simply an extension of your voice. It’s writing about what you are passionate about. It’s teaching others, sharing with others, and engaging with your audience.
How much does it cost?
It’s totally free. I highly recommend WordPress.com. It was very easy to choose a theme and start plugging away. Any time I had questions or couldn’t figure something out, I Googled or watched YouTube videos.
What can a blog do for your business?
Well, I have one for my Direct Sales business:
https://melissafietsamblog.wordpress.com/
I have one for our team…and then the one you’re reading this on right now:)
The one for my business serves a ton of purposes:
Landing Page: I can create a well scripted post with links, videos, and graphics and then guide my customers to a professional looking page in order to view the information they are requesting. Want to know more about the opportunity? Great! I have a link for that. That’s a landing page.
Searchable Content: By creating all this on a blog, it’s now searchable content. So you’re actually getting 3 times the punch, out of everything you do. It’s working smarter, not harder.
Shareable Content: Talk about working smarter…I can share my blog in one easy click to Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Facebook, literally anywhere. So people ask me all the time how I do EVERYTHING. Well, I really just work smarter. I make one post and share in multiple ways on multiple platforms. That is what Cinchshare and WordPress can help you do. My two favorite platforms!
Tell a Story: You can tell a story that resonates with people, but isn’t “in your face selling”. And it leads them to your page and your information. THIS is where you build an audience and engagement. By being REAL. Here’s an example:
https://melissafietsamblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/01/message-to-my-sons-preschool-teacher/
Help People: This is a place where you can give valuable information about your industry. For example, my personal business is organizational products and bags. So I’ll be posting more about Organizational Tips and home hacks. NOTHING to do with my business, per say, but giving valuable information to my customers and potential customers. Because when I share those posts all over social media channels…it leads them right back to my blog full of business information.
Customer Group: This is a great thing to keep you consistently posting in your customer group. Make it a goal to write one blog post a week and share that into your customer group. That’s my new goal. To be a VALUE and a SERVICE to my customers without selling to them.
Time Management: I love that I can post something once, and I always know where to find it. My blog is a brain dump for me. Instead of doing things in a messy and non-consistent way, I make one organized post that takes me about 10 minutes longer. And now, I have it FOREVER. Literally. I can search and share with my team, my customers, whatever I want…whenever I want. So it saves me TIME.
What do you need to know about blogging?
Here’s some quick fire tips you need to know.
- Go to WordPress.com and just play around. Start it, create some graphics and banners, just JUMP. And keep at it for 3 months. The more you do it, the easier it is. And now that my page is set up, it’s as simple as writing and clicking publish. That’s it.
- Share to ALL your social media channels. Create original graphics for each post and share them to your Facebook business pages, your customer groups, Twitter, Pinterest, everywhere!
- NEVER take someone’s content or graphics. By law, anything I write on my blog is my personal property. So if you take someone’s “words” you’re actually committing a crime. A blog is to be ORIGINAL, not a copy. Make it personal and you will see the magic happen when people resonate with YOU and your words.
- Never take graphics from Google and put them on your blog. Same thing, you don’t have rights to those graphics and you can get in trouble for it. Use sites like Pixabay.com for graphics and then edit them with your branding in Canva.com.
- Make sure your title of your blog is NOT your company. You are not your company, you are an individual. So get creative or simply use your name!
- Make sure your blog post titles have tons of keywords in them. That is how people will find your content in searches.
- Schedule your posts (so easy to do in WordPress). I would say posting twice a week is good. Once is totally fine. But make a goal and stick to it. And then take that published post and schedule it out to all your other social media channels via Cinchshare (you can schedule the link to your blog).
- Keep it short and sweet! A blog post should be 300 words minimum in order to be indexed by Google. If you write TOO much, people will lose interest. And there’s actually research that shows that shorter blog posts get shared more! People’s attention spans are like squirrels anymore! So…I was gonna write 10 tips, but we’ll stop at 8! HAHA!
Love you guys! Happy blogging!!
Melissa Fietsam
Do you SUCK at Hostess Coaching?
I have some really great tips for all your hostess coaching this morning!
If I could say there’s one thing in your business that needs consistent work, it’s hostess coaching. You can have the best Facebook script in the world, the best party presentation under the sun…but if you’re not coaching your hostess-your party is going to FLOP!
I want to show you a few easy things you can do to get your BASELINE hostess coaching done in less than 5 minutes every single month!
STEP 1: Create a hostess group
Create a closed group on Facebook every single month for your “VIP Hostesses”.
In this group, you want to add:
- All of your hostesses for that month
- A Photo album with some photos they can share of customer specials and such.
- Copy of the customer special flyer
- Copy of the order form they can print if they run out
- Copy of digital catalog (that you’ve already uploaded to issuu.com)
And WHY would you want to have all that in a group?
How many times is your hostess at work and forgets her catalog?
How many times does she send you a message and say, “What was the customer special again?” “What patterns does it come in?”
Stop wasting your time! And hers! Now you can immediately go to your VIP Hostess Group and tag her in that post she needs. BAM! LIKE A BOSS!
STEP 2: Create some Google Surveys
Every month, I create 3 google surveys for my team.
Hostess Coaching #1: gets sent the day she books her party
Hostess Coaching #2: gets send the day her party starts
Hostess Coaching #3: gets sent 3 days before her party ends
Here’s an example of this month’s Hostess Coaching #1: https://goo.gl/forms/YU0OxSYffCLbvplu1
Once these are set up, all you have to change every month is the MONTHLY SPECIAL! And our whole team has these awesome hostess coaching links they can TEXT, Facebook message, or post in the VIP Hostess Group!
STEP 3: Now schedule some posts
Now all you have to do is schedule a handful of hostess coaching tips into your group for the duration of the party! You want to give them some challenges and schedule those Google Surveys you just did!
Here’s some examples of my posts and how I scheduled them in 10 minutes, check this out:
So tell me below what YOUR favorite hostess coaching tip is?!
Melissa Fietsam
Create an EASY Professional Video for Your Business with Facebook!
Easy and FREE. Two of my favorite words!
I’m going to show you how to create a professional video for your business, right from your Facebook business page!
Creating original content is simply a requirement if you’re running your own business. And Facebook has so many amazing tools to help you do that.
Once you make this video, you can download it and SHARE it to all your social media platforms:
- Facebook Customer Group
- Your Facebook party scripts
- and so much more!
Learn how to make your own awesome video in less 5 minutes!
Happy video making! Post a link to YOUR video below!
And don’t forget to follow me on Facebook: Directly Social
Melissa Fietsam