As a Direct Sales business owner, I am often asked, “How do you continue to grow your business?” My answer is always the same, “You need to be consistent with your advertising, marketing and networking.”
When I speak of being consistent, you need to work on your business 4-5 days a week, for several hours a day. Sit down and draft up a business plan and schedule, stick to your schedule as much as possible. Let your family and friends know that your business is important to you and that you work between the hours of __ and __. This will eliminate distractions and keep you on track. A home business does not work itself. You need to dedicate your time to working the business.
If you are a new business owner, I recommend that you educate yourself on advertising, marketing and networking a business. You can do this by reading several books or magazines related to having a home business.
Here are several ideas to get you started.
Advertising
When it comes to advertising your business online, you can purchase button and banner ads on a variety of web sites directed towards your niche. You could also place free and paid classified ads.
When it comes to advertising your business offline, you can do print advertising in newspapers and regional magazines. You can hang flyers and catalogs on neighborhood doors.
Marketing
When it comes to marketing your business online, you can hold online parties or participate in online Direct Sales vendor events. I also like to sponsor contests on heavily visited websites that my target market audience visits. Here is an example: If you sell kitchenware, try sponsoring a few contests on recipe and cooking websites.
When it comes to marketing your business offline, I recommend participating in some local events such as craft shows, flea markets and trade shows. I like to print up tip booklets pertaining to my niche that have my business information located inside the cover. I drop them off at local businesses so that they can hand them out for free to their customers. This is a great way to build up a local customer base.
If you like to write, I would recommend article marketing. You can write business articles, short stories and how-to tips and distribute your articles to online websites or offline magazines and newspapers.
Networking
Online networking can be time consuming but its worth the effort. I recommend that you join MySpace, Facebook, Linked-in, Ryze and Twitter. Go to any major search engine and you can find those groups.
Offline networking can be a valuable business experience. Join your local chamber of commerce and women business owners associations. Networking is all about building relationships with like-minded business owners
Just remember, like any business owner…You need to do the work! Once you get into the habit of working on your Direct Sales business consistently, you will see your business continue to grow.
