Work at Home Community

Let’s take a good idea and make it better!

If you’re struggling to find enough targeted traffic (maybe
you’ve recently set up your website and are not yet indexed with
the search engines, or you simply don’t yet have a large enough
mailing list), here’s a selling method to help keep things
ticking over and your enthusiasm for your online venture high
while you work to get the rest of your sales infrastructure in
place.

We’re going to bring to the internet and the party plan together!

WHAT IS AN ONLINE PARTY ABOUT?

Essentially, if you work as a party planner, you use the networks that exist locally to sell directly to customers. You’ll typically begin by asking your family and friends to host “parties” i.e small gatherings of THEIR friends who would be
interested in buying a specific type of product.

You’ll meet in a private house for a couple of hours, and will introduce customers to the products you’re selling, explaining their benefits, features and the advantages of buying directly from you rather than a retailer.

At the end of your “presentation”, you’ll take orders from people who want to buy, tell people about upcoming events and organize dates for people who want to host parties for their own circle of friends, encouraging potential hosts with free gifts, discounts and other sales incentives.

You receive remuneration for your efforts by taking a commission on all sales achieved, or, if you’re selling your own product, by recouping all the income from your sales, less costs.

This is a tried-and-tested formula for selling which has existed for at least 45 years. It’s been particularly popular among women, since we have extensive informal networks which we can tap into in order to get a string of parties started.

With a few tweaks here and there, this is a selling method which is just MADE for stay-at-home moms. We can inject a little new life into our online businesses AND get out and meet people, while our kids are in kindergarten, school, or tucked up in bed
with our partners - something we perhaps forget to do as isolated webmasters!

Providing you’re selling products that will appeal to a broad
cross-section of the people in your community, you can use this
format to establish a selling network in much the same way as
traditional party planners do.

You don’t have to rely on selling the type of products that are
traditionally sold at these parties (e.g lingerie, kitchenware,
jewelry); you don’t even have to join a scheme which works on the
party plan system. You simply need the spirit to find the
opportunities which exist for people to make money by selling to
people they know, or know people they know!

WHERE AM I GOING TO FIND THE PEOPLE TO HOST ONLINE PARTIES?

Initially, you’re going to have to go out and ask! If necessary,
you can host the first few in your own home.

You’ll need to let your friends and family know what you’re doing
with your online business - chances are, they already know about
your business; now you just need to tell them that you’re
planning to sell directly. Make it really attractive for them to
throw a party - offer free or heavily discounted goods, even a
cut of your takings.

You’ll be surprised at how many networks or communities you
belong to;

- family
- personal friends
- neighbors
- parents at daycare, kindergarten or school
- sports club
- hobby groups
- church
- work (if you work outside the home)

You can also advertise your parties locally in shops and
newspapers in order to draw in people who don’t fall neatly into
your own network.

A successful party will always spawn another party, especially if
you let people know that you can run one for them. Everyone
knows someone other people don’t know, so you can very quickly
have a series of parties to present at!

WHAT EQUIPMENT WILL I NEED?

You can run an online party on a shoestring if you need to,
just so long as you have access to the internet during the party.

In an ideal world, you’d have your own notebook PC, so that you
can work confidently with a PC you’re familiar with, but using a
desktop at your host’s house will work just as well, so long as
it’s in a space accessible by the guests.

If you can afford it , you’ll do well to buy in a few samples.
People are more likely to spend if they see the products in real
life. Not only can they examine for quality, they form an
emotional attachment to the things that attract them, making them
want one for themselves a.s.a.p!

Use your affiliate links to purchase samples at a discounted
rate, or ask your merchant to consider supplying samples free of
charge. If this doesn’t work and you can’t afford to purchase
samples, see if you can get hold of some hard copy catalogs so
that your guests can view what interests them before accessing
the PC.

The one thing that you absolutely MUST have before you appear at
your very first party is a means of maximizing the chance that
guests will make any purchases through YOUR affiliate link. Many
people will want to buy on the spot, ordering on the PC before
they leave the party. Others may decide to order later, or may
simply have forgotten to bring a means of payment. If they don’t
have your link, they won’t purchase through you.

You need to prepare a list of relevant URLs for the guests. Be
sure that these are links which will give you credit. One way of
ensuring that guests order through your link rather than simply
by typing the home page of the merchant is to create a re-direct
from your own website to your affiliate URL. The link you give
the guests, will be to your own site. When they enter the URL,
they’ll be automatically re-directed to the affiliate page.

Once you’ve set up your re-directs, prepare them to hand out to
the guests. You can print them on a business card, or even a
sheet of paper. It doesn’t matter what you use, just make sure
the guests have SOMETHING.

Your link handout also needs to have three other pieces of
information which will help build your income:-

1. A link to your own mailing list sign-up page so that
guests have access to special offers (and you get another
opportunity to make a sale).

2. A link to any sub-affiliate sign-up URL if your affiliate
program offers you remuneration for sales made by affiliates in a
downline.

3. Your on and offline contact details so that guests can contact
you for help with ordering if they need to.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO AT THE PARTY?

You need to sell!

Actually, you need to provide solutions which will help the party
guests make their own lives easier or more enjoyable. By selling
the BENEFITS offered by your products, you’ll convince your
guests that a purchase of YOUR products is the right thing to do.

You need to be an enthusiastic ambassador for your products,
giving examples of how you and people you know have used them.
Do this, and you’ll sell!

Parties usually have a well-defined structure. Before you start,
outline how you anticipate things running, so the guests know
what to expect and how to “behave”.

You can start with a short presentation about who you are, what
you’re doing and why you’re doing it, including why you’ve chosen
to sell the products you do. Show them what you have on offer
using your samples, catalogs and the online stuff. Give them
the benefits, then offer details about ordering, shipping etc.

Be prepared to ask questions about anything from price to
returns policy. Your potential customers must feel that buying
from you is as easy and reliable as buying from the store in the
mall, but offers more choice and value for money.

When you’ve finished your presentation, invite guests to ask
questions if they haven’t already done so, to come take a look at
the stuff online and to order!

Ordering on the spot may be a little time consuming, but you
should encourage as many people to do so as is possible, so that
you get the sale there and then.

Make sure everyone has a copy of your link sheet so that the
stragglers get a chance to do it themselves at home, or to
contact you if they don’t have internet access.

Get into the habit of passing around a blank sheet of paper, and
asking guests to give you their e-mail address so that you can
place them on your mailing list. Do this rather than relying
on your link sheet to build your list - you’ll build much more
quickly if you take a proactive approach. Make sure you explain
what you use this list for and how you’ll protect the information
they give you.

Finally, ask if anyone wants to throw a another party! Let them
know about other ranges that you offer, what the incentives
there are to host a party, then sit back and wait for the
response!

You’re on your way!

Note: By: Erika Lawal