Calendar For Greatest Profits

The Fall is such a great time to be selling on eBay – it is a wonderful time for moms to get started too. Back to school items are still selling
- although not quite as well as they did late July and earlier this month. But, even though BTS (Back To School) sales may start slowing down real soon – there is still plenty of time left in this selling season for children’s items.

If you are wondering what you should be listing for this highest profits…
I’ve put together a little calendar that goes through the rest of the year.

Enjoy!
Jenni

AUG: BACK TO SCHOOL – There are just a couple short weeks MAX left for great BTS auctions. Things to include are uniforms, Fall clothing – cardigans, jeans, khakis, shoes, backpacks, etc.

SEPT-OCT: COSTUMES – Costumes are incredible sellers this time of year!
You can pick them up used at yard sales or thrift shops for $1-2 and turn them around for $20-80+. Last year I picked up a bin of costumes for $5 and it was filled with Disney costumes and accessories… one costume was the Dizard of Oz Dorothy costume. I picked up some rubie slippers at our local thrift shop for $2 and the entire lot sold for $25 on eBay.

OCT-NOV: Holiday Clothing – parents want family pictures for Christmas cards… and many times they go out right after Thanksgiving… so they are shopping early for outfits for the kids.

OCT-DEC: TOYS!! This is THE best time for toy sales – you can pick up some of the hottest toys at your local stores that are sold out in other parts of the country and list them on ebay for some amazing profits! Toy sales sky-rocket after Black Friday because many stores are out of stock and desperate to find THE dream toy for their little ones.

Shouldn’t Publicists Know Better?

At Work at Home Moms Talk Radio we have provided a detailed Guest Media Sheet that gives anyone interested in an appearance the chance to pitch their idea and be considered.  We did this because frankly we received a lot of guest requests from people who weren’t at all suited for our show.  Work at Home Moms Talk Radio is about Working at Home – not parenting or cooking or sewing or reading or anything else.

Since the introduction of the media sheet we continue to get a fair number of requests that are unsuitable for our show.   Either they’re not reading the media sheet or they’re not understanding it.

Our instructions are simple.  First the media sheet instructs you to make sure that your pitch is work at home related.  Then we ask for a topic idea, suggested questions, their business info, phone number and headshot photo.  

This past week we received a  complex bio/one sheet/question list/topic choices media kit from a publicist.  It was great, but after reviewing the info it was clear the guest she was pitching was not work at home related.

My VA replied to her to please review the media sheet to learn more about what we’re open to so she could pitch future guests who would be a better fit.

She emailed us back right away saying that she HAD read our media sheet but wanted to go ahead and pitch the guest anyways because ‘It doesn’t hurt to ask’

But it does!  It does hurt to ask us to consider a guest that clearly isn’t suitable for our program! 

• She wasted my VA’s time (which I pay for)
• She wasted her time (which I assume someone is paying for)
• She annoyed me by disrespecting my wishes and ignoring the very instructions that I took a lot of time to put together to make her and other people’s job easier.

I’m sure that she saved some time by blanketing the radio world with her pitch without care or concern for whether her emails were targetted or not.

Don’t make her mistake.  Do take the time to pitch targetted topics for appropriate programs.  You’ll get more interviews and have a high chance of being invited back.

Get a Little Closer…Now Don’t Be Shy

I recently had a disagreement with someone who said that you shouldn’t share personal stories with your subscribers and that you should be professional and stick with business only. Actually, I’ve had this disagreement a number of times in my online career.If you’re going for the full on corporate image, you might hold back the reigns a little more tightly, but being personal is how you gain trust and show that you’re a company run by real flesh and blood humans that have real-life experiences and valid opinions. Of course, don’t go yammering on endlessly about taking your dog to the pet spa, but there are many instances when stories are a perfect fit for a newsletter. Here’s a few:

- Stories are good learning experiences, especially when they relate to the topic of your newsletter. For example, if you have a motivational newsletter and you went swimming with the sharks on the weekend…personally, I’d think you’re crazy…but that story can relate to what you’re saying.

- Stories show that you are walking-the-walk and are knowledgeable about what you do. For example, if you have a parenting website and you share your experiences with your own children, it shows you are living what you’re talking about.

- Stories can illustrate how you used a product that you are recommending; your honest experience will go a long way.

This allows your subscribers to relate to you. If you can find some common ground between you and your subscribers, they will feel like they know you, trust you more and turn to you for advice and recommendations. And isn’t that what Internet marketing is all about?

Direct Selling Leadership According to Harry Potter

Hello Everyone!

In today’s post, I thought I would share two very important things you need to know about me: 1) I am a Harry Potter junkie and 2) I am fascinated by lessons in leadership.  As we get to know each other over the coming weeks, months and years, you will hear about both of these topics and how they relate to my business and the businesses of Direct Sellers.  So here it goes!

I am such a Harry Potter fanatic that I’ve even been sorted (into to Gryffindor, thank goodness) AND I just finished reading the last one for the second time.  What is it about these books that is so mesmerizing? They are wonderfully written, that is for sure. But to me, they are jam-packed with business and life lessons that are wonderfully insightful. Here are five of my favorites that can apply to anyone in business, but most especially those who are or want to be in a leadership position in their direct selling company: 

1. Courage looks a lot like fear
Every time Harry must face Lord Voldemort or one of his cronies, he never feels particularly brave. In fact, he is downright terrified. He knows that he is facing a wizard with far more power, skill and training than he could ever hope to have. Does that means he just gives up and says,”I’m scared, so I’ll just throw down my wand and call it a day”? Nope. He feels afraid, keeps his wits about him and celebrates victory after victory, while He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named scratches his head at being outsmarted. 

2. Even heroes and celebrated leaders aren’t perfect
Dumbledore admits time and again, how imperfect he is. He tells Harry that he’s made mistakes; mistakes he regrets. Harry himself is about as imperfect a hero as there is. He’s moody, grumpy, confused and without a plan most of the time. What makes Dumbledore and Harry great is that fact that they admit their weaknesses (eventually) instead of trying to hide them or pretend they don’t exist. This is called “transparency” and is a critical quality in any successful business leader. 

3. In the end, arrogance will defeat anyone looking simply for fame and glory
Voldemort thought he was all-knowing and all-powerful and that Harry was simply “lucky”. In his supreme arrogance, he overlooked the power and magic of Love because it seemed too trivial to be bothered with. By failing to grasp that Love (and I mean the real, true kind, not the fake kind and I know you know the difference) gave Harry his protection and his power, he sealed his own doom. 

4. A leader is only as great as the glue that holds the team together
Voldemort’s team was built on fear. Fear of not measuring up, fear of not doing enough to gain his favor, fear of doing the wrong thing. The consequence for falling out of favor with this guy was certain death. Now there’s some motivation for you! Harry, by contrast, built his team based on love and loyalty. He chose unlikely companions in Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna. They weren’t the most popular, sparkling, successful kids in school – far from it. But they understood things like encouragement, bravery, loyalty, humility, persistance and most of all – love. And it was love that pushed Harry to walk out into battle prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to save all that mattered to him. Which team would you want to be on?  

5. There are some battles – usually the most crucial – that a leader can only fight alone
Okay, so the team we choose matters and the environment we create for them matters. And those elements can take a leader and her cause a long, long way. But then, because we love our team so much, there are battles we know we must fight alone. We could hide behind them or let them do the work, fall in battle and take the blame. Voldemort does it all the time. But not Harry. He willingly steps up to the plate and faces a battle he knows only he can fight (well, he’s almost alone, but I won’t spoil that part!). He puts himself on the line and is prepared to bear the consequences because, ultimately, that is what a good leader does.  

So there you have it. Five of my favorite direct selling business leadership lessons from Harry Potter. There are more to be sure. If you find yourself thinking these don’t apply to you or your world, think again. Anyone who knows the struggles of being a leader has much to learn from a boy wizard named Harry Potter.

If you are looking a set yourself apart as a leader, I invite you to check out Profit, Purpose and Beyond: a Nine Week Virtual Speakers Series for Direct Selling Leaders.  T. Harv Eker, Les Brown, Tom Barrett, Cynthia Kersey, Michael Port, Kim Fulcher, Kristie T., Marcia Wieder and John Fleming will be presenting in an intimate setting just to direct selling leaders and they will answer your most pressing questions!

Visit www.profitpurposeandbeyond.com

Mission: Computer Organization

Well it seems like Annette’s question really opened up a nice can of worms. As you can imagine, the more organized our computer is, the faster you can find what you need and this will lead to more efficient use of your precious time.

So, here is your mission should you choose to accept it (hee hee queue the Mission Impossible Music)

Take a look at the thread about Computer Organization and see if there is something listed there (either in my answer to the question or in the many comments that were posted) that you can do to ultimately save you some time and sanity while at your PC. Whether it is deleting old files, placing old files on a CD or totally revamping your folders and sub-folders, I want you to join our mission.

It will be easy, fun and very satisfying!

So take a moment to post what it is that you are committing yourself to do then come back and check in with us during the process or after the process is complete and let us know what you did, how you did and how you feel about it.

Aurelia

Blogging Idea: Revisit Your Old Posts

This is such a fun thing to do especially when you have no idea what to blog about for the week. If you have been blogging for a while, it will simply amaze you how much you’ve put out and how good some of those posts are. You’ll also notice topics that are good candidates to be re-hashed.

Also, don’t forget to scroll a bit down to your comments and show your commentors some love. Did they say something particularly smart, or thoughtful? Highlight them. You can either put together a list of the funniest or best comments. Or start a whole new blog post based on the comments.

By the way, if you have a question, send them in. Looking forward to answering yours.

Welcome a New Mom to Podcasting

Chele Neisler is the newest Podcast Host at Mom’s Radio Network as she has taken the lead of Moms Love Shopping, a fun podcast all about what moms do a lot of: Shopping!

Chele is a perfect fit for the show in many ways.  First, she likes to gab and that’s a key requirement for any momcaster.  Second, she enjoys shopping.  And Third, she runs a business from home where people shop for great personalized items.

The decision to get involved with this show came after a conversation with me about her interest in podcasting.  She wanted something to do that was different from everything else she puts her hands to day in and day out.

Even though her initial goals are to have fun, I believe that the podcast will end up benefiting her business.  Why?  Because it will increase her visibility – and the topic is so complimentary.  When you talk about shopping, you feel like going shopping – and Chele will be able to make natural references to her own products on the show.

As a work at home mom advocate, I’m thrilled about the new show because we’ll have ample opportunity to promote WAHM created products.

So what about you mom?  Shouldn’t you be podcasting too?

From The Mailbag: Organizing Computer Files

Q: Annette asks — How do you recommend people organize the files on their computer? I’m a writer, which means that I have many clients and many projects and I also am a bit freaky about having an organized computer. The trouble is, I’m constantly in a state of reorganizing, always convinced that there must be a better way:-)

A: What a great question! 1st I want to say that there is no right or wrong way to organize your computer files as long as you can find what you are looking for in a timely manner. If you are having a problem finding the documents that you need when you need them, then I would say that you need to get a new system into place.

In Annette’s case (and for others that work for many clients) I can’t express how important it is to make good use of creating “Folders” . Most people create folders in their ‘My Documents’ folder (which is often the default directory for saving documents.)

Be sure to create a folder for each client that you work for/with and within that folder you can create subfolders to keep everything organized.

For example — let’s say that I am your client. You would go into your ‘My Document’ folder (or wherever you keep your documents) and create a folder called ‘Aurelia Williams’ and within that folder you can then create subfolders for jobs, and projects of mine that you are working on. You can also add a subfolder for my invoices.  Basically, any file that has to do with me would go into that folder or related subfolder.  This way when it is time to concentrate on the work you need to get done for Aurelia, you are literally 2 clicks away! The beautiful thing about this is that lets say you have 30 clients (YAY) you can name a folder for each client and you can easily find the folders because you can sort them alphabetically.

For other things such as your personal documents, I suggest the very same method. Create a ‘Annette’s Personal Folder’ (or something of that nature) and place your personal files in there (i.e. your budget spreadsheets, resume’s..etc). Just be sure that you think about the title of the folder before you create it and name it appropriately.

Also, learning when to let go of and combine folders and or documents is key. Go through your documents at least every three – six months and give them a good cleaning up. Set up new folders and combine like items into them. When you go to create a document, don’t let it sit there without a home, place it in a folder (smile). There of course are some files or folders that you may want to keep on your desktop if you use them frequently but for the most part – using folders and sub-folders inside the My Documents folder is the key to great computer file organization!

Hope that helps :)

From the Mailbag: Shoestring Marketing Online

Wow, I love all these questions, keep them coming! Today’s question comes from Lisa, who asks:

Q: “How can you market online on a shoestring budget? Thanks so much!!!!”

A: There are plenty of moms out there who find themselves wanting to start a business online, but without the funds they need to make it all happen at once. That’s ok, not many people start out with thousands or even hundreds of dollars to invest in a business. That’s one of the reasons many want to begin their own business in the first place, right?

Depending on the type of business you want to start, your costs may be very little or a bit higher than others. But here are a few basics for starting a business online.

Domain Name
If you’re going to work online, you’ll definitely need to register a domain name for your website. For less than $8 a year, you can register your own .com domain name at Internet Based Moms Domains & Hosting

Hosting
In order for your website to be “seen,” you’ll have to purchase hosting space. You can get hosting for as little as $15 per quarter at Mom Webs

Website Building Software
If you don’t already have and know how to use a website building software such as FrontPage, have no fear, there are options available that don’t include paying an arm and a leg for a professional web designer. You can easily set up a professional looking website quickly by trying the 10-day free website builder trial over at Internet Based Family.

If you’re running your business online, there are always option for low-cost and free promotion. Although I always recommend you invest into your business as you grow, you don’t have to open your wallet to make things happen. Connect with others working in the same market as you – perhaps you can work together for cross promotion. Learn about using content to generate leads for your business. Internet Based Moms is a wealth of resources on a variety of promotional ideas, so dig in and get learning – then take BIG action.

From the Mailbag: Contests & Giveaways, How to Get Prizes?

I received the following question from a reader named Mel and thought I’d answer it here because it’s a great question and many online business owners find their blogs are a great way to market themselves and their business.

Q: “Many blogs are offering free giveaways/draws. You know the enter your email address and receive a chance to win or blog about this contest and link back to the contest post in order to submit your request to win. Sounds like a great way to generate traffic and interest. They can’t be funding all the giveaways by themselves, so how do they do this?”

A: There are many companies out there willing to provide prizes in exchange for the promotion. I know the next question is, but where do you find them, right?

Talk to fellow mom business owners and don’t be afraid to approach bigger companies even though they may seem “out of your league.” Thinking you’re not a big enough business, you haven’t been around long enough, etc. etc. is a whole other post on it’s own. Many companies are happy to provide free products in return for the word of mouth and potential products.

Tell them what you are thinking of doing, how you will help spread the word about their business and go from there.

Important Tip:

From my own personal experience, I recommend getting the prizes in your hand prior to the giveaway and ship them out to your winners. I’ve had trouble with sponsors in the past not coming through, which left me with a winner but no prize. By having the person or company donating the prize send it to you, you can be sure you have it BEFORE you announce the contest or giveaway. Plus, you can add your own promotions to the prize box as well before mailing it off.

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