Strategies for Direct Sales Facebook Parties

Let's have a party! Facebook virtual parties can be just as effective, if not better than home, in person parties. It's easy to get this party started. I'm giving you some great ideas on how to make Facebook parties work for your direct sales, especially if you have been trying Facebook to promote and it's just not working the way you want.

Facebook is fussy. Many representatives in direct sales are finding Facebook advertising challenging or not providing the return expected. Some of this has to do with Facebook's policies and algorithms. Some of this has to do with content that the direct seller chooses to push. Part of the problem is that Facebook's "Events" feature is meant to promote live events, not virtual events. I think that's a design failure on Facebook's part, but that's neither here nor there.

Considerations when creating a Facebook party: Event, Guests, Content, Engagement. EGCE doesn't spell anything cool, sorry. CEEG or GEEC either.

Event

To create a Facebook party, first make sure you have a Facebook business page for your direct sales business. (Creating business events from a personal page can cause problems with Facebook because it may violate their terms of service). From your Facebook business page, Create a new, PUBLIC event. I cannot stress this enough. So many people create social media content that is hidden behind their privacy filter. Make your Facebook Events PUBLIC. Make your Instagram PUBLIC. No one can see your content if it's not.

The Event Photo should be carefully crafted. You want something visually interesting, not busy, and low on text overlays. Guests will see this as a small thumbnail at first, so make sure it represents your event in a visually stimulating way. Also, adhere to the 1920 x 1080 image size in your design.

Make your Event Name powerful and relevant.

The Location should say Virtual, or Online.

Date/Time can be a single date or a time frame. On one hand, a single, short event will create a sense of urgency with guests. On the other hand, a time frame of several days expands guest participation because they can jump in at any time. A single, several hours long event or a 2 or 3 day stretch are the ideals;  anymore than 5 days can get annoying.

Co-hosts is useful if you are partnering up with another representative, or if you have a hostess. Another trick for Co-hosts? Add yourself, and as many friends as are willing to "co-host". What this will do is broaden your invite reach. Keep the invites low-ish though, or it will be id'd as spam.

Ticket URL is meant to purchase real live tickets to a real live event. I'd like to say use the link to your estore here, but I have to admit I have not tested this, and I'm not 100% sure what the policies are. If I discover this information somewhere, I will surely update you!

Description is very important. Copywrite this carefully. Your description should give specific information about what guests will experience, as well as the products or product lines you will be sharing.

I would choose Community > Shopping as the Category. Just making your event goals transparent may increase participation. Do not mislead your guests.

Leave Only hosts can post on the event wall unchecked. You want people to post; conversation is engagement and engagement leads to sales!

Guests

You want as many guests to join your event as possible. Invite all of your friends, ONCE! Don't be a spammer. Have your co-hosts invite their friends, once.

Promote your event outside of Facebook, with the linky back to the Event page.

Send out reminders leading up to the event to encourage more people to jump in.

Content

Have a purpose when you create a virtual Facebook party. Are you trying to:

• Introduce a new product or product line?
• Create a community?
• Answer questions about your opportunity?
• Promote a specific campaign?
• Acquire new leads and customers?

Make sure you focus your content on that purpose. Answer questions about other products and services, if they come up, but make sure you have a niche focus for your party. Focus on one product, or a newly released product, or successes customers have had. Even make it a problem solving event, if multiple customers have had questions about something.

Engagement

Your shares are critical. Share content that is related to the focus of your Facebook party, and work to create guest engagement. If people are posting on the wall, asking questions, making comments, participating or responding, those crickets mean no sales for you.

Hold Party Games to Make Guests Feel Like Individuals

OK, so there is this social media concept called "gamification". Essentially, humans want to enjoy their experience, so when interaction is turned into a game, they tend to engage more. I'm not going to go into this in too much detail (yet) because I haven't learned enough about it, but the same idea holds true in educational settings. (If you have kids, ask them if they have ever played Kahoot! in school and see their reaction.) Get kids involved by making learning fun. Get adults involved by making social media fun. Have party games about your products and about your customers. Make the games personal and relevant to individuals. Make guests feel special. Bring them in, and make it about them.

Take a look at my list of Facebook Games!

Offer Promotions Coupled with a Call To Action

When people shop, they want products that will work for them, but they also want to feel like they are getting something special. Offer as many promotions and discounts as you can. Give them exclusivity. Encourage action based on losing the opportunity to a discount. "20% discount on x product, available only from 6pm to 7pm today!" or "Free shipping coupon code expires Tuesday. Order now."

Provide Explicit Product Images, Information and Instructions on How To Order

Sounds crazy, right? Sell more product and get more customers by saying, explicitly, THIS is my product, THIS is what it does for you, and THIS is how you can get it. Don' make potential customers hunt for how to buy, or work to get the products you are promoting. Engagement that leads to sales will decline if it's too hard for them. Make it super simple to spend money on what you are selling.

Want to promote more and get more sales? Go create a Facebook event, and engage your guests with great content!

6 Stepping Stones for a Successful Side Hustle

A side hustle is a small business you run on the side, or a part time entrepreneur gig. Everyone should have a side hustle that follows a passion. < if you love beauty, then a beYOUtiful business is perfect for you! > To make that side hustle really work for you, you have to get into the hustle mindset and set up a smart operation.

Play

Your side hustle should include your personal passions. Be sure you enjoy what you are doing. Make the side hustle a game. Create challenges for yourself, and compete with yourself to reach those challenges. Make this a gaming mindset - Today, I will network with 5 new people. Or, This week, I will make $500 in sales. Participate in incentive challenges. Have fun! This idea of gamification of the side hustle makes this work feel more like play and passion and less like, well, work. Goals become much more fun and achievable when goal setting, goal working and goal tracking is set up like a game. Customer loyalty cards (spend $100, receive $10 in product) carry this idea to your customer base. Runners always try to beat their last run time or distance. Imagine your side hustle as a series of marathons where you earn a “medal” for completing a specific marathon “goal”. If you enjoy playing games on your smartphone, consider the Proof! app which turns your side hustle into an app game. Find fun ways to self motivate and hold yourself accountable in order to reach your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly goals!

Flexibility

Sharp business people need to be able to adapt quickly. Be prepared for obstacles and have a plan ahead of time on how to navigate those obstacles. Work on building a toolkit that you can pull from when the moment arises that you need it. For example, if you are selling a product, make a list of objections ahead of time and then write your counter argument to each objection. In this way, you are prepared to respond immediately to the objection. Know your policies (or the policies of your mother company, if you have chosen a direct sales side hustle). Know your products and be ready to explain the benefits of your key product lines. Provide choices to customers. When you tell a customer that there is only one option, they will choose the “No” option. If you offer three different “Yes” options, they will likely choose one of those. Actively listen when customers speak, and seek solutions for their concerns. Present them with options they can use to solve a problem they are having; don’t lead with your needs, follow what they say with solutions for them. Be willing to try multiple paths. It is a good possibility that you will find success on one solid path at some point, and you can devote most of your efforts to that one path. Be flexible and open to the possibility that are multiple paths to a goal.

Resourcefulness

Be resourceful with spending. The less money you spend in your side hustle, the more profit you will see. True, you have to spend money to make money, but before spending look for alternatives, shop for discounts, ask around for help. Being resourceful and seeking low cost or no cost resources keeps your expenses low, and your profit high. Be resourceful when dealing with challenges. Finding creative ways to problem solve will prevent you from wasting time and money. If you encounter a problem, make a list of possible solutions. Which one is the least painful to implement? Be resourceful with situations. Instead of striking up a conversation with one person at the store, find a way to have contact with everyone you walk past, even if it means just making eye contact and smiling. Resourcefulness is optimizing every decision you make. As a part time venture, your side hustle means you probably have limited time, so use that time very thoughtfully.

Perseverance

A hustle means daily work. Every single day. For years. As many hours every day as you are able to commit. A few social media posts a week or a handful of knocks on doors a week will not make your business successful. In order to find success with your side hustle, you need to put your offer in front of as many people as possible. Put in the hard work, and do it daily. Take advantage of and leverage “down time”. Many will argue that it is perseverance that makes success happen. It is that “go getter”, “don’t quit” attitude. Go into your side hustle with a positive attitude. Think you will succeed and you will. There are always two outcomes to difficult situations: 1. you persevere and make it happen, or 2. you give up. Every time you persevere and work through a problem, you become stronger, more confident, more empowered. You learn from mistakes, you apply that learning to future situations and you improve. Perseverance requires daily discipline and developing habits. Use powerful side hustle habits like not sleeping in or staying up late, avoid distractions, take care of your body, mind and spirit, dedicating a specific chunk of time every day to your tasks. Always be working your side hustle.

Focus

We all know that small distractions lead to lost productivity. Don’t waste time on time wasters. Checking Facebook, sleeping late, watching tv shows, gossiping - are all serious time sucks. Don’t get pulled into the black hole of non-productive distractions. Managing time well is a critical piece to success. Effective time management incorporates scheduling, organization, list making, prioritizing, and leveraging “found time”. Maintain a calendar for all of your activities. Block out chunks of time for non-side hustle related activities and commit specific times to your side hustle. Then plan that time carefully. Organize sales materials, customer contacts, products, financials - all of it! Great organization saves time and contributes to more sales and better customer service. List making gives you huge advantages. Make lists of sales ideas, people to contact, content to create, skills to learn, training videos to watch, etc. Prioritize your actions to make the most efficient use of your time. What actions will give you the highest return for the least amount of work? That’s a good starting point. Using your lists, separate the wheat from the chafe. Pursue the actions that will give you the most benefit, and avoid doing meaningless, “busy work” tasks. Huge hint here: The more face time with people, the better! Connecting with your network should always be a top priority. Finally, take advantage of random found moments. Use those small bursts of found time to complete some of the smaller, lower priority tasks.

Relationships

Building relationships is the number one secret formula for success in business. Find people to network with, not sell to. Find women who need beauty solutions. Find customers wanting innovative products. People want to feel like people, not potential customers. Long term success depends on being friendly, likeable, trustworthy and helpful - consistently and reliably. Developing a social network that brings a financial return to your side hustle takes time and tact. You can’t push people to buy, they spend money on products they want when they are ready. Creating and nourishing those relationships takes patience and deliberate effort. It is critical that you genuinely care about your network, that you offer real value with your product/service, and that you persuade rather than push people into transactions. Only an authentic network will lead you to a sustainable side hustle.