Need Extra Income In '09? Start Your Own Usborne Books Business

Only ONCE a year…for ONE MONTH only…Receive more time! Become an Usborne consultant in December, and receive a 16 week incentive period! That’s an additional 4 weeks to earn cash & books through our One-Step-at-a-Time Program. It’s a great way to start the New Year. Join now! >>>

• Earn money while working a flexible schedule
• Develop an incredible home library of books
• Promote the love of reading and learning
• Earn exciting bonuses, prizes and incentives
• No inventory required

NOW is the time to get your Jan and Feb Calendar Booked

Many people in the direct sales industry take the last half of December off. That is a perk of being in the direct selling industry. However, if you take this time off, you are going to miss out on a fantastic January.

Usually January can be a slow month in the direct sales industry. The reason? Because many took off those last two weeks of December. What direct sales reps don't realize is that this is a great time to be calling past customers, past hostesses, and those who expressed an interest in hosting a show. You have time to be calling all these people, because you are not doing shows during these two weeks. In fact, you could get the first quarter of 2009 totally booked if you really worked at it from now until we ring in the new year.

So what's is going to be? Are you going to take a vacation? Or are you going to work to Build Your Business Big?

Whew! Busy Fall and Some Thoughts about Building Your Direct Sales Business BIG

As an Usborne Books consultant, the fall can be a crazy, crazy time. There are book fairs to do, fall festivals to do, holiday home shows to do, and many other things. It's great! You can stay very busy. And very busy I am every fall.

So I thought I just didn't have the time to devote to Building Your Direct Sales Business Big. I'm starting to rethink that. There's so much information for me to share that I'd really like to help others be successful in their business too. I may not be able to do updates every day, but do stop on by frequently if you would like to learn other ways to build your business BIG.

Also, if you are looking for a home business of your own. Think about an Usborne Books business. If you have questions please email them to me at kristie@usbornesc.com. The economy doesn't seem to be hitting my Usbonre business at all. All sales were up at repeat events this fall. People are booking more and more home shows to earn free books too. It's definately a business you should consider.

15 Calls Challenge

Usborne is offering it's consultants a 15 Calls Challenge. All you have to do is complete 15 calls and you end up in a drawing for cash or free books (free books because that's our product).

Now for some, like me, this is an easy feat. But for others, and this is the purpose of the challenge, it's hard to do. The point of the challenge is to get people to complete 15 calls. A completed call is where you actually speak with someone, not just a dialed call to voice mail. By making 15 calls you will end up with business that you otherwise would not have had.

Usborne gave us just a week to complete the challenge. Again, for those of us who make lots of calls each day, this was a simple task. But this is a great way to get others to make calls. Those of you who manage your own team may want to come up with an incentive like this. It will encourage those who are more aprehensive to pick up the phone to do so.

Those of you who have a hard time sitting down and making calls - try this. Get out a sheet of paper and set a goal to complete 15 calls in 3 days. That's only 5 completed calls a day. Once 5 completed calls a day becomes easy for you, move your goal up to 7 a day. Keep at it and keep increasing your calls. You'll be amazed at how your business GROWS.

Consistency Will Help You Build Your Business Big

Well, I've taken a bit too much time off this blog, and am back and need to stay consistent with it. So with that said, I think I will mention how consistency is what will help you build your business BIG.

If you stay consistent in what you do with your business, it will thrive. Your business is like a child or a plant. It needs nourishment in order for it to grow. If you don't feed them they will die. If you don't work on your business, it will die.

For many, a home-based direct sales company is a part-time business. Many home business owners have a full-time job that pulls them away from spending as much time on their home business as they want to. So what can I do to keep my business consistent you ask?

Spend some time on your business each day. Even if you just spend an hour on it, you have fed your business some fuel.

Make at least 5 phone calls a day. This will keep your business in front of people. It will also help you to get some events booked, or recruits to sign up. If you do not make any calls, you will have no sales and no recruits.

Book at least one event per week on your calendar. Even if you just do one home show a week, you are building your business. You will have consistent sales, because you will have new sales each week. You will also book some shows off of those shows and probably recruit some people onto your team. By being consistent you will keep your business going.

(I have a lady on my team who is not a big hot shot with high dollar sales all the time, but she is my most consistent team member. She faithfully has a home show every single week. She is CONSISTENT. And because of that she has one of the most stable businesses on my team.)

Do some sort of income producing activity with your business each day. By income producing activity I mean: making phone calls, actively recruit, or doing an event such as a home show or booth. Organizing your files is not going to make you money, and that does not constitute income producing activity.

By following the four small steps I have mentioned above, you will be on your way to building a consistent, dependable business. Your business will also start making you more money! After all, isn't that why you started your business?

Building Your Buisiness With Booths - Part 4 of 4 - Follow Up on Leads

Usually most of the profit from your booth will come later via the leads you get at the event. You MUST followup on these leads. If you don't you are literally throwing money into the trash can.

After the booth make sure you contact the people you specifically told you would get back to. People remember when you say "Oh, I'll call you Tuesday." It doesn't add to your credibility NOT to call them when you say you will. People like to do business with people who honor their word.

There will also be the leads that people had filled out on the drawing slips. If I am talking with someone, I will usually write down some info on their drawing slip so I can remember who they are when I call them. You want to start following up on the leads immediately. The longer you wait, the colder they will get.

I like to send an informational email about the info they requested first. I send the email right away, and then call them a few days later.

When you call, remind them where you met: "Hi, this is Kris with Usborne Books. You had stopped by the booth we had at the State Fair and had indicated you were interested in earning free books by hosting a book show ....."

Call ALL the leads you have. You have to sift through the no's in order to get to the yes's.

Building Your Business With Booths - Part 3 of 4 - Your Booth Display

How you present yourself and your product at your booth is usually the first impression new customers get of your business. Make sure you set up a professional looking booth. You do not have to spend a fortune for it to look nice.

You will want to have at least one table to display your product on. The more product you have the more display space you will want. Cover the tables so they look nice. A simple flat sheet from Wal-Mart actually does nicely. This will keep your cost down. I know a lot of people who spend a lot on table clothes, of all things. You can throw the sheets in the dryer to unwrinkle them.

Arrange your product nicely and in some semblance of order. Have your company and product information readily available. Make sure you have all your contact information on your brochures. If you have sign or banner with our company logo that helps your booth stand out as people walk by.

Keep your booth open and inviting. Do not put a table across the front and just sit behind it. Invite people in to chat and look at your product. Listen to their questions. LISTEN. Don't overpower them and bore them with facts and figures. Listen, and answer their questions.

I recommend having a drawing to entice people to stop by your booth. Offer to give something away. Make up a drawing slip for them to fill out with information. Make sure it has a space for name, address, phone #, and email address. Ask a few questions on the drawing slip. Like on mine I have:

Would you be interested in earning free books for your family by hosting an in home book show?

Would you like more information on earning extra income promoting Usborne Books?

Are you interested in purchasing Usborne Books for your family?

Those drawing slips will become your leads. Treat them like gold because they are worth a lot of money. In Part 4 of Building Your Business With Booths I will go over how to follow up on those leads.

Main thing to remember when doing a booth event - stay upbeat and personable. If you sit in your booth and look bored people are not going to want to stop by.