AVON - Learn From My Mistakes - Do NOT Give Credit!

AVON Reps - Do NOT Give Credit!

People have been wondering what happened to this AVON Tips blog. I was a top sales leader in AVON with over 22 representatives, and it all came crashing down at Christmas one year after a series of fatal business mistakes. I hope by sharing my business mistakes, other AVON leaders and representatives will not end up in the same kettle of fish that I did.  This is my first post in my "learn from my mistakes blog posts. Despite some warning me not to give credit, I did. How on earth did this happen?

AVON and Social Media Marketing

AVON’s Advertising Policy Encourages Social Media Marketing

Last year AVON brought out a new advertising policy stating what Independent AVON Representatives could and could not do as far as advertising is concerned. Last Week’s webinar sent several Higher level Reps scrambling as they hurried to pull down dot com sites which were in direct violation of AVON’s advertising policy. Other Reps who were new to AVON and had not had the opportunity to read the policy, were in a tizzy about what exactly the policy allows and does not allow.
One thing the Advertizing policy specifically encourages is the use of Social Media Marketing. AVON Representatives are allowed to sell products through Social Media sites. A Social Media site is one in which the participants must sign in as a member. Two such sites recommended in the advertising policy are Twitter and Facebook.
This article addresses 10 key factors for businesses starting to use Social Media for marketing their businesses. I reblogged this from a great article in the online version of Entrepreneur Magazine.

A quick guide for business based on “10 Rules for Social Media Marketing” by Susan Gunelius

Social media marketing can help build an audience, and customer base dramatically.  However, starting without a roadmap can make it confusing.
Using these 10 tips will help us better serve our clients,brand, and more importantly our bottom line. Not just with AVON, but in our other businesses as well.These 10 tips can help us make the best use of our social media time, rather than flailing around in the dark.
1. Listen Up!  We have two ears and one mouth -use the same proportion in social media discourses. Listen to find out what is important to your target audience by reading what they have to say, and joining discussions. When we know what people need, then we can offer info that adds value instead of clutter. Then keep listening , to gauge how your work is received.
2. Focus Makes more Committed Followers
Specializing rather than being a jack-of-all-trades helps build a strong brand. In the fast-paced Internet, a persona focused on one thing, helps people to categorize  and organize their connections. This is one reason some people will develop separate identities for different purposes.For example an AVON Lady persona, a gardening granny, and a savvy sewer would be giving different info to different people.
3. Follower Quality vs Quantity .While it is possible to purchase followers, having quality online connections who chat with you about your info is better than people who pop in, then disappear.
4. Be Patient Content Marketing and Social Media usually require long haul commitments. Rarely does success happen overnight, so stay the course and celebrate small achievements..

5. Quality Content Increases Spread. When people find content they love, word can spread like wildfire. You will find it referenced by people on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, their own blogs and more. This creates more for search engines like Google to point at, which in turn can grow to hundreds and thousands of potential new clients.
6. Know your Influencers Who are people listening to in your market? Find out who has an audience that would be interested in your product or service. Connect with those influencers , and build relationships with them. Get on their radar with interesting,useful information that shows your knowledge, so they have something to share with their own followers. Sharing this type of info can putting your business in front of a huge new audience.
7. Bring Something of Value.  Spend more time on creating helpful, interesting content, and developing relationships with online influencers than  promoting products and services.  Constant promotion causes people to tune out. Gradually, online influencers will spread the word about what you have helped them achieve.
8. Use Your Manners Just as you wouldn’t snub someone who greeted you on the street, acknowledge everyone who reaches out to you online. Build relationships to bring social media marketing success. Your courtesy will bring referrals from the most unlikely places at times.
9. Don’t Disappear Be consistent in publishing content and sharing conversations. Online Followers can be fickle and will drop you like a hot potato if you disappear for weeks or months. If you will be off-grid for a while, try to leave a note to let people know what’s happening.
10. Golden Rule Want people to say something nice about your business or share your content? Budget some time to focus on sharing, and talking about content others publish.The Golden Rule applies strongly in Social Media.
By and large, Social Media Marketing success lies in being less self-centered, and more focussed on the needs of clients. When you think of it- isn’t that what truly successful marketing is all about?
Hope this was a useful article for you with your business. Questions? Click”Post a Comment” below to leave me a confidential message. Your Questions or comments will only be published with your permission. If this article was as clear as mud, let me know so I can rewrite it. Remember, all members of Future Dynamics get free web help!
Are you a member of  Future Dynamics? Click here for more tips on enhancing your sales with online marketing.
Read the original article by Susan Gunelius CEO of KeySplash Creative Inc., on Entrepreneur. (Accessed Mar.1,2011).

AVON Canada Launches New InfoClick

InfoClick AVON Canada’s new eNewsletter for Reps, highlights news from AVON Canada’s Rep Cafe. Often, with our busy lives reps don’t take the time to login and visit the AVON Canada Rep Cafe, and sometimes reps don’t even realize it even exists.I  hope you received your copy of the New InfoClick in your inbox this morning, and it didn’t end up in your junk folder. I think this will be a helpful tool and make it easier for reps to find the AVON Canada Rep Cafe without having to login to read it. How do you think this tool will help you with your business?
This first issue of InfoClick contains:

• A note from Kristina Swift (head of leadership) guest editor for the first InfoClick
• A link to leadership tips from an Advanced Unit leader in Alberta-some great ideas here!
• Highlights of the PC Council Members and Senior Executive Unit Leaders trip to Costa Rica this year.
• Link to info on the fabulous prizes we can win when we put in orders in C6,7, and 8.

Are You a Member of Future Dynamics? Click HERE for more tips on growing your business.

 

Finding Direct Sales Leads:Over 40 Ways

Direct Sales Lead Generation Tips

Wondering how to find more direct sales leads? Deb Bixler has a list of over 40 ways to get direct sales leads other than at a home party.Here are a few from her list at Create-a-Cash-Flow-Show, There are probably more than 40 ways to find leads outside of your home party shows check out her full list, and see if you can add some more. These tips and ideas will work in any business even if you do not depend on the party plan business model.  Here are the first 10 from her list:

Test Driving AVON

Would you by a car without a test drive?
Of course not!
This great idea, was in the AVON on Facebook widget we have in our private members area Are You a Member of Future Dynamics? Click HERE for more tips on growing your business. This note was posted by Christine Chisholm Strickland,,an  AVON Representative in the USA, and was posted in a home party forum, perhaps you know someone who would like to take AVON for a test drive? Pass this note along to them. Here’s the note (with a few Canadian tweaks.)

Success Tips: Renewal Intentions, Teamwork

Better Biz through Renewal, Intentions and Teamwork :Entrepreneurial Woman Magazine

This great article comes from Entrepreneurial Woman Magazine. It shows how working together with great team members like ours can lead to greater success. What do you think we can do to make our team even better?
By Tracey Ehman on Feb 14 2011 • Filed under Business
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The start of the year is always a time for renewal – a time when many struggle to make New Year’s resolutions, with the intention to keep at least one of them. But I think that many people are like me; they don’t make resolutions anymore, because they rarely, if ever, keep them. Instead I use the beginning of every month to set intentions and break up what could be called resolutions into small bite-sized pieces.
That being said, the start of a new year always makes me think of new things to try and new goals. The best way to do that is to revisit what you have achieved and what went well in the year before. In 2010, I was able to almost triple my client base. I took several courses to increase my knowledge and the level and quality of service I could offer my clients.
I found great support from other business owners, and learned from them as well. As I look back on what has been one of the toughest years of my life, I can see how much I have accomplished, and how much having support of others made it go much more smoothly than anticipated, and it only moves me to create an even better 2011.
How can you achieve more in 2011? Take a look back at 2010. Examine what worked and

AVON Celebrates 125 Years- Sales Advice Feb.1906

AVON launches new virtual museum. Check out these sales tips from 1906!



AVON Selling Tips February 1906
Time’s up for sleeping! Time to look after your best interests and retain your December clients by giving them “good service”.

 In 1906, the California Perfume company recommended SOAP as being the best seller in February as “soap is indispensible in every household..whether cottage or mansion.” Another product suggested was

Attraction: Scent Effects

Using scent affects perception. What effect does your client want to achieve?
Want to appear younger? Thinner? More sexually attractive?
Dr. Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago has conducted numerous tests on the effects of scent on men and women. Can you match the scent with the effect produced in Dr. Hirsch’s studies?

Show us Your Vision Board Contest!

Vision boards help clarify and focus goals. The last AVON leadership webinar briefly touched on creating vision boards. Create your vision board and upload a picture of it or bring it to our next meeting to win a special prize!  Join our team today!
Try these steps to creating your own VISION BOARD for 2011:

1. Visualizing: Sit in a comfortable position, take a few deep breaths let everything become still, and focus on your breathing. When you are focussed and calm, ask yourself: What is my bucket list? How do I feel about my life’s course? Where do I want to go? What big and small things do I want to accomplish in 2011? What would bring me utter joy, peace and happiness in 2011?

What is your Favourite AVON Product?

Just about everyone has a favourite AVON product. What’s yours?

Read how you can use your favourite AVON products to expand you business in our members only blog : Team Corner.

Please let me know if you can’t get in and I will send you another invitation.  Suzanne

Unit Leader: Future Dynamics

Facebook Following

Click here to follow my AVON business page on Facebook. Click here to make your own FREE Facebook page.
People like to go where other people are. One way to develop more followers and get your name out there is by participating in a Facebook Following train.
I just took part in my first Facebook page following train, hopping from page to page leaving a comment and link on each one. Basically you add your blog or link to the list, then  visit the other links on the list “Liking” the pages and leaving a comment with a link to your page. The Facebook Following Train used a “Linky Blog Hop” tool with people putting a link to their Facebook Fan page instead of their Blog.
While the comments I left were not terribly awe-inspiring, I did take the time to check out sites and search for an adsense ad I was interested in and give it a click. It cost me nothing, I found some interesting products, and KA-CHING!adsense put .02 in their adsense account. (I think of it as a hostess gift.) When a visiting a site, please don’t go click happy or waste your time on uninteresting ads, just pick the one which most interests you, this may help improve the quality of ads seen on the internet.
If you would like help setting up a Facebook Fan page for your business, or information about making money with Google adsesnse contact me.
It was quite informative, seeing how others arrange their Facebook pages, and seeing the variety of topics people are writing about. It was also great to get some comments on my page, so it doesn’t feel as if I’m strictly in a conversation with Me, Myself and I.  Now I have yet another list of items I wish to learn in greater depth. Hopefully some of my new writer friends will help me out. This is the list of pages I visited:

Make Print Advertising Pay Off

Print advertising (business cards, flyers, banners, vehicle signage) pays off when you have a call to action focused on your highest paying activity. Whether you print your own business promotional tools, use free samples from VistaPrint Canada who offers Free Business Cards, Free business Cards Magnets etc. or have print materials created at a local printer like NPMedia Business Solutions, have a call to action in all your materials consistently focused on your HPA.

What action is most likely to bring you business? A phone call? Email? A visit to your website or blog? Following you on Facebook or Twitter? Whichever it is, make it the predominant focus of your materials.

Even on VistaPrint Canada , you can tweak standard business cards to your liking, by ignoring field labels and inserting information you want. No Fax? Make the phone number field into a directive: “Call today!” and place your phone number in the fax field. Need help navigating Vista Print’s site? Give me a call.

So Stop scratching your phone number on a dirty napkin! Get 250 biz cards FREE! from Vista Print, grab some blank business cards from the dollar store, or pick up the phone and call Suzanne Castell at NP Media Business Solutions 705-799-8080 and get the word out today!

Deal of the Day-AVON’s Best Kept Secret?

Reps who register for online epromotions get a ‘Deal of the Day” each day in their mailbox. How do you use these amazing deals to build your business?
Here are a few ways some reps share deals of the day.

1. Hit forward and send them to your contact list of people who have said they would like to receive daily deal alerts.(after a few easy tweaks)
   
2. Copy and paste a link to picture of the deal on Facebook, Twitter etc.
   
3. Call clients who have ordered these items in the past and offer them a deal.

What ideas do you have for using the Deal of the Day?
Here’s how to do each of the above. If it’s clear as mud let me know so I can improve my writing!
Forwarding eMails

Generate Extra Site and Blog Income

Did you know anyone can have a blog or website and generate extra income from it besides through your services or products? There are many different ways of doing this.
To make money from your site at all, it comes down to  how many visitors it targets and receives, which in turn affects its ranking. Monetizing your blog and website could generate extra income for you or your business, however, it isn’t a get rich overnight scheme.
To generate income, your website needs visitors. Make sure your website is easy for search engines to find and categorize both within your site and from outside your site.
Social media, such as twitter, or facebook, is a great way to get targeted traffic to your website or blog. Social Media, also helps build trust and credibility with your brand name and services. This trust and credibility can translate into thousands of people  marketing your products and services for you. Just as the more offline contacts you have increases your profits; so too are profits increased by more online visitors.
Here are some different ways having more visitors to your site can help you get extra income. Some of these methods require you to have a certain number of visitors, while others are open even to “Newbies”. I’ve ordered the following list from least number of visitors up.
Google Adsense: Blogger makes it simple to put Google Adsense ads on your blog. Just click the “monetize” tab and follow the steps. If you don’t have a Blogger blog, sign up for a Google Adsense account and place Google ads on your website or blog. Google search engines generate ads that are relevant to your content and you are paid every time someone clicks on one of the ads.
Video : “Google Adsense” pay per click ads have been integrated into YouTube. Place these  videos on your blog  and when someone clicks on an ad on the video, you get paid. Thenewsroom.com, another service, allows you to find and embed videos on your website. When these news videos containing ads are played you are paid a flat-rate CPM (cost per thousand plays).
Ghost Writing: Many businesses realize the importance of blog content , but don’t have time or skills to write. You can offer a solution to them by writing for their blog.
Text Links are somewhat controversial. Once your blog has a decent ranking, you can sell one-way text links to webmasters who have niche relevant websites. If you are selling text links it is best to use “no-follow” tags .  Some companies are open to “Newbies”
Affiliate Marketing: Place ads on your site and be rewarded each time a person makes a purchase, or completes a lead form.  This includes companies like Amazon and other affiliate campaigns. Amazon.com makes is easy to add to blogger blogs and open to Newbies, where as other affiliates will require you to have a larger number of page views.
Blogging: Offer to write postings on your own blog. This can include product reviews and postings with links to sponsored websites.Some firms offering writing assignments include: PayperPost, Review Me and LoudLaunch. Here again, the rate you will receive can depend on the number of people viewing your site.
These are just a few ways you can generate extra income with your website or blog. For more information about monetizing your site or search engine optimization to increase the visitors to your website or blog, leave a confidential comment below.

AVON Sales Model Inspires New Solar Company in Uganda

 Solar Sisters, a new solar entrepreneur program, is using Avon's social sales model to spread solar powered lamps across Uganda. The following article drew my attention, and I’m wondering how we might apply the author’s observations to our businesses:

Did you know energy and cosmetics have a lot to do with gender? According to Alex Aylett ,author of Solar Sisters: The Avon Lady of African Renewables, Solar Sisters uses the special place women have as procurers and managers of fuel use to take on the social, environmental and economic impacts of energy poverty.

In developing countries,women are primarily responsible for gathering, purchasing and using household energy: wood, coal, kerosene or gas. Smoke from using these fuels indoors causes serious long term health problems. In addition, poorer households have pay more for energy costs.

Solar Sisters approach to these issues is simple: they sell two different solar lamps (a basic model, and a larger one that also recharges cellphones). The lamps can replace both kerosene lights and long trips into urban areas to get phones recharged.

Katherine Lucey, former banker and founder of Solar Sisters, explains the multiple benefits of the lamps:

“With solar, they don’t have to breathe in tadooba toxic fumes. When they look at the black walls of their house, they realize that if the walls are black, the inside of their lungs are black...Economically, it makes sense because within two months, they they'll recover the cost of having to buy kerosene. This immediately frees up 20 percent of their income.” From a recent ChangeMakers article

Oxford business professor Linda Scott argued last year that the Avon model might  be better then microfinance when if comes to lifting women out of poverty. Initial results from research that she has been doing in South Africa show it to be more accessible than microcredit and well suited to dynamics of local communities.

Lucey claims for female entrepreneurs working for Solar Sisters, the lamps offer a rare economic opportunity and can bring in up to US $450 a year. Solar Sisters covers the upfront costs of the women's first solar light inventory, then they use their earnings to purchase more inventory.

The biggest hurdle may be the price of the lamps themselves. The two models sell for US$15 and US$45. Although the price for the lamps be out of reach for many families Solar Sisters blog points out how one community collectively financed their purchases (something also done for livestock and other larger purchases). After 2 months the lamps have paid for themselves in money saved in reduced energy purchases, then continue to save a family about 20% in their energy costs.

Solar Sisters is a promising project – and the image of solar “Avon Ladies” spreading across Africa is hard to resist. Solar Sisters is addressing the same issues as the impressive Indian Barefoot Solar Engineer program. That program's success depended both on a clear understanding of women's roles as energy managers and on a smart approach to financing.

Alex notes:For Solar Sisters to really take off, I have a feeling that they will take the lessons learned from their early clients' community financing arrangements and build them directly into their business model.

Now how can we apply this information to our businesses? Click here to go to our members’ discussion forum.

Writing Articles May Bring More Business

Want to establish a web presence? Establish your validity? Get more clients or site traffic?  Writing online may be the answer. On Helium, you can choose to write product reviews on a number of given topics, or simply write about what interests you. I recently wrote a product review for an AVON Planet Spa Product. Check it out!
Click HERE to register on Helium.
Here’s to YOUR Success!
Here is some info from Helium’s site that may interest you:

Reasons to Join Helium

Helium is a knowledge co-operative where our writers are also our editors who read and rate every article on the site.

• At Helium, we believe that everyone can contribute what they know to share with millions of readers around the globe.
  
• At Helium, we believe readers want a choice of viewpoints – not just one opinion on any subject.
  
• At Helium, we believe publishers need an easier, more efficient way to get the content they need.

At Helium, great writing rises to the top. And great writing reaps great rewards.
Helium’s best writers earn cash through:

• Upfront Payments for contributed work
  
• Daily revenue share
  
• Writing contests

Our best writers are recognized through:

• Citizen Journalism Awards
  
• Published articles through Marketplace
  
• Professional journalism organizations

Build your Business at local Business Meetings

Attending local business functions and meetings can bring you success in your business as you tap into the needs of other business owners. John Rich points out in his book, “Beyond Relationship Marketing”,  that most people at networking events are in sell mode. When you attend a networking event , present yourself as a problem solver. Listen to what is being said , or not said , ask for their information and business cards, then follow up with connection solutions. Here’s to YOUR success!
What possibilities can you see at the following event listing?

DBIA Breakfast Network & Annual General Meeting (2010/10/20)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010 in the Fireside Lounge, Empress Gardens, 131 Charlotte St. (please use Water St. entrance). Breakfast buffet begins at 7:30am, Annual General Meeting at 8am. $3 nominal charge for breakfast. The public is invited to attend. Door Prizes courtesy of Knock on Wood, Titles Bookstore, Empress Gardens and Peterborough Symphony Orchestra. Seating is limited. Please RSVP at 748-4774 or info@peterboroughbia.com (From the DBIA Peterborough)
See more Peterborough Business events HERE.

Introduce Customers to something New!

Here’s a great tip we picked up from a top sales person in Toronto: When something is on sale,for a fabulous deal, like the new platinum trial sizes for 1.99. Pick it up! Give it as a gift to customers who aren’t using that product line yet. It is important to give new products to customers as gifts, rather than products they are already ordering.This rep gave the the example of purchasing the foot works at 1.99-gave 14 as gifts-resulting in 6 people loving the product and ordering it on a regular basis. The important part, she said is giving a follow-up call to ask how they liked the product. The new platinum serum and day cream are designed with super seniors in mind-as this is a brand new product, all our customers in this age range would probably love to try this new product!

FREE Training Webinars!

Register now for Tuesday’s Webinar! Training Contact 4 – Explore Your Full Potential (Aug. 24th),  This is a brand new training topic!

AVON offers its members a ton of sales training that people can apply to other businesses too! Click the Webinar Schedule link at the bottom your Representative website home page for the list of upcoming webinars and the registration links. You can also replay webinars! Simply click the Webinar Replay link from your Representative website home page to download a list of links for replaying previous webinars (valid for 10 days after the webinar). Upcoming topics include Training Contact 2 – Build a Beautiful Business (Sep. 7th) and Fire up Your Sales with Fundraising (Sep. 13th). Mark your calendar, and keep checking the webinar schedule for future topics and dates

What’s Your HPA? Are You Marketing It?

After reading “Always have a Call to Action” in Entrepreneurial Woman, I started questioning: How well am I presenting my call to action? What is my Highest Paying action? & How can I market it effectively? Read on for business building tips using your HPA.
What Consumers Want
According to Karen Dodd. of Entrepreneurial Woman,people want easy-to-understand, bite-sized marketing messages and most of all, be told what to do next.
3 Parts of a Compelling Marketing Message
The author advises-truly compelling marketing messages :

• Ask critical attention grabbing questions.
  
• Reassure readers there is a solution for their situation.
  
• Tell them exactly what they need to do next.

How it Works
Targeted questioning resonates with your ideal client, forcing them to confront what is not working in their life. Questions like: “are you: frustrated by, struggling with, embarrassed about…?” remind them of their “pain.”
Reassuring engages them further. We all want to think we are experiencing the same thing as others, but want to discover a better way. In effect, you're saying to prospective clients, “you're normal, there is a way out of your situation and it's not your fault that you haven't been shown the solution yet.”
Presenting the Call to Action Tell them what you want them to do next. Direct them to take your “highest payoff action” (HPA). Your HPA is the action that gives the highest likelihood of prospects becoming paying clients. What is your HPA? Call for a complimentary consultation? Fill in info and email it to you, Register for a free teleclass you're offering?
Using Your HPA Ms. Dodd emphasizes-Put a clear, compelling “call to action” on all your prospecting material: your website, ezine, brochures, business card, special offers and mailings. If your call to action is missing from any of your marketing messages, you're wasting time, energy and money.
People often think of a website as only a means to establish an online presence, not realizing it can get them new business, It shouldn't be that way. Karen says, “All too often, (I see) entrepreneurs sacrificing utility for beauty. …beautiful marketing doesn't get you new clients.”

---

Take Action! Karen Dodd’s 3 Steps for Maximizing HPA
1. Take a really critical look at your website: (yes, now!)
Does the very first page remind visitors of their discomfort through compelling questions and tell them exactly what to do next? People visit your website for a reason. Get their attention and help them solve their problems. You're not being negative or hitting them over the head, you’re saving them time!
(Any suggestions for compelling questions for our site?)
2. Look at your business card:
Is it simply a calling card with contact information, or does it actively brings you business? Two must haves on your business card:

• Free Special Offer in exchange for their name and email,
  
• Minimum 3 "pull marketing questions," and what they should do next, to see if you can be of help

3. Review your marketing materials:
Is the HPA you want people to take clearly indicated every time you send out a mailing, newsletter, or special announcement,? This is especially critical with mailed marketing pieces, (conversion rates, even with expert marketing, are typically very low). Anything (even a warm friendly update letter) without a clear call to action, is a waste of your time, energy and money. – (Tip: Save time by putting it in your email signature.)
Ms Dodd Summarizes"If you made an in-person sales call then didn't ask for their business or tell them the next step in the process, wouldn't you be disrespecting them and their time? When someone is interested enough to stop by our website or look at our marketing materials, they're looking for help and it’s our duty to share how we can help them. It's their responsibility to make their own decision, you're simply making it clear to them how to take the next step, to get the help they came looking for."
Related Articles:

The original article: Always have a Call to Action.accessed16/08/2010
See a link to your article here.