Direct Selling Leaders Experts

A blog can be a powerful tool for the direct seller.  Your “home base” on the web, it is the foundation of a content marketing strategy.

How can a blog benefit a direct sales business?

1. Set Yourself Apart.  There may be many consultants out there that sell the same product that you do.  How do you set yourself apart?  By providing free, actionable content that gives real value to your prospects.  When you connect with people on social networking sites now, where do you send them?  To your company-provided website?  That’s not personal, and it doesn’t give people the chance to understand the benefit they get when they shop with you, specifically.By sending people first to a blog, you have the opportunity to provide value that helps people know, like, and trust you.  You can also use your blog to encourage prospects to sign up for your newsletter, which helps them move down your sales or recruiting funnel. (You can sign up for my newsletter here.) Instead of just a one-time sale, you gain the potential for a life-long customer who connects with you on a personal level.
2. Experts Have a Competitive Advantage.  You establish yourself as a thought leader when your blog, that people want to refer.  Who would you rather purchase from?  Someone who sells stuff they can answer only basic questions about, or someone who is passionate about the type of product that they sell, and can give you excellent guidance as you learn about it yourself?  In person, you can share that passion face to face at a party.  But online, the way you share your passion is through your blog.  People get a real sense of who you are and why it would be great to do business with you.  And if your content is truly valuable without feeling “sales-y”, people are more likely to take advantage of the viral nature of the internet, and share your blog with their friends.  It’s a win-win.
3. Reach a Lot of People.  The internet is vast, and there are potentially millions of people that you can connect with at any given moment.  When you allow people to sign up for more content from you on your blog, then you have the opportunity to market by sending your newsletter.Through your blog you can share ideas, photos, videos, live streaming video…you name it!  Even though you may be far apart from your prospects, you still have the opportunity to personalize the experience of shopping with you.  That’s part of the beauty of the direct sales model.  Rather than a nameless, faceless website, or an uninformed sales clerk, your customers get the benefit of getting to know the real you.  You can meet their needs one on one in a way a faceless corporation can never hope to!  Use your blog as that connecting point, and you’ll gain customers that adore you, even if they’re half a world away!

There are so many free blog platforms out there now (my favorite is WordPress), that it costs nothing to start a blog except for time.  By employing a blogging strategy, and direct seller can reap many benefits that capture the beauty and essence of the direct sales model, while taking advantage of the far reach that social media and the internet provides.

What do you think?  How is a blog helping your business?  Would love to hear about your experiences in the comments!

Here’s to your success!

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies, direct sales professionals, and other home-based business owners leverage the power of social media to grow their businesses. A former direct sales company CEO and serial entrepreneur, Jennifer is passionate about teaching direct sellers how to use social media tools to enhance their businesses, while remaining true to the basics of a party plan business. She helps business owners put the principles of social media to work in a profitable way, maximizing the return on their social media investment.  Visit Jennifer’s Direct Sales & Social Media blog at http://liajen.wordpress.com

Content marketing is a powerful tool for the direct sales professional.  By providing relevant, useful content in a way that your readers can easily use and share with their friends, you can greatly increase your brand recognition, as well as your chances that your content (and therefore you) will be referred to others.  You also establish yourself as an expert that people want more information from.  As an independent direct selling professional, it is important to understand the content your targeted niche market is looking for, in order to establish your brand and yourself as the solution people are looking for, and want to refer.  This is the first step in the online sales cycle.

The essence of content marketing is providing free, actionable content that people can use right now without spending a dime.  As you share this content with your online social networks, people begin to recognize you as a thought leader that they seek out to help solve their problems. Think about it: when people go online for solutions, one of the first things they do is a Google search.  If the content you provide contains the keywords that they use when searching, you can pop up as the solution.  Note that at the moment they’re not looking for PRODUCTS.  They’re looking for SOLUTIONS, and they want those solutions in the form of content.  When you become the content provider, they will down the line consider you as the product provider.

It’s important that you understand your targeted niche market intimately in order to be successful with this approach…if you want your target market to find your content valuable, it must be the type of information they are searching for.  Be careful that the content never sounds like an ad…this will cause you to lose your audience and all that you’ve worked for.  Instead, be a relevant, useful member of the community, and you will build a reputation that will ultimately benefit your business.

The next step in a content marketing strategy is making your content easy to share.  This is such an essential component to the overall strategy.  If you’re providing content through a blog, be sure to provide a means through which readers can share that content with their friends.  If you’re providing videos, be sure they’re on a site where they can be shared with the click of a button.  By making it easy to spread your content, you will gain referrals.  Chances are, the people in your targeted niche market have friends with the same needs.  And the beauty of online marketing is the fact that people can share easily, which makes your message go further than you could manage if you had to spread the word by yourself.

You can also provide people with the opportunity to sign up for your newsletter in order to get more content.  (Sign up for my newsletter here.)  When people invite you to contact them, then you can provide more content, along with targeted marketing messages that continue to move prospects down your sales funnel.  Your marketing messages will be a lot more successful when people opt-in for them by subscribing to your newsletter.

So what do you think?  How are you using content marketing for your business?  Would love to read your comments below!

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies, direct sales professionals, and other home-based business owners leverage the power of social media to grow their businesses. A former direct sales company CEO and serial entrepreneur, Jennifer is passionate about teaching direct sellers how to use social media tools to enhance their businesses, while remaining true to the basics of a party plan business. She helps business owners put the principles of social media to work in a profitable way, maximizing the return on their social media investment.  Visit Jennifer’s Direct Sales & Social Media blog at http://liajen.wordpress.com.

When you think about your physical office space, does it make you feel a little ill? Is your desk a mass of piles? If it makes you feel negative, consider this: everything is energy. So if your desk or your office space is cluttered this items that don’t support you, they’re literally stealing your energy. I want to offer you a tool that just might change your life. It changed mine!Last year, after we introduced our “Office on the Go” organizational product for direct sales professionals, we got lots of testimonials about how the simple “bull’s eye” concept we teach in the program had changed the way our clients looked at the “stuff” in their offices.
Here is this simple concept in a nutshell. To begin with, take a blank piece of paper and draw a large circle, then a smaller circle within the larger circle, and then one final small circle within the 2nd circle. You should be looking at something that looks like a bull’s eye (or dart board).

Now, think of your office as a that bull’s eye, with the center being your “hot” zone; your power center. As the lines of the bull’s eye radiate out, the next space is your warm zone, which you access less often but is still a part of your weekly or monthly experience. The outer most circle is your cold zone, preferably an off-site area used to store those things you need to keep for your records or seldom utilize.

Here are the simple rules:

Your hot zone should contain only things you use on a daily basis. The physical hot zone is your office desk and chair and anything that’s within arm’s reach when you’re sitting there. Anything that’s not needed for your daily experience is stealing your energy if it’s sitting in your hot zone.

Your warm zone should contain things you need to access less frequently, but still need to be able to get to. Things like training manuals, weekly coaching files, host information, etc. This space is outside of arm’s reach of your hot zone, meaning you have to either move your chair or get up to access it.

Your cold zone is ideally in another room or garage, since these items are primarily stored for little if no use. This would be discontinued products, overstock, tax records, etc.

When you begin to define the things in your office into one of these three categories, you’ll start to notice your relationship with all those things change. Now, instead of fretting over whether or not you need it, where you should move it, etc., you’re simply asking yourself, “is it hot, warm, or cold?”

Ask yourself this question: “Does the ’state’ of my office steal my energy or contribute to my energy?”

So, take the challenge. Start thinking of your “stuff” in terms of that simple “hot, warm, or cold” zone question and watch your productivity soar!

Julie Anne Jones is a direct sales coach and trainer and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. As a former direct sales professional, Julie worked a party plan business for several years, consistently holding three parties per week and winning national awards yearly. She also built a National multi level marketing team through internet networking. For the past 6 years, she has focused entirely on coaching and training other leaders within the direct sales industry through live training as well as extensive webinar and tele-course training. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, visit her at www.julieannejones.com or check out her blog at http://julieannejones.com/blog.

These are very interesting times.  The world seems to be polarized - truly feast or famine.  Businesses are going under and the cries of “the economic crisis” ripple through the planet like waves ripple out when you drop a rock in the water.  Fear, failure and the world’s obsession with dramatic events blanket the airwaves.  It’s almost impossible to ignore.But there’s something else going on - something nobody’s talking about. 

On the other side of the fear and failure are people and organizations that are experiencing massive success.  Reality television shows make instant celebrities.  Business owners with “hot” ideas are growing faster than they ever have before.  One in 8 couples are now meeting online. 

And they are getting crushed under the pressure of sudden success.

While most people think they want fame, fortune or something bigger, they are wholly unprepared for the emotional, mental and physical skills they will need to manage newfound success.  Celebrities deal with this all the time.  The late Michael Jackson, undeniably the King of Pop (whether you like him or not) lived a life of emotional trauma, lost youth and low self-esteem.  Shia LaBeouf: “I don’t handle fame well,” LaBeouf says. “Most actors on most days don’t think they’re worthy. I have no idea where this insecurity comes from, but it’s a God-sized hole. If I knew, I’d fill it, and I’d be on my way.”  

Now you don’t have to be a celebrity to experience the demands of sudden success.  Take the business owner who suddenly finds himself or herself leading an organization for which they are ill-equipped to run.  They lack the people skills, the leadership skills and emotional intelligence to make things work smoothly.  Working hours increase.  Productivity decreases.  Frustration and overwhelm take over.  Anxiety becomes normal.  Then personal criticism starts, which begins a never ending cycle of self-doubt and lowered self-confidence.

It doesn’t have to be that way.   Here are 5 things you must know if you are experiencing sudden success in any area of your life.

1.  Sudden Success Brings out the Weirdos.  When you become more visible in your company, publicly or even in your family, weird things can happen.  It’s like the old story of the crabs in the pot - whenever one crab almost reaches the top of the pot and newfound freedom, the other crabs pull him back in to die.  Expect opportunities to arise, communications to increase and watch out for people who want to use you or ride your coattails.  You will need some trusted advisors to put together a system to discern your good opportunities and weed out the dream stealers. 

2.  You will need to learn emotional intelligence.  When success demands more of you, it will demand more of your emotional energy as well.  You will have days where you wonder if it’s all worth it, and begin the cycle of self-defeat.  Don’t go there.  Likewise, you will need to learn to manage your emotional state in every situation to be able to think clearly and react appropriately to things coming at you fast.  People will begin to judge you, have opinions about you, and that can make you feel bad if they are negative.  With a high level of emotional intelligence, you will understand that people’s opinions of you have nothing to do with you, and everything to do with whatever they are experiencing at the time (if you don’t understand this now, you will.  I’ll explain in another post about perception).

3.  People skills become VERY important.  Most people aren’t trained in understanding others’ personal style, filters, values and perspective.  Therefore, communication breakdown occurs more often as teams grow and you need more people around you to handle daily activities.  It is imperative that you become a student of people and behavior to be able to hire the right staff, understand their needs and get people to their most productive level.  Once of the biggest mistakes people make when hiring people to work for them is the “warm body” approach.  They take a person with a certain skillset and try to make them do a job they aren’t good at, and then wonder why it isn’t working.  Proactive understanding of people matching to skillsets is a must.

4.  You MUST become a better leader.  When more demands are placed on you as you grow, the general tendency is to be like a rat in a cage, trying to run faster and faster on the wheel. Worry that things won’t get done, anxiety over whether people are actually doing the work, when will it get done cause many sleepless nights for fast-growing business owners. 

Recently, I was hired by a small business owner to help with this exact issue.  She was working almost 20 hour days, losing sleep over details and she had people she wanted to work with to build a team but didn’t know how.  We restructured her time, I taught her communication and people skills, but most of all, I taught her how to let go without losing control.  As a result, we engaged a team of 5 amazing people to help her.  She reclaimed 47 hours per month.  Doing things right, she hit ALL of her revenue goals within 30 days. 

I tell you this because as a small business owner, you don’t always get to see what the big companies do to develop their people.  Big companies spend millions on leadership training, communication training and the like just to help people get along and be more productive and have better performance overall.  Small business owners struggle, not knowing that a different way is so close.

5.  You will learn to say “No”.  Decision-making skills are imperative in helping you deal with success.  Information, requests, communication will all increase, and your ability to say no to time-wasters, distraction, guilt, frustration and overwhelm will become a skill you’ll wish you had a long time ago.  Your goals will become more clear, and so your ability to weed out potentially unproductive opportunities will be heightened as you truly go to that next level.

While there are many other things that go along with sudden success, these are some of the most important.  When your focus turns inward to making yourself a better leader, communicator, influencer and visionary, your entire world will change.  Your success will be sweet, exciting and manageable.

To get started, download the free audio program called The 13 Vital Traits of Super Effective People.   It will open your eyes to getting started on the calm road of success.

Stephanie Frank is today’s voice of peak performance, productivity and personal success.  A true entrepreneur, she has distilled 20 years of personal experience into four simple steps to help established business owners and professionals create a blueprint for predictable success.  She is the personal growth authority for business owners who want to run a thriving business and maintain life balance.

Google Wave will be hitting the internet later this year some time. Why should I care you ask? I think it will provide you with tools to help make running a direct selling business even faster, easier and better!

Here’s how it will work. With Google Wave you create a “wave” and add people to it (ie your downline or even customers). Everyone on that Wave can see what a user adds to it and can insert his or her own replies or edit the Wave. Then the Wave’s content is updated almost instantly when changes are made or when new material is added.

Basically it is an online “collaboration” tool that offers document sharing, emailing and instant messaging under one program. Stay tuned for more details as this becomes available.

You can get on the list to be notified here:

http://wave.google.com/

To working efficiently!

Amber Miller
The Delegation Expert

Happy Summer, Everyone!
 
You won’t want to miss tomorrow’s (Wednesday) f’ree expert call with the one and only Sandy Grason. If you are tired of trying the same old strategies and getting the same old results, Sandy will knock your socks off with her unique (and amazingly successful) approach to business.
 
And here’s a little secret: I’m an avid student of Sandy’s - she has so much to teach us all!
 
You can grab all the details here: http://bit.ly/1AkuD
 
And I’d like to ask a favor - would you invite your downline, upline, crossline and colleagues to join us by sending them to this blog post?! You are the bomb for helping us spread the word!
 
Also, wanted to give everyone a quick update on the Direct Selling Leader’s Limited Edition CD set.
 
There are 91 copies left. Which means that 109 leaders have stepped up to the plate to learn new, smarter, cutting edge ways of running their businesses.
 
If you haven’t ordered yours AND you want to be among the handful of leaders who know what today’s market wants and will respond to, you owe it to yourself to check out: http://www.directsellingleaders.com/Pages/leadershipltdedition.html
before all the copies are gone.
 
Hope to hear YOUR happy voice on tomorrow’s call!
 
Love & Success~
Sarah

I was part of an amazing conference last week in Chicago for Financial Planners.  While I would never dream of boring you to tears with the details of the conference, there was one speaker in particular that said something amazing.  His name is Dr. Bary Asmus, a senior economist and historian who is an advisor to everyone from our President to the leaders of other nations.  He told us about a recent conversation he had with President Obama about our economy.  He said, “Mr. President, you cannot spend your way to prosperity.”  

This one line resonated with me like nothing else I heard at that conference.   “You cannot spend your way to prosperity.”  Think of how this applies to our nation, your family, and your business.  As a culture we’re taught that you have to spend money to prosper.   But what is prosperity?   The dictionary defines it as, “a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition especially in financial respects.”

• The mortgage industry (and congress) would have you believe that prosperity is home ownership
• The banking industry would have you believe it’s the ability to buy what you want, when you want it
• The government would have you believe it’s about your healthcare, jobs, and GDP
• The company you represent might have you believe it’s the next level in your Career

What is ”prosperity” to you?   Perhaps you might loosely define it as having no financial restrictions or limitations.  I hear this all the time when I work with my clients.  They think prosperity is about having not a financial care in the world.   I want to encourage you to think a new thought so that you can set realistic goals for your business. 

I’m the profitability expert here @ DSL, and I know I’m supposed to be talking about profit not economics…blah, blah, blah.   If you stop for a second and think, you’ll see that profit in your business is a part of your prosperity as an individual.  As a nation, our profits (and losses) contribute to the prosperity of our Nation.   Prosperity matters.

Prosperity isn’t about not having a care in the world financially.  It’s being successful financially.  It’s flourishing financially.  It’s thriving in financial aspects.  This never happens on accident.  This is intention, purposeful handling of money.    As you go about your week in your Direct Selling Business, and as little thoughts and emotions creep up that sound like, “I sure can’t wait for the day that I don’t have to worry about money any more,” remind yourself that part of prosperity is handling money.  Making more isn’t the only answer.

When it comes to getting things done in your business, do you find yourself drowning in overwhelm?  Do you feel frustrated or confused by trying to figure out where to start or what comes next?  Is procrastination the default for handling your stress? 

It doesn’t have to be that way.

There ARE ways to get more done - with less stress, every day.  The question is, do you want to stay stuck where you are, or take the leap and bring more joy and triumph of accomplishment into your day?

Here are 10 simple things you can do today to breathe deeper, be more focused and more productive - with less stress!

1.  Visual Clarity 

Is visual clutter causing your mind to be cluttered?  Stop shuffling papers around and start your day by taking 10 minutes to clear your desk.  Think of it as a personal gift to yourself and create space for you.  You will feel immediately refreshed and ready to get things done.

2.  Free Yourself from Procrastination

You’ve got your “to do” list for the day.  Take 2 minutes and prioritize the “have to” tasks you don’t like to do.  First determine what you can delegate to others and give them what they need to do it.  Next, knock your “have to’s” out first thing in the morning and before you can thin about procrastinating you’ll already be done!

3. Show Me the Money

Schedule one (1) uninterrupted hour every day to focus only on high payoff activities.  I said un-interrupted.  Turn off the phone.  Close the door.  Tell others you are not to be interrupted for the next 60 minutes - unless the tsunami is at your door or Oprah is on the phone. 

4. Take Control of Your Email - Part 1

Turn OFF the automatic send/receive on your email so YOU are in control.  Schedule time in your day to check and respond to email at specific times, instead of reacting every time one comes flying in your inbox.

If you absolutely cannot turn it off, eliminate the sound and visual notification for a distraction-free computer session. 

5. Take Control of Your Email - Part 2

Create an email account just for subscriptions to online newsletters.  If your email program supports it, automatically file incoming mail so you can keep your inbox full of more urgent items. 

6. Supercharge Your Environment for Focus

Some people work better with some kind of external stimulation.  If that’s you, turn on soft music or a soothing waterfall to stimulate your auditory system, light a scented candle to stimulate your olfactory system, and set a timer to create urgency.  Then get to work! 

7. Get It Done

Are you getting stuck in procrastination?  Maybe the project is too big.  If you have a list where the task is not immediately evident, it needs to be broken down.  Ask yourself “What is the exact next step I need to take to get this task done?”  Keep breaking it down until the answer is “Do it!” 

8. Spark Your Creativity

If you’re still having trouble getting something done, and you’ve broken the list down - it’s time for a change.  When you absolutely have to get something done and you’re just stuck, change your environment.  Go outside, get some fresh air, change rooms, turn on a fun song that makes you get up and dance.  The change of scenery creates a change of your state and is an instant creativity spark.  

9. Simplify Travel

Do you travel frequently?  Are you still going into your suitcase (even though you returned last week) to pull out your toothpaste and shampoo?  First, go unpack and put away your suitcase.  Next, buy two sets of toiletries and store one in your suitcase so you stop stealing form your medicine cabinet and you’re always ready to go!

10. Give Yourself Permission

Take at least one day a week and give yourself permission to do whatever you want, whenever you want for that day.  If the mere thought of giving yourself a day creates panic and overwhelm, start small, but take at least an hour.  that way, when you make the choice to get something done, it’s much easier )and often more fun) than being in the mental state of “have to” do.

Putting these simple systems into place means taking action, being consistent and being willing to do things differently.  If you implement these tips, you will fuel your productivity, have more fun in your business and put more money in your bank account.  Guaranteed.

Stephanie Frank works with people who want to improve performance and pump up their power to profit.  She is the author of the best-selling book, The Accidental Millionaire and founder of The Success IQ University, specializing in personal success, productivity and leadership education. For a FREE audio program “The 13 Vital Traits of Super Effective People, go here:  http://www.FreeSuccessTrainingAudio.com

• Have you ever thought about how your language reflects upon you?
• When you’re speaking to potential hosts and representatives, are you conscious of what you’re saying and how you’re saying it?
• Does your language convey a “how can I support you” message or a “what’s in it for me?” message.

Knowing the answers to these questions and making changes in how you communicate can change your business…and your life.

As a coach, I know that your language reveals your intention. In other words, the words you choose say a lot about you and what you want. And most of us, unconsciously, choose words that don’t support what we want. Let me give you an example; suppose you want to invite one of your guests to host an event/party/show for you. You might ask the question “Would you like to book a party with me?” Now, ask yourself, “Who is that question about?” It’s about you, right? You haven’t given that potential host any indication that her needs or desires are important to you at all. So without realizing it, the words you’ve chosen have essentially guaranteed she’ll say “no” because there’s nothing in it for her.

As a direct seller, your most important job is building relationships. You do that through conversation. The best way to build a strong, positive relationship with another person is through supportive communication (which means they feel important and heard).

So, what language are you using as your guests arrive in order to connect with them and begin to build that all-important relationship to which I’m referring? If you’re like most direct sellers, you’ve been taught to open the casual conversation with a question. So far so good. Now, what question do you typically ask? Maybe, “Have you ever been to an ABC Company party before?” or “What’s your favorite ABC Company product?” Again, I want you to ask yourself, “Who are those questions about?” You, your company and your products, right?

Here’s a bombshell for you; the guests at your parties don’t come there just for your products. Think about it. Can’t they get your products either from a catalog order and/or from your website? Of course! So why are they there, that night, at that party? To have fun! To connect with the host and their friends! NOT to focus entirely on your products.

So why not make your question about them? That way, they feel valued by you and if you become a good listener, you learn some valuable information about them that might support you at the end of the evening in getting them to book an event or look at your opportunity.

The bottom line is, examining your language and making a conscious decision to choose words that communicate your desire to make it about the other person will always bring you what you need in the long run.

Excerpted from my e-book “Powerful Language to Explode Your Direct Sales Business; 12 Scripts tell you Exactly What to Say to Get the Booking, Sales, and Sponsoring Results You’ve Always Dreamed of” on sale this week for 1/2 price! Check it out here!

Social media has amazing potential in terms of helping you build and support your direct sales team.  One way to build long-term income in a direct selling business is through recruiting other people and supporting them in reaching their goals.  Your compensation for building and supporting your team is the commissions that you earn on your team’s sales, and this provides more income than you would earn through selling alone.

As your team grows, however, it can become challenging to meet everyone’s needs, while building your own personal business at the same time.  Social media can help you provide a strong, 24/7 support system for your team, as well as a community that feels plugged in to your central message, and one another.

Here are some social media tools that can be used for building and supporting a team.

1.    Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn: Social networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are excellent for finding people that may be interested in your business opportunity.  Now this is not license for you to spam people.  However, as you share delight in your successes, enthusiasm for your business events, and your love for your customers and team, you will naturally attract others who may want to learn more.

Facebook in particular is a great venue for sharing photos and videos about your team and corporate-sponsored events, and these show up on the side of your friends’ news feeds.  Instead of taking the direct approach of trying to recruit someone online and making them feel potentially uncomfortable, showing the fun of your team events through photos and videos invites someone in without feeling pressured.  And that can help you when people consider joining your team.

You can also use groups on Facebook and LinkedIn that are dedicated to people looking for work, and build relationships while providing valuable content.  By participating as a relationship-builder and giver in these forums, people who are good prospects for your business opportunity will be interested in learning more.  And don’t forget to use searching tools to specifically identify those people who are interested in your product line!  People who are interested in your products are often your best prospects for the opportunity.

2.    Your Blog: A blog is such an incredible tool for your direct sales business.  It is a place you can provide content of interest to prospective customers, and is your home base for building relationships with people.  A blog can also be a valuable tool for team-building.  By providing content that is of value to opportunity-seekers, you become a trusted resource that attracts people to your business.

A separate blog can also be valuable for your team, providing team information, incentives, links, and a place to ask questions and make comments.  Imagine being able to provide your team with articles specifically dedicated to skills your team is currently working on building!  Blogs make it possible for you to provide that content without having to email everyone, worrying about spam blockers, etc.  You can provide a central location that your team can learn to come to as they need information.  Because all the information is archived on your blog, you can also send team members to specific information as they need it, providing a valuable library of topics that will be of benefit to your team for a long time.

And because blogs are easy to set up and maintain, they eliminate the need to go to the expense of setting up a personal website for your team.  Instead, you can set up an attractive blog with a few clicks, and provide all the resources your team needs in one place.  You can even password-protect that content!

3.    Groups - A Facebook group is another valuable tool you can use to support your team.  Facebook makes it possible to set up “Secret” groups that are not available to the general public.  Your team members must be invited by you into the secret group, and this provides an excellent forum for team members to learn from and support one another.  As your team gets large, you may feel like you are answering the same questions over and over.  Imagine being able to send your team members to a central location for the answers!  You can set up a series of frequently asked questions on the discussion board of your group, and add to these as necessary.

Your team members can also use your group to support one another.  If someone has a question and you are not available, she can post her question to the group, and other team members can share what they’ve learned.  The collective wisdom of your team can help you build a stronger team than you ever thought possible!  And social media enables that sharing.

One of the most powerful components of a group is the community that it helps to build.  Your team members can get to know one another, cheer one another’s successes, and support one another through the difficult times.  By sharing photos, videos, and other content, your team will feel connected to one another in a way that would be impossible otherwise if they’re spread out across the globe.  There’s something about seeing people’s faces that really helps people connect.  And as your team feels connected, they are more motivated to stick with their businesses, even when the going gets tough.  And that leads to more success for both of you.
By employing social media tools that your team can access, and then teaching your team how to make the best use of those tools, you can be more efficient and effective in your team building.  Your team will develop closer relationships with one another, and that will naturally attract more people to your team.  Social media makes it possible.

Are you a leader in direct sales?  How are you using social media to build and support your team?  I’d love to read your ideas in the comments below!

Jennifer Fong helps direct sales companies, direct sales professionals, and other home-based business owners leverage the power of social media to grow their businesses. A former direct sales company CEO and serial entrepreneur, Jennifer is passionate about teaching direct sellers how to use social media tools to enhance their businesses, while remaining true to the basics of a party plan business. She helps business owners put the principles of social media to work in a profitable way, maximizing the return on their social media investment.

To learn more about Jennifer, visit her blog at http://liajen.wordpress.com and follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/liajen.