Christmas In July

Christmas in July is a 

Great Tool to 

Generate Sales!

Wow. It's the first week of June already. Summer has officially started with the coming and going of Memorial Day. The kids are coming out of school and parents are making plans. What kinds of plans are you making for your business to keep it going? I know. Let's start a New Sales promotion

Christmas in July!

What!? Christmas is in December right?. Yes. I know this. But let's face it. With the advent of summer, it may be harder and harder to get bookings on your calendar. But that doesn't mean that you have to be without revenue. Why not offer your customers (old, new and potential) quick sales. We all remember the song - The Twelve Days of Christmas right? So let's use that idea and build sales for a Special 12 day period in July. 

Here's How

Choose Your Dates - That's right. Choose when you want to have your sale. I would suggest you start on a Thursday and End on a Monday. Avoid the July 4th holiday for obvious reasons and I would suggest a pre-sale teaser on the weekend before you start.  It's Okay if you end your sale at the end of July. It only gets you closer to the busiest shopping season for direct sales - Fall/Winter.

Consider  Your Products - In Mary Kay many consultants carry inventory. Choose the products you would like to highlight to sell at a special "this sale only" price. You will be able to rotate your inventory as well as introduce customers to products that they are not familiar with.  

Creating Fliers and Conquering Your Social Media

Is a GREAT use of Your Computer Time. 

Use this Resource Wisely!

Create a Flier - This is a "must learn" skill. You really could create a "calendar-like" grid and place your intended product for sale on it's appointed day. You could use this flier as a catalog inclusion at your "on the books" selling appointments and you can use them as mailers for those customers you know would like to be "in the know" about what specials you have coming up.

 Conquer your Social Media - I am talking FaceBook, InstaGram, Twitter. (And let's not forget about plain old fashioned Email.) Use this for "Flash Sales", Special Notices, Quick Buy Prizes etc. Remember, a picture says a thousand words. 

Call Everyone - You know the old saying, "Tell a friend, Tell a woman, Telephone"! Your telephone (cell phone) is your friend. Use it. Let your customer list know that you are having a special Christmas in July sale. Make sure they know the dates and remind them that they Will be reserving further communication from you by way of social media, snail mail and phone. They won't know unless you tell them. 

Christmas in July has been a staple for many Party Plan Businesses. It can be very helpful for the Mary Kay Consultant if she considers this sales technique. Once this is in the consultants repertoire, she can pull this rabbit out of her sales hat every July. All she has to do is adjust the dates and the products she wishes to highlight for sales.


If this article was helpful or if it resonated with you in some way, please leave a comment and don't forget to follow me on Twitter. 

MazimiIg Your Party Invitations

Let's Talk About Maximizing 

Your Selling Appointment Invitations!

Let's face it. We are in the Party Plan Business. We HAVE to have Parties for us to have residual selling opportunities, meet new people and as part of our main stream of income. Because we have parties, we need hostesses and those hostesses need invitations. Or rather they need to compile a guest list and WE mail the invitations. But you know what? Most of the party plan invitations I have received were post cards. Some of them were bland and unappealing. And some were uninteresting. And they got lost in the junk mail on the side table. One actually managed to get posted om my fridge, but it was covered up with some notice from the city about the parameters of garbage collection. And I really wanted to go to that party. And I know from experience as a hostess, I procrastinated to the point where I had to literally BEG a friend and a family member to attend. EEK! And I also received an e-Vite which I mistakenly deleted with the junk email in my box. Whoa! Now you don't want any of that to happen to your invitations do you? Well I don't. Not any more. So, with that in mind, here are a few tips to help you maximize your invitations.

Black Friday Blues

The Holiday Dollars are out there

What are you going to do to get 

your share?

So It's that time of year again and you can see Wilma and Betty grabbing their charge rocks and you can hear the "ta da da da ta daaaaaa" of the trumpets and then a resounding CHARGE!  

And They're Off

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Safe At Home Sunday (we can only assume that that means we are watching QVC and HSN or thumbing through all the catalogs that have come in the mail, and telephoning in orders), Cyber Monday, Mop Up Tuesday... All those named and un-named shopping days leading from Thanksgiving afternoon and leading up to Christmas Eve. That's a lot of retail and sales. So what do you do as a direct sales / party plan consultant? You Join in. You make sure you have the infrastructure to do business.

Thinking Like a Retailer (Pat 2)

What Mary Kay Did Not Teach or What I Found Along the Way

What Else Can You Do

To Think Like a Retailer?

Thinking like a Retailer So, as I considered that concept, I looked at one of my Favorites at the time, JC Penney. It Begged the Question, What did JC Penney have that my Mary Kay Business did not have or more to the point, What Were the Tools I Needed to be Just Like JC Penney.  And Better Yet, What Tools could I Utilize that were not Available through Mary Kay? 

I Don't Have Time (Time Management 101)

Thoughts on Time Management

Time Is Money!

Adage 1: Time is What We Want Most, but What We  Use Worst.

Adage 2: Time Invested in One Area, is Time Taken Away From Another.

Adage 3: Take Your Time, But Hurry Up!

Adage 4: Time is Money

Everyday we use words like schedule, calendar, appointment, day, date, minute, month, hour, year.  And you know what? It's true. We are obsessed with time; too much time on our hands, the lack of time, not enough time, where did the time go? I don't have enough time! 

Maximizing Your Inventory

You Can't Sell From an Empty Wagon,

 But you Surely Can Empty a Full One!

We have Heard it said at the beginning of the Mary Kay Career, "You Can't Sell From an Empty Wagon". So you have made the decision to stock Mary Kay Inventory. That's a business choice, a financial choice, a family choice and a personal choice. Think of this: No matter when you started your business, whether it was in the winter, spring, summer or fall, there is always going to be an occasion or holiday to cerebrate. So your inventory investment will not have been done in vain (unless you don't sell it - and that too is a choice!). So here are my recommendations for:

Thinking Like A Retailer (Part 1)

Are You Thinking Like A Retailer?

One of the greatest concepts that Mary Kay had given to the sales force was the concept of Think Like a Retailer. At the time I was a newbie. I had just gotten my starter kit, I had gone to two unit meetings and had received some valuable (and much needed training) and I had been on the "Inventory Phone Call"  with such things to consider as a) What was my beginning or proposed customer base b) How much inventory would I need c) How much inventory could I reasonably afford d) financing options.  As it happened, a small inventory order was keyed in and released to Mary Kay Corp. in my name, paid with another's credit card and sent to my home address. That incident was not without its' problems but it got me to thinking about one of the major selling concepts of that season: Think Like a Retailer. So, I looked at one of my Favorites at the time, JC Penney. It Begged the Question, What did JC Penney have that my Mary Kay Business did not have or more to the point, What Were the Tools I Needed to be Just Like JC Penney.