Don’t Let Your Prices Kill Your Product Selling Business

Welcome to Episode #10!

Are you starting a new business and not sure how much you should charge for your product? Or maybe you’ve been in business a little while, you’ve found yourself sitting in front of your sewing machine for 8 to 10 hours a day and you’re not showing much for it. Perhaps your problem is that you’re not charging enough.

I’ve written to Jan Andrea at SleepingBaby.net and attained her permission to reference her article, “Why does it cost so much to buy a WAHM-made baby carrier (or any WAHM item, for that matter)?”

Now, Jan wrote this article to baby sling customers, not sellers. But she included lots of great information that you can use in making sure you consider all the costs associated with creating and selling a product as a business — and not just the obvious costs like materials and supplies.

I’m excited to have this opportunity to present you with much-needed information and I’d love to hear (or read!) your comments.

–Michelle Waters, The Physical Product Seller’s Coach
-Provider of professional web hosting

Why Being Organized Keeps You Motivated

When it comes to the success or failure of your business, being organized and staying motivated can be two deciding factors. In fact, these two topics can go hand in hand. Here are some reasons why being organized can help you stay motivated and, therefore, lead to business success.

When you are disorganized, you can feel frustrated and easily lose the motivation to work your business. You may lose data such as when projects are due or even your client’s email address. If your office is messy, it can be anxiety inducing to even set foot in it. Seeing the clutter and chaos can remind you of everything you need to do but keep putting off. Eventually, you may stop working all together.

In fact, being unorganized is one of the leading causes of procrastination. When you procrastinate, you are intentionally putting off a task that you know needs to be done. This can lead to stress, ill-health, and financial despair.

However, there is a flipside to all of these problems.

Finding an organization system that works for you will help you stay on top of your tasks and keep you motivated. You will know when projects are due. This alone can help you stay motivated. When you are organized, you will easily be able to find your client’s contact information. You will no longer feel defeated when you enter your organized office. Instead, you will feel refreshed and ready to work.

There are two basic ways to stay motivated. One is through traditional paper planners and the other is through digital or electronic planners. It doesn’t matter which type of system you use. The important thing is to find one that you enjoy enough to keep using.

If you prefer paper methods, you may want to consider a planner that showcases the week on two pages. That way, when you open up the planner you can see your whole week at a glance. You can use highlighters to highlight various types of tasks.

For instance, all of your family obligations can be highlighted in blue, administrative tasks can be highlighted in pink, and sales and marketing tasks can be highlighted in orange. Using a method such as this will allow you to instantly see the types of tasks you will be working. Depending on the type of digital planner you use, you can color code activities in a similar manner.

The paper methods I recommend are created by Susie Glennon of The Busy Woman. While I am an electronically organized person, I have heard great reviews of her products from my friends and colleagues. She truly has the home business woman at heart.

If you decide to buy a digital planner, you may want to consider an all-in-one smart phone. These devices combine a cell phone with a digital planner. You can make and receive phone calls, read and send email, and keep track of your schedule.

I also recommend Google Calendar if you are going the digital route. This is what I use — and it’s wonderful because my assistant in Ohio can update my calendar for me.

Generate More Sales By Focusing Your Business

Welcome to Episode #9!

My friend Kelly McCausey of WAHM Talk Radio and The Power of a Focused Business is sharing her tips for product sellers.

Focusing your business can help you reach more people who are interested in the products you sell — and reduce your workload.

–Michelle Waters, The Physical Product Seller’s Coach
-Provider of the Shop Kit Plus

This Is What Happens When You Try To Involve Your Children In Your Business

So, I thought it would be really cute to ask Aimee, my four year old, to promote my business. I figured I’d end up with a sweet little commercial, featuring my darling’s voice.

OK, so the commercial did end up being cute. But not quite what I expected…

Benefits of Friendly Competition

If you thrive on challenges and hate to be outdone, you may want to find some “friendly competition.” By nature, “friendly competition” is not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings. It is there to create motivation and to help people reach goals.

There are a number of message boards and forums that are focused on business; you can create a post that explains your goals for the next month and ask other members to reply back with their goals. All of you can keep adding updates each week on what you have accomplished.

You may choose to put together a more formal, tight-knit group of a few selected people that correspond via a yahoo group or private chat room. You can update each other daily, if you wish. You can even take this a step further and meet weekly on a conference call; as it may be easier to discuss problems and brainstorm with each other via telephone.

If you find yourself connecting with one person more so than with the others, ask that person to be your accountability partner. You can even give each other a quick call every morning to pump each other up, or at the end of the day to talk about what you had accomplished and what you plan on doing the next day.

Aside from going over each person’s individual goals, you can also create monthly “contests.” For instance, if you are in direct sales, you can meet with other people in the industry and have a contest over who can book the most parties, sell the highest dollar amount, or recruit the most people.

If you are a physical product seller, your group can have contests such as who can write and distribute the most articles or press releases. Or you can hold a contest to see who can reach a monetary goal, in terms of monthly product sales in a given month. The possibilities are endless when it comes to creating motivating contests.

The simple fact that you are letting people know your goals, and meeting at designated times to cover your progress, can be very motivating. No one wants to admit that they haven’t done anything and that they are not even close to accomplishing their goals. This is especially true if the other people in the group have worked really hard and have accomplished several things.

Knowing that other people are going to hold you accountable for your actions and “kick you in the butt” if you need it, can drive you to work hard and accomplish your goals. However, friendly competition can take a downturn if the competition turns vicious or mean. If you are working at your best level, and attending your meetings makes you feel bad or “not good enough,” that group may not be the one for you. Look for a supportive, fun spirited group that inspires you.

If you would like to join our Product Seller’s Motivation Team, just register here and comment on this post. I’ll set you up with our group.

Product Selling Tips From Vickie Barnes of EarthsMagic.com

Welcome to Episode #6!

When you spend 90 percent of your working time on the Internet — equipment failure from lightning can really mess you up! Fortunately, the equipment belongs to my ISP, not me. Unfortunately, said equipment is on a tower more than 100 feet in the air, on top of a microwave tower. Yikes! So, the technicians at my ISP will be climbing up to the top of the tower of Friday — God and the weather willing — to repair the equipment.

I can’t wait.

On a more pleasant note, Vickie Barnes from EarthsMagic.com took time out of her busy schedule to share some of her wisdom with us. Vickie and her husband, Steve, started The Labor of Love message board in 1996. They survived the dot com crash and the loss of their advertising revenue by turning to selling physical products online. Now, the couple works from a leased space near their home, selling around 100 products a day. Go, Vickie!

I really enjoyed chatting with her and I think you’ll enjoy listening. Remember: If you have any questions, just call our listener line at (214) 615-6505 ext. 6536, tell us your name, business name and ask your question.

Enjoy!

–Michelle Waters, The Physical Product Seller’s Coach
-Learn how our ecommerce software solution can help you save time and money

B2B, B2C

Acronyms for business-to-business or business-to-consumer activities. Many websites focus on business-to-business relationships and services (like wholesale suppliers), while others focus on providing services and products to consumers.

If you are selling baby slings to individuals, than you are a B2C business. If you are selling wholesale baby slings in bulk to retailers, than you are a B2B business.

Don’t I Need A Publicist to Get Any Worthwhile Publicity?

Michelle’s Note: This article is written by Alice Seba, my friend who knows everything there is to know about leveraging press releases.

Starting a press release or publicity campaign can seem overwhelming. How are you going to get yourself into a national magazine or how will you finally get Oprah’s attention?

Well honestly, it’s not necessary to work that hard in order to get beneficial publicity for your business . So, the short answer is – No, you don’t need a publicist to generate worthwhile publicity for your business.

Personally, I’m not into being famous, but instead I choose to generate lots of low-key publicity that helps build my business. I am asked for interviews, quoted in articles, etc. and those things bring in new subscribers and customers steadily, but I’m certainly not famous. Nor do I have any desire to be.

If you position yourself as an expert in your market, you can receive plenty of worthwhile publicity. Becoming an expert isn’t always from sending out press releases either, but also from having plenty of quality content out there, being visible in search engines and networking with others who will refer media to you.

Also, keep in mind that fame comes at a price. Talk to just about any book author that knocks herself out on a publicity tour. Ask her what a difference it made in book sales. It’s a huge investment of time and expense and doesn’t always give back a great return.

The low-key approach works well and you won’t burn yourself out!

Michelle’s Recommendation: Start generating plenty of exposure for your business with minimal expense and time investment. Join my friend Alice Seba, a former professional press release writer as a Press Release Profits student. Click here to get started instantly.

How Product Sellers Can Benefit From A VA

Welcome to Episode #4!

Yes, we’re late this week. Technical and scheduling difficulties resulting in this week’s interview being recording Thursday afternoon, instead of earlier in the week. Thank you very much, Stephanie, for saving our hide!

So, I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this, you’re a product seller. Whether you’re just starting out, hitting your stride, or buried under an avalanche of work, it’s never too early, or too late, to learn better ways to manage your time and resources.

And one good way to help you concentrate your efforts on growing your business is outsourcing some of the work. My assistant, Stephanie Fish of www.buckeyeva.com, will talk to us about what a virtual assistant is and what she can do to help you.

–Michelle Waters, The Physical Product Seller’s Coach
-Learn how the Shop Kit Plus can help you save time and money

How Staying Focused Can Help You Stay Motivated

Everyone has times when they lack motivation. On the other hand, you may be so motivated and full of ideas that you lose your focus because you are trying to juggle too many tasks at once. However, multi-tasking may do more harm than good. When your mind is divided by too many tasks, your productivity decreases. Here are some tips to help you stay focused and motivated on your business.

Choose a Niche
Once you know what your niche market is, you will be able to focus on tasks that will help you with that particular market. Try to narrow your market as much as possible. For instance, if you have a coaching business and want to help people work from home, perhaps you can target a certain field, such as web designers or virtual assistants. You will gain a reputation for being an expert in that field and will be able to help people create specific plans while coaching them to success.

Set Goals, and Write Them Down.
When you set goals for your business, you are defining the direction in which you want to take your business. When you write them down, you are greatly increasing the odds that you will accomplish the goals you have set.

Create a Business Plan
When someone wants to start a brick and mortar business, they need to create a business plan and submit it to a bank to secure a loan. A business plan is a summary of how a business will be organized and a listing of activities that the owner needs to complete. For instance, a business plan will explain when a business owner expects to make a profit, as well as the type of marketing they intend to do. Creating a business plan for your home business will increase your chances of success.

Stay Away From Distractions
It is easy to lose track of time when reading email, blogs, and surfing the web. Set aside a block of time in the morning and evening to take care of email. Try to limit your internet during work hours for tasks specific to work, such as research. Wait until you are done with your work to read the celebrity gossip.

Prioritize Your Tasks
When you write out your to-do list, prioritizing your tasks will keep you working on what is important. Some items may need to be accomplished as soon as possible, while other things can wait a day or two. Take a colored highlighter and highlight the things that need to be done ASAP. When you look at your to-do list, your eyes will be drawn to the items that need the most attention.

Outsource When Possible
As you look over your to-do list, do you notice items that can be handled by someone else? By delegating tasks to others, you will have more free time to work on things that require your attention.

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