Brandy Burge
"What now?"
So now your launch party is done and you're likely wondering what to do next!
There are so many great things you can do to work your business so let's just dive in...
You will always be in the "learning process" - so it's best to enjoy it and not get overwhelmed.
There's much to learn and things change and grow over time so expect to always have more to learn.
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There are different ways to schedule posts, depending on where the post is going.
Facebook group: just look for this icon next to your POST option for your post. It may be a schedule button above the post on mobile.
Facebook page: head over to 'publishing tools' (find this at the bottom of your post) and click on the arrow to get your scheduling option!
Instagram: you can use a third party app to schedule!
Just Imagine
With a $250 party, on the starting commission of 20%, you would earn $50.00
JUST IMAGINE:
Putting the same amount of time and effort into FIVE parties as you would that one.
That's our MEGA PARTIES!
That's earning $250 for that 'party' instead!!
Grab our Mega Party training graphics from the Google Drive.
Trial and Error
We're always in the testing phase. Trying out something new on social media, or in our parties, and it's always a process.
If something isn't working quite right, switch it up and try something new.
Never be afraid to be rooting for improvements in all aspects of your business.
Have reasonable expectations of yourself!
What does that look like?
It means not expecting yourself to get this all figured out right away.
It takes times to build a following.
Every social media platform has a different algorithm. It takes time and effort to get to understand each one and to know when the best times to post for your followers are.
In learning more about this stuff, Google (bloggers always post about it) and YouTube will be your best friends.
There are always influencers posting and chatting about the newest updates with algorithms, what's working on each platform and even things to avoid.
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FIRST THINGS FIRST
If you haven't already, convert that launch party group into a VIP group and thank your followers for tuning in.
Let them know that you'll be posting regular content about our books, any discounts you plan, bundles you put together, events you'll be doing, and of course amazing promotions. ​
This group is your direct connection to your followers. Need inspiration as to what to post? Check out the "VIP Group" module.
HOW MUCH TIME ARE YOU COMMITTING?
For a lot of people, taking on a direct sales business becomes a full time job, but they don't all necessarily start out that way.
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Why?
We talk more about goal planning and how to make the most of your time in a later module but here's what you should focus on in the beginning.
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How many hours realistically a week can you put into your business?
Do you have a full-time job to consider?
Do you have several children, or children at the age where they still rely on you constantly?
It's important to look at your typical week and look at what times daily or weekly are available for you to dedicate time to growing your business.
As examples, this is what that could look like:
- several 2-3 hour child nap periods per day where it's quiet and you can work
- after your youngest is gone to bed at 7pm you can work for an hour before having relaxing/family time
- maybe your kids wake up at 7am but you could get up a little earlier, even at 6am, to tackle some training or tasks
- maybe you know you can work in 15-20 mins. every few hours during your day
We are all so different. Our responsibilities are different. Our schedules are different. Our needs are different.
There's no way to provide you a formula of time that will work for you and everyone else on the team.
But the good news, is that this is likely the biggest struggle you will encounter! Time management and aligning your dedicated work times with sections of your day or week that you are free to put the energy into something you love... that's the tricky part to learn!
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We're all here to support you! There are so many variations of time scheduling that you can find on YouTube (as just one example) and how to juggle running a business with parenting full-time (and even also working a full-time job). We will have team trainings on this in the near future also!
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So let's look at what you can focus on during those small chunks of time or even 10+ hours a week, or most days in your spare time...
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Important Income Producing Activities:
It's of utmost importance to be present.
Show up!
In your VIP group, on your Facebook page, wherever you choose to grow, be consistent and build on that!
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Let's say starting out you want to tackle these:
- your business page on Facebook
- your VIP group on Facebook
- your business account on Instagram
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So you have your Facebook page and VIP group already established but you love Instagram and want to expand to that as well!
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First off, you need a content calendar. It's more about having a schedule of posts to keep you consistently showing up than what you are posting about. You don't want to plan to post to all of them and then you miss three days of the week. You'll discourage yourself and often times even post anything (not good) just to stay committed to that plan.
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Know what you want to talk about. This goes back to what your brand is about. Let us, for example, say it's a focus on early childhood education. Maybe you and your kids do weekly sensory bins. Or Science Saturdays. This is such an important aspect to post about. What do you and your kids do? How do you contribute to their learning? What sorts of things do you do outdoors to encourage them, as well?
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Let's get more specific with this!
Starting out, you want a content schedule that you can commit to!!
Facebook page/Instagram:
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays: sharing a family focused story, video, photo, share of whatever kind you can think of!
Saturdays: show something that you love about Usborne. Maybe a favourite book, a new release you just received, something you achieved, a photo of you working your business, etc.
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In addition, when we have New Titles released, kit sales, fun promotions, etc. it will take just seconds for you to whip up a post and share that news! In your stories or as a post (or both!!), so that will also be extra content!
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See how manageable that can be?
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Now, your content on your Facebook page is geared towards gaining new followers.
{ In your VIP group, you don't want to post the exact same thing. You can cycle through content but you want to be more personal with your VIP followers as you know them personally. }
Some people prefer either Facebook or Instagram so you can start out by linking your Instagram to your Facebook page and posting one time on your content days to both platforms.
You will reach different people, but a lot of people use both as well, so you want to always keep in mind that you can post something different once in a while too.
Over time you may have different content for each planned out!
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When you grow and want to reach more people you may then slowly add in a YouTube channel, Pinterest, Tik Tok, etc. but the success of this will depend on managing your time and putting focus on the right things.
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So ultimately...
- make a list of how many days a week you can commit to posting
- write down ideas for what to post (maybe you'll want to do Story Sundays, or Meme Mondays for fun!) ... having a list can come in handy when you maybe forget to schedule a day and need a last minute posting idea!
- take batches of photos and videos. This will help you to have visual content to post so you're not scrambling for something on a day that everyone is still in their pj's at 5pm (though there's nothing wrong with that!!)
- dedicate a day a week to schedule that week's content! This will make your life so much easier.
** if you haven't scheduled posts before... check the tips on the left! <--
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What other income producing activities can you focus on?
Do you love the idea of putting together bundles?
Most consultants run regular bundles for local and VIP followers. What could this look like?
- Halloween bags (books + treats in a cute bag)
- School learning kits (workbooks, story book, science book + pencils, etc.)
- Christmas stocking stuffers (mini's + Christmas treats)
You get the idea!!
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You can promote various things:
- Book Clubs
- Subscription boxes
- whatever you can think of!! that's the beauty of our business. Feel free to create something new!
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And, of course, parties!! ​
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Parties are the perfect way to get your sales in while growing your connections, meeting people who might be interested in joining, building your reach and gaining followers.
As mentioned previously, the goal is to book 1-2 parties from your launch party ... and every party going forward! Of course, you'll have parties where more guests might be interested and parties where you don't get any interested parties.
All you can do is show the benefits, as most people have a longer wish list than what they end up purchasing!
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Let's go back to time management for a minute!
It's important to only take on the amount of parties you know that you can commit to for that month. Book as far ahead as you like, but accommodate your time!
** You can also optimize your time by doing Mega Parties. Find the training graphics in the Google Drive **
GET TO KNOW THE BOOKS BETTER
By now you've seen how amazing these books are, and even if you haven't received your starter kit and haven't seen any in person at all, you know that they're unlike anything else on the market.
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Start closer to home
Do you have kids? What kind of books will they love?
Maybe they will love our award winning 'That's not my' board books, or will love learning a lot from our lift-the-flap books.
Browse the website and take a look at what's available.
Over time, prices of book series' will come naturally to you, you'll know what sort of books are searchable and what is coming soon. All these things come with time!
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Share what your followers will enjoy!
If a good amount of people in your VIP group have school aged kids, showcase on a day that you're focusing on the books some of our great workbooks or educational resources.
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ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS
Local Facebook Groups
If you're on Facebook, you're likely also a part of local groups. It's important to follow rules of groups, not post too often but they are a great place to share your new business, a promotion, some news you want to share that might gain you local customers or followers!
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Don't forget those old school methods!​
Do you want to create a flyer?
Most locations will have somewhere you can print flyers, even if it's at your local library. Posting flyers around town, on bulletin boards and sharing with local businesses can be great exposure.
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Share what's new on your personal profiles!
There's a big difference from posting daily about your business and posting every now and then with updates and fun stuff.
Just joined? Share that!
Doing a fundraiser? Post about it!
Got a ton of freebies for your kids? Fill people in on how that happened!
Connect your business page to your profile as well so people checking out your profile, like new connections, can see what it is that you do.
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Connect with other businesses!
We have very few restrictions on how we operate, and the main one to remember is that we can't promote our products alongside another direct sales company. Your business page must be for Usborne alone (or paired with something homemade).
However, you can pair up with other business owners as well if you don't have something of your own. We have consultants that work with bakers on bundles. Other combinations we have seen? Balloon arrangements, Organic kids clothing. Baby teethers or toys. Sensory bins. I think you get the idea!
Anything kid related or that could work with any of our titles, you can bundle it! And working with another business owner is great exposure for both of you!
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YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE ONLY ORIGINAL CONTENT
Sharing from Usborne!
There are three separate pages on Facebook for Usborne. Usborne Publishing, Usborne Books at Home in the UK and Usborne Books at Home in Canada.
https://www.facebook.com/Usbornepublishing
https://www.facebook.com/UsborneBAH
https://www.facebook.com/UsborneCanada
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Why are they important?
They share a lot of great stuff!! International Days, reading tips, great facts about our books, and so much more.
You can even use the photographs that they post of our books.
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Key thing to remember:
Always make sure you are promoting books that we have in stock!​
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The UK main website is also a great place to grab resources and stuff to post. They have a section where you can subscribe to their emails, which includes Saturday Activities, so you can include these in your VIP group for printable downloads by your followers.
Take content that is already out there, make sure it applies to our stock and your brand, and you can repurpose it!
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Don't forget!!!
Don't simply "SHARE" the posts. Recreate something similar so that it's coming from your page. If you share another page, you might just be sending your followers over to that page instead of looking for your content!