Promoting Yourself - How to promote your Mary Kay business... and more.

Hi all. In case some of you have forgotten me, or are so new to this blog that you are not familiar with me, I am the "owner" of this blog! I have been very fortunate to have such great authors, particularly mk4me and miranda who manage to bring content that is relevant and interesting to the readers of this blog. For that I am immensely grateful. I used to write my thoughts down a lot more than I do now, but my current schedule, unfortunately has largely prevented this.

Nonetheless, I do wish that I could share more often and, occasionally (like right now) I simply can't resist the urge to share what is on my mind.

I was on facebook the other day and besides seeing this "friend reccomendation" -



- I saw an ad for a photographer.

I began to think about the nature of photography (I personally enjoy photography and, to some extent, wish that I could be a professional photographer) and the way in which photographers find clients.

My sister-in-law, who is a very fantastic photographer, is at what would probably be considered the beginning of a career in photography and is going about the long, tedious process of building up a client base. She is, to borrow a phrase, "doing it the old fasioned way". Word of mouth. My wife has not missed a single opportunity to mention her skills, availability and willingness to travel and work with the most challenging situations. I know the rest of her family and many friends are the same way. You mention a wedding and the first question is, "Do you have a photographer yet?"

In stark contrast, the photographer I saw on facebook is putting his name out to a much larger but much more anonymous and random crowd of people.

Criticisms and praises of both of these approaches abound, but what intrigues me is that neither one is "right" or "wrong". They are just different. It is entirely possible that each one is employing a tactic that is completely wrong for them and they should "swap" strategies. On the other hand, they could both be doing exactly the right thing and should not change a thing.

The important thing in any business endeavor is that you find a way to let your potential client base know that you exist. If I (or more likely someone I know) need a wedding photographer and did not know that you (in this case my SIL or the anonymous ad placer) would be able to provide this service than I will likely not contact you.

If YOU (MK Beauty Consultant) do not tell people that you can provide them with skin care products and cosmetics, they will not contact you.

If Miranda does not tell people that she can customize an incredible cake for them, who could blame them for taking their custom cake needs to another provider?

Okay, your turn. What do you do to promote yourself? When people think of you, what comes to mind? Do the people you meet know that, if they need Mary Kay (or whatever it is you offer), you are the one they need to talk to? If so, how have you accomplished this? If not, what is your plan to change this? Or, does this not concern you... and if so, why not?

A Fun Contest I Run For My Unit

I am a director that truly promotes the selling of product in my unit. One of the contests that I use frequently (not all the time because it would just get old and boring) is the " Beat Your Director Contest". I have a strong personal business which is in part what I feel contributes to my "success" as a director. So what we do is at the end of the month, everyone including myself reports our retail sales for the month (not including personal use items). If anyone in the unit sells more than I do, I treat them to lunch or if timing isn't convenient give them a gift certificate for the restaurant. It is fun and it keeps all of us working, they also see that I "practice" what I "preach".

On another subject, I had the question posed to me privately but asked for the answer to be public: Why don't some directors list their production amounts in their newsletters or on their unitnet sites? My opinion is there are two primary reasons and I am sure there are others but these are the two I see. The first reason (in my case) is that I tend to be the largest seller hence the largest order almost every month in my unit. To have them see my name at the top takes away from the #1 consultant.

I go back and forth, I put it in for a few months at a time so they can see that I am selling and ordering and then I leave it out for a few months so that others can shine without being in the shadow of my figures. Even if I put my totals at the bottom of the column instead of at the top, the 1st place consultant still ends up with the feeling of being "second" and I want her to gain the credit of being the #1 consultant that she deserves for the work that she has done.

The second reason would be because the director may just not be doing that much selling and ordering because she does more working with her unit and being a director than being an ibc and perhaps she doesn't want the numbers public because a) she may be embarrassed and/or b) some may not realize she could be spending alot of time working with unit members helping them develope and training new consultant, not leaving her with much time for her personal business.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!