Postcard marketing should never be afterthought. When planning your yearly marketing campaigns, sending direct-mail promotional postcards should be an integral part of those strategies. Not just once or twice, but all year long.

Springtime is no exception.

Come spring, every year, people are looking for a fresh start in their lives. The weather is nicer. The days are longer. Consumers and businesses alike increase their spending. If you’re not getting your business in front of those people, you run the risk of losing them to competitors.

So, what’s the best way to plan your spring postcard marketing? Here are some quick tips.

Start early. Way early. Like, last year early. If you haven’t started yet for this year, start now. Plan a series of two or three different promotional postcards, get them designed and in the mail as soon as possible.

Factor in “spring.” Use the season to your advantage. In your postcards, offer “fresh savings,” “spring sales,” “deals just in time for spring,” and so on. It not only creates urgency, but helps reinforce the seasonal associations they’re already having.

Don’t forget a promotion. They don’t call them “promotional postcards” for nothing. Offer a new seasonal deal that your customers have never seen before and can’t resist.

Get creative. Think outside the box. Maybe your postcards can include scent! Maybe they can open up and have something pop out at your customers. Direct-mail postcards don’t have to go overboard to get the response you need. But by doing something original, you’re sure to grab attention and make your brand stand out.

Start planning for summer. If you’re behind on your postcard marketing planning, might as well get to work on your summer campaign as well. Starting now will give you more time to perfect the campaign and make tweaks based on the results of your spring campaign. While you’re at it, might as well start on your fall and winter postcard marketing as well. It’s never too early.

Spring might be a few weeks away still (it’s still snowing in many places), but don’t let that hold you back. Now is the time get a fresh start on the new season!

Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur by getting involved with MLM or Top Tier Direct Network Marketing?

Why is that? Why do you want to get out of your traditional day job? Why do you want out of your brick & mortar business? Without a job? Why not just find another one?

Are you finally tired of the fact that you have little to no flexibility? Hate the feeling that something owns you instead of you owning it? With the recession, you just can’t find a job paying you even close to what your last paycheck was. There is just no light ahead for many that are choosing to stay in their situation. Not willing to explore other opportunities that are considered “outside of the box”.

Choices

But that’s exactly what they are, choices. We make choices every day, even if we don’t think so, we do. We choose to get out of bed, brush our teeth, eat breakfast and do whatever means to get us a paycheck.

Some have a rude awakening at one point of their life. They realize they are just spinning their wheels. Caught up in the rat race, that really isn’t going anywhere. They have other aspirations but just can’t get their hands around it. Desires to have more for their family and want more out of life. So when does it stop, if ever?

Time To Reflect?

The time to reflect usually happens during a devastating time in life. Whether you unexpectedly get laid off from your job, your company went under and now you’re bankrupt, or maybe you lost a loved one. All of these help people take a good look in the mirror and begin to realize the importance of a quality life.

So why is it that you are interested in becoming an entrepreneur with MLM or Top Tier? Do any of these scenarios apply to you? Or are you just one of those really smart, savvy business people who get simple economics?

Now that you understand some of the reasons, people have to make more choices, like how do I market. Learn the differences in how MLM and Top Tier Direct Network Marketing build their business in part 2.

Looking to become an entrepreneur and interested in MLM or Top Tier Direct Network Marketing?

Not sure what the difference is? Not sure which one is right for you?

This is part 3 of a 4 part series on MLM or Top Tier Direct Network Marketing. If this is the first one you’ve read, I invite you to view the others as well to assist you in making your decision.

Large Crowd

Multilevel marketing appeals to a very large crowd as they usually have something we could all use and anyone can do it. We need skin care, vitamins, cleaning supplies and makeup, just to name a few. So when someone is approached about the opportunity, it is usually to buy the goods versus the opportunity in of itself.

This is because if you really focus on the return on investment (ROI) in MLM, it takes a lot of people, to sell a lot of goods, to make a lot of money. So instead, they focus on how you need to buy/sell items that everyone would be buying anyway, just convince them to buy it from you versus a drug or department store. Plus when they become a consultant, they receive a discount for their products.

Once this is achieved and they see how well their sponsor does financially, they may start building a down line which is the goal for every sponsor.

Exclusive Individuals

Top Tier is a more, I guess you could say, exclusive group of individuals. It requires an application process to get started, then if accepted you are looking at a much larger investment than MLM. The people that get involved with Top Tier are usually serious about starting a very lucrative business.

Once they get their business started, their focus in building their business is not so much on the product itself. It is more about the opportunity and the money that can be made. This is not because the product itself great, and with that said, every good opportunity has a product. It is about the great return on investment. If you are searching for a lucrative business, you have to focus heavily on the ROI. After all, we don’t work for our health right?

Direct Sales Tips

15.1 Million U.S. Distributors. That is according to the DSA (Direct Sales Association). Of these people there are those who absolutely thrive in this industry and then there are those who never make a dollar.

Here, I am going to offer up 4 of the most crucial Direct Sales Tips to have you hit the ground running and be profitable FAST.

• Direct Sales Tips #1: THIS IS A BUSINESS and should be treated as such.

Look, I don’t care what opportunity you are involved in or what your product is. The number one objective is for you to move product. The beauty of this Industry is that you have the ability to make money from those on your team.

So, just like any business on the planet, you need to build a sales organization, MANAGE your team and teach them how to duplicate your business. Being a good leader will have a profound impact on your income.

It’s great if you are a producer, but if you can replicate your success through others your income will take a quantum leap. This is literally the difference between making $50k per year and $500k per year.

• Direct Sales Tips #2: Systems & Leverage. If you owned a McDonald’s, your job would be to sell as much beef, potatoes and sugar water as possible. Who do you think would do a better job:

The person who takes the order, cooks the food, serves the customer, & cleans the restaurant? Or, is it the person who hires a manager and a full staff so the place runs like a McDonald’s that you and I know?

Obviously you know it’s the second person. If this is so obvious, why do you operate your Direct Sales business like the first person?

You need to capitalize on systems that allow you to market to, sell to and recruit new distributors while you’re doing other things. A prospect should be able to go through your entire system and either qualify themselves or disqualify themselves before you ever pick up the phone.

THIS IS RECRUITING ON AUTOPILOT!!

• Direct Sales Tips #3: Leadership/Training. You and I could talk for hours about Leadership alone, but for the purposes of this discussion I’m going to relate leadership specifically to training.

You have to understand that EVERYONE who comes in to your organization is going to want your time and your knowledge. Even if that recruit is your very first recruit, YOU are the EXPERT in their eyes.

And, I’m going to tell you right now not to jump through hoops for all of your recruits and you’re going to take that advice and throw it away. I know how you feel, especially in the beginning. You feel like your entire business rises and falls with EVERY recruit that comes through your system…IT DOESN’T!

The mark of a true professional is to have automated systems set up that your recruits can go through as often as they want. Systems that cover the usual questions…what is this? How do I get started? What’s the best method? Etc, etc.

Think of yourself when you came into this industry or your particular opportunity, what questions did you have? What would have been helpful to you? Take care of all of this upfront and do it in a format that doesn’t require your time.

Something like a recorded webinar or a Camtasia presentation. Then, you can hold weekly TEAM trainings via Webinars or conference calls that cover BUSINESS related issues (Marketing, Advertising, Recruiting, Team building, etc.)

Take questions here and cover as much as possible. Schedule one-on-one time with your Top Producers to go over their specific needs. I wouldn’t normally go over an hour a week or so but this is up to you.

From these one-on-one meetings, you will get material and problems to address during your team trainings. Trust me; one person’s questions are not unique to just them.

I truly hope you understand the opportunity you have before you. If you set your opportunity up like a business and run it like the CEO, you will be rewarded like the CEO.