The internet has created exciting new opportunities for direct marketers and party plan professionals. The basics of your business like: recruiting, booking parties, trainings, and selling are no longer limited to the number of people you can stop in the supermarkets, banks and toy stores. Learn to use today's technology to advance your party plan business to the next level

Start a website. I stress this over and over to all my clientele.  You can not count on your company website to bring in business for you. Having a company is fine and you want one of those too, so you have a place to show people what all your products are.

There are numerous ways that you can start a free website without the need for any previous site-building experience. Yahoo Geocities and Tripod are two popular choices.  I would not want to trust these free web servers for too long because they don't allow you much space to hold graphics, and don't offer many different options for you website.  If you have a company you want to put on professional look.  You know when you see a website that is not appealing to the eye, you leave it quickly. Don't be the website everybody wants to leave.

I personally use Webhostingpad.  They have super support and you don't need to know any html.  They often have a deals for less than $6 a month. You really can't beat the price for all the bells and whistles you get with their service.  Check out Webhostingpad you will love them.

Use Message Boards.  Market your party plan business through message boards and chat rooms. Many message boards and chat rooms offer users the option of creating a "signature line" that automatically defaults into the base of a users posts. This is a good place to link to your business website and provide your contact information.  Be careful and read all their rules so that you don't get yourself banned from posting.

• While signature lines are highly recommended, try to avoid discussing your business openly in chats and forums. Many users take offense to blatant marketing efforts and it may do more harm to your marketing efforts than good.

Use Email and an Autoresponder. One of the easiest, and least expensive, ways to connect with customers and hostess is via email. While it can be quite expensive to mail out a monthly newsletter, it is free to send monthly specials and promotions via a carefully written customer email.

Also, you can grow a great mailing list in which you can regularly let your customers know about specials, or new items you are offering in a regularly scheduled email.  It is very helpful if you have an autoresponder which will automatically send out your emails to everyone.  I can recommend Aweber as that is the service I use and have never had one problem with them.  They are also updating and adding new things to their service to stay at the front of their market.

Social Networking sites.  Connect with customers through social networking sites. Popular sites like MySpace and Friendster can be a great resource for meeting new people and marketing your business online. Set up a profile with your business information and network with people that have similar interests.

Pay for advertising. While there are many ways to promote your party plan business online for free, you may get quicker results by placing paid ads on relevant sites. Search engines like Yahoo and Google also offer reasonable pay-per-click advertising services.

Filed under: Advertising Your Business, Building A Home Based Business, Building Your Business, Business Tools, Direct Sales, Internet Marketing, Multi-Level-Marketing (MLM), Tools For Business Success, Working From Home | No Comments »

Home Organization 101: Easy Steps to a Clutter Free Home

When you first move into your home it seems like you have so much space.  As the years pass, you might find yourself becoming a pack rat.  What are you going to do with all the stuff you have accumulated?  Perhaps it’s time to weed out the unnecessary items and organize your home.

Home organization is a step-by-step process.  It will take more than a day or even a week to get everything to a manageable level, but once you do staying organized is an easier task.  If you have a family, enlist their help.  They can pitch in and learn a thing or two about controlling clutter in their life.

1. Start with the high traffic areas.  The living room and kitchen are usually the two most used rooms in the house.  Everything gets dropped on a counter or the couch in these two places.  Concentrate on getting everything set up the way that you like it before moving on to another room.

2. Use storage containers.  Over the years, the style of storage containers has upgraded to be pretty as well as functional.  Instead of storing containers in stacks in the garage, purchase ones that match your décor in each room and integrate them so that no one would even notice they were being used for storage.

3. Divide items into categories.  You can use heavy duty trash bags for this part.  Everything that you find can go into a pile: KEEP, THROW AWAY, GIVE AWAY, and RELOCATE.  Items that will stay in that room are to keep.  Things that you don’t need or are broken can be thrown away.  Clothes or furniture still in great condition can be donated and scheduled for pickup by the Veteran’s association or Goodwill.  Anything that definitely belongs in another room can be labeled for relocation when you get to that room.

4. Remove everything from drawers and cabinets.  This is a time-consuming process but it is easier to start with an empty space and fill it instead of simply pushing things around.  If you line things up on the counter, someone else can help by putting the items in some type of order.

5. Make use of all of your available space.  In the kitchen, for example, appliances or extra containers can be stored on top of the cabinets provided they don’t extend all the way to the ceiling.  That’s extra storage space without benefit of a storage container.  Also use the top of the refrigerator for cereal boxes and breakfast food like boxes of instant oatmeal or grits.  In the bedroom, shoes and winter clothes can go into flat storage bins that slide easily under the bed or the dresser.

6. Label your containers.  Use tape and a permanent marker to identify the contents of your storage containers.  Avoid writing on the actual container in case they are reused and the contents are changed.  Labeling also makes for easy identification if you decide to sell or give away a container of books or something.  You won’t have to open each container to locate them.

Organizing your entire house takes time.  But, once it is done, returning everything you use to its proper place will maintain that same level of organization.

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How to promote your home party plan business for free on the world's most popular websites (No computer experience necessary!)

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Quick and Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Unfortunately, many of us neglect breakfast.  And there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that your body and mind will suffer unless you have a healthy breakfast each morning.  

You spend six to eight hours sleeping.  After that time, your body needs fuel to keep going.  Without breakfast at home, your options for on the run nutrition may amount to too much fat, too much sugar and too many carbs.  And, that convenient run to the fast food joint is not as convenient and time saving as you think if everyone else has the same idea.  The fifteen or twenty minutes spent in line could have been used to fill your belly with something good at home.  

If you are the type to skip breakfast, here is a solution to starting the day with a good breakfast which will help you keep hunger in check as well as give you the natural energy boost to start your day.

1. Oatmeal – This food makes a good hot meal that contains lots of filling fiber to keep you from getting hungry later on in the morning.  Depending on your taste, you can take five minutes to fix it on the stove or use the microwave for instant oatmeal.  Kids tend to like the variety of flavors that come with instant oatmeal.  The night before, put together a container of add-ins like blueberries, strawberries and bananas that can be tossed on top for a bit of antioxidant power.

2. Fruit smoothies – These are good any morning but particularly on a hot day.  You’ll have to blend the ingredients together in the morning, but the prep work can be done at night.  Cube your fruit and place it into a container.  Instead of frozen yogurt in the morning, use a cup of plain yogurt.  Add ice cubes, a little water and blend.

3. Egg sandwich – The eggs can be cooked the night before and placed in a sealed container.  In the morning, warm up the eggs in the microwave.  If you want, add some chopped veggies or shredded cheese.  Serve on toasted wheat bread.  The night before, place two pieces of bread into a Ziploc bag for each family member.  They can toast their bread as they get up and place the sandwich in the bag for easy transport in the car to work or school.

4. Yogurt with granola and fruit – Some people like to eat yogurt.  But, yogurt by itself won’t keep you from being hungry.  Add some granola and a few blueberries to the mix.  This makes a great breakfast idea for those mornings when you are running late.  Keep small bags of granola and blueberries in the fridge next to the yogurt so you can grab them and run.

Are you fighting the breakfast battle?  To get a filling meal you don’t have to opt for too much fat, calories or carbs.  These quick and easy breakfast ideas can be made within minutes and are a much healthier alternative to skipping breakfast or grabbing a high fat alternative.

Filed under: Family, Health and Fitness Tips, Recipes for the Busy Mom | No Comments »

Why having the best opportunity, products, and compensation plan is completely irrelevant to your Home Party Plan success.

Filed under: Building Your Business, Business Tools, Direct Sales, Multi-Level-Marketing (MLM), Tools For Business Success | No Comments »