Sex Sells!

Well hello Home Party Sales Reps,

Lean in just a little bit closer, there you go, now where is my bugle…

…Home Party Plans Marketing Success Secrets Revealed! Sex sells, yes, but only when used in good taste. Home party marketers must think not only in terms of getting the customers’ attention for the short term, but also in building a brand reputation that will yield long-term results.

No need to blush.  Yes the word sex prompts hesitancy, but keep reading.

In response to the ever increasing desire for women to become financially stable, many are turning to home based business opportunities, with an emphasis on Home Parties.  Direct Sales companies such as Arbonne International, Mary Kay, Avon, Pampered Chef, Mia Bella Candles & Melaleuca come to mind.  Home parties now account for approx. 30 percent of the nearly $30.8 billion in U.S. direct sales, and 15.2 million Americans bought or sold goods from home in 2007.

Despite the popularity of the party plan industry as these statistics from the direct selling association indicate, many home party plan business owners find themselves frustrated, heartbroken & cash-poor.

But, what separates the struggling, frustrated, heartbroken, cash-poor Home Party Plan Business Owner from the confident, pink Cadillac driving, white Mercedes Benz owning, obviously clued-in home party plans marketers pulling in huge numbers and results (EVEN in this chaotic, soul-sucking economy?)

According to Party Plan Pat, author of 10 Deadly Home Party Plan Business Mistakes and Home Party Plan Success Tips, a blog focused solely on imparting marketing wisdom to home party consultants  “A successful in home party is a mixture of bonding session & home-shopping network.  If you have been to one tupperware party well you have been to all of them is a common saying.  It falls upon you the home party consultant to capture the imagination — and pocketbooks — of buyers.”

People buy:
1.    Because they like you
2.    They trust you
3.    To ease pain
4.    To increase pleasure
5.    For status

What does sex accomplish:
a)    Sex reduces pain, people in pain want relief
b)    Sex relieves stress, stressed people make poor decisions
c)    Sex boosts immunity
d)    Sex helps you sleep better, reduces paranoia, encourages a sense of camaraderie (builds trust)
e)    Sex improves self-esteem, when people feel good about themselves, they feel good about you and your products

Steve Davis – VP of marketing in Heineken USA claims that, “Provocative is a very good place to be, as long as we’re not inflammatory.

Sex sells because it answers to all the needs. A full-blown orgy is not the recommendation nor should one jump ship and become a home sex party consultant.  Nor is there much need for sales techniques, gimmicks and trickery to increase home party sales.

It boils down to, COMMUNICATION, which in humans is facilitated by three things: neurons, neurotransmitters and cells.  Our bodies communicate through chemicals (neurotransmitters) that are released by the pituitary gland and passed on to the responsive cells by neurons.

The chemical substance of interest that facilitates communication that provides the positive side effects of sex is called dopamine. You can think of dopamine as the “I’ve got to have it” neuro-chemical, whatever “it” is. It’s the “craving” neuro-chemical.

The more dopamine one releases, the more your reward circuit is activated. The more “reward” you experience. A good example is food. I get a much bigger blast of dopamine eating high-calorie foods than I do low-calorie foods. It’s why I choose chocolate cake over Brussels sprouts (yuck!)

Dopamine is your major motivation, not the item or activity.  The motivation is pleasure. direct sales marketing then should be about activating the reward circuit as often as possible.  Remember neurons that fire together, wire together.

Home Party Plan Success Tip: Let your prospects associate you with all things good, all things pleasurable all things that create status.

To Your Success,

Party Plan Pat