Note from Jen: In this article I discuss ways to use Pinterest as a direct seller. If you don’t know what Pinterest is, you may want to do a little pre-reading. Start here.

Pinterest is making big waves in the social media world. A quiet little startup that is suddenly one of the top 10 social networks in the world. And it’s growing quickly. The site is especially popular with females and people interested in arts and crafts between the ages of 25 and 44. And retailers are finding that it’s driving big traffic. (Source) I actually identified Pinterest as one of the top 6 media trends for 2012 for direct sales.

So what does this mean for you, the direct seller? Should you run out and set up your own Pinterest account immediately?

The answer is, maybe.

How Does All This Sharing on Pinterest Work?

First, let’s take a look at how Pinterest actually works. It’s not so face-driven as Facebook. Even though a lot of sharing of content is going on, it’s not typically shared because of my relationship with someone else. Rather, I share something just because I like it; it reflects my personality. And while we often see things shared by our friends on Pinterest by default, if you’re looking for something specific like recipes or decorating ideas, it’s easy to switch to what everyone on the site is sharing.

This of course means that you have an opportunity to share your content beyond your circle. But you have to do it in the right way if you want to have success on Pinterest.

Getting Started

When you first set up your Pinterest account, you have a handful of boards by default. You can begin loading content onto these, or create your own boards. I personally have created my own boards, with things like Fabulous (for clothing), Fabulous Shoes, Recipes, Causes I Love, Feed Your Head, etc.

I do not recommend that the first boards you set up have anything to do with your business, but rather focus on your passions. This will help you to get into the spirit of the tool, rather than just look at it for marketing (and the true purpose of any social network is the social aspect. Use them to help people get to know you as a person first.) So build boards using content you already love. If you love to cook, share recipes. If you love fashion, share outfits. If you love fitness or decorating, create boards for that. The point is, approach the tool as a user first, and get used to how others use it.

Direct selling companies have an opportunity here to craft a personality for their brand. By choosing content that helps to define the brand (not just the products) you can give a more human face to your company. It might be words of inspiration, tools to help grow a business (content from The DSEF could be a good place to start), it might be food related, it might be causes your company supports. Whatever you choose, remember that you have the opportunity to create a personality for your brand, based on the passions of the organization beyond just your product line.

The point is that both individual consultants and companies can use Pinterest successfully.

Moving into Business

Once you’ve used Pinterest for a few weeks, you’ll have a better idea of the types of content that people share. You will probably have figured out that content that is an outright sales pitch is probably not going to do as well as content that fits into the context of other people’s passions. So then you can start thinking about how to package content in ways that will appeal to the average Pinterest user.

So let’s say you sell home decor products. You may want to create a “Decorating” board. On this board you can place photos of products you sell (probably in lifestyle shots that show them in the context of a decorated room). Make sure they link to your website, where people can purchase the products. Categorize your board as “Home Decor” and it will be available to Pinterest users that search this category.

Also be sure to include descriptive keywords in the comments you include with your individual pins, so people searching for specific items (like “Picture Frames”) will be able to find your item if it applies. So for example you might include the comment “I love the black picture frames in this room. They really stand out against the yellow paint. I’ll keep this in mind when I decorate my living room.”  Then people who are searching for yellow rooms, black frames, and living rooms will be able to find your pin.

You can do the same thing with topics like fitness, arts and crafts or scrapbooking, cooking, etc. Create lifestyle boards related to your content and share both your own content as well as other content that’s applicable. Creative Memories does this through creating boards like “Paper Crafts” and even cute ones like “Scrappin’ Snacks.” Private Quarters does this through creating boards like “Beautiful Spaces” and “Comfort Food.” Note that both brands are making sure to include content that is frequently shared on Pinterest, and is of interest to the user base.

Does Pinterest Work for My Product Line?

This is an important question to ask yourself. Pinterest works best when your product line is highly visual, and of interest to the main user group on Pinterest (females between the ages of 25 and 44.) Cookware, recipes, crafts, decorating, fitness, books, and other items that fall into the main categories that Pinterest offers are probably going to do best. If you sell energy or insurance, Pinterest may not be your best social tool of choice. You can see a list of all the main Pinterest categories on the right.

Pinterest, Your Website, and SEO

I have personally noticed that Pinterest is generating incoming traffic to my blog. The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) benefits of Pinterest are certainly something to think about. Every time someone repins your item on Pinterest, it becomes an incoming link to your website. This is one of the reasons it’s important to make sure that your website pages are easily “Pin-able.”

It’s very important if you’re pinning to your own content to make sure it links to a place where people can buy the item. This is usually your personal website provided by your company. Each of your product pages should have a “Pin it” button that makes it easy to share that product on Pinterest.

You need to make sure that the picture of the product can be captured by Pinterest as well. If you house your pictures in a Flash movie, for example, Pinterest may be unable to post your photo. There are ways around this (upload the picture individually, then edit the picture by providing  a link to the page) but that’s difficult, and the average person won’t pin your content that way.

I recently saw a cute home decor item posted by a direct selling company that I wanted to pin. I went to the company’s website, but I was forced to go through a process of connecting with a consultant before I could pin the item, and then could only pin to that individual consultant’s website. While on the surface you may think that’s great, it’s actually a big hassle for the end consumer that could prevent your content from being shared. While you may want to make it mandatory for the final purchase to go through a consultant, people should be able to pin without that hassle if you want maximum exposure for your product line.

Final Thoughts

This article has only scratched the surface of Pinterest, and focused on products. I have also seen consultants using Pinterest for things like team support (sharing links to training and support tools), etc. You can also share videos and music on Pinterest, which means that you could put your opportunity videos and other items on Pinterest. The trick will be getting other people to want to share them, which could be harder on a tool that primarily focuses on the passions of others. I’ll be exploring more on this, and would love to hear your thoughts as well.

Are you using Pinterest? Is your company? Would love to hear your thoughts on Pinterest in the comments below.

The last few weeks I’ve taken a blogging hiatus. It wasn’t entirely intentional. My work schedule has been such that keeping up has been interesting to say the least. There have been fascinating new business consulting clients, speaking engagements, travel, new platforms from vendors to explore… In short, I just haven’t made the time for blogging.

This time last year I had been blogging daily for 2 years. It was a good exercise in helping myself stay current and in touch with all of you. And the blog has been a good tool for opening conversations about my other services as well. It has been and continues to be a great marketing tool (keep that in mind, folks. A blog is not something that works for selling directly, but it’s AWESOME to position yourself so people are interested in your products and services.)

But what I found is that people were getting overloaded. They weren’t reading everything I was writing. I began to question whether writing every day was worth the time it took.

And I’ve come to the conclusion that writing daily isn’t necessary for me anymore. Instead, I write when I have something to say.

The challenging part of this is that, without the habit of setting aside the time to write, I now have to remember to make time when there is something to write about. There is certainly much coming down the pike. Things like using Pinterest effectively, the Facebook Timeline being rolled out to everyone, the benefits of bulk texting services, and what you really need from a service as a direct seller. Plenty of topics to explore.

So I continue to seek the balance that provides the information that you need, allows us to stay in touch, but also doesn’t become too much information so that the blog becomes background noise that is no longer relevant. I suppose in some ways this is the evolution of a blog, and what works for us at one point may not be what works for always.

So staying flexible, nimble, aware…these are the things I’m striving for as I enter 2012 with this blog.

And I wonder…what would you like to see from this blog? What are the things you find the most benefit from? What questions can I answer for you? Would appreciate you sharing your thoughts in the comments below.

One of the things I love most about direct selling and network marketing is the fact that doing good is part of the business model. Take a look at almost any direct selling company, and you’ll find that the company has a philanthropic component. We’re feeding people, improving the environment, helping the homeless, supporting domestic abuse survivors, helping find a cure for cancer, and so much more. What other industry can say that?

Now of course there are business reasons for it. We have an independent salesforce that looks to the company for motivation. And a great way to motivate people is to provide a cause that people can work together to help. But it’s truly more than that. Because I’ve met the people that run these companies. And I’ve seen the glow that they have when they talk about the causes they support, the people that they’ve helped.

Direct selling is about making a difference…in the lives of the people that sell our products, the people that make our products, the people that buy our products. And also in the lives of the communities we touch. You want to create jobs in a community? Invite in a direct selling company. Because ANYONE in that community can take part and earn money. There are no barriers to entry. If you want to take advantage of the opportunity, you can. It’s that simple. And it’s one of the reasons I’m so passionate about this industry, and seek to serve it every day.

The Direct Selling Education Foundation (disclosure: client) recently produced a video that shares better than I can the many ways direct selling is making a difference today. I think it will touch you the way it touched me. Watch it. Share it. People need to understand the many ways that having direct selling in their communities benefits them. And this video can start that process.

Enjoy.

Can’t see this video? Click here.

What cause does your direct sales or network marketing company support? Would love to hear about it in the comments below.

image credit: bitterjug

Media is evolving at such a rapid pace that it can be hard to keep up! And then, as direct sellers, we not only need to be aware of the trends, but we also need to be aware of what makes sense for direct selling. We can’t be just doing media full time. We have to be working the business in other ways if we want to be successful. And so it’s important to know what matters, and where to spend your time.

So here are some places that I think it’s valuable for direct sellers to spend their time in media in 2012:

• Texting: We’ve talked about this before, but I think leaders and companies need to get on top of mass texting in 2012. It’s the best way to reach your younger salesforce members. Even if you want to send them to, for example, an online training piece delivered in another format, a text message with the notification will get better results than an email. Get on top of this this year.
• Facebook: Facebook only continues to grow, and a vast majority of our target market is there. Make sure you are too, with a strong strategy for how you will convert “likes” into sales and recruits. I expect to see direct sellers increase their use of contests (using 3rd party apps like http://wildfireapp.com so the contests are within Facebook Promotions Guidelines) and Facebook Ads to increase their reach.
• Mobile: From mobile websites to training, mobile is rapidly becoming a must-have in direct selling. We have the most mobile salesforce that exists, and we must be prepared to support them whenever, and wherever, they are. This includes a website that functions properly on a mobile phone (not just one you can access, but one that is optimized for mobile), access to backend data, the ability to place orders from the phone, video training and opportunity videos that can be viewed when sitting on the sidelines at the kids’ soccer game, and more. If you don’t have a mobile strategy for 2012, it’s time to get on the ball. You can’t ignore this anymore.
• Video: If you and your company aren’t training and communicating with customers via video, you’re missing the boat. Today’s online audience is accustomed to consuming information via video. It must be short…3 minutes or less…and it must be fun and engaging. There’s a reason that YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world. People want to learn via video, and they want to be entertained by it too. And one more important thing…people SHARE video too, increasing your viral visibility. Here’s a post I wrote this past year on how to do video better.
• Pinterest: I wrote a post last week about why I think Pinterest is the next big thing for direct selling. My head is already buzzing with ways it can be used by my current clients. If you’re not on Pinterest you should be, exploring and getting comfortable with the tool. I believe this is going to be really big for our industry in 2012. Something to watch there? Take a look at how fashion retailer polyvore.com is putting together looks that are “Pinterest-ready.” (See some of my favorites here: http://pinterest.com/jenfongspeaks/fabulous/) When you click on the look you’re taken to a page on polyvore.com that lists each of the items, with a link to buy it. These looks are shared like crazy on Pinterest.
• Gamification: If you can make it a game, people will get more involved. Direct sellers need to think about how they can make things like training, online group participation, etc. into a game where people earn points and prizes. In some places we’re already doing this (like incentive trips), but we need to look long and hard at other places we may be able to incorporate this. For example, look at FourSquare. The simple act of checking into a local business earns you points. The more points you earn and checkouts you achieve, you earn virtual badges. Along the way, you can also earn discounts, and even become the “mayor” of establishments. This makes it more fun to do business with you. How can you make it more fun to do business with your direct sales business?

So those are some of the places that I think direct sellers should be focusing on in media for 2012. Have I missed anything? What do you think is important? Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

Do you pin?

I’m talking about Pinterest, a new social sharing site that users describe as “addicting.” Essentially, users find things around the web that they love, and then “pin” them to boards on their profile. What’s neat about this as opposed to other bookmarking sites is that the boards are all visual. When you enter a URL, you select a picture from the site to pin to your board. People spend hours pinning their own content, and then finding content on other people’s boards to “re-pin” to their own boards.

Now let’s think about this from a direct selling perspective for a minute:

• Many product lines in our industry are visual. In fact, one of the reasons people choose the party plan sales method is because the product needs to be shown to be fully appreciated.
• The target market that many of us are trying to reach is the one most engaged right now with Pinterest, and this will only grow as time goes on and the site becomes completely public.

Now this is not to say that you should recreate your catalog and try to craft a sales pitch on Pinterest. Rather, it’s an extension of your existing content marketing strategy…providing content people can use right now without spending a dime. But make sure you’re focused on the visuals that go with your content if you’re going to be using Pinterest, because that’s what helps your content spread here. For example:

• If you sell jewelry or clothing, create “looks” boards. Pair your jewelry and other accessories with outfits to give people ideas on how to put together a look.
• If you sell cookware or food, create recipe boards. Post delectable looking recipe photos, together with links to the recipe and the cookware you need to prepare the dish.
• If you sell skin care, create boards that have healthy living or skin care tips. Include articles about caring for your skin, products you love for skin care, etc.
• If you sell makeup, create boards of makeup application tips. Pin content that shows women how to apply makeup, products that work well together, the essentials for every makeup bag, etc.
• If you sell scrapbooking or card making products, create boards of your projects, along with pins of the materials you used to make the projects.
• If you sell vitamins, nutriceuticals, or other health products, create healthy living boards. Have a board for exercise tips, one dedicated to vitamins needed for healthy living, and what they do for the body, etc.
• No matter what you sell, you can use Pinterest for remote personal shopping appointments. If you have a customer with specific needs, create a board just for him or her with items you sell that would meet their needs, along with links to other tips and content. Invite them to check out the board on Pinterest, and let them know you made it just for them.

Are you beginning to see the possibilities here? The more time people spend on Pinterest, the more likely it is they will be exposed to your brand messages. And if you’re interesting enough, people might repin a specific item, board, or all your boards to their own profile, creating viral visibility for your content.

While the site is still invitation-only, some companies in our industry are already jumping in, like Creative Memories. And this is just the beginning. I predict that in the next year, Pinterest is going to become a big deal in our industry. Take some time now to jump in and get acquainted. Request an invitation, and just start playing.

Do you use Pinterest? How? Do you think it holds potential for direct selling? Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

And if you’re on Pinterest, feel free to Follow Me. So far I’ve got boards for Recipes, Causes I Love, Fun Stuff, and, of course, Fabulous Shoes.

I’m in Nevada this week for the DSA’s Be Connected conference. I got in a day early because of client meetings, and so had a quiet morning to myself (a rare treat.) After spending some time catching up on work, I wandered down to the hotel restaurant for some breakfast. I don’t normally go to the restaurant for breakfast, choosing instead to pack my own oatmeal, protein powder, dried fruit and nuts to save money and calories. But I wanted to get out of my room and explore the hotel a bit, so I decided to have breakfast in the restaurant.

When I arrived, they asked for my last name at the front desk. I figured it was because if I wanted to bill my breakfast to my room, they could verify it was me. No problem. But then when I sat down, the waiter immediately greeted me as “Ms. Fong,” and used my name throughout the service. A very nice personal touch that made me feel welcome.

The breakfast was made with simple ingredients, but they were fresh and delicious. Extremely well prepared. The view was beautiful and the room peaceful. My coffee cup was kept filled. And as I was presented with the bill, the waiter (calling me by name again) told me that if I’d like to take a cup of coffee to go, I should just let him know. Good service.

Even though I normally balk at paying $13 for eggs, I caught myself thinking that this breakfast was worth it. And I have never thought that about an overpriced hotel breakfast before. But the service was exceptional and personalized, and the food was good. I felt like I got good value.

And it got me to thinking about our businesses, and how we can leave people thinking they got their money’s worth, no matter the cost.

This is, of course, where the independent consultant comes in. Because you have the opportunity with every customer, every day, to give that personal level of service that they simply cannot get in a big box store. You make them feel “high end.”

So how do you do it? Here are some tips to get you started:

• Call each guest by name at the party. Use whatever memory technique you need to so that you remember everyone’s name.
• Call each guest once they’ve received their order to make sure they are satisfied, and to find out if they have any questions.
• Write thank you cards.
• Offer little “extras” when people shop with you. One of my favorite consultants always sends me a little something extra when I place an order with her…a product sample, something new to try. She has taken the time to understand the scents I like, my skin type, etc, and she keeps track of it. Now when I call her with my order, I tell her to just add one more product to the order to surprise me. Because I know she knows what I love, and she takes care of me.

Imagine that you work at a high end department store. What would you do for guests? Extend that same level of service to your clients. It will make a big difference in your reorder and referral business.

And every customer will walk away from their experience with you knowing that it was worth it.

Your thoughts?

Wall art I purchased from Marafiki, our new local Fair Trade store.

This weekend I stopped in to our local dollar store. I had made some candies with my family for holiday gifts, and wanted to pick up some festive tins to put them in. When I reached the checkout, the owner was there. Just making conversation, I asked him if the store had been crazy busy over the holiday weekend. “No,” he told me. “It’s been really slow.” In fact, he was on his way to a meeting with the other small business owners in the shopping strip his store is located within, to discuss what they could do to help things pick up. “We can’t have another season like this,” he said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

The look in his eyes as he spoke quietly broke my heart. Maybe it’s because I lost a business myself in this economy. (I was one of the fortunate ones in that I was able to reinvent quickly, and had people who lent a helping hand that saved us.) But this conversation really hit home for me, and I can’t get it out of my head.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. And yet so often when it comes to shopping, we think of the big box store first. Now sure, it’s up to small businesses to advertise in such a way that you do think of them. But when business gets tough, advertising dollars shrink, and it can be very hard to make an impact with a small budget.

And that means small businesses need to get creative. Here are some inexpensive ways your small business might be able to increase sales:

• Partner with local youth groups and community organizations that are holding holiday babysitting fundraisers (the teens watch the kids from their community and allow the parents to go out and get holiday shopping done.) Offer to promote the event for the group, and provide coupons for all the parents that take advantage of the babysitting offer, good for that night only.
• Use Facebook. Too many small businesses neglect Facebook to their detriment. This weekend I went shopping at a new Fair Trade store that opened in my town (and bought a beautiful wall hanging for my home.) How did I know it had opened? Some of my friends and local realtors had posted about it on Facebook. I went to the store’s Facebook Page and looked through the photo albums they had of some of their products. I had my eye on that wall hanging long before the doors actually opened. And when I went into the store, I couldn’t resist. (I went home and told hubby he’d purchased an early birthday present for me!) The local Irish pub in my town posts about the nightly entertainment, fun stuff going on, etc. If you’re thinking about where to go for dinner, his little reminders at just the right time may be just the thing you need to choose his place of business.
• Teach. Offer free workshops throughout the holidays in your place of business. The dollar store owner could host a workshop on how to decorate beautiful gift packages or create holiday centerpieces using his products. A jewelry store could host a clinic on how to layer jewelry, or choose a diamond. Stationery sellers could hold a hands-on workshop on creative holiday cards. Coffee shops and restaurants can provide dessert or drink-making classes. No matter what your product line, you can teach people how to use your products. And since your customers are already in your shop, they’ll probably buy the supplies to make more at home from you.

It’s also important for people to support their local small businesses. When you’re thinking about running to your local big box store for something, ask yourself if a small business in your area offers the same product. Even if it’s a couple pennies more, by shopping at a local business, you get more personalized attention, and you help rebuild your local economy. And that’s good for everybody.

Ask yourself: What would your town be like if there were no small businesses there? Because if you don’t support your local businesses, there won’t be any. That’s a fact.

What ideas do you have to offer to local businesses in your area? What can they do to get the word out, and stay afloat? Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

I recently purchased Purex Complete Crystals fabric softener. (All of you that sell this type of product, cover your ears and hum quietly to yourself. There is a point here.) This type of fabric softener is added to the washer, rather than the dryer sheets I’ve always used. What caused me to buy it? I met them at a blogger mom conference and they gave me a sample. I went home and tried it (not right away…it was when my regular brand ran out.) And I liked it. A lot. So a few months after receiving the sample, I made a purchase. And now I’m a regular customer, and this is what I buy.

But how on earth can the company equate their attendance at a social media conference to me becoming a regular customer?

They can’t. Because I purchased at my local supermarket.

When we talk about traditional ROI, a transaction has to happen. Money has to be spent. We just don’t always know what caused that transaction.

But what Purex did that was smart was that they participated anyway. Sure, I may not be the person they were totally hoping to reach. I’m sure the ideal was that an influential mom blogger would try the product and blog about it. And maybe they did. I wasn’t really paying attention. That might cause more people to buy the product.

I’ve recently had a few companies express their doubts about social media to me. “I feel like it’s valuable, but my board wants to see numbers!” It’s hard to justify the expense of a social media program if you’re not tying it into dollars.

But that’s the wrong way to approach it. Think about traditional PR. Think about your customer service department. Do these generate a lot of ROI? They’re important, though, aren’t they? Because social media is one of your public faces to the world. You are shaping opinion that may ultimately lead to a transaction at a later date. It’s about increasing positive sentiment about your brand. And it’s about being there to make things right when things go wrong. It’s the ultimate communication tool, connecting you to the end consumer in a way that direct selling companies have traditionally found to be extremely challenging.

Sure, there are things you can measure, if you set your website up right (something we have a challenge with in this industry), including:

• Entrance paths tracked through to conversion. Using Google Analytics, answer these questions: Where do people come from online? What do they click when they get to your website? Does that visitor make a transaction or complete a conversion on your website? This is the simplest way to measure ROI.
• Campaign conversion. The way direct selling companies set up their online ordering systems sometimes makes it hard for us to track entrance paths through to conversion, because our replicated websites are housed on a separate system. In this case, setting up individual (hidden) pages on your website for specific online marketing campaigns can help you get some of the data you need. Especially if those pages have strong calls to action that lead to some type of conversion (such as signing up for your newsletter or signing up immediately for the opportunity through the corporate website.) You can track the analytics on those individual landing pages to help measure your ROI.
• Asking them. At each customer touchpoint, ask customers where they heard about you. Present them with a list, or let them fill it in themselves. It’s not quite as precise, but it gives you data you wouldn’t get using Google Analytics. For example, if I meet you at a blog conference or see some of your tweets on Twitter, I might decide to attend a party in my local area. You won’t know that unless you ask.

We love to look at numbers like number of fans on Facebook, because numbers moving in a positive direction must mean you’re doing something right, right? But number of fans is NOT ROI. And so we need to define the conversions we want to see, and then set up tracking methods that allow us to analyze those conversions.

But we also need to realize that there will be some things you won’t be able to measure. Things like the fact that your consultants are happy that you’re online and talking to them, which gives them one more reason to stick around. Like the fact that your customers appreciate the support you give them online, which means they don’t have to sit on hold waiting for customer service on the phone, which means they’ll probably order again. (And that also saves some time for your customer service department to support other customers, adding to the efficiency of your customer support team.) Like the fact that you’re providing your sales force with content they can share with their own customer base, which helps them ensure that those folks are more likely to place an order, come to a party, or join the team.

Is your company finding a positive ROI on its social media efforts? How do you know? Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

image credit: woodlywonderwords

I shop with a lot of direct sellers. There are several reasons I do so. 1, I love the products offered by this industry. 2, I love the fact that every purchase supports a small business owner. And it’s also pretty amazing to build relationships with the people who provide my favorite products. You can’t get that at a big box store!

So it was really nice to get the Thanksgiving card in the mail the other day from one of the direct sellers I shop with. Complete with a sweet handwritten note inside. It made my day.

And it got me to thinking about how special you can make your customers feel, by taking advantage of the Thanksgiving season.

• By sending out a thank you to your customers now, instead of waiting for the December holidays when everyone sends stuff out, you stand out, and your message gets noticed more. Everyone sends stuff in December. How many Thanksgiving cards do YOU receive?
• If someone needs something for the December holidays, your note of appreciation in November reminds them of your business, and may generate additional orders.
• A genuine, handwritten thank you makes your customers feel special. The fact that you took the time to personally write a “thank you” sets you MILES apart from your competitors. And we all prefer to shop where we are appreciated.

So this Thanksgiving, consider taking some time to let your customers know how thankful you are for them. It can make a HUGE difference.

And Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers. I am thankful to all of you, American and international, for supporting this blog all these years, and consistently sharing your thoughts and ideas here. The community here is wonderful, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it.

How do you let your customers know that you’re thankful for them? Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

Proudly wearing my blue key during the tweetathon

This morning I participated in a Blue Key Tweetathon. It’s not something I’ve done before, and honestly it was a lot of fun.

What is a tweetathon, you ask?

Basically, there were a team of Blue Key Champions who signed up for an hour each to tweet (on Twitter) about the refugee crisis going on, and to encourage people to purchase a $5 Blue Key to support the cause. I shared tweets such as:

• Some 43.7 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at end of 2010, the highest number of people uproouted since mid-1990s.
• There are more than 43 million refugees worldwide http://ow.ly/5d54i Your $5 #bluekey could open a new door for them.
• If you’re in #directsales, consider giving each hostess a #bluekey as a hostess gift. Very meaningful! http://ow.ly/5d4VC
• I gave my daughter a #bluekey and it opened the conversation w/ my kids about refugees. http://twitpic.com/7fcw5t
• 41% of world’s refugees are children under 18, 11% are under the age of 5. Help here: http://bit.ly/tlsZlF #bluekey
• RT @jnamadan: Skip the Venti latte for today. Get your #bluekey for a worthy cause http://bit.ly/rPTFyC Thank you!
• For just $5, your #bluekey could help @UNRefugeeAgency save a life. Get your key today: http://ow.ly/5d4VC
• The #BlueKey is a great corporate gift too…a way to show your organization cares. http://ow.ly/5d4VC
• If you’re in real estate, a #bluekey makes a really meaningful “welcome home” gift. http://ow.ly/5d4VC
• I hope that lots of #directsales companies will share abt #bluekey like @Seriluna_USA did today. We make a difference! http://ow.ly/5d4VC
• I’ll be giving #BlueKey pendants as gifts to each of my kids’ teachers with a note abt what it means. Helps refugees & teaches!

It was really fun to participate, and it certainly makes a big difference. In many ways, the refugee crisis is a silent one. People aren’t aware of the scope of the problem, and so many of these people are children. Direct selling has always had a big heart for helping others. Won’t you step up and buy a $5 Blue Key today? and encourage the people in your company to do the same?

Think about what you can do with it:

• Wear one yourself, to spark conversations about the plight of refugees and generate awareness.
• Give one to each of your kids’ teachers (I’m doing this). This might even open up conversations in the classroom! (And here are some great free classroom resources/lesson plans that unrefugees.org provides for teachers: http://www.unrefugees.org/site/c.lfIQKSOwFqG/b.4803793/k.89B4/Lesson_Plans.htm)
• Give them as gifts to your hostesses during your holiday parties.
• Give them with your corporate gifts to demonstrate your business’ commitment to helping others.

I’m sure you can think of more applications, and I hope you’ll share them in the comments.

So what say you? Are you in? Will you buy a blue key (or several) yourself, and encourage others to do the same? Together we can make a difference.

p.s. Want to join in on the fun? Just follow the hashtag #bluekey all day on Twitter to see great tweets from other Blue Key champions. I hope you’ll join us, and retweet content to your friends!