work from home Archives - Page 2 of 3

Posted on August 29, 2016September 27, 2016 by janet — Leave a comment

MLM vs Affiliate Marketing

I was intrigued by a review of Phoenix Trading that I found online the other day. What intrigued me most was that the reviewer wasn’t a Phoenix Trader and never had been. Furthermore he had admitted that he had never actually even seen a Phoenix card.

As I read on it was clear that he was using Phoenix as an MLM company (Multi-level marketing) to promote his own affiliate marketing proposal.

I thought this was pretty underhanded and certainly wouldn’t attract me to his offer. (At least he didn’t accuse us of pyramid selling!)

But what I found quite amusing was that he was arguing that MLM companies didn’t work because

a – you have to recruit

b – you have to hold the stock of what you’re selling, ie you can’t just do it online

…whereas in his opinion, affiliate marketing is better because you can just sell online without holding any stock yourself and without having to recruit to make money.

Well you see, the thing with Phoenix is – if you want to do marketing without recruiting or holding stock then you can actually do that with Phoenix! So really you have both options with Phoenix Trading because it offers that flexibility.

There is no obligation to sell from your stock, you can have an ecommerce website that is fulfilled by the company and you could market that purely online and get 20% from each sale. You don’t have to make a minimum each month or anything, for every order, however small, you get 20%.

So, if you’re not sure whether to do MLM or affiliate marketing, look for a company that offers both options with no minimum targets, that way you can have the benefits of both and won’t be stuck with one way.

Just a thought!

Phoenix Trading Review – Is it worth it?

Posted on August 20, 2016June 21, 2023 by janet — 16 Comments

Phoenix Trading Review

Phoenix Trading closed down in August 2017. From its ashes we had a new company called Flamingo Paperie, which closed down in June 2023. Luckily I still have a few items from Flamingo Paperie and lots of new items from the same artists via other supplliers.

My Phoenix Trading review still stands and I also did a review of my first 6 months with Flamingo. Alternatively please contact me for more information.

I’ve added a quick note at the end with my personal opinion about ‘what went wrong’ with Phoenix Trading and what will be different about the new company.

So you’ve heard of Phoenix Trading, you love their products and you want to know what’s happened to the company? In this blog post I reveal my experience of Phoenix Trading. What I expected from it and what I discovered. Here is my Phoenix Trading review.

I became a Phoenix Trader by ‘accident’!

What is it about Phoenix that attracted your attention? Did you find their cards were unlike any you see in the shops and better value? Had you received a present gift wrapped with roll wrap that looked better quality and prettier than any you had seen before? This is what most people say. Well for me it was the bookmarks!

While selling children’s books, I thought the bookmarks would compliment my stock…gradually I fell hook, line and sinker for their entire range of cards, stationery and other gifts.

Have you wondered if it would be worth being a Phoenix Trader just to get your hands on some cards, gift wrap and stationery that you love? I fell in love with the children’s range as I had young children. It was worth being a Phoenix Trader just for the birthday and Christmas cards I was going to use myself.

If you are worried that there will be lots of sales and recruitment targets, there aren’t. In all the time I’ve been doing Phoenix no one has pressured me to sell a certain amount or to recruit people.

I hadn’t intended to build a business from Phoenix but when I took a closer look at the commission package that Phoenix offer I realised that building a team and getting to the level of business bonuses was entirely doable. It wasn’t a requirement, no one would try and make me do it but it looked achievable. So if you are looking for a business, not just some free cards for yourself, there is that option too.

Do I need team members to make money?

There are two ways you can earn money with Phoenix; profit from sales and commission from the volume of sales your team do. You don’t have to do both it’s your choice and there are no targets for either. You decide what you want. I wanted an income from it!

Sales profit is simple as you get 30% profit on everything you sell. Furthermore there is more than that on greeting cards when people don’t take advantage of their 20% discount by buying 10 or more assorted cards at a time. I think that’s a pretty good profit margin for a direct sales company (and of course it means 30% discount on anything you use!).

Minimum of 5% commission on team sales – but how do you get a team? In the first few months after I started I was busy trying to work out how to ask people to join my team and the fear that goes with not knowing how to start that conversation when people started asking me! I realised it wasn’t about trying to convince all my friends and family to join my business but about listening to what customers were saying and picking up on the cues to let them know ‘you can do this too if you want’.

I now have a team of Phoenix Traders across the UK and in Australia.

What’s the company support like?

You don’t want to be stuck on your own, not knowing what to do when your starter pack arrives. On the other hand you probably don’t want to be bombarded by emails and phonecalls from your team leader either. I’ve found the support level to be just right. My team leader calls me when I want her to. There are Facebook groups to share ideas and encouragement. There will be team meetings (usually involving cake!) near you that you can choose to attend if you wish. I do not get any pressure, just support. I don’t get hassled by phone calls or emails telling me I’ve not done this or that. However I do get constant recognition when I reach a milestone, which I love.

It’s up to me to ask for input from others, it isn’t forced upon me and that’s the way I like it. I think it also makes for a better business to be honest as it’s then your responsibility.

What has really impressed me is how Phoenix Traders support each other across teams. This is something I feel very strongly about. If one grows we all grow as the ‘brand’ grows. I have received multiple nominations for the past two years for supporting other Traders outside my team. It’s this spirit of support across Phoenix which I think is somewhat unique to companies like us.

There has to be some negative in my Phoenix Trading review surely?

The ethos of Phoenix is about having an ethical business with beautiful artwork that makes people smile. We send cards and we sell cards. We wrap presents in the best wrapping paper I’ve ever used. So we aren’t as hot on social media but I’ve seen improvements since I joined.

When you show your starter pack of cards to your friends, colleagues, family the chances are they will ooh and ahh over the quality of the illustrations and product. They will see how fabulous your products are much more by physically holding them than from your Facebook page, or from a text message. Showing your cards to people is how you build your business and your personal ‘brand’. You can of course sell online too through a custom made website.

My top 5 highlights from my Phoenix Trading review

Low cost start up

Start from just £35, which includes 10 brochures to start collecting orders and 45 cards to sell immediately. Potential sales value of £70.

Flexible business

No one sets any targets except you. I have never felt under pressure to achieve any level of sales, recruits, bonuses or anything.

Great products you will use yourself

We all know someone with a birthday! You will use the cards yourself. In fact the hardest bit might be selling them and not sending them all yourself!

Really helpful and friendly people both fellow Traders and head office

Most friendly company I have ever worked amongst. You will meet people you wouldn’t have met otherwise and make great friends, if you want to.

Nothing to lose!

What’s the worst that can happen? You get left with a few fabulous cards that didn’t cost you much that you can use yourself.

So, what went wrong with Phoenix Trading? What will be different about Flamingo Paperie? (added August 2017)

If you’re still reading this far then you may well be asking what went wrong? Why did Phoenix Trading close? What will be different about Flamingo Paperie, given the involvement of some of the same management? These comments, like all the others in this article, are just my personal opinion based on what I know. There is probably a lot I don’t know.

What went wrong with Phoenix Trading?

In my opinion there were 2 major things that went wrong, trying to expand in to the USA and warehousing issues.

Expansion in to the USA – didn’t make money. Lost money and cost the company a lot of its reserves. Phoenix management are not the sort of people to give up easily and probably could have pulled out of USA sooner than they did but isn’t hindsight wonderful? It’s easy to throw that judgement in now knowing that the idea wasn’t profitable but at the time it would have been easy to persevere. After all it takes time to build a business right?

Warehousing – because we love our products so much it’s very difficult to pulp them! Phoenix rarely pulped discontinued lines. Phoenix offered sale items to Traders. However, this had the knock on effect of leaving Traders with lots of stock to sell that was no longer in the catalogues. Personally I think we should offer sales and special offers direct to customers. I also think we should ultimately pulp discontinued lines. This would have saved warehouse costs and kept the business fresher. This will now be happening in Flamingo when you join the Flamingo Customer Club.

I have a few other ideas about things that could have been done differently too but these two issues above would have made a big difference.

So what will be new with Flamingo Paperie?

Well we aren’t trying to expand in to any other countries for a while! We’ll be outsourcing our warehousing, which should make it financially more efficient. We are introducing a customer loyalty programme. This is going to be fantastic for you if you’re a customer! You will get direct access to special offers and discounts and have the chance to buy stock that is due to be discontinued before it goes to pulp. We have a new director called Stuart Millar.

I know Stuart personally. He has even taken time to come and visit my small team in the Outer Hebrides. Stuart has been a Phoenix Trader for years and he’s a listener. I’m pretty much a nobody in the whole scheme of things but Stuart has had phonecalls and Skype calls with me and taken time to listen as well as encourage and develop my team. Without going in to too much detail of the previous commission structure, Stuart has done this despite the fact that he doesn’t earn commission directly from my sales. Having Stuart on board brings direct Trading experience to the table. It brings someone who was very much in touch with all activity-levels of the previous business. And therefore brings a greater understanding of what Traders need as well his own business and customer relations experience and knowledge.

Flamingo Paperie will be a much more enhanced company built on experience, lessons learnt and listening to what all parties are saying.

Like most direct sales, network marketing businesses Phoenix Trading is flexible so you make it work to suit you. Therefore, another person’s Phoenix Trading review might be totally different. I hope you’ve found my Phoenix Trading review helpful.

To ask me any questions click here

You could leave a comment telling me what you thought about Phoenix Trading. Perhaps you’re thinking about joining the new venture, what do you like about the idea, what are you not sure about? Were you a Trader, feel free to tell us what you loved about it. Or were you a happy Phoenix customer – what made us different to other card outlets? What’s your Phoenix Trading review?

If you liked my Phoenix Trading review then you might also like:

What’s Special about Flamingo Paperie
Strategies for success in direct sales, from an Executive Flamingo Paperie Partner
Is there room for more?
Can I make money at this?
What is a Pyramid Scheme (and what is not?!)

Posted on August 5, 2016July 8, 2023 by janet — 2 Comments

Is there room for more?

cards and gift wrap in the highlands and islands

I’ve just had a fabulous 2 days at one of the best agricultural shows in the UK, the Black Isle Show. While I do some of my business online, I think it’s really important to get these fabulous Flamingo cards and gift wrap in the Highlands and Islands.

Despite the rain, the footfall was good, people’s spirits weren’t dampened and everyone seemed impressed with my fireplace (held in place by some paper chains – just shows how sturdy they are!)

As they oohed and aahed over the cards, I asked quite a few customers, ‘Have you heard of Flamingo Paperie?’ and to my surprise many of them said, ‘No.’

Who is Flamingo Paperie?

Flamingo Paperie (formerly Phoenix Trading) have been going for 22 years. You can’t buy Flamingo cards in the shops. However there are 1000s of Partners across the country selling cards in workplace baskets, holding coffee, cake and cards in people’s homes, setting up stalls like mine. Ultimately these people become ‘The Card Lady’ (or man) to their friends and relatives.

Yet many have still not heard of Flamingo Paperie and don’t know a Flamingo Partner.

People want to buy these cards and gift wrap in the Highlands and Islands so we need more Flamingo Partners.

Do you love cards? Are you a stationery addict? Do you know even a small handful of people who would love to have access to good quality, reasonably priced, ethical, and charitable greeting cards? Would you like to make a little money selling these fabulous products? Would you like to be able to buy these cards and gift wrap in the Highlands and Islands?

If so, then you could be the next card lady (or man).

You can become a Partner from as little as £45 starting you off with cards, a
few brochures and some business stationery. These are at a high discount to get you started so if you’re a card lover you will save money whatever happens.

Perhaps you want something bigger than that?

Then start with the £200 business pack. This contains over £500 of cards and stationery, more brochures and plenty of business material to get you going.

Or if you’re somewhere in the middle then there’s a £95 pack too. Which ever pack you choose the start up covers stock, business materials and your first year registration fee. It also covers your public liability insurance (usually about £50 a year) and a free personalised ecommerce website.

Statutory Notice – It is illegal for a promoter or participant in a trading scheme to persuade anyone to make a payment by promising benefits for getting others to join a scheme. Do not be misled by claims that high earnings are easily achieved. The promoter of the Flamingo Partner scheme is Flamingo Paperie 60 High Street, Wimbledon Village, London, SW19 5EE

Start now!

Black Isle Show

If you’re attending the Black Isle show this year I’ll be there in the craft tent. The Black Isle Show is always the 1st Thursday in August. So it’s 2nd August 2018. Pop by and say hello! Even if you need just a card (it’s never just a card!)

Posted on July 14, 2016June 3, 2023 by janet — 2 Comments

The Day that Changed my Life

Follow your dreams Phoenix Trading cards

I didn’t know it at the time but that day was to change my whole outlook on life. What happened planted a seed in my mind that was to grow over the next few years.

I was in my early 20s, just married and in my second job following graduation. I had a career ahead of me and any thoughts about children were way in the future. Although everything may have seemed fine on the outside, on the inside I was struggling. Battling with depression as a side effect of the contraceptive pill, I was finding it hard to get through each day. I wouldn’t say I was actively suicidal but the thought of my life ending abruptly wasn’t unappealing.

It was at this time that I had a review with my line manager.

He had noticed that I’d had a few days off sick, not a lot but a few. He’d noticed that I was struggling and didn’t seem at all surprised when I confessed that I was seeing the doctor about my depression. (I had stopped the medication but was still climbing back out of the pit.)

I was encouraged to hear him say he understood, he’d been there but his next words knocked me for six:

‘Well, we clearly don’t want to push you over the edge but we do need you to work extra hours.’

Extra hours??? I was barely making it through 9-5, 5 days a week!!! And for what? Extra hours wasn’t going to earn me any extra money or even develop my career path, it was simply to be able to bill the client more and put more money in the pockets of the shareholders. How pointless that seemed then.

I left that job shortly after but it wasn’t until years later that I discovered how to work for myself. I wish I had known then but life’s experiences have shaped who I am now so no regrets. I now have 4 children and run my own business selling Flamingo cards and stationery. I’m not making millions, which isn’t surprising as my family are my priority just now not my work. Like any business you only get out what you put in and right now I’m investing in my family but quietly building a business for when I do have a little more time to make it grow bigger.

Being with my young children is priceless and I wouldn’t change a thing. Being my own boss suits me just fine. Life is really too short.

Only I can push me over the edge and I choose not to.

Posted on May 4, 2016June 3, 2023 by janet — 3 Comments

Increase Your Business By Sending Business Greeting Cards

Found this great article about why sending ‘holiday’ cards is great for business but I think there is far more potential than just Christmas cards. So I’ve added in my own suggestions of what cards businesses could send. Do you have any other ideas – I’d love to hear them. Business thank you cards are the obvious ones but what others could you use?

Business thank you cards

Thank you, greeting card, Phoenix Trading — Use a card to say thank you for your order

Inspire your employees

Let them know you’re thinking about them

Sympathy, thinking of you, Phoenix Trading, greeting card — Send a sympathy card to your customer

Business specific cards

card 'Birdhouse and Blossoms' (code: WS420) — Estate agents? Send each buyer off with their first ‘new home’ card

Congratulate them

birthday candles, phoenix trading, greeting cards — Of course the ‘happy birthday’ card to clients or employees

With compliments

beach huts, phoenix trading, greeting card — Why not use a beautifully illustrated card as a ‘compliment slip’?

There are many different kinds of businesses available to the consumer today. Customers can choose who they want to do business with and with more businesses opening daily, and the explosion of internet businesses, customers are looking for the best places to do business with. Never before has it been more important to try and keep the clients your business currently has.

The number one reason customers will tell you that they want is good service. They want to feel as though the business cares whether or not they choose their service. In order to keep the clients you have and build new clients you need to keep the customers feeling important.

Business greeting cards are an excellent way to let your clients know that you appreciate their business and welcome their return. During the holidays more and more businesses are sending greeting cards. Most customers will welcome the little surprise as long as some general rules are followed.

First of all it is very important to have current information on the customer such as address and name. A business that sends a greeting card with good intentions to the wrong address or with a misspelled name will come off as impersonal and pushy.

Secondly it is imperative that the greeting cards are kept with a neutral tone, so as not to offend. However there are exceptions to the rule, if a business chooses to stand by their religion choice and is willing to risk losing a customer, then a religious card is acceptable.

Finally the most important part of sending a holiday greeting card to a customer is to have the head of the company sign the cards personally. This is the only way to ensure the client feels touched by the company’s awareness and compassion. An unsigned card will be the same as a flyer in the mail.

Holiday greeting cards sent out by businesses are an excellent way to remind the client that you are it for them, even if they don’t require your services at present time, the card will ensure they will return when they need your services next time.

The personal greeting cards are just that, personal. Customers want to feel as though you need and want their business. The customer also wants to feel as though they are important to your business.

Another benefit to holiday greeting cards are they serve as a type of reminder notice, reminding clients of the need to make a return appointment or a servicing due on a vehicle. The client will be more likely to pick up the phone and request your business after they receive a personal greeting. Keeping the camaraderie going between client and business will pay back when they return and have told others that you remembered them during the holidays.

via Increase Your Business By Sending Business Greeting Cards

PS – If you have an idea of what sort of card your business, or a business you know, could send, I’d love to hear it. It’s not just about business thank you cards.

If you like this you might like 10 reasons to send Christmas cards

Posted on April 21, 2016September 27, 2016 by janet — Leave a comment

Why “poaching”clients or downlines is business suicide.

Fantastic, clear reasons why poaching is not good for your mlm direct sales business – happy to say it’s not something I’ve seen very often with Phoenix Traders but I’ve been approached many times by other company representatives.

Why “poaching”clients or downlines is business suicide.

Posted on March 20, 2016October 9, 2017 by janet — 6 Comments

What is a Pyramid Scheme (and what is not?!)

pyramid scheme reach for the stars phoenix cards phoenix trading Facebook business page

“A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products or services. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly impossible, and most members are unable to profit; as such, pyramid schemes are unsustainable and often illegal.” (taken from Wikipedia)

Often you hear people wrongly call multi-level marketing, or direct sales schemes pyramid schemes.

What I think are the 5 main differences between a Pyramid Scheme and an MLM

1 Overall Profit

The big difference is that any commission paid to team leaders in a direct sales scheme is from the profits that the overall company makes from selling a product (or service) and not directly from any sign up fee.

2 Shareholders

Compare that with your typical shareholder owned company where any profits made by the worker go directly to shareholders. The worker usually earns a fixed wage, most probably gets no overtime and rarely receives a bonus for any extra sales or revenue generated. Whereas the shareholder will get their share of the profits with very little input into developing the worker’s role. (Now that sounds more like a pyramid scheme to me – and certainly doesn’t seem fair!)

3 Bonuses

In a direct sales business you have the same opportunity to make profit on the goods/services you sell as anyone else in your upline or downline. You can usually earn further bonuses if you sell certain amounts and it’s your choice to do that. Work hard and you can earn the bonuses. Choose to do it as a hobby and make some pocket money, the choice is yours but the money you earn comes from what you sell.

4 Team Building

In addition you can make commission based on having other people in your team who also sell. The commission does not come out of their pay packet. The profits of the company make up the commission scale. In other words you get the shareholders cut. But only if you work hard do you get this reward – seems fair to me!.

5 Rewards for effort!

Mentor and support your team and they’re more likely to blossom. They’ll make more profit from more sales. They may well start building their own teams and you’ll get commission as a reward for working hard and supporting them.

PS – I love being in direct sales and if you’d like to know more about what I do then you’ll like Can I make money at this?

Posted on February 12, 2016July 22, 2018 by janet — 2 Comments

5 Steps to improving your Facebook business page

I don’t claim to have the best Facebook page there is but I’ve learnt a few tips over the last couple of years and wanted to share them with you. I don’t have any official social media training or background – I’m in the same place as you, just learning as I go along and offering to share my little experience with you. So here are my 5 steps that I have found have increased my reach on my Facebook business page, grew my audience and stopped my posts being ‘lost in space’.

1 Understand your audience
2 Understand how Facebook business pages work.
3 Likes
4 Post reach
5 So what do I post?

Whether you run a Facebook page or a group for your small business, the principles of getting your audience to engage and what to post are still the same. Using Facebook to develop your small business is hard work, like every other aspect of running your small business! Don’t expect it to be easy. Later I’ll post about networking and some ideas of how to network without spending your whole life on Facebook. In the meantime if you want to pop over to my page and say hello, please do, leave me a link and I’ll say hello back on your page but don’t ask me to like just cos you’ve liked my page! As my 4 year old now tells his sisters when I’ve said no to something, ‘Not happening!’ (Read on and you’ll see why)

www.facebook.com/cardsandgiftwrap.co.uk

1 Understand your audience

Firstly, you need to ask yourself, ‘Why do people go on FB?’

Facebook is not an online shopping platform, though people do use it to shop. Most people go on Facebook to catch up with friends, read something funny or see what the latest gossip is. In short they want to feel connected to something.

They generally don’t want to see adverts, horror stories or political/religious posts. Therefore keep your page fun and light hearted.

People want stories!

2 Understand how Facebook business pages work.

Facebook chooses which posts to show people. Unless someone has marked your page to receive all notifications from your page (which to be honest they are unlikely to do as I doubt your page is their main priority for going on Facebook)…then they won’t see your post unless Facebook decides to put it in their newsfeed.

Facebook will show posts that it thinks people will engage with (that means like, comment or click on).

There is no definitive list of words not to use but it does seem that words like ‘offer’, ‘sell’, ‘price’, ‘website’ etc will make your post less likely to be shown. Facebook wants you to pay for these posts as they are advertising. In my business I am not allowed to pay for boosting posts…and to be honest I wouldn’t want to. If my Facebook friends are anything like me they will be switched off by a ‘sponsored’ post! As a Facebook user I don’t want to see adverts.

So your posts need to be ‘engaging’.

3 Likes

Firstly – you want people who like your Facebook business page, to actually ‘like’ your page. No point someone clicking the ‘like page’ button and then not wanting to see anything you post. That makes Facebook think you’re not a very interesting page and therefore they are less likely to share your posts.

Who do you want to like your page? I would suggest that you want your friends to like it first – they already know you and are most likely to engage with anything you post. Surely the start to building any business is to engage with the people who already know and trust you – after all if you’re selling anything (product, service, idea) you have to sell you first.

You can invite everyone you are friends with on Facebook to ‘like’ your Facebook business page. On a desktop go to your page and scroll down the left hand side.

You’ll see the invite friends option at the bottom of that list. Click that then invite everyone you know.

The next way to get more likes is to start networking – but I’m going to do a separate post on that as it’s quite a big topic.

DON’T get hung up on likes – you may invite all your friends, they might accept and decide the next day to unlike your page – that’s cool, they weren’t your target audience then, they weren’t going to engage and you’re better off without them.

DON’T do ‘like for like’ – not worth it – both you and the other page end up with a meaningless like, makes your figures look good but doesn’t impress Mr Facebook and makes him less likely to share your posts.

You want people who like your page to really like your page so they’ll engage. (Think I might repeat myself a few times here – it’s important!)

4 Post reach

Your reach is all to do with how many people see your post. This is boosted by how many people like, comment or click on your post.

There are different sorts of posts, mainly 3 (status, photo, video).

A status is just a statement. A status that is brief and funny, or asks a simple question can be successful. Of course questions need to be answered so that helps to get a comment too.
Photos obviously help to show off products, this works well for me as I sell gorgeous Phoenix cards. I simply upload the photo onto my Facebook page with a nice comment.

Stop trying to sell the products

People want stories. Tell them a story and pick a photo that suits what you want to say. By all means put at the end of your post what the image is that you’re sharing, or put a link in the comments, below your post, to your website (don’t do it in the post, I have found it reduces the chances of Facebook showing it to anyone!)

Videos are great and usually get seen by a lot more people. You can do this in two ways – you can make a video on youtube, you don’t need a camera – you can do it via a slideshow of images, then share the video on Facebook. You can also do a slideshow of images (3-7 images) on Facebook directly.

Can you see where you go to post a status or a photo? If you click photo you now get 4 options with the last being ‘create slideshow’ – simply choose your (up to) 7 images and write a post to go with it.

It’s all about the clicks!

If you do long posts where people have to click on it to read the end then Facebook thinks that your audience are interested in your post and will show it to more people.

Here’s a post I did recently that got really good reach (my normal reach is about 200 people seeing a post)

You can see that 1,100 people saw that post – why? Because it was personal, most people who engage with my page are friends so they know my daughter and found it funny. It had a nice picture and people had to click on it to see the whole story.

If I click on the bit that says 1,100 people reached you’ll see what I mean about clicks

It’s not a perfect post – it didn’t sell anything or produce any leads – I didn’t do any ‘call to action’ like sharing where the image was from or my website link or say I was putting an order in. (might have if I’d realised it would reach so many people!!!) Obviously I don’t want to put a call to action in every Facebook business post, not when I post between 2-5 times a day.

5 So what do I post?

Funny, engaging stories

Quotes or sayings – these work well for me. I use Canva to put the quote on to one of our notecard images, I can then put my website link on the picture, not the post writing, which I think seems not to stop FB showing it to people!

A collage of images – again I use Canva to do this – I think it means that some people will click on the image to see the detail and therefore FB shows it to more people. Picmonkey is also another good site especially for photographs.

Here’s an example of one I made for my page

National Days – if you’re stuck there are some good websites like nationalwhateverday.com that tell you what supposed national days are (it’s American but don’t think that really matters whatever country you are in). Write an interesting fact and find an image to match, of a product if you can.

Seasonal posts – Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Christmas…etc

Personal stories – why do you do what you do? For me, being a Phoenix Trader involves eating a lot of cake and luckily people like posts with cake on them! – with these you want a ‘call to action’ something like ‘ask me if you’d like to know how you can do this too’.

Videos – obviously you can make your own but you can also share other peoples. Keep a look out in your personal newsfeed for videos that others share and that get a lot of views (it usually says under the video how many people have viewed it). You don’t have to share immediately – if you click on the little down arrow at the top right hand side of the video you can ‘save for later’. Then you can share it when you’re stuck for something else to share. It might not lead people to buy anything or join your business but it improves your reach and helps to get people to like you!

Finally – a few DON’Ts!

DON’T

share anything that is controversial- political, religious or otherwise.
whinge, e.g. don’t say ‘no one is seeing my posts so blah blah blah’ – it’s very tempting but to be honest most people couldn’t care less, you’re not going to get any sympathy!
share anything too personal about your children or anyone else (I probably cross the line occasionally on this because I innocently think I’m safe living on the edge of the world as I do).
share a photo of someone without their permission.

PS – IF THIS HAS BEEN USEFUL TO YOU, OR IF YOU’D LIKE TO ADD YOUR TIPS, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT.

PPS – If you liked this you might like 5 Ideas for Networking with your Facebook Page

Posted on October 18, 2015January 23, 2023 by janet — Leave a comment

You don’t have to be crazy!

Why would you think we’re crazy anyway?! Join Phoenix today and you’ll find out that we are all different and all doing our business our way. Phoenix Trading training and support provided

What is a Phoenix Trader?

OK, so we wrap presents with matching tags and ribbons. We see our Christmas products in June and we love cake. Can you handle that?

Seriously though, we are all self-employed, independent Phoenix Traders running a business or a hobby whichever way suits us. You don’t need to have any experience just enthusiasm and a love of beautiful cards or a stationery addiction helps!

For anything else you need to know there is full training and support available when you join Phoenix.

Phoenix Trading offer a 90 day email getting started support programme and online webinars. I try and have regular face to face meetings with my team (with cake!) and if that’s not possible due to geography then I’m available for phonecalls, emails or whatever suits you best. We have regular online meetings via Facebook and some of my team like to Skype. Phoenix Trading hold roadshows twice a year in Jan/Feb and June/July (where we see the Christmas things!). Phoenix will send you monthly newsletters to keep you up to date with the latest developments.

No one will force you to attend any meetings, if you’re not on Facebook, it’s not compulsory but the support is there if you want it. However, it’s your business and it’s up to you how much you tune in to the support available. I do find that my team members who listen and share most with me and their fellow team are the most successful but it’s your choice.

This month I also have a special Golden Ticket! The first person to join my team between now and the end of the month will receive extra products free in their start up stock pack.

You will get a basic free website when you join Phoenix. You can choose to upgrade this to an ecommerce website for a one-off fee of £15.

However, join Phoenix in January 2017 and you’ll get this upgrade for free. This means people can buy direct from your website and you don’t even need to handle any stock.

Contact me now for more information, or join here.

It is illegal for a promoter or participant in a trading scheme to persuade anyone to make a payment by promising benefits for getting others to join a scheme. Do not be misled by claims that high earnings are easily achieved.

Flexible, work from home, Phoenix cards

Posted on May 26, 2015October 6, 2017 by janet — 2 Comments

Are you a Mad Hatter?

Greeting cards and stationery for all occasions

In this era of social media, texting and instant messaging, here are 10 reasons to pick up a pen, stick a stamp and send a card. The Mad Hatter may have had the right idea.

10 reasons to be a Mad Hatter

Haven’t forgotten you

It’s been a while since we last spoke, I’ve been busy and didn’t want you to think I had forgotten you. A handwritten card will forgive a lot more non-contact than a FB msg, take the extra minute to write a card.

Saw this and thought of you

Your friend loves gardening and you saw this great card they’d love. Send it! Don’t just look and think “I know who’d appreciate that” because if you don’t send it they can’t appreciate it!

Just catching up

It’s time for a coffee and cake somewhere. Your friend will feel you really want to meet up if you write a note, with even a time and place suggested….trust me, much more meaningful than a text and they’re less likely to forget a card and more likely to reply.

Wanted to make you laugh

Laughter is truly the best medicine and whether someone is ill, having a tough time or not that you know of, a humourous card will brighten up their day….just like it did yours when you picked the card.

Remember when…

…we had that pyjama party years ago? Doesn’t the one on the left look like….

**It’s National Clean up your room day*…**

…and I wanted to give you advance warning. Or chocolate truffles, ice creams, save the whale etc. Your friend will love the thought and might even frame the card! (*It’s May 10th by the way if you need to know…)

I’m a bit of a Mad Hatter

Happy Unbirthday! At least 364 days a year you can send these cards and let’s face it most of us would love more than one birthday a year. Or if you really are a Mad Hatter and love tea, then I have the perfect card!

It’s been a year since…

Whether it’s been a year since you walked along that beach or since they lost a loved one, such a thought will either bring back happy memories or remind them they aren’t forgotten in their grief.

No flowers allowed

With many hospital wards not allowing flowers any more a colourful card goes a long way to brightening up the hospital bedside cabinet!

Just because

If none of the above apply, well then just because it’s a thoughtful thing to do. Pick the right greeting card and it will look good and do good!

Go on, make someone smile today, send a card.

To stock up on cards visit my UK shop, if you’re outside the UK, visit International Enquiries to find out how to get hold of some fabulous greetings cards.