It’s been a busy a month and it’s only half over.  We had an exciting, historical election and you know the former history teacher in me was totally involved.  Lisa Young and I started our Direct Sales Jump Start program that is going great guns - there are still a couple of “seats” left if you’re interested (go to http://www.homepartysolution.com/jumpstart for more information).  And if you’re having a typical month in direct sales this should be one of your, if not your absolutely busiest month of the year.

But nows not the time to sit back and count your earnings.   Now’s the time to be planning January 2009.  It’s important to have a consistent calendar and get bookings for the early part of December, up until the time that holiday shipping ends.  But this is also the time to be planning January and getting bookings for January that will give you the start that you want for 2009.

Does your company have a January hostess or guest special to assist you in getting bookings?  Has that been announced yet?  If not, I encourage you to let people know what was offered last year and offer them a tentative date now to be confirmed once the specials for January are announced.

If you already know what your company is offering for January you need to be shouting that from the rooftops.  Make a point of talking about January bookings at each and every show that you have left on your calendar.

In the business of direct sales it’s important to have a consistent calendar based on how you want to do your business.  Belinda Ellsworth says that if you are at hobby level you should be doing one show/party a week.  That makes total sense.  If you’re a golfer or a bowler or you play some other sport isn’t that your hobby, and don’t you do that once a week?  If you want to be part-time then you need to be doing two shows a week, and full-time is, week-in and week-out, three shows a week.

Where do you want to be in your business for 2009?  Hobby?  consistently doing one show a week?  Part-time?  Consistently doing two shows a week?  Or do you want to go for the gold and consistently do three shows a week?  If you want to be consistent then you need to start 2009 by being consistent in January.  To do that - start booking your January now.  Don’t wait until January 2nd to start booking January - start now.

To get people to book in January you need to come up with ideas of WHY they should book in January.  Is January a dull month after all the activity of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years?  Do people have Christmas gift money that they received that they’re just itching to spend on themselves?  Does your company have January hostess and guest specials that enable your hostesses to get what they want for free even if their sales don’t match the pre-Christmas sales?  What’s so special about booking a presentation with you in January that you can be talking about tonight?

Come up with some ideas and start throwing them out as one-liners throughout your November and December shows to get your New Year off to a great start and making 2009 your year in direct sales.