Fifth Avenue use Facebook to increase sales

Jewellery from Fifth Avenue Collection

Direct sellers and party plan consultants are getting online and using social media to improve their business.

Fifth Avenue Collection jewellery consultant Jessica El’Cheikh launched a Facebook page for her party plan business in September 2011, and has found that she has been able to expand her reach by engaging with a growing customer base.

‘I started by promoting Jesska’s Fifth Avenue Collection Facebook page to my friends, who shared the page with their friends and really built up a base.

‘I encourage my party hosts and guests to like the Facebook page, and now I have over 145 “Likes” on the page, which gives me a direct line of communication with my most valuable and important customers,’ she said.

Now that she has a steady following on Facebook, Jessica has used online competitions and promotions to increase ‘Likes’, ‘Shares’ and comments on the page, and this has helped the bottom line of her business.

‘I definitely have seen a massive impact on my business since starting and actively using the Facebook page.

‘I have more party bookings, new consultants and direct sales – and that’s fantastic!’ she said.

Fifth Avenue Collection encourage their consultants to establish an online presence for their business, and also provide them with their own email and website, which links to an entire database of products hosted by the company.

Jessica uses a multi-platform online presence to her advantage by cross-promoting her Fifth Avenue Collection website with her Fifth Avenue Collection Facebook page.

‘I refer all visitors on Facebook to visit the Fifth Avenue Collection website and encourage my party hosts to have a look at the jewellery on the website to get an idea of what they are interested in.

‘All of the jewellery pages also have links to “Like” the products on Facebook which gives the brand great exposure.

‘I also encourage my customers to share what they bought on their own Facebook accounts and the business Facebook page to create buzz and get people talking about the collection,’ she said.

For more ideas on how you can expand your direct selling business, Party Plan Australia, a professional organisation for party plan consultants, have online resources for networking online, free online advertising and hosting e-parties.

Why use LinkedIn?

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a social media platform dedicated to developing your professional network. LinkedIn helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with contacts you trust and a broader network of professionals.

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking site, with over 3 million Australian users and over 150 million worldwide.

LinkedIn allows users to:
•    Update their work history, skills and interests on their profile – like an online CV
•    Connect with colleagues and associates and ask for written recommendations
•    Join professional groups and associations
•    Search for jobs
•    Find new clients
•    Promote their company or organisation.

Why use LinkedIn in your workplace?

LinkedIn has the potential to help you build an audience of followers, who are genuinely interested in your business.

Having a dedicated company page on LinkedIn should be part of your social media strategy because it will allow you to showcase:

•    Who you are as a business
•    What products and services you offer
•    Career opportunities at your company

Here are a few of the ways your business can connect on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Status Updates

You can post status updates from your company to your followers. The status updates can be up to 500 words long, can include links, and can support multimedia such as videos and photos, and your followers can comment, share and like these updates.

LinkedIn Advertising

You can target LinkedIn advertisements to your audience (whether that be individuals or other businesses) based on job title or function, industry and company size, seniority within their job, age and what groups they have joined. You can advertise your business to get more followers or to promote the products and services that you offer.

LinkedIn Recruitment

There are a range of LinkedIn recruitment solutions available for your business, including posting jobs and making sure they reach the right audience, employment branding or even headhunting the perfect candidate.

LinkedIn Tips

Now that you know what LinkedIn is, here are some ways you can get the most out of it:

•  Cross-promote your business.  Add links to your website, email address and social media accounts on your company profile page. Stream your latest Tweets and Blogs on your LinkedIn company overview page. Increasing the visibility of your company increases the visibility of your brand, services and products.

• Ask your customers to recommend your business.  Recommendations of your products and services create buzz, build trust and promote new followers of your business.

• Use Search Engine Optimised (SEO) content.  Describe your business clearly and provide interesting company updates to drive new followers to your business page, and encourage followers to share the content you post

• Be professional at all times. This is a professional social media networking site and all content, including photos and links to other websites or blogs must be professional in tone.

Ready to take the next step and create a LinkedIn account? Here’s our Getting started with LinkedIn tutorial to assist you.