52 Tasks for Direct Sellers to Achieve Success in 2021

With a new year just around the corner (can we get a woot woot?!?!) here are 52 tasks for direct sellers to achieve success in 2021. Each task is designed to build upon the next, helping you to map out every week for your small business. If you’ve already done the task, move to the next. And if it only took you two days to complete the task, it’s okay to move to the next one early. Ready?

52 Tasks for Direct Sellers

1. Fall back in love with your why. This is foundational to any business. Take this week to think about what drives you to do what you do.
2. Establish a monthly goal. Goal setting is paramount to success in anything. Start small. Set a good, better, best goal every month. Start now.
3. Create or find a good follow up system. Follow up is one of the tasks direct sellers are challenged with. Someone always falls through the cracks. Minimize the impact and find a solid follow up system that works for YOU.
4. Review your branding. Do you have a brand separate from your direct sales company? Does it need some refreshing? Does it appeal to you anymore? If it’s a it’s-not-you-it’s-me kinda situation, now is the time to do a brand refresh. We happen to know some people who can help. Wink, wink.
5. Since you’re reviewing your branding, might as well take a look at your ideal client. Is she/he the same? If you do any of these tasks for direct sellers, do this one. If you’re not talking to your ideal customers, then you won’t make any progress.
6. Invest in a memorable domain for your brand. A domain helps with your branding and allows you to brand the links you share. This is another critical task for direct sellers to further their branding.
7. Add an email signature. Include your social links, replicated site, and blog.
8. Start planning your social media content. Plan out topics you want to talk about on your business page and groups. Ideally, think of your content planning 3 months out to keep up with retail trends. If you’re feeling really ambitious, try planning the whole year. #goals
9. Create a solid hostess coaching process. One that helps your hostesses maximize their rewards, helps them to learn the importance of online engagement, and most importantly helps build relationships with guests.
10. Create a strategy to host at least 2 virtual parties per week. Host a no-wallet party where guests won’t be solicited to buy anything, but where they learn something.
11. Order business cards, just a small supply. Make your own and show off your creativity and uniqueness or find someone who will help you make them if designing isn’t your forte. Plus, you can show off your shiny new branding. Rawr.
12. Get your bookkeeping in order. You run a business. Manage your finances as such. Find a system and processes that help you work efficiently and can easily track your business expenses and revenues. Come tax time, you’ll thank yourself and your accountant will love you. Plus you’ll save some cash in preparation fees. Cha ching.
13. Since you fell back in love with your why, now it’s time to fall back in love with your products. Become your product’s best cheerleader. Become an expert in all things about your products. Study them, find other products to compliment them. Study your competition.
14. Start networking. Find online groups that are focused on small business owners to start connecting with other likeminded motivated people. When you surround yourself with positive and driven individuals, you’re likely to stay motivated. We here at Direct Creatives enjoy this social marketing coach, but there are many. Find the one you jive with best.
15. Start warming up your warm market. Your personal social media page shouldn’t be promoting your products. No one, absolutely NO ONE cares if you need to meet a goal. Use your personal page to connect with your friends and family over objects and things that will help them think of you. Plus Facebook doesn’t like spam promotion anywhere, let alone on personal pages.
16. Sign up for alternate payment collection systems. PayPal and Square allow you to use invoices so you can send your customers payment requests. They are especially helpful for group orders and if you carry any type of inventory.
17. Facebook groups are all the rage right now. Review the groups you’re a part of and see if they still fit for why you joined. If not, find other groups where your ideal customer might be. See if you can find 4-5 new groups to begin contributing to. Don’t spam. Add value and share your expertise. Remember, you’re a subject matter expert not an infomercial.
18. Non-profits are struggling right along with everyone else. Contact some non-profits and see if they are interested in doing a fundraiser. Many of them have lost their volunteers due to the pandemic so money is a nice exchange.
19. Make connections with others in the industry. Doesn’t matter if they sell something other than what you offer; if they can provide your community/audience something of value that you can’t, it’s a connection. Leverage that and schedule to invite them to your community and share their expertise.
20. Guest post on a blog or offer to share your value in another group or setting. Sharing your knowledge in front of a different audience can help you grow yours and helps you practice delivering value and knowledge.
21. Check for local virtual vendor shows. Many have moved from in person to virtual and are doing quite well. If you can’t find one, put one together!
22. Meet with your team members and downlines regularly. Schedule time at least monthly to connect and chat. Schedule training at least monthly to help them be successful in their businesses. If you help them they will come. (if you know the reference….) Just offering support on a regular basis helps.
23. Create a secret group on Facebook and share your party formats, videos, graphics, and processes for YOUR downline only. For everyone else, consider selling those bad boys with a store front on Direct Creatives. Monetize your talents baby!
24. Follow up with people who have shared interest in joining your team. Offer to meet up for a virtual coffee via Zoom or Facetime or meet for coffee at a local joint. Remember, share value and listen; you’re not an infomercial.
25. Gather your customers birth dates to send cards, happy mail, or celebratory post in your community.
26. Create a refer-a-friend program, rewarding your customers for referring you people who purchase. These can be discount off next purchase, a free item, free shipping on next purchase, or something of great value to them but little expense to you.
27. Use your follow up process you established earlier to follow up with your customers from the first half of the year.
28. 2021 is half over by now! If you didn’t create content for the whole year, do that now! Create topics you want to talk about for the last half of the year.
29. Start planning for the holidays! Read this about why you should be thinking about the fall/winter holidays EARLY!
30. Check in with your downlines. If you have any consultants that have gone MIA, phone a friend and check on them. Not a call to ask about why they aren’t meeting their goals, but a call to ask if they are okay and how you can support. Remember that value? Yeah, it applies here too!
31. Challenge yourself to up your virtual party goal next month. Increase it by two or three parties. It’s the start of the holiday season so you may be surprised at how many people book to get free stuff!
32. Review your computer files for images that you can keep and repurpose for evergreen content. (content that you can use again and again) Toss what has dates printed on them or that you won’t use again.
33. Back up your computer and files. Invest in an external hard drive or back up important files on a cloud drive, like Google.
34. Clean out your email box. Delete promotions and unsubscribe from noisy emails. Stay subscribing to content that brings value to you or your business. Hopefully you stay subscribed to ours…..
35. It *may* be time to review your $10 tasks. Graphics, content scheduling, project management, organizational tools. Review what you can buy already made that will save you time.
36. Reach out to your local Chamber of Commerce. Dues too high? Look for small town Chambers who are typically lower to join and begin to network with a larger audience.
37. Reminder; don’t waste your time on trying to change people’s minds. Move on. You have bigger fish to fry. Go get ’em.
38. Educate yourself on the industry your product lives. Sure, you’re an expert on your product, but how much do you know about the industry in which your product serves.
39. Become a master at online marketing. Evaluate how you are executing on the things you’re learning from the business groups you joined earlier. Where can you improve? Is it time to find a new coach or one with a different point of view?
40. Revisit your goals and processes. If they aren’t working, change them now. You still have time. If they are working, what do you need to keep doing to meet them?
41. Find a local business (or businesses) that you can partner with to set up a table or display in, one that preferably compliments whatever you sell.
42. Take advantage of the upcoming holidays. Package some of your products together for gift baskets.
43. Check your company’s drop dead shipping date. This is going to dictate the last date you would have available for parties.
44. Check in with your team. Help them with party bookings, graphics, videos, goal setting.
45. Seven weeks are left until the end of the year. Review your business expenses and start gathering receipts and printouts to minimize work around the holidays.
46. Check your stash of business cards.
47. Ask for reviews about your business on your social media channels.
48. Follow up with your customers before the holidays get busy. This is a good last minute check-in before the shipping deadlines.
49. Send holiday cards to your customers, team mates, and downline.
50. Begin working on content for the next year. Create a topic of the week for each week and then build your weekly content from that.
51. Create a survey through Survey Monkey or a Google Form where your customers and downline can leave anonymous feedback about your service and support. This will be the basis of your 2022 strategy.
52. Batch graphics, schedule evergreen holiday posts, and get ready to ring in the New Year to do this all over again!

Any other tasks for direct sellers you would add or change? Leave a comment and let us know! Don’t forget to come join other direct sellers and Direct Creatives store owners over in our Facebook community! Word has it the Direct Creatives Marketplace Community gets first look at new products that store owners put up….