As we rolled into this new selling season, we knew to prepare for big Black Friday sales and plenty of holiday shoppers. But, as we approach December, it’s time to consider how to best use the last month of the year to reach our remaining business goals. This week on the Modern Direct Seller Podcast, we’re framing our year-end strategy using three P’s: push, pause, and plan. Listen in so that you, too, can strategize how to successfully push for final sales, pause to take time for yourself and your family, and plan to hit the ground running in 2024!

Time based notes:

• 1:33 Planning for year-end growth
• 5:09 Slowing down to get clarity
• 6:34 Focusing on the three P’s
• 7:10 Pushing to hit year-end goals
• 10:42 Pausing to enjoy important moments
• 12:42 Planning to grow in 2024
• 16:43 Fitting your business into your lifestyle
• 18:17 A sneak peek into Modern Direct Seller

Push, Pause, and Plan for a Prosperous 2024

As we rolled into this new selling season, we knew to prepare for big Black Friday sales and plenty of holiday shoppers. But, as we approach December, it’s time to consider how to best use the last month of the year to reach our remaining business goals. Today, we’re going to talk a little bit about three things that you absolutely have to do before the end of the year. We’re also going to talk a little bit about 2024 and what your game plan or your growth plan might look like in 2024.

I don’t know about you all, but coming off of Thanksgiving, I realized that I had a really, really fun week, but also that I intended to have a little bit more white space, sleeping in, just kind of chilling, and my time quickly got sucked up in all kinds of amazing things. So, I’m definitely not feeling as rested as I anticipated. And, before I sat down and recorded the most recent episode of the Modern Direct Seller Podcast, I did some of my Peloton yoga, which I love. And, I did a slow flow workout with Chelsea Jackson Roberts, who throughout the practice kept saying, “Come back to that one intention that you’re setting. What’s that intention you’re setting?” And, maybe because I’m a little tired, and it was a slow flow, I kept coming back to “Slow down to get clarity. I’ve got to slow down to get clarity.”

I think that that mantra, that intention of “slowing down to get clarity” is so important. I don’t do that enough. I am definitely a “go, go, go” kind of girl, often three steps ahead of probably where I should be, because I’m just constantly on the go. So, if you’ve had a similar experience this last week, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and promotions, and messages, and so many other things that are happening as we’re driving sales this holiday season, I want to remind you of that mantra: slow down to get clarity. And here, hopefully, you’ll have a couple takeaways to help you do that.

So, there are three things I want you to think about doing before the end of the year. There are probably a whole bunch of different acronyms out there, but I came up with three P’s for you today: to “push,” to “pause,” and to “plan.” I’m going to talk about what each of those three looks like, so you can take that with you as you wrap up the end of the year and finish 2023 feeling really strong and confident about where you landed in your business—and really, your life, too, right?

So, let’s talk about Number One: pushing. It’s hard to believe, but we’re a couple of days away from December. And, as exhausted and as tired as you may already feel, with that anxiety and that anticipation of the holidays being upon us and all the things to do, I still want to encourage you to push. Push to hit those year-end goals. Maybe they don’t feel attainable quite yet. But, I really want to assure you that if you’re intentional and you focus over the next couple of weeks—and I’m talking working smarter, not harder here—that you can push and hit those year-end goals.

So, I really want you to look at December as this final push for year end. And, in all honesty, we know the last two weeks of December are pretty quiet. I want you to be planning for 2024 those last couple of weeks and getting yourself together and ready for January. But, the first two weeks of December, you’ve got to push. You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to buckle down, take a look at your plan, and see what you need to do to make sure you hit those big goals and numbers that you’ve set for yourself. So, hold that commitment to yourself of reaching those big goals that you set.

You can do that by leveraging your company’s promotions. I can almost guarantee your company has something amazing planned in December that you can piggyback on and leverage in your business and use as a tool to really push to reach your big goals. Now, you don’t have to come up with your own promotions. You don’t have to give away a bunch of bonuses or discounts out of pocket. Really leverage what your company has built in here in December.

You also are going to have shoppers like me that are working to get their orders in. They’ve procrastinated; they’re going to get their orders then before that holiday shipping cutoff date. So, that date should be top of mind for you. Between now and that holiday shipping cutoff date, we want to be pushing, all right? So, leverage social media. Leverage text marketing, email marketing, all of those things that you have in your toolbox. That personal connection is so important.

And, you’ve heard me say time and time again: Focus on your daily 3 + 3 + 3s. Message three people that currently shop with you; three people that you’d love to have shop with you, but haven’t made a purchase yet; and three people you’d love to have on your team or collaborate with. Okay? If you can do those nine messages each day between now and the holiday shipping cutoff, you’re going to have a really good chance of hitting those big goals that you set for December. So, first things first, before we get to relax and enjoy the holidays, I really want you to buckle down and push the next couple of weeks.

The Number Two P is “pause.” And, this is not a typical Becky-ism. “Pause” is usually not in my vocabulary. But really, I want you to think about pausing this next month. What are those non-negotiables? What are those things you’re doing with your family that make the holidays special to you? During those activities, I want to encourage you to pause your sales. What I mean is, you’re not on your phone, checking messages, responding to people, putting orders for them, hustling, while multitasking, watching your kids’ Christmas show or baking cookies with your mom or whatever it might be for you that is special this time of year. I want you to pause and enjoy those moments. There are no direct sales emergencies. We are not saving lives here. You can take those moments to pause and enjoy them.

Number Three is to plan. And, I am a planner by nature. I mean, I’m the girl that’s tried every single planner and planning system. I love planning. I love looking at what’s coming up. Sometimes I joke that we’ll be in the middle of a promotion or a launch, and I’m already thinking about when I do it again, because I’m ready to implement the new strategies or the new ideas that I’ve come up with.

So, planning this time of year is absolutely critical. Of course, we have our Modern Direct Seller planning sessions coming up. In those planning sessions, we’re going to spend time talking a little bit about what we want to do more of; what we want to do less of next year; and where we want to pivot and maybe let some things go. We want to take a look at this year and see what worked for us. What are those systems? What are those sales strategies? What are those events? What are those activities that we really want to double-down on next year? We want to do more of those. Those are the things that are getting us big results. Let’s do more of that, and less of the things that are not really moving the needle in our business.

Also, in our 2024 planning sessions, we’re going to talk a lot about how to stay relevant in this market next year. Now, a lot has changed this year in the direct sales space. I feel it has changed more rapidly than it did even in 2020, when we were faced with a pandemic. So, what worked last year for you, last quarter, last month, may look totally different today. Those online parties that you used to smash on Facebook, they’re just not as successful as they were. Or, maybe that rockstar leader that you really admired jumped ship. So, the social seller that’s really winning right now and winning in 2024 is going to be those that have built an audience. They’ve built a personal brand. They have lots of people in their network, and they’re not afraid to talk to them. They’re also leaning in more towards digital marketing. So, of course, they’re leveraging their social channels to build relationships and attract in new people into their business. But, they’re also building in space for new strategies. They have their own website. They have their own blog. They have their own email list. They have automations scheduled in their text marketing system. So, now is the time to really take a look at how things have changed this year and where you might want to make some pivots in your business to continue to stay relevant and grow your business in 2024.

So, all of that is part of the planning process. And, like I said in the very beginning, slowing down to get clarity is so critical here, because the day-to-day, there’s a lot happening in life, right? We have a lot of responsibilities, and a lot of hats that we’re wearing, and a lot of things that we’re juggling in our life. And, in order to really create a solid plan for what you want your business to look like in 2024, you really have to slow down to get that clarity. And, the one thing that I want you to really think about is how your direct sales business fits into the lifestyle and the life that you’re creating, right?

So often, we’re thinking just about our direct sales business and the next sales strategy and what we want to do next month to hit our sales number. But, I really want you to take a bigger picture view of your business and think more about how your business is fitting into the lifestyle that you’re dreaming to create. That’s why you do this. That’s why you’re part of this business, right? You love the community. And, you also love the income and what it does for you. But, I think it’s so, so important to think about how this business is a vehicle for the lifestyle that you’re working to create.

So, all of that is part of the planning process. And, before the year is up, whether you do it with me in the 2024 planning sessions, or you do this on your own at a coffee shop with your favorite drink in hand, I want you to think about your plan for 2024 and how this business can help you achieve those big goals that you have.

So, push. Make those year-end goals happen. Pause, and be more present, and be there for those big moments where we don’t want to be multitasking business. And then, of course, plan. And, we are so excited for that 2024 planning workshop—Plan It: Your Path to Profit in 2024. There’s going to be a lot of goodness shared just around what to do more of, what to do less of, what to automate, what not to automate, how to double down in digital marketing strategies in 2024, what that looks like for you personally, and again, how to simplify and streamline to really build that business around the life that you’re working to create. I hope you’ll join us!

Your business can help you reach big goals, but only with the right strategies and systems to keep you relevant as times change. Learn how we plan to see success in 2024, and how we can help you do that same, by joining our free 2024 planning workshop at ⁠ModernDirectSeller.com/2024Plan⁠.