During my live "Direct Sales is Easier Than You Think" training, I talk about the importance of a great invitation for your parties. One of the questions that seems to always come up is "Do I have to mail out an invitation or can I just use e-vites or Facebook?" Great question.

Here's what I think. E-mail and social media are amazing. They're incredible tools for lots of the things I have to get done for my life and business every day. And they aren't perfect. How many times do you miss something you wre invited to on Facebook because the event invite got lost in your notifications or you never took the time to check it? And I know that multiple times a week I either hear from someone that they never got an e-mail I sent or I'm telling someone the same thing (usually because said e-mail ended up in a junk mail or spam folder and was inadvertently deleted). So, while I love these communication channels when they work, they just aren't as reliable as regular snail mail.

The other thing I know is that both Facebook and e-mail are not taken as seriously by those you're inviting as getting an invitation in the mail. Think about it. If you're taking your mail out of your mail box and interspersed between all of those envelopes with windows in the front (you know the ones…they require that you write a check as a response), there's a colored envelope with a hand written or plain typed label in the address section. Which envelope are you going to open first? The one that looks like more fun, right?

Finally, if you as a direct sales/party plan representative take the step of mailing out your party plan host's invitations for them, you're getting the mailing list of their addresses from your host. This provides a few important things for you:

• First of all, the task the host tends to hate the most is coming up with who to invite and addressing those labels. Once you have that list, the likelihood that she'll actually hold the party on the original date goes way, way up because that task is behind her.
• Secondly, once you have the list, it's like having an insurance policy for their party. In the event that they decide to cancel within about 10 days to 2 weeks prior to their party, your response can be, "Oh, I already mailed your invitations." (and then get them in the mail that day if you haven't mailed them). Now they either have to call everyone and cancel or call everyone and confirm the party. I found that most of the time, it was easier to just go ahead and hold the party.
• So having the list equals fewer cancellations. Isn't that a nice bonus!

Here's the bottom line. Do I think you should use e-vites and Facebook events to spread the word about your home parties? Absolutely! Do I think you should move to an e-vite only policy and rely solely on that method for getting invitations into the hands of your guests? Not on your life. Use them as a secondary reminder method that goes hand in hand with the invitation you've mailed.

So, what do you think?

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Julie Anne Jones is a direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific systems, language, and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.