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Oh yes I did just say that.  Allow me to repeat: “Direct Sales is not for everyone.”  Personally I’ve been involved in direct sales since 1988 and because of the various platforms available from which to sell (namely internet marketing for me) it is a good fit … for me – but not for everyone.

All too frequently I hear companies and existing consultants tout that “Anyone can do this business!”  Ok, perhaps anyone who has $39.99 or $99.95 on their debit card can sign up for a starter kit, but that does not mean that everyone should.

For example, have you seen the latest teen craze in jean pants – Skinny Jeans? I’ve also heard them called cigarette jeans because they’re so skinny, each leg looks like a slender cigarette.  These jeans can be found in a size double zero all the way up to a size 12 and higher. For those not terribly familiar with women’s sizes, a size 12 is not gi-normous by any means, but it is far from skinny. Many women who would attempt to wear a size 12 and higher skinny jean would look like two pigs fighting under a blanket.  Just because they can wear them, does not mean they should.

Same same with direct sales.  I believe in stretching your perceived limits; I embrace growth and challenges; I get the benefits of getting out of your comfort zone; yet I don’t support trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole.

Below are some considerations to truthfully ponder before starting a direct sales business.  I know that for every example I cite there are indeed success stories of those who have overcome these challenges and have become financially successful.  However, life is pretty short to have to work so hard at something you don’t love doing or that you have to force yourself to do.

Direct Sales may not be for you if:

1. It looks so easy – some products are an easy sell, but running a direct sales business takes confidence, persistence, dedication, patience, flexibility, organization, creativity, the ability to follow company policies, and the necessity to actually show up for work – ideally on a daily basis.
2. You think others would be doing you a favor by hosting a party – if you have the mindset that your hostesses would be “having a party for you” or “doing you a favor”, you’ll need to change your stinkin’ thinkin’ or find another avenue in which to work at home.  You have to believe that you are offering a fantastic product and will benefit your hostesses.
3. You don’t have much contact with the outside world – if you tend to have a very small circle of friends and associates and don’t have opportunity or desire to leave your home much, it’s going to be challenging to find new customers, hostesses and recruits. Note: not impossible, just an uphill challenge.
4. You don’t have strong Internet marketing skills – if you do have contacts (see #3 above) you could be just fine.  But if you don’t have much contact with the outside (offline) world and intend to work your business by Internet Marketing, yet don’t possess knowledge, skills and abilities in that area, you can certainly learn, but plan on it taking some time. Just because you build your website, they will not come.
5. Public speaking scares the pants off of you – if you’d rather have a root canal and a pap smear at the same time than speak in front of a group of people, a business in product sales may not be for you.
6. You don’t have the financial investment for a start up kit.  Some direct sales starter kits require more financial investment than others; but regardless, if you don’t have the scratch to purchase your own start up kit, then it’s not time to start a business.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you’re not vested in your own business, it has a strong probability of failure.  All businesses require some sort of investment.  While I embrace initially not spending a wad on non-essentials, such as logo wear and other marketing collateral, you will likely need some additional funds for items such as business cards, internet hosting, product samples, etc.
7. Someone talked you into it – if you didn’t have the gnawing sense that you had to be a part of a particular direct sales company, but rather you were pressured, bamboozled, got caught up in some rah-rah hype or simply didn’t have the peace that surpasses all understanding, then don’t do it.  Far too many former consultants fall into this category and have closets full of dusty starter kits.

You might want to pass this article along or bookmark it so that the next time you hear someone say that “Anyone can do direct sales” you can point out that perhaps while anyone can sign up for direct sales, it may not be the best option for all. (Put the skinny jeans down and find a more flattering trouser cut pant!)

Of course, if none of the seven reasons above pertain to you, then you very well may be the next Direct Sales superstar.  What are you waiting for?  I’ll see you at the top!

If one more direct selling company or sponsor encourages new recruits to “Make a List of 100 People You Know” I’m going to stick a fork in my eye! I’m talking about the practice of spamming the snot out of their friends, family and acquaintances. It goes against the entire concept of target marketing and finding a niche. No wonder the direct selling industry still has a bad reputation in many circles.

This archaic and tired practice claims that if you make a list of 100 people to hound, it’ll be your first networking contact list that will supposedly help launch your new direct sales career. Although, whether you’re selling candles, jewelry, kitchenware, makeup, home décor or any other product offering, wouldn’t you have better results if you presented your new product line to the people whom you believe could benefit from and enjoy your goods?

This concept is ridiculous. What if your dental hygienist started a business selling metal widgets that would help expedite an automobile factory manufacturing process. If this person made a list of 100 people she knows and included you in that list to push her steel vehicle widgets on, you’d think she was totally off her rocker for wasting your time. Yet as direct sellers, we’re supposed to do just that; having no regard to market to those who have a specific want or need.

Instead of investing precious time trying to list and then contact all of the people you know such as: Family, Friends, Neighbors, Your friends’ parents, Your parents’ friends, Your parents’ colleagues, Your children’s friends’ parents, Classmates, Alumni of any school you attended, including high school, Members of the local chamber of commerce, Members of your church, temple, or other faith-based groups, Professors, Teachers, Mentors, Former Bosses, Former or current colleagues, Former or current customers, Former employees whom you managed, Members of the YMCA, YWCA, or other clubs, Members of professional groups to which you belong, Members of a service organization (e.g. the Rotary), School committee members, Counselors, Friends from military service, Coaches (in sports, arts, hobbies, etc.), Your doctor, Your lawyer, Your insurance agent, Your accountant or tax preparer, Your auto mechanic, The manager of your favorite coffee shop, The bartender at your favorite watering hole, The owner of maitre d’ of your favorite restaurant, Your barber/hairstylist, Your mortgage broker, Your real estate broker, Your veterinarian, Your dry cleaner, Any shop or business owners who know you by name (especially in ‘high touch’ businesses like art dealers, florists, dress shop managers, wedding planners, wine dealers—people who have long conversations with others), Any acquaintance who owes you a favor, spend some time defining your target market.

The likely results of spamming the above list:

• You’ll ostracize yourself from them so that in the future they’ll be forced to check Caller-ID before taking your call or find themselves suddenly running late for an appointment and need to promptly depart your presence.
• You may get a few mercy purchases from those who have a hard time saying no because they don’t want you to feel discouraged.
• If you stumble upon someone who is genuinely interested in what you’re offering, it is mere statistics. If you spray enough bullets you’re bound to eventually hit something.

Leslie Truex of Work at Home Success agrees, “Having a business is about finding the market that wants your product/service, not brow beating people you know into supporting you. Plus if your successful without the list, your recruitment may go up because talking to friends and family is a major reason why many people avoid direct sales and you’ll be able to show them how to do it without a list.”

Further, Adriaan at Direct Sell Assistant concurs that “90% of new consultants will stay with this list and expect to make a lot of money. I wish more people that get recruited are rather shown how to market a product and find new customers, than to write down that list of a 100.”

Lastly, if you’ve signed up for a company that has a fantastic product line, don’t you think you should be able to find others who enjoy and benefit from it as much as you do? No need to approach your auntie who has severe allergies to buy your candles or your sweet bald mechanic about your organic shampoo. Just because you may know 100 people, doesn’t mean they’d be good customers.

My advice: It’s 2010, time (way past time) to throw out your “List of 100 People You Know.”

You’ve either found or are seriously considering a direct sales opportunity that fits you well, therefore you are obviously going to want to tell people about it.  Plan an open house launch party so that everyone you know gets the opportunity to come and support your new venture.  Below are some suggestions for preparing, planning and presenting your first direct sales launch party.

Whether you’re selling candles, gourmet food/spices, jewelry, home decor, makeup or any other product line an open house format will work best.  This will be your official launch party for your new business so you can showcase and roll out the entire line you will be selling.  Referrals will be a wonderful tool in your business; so if people don’t know about your offerings, they won’t be able to give your referrals.  Start with a date.

Prepare

Carefully consider the date for your launch party.  You want maximum exposure, therefore choose a day when the majority of your invitees can come. Remember that no matter what date you select, it won’t be good for some people; just accept that.  Be sure to over invite.  You could invite 150 people and have 12 people show up, and that’s actually a good number of guests!

Weekends tend to work best.  Stay away from holidays unless you know people don’t mind coming.  More people will come if you give them at least a two or three week window before the event.  Ask for R.S.V.P.s so you can get a head count for food. If you don’t get a R.S.V.P. (and chances are you will not receive many) it is vital that you follow up with a personal phone call.  History has shown only those who R.S.V.P. or whom you actually speak with will show, and even then you’ll have some no-shows.

Once the date is set, the fun begins.  It’s time to plan your strategy for the party.  Keep a few goals in mind that you want to accomplish at the party:

* Let people know about the products
* Provide a non-threatening atmosphere with no sales pressure
* Have products available for sale
* Have recruiting information available
* Provide simple snacks

Most direct selling companies provide a starter business kit so that you will have enough supplies to have a show of your own.  You don’t have to keep an inventory for your open house.  It is okay to use your products as advertisements and take orders; just allow enough time to for delivery of the orders for those who purchase for the purpose of gift giving.

Planning

Above all else, keep it simple.  For an open house, there is a window of time when people talk with you, mingle, eat and look at products.  It takes the pressure off since you don’t have to be standing in front of a group the entire four-hour period.

Have a table with your products prominently displayed as well as marketing collateral including business cards (and samples if applicable) to give visitors a way to contact you later if they find that direct sales is an opportunity they are considering.  A table for the food and drinks also keeps you from feeling like you’re waiting on your guests and gives them an opportunity to do as they please according to their time frame.

Present

On the day of your launch party, decorate your mailbox with balloons and/or yard signs to alert all attendees.  Also place a sign on your door that invites guests to “come on in.” Your main assignment for the day is getting introducing your new business and the product line.

Use this opportunity to book hostess parties, sell products, and let people know who and how easy it is to order.  If you have a website or webstore, encourage orders online.  More importantly, relax; have fun; you don’t have to have all the answers; and remember to keep it simple, as you want others to see how easy it is!

About the Author:  Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Star Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles.  She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business.  You can find Laurie at http://www.Scentsy.com/LA or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

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Whether you’re recently started your first direct sales business or you’re a veteran direct seller, everyone could use a few tips to make their business successful. Here are 10 tips to create a profitable direct sales business.

1.    The Products – Know, love and stand behind the products you sell. If you know how it works, why it’s worth it and actually like it yourself, you’ll do a better job selling it to others. Know what similar products are all about as well. If your competitor sells a product like yours, be able to tell your customers why yours is better even if it costs more. Don’t bash the competition; just highlight your strengths.

2.    Network, Network, Network – It’s important to build a business network. Be yourself and take the time to build friendships and other contacts beyond just potential customers. Building rapports doesn’t happen over night and it takes time to simmer.  Keep spreading seeds and you’ll reap a great harvest.

3.    Online Presence – Create a professional website for your business. You are missing a huge opportunity if you’re not doing business via the Internet. One of the first places people go to find something they need is the World Wide Web and your product is no different. Even if you sell a lot locally, broaden your horizons by going online too.  Note:  No website is better than a cheesy, poorly designed one.  If you don’t have the resources to have a professionally designed website, then hold off until you do.

4.    Take Your Business Seriously – Your website, business cards, products, presentation and everything else you do in your business should exhibit that you’re serious about your business. Sometimes this will take a bit of money, like hiring a web designer to put your website together if you don’t know how (see #3 for the importance of this). However, most of your professionalism will show in you personally, so treat it like a real business and you’ll obtain the benefits of doing so.

5.    Honesty is Key – When your customers feel like they can trust you they will be back. Don’t be shady or pushy in order to make sales or gain team members. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and move on. Hopefully you won’t forget to mail something or to make a phone call, but if you don’t admit it.  Most will admire your forth righteousness and over look it.

6.    Accept Rejection – In the direct sales business, the word No is one you’ll hear frequently. Don’t take it personally and realize it is a part of this business. Keep working hard and you’ll get positive replies and more sales too.  It is important to recognize that it takes time and many rejections to build up thick skin about this.  So when you feel like throwing in the towel, remember what you are experiencing is perfectly normal and it WILL get better.

7.    Attend Meetings – Take the time to attend meetings for your team. Not only will you learn about new products and sales techniques, but also you’ll receive some needed encouragement from others who’ve been where you are. Even better, you will be able to help some of the newbies on your team eventually.   On a long distance team?  No problem, attend telecons or participate in team forums.  You can get all the benefits of a local meeting… and don’t have to figure out what to wear!

8.    Set Goals – This tip is extremely important when it comes to the success of your direct sales business. Write them down or cut out photos of achievements desired. Setting goals and constantly working toward them will help to make your business more profitable. Set big goals and then break them down into smaller easier to achieve steps. As you work your way through your list you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something and your ultimate goal won’t seem so out of reach. Be realistic with your goals, but don’t be afraid to set them high either.

9.    Be There for Others – You will someday remember what it was like when you first started out. The help you received from others was valuable and once you’ve worked your way up, be sure to lend a helping hand to others. If you weren’t helped by anyone, but felt you climbed all alone, the remember what that felt like and ensure others don’t have to go it alone. Being of assistance to others in all areas of life is very rewarding.

10.    Work Hard and Stick with It – There will be hard times and maybe even times you are ready to throw in the towel in your business. Remember, any business takes work – nothing happens overnight. Keep moving forward even through the rough patches.  Some resources have said that it take 2 years for a new business to take off.  If you throw in the towel after 6 months, are you even giving it a fair shake?

Take these tips and apply them to your direct sales business and you’ll see success. There are many other things you’ll need to consider in order to have a profitable business but the 10 discussed here are important and should be your starting point. Here’s to your success!

About the Publisher:  Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Star Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles.  She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business.  You can find Laurie at http://www.Scentsy.com/LA or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

If you’ve proven that you’ve got what it takes to make sales and run a successful direct sales business, then your next step is to recruit your first person. You’re probably thinking that once you get someone on your team, you can continually grow your business and stop working quite so hard, right?

Not quite. Actually the focus changes from primarily sales to that of a mentor. Once you become a team leader, you still need to work your own business, but you’ll also be responsible training and supporting others as well. What can you do to be successful as a team leader? Here are some tips and suggestions that will go a long way in making you a team leader anyone would be proud to work with.

• Put others first. Any good team leader will realize it’s no longer only about yourself and your business. You will need to put the needs of her down line above your own. Success will happen for your recruits, which in turn means you too. You don’t succeed, if team members don’t succeed.
• Learn to prioritize. You must be able to put things in order of importance as a team leader. By doing this you will be better organized and show your team members how to do the same.
• Walk the walk. As a leader you must lead by example. You can’t tell your team to do something and expect them to follow you if you’re not doing it too. So, go ahead and talk the talk, but only if you can walk the walk too.
• Overcoming obstacles. Know how to work past any objection in your business. Know your product or service well enough to know what possible reasons people have for not wanting to purchase and have answers available to prevail over them.
• Perseverance. Remember: some will; some won’t’ so what … someone’s waiting. You know that you’ll receive a lot of negative responses in this business, but stay positive and know you will get the answer your looking for. You stick with it when things are slow and don’t let rejection get you down.
• Create a working system. Get organized and have a system that gets results. Also realize that organization is different for everyone, but know your system and be willing to help your team members find their perfect system too.
• Motivate, encourage and lift up your team. The leader is the motivator; the optimistic no matter what comes your way.
• Set goals. Not everyone is motivated by goals.  Find out who is and then set some for those team members who work well with goals. Know what an achievable goal is and what is out of reach. Be able to help others reach their goals by breaking them up into manageable objectives.
• I hope you’re not in direct sales for the sole purpose to make money. Know your product, use your product and like it! You must believe in what you sell and only sign up those who do it too – they make the best sales people.

Above and beyond these tips, you can also learn to become a great leader by applying the principles it takes to do so. Watch videos; listen to CDs and podcasts; attend webinars; read books and attend seminars that will help you become the leader you want to be. These things will make a difference in your direct sales business and your life too.

About the Author:  Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Star Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles.  She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business.  You can find Laurie at http://www.Scentsy.com/LA or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com