If you’re looking to join a direct sales company it’s a good idea to interview more than one sponsor before deciding with whom to sign.  There are many factors to consider.  I’ve heard some interesting comments with regard to signing with a seasoned consultant.

While I fully agree that you need to mesh with whomever you agree to have as a sponsor, I’m still somewhat baffled why someone would choose to go with a new consultant versus a veteran one.

I’ve heard the argument “how can new people ever build a team if people don’t sign with them because they’re new?”  I get that if your warm market wants to come along on your new journey with you you can all learn the business together from your upline.  Your warm market (friends, family, acquaintances) will support you and won’t expect you to know the answers.

But why would a new person want to start actively recruiting others before she herself has had an opportunity to learn the business?  And more importantly why would a potential recruit who is interested in starting a direct sales business want to have a sponsor who is also new?

Consider a hair stylist.  Would you want to have your locks cut and colored by someone fresh out of beauty school or someone who has been working on hair for years?  What about a doctor?  Do you want an experienced doctor or a med student?   Do you want your student getting the bulk of his/her education from a student teacher or from a teacher with tenure?

I contend that new direct sales consultants should focus initially on sales and on learning the ins and outs of the business.  Be selfish and soak up everything there is to know about the compensation plan, the policies and procedures and become an expert on your product line.  Then the recruits come as a result of your working your own business and then you’ll be well positioned to build a strong team.

When you are new and share your new business with others, it is true that sometimes others will flock to you and “want in”.  By all means if recruits come to you, sign them, just be sure to disclose that you are also new and still learning the ropes.  Don’t mislead people with your experience.

I actually had someone tell me that they would not sign with a Director because “she’ll be very demanding and expect you to report in your progress and attend meetings and, and, and…”.  Well that is certainly a misnomer.  I mean some Directors might roll that way; but surely not all.  And if that style isn’t your cup of tea, that’s an area that could be discussed while you’re interviewing potential sponsors.  But I definitely would not intentionally stay away from signing with a Director simply because you envision boot camp and a drill sergeant.

Lastly, if a newer consultant promises you the world if you sign with him/her, consider the offer carefully.  If he/she offers you freebies such as a website, more product than comes in the starter kit or exclusive coaching, a red flag should go up.  Any direct sales company should have a complete starter kit. If you truly think that you’re going to need extras right away, more so than what is included in your company kit, then perhaps it’s not the right opportunity for you.

Also, if your starter kit does appear to have everything you need to get started, why is the new consultant giving away his/her profit and time to leer you onto her team?  Does this person appear desperate?  Or lack sound business practices?  Will you also be expected to give away freebies that come out of your own pocket to recruit people?

Lastly, if it appears that the new consultant you are considering joining with has some unique skill set that he will teach you, also look at the knowledge, skills and experience with that direct sales company.  Someone can be a whiz at closing the deal or at Internet marketing, but if she doesn’t quite yet grasp the compensation or policies of the company, how beneficial really is the offer of the less experienced consultant?

Now before all the new consultants spam me with nastygrams about how I was once new too, yada yada yada, please don’t miss my main points which are:

1.    If you are a new consultant, please learn your own business well before actively recruiting others, whom you are responsible to train and mentor and
2.    If you are considering a direct sales opportunity and are serious about running your business like a business, then wouldn’t you want to learn from the person who has the greatest knowledge, skills and abilities with that particular company and industry?

Do your due diligence with both which company and which sponsor and you’ll be off to an exciting career in direct sales.

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

Looking for tips to help increase your recruiting numbers? Prior to talking about some of the things you can do to help grow your team, it’s important to talk about what not to do.

Before you say, “But that’s not focusing on the positive, Laurie” let me say that I am positive that if you are currently engaging in any of the actions below; and if after you read this you find yourself with a new awareness that what you’ve been doing isn’t necessarily a best practice, I am positive you will see an increase to your down line.

Join My Team and Get …

Bribing people to join your team is numero uno on my list desperate recruiting moves.

• Do you really want team members who are just there for the freebies?
• It looks like your company’s business opportunity and/or starter kit isn’t good enough to stand on its own.
• How is this any different than the little elementary school girl who couldn’t get anyone to play with, so she gave away her cookies at lunch just to have friends?
• It’s sending a message that your mentoring and coaching skills are sub-par.  Otherwise you wouldn’t devalue what you have to offer.
• Based on the percentage of royalties you will receive on your new recruit’s sales, have you calculated how much she/he will need to sell before you merely break even on your give away?

I Only Need Two More People To Qualify for the Trip

Do I really need to elaborate how desperate this one makes you look?

Push It… Push it Real Good

Some sales gurus will tout the benefits of creating a sense of urgency. Ok, I’ll give you that some feel this is a good tactic.  However my personal experience with direct sales is that it is not appropriate to push too hard when recruiting team members; doing so only makes you look desperate.

• It’s one thing to let people know if you have a ground floor opportunity or a limited time offer, but will their lives really be that miserable if they don’t act now?
• If you represent a stable company with an awesome opportunity, isn’t it reasonable to expect that you (and the company) will be around for a while?
• You may be able to strong-arm someone into joining your team, or create must-have hype, yet if someone starts a business before she/he is ready, who will that benefit … anyone?
• Some will question the motive behind you pushing so hard to recruit new team members. If it’s a good fit, it should flow naturally.

I have never asked anyone to join my team. Never. I simply make my opportunity and myself visible; those who want to join merely do. I’ve had potential recruits ask if me I am offering any sign-up specials (no) or tell me that another consultant is offering free websites to their recruits (so).  The passive, put-it-out-there-and-then-just-step-back and let-it-simmer approach has worked well for decades (yes decades) with me.

If you need to make some adjustments in your recruiting efforts, there’s no time like the present to do so!

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

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.”

If you are in network marketing, then one of your goals should be to meet new people and to sponsor new people into your business. Here are seven things you can do to begin a relationship with others:

1. Make a goal of talking to at least two new people every single day about your business. I’m not saying to “pitch your deal” to someone, I’m suggesting mentioning some aspect of your business every single day to at least two others. Maybe this will be sharing an article. Maybe this will be brainstorming on product usage. Maybe this will be asking someone if they’d like a catalog. Two people every day for a month is 60 new people you’ll have spoken to in just one month.

2. Join at least one new online or offline community and get involved. You might join a message board community online, or you might join a networking community such as Ryze or MySpace. Don’t just join, go one step further and get involved. Offline, you might join a local non profit, or you might join a local breakfast club. Again, go beyond joining and get involved.

3. Load up your purse, briefcase and car with business materials. Make sure you have business cards, catalogs and recruiting information with you, everywhere you go. You never know when someone you meet will want information or a catalog.

4. Create a newsletter. What can you write about that others will enjoy learning about? If you don’t have a website to promote this newsletter, consider using a service like Yahoo Groups. I get a few newsletters via Yahoo Groups. This is a wonderful way to meet others and share your knowledge. Thousands of people search Yahoo Groups each and every day and just might be looking for the newsletter you’re offering.

5. Make a goal of talking to five new people every single day. This is different than the above suggestion of talking to two people about business. I’m suggesting that you make a point of introducing yourself and saying hello to five new people every single day. In one month’s time that is 150 people you will have met. There’s a good chance that of those 150 people, one of them knows someone who wants what you’re offering.

6. Reconnect with old acquaintances. Write an email or make a phone call and say hello to folks you have not spoken with in a long time. Just this past week, I was in a community and recognized a woman I had known from two years ago. I sent her an email, told her how wonderful it was to see her again, caught up with her and discovered she wants what I have to offer.

7. Make a point to learn new things this month. For example, I’ve never used Twitter. It’s my goal to learn how to use Twitter this month. What have you thought about learning more about? Make it a point to learn something new this month and to implement this new learning into your business.

About the Author: Audrey Okaneko has been working at home since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at www.recipe-barn.com Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

If you are in direct sales then sponsoring other people is part of the plan. The question is “what is the purpose of sponsoring others?”

I’ve seen two very different philosophies on sponsoring. One philosophy is to sponsor many; some will stick, some won’t. The other philosophy is to sponsor just a few and then nurture them.

I believe the purpose in sponsoring others is to build a team. There is more than one way to build team. You can build a team sponsoring twenty people per month or you can build a team sponsoring just two people per month.

I’d like to share my thoughts on the two philosophies. I’ll start with sponsoring many. When you sponsor twenty people per month you are absolutely playing the numbers. Of these twenty people, you’ll find a few who just want product discounts. You’ll find a few who want to sell to family and friends and earn a little bit of supplemental income each month and you’ll find maybe one who asks questions and truly wants to build a business. The rest will never turn in a first order and will fade away. Again, this is not good or bad, right or wrong, these are just the statistics.

I often compare joining a network marketing company to either joining a gym or buying a magazine subscription. Your goal is to get the most for your money, to work out daily or weekly or to read each issue cover to cover. But the reality is many people set never set foot in the gym after the first week, or only skim issues of the magazine every other month. We think we want something today but by tomorrow it just is not as important as it was yesterday.

I say if you’re able to sponsor twenty people each month and have the time to truly help the one or two who want the help then go for it.

The other philosophy is to sponsor just one or two per month and invest your time nurturing them and working with them.

There are definite pluses to having just one person you’re working with. You have the time to really offer help and assistance. You’re able to walk them through each step of owning their own business. You’re able to spend a lot of one on one time with them. You’re also able to help them build a team by helping them meet others and offer the opportunity to others.

When you sponsor just two per month, you’ll still find those who just want a discount and those who want supplemental income, however I believe you’ll have fewer who drop off.

I’ve sponsored two people in a month and I’ve sponsored twenty people in a month. Either way, my goal is to continue to build my team and help those on my team achieve their own personal goals.

About the author: Audrey Okaneko has been in direct sales since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or you can Become a Tupperware Consultant. Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

As a direct sales business owner, you know that recruiting new consultants is an important part of building your business. If you’ve been recruiting out in the real world for any amount of time, you also know that many times it’s not an easy task. You post flyers around town, talk to party hosts and guests, yet still you don’t have the team in place you’d like to have so you can sit back and relax a bit. Do you find yourself asking “Now what?” or “Where can I possibly go next?” Have you ever thought about recruiting for your direct sales business online?

Creating a website dedicated to your direct sales business can bring in more sales, but can also be set up to help you recruit those interested in joining your team. Setting up a website can cost as little as $20 a year and recouping that cost can easily be done. One recruit will more than likely bring you more than enough commission to cover the annual cost of hosting and domain registration.

Designing your website to accommodate those interested in becoming consultants. Set up a specific section of your site dedicated to visitors who want to learn more. Be sure to include contact information so they can get in touch with you to talk about the opportunity and receive answers to any questions they have. Once you have a team in place you can even conduct training sessions online, offer training material to them right on your website and more.

Taking your recruiting efforts to the Internet opens the door for serious growth and income potential in your business. It also affords you more time to enjoy life, instead of working it away with home party after home party, in order to reach your income goals.

Why limit yourself and miss out on possible top of the line recruits just because they aren’t in your reachable area offline? The potential in direct sales recruiting online is huge, don’t miss out.

How Do I Generate More Online Leads for My Direct Sales Business?

Here’s a question I recently received from a subscriber who was looking for more leads for his direct sales business. He wrote:

*Question*: My wife and I have been an associate for a particular company for several months now and we are indeed very happy with the products and support training.

Our problem is getting other people to view our link or getting them to open it at all, I suppose. We need to expand our effort to new associate recruiting and would like your input as to how we might do this.

Thank you for reply to this letter.

*Answer*: Thanks for the question. I know that the problem you face is what many direct sales reps face as well. Right now, you are using the website that the company provided to you. It’s the same site that the other reps are using and it really doesn’t say much about the two of you as unique people.

Your site also makes people enter a code before even viewing it. I understand that this is so you can get credit for any referrals, but you’re creating an extra step for your users. People have to remember the code, type it in or even copy and paste it, which unfortunately, is something a lot of people won’t bother to do.

People use the Internet because it’s easy and they want to surf around quickly, without having to jump through hoops. You want your information right in front of your prospect when they get to the site.

Obviously, this is the way the company has set up the website and they probably aren’t going to change that…but honestly…I don’t think that matters. The two of you need your own unique online presence and need to generate your own leads.

Here’s why:

Who knows what will happen with your relationship with your company. They are a highly reputable company that’s been around for well over 100 years, but you have no idea what the future holds. If the company decided to no longer offer the direct sales opportunity or one day, the two of you decide you just don’t want to work with the company…what happens?

Your business is gone!

That’s no good. I recommend that you keep your online presence separate from the company you are working with, so it really is your OWN business and you can maximize your income. You can generate leads that might be interested in your opportunity and you can make them other offers through affiliate programs or you might even want to create your own information products down the line.

Think of what unique perspective you give to your business. Are you great cooks who can show people how to make delicious meals with those products? From the recruiting side, you can also figure out a unique perspective, but make it a product focused one. Your best recruits will be people who have the same interests as you…not just people who want to make money online.

You can start by creating a list to promote your products and another to find recruits. I’d create two separate websites for this because some of your best customers will never be interested in the opportunity, so don’t confuse your visitors.

For the product list, you can share recipes, information about using the right herbs and spices, etc.

For the recruiting one, you can give information about starting a home business, show how fun it is to sell these types of products, etc….all from your own perspective. All these subscribers you gather now belong to you. If you decide to move in a new direction with your business, you still have these subscribers and you can continue to deliver quality information to them…and earn an income too.

Just remember, this is your business and you want to have complete control AND maximize your income.

Article by: Alice Seba is a full-time Internet marketer that helps direct sales reps maximize the performance of their online presence. Claim your free online direct sales lead generation tips at www.onlinedirectsalesleads.com

“Join my team and get a free xyz!”

Lately many desperate direct sellers are attempting to bribe recruits into joining their team.  “Psst – over here.  I’ll give you this if you join my team. Hey! Hey! Over here, I’m offering this, my offer is better than her offer.”

I don’t understand why some would lower themselves to increase team members. Whenever I see “Psst, over here honey, join my team” all I can think of is a line of prostitutes standing on the street corner, with Johns passing by, ogling at the goods, looking for the best offer.”

Too callous for you?  So try this one on.  Little Suzy is throwing a temper tantrum in the store and mommy says, “If you stop screaming, I’ll give you a new dolly.”  Little Suzy stops screaming and gets her dolly.  Mommy may be out $30 but so what, she manipulated the result she wanted.  Who really won here?  Right – Suzy did.

Consultants who feel they need to give away the milk for free rarely receive a return on their investment.  Sure they get recruits.  Sure they have the numbers to meet their qualification – short term.  But are they truly recruiting team members who are joining because they believe in the product and want to work the business?  Or are they getting people who mostly just want to see how much stuff they can get for little money?

Since my daughters were old enough to have money, I’ve taught them the importance of understanding they do not need to buy their friends and to be weary of friends who use them for their money and their generosity.  Yet these consultants who offer to give xyz for those who join their team don’t seem to see that they’re being used.

Who the heck wants friends (or team members) who are only in it for the extra freebies?  Personally, I’d be embarrassed to be advertising, “Join my team and receive a free xyz.”  Many people read that as “Join my team because I’m desperate and have to bribe people to join and I like to be used for my free stuff and don’t really worry about having quality team members who want to be here.”

If you are currently doing this to recruit new team members, then perhaps you should take a hard look at your opportunity.  If you don’t honestly believe that your business opportunity or your starter kit is a good value, then it may be time to retire.

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan. She started her first home business in 1988. As a single parent, Laurie has supported her family by working at home. She is currently an Independent Consultant and Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. You can find Laurie at www.IncomeWax.com

Building Your Team and Team Building

For those of us in a Direct Sales type business, a natural way to grow your income and business is through building a team. A lot of companies preach that this is the Only way to make real money. That may be true, but only the people that are already successful in their business and are prepared will be successful at building a team.

Building a team is hard work. Yes, it may be joyful and fun, but it is work! You must work at it all of the time. Talking to people and being excited about your business is the best way to start, grow and maintain your team.

Some reps are successful at newspaper ads; some at planting seeds at parties; some at chatting with people, but any way that you handle the function of recruiting still means a maintenance of the team by continuing to recruit each day.

Talking and actually interviewing the prospect is an awesome way to find out their goals and dreams. Why do they want to join this business? What sparked their desire to join today? Have they used the product before? How are they going to sell the product and to whom? What are they going to use the extra money for? By having this type of information, you can tailor their training and follow up to their personal situation.

People come and go and that is a natural occurrence. Some find the business not to their liking. Some people’s expectations are large and they may not make money right away. Some just get tired and leave. Whatever the reason, it happens.

But as you add to your team, they will need your continued support and training. You must continually build your team with people and then build your team with knowledge.

Train your team to be just like you. Show them how to duplicate yourself. Are you great in sales? Share all of your tips with them. Are you awesome are growing your team? Show them what you do. Teach them what makes You awesome and they too will become that way. Show them how you explode your business and they will do it as well. Make yourself duplicatable and they too will show their team the same. Now you are growing!

The more you build your team with knowledge, the more you build your team’s moral and keep the excitement in place. If we could all stay as excited as we were when we first joined our company, think how awesome your team would be today. So spark their interest and get them excited again about the business. Use their goals and dreams!! Remind them why they got into this business. Be excited when you talk to them. Let them know that you Love your job!

Never forget that people are in the business for a multitude of reasons. Some only want personal sales. Some want part time work to pay a few bills and very few are full timers. Watch how you spend your valuable time. 80% of your time should be spent on the top 20% of your producers. Don’t neglect any one, but realize that you want your time best spent where you are going to get a return. If someone is only in the business for personal sales, don’t spend days with them showing them how to recruit. The chances of that are slim. Instead, show them how to grow their customer base and save the other stuff for those that want the information on recruiting. Spend your time wisely.

Keep tabs on all of your reps, because things do change and some day they will be asking for your help with a different portion of the job. Use the information you gathered when you interviewed them to identify their goals and inspire them. As they grow their business, you too will be successful and efficient in your own business and your business will have come full circle.
You inspire them and they inspire you!

Congratulations! You are awesome and successful!

**********Copyright 2004-2006 by Chris Carroll. All Rights Reserved. Chris is a work at home mom that has been in sales for 20+ years. She has a BS in Business Management and is the host of DirectSalesTalk.com as well as her business she enjoys with her son at www.JoyWithSoy.com