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Feature Article - Choosing a Direct Sales Opportunity
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Made some changes on the website. I've moved the newsletter and its archives to their own section, and moved the home business tips as well. These changes should allow me to keep things just a bit more organized here... now I just have to wait for the search engines to find the changes.
I hope you all had a great Memorial Day. We went to my mother's house for a barbeque and to help her get her new above-ground pool ready for use. She just bought a relatively cheap one to see if she will use it enough to justify spending thousands on a good pool.
Don't forget, you can contribute your articles or tips anytime for consideration. Just use the contact form.
Direct sales can be a great way to start a home business, but how do you choose a company? Fortunately, it is not as difficult as it may appear on first glance.
The first thing you want to consider is what would you enjoy selling. It is possible to sell things for solely practical reasons, but it's much more fun and often more profitable to sell something you are enthusiastic about.
Do not join a program just because your best friend joined it and wants you in her downline. If you love the program too, then go for it, but otherwise think things through carefully. You aren't doing your friend a favor if you aren't really interested in the business. You might even waste her time.
Now it's time to consider the details of the program. First let's consider the legal aspects. It's the ugly side of things, and I like to get past it quickly.
Watch out for companies that practice "forced buying," no matter the name they may call it. Forced buying means that you must purchase a certain amount of product in order to receive commissions, and it is illegal. It can lead you to having a huge amount of excess stock in your house and cause you to lose large amounts of money.
Is the focus on recruitment or sales? You will want to read this article from the FTC on multilevel marketing, but the gist of it is that you want to watch out for programs that focus too much on recruitment and too little on sales, or you could be a part of a pyrimid scheme. You can read more from the FTC here.
Watch out for exaggerated claims, either for the product or your income potential. This is a huge red flag. Make sure all claims are substantiated with hard evidence and watch out for shills.
Phew! Done with that part.
Now take a look at the commissions. How much product will you have to sell to earn enough money for your needs? How realistic is it that you will be able to sell this much? This is one of those points you should go over carefully with your upline, and if they don't have the answer, but you really love the product line, see if they can find out. Support from your upline is vital in direct sales, and if you aren't getting it now, you won't later either.
What are the products? Will you be using them too? Once again, if you are excited about the products, they will be much easier to sell.
Is your local market saturated with reps? If the competition is all over the place in your area, you're going to have trouble selling.
Can you sell online? Can you design your own website or are you restricted to the one the company made for you? What does it cost?
Finally, beyond your upline, what sort of support does the company itself offer you? There will at some point be a problem where you will need the company to help you out, either with a customer's order or with your business. Make sure the company is going to be there for you.
Ready to find start looking at opportunities? Come on over and take a look at the direct sales opportunities on this website.
Stephanie Foster is the owner of Home with the Kids, a resource that knows that there's more to staying home with your family than just business. for more home business tips, visit the site at http://www.homewiththekids.com/home-business/.
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I recently heard a woman say that being called a "work at home mom" was professionally demeaning. Being one myself, my initial reaction was to agree with her. "That’s right, I’m a professional, I’m not just a bored housewife dabbling with a hobby here," I said to myself.
Upon reflection however, I came to realize that I disagree. Deeply.
Working out of your home while caring for children makes for some unique (and comical) situations. If you can’t have a sense of humor about these things, then maybe a field job is more your style.
But let’s face it, just how professional can you be when much of your work is done with a toddler on your lap? And that is, after all, one of the great benefits of working at home; you can consult with clients wearing bunny slippers if you like. Who’s to know? Sometimes we just need to keep things in perspective. I know that the work that I do is top quality, and I don’t sweat what others think of my work environment.
But I do wonder how that woman deals with some of those little challenges that comewith being a work-at-home parent.
For example, maybe she feels that going out of the house with soggy Cheerios stuck to her behind would be professionally demeaning. She must have found a way to avoid this. I should call her...
Not being able to locate a pen because they’re all in use fishing Barbie clothes out of the toilet. This might be seen as unprofessional.
Or, while trying to convince a potential client how you would be the best choice if he’s looking for quality, professional results your 2-year-old is proclaiming proudly, "I went poo-poo Mommy!" over and over.
I've known others who have tried to mask their true work environments using some creative metaphors. For example:
"As soon as my colleague completes his current assignment" really means... "As soon as my 5-year-old is done with his Mr. Potato Head CDRom"
"We'll be outsourcing the finishing work" really means..."My teenaged daughter will be earning her allowance by collating and stapling your reports"
"I have an urgent matter to attend to" really means..."My 3-year-old has been awfully quiet for the past few minutes and she was recently asking for a haircut"
Does this mean I should lock my kids in their rooms while I’m on the phone? While that can at times seem like a perfectly sensible idea, usually basic time management helps to avoid these situations. My view is that if a client thinks that the quality of my work will be less just because I have children, he can look elsewhere.
Maybe I’m shutting the door on some business, but I refuse to have my children feel that they come second. And I do, in fact, think of myself as a Mom first, and a business owner second. Besides, I think that the day is getting nearer that people really won’t mind their projects delivered with a few soggy Cheerios on them.
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Sharon Davis is the Cereal Mom to two girls, the owner of http://www.2Work-At-Home.Com and the Editor of the site's monthly ezine, America's Home. In her spare time she reminisces about what it was like to have spare time. Subscribe to her free ezine here: http://www.2work-at-home.com/subscribe.shtm
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