Whether you are currently working outside the home, or are a stay at home mom, many moms have the desire to start their own business and make am extra income for their family.

If you have spent some time looking into starting your own business from the ground up, you have probably seen it is very costly, and oftentimes takes many years of hard work to see (if any) profits.

But before you give up your dream all together, there is another option, and that is direct sales.

Most women still think of Avon, Tupperware, and Mary Kay when they hear the term direct sales. They also still assume door to door sales and home parties are about the only ways to build their business. How this can be farther from the truth.

Direct sales is probably the fastest, most inexpensive way to start your own business. While the products you offer are not your own, every other aspect of your business is.

There are many benefits of joining a direct sales company versus starting your own business from scratch.

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Ever had a party online or offline, and had guests say “I love that item, but I can’t afford it right now”, or “It’s so hard to decide, I want all of this!”. This is a perfect time to sell all those items to your customer without them having to pay a dime.

If you aren’t using this idea already, make sure to put it into action immediately. Have a gift registry form ready to point those customers to should they want extra items they simply can not buy right now.

What they do is fill out their information, special dates (Birthdays, Anniversary, etc), and the products they want. Then, they fill out names and contact information of relatives and friends they know they will be receiving gifts from. You contact the relatives, stating where you received their information and what’s on the wish list you hold. Ask them if they would like a reminder before the special date, and which item they will be purchasing.

Simple eh? It’s a win-win situation for everyone! You make the extra sale, the gift-giver knows they are buying a gift the other person wants (no guess work or wandering around a mall!), and the one receiving the gift is getting exactly what they wanted but couldn’t afford.

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The first thing you need to do is find out exactly what it is you’re afraid of. Are you afraid of success? Believe it or not there this is an actual fear of some folks. Are you afraid of failure or rejection? Do you fear being perceived as being pushy? Do you (secretly of course) fear that your product may not meet the expectations of your customer? You can’t come up with a solution if you don’t know what the problem is.

There’s a huge misconception in direct sales being that you think you’re ‘imposing’ on your friends, family or just a customer in general. As long as you feel as though you’re imposing…you are. You need to love your product and feel as though you are offering a service. You’re filling a need.

People are natural-born sellers. We just don’t realize it when we’re not making money from it. Let’s say you go to a movie that you loved and you have a friend that you know would enjoy it too. Wouldn’t you recommend it to him/her?

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Email is a fabulous tool and can be used to the maximum for your business but there is nothing like a personal meeting or a telephone call to take your recruiting from average or below to super recruiter. Ask the top recruiters in any direct sales company and you will discover that they attribute much of their recruiting success to using the recruit interview.

On the phone or face to face your chances of closing your potential new recruit are best if you spend most of your voice to voice time listening and asking questions and less time telling about your opportunity and spilling your story.

So here are some ideas for questions you can ask your new inquiring potential recruits that will get HER talking more and help you determine what she’s looking for and how your direct selling business can help!

• “Have you been involved in Direct Sales before? Tell me about that.” The nice thing about exploring past Direct Sales history with your prospect is that you can determine what kind of “lingo” is appropriate when it comes time to talk about compensation, downline, overrides, etc. Some of those words are foreign to someone who has never been in direct sales before and you should avoid using them, especially in the first interview.

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Staying on the cutting edge of your industry is important to all business leaders. Having access to the latest technologies and innovations allows you to stay at the front of your field.

Many events are held each year by professional organizations in an attempt to bring together the main players of a particular industry and allow them to exchange ideas and build relationships. These events include conferences, trade shows, and informative lectures.

Trade shows are among the most common ways for people that are interested in networking. They generally take place in large venues where businesses are given their own space and allowed to set up booths and advertise.

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An often-overlooked source of increased sales is your current customer list. I am constantly amazed at the number of sales professionals and companies that do nothing to encourage repeat sales, up sales and cross sales within their own customer list.

As I write this, many of my clients are struggling with how to ensure they finish their selling year at or above target. My message to you is go back to your current customer list.

Your customer list is your most important sales asset. Not only is it easier to sell more to existing customers (because they already like you and trust you), it is more profitable. The most recent studies show that repeat sales are up to 15 times more profitable than new sales. If you are a business owner – this statistic should excite you! If you are a sales rep, take note that one reason repeat sales are more profitable is because repeat sales are faster. When I teach Sell More, in Less Time, and Make More Money^™ we focus on relationship building to ensure you are capturing as many repeat sales as possible, for this very reason.

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When you start your search for the perfect Direct Selling or Network Marketing business, here are some valuable questions to ask when comparing companies and opportunities:

1) Start up cost should be minimal. Start up cost in direct selling and network marketing companies are usually modest and mainly to cover the cost of the sales kit.

Q. What is the company’s start up cost?
Q. What comes with a new Distributor/Consultant kit?

2) Some companies require a monthly purchase.

Q. Is there a monthly minimum purchase requirement and if so, how much is the monthly investment?

3) Most companies submit the local state sales tax, however, there are a few that do not.

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The direct sales industry has seen a phenomenal growth surge in the past few years. For many people it is the answer to prayers brought on by the downsizing of Corporate America, the high prices in the economy forcing two incomes and the need for parents to control their schedule while having a parent at home with the kids. The back to basics force in the USA is doing great things for Direct Sales.

But some people are fearful of Direct Sales. It has taken on a stigma in some instances with companies going out of business; tales of huge earnings to be made in little or no time; inflated stories of large down lines that will support you in wealth for the rest of your life while working little to no hours. But these stories are getting fewer and farther between as people realize that they don’t need to pollute the minds of their potential new business people.

Direct Sales is an industry where you can truly make yourself or not. Given the right product and good methods of marketing yourself, Direct Sales is an awesome business arena to check out if you are in looking for your next venture.

Why choose direct sales? For one, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

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Lately I’ve been reading a lot of articles about tips on finding the right direct sales company to join.

Most, if not all of the articles tell you one of the key things to look for is the longevity of the business. I have to say that this is what irks me the most when reading these articles. Yes, finding a company that has been around for a while and knows the game is good, but I don’t think you should shut out the new companies that are opening. Every direct sales company this is out there has been new at some point, or they wouldn’t be around today.

So with that being said here are a few things I think you should look into before joining that direct sales company.

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The range of network marketing and direct sales business options is huge. From candles, beef jerky, vitamins, healthy juices, & beauty; there is something for most every interest.

When choosing a network marketing company, often the focus is on questions such as: what is your passion? or what are your interests?

There is yet another thing to consider in choosing a home based business. You must know and understand, the company’s compensation plan. This is epecially true if you plan on sponsoring & mentoring others in your business.

All network marketing companies are not built the same.

There are a few ‘key formulas’ that network marketing companies use for developing their residual income plan. The summary below simply shows a ‘baseline’ of that type of plan. The variations even within these plans is what makes each company model unique.

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