Why You Should Give Direct Sales A Second Chance
This is an open letter to direct sales consultants and those who know them:
Direct Sales (sometimes known as Multi-level Marketing and Networking Marketing) has a bad rap. And I’m part of the problem. But I’m giving direct sales a second chance.
Do you cringe when your friends invite you a home-party for jewelry, makeup and other products with a network marketing company? After one disastrous ‘informational call’ I sat on a few years ago, I vowed I would tell every person in my life moving forward, the moment they mentioned they were some type of independent consultant, that I “don’t believe in that type of business model and am not interested in trying product or discussing business opportunities.”
I was a stickler on this for one simple reason; I am TERRIBLE at saying no. I have agreed to things I absolutely hate to do and dreaded them every moment up until they happened. And not because I am an incredibly nice person, but more because I suffer from a sudden onset case of cowardice combined with a messy desire to please in order to avoid any and all forms of confrontation. And it is way harder to say no to your friends. I’m just not a forward person, and it’s very difficult for me to assert how I feel.
Because of this, I used to get angry at my friends and family that approached me about direct sales. I was instantly annoyed if I saw someone starting to post on Facebook about becoming an independent consultant for a direct sales company.
Which I realize now was super lame of me. I was getting angry at people I knew in real life that were doing exactly what I was trying to do. They were trying to start a business that offers them more flexibility. And since I believe in that whole-heartedly, I should be supporting them in any way I could.
But I recently changed my mind on Direct Sales. I decided I was going to start saying yes. Yes to trying the product samples. Yes to going to the in-home and online parties. Yes to the informational calls on business opportunities.
I realized that there are a lot of people living the exact work from anywhere lifestyle I talk about on my blog by working as direct sales consultants. I wanted to start learning everything I could about direct sales so that I could bring my blog readers awesome opportunities that may very well help you escape your desk job and live a life and career on your terms.
So I’ve been sitting on informational calls. I’ve been listening to business pitches from different companies. I’ve been asking the Facebook friends who have posts I’ve hidden previously about how their direct sales business is going. And I’ve been learning a lot.
Direct sales is an absolutely legitimate way to make a full-time income working from home.
It’s changed since the internet. Facebook parties have become wildly popular. This is especially exciting because this means you can now run a direct sales business 100% virtually, as opposed to hosting parties in your house. The cool thing is, you can still host parties if you are going to be around (or not at all, which is more my speed).
Also, the income potential is truly mind-boggling.
No, it’s not easy. And yes, it sucks to have people seem annoyed by you and to tell you know. But all those 6 and 7 figure independent consultants know something we don’t. They absolutely do not care about the people who say no to them. People are going to say no, and that’s the nature of the business.
If you’re buying products anyway, shouldn’t they be from people you know in real life?
I was actually thinking about direct sales and came up with this thought on my own; without a direct sales consultant using this fact as a sales tactic. I buy skin care products from big box stores. I buy makeup from huge online retailers. These companies spend millions on advertising, and direct sales rely on word-of-mouth (saving their budget for developing better products and helping teach their consultants business skills, and offering famously awesome incentives like trips and cars). I’m curious the last time a big box retailer offered a large group of their employees these kind of perks for simply doing their jobs.
I’m still 100% focused on my blog and have no committed (or plan to in the immediate future) to become an independent consultant for a direct sales company. I’m keeping my options open and using my blog as a platform to promote the awesome consultant I do know, their small businesses, and expose my reader’s to their awesome direct sales business opportunities. So that’s why I’m giving direct sales a second chance.
I’d love to hear from independent consultants in the comments on your thoughts on this post.
Ready to get serious about your work from anywhere job search? I whole-heartedly recommend Flexjobs, the site where I found my first freelance writing gig. There are zero scams on their site and they have their own 100% remote team, too!
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