Good Place to Start
You may be thinking about joining an online business. You may be in one or two now. You may have been in a few online opportunities in the past. Maybe you found success, or maybe you are still developing skills to be successful. The model may just not be the right fit for you. There are many other ways to leverage the Internet to make residual income. Bottom-line direct sales really isn’t residual anyway. If you stop working, your down-line will eventually die off. Consider if all your hard work will last and create generational wealth. There are other business models out there that are creating generational wealth, not just commissions. But direct sales is a good place to start to develop some crucial skills for doing any online business.
Direct sales is a multi-billion dollar industry. The top five most profitable companies are Amway, Avon, Herbalife, Mary Kay, and Tupperware. With new ones popping up each year. Whether it’s part of a multi-level marketing company (mlm), or an affiliate marketing business, or similar model, the model is the same. You could change out the product or service and it’s based on recruiting and pushing products. Sure there are new technologies that makes this easier for the home-based businesses, but it’s still how can you get more people to join and buy.
In order to support the compensation plan of these online businesses, the products have to cost more to the consumer than at retail. There is not a unique product out there that you couldn’t find a similar product for at a lower cost. Sure, this new skincare or health product has a new ingredient, but seriously it’s not that unique. Someone, somewhere in the world is doing something similar or even better. Direct sales are about creating a need in customers’ minds. To create a sense of urgency or a seemingly discount or exclusive product. People buy to help their friend or family member, or sometimes buy despite knowing the truth behind these schemes. The commission can be nice, but real value for their success is adding you to their down-line by being a distributor.
The truth is most who try direct sales do not make more money than the cost of their supplies, or make under $500 a year. 99% of all mlm business owners lose money. However, it is possible to be successful working in direct sales. Of the 1%, mlms are still responsible for creating many millionaires. But in this space the majority of the successful people failed many times before you see them walk across the stage. They have developed skills to sell and network. Typically, they look for opportunities to start at the ground floor. They stay in an opportunity for on average about 3 years, then find the next hottest product either because the offer is better or their current business has or is failing. They take their network with them, quickly jumping up to the top of the pay scale. Within the first week they literally have a half to over a dozen that will join their down-line.
With so many options in the direct sales space, and working online in general, it can be quite overwhelming. So how do you decide what to do? First you need to have a desire and the vision of what working in this space can provide for you. Look past the hype of the joining pitch, but is this product and business model truly worth your time? Does it add value to your life and to the lives of others? Secondly, you have to take some risks and get out of your comfort zone. You need to find someone you trust within the opportunity that you can replicate what they are doing. Thirdly, you need to ask questions, and stick to the system, and be persistent. If you do these three things in time you will develop the skills necessary to find some level of success. Eventually you will be teaching others to do the same. But you may decide that too many being brought in are not making it. Is there a better way?
We all know people that have tried for a long time, but have not been successful. What if there was a way for everyone to be involved online, and have everyone find success? Would that interest you? It may sound too good to be true, but thousands of people are finding such businesses every day.
It may be hard to come to the decision that what you are doing is not really the best for you, or the people you have brought into the opportunity. How can you bring people to an opportunity and see that they all have a way to find success? You have to decide this. You have to research this. But deciding to join an online business was a good place to start. You now know more, and have added more to your network than you previously had. This is important because it puts you in a position ready to receive new ideas and new opportunities. The only way you don’t find success is if you stop trying to find a way that works for you.
Maybe you want something different. Before you jump into something that seems different than your last opportunity, stop and think about what your past has taught you. Here are a few ideas to consider that just might end up better for you. First, does the company offer an opportunity for you to be a co-owner of all generated profits in a form of a royalty or dividend? If not, chances are very high that you have to bring in a lot of money for the people at the top before you get a fraction of the profits. Maybe you can qualify for profit shares in time, but companies that provide this to all members is what you want. You might be fine with bringing a lot of money for a company because traditional business requires a lot of overhead and other costs and stresses to consider. But co-ownership pays you whether or not you sell or recruit. Those unskilled people brought in to help their up-line achieve their goals most likely will fail and leave. Also, you don’t want to become a slave to growing a down-line. Secondly, does the offer require ongoing fees or quotas that you have to obtain to be in good standing with the company? Does your activity start over again at the end of the month? Is your value you provide to the company being fairly matched? Do you have to rank up continually to obtain financial freedom? If you have to keep working, staying up on everything, and paying fees, is this really financial freedom?
Begin your search today for an opportunity that all can succeed. Something that brings value, ownership, and long-term wealth creation.