Kim Gluckie, Power of M Marketing

There has been debate in my entrepreneurial circles about home-party consultants (aka direct sellers or multi-level marketers) about if they are true entrepreneurs.  I mean, all they do is try to hock cases of goods to their friends and beg to be invited into other people’s homes, right?  Not really!

Take another look at this multi-billion dollar employment category that is at least ‘considered’ by 75% of women as a supplemental income-earner (according to the Direct Marketing Association) and you will uncover the best list of best business practices a new entrepreneur could want!

How do I know?

Well, 3-months into my second maternity leave I became one of those 75% when I joined Usborne Books at Home so I could get great books “virtually for free” for my two daughters. The idea of joining a “home-party” company as a business opportunity did not really enter my head, oddly enough.

I mean, I was a career marketer. My entrepreneurial spirit had not really claimed itself yet so this was supposed to be a fun thing to do just to fill that business void I felt while putting most of my effort into being “mom”. 

It did not take long for me to step away from my ignorance into full understanding of the vast opportunity these businesses hold for women in career transition. As my entrepreneurial dreams refined themselves through marketing training courses, I volunteered at local meetings and National Conventions, I had an ‘a-ha’ moment that clearly linked the success of the best direct sellers I knew (making more than $50,000 per year in part-time hours) to the opportunity for every entrepreneur.

And this became the foundation for my marketing business. The core element of all my training to small business owners is that you must always consider how to make the most of your limited time and money by using your network first to succeed.

Now, it’s not that each person who signs up to sell something through home-parties becomes a successful business person. In fact, many do not. But let’s be frank. Many self-titled entrepreneurs barely scratch the surface of success either. So let’s assume they have equal opportunity to succeed in their chosen businesses.

For a moment, put yourself in the shoes of a direct seller. You both have something to sell, right? So you can appreciate that any home-party consultant that may approach you is enacting one of the most required tactics for business success… asking for the sale. And, no matter how confident they may appear, this is a stressful and difficult thing to do for most people.

So how do they muster up the courage to approach you, with the knowledge you are probably going to turn them down? Their head office gave them a roadmap of success that is SO easy and SO clear, they know they just have to keep asking for the business, hundreds of times if that’s what it takes, without taking it personally.

Sounds like one of the definitions of an entrepreneur to me. 

The direct selling roadmap is just a list of simple best practices all entrepreneurs should embrace. And thanks to the world of the direct-seller/home-party/MLM, it’s never been so easy to appreciate the potential for growth.  Here is what home party companies provide that every small business should adopt:

1. Streamlined processes & systems: It’s easy to accept payment, provide service/product, keep track of paperwork. Set yours up to be easy for customers to do business with you, too. Hire expert help to manage what you are not skilled in.
2. Low overhead: Yeah, you have to buy a kit with a direct seller. But $200 to start a business and maybe a monthly or quarterly quota is not much for requirement for operating expenses relatively speaking. For self-starter success, low overhead should always be a goal too.
3. Ongoing Training: National Conventions, local meetings, lots of opportunity to grow skills & knowledge are part of the home-party benefit package. Self-starters MUST include personal and professional development into their own business model and schedule.
4. Networking: Direct sellers automatically have ‘co-workers’ and opportunities to meet colleagues. Self-starters have plenty of opportunity to seek out a community or online network and this is a crucial element for motivational success and business growth!
5. Marketing materials & support: Direct sellers are handed the tools they need before they meet their first customer. Self-starters must create their own, with or without expert help, and must have a professional logo, business card and website/blog before promoting their business.

6. Focus on customers & customer service first: There are consequences in a home party business when a customer does not receive quality service – no future business! Same rules apply for self-starting entrepreneurs. Don’t get so caught up in your business you forget about your customers!
7. Instant opportunity to make money: Direct sellers sign paperwork and then they are in business to make money within the first two weeks. Self-starters don’t have this opportunity, but should be looking at multiple, appropriate revenue streams to start bringing in income as fast as possible to cover expenses at the very least.
8. Incentives & Growth Strategy: Direct selling companies make it clear that income comes from growing a team. Any entrepreneur that does not have a growth strategy from day 1 is limiting their own potential to earn.
9. Managed risk: Start-up costs are low and potential is in the desire of the consultant in a home party business. The risk is only in wasting time if it’s not something they are passionate about. Start-up entrepreneurial costs should be managed in relation to the risk factors. The goal is to make money, not be a hobby.
10. Clear Messages: An Elevator Pitch/USP/Key Message/Clear Pricing – Direct selling consultants are handed a toolkit of everything to say to get the business. Self-starting entrepreneurs should make this the number one task before opening their mouths or their wallets to market their businesses!

Good direct selling companies teach consultants, whether they know it or not, to treat their business like a REAL business with this roadmap. Follow a direct selling approach and you will have opportunity to quickly succeed as an entrepreneur just as the neighbourhood “literacy expert”,” skincare consultant”, or “kitchenware executive” do.

I did.

My main business is my love of marketing training, but I am also a direct selling supervisor with a large team.  I’m in it so my daughters can enjoy their enviable library worth about $4000 more than my initial investment.

I’ll keep applying lessons learned from direct selling companies to my own business and those of my clients’, in conjunction with traditional marketing and business expertise.

I hope you do too!

Related posts:

1. MODERN WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS REDEFINE SUCCESS – NO GLASS CEILINGS REQUIRED! Kim Gluckie, Power of M Marketing This column could easily...
2. AW, DO I REALLY HAVE TO "DO MARKETING?" YES, YOU DO! Kim Gluckie, Power of M Marketing What is marketing all...
3. CHARGES LAID IN 2005 SEXUAL ASSAULT AFTER COURT FORCES SUSPECT TO GIVE DNA Hector Gerardo Santos, 28, has been charged in conncection with...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.