The Flexability of Direct Selling

If you want to start your own business but don’t have business experience, a product or service to offer, and limited capital, then direct selling, with its proven system for success, might be the ideal opportunity.

 

For over 100 years, direct selling companies have offered individuals the ability to purchase products at wholesale prices and earn a profit by selling them at retail prices. Most direct selling companies also allow representatives to earn a commission by introducing new sales reps to the business.

 

With a direct selling business you can join an industry where business is booming and there is plenty of room at the top. Direct selling, also known as network marketing, is a $32 billion industry in the US alone. The millions of network marketers determine for themselves how much they want to work, what they want to market, when they want to move up the ladder and how far they want to climb.

 

Direct selling offers a proven sales system. Most companies offer high quality sales materials so there is no need to create your own material. There are many opportunities to start a business for under $500. All you need to do is decide what you are passionate about and seek an opportunity in that area.

 

For a small sign up fee, new reps receive access to training, marketing materials, discounts on products and sample products to show and sell. You can set up an office anywhere in your home with a laptop and a telephone. Low overhead and minimal inventory make direct selling businesses affordable.

 

The flexibility to work around a full time job or family schedule is a huge benefit. Because each representative is an independent contractor there is no set schedule or required number of hours. The average part-time representative devotes 5 to 15 hours a week to their business.

 

Direct selling is a results driven industry. While some in the business earn millions, it is more common for direct sellers to use their business to earn extra cash each month to pay for vacations, private school, dinners out, college expenses, cars, etc.

 

By building a team of people who are excited about their product and telling others about the opportunity, direct sellers are able to leverage their time and maximize their income. By capitalizing on their whole team’s effort, a direct seller can devote 10 hours a week to their business while 10 other people also devote 10 hours a week to their businesses, the team leader earns commission off of 110 hours of effort. It also means that the business has the potential to grow even while the team leader is on vacation.

 

Building a team definitely makes financial sense but there are other intangible rewards as well. The friendships developed with team members and the experience of helping others improve their personal and financial lives are often as meaningful as the monetary rewards.

 

Direct sellers are also faced with a number of personal growth issues. One must overcome daily “comfort zone” challenges in order to grow personally and professionally.

 

While direct selling is a fabulous opportunity there are some common pitfalls to avoid.

1. Beware of the “once in a lifetime” opportunities. A real business opportunity should be there for the long haul. Check out the company with the Direct Selling Association (www.dsa.org).
2. Don’t jump on the bandwagon unless it is going the direction you want to go. It is important to find a business or service you are passionate about. Donald Trump said, “Without passion, great success is hard to come by.”
3. Don’t give up too soon. Building any business takes time. If you want to earn millions, that potential exists but you must be willing to work for it. Direct selling success is about consistent and effective efforts over time.

 

After all is said, direct selling is one of the best opportunities available for the average American seeking to have a better life. Whether you want to earn an extra $200 a month, $2000 a month, or $20,000 a month, there is an opportunity out there for you. Take time to have a look.

 

I offer a Mia Bella Candle Business that I think is a fabulous opportunity. Check out my web site at www.LexiaCandleScents.com for all the details. I also offer success training for individuals in any marketing industry. Information on this training can be found at www.MLMExperts.com .

 

When you take the time to look, you will find that there are opportunities available in almost any arena imaginable.

 

I wish you a fabulous journey into business ownership.

Happiness

Happiness = Attitude + Gratitude

Have you ever asked yourself how some people can be happy all the time? No matter what happens in their lives, nothing can shake their unwavering happiness and contentment?

Happy people always see their glass as half full as opposed to half empty. They focus on solutions rather than problems. Instead of worrying and complaining, they concentrate on the good in a situation and on improving it.

Although happy people have the same fears, pains and disappointments as the rest of us, they tend to keep their hearts and minds open to new possibilities in their daily lives.

One aspect of this is focusing on gratitude. People who are happy for no reason don’t necessarily have more to be grateful for, they simply focus on gratitude more often throughout their day.

Happy people also tend to believe in something larger than themselves, regardless of religious beliefs. They are able to live with uncertainty; they don’t need to always be in control. They live in the “flow of life” trusting a higher source of wisdom to guide their actions.

Happy people also have, and know how to seek, a positive, nourishing support system. They find ways to incorporate their passions into everything they do. Also essential to happiness are your physical and mental well being. The right combination of exercise, nutrition and getting enough sleep are key. Most importantly, one must have a positive attitude.

Happy people maintain a positive attitude. They choose to always see the good in a situation and see their difficulties as life lessons.

So, the equation for happiness….

Attitude + Gratitude = Happiness

Be thankful.

Have a positive attitude.

Be happy!

 

 

An AHA Moment

I have been laid up with an injured foot for the last couple of days. During this time I have been reading the stack of books I have purchased over the last couple of months — Think And Grow Rich, The Secret, Change Your Thoughts Change your life,  the list goes on and on. I have come to the conclusion that this injury is Gods way of allowing me the time I require to develop some much needed clarity.

While reading Think and Grow Rich I suddenly had an aha moment that, for me, validated everything I am doing to achieve my definate major purpose. My mind suddenly started replaying all of my lifes desires from the time I was a teenager. This is my attempt to verbalize all that was being played out in my minds eye.

In Think And Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill instructs people to write out a statement of how they will give back once they have received their definate major purpose. Before I share what I wrote down you have to understand some of the desires I have had during my life. When I was a teenager, the first thing I ever wanted to be was a psychologist. Because of events in my life that I didn’t understand, I began to research the human mind and world spiritual systems. This research actually lasted intensely from the time I was 13 until age 21. It continues to this day but those years were strictly devoted to understanding the “why” of life. I wanted to understand my own life and help others discover the “why’s” in their lives.

In my 20’s I shifted to focusing primarily on spiritual understanding. I left mainstream psychology for a while and focused on world religion and philosophy. I made a trip to the India in search of enlightenment. My desire during these years was to help others find the peace and contentment that I was experiencing myself.

During my 30’s I again moved back into psychology, returning to college to complete my BA and continue on to graduate school. I obtained my BA in psychology but, along the way realized that there was so much more to truly understanding people than just the mind. I was gently tugged into a second major in cultural anthropology. I began to read a lot of Margaret Mead’s work in psychological anthropology or how different cultures understand human behavior.  I began to appreciate anthropologies understanding of psychology and changed my graduate study plans from psychology to anthropology — looking at the psychospiritual aspects of culture.

I have to make a special note here that one of my underlying desires has always been to help teenagers understand life better and make wise choices. For this reason, while in graduate school I took a job at a boys group home. Most of the boys were either sex offenders or gang members (keep in mind these were children ages 10-18). These boys touched my heart in ways that no one else ever had. While working this job I decided that these were the children I wanted to work with and was led into special education.

I spent a few months working at a school for severely emotionally disturbed children (again, psychology and helping children maximize their potential was a key ingredient during this time). After a few months I was offered a job as a special education teacher for a local school district. I spent a few years there before deciding to get my credential in regular education. This is the only decision in this stream of decisions that seems a bit out of line to me. Yes, I’m still working with children, and the children I eventually end up with are in much greater need than my special ed kids but the move was not a pleasant one.

At this point, I took a couple of years off to play mommy. When my daughter was about a year and a half I decided to go back to graduate school and complete my training in Marriage and Family therapy. My thoughts kept returning to the boys at the group home. I had also done a lot of research on the issues facing adopted children. I adopted my daughter at birth and was saddened to realize that even children adopted at birth have attachment and loss issues (I’ve seen some of these in my daughter even though she has a good relationship with her birth mother). Anyway, my goal when entering the Marriage and Family Therapy program was to work with children in the foster care system as well as counseling adopted children and their families. I never quite finished this program as many of the issues faced by children in our foster care system were so horrendous that all I could do was cry. It was devastating to me that I couldn’t even truly “help” these kids let alone solve their problems. The fact that they were stuck in situations beyond my control to remedy was just soul crushing to me. It led me back to my origional teen question of “why.” Why these seemingly innocent children?

I soon found my way into a home business. I didn’t even think about how this might be related to all the other events in my life (but I see the connection now).

OK. Fast forward to today… As I was reading Think And Grow Rich and completing some of the exercises I answered the question “How will you give back” as follows:

1. I will teach others to have the life of their dreams; to be all that they desire to be (kind of what psychologists or life coaches do).

2. I will give abundantly to childrens charaties.

3. I will help children coming of age in the foster care system to be successful – in life and in business.

After writing these down and returning to my book I was shown how all the desires of my life are wrapped up in my desire for an extremely successful home business. Everything I have ever thought about doing, all that I have wanted to give, it is all still my goal. The vehicle for accomplishing all my desires has been given to me. I am now applying all the secrets I have been taught to create all that I have ever dreamed.

WOW!

 

Poppit! Stress Buster

A Little Levity

Poppit! Stress Buster