Whether it’s Avon, Kleeneze, Mary Kay or other successful direct selling businesses that you can do from home, it can seem like it’s not working and that you can’t make money if you get off on the wrong footing.
But before you throw in the towel, how do you know if it’s something you’re doing wrong, or if the business opportunity just isn’t right for you? It can seem like the business just isn’t what it said on the tin. And sometimes that may well be true – but often times, we just haven’t done the necessary small things that make pieces fit, which makes it look like the business is a failure, when it might not be after all.
Here are four common stumbling blocks to most direct selling businesses:
Choosing the wrong business opportunity
This is the commonest mistake – signing up to a plan because of the money and projected sales without having a good think through it and making sure that you are interested in the products, or are prepared to put in the hours required to generate the projected income.
People who hear about direct selling and party plan businesses are often in such a hurry to start out that they do not care what kind of company they are signing up with.
Before you sign up, you need to take some time out to do thorough research on the various opportunities and understand the company’s business plans. Only go ahead if and/or when you are thoroughly convinced must you go ahead with the network marketing venture. If you are not convinced yourself, how can you convince others to buy the products, or join?
Reaching (or trying to people) in the wrong way
Remember that with direct selling and party plan businesses you will have to reach out to as many people as possible and promote your business opportunity to them so that you can grow your network and make more sales. Initially, you can start with just your family and friends, but after a while, it won’t be enough and you’ll need to start canvassing. You’ll need to speak about your business at parties, at the school gate, by going into shops and other businesses, handing out flyers in the street or door to door…anything it takes. If you don’t go all out to try, your sales will dwindle, and with it the sales.
Not using the internet
If you’re not using the internet to promote your business opportunity, you really are missing a trick, and losing money…it’s akin to having a hole in your pocket. You can use blogs, forums, email, social media, Google Adwords, and much more to promote your business to all and sundry. If you can, invest in a good website about your multilevel marketing product, or speak to the company and see if they can give you a website – a lot of them do, these days. Spend enough time learning about online marketing techniques if you don’t know where to start – the Mothers Who Work Club can show you, too, if you sign up to the premium membership.
Not generating the right leads
The most important phrase in multilevel marketing is “lead generation”. This is a way to get as much contact information as possible about potential customers that you can pursue. There are a number of ways to build a good list of customers – you can add an opt-in form to your website, you can also give people a free guide on something useful that’s related to the products you are selling to download to encourage more signups.
There are, of course, many other ways to progress and make more money in your home-based business and your sponsor will likely have some ideas to share with you, too. Make sure that you learn about the business thoroughly so that you make as few mistakes as possible.
