The following is a guest post from Lisa at Organize 365.
Do you work from home?
For the past 20 years, I have had home based businesses. From tutoring and house cleaning to professional organization, I LOVE working for myself!
For 15 of those years, I was a leader in direct sales. SO many women are able to add to their family’s income, enrich their lives and develop their strengths in a direct sales business.
What is direct sales? It’s a classification of party plan companies like Thirty-One Gifts and Pampered Chef. As an industry leader, I had a blast training hundreds of new consultants to create a business they loved.
But a few things were missing….
#1 ORGANIZATION! I am SUPER passionate about the field of direct sales. These companies have great products and a super easy-to-set-up business model. But working for YOU from home is NOT easy.
You need to be motivated, driven and task oriented. Then, at your parties you need to be fun loving, a good listener and a social bug. I learned SO much about myself in my business. I grew A LOT and had to develop my social butterfly.
Likewise, some consultants thrive when they are doing a party or a show and have a super hard time sitting down to do paperwork, place orders and do consistent follow up.
If you struggle with the more task driven side of your business, make a huge list of all the things you need to do for your business. Then reference that list when you sit down to work on your business during your office hours.
#2 BRANDING. Yes, the product you represent IS awesome, but people are drawn to YOU and your awesomeness.
Do you know what that is? Everyone has is. I call it “branding yourself.” What makes you the best xyz consultant? You have a target audience to reach with your message. Once you realize what that target is, you will be able to hit it with more accuracy and profitability!
Branding is the most popular webinar topic I have done, so I turned it into a YouTube video. You can watch it here: Successful Direct Sales: Branding Yourself.
#3 LEADERSHIP. Leadership in direct sales takes work. It is not just a given based on when you enroll in a company. I like John Maxwell’s definition of leadership, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”
To be successful in YOUR direct sales business, you need to take control of the leadership you follow. It is so awesome when a leader and new consultant click, and so sad when they don’t. I see this as the biggest reason new consultants are not successful in their businesses.
But think about it. You are in BUSINESS. So run your business. Find another leader in your company or outside of it and get a plan for how YOU are going to be successful.
I LOVE being a leader and teaching women how to go after their dreams and build a business. I decided to stop building ONE team in ONE company and work with all consultants in all companies.
Successful Direct Sales is a membership site I started to help women find balance in their business and market their strengths more effectively.
If you’re in direct sales, I’d love for you to come join the Successful Direct Sales Facebook Page and check out my membership site!
Free Webinar:
My next FREE webinar: Organizing the Business of Direct Sales is Thursday, October 24 at noon EST
Come hear how you can be more profitable in LESS time by organizing your direct sales business!
Lisa shares her organizational tips, her entrepreneurial spirit and humor to encourage other moms on her blog www.Organize365.com,“
Tiffany says
I LOVE the idea of a bra tree. I hate how they get squished in drawers and then the cups get wrinkles in them and then show through your shirt. You get the idea!
Tiffany says
I would love to win one! 🙂
Laura says
Tiffany make sure you enter on the Bra Tree post. Thanks!