Direct sales is all about networking. In order to be successful, you have to get your name out there and meet new people. Of course, in training, they always instruct new recruits to make up a list of your family, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances in order for you to become more familiar with approaching others and building your customer database; however, of course, in order to grow, you can’t just stop there. You have to continue to expand your reach and for a very obvious reason — money. As much as a person may love and support you, they won’t be able to order from you every time your order goes in or they won’t be able to join your team. For those that say MLM or direct sales is a scam, I can honestly say it is not. Many people think because they made the initial investment that their money is just going to grow for them. It doesn’t work like that, at least not when you’re new. When you’re more established, people will come to you but only once you’ve proven that you are serious about your business.

I love direct sales because it allows me the opportunity to meet others. I love meeting new people and learning new things. I’m not always trying to deliver a sales pitch though. Of course, I look for new customers and new recruits but my whole objective is to network. You never know what you can learn from someone else, which actually brings me to my point today.

Many people that consider joining another company usually research multiple companies. I admire that. I’m here to answer your question: “how do we stack up against other companies?”

Since starting Avon, I’ve researched and learned so much about other direct sales companies. I have also formed relationships with representatives from multiple companies and have even tried some of their products. Every once in a while, we’ll bounce ideas off one another and just chat. It’s nice. In the midst of forming new relationships, I’ve learned that I have made the right choice. No offense to my direct sales friends. No names/brands mentioned as I don’t want to offend anyone. I have a great deal of respect for my friends.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with the other companies but they just aren’t for me. One of my friends has to meet a monthly sales quota or she’ll lose her promotion. Another has to pay a monthly fee for her website. One has a start-up fee of $199. Another has to purchase inventory as part of her start-up it. On top of that, I learned that all of their products were more expensive than mine. One shower gel was about $15 while ours is $6.00 and usually on sale for $1.99. Another had a candle for $25! I couldn’t believe it but the worse part is the products weren’t superior. I expected a different quality with the cost of the products (just being honest). Then I looked at their compensation, none of them are with a company that allows them to make 50% profits. The average earning was about 25%. They love their companies and I accept that. Not one time have I ever tried to recruit them. Once I began to talk to them and learned more, they actually motivated me.

For me, I have the best deal! That’s why I need to take advantage of this opportunity. Our start-up kit only costs $15 and it includes two full-sized products, brochures, training material and a free website. We don’t have any monthly quotas for either sales or recruits. I’m not forced to have parties/classes or carry inventory which makes it easier for me to fit my “business” into my everyday life. It seemed like most of their battle was brand recognition. Many people hadn’t heard of their companies so they fight constantly just to get their name out there. I chose a company with 130 years under it’s belt. Do I struggle with brand recognition? No, but ever so often, I get someone that doesn’t know that we offer more than makeup. They’re quite surprised when they find out we sell jewelry, clothing, shoes, toys, men’s collection and more. Just recently, we had a Frozen singing blanket.

To top it all off, our top commission bracket allows you to earn 50% profits. As I imagine, many others thinking about direct sales also found out similar stories about other companies. As a result, 12 people decided to join my team last week and I got 3 more just yesterday. Each day someone is seeing the benefits of joining such a wonderful company:

What’s not to love about that? If you would love to join, simply go to http://www.startavon.com and use reference code: chicagosnatalie. That’s it! You’ll have your new account in as little as 5 minutes and can begin selling immediately!