Jump into January

It’s important to prepare for your direct sales business restart January, in December (or even November) of the previous year.

“What? Why?” I hear you ask…

The reason you want to prepare for restarting your business is because it way too easy for the weeks to fly by while you’re caught up in the daily stuff.

And before you know it’s Easter before you even restart your business. You don’t want to fall into the trap of taking a break over Christmas and then fizzling out for several months before even thinking about your business.

Instead, by preparing for your restart you’ll enjoy the jump back into your direct sales biz and you’ll be up and running again right at the start of the year.

Visionboard

Take some time to reflect on what it is that you want to achieve in your direct sales business. What is your vision for your business? Where do you want to be in a year’s time?

Set your intentions for the next year.

However, it’s important that you not just think through your vision but the possible obstacles that you might encounter too, so you can prepare for that.

In the Create Your Ultimate Vision Board article I have more information and a printable for you to use to make that easy.

Set Your Business Goals for The Year

Now that you are clear on your vision, it’s time to set your goals. I have a Goal Planner that will help with that.

Don’t skip this step!

Setting tangible goals for the year and then drilling down to January and even the next 3 days, will help you to take actions to actually achieve your vision!

Grab the goal planner for 2021 below to use for your direct sales biz.

Capitalize on your December parties

During December (or even November), you can start filling up your January diary by inviting the party host to book a party in January now.

Talk to the host at her party (or afterwards if it’s an online party). You explain to her:

That it would be nice to host another party in January because there were probably people that couldn’t make this party that she might want to invite to the January party.
There will be new products to play with! Most companies will have new products or product ranges in January.
Offer a very different party theme, especially if your company doesn’t have new products in January.
If she books that January party now, she’ll get this wonderful incentive you’ve prepared.

Your booking incentive could be a good quality product, a basket you’ve created with a few smaller products and dressed up with ribbons, or a bottle of bubbly.

Don’t give this incentive at the December party, keep it until January – you don’t want her cancelling on you with you losing your incentive.

Bonus Tip for November and December parties

When someone says in November or December that they’ll call you in January for a booking – pencil in a date immediately instead of waiting for that call. I usually say something like: “January is such a busy time of year for me with so many people wanting a casual catch-up with friends after the busy season. So let’s pencil something in now and you can let your friends know about it if you see them over the festive season. If the date doesn’t end up suiting, we can try to find a better time in January.”

I then follow-up with a postcard to thank them for their booking and I include all the details of their party (such as the date & time and party theme).

Use the brainstorm printable that will help you kickstart the year

Print the ‘Kickstart 2021’ brainstorm printable (grab it below) and take some time to work through it.

This is another activity that you don’t want to skip. Intentionally sitting down and working through all the prompts on the printable will yield more than you think now.

This printable will help you to remember and write down contacts, people who said maybe, and work out ways outside of parties to get new bookings.

Once you’ve completed the activity, you’ll have some new actions to take that will help you to kickstart the year!

Host your own party to showcase the new products

If your company has released new products and a new catalog, it’s time to host your own party.

Make it a fun event with some lucky door prizes and invite all your good customers and hosts.

You can run this as a ‘mystery host’ party. This is where you give out tickets or points for every $10 spent (or some other amount that works in your business). At the end of the party you then draw a winner who is the ‘mystery host’ and gets the host rewards for that party (providing a host reward level was achieved).

And of course, from this party you want to get some new bookings.

The best way to get bookings is to have some new themes (perhaps related to the new products) available. Set up a display where you advertise these new themes to entice your guests.

To top it off, set a booking incentive and display it at the party.

Set your own booking incentive

There are different ways you can offer an incentive for bookings.

How to restart your direct sales biz in January.

You can create a bundle of products that you received for free or at a discount, you can offer a high-end product that’s desirable, you can make your own basket with a wine and some chocolates. Just make it look really pretty and enticing!

Here are a few ways in which you can offer the incentive. You can offer the incentive for each person who books in January (don’t book too far ahead, you’ll see more cancellations that way).

However if you need to control your diary, you can offer the incentive for certain dates. I usually print off a calendar and put stars on the dates that I want them to book on. If someone books on a ‘star date’ they earn the incentive.

By setting your intentions and goals for next year, followed by actions to get party bookings, sales and recruits, you’ll set yourself up for a great direct sales year!

Tropical Island Drawing Game

Games are essential for direct sellers or party plan consultants.

Whether you’re running in-home parties or online events, you want to be playing games to make your parties more fun.

And more fun means more sales, bookings and new team members.

Games also help to relax that mechanism in your brain that protects you from marketing messages. Your guests are more likely to be open to what you have to say when they hear it as part of a game.

And of course games boost interaction and make everyone more relaxed. Including you (which is particularly helpful for new or shy consultants).

Drawing games are super easy and super fun to play. Not to mention, they are really adaptable to your theme or seasonal holidays. I have a Tropical Island version for you to download below, which can be used year-round.

How to play drawing games at your direct sales parties

Provide each guest with paper and a pen or pencil. If you’re running a Zoom party, you’ll have to ask the host to instruct the guests ahead of time to have pen and paper handy.

In a Facebook party you can go Live at a certain time and invite the guests to join you with their paper and pen at hand. Encourage everyone to post a picture of their drawing and their score in the comments under the Live. This is a great way to encourage interaction and connection in your Facebook party.

Direct Sales Party Game: Tropical Island Drawing Game

All you do to play is to read out the instructions section by section while your guest complete the drawing with their eyes closed. Once you’ve read all the instructions they can open their eyes and look at their creation, this is usually cause for hilarity and lots of laughs.

Then you read out scoring instructions to find out who won the game. I usually have a small prize for the winner and for the ‘winner in reverse’ (ie. the loser but ‘winner in reverse’ sounds nicer).

I hope you enjoy this game as much as I do, it’s a great one to add to your games stash.

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Are you looking for more games? Check out the Ultimate Games Bundle for Direct Sellers. It comes with 26 done-for-you games for Facebook and in-home parties.

Grow your direct sales team with the investment game

Title: The Investment Game (in-home party game)

The Investment Game is in-home game for party plan consultants or direct seller with some bonus benefits for your business.

Especially if you’re nervous about individually asking everyone at a party if they would like to host their own party or join your team, you want to add this game to your stash!

It’s also a genius way to boost your customer Facebook group.

What’s not to love?

How to prepare for The Investment game

You’ll need a bunch of coins of the same denomination. It doesn’t matter which coin you use, it can even be money from a board game. You’ll need one for each guest.

Business Opportunity Bags for your direct sales biz. — *Business Opportunity Bags*

Prepare some business opportunity bags. Use a pretty paper bag and put company information, a kit list, and perhaps your story in there. Add a chocolate and a specialty tea bag and you have yourself a lovely business opportunity bag.

Party bags are similar to the business opportunity bags but contain information on hosting a party. You’ll want to include any host offers that are available, a catalog and perhaps a product sample. If you have any hosting incentives you’ll want to add that information as well.

You also need a Facebook group for your customers to join into.

How to make the most of The Investment Game

As everyone arrives at your party, give them a coin. It can be any coin but let’s use pennies in this example. Tell the guests to put it away for now but to keep it safe as they’ll need it later.

At the end of the party I’ll say something like:

“I bet you’re all wondering what that penny is for that I gave you at the beginning of the party?

Well, I have actually given you a magical coin….you can turn this penny into free or discounted products when you buy one my party bags with your penny.

Or you could instead buy membership into my VIP customer group and you’ll be the first to hear about specials and sales.

The best way to use the magic of that coin is to turn it into cash income every month by purchasing a business opportunity bag to find out about becoming a consultant. I only have three of those tonight, so get in quick to get one of those!

Have a think about how you’ll invest your magical penny. We have shopping time right now and when you’re done please make your way to the checkout here to cash in your investment!”

When they come to check out, you can ask something like:

The Investment Game: an in-home party game with benefits for direct sellers

How would you like to invest your coin?
Would you like to buy the last business opportunity bag?
Would you like to use your penny to buy a party bag?
How about turning that penny into VIP Customer Group membership?

Some people are more comfortable saying this than coming straight out and asking for a party or asking for business information. When people are happy to join your VIP group, it’s easy to get them added on the spot with their phone.

This is a great game to play for new consultants. If you’re a leader you might consider teaching this to your new team members to help them grow their business.

Are you looking for even more games? Have a look at the Ultimate Games Bundle for Direct Sellers. The bundle includes 26 games for in-home and Facebook parties. Each game is explained in a video and all the printables and images are ready to download.

What to look for in a direct sales business

Are you looking for (another) direct sales company to join, but you have no idea what you should be looking for?

Let me help.

I am passionate about the direct sales industry and the difference it can make for families.

I have been in the direct sales industry since 2002 and was the Direct Sales Association of Australia distributor of the year in 2019. I simply adore the direct sales (or party plan) industry.

But it’s not the same for everyone. I have seen companies come and go. I have seen great people make poor choices and get burned. I’ve seen people heart-broken in their direct sales business.

My own experience, however, has been amazing. I happened to have made a good choice when I joined my company and I’ve had lots of success.

My mission here at Direct Sales Inspiration is to help you build the business of your dreams and have an amazing experience too. But to make that happen, it starts all by picking a good direct sales company.

My tips for choosing a direct sales company

Love the products
I consider this to be the most important aspect of your decision. If you genuinely love the products it will be easier to sell them because you’ll feel as through your are sharing, teaching and helping.

Align with your passions
Try to match your passions and enthusiasms to your biz. For example if you love cooking find a company that sells cooking-related products. If you’re excited about home décor and styling, then find a company that ties in with your enthusiasm and skills. You’ll go so much further if you love the products, love the company and enjoy learning about it, talking about it, and selling it!

Find out about the company’s reputation
You’ll be representing the brand, are you proud to do that? Is the company ethical? Do they give back to the community or a charity in some way? What can you find out about their values and community spirit?

A lot of reputable brands are members of a direct sales association in the country they operate in. A quick Google search should help you to find your direct sales association and their members.

What kind of training and support is available from the company?
Direct sales companies with solid training and an upline who offers support and coaching will make a big difference in how quickly you can be successful in your biz.

Once you’ve decided which company to join, spend time researching who you want to partner with in the company. Not just for support and coaching, but you also want your personalities to fit!

Be careful when comparing commission structures
Compensation plans are detailed documents that can be tricky to interpret. A common mistake I’ve seen people make is to choose a company because of the high commission offered on personal sales. However, they fail to take into account how difficult it would be to sell that particular product.

The easiest way to compare is to find out what the average party total is for the company. This will give you a better indication of what your income would be. A company with a high personal sales commission usually structures it that way because average party sales are low!

Is the product consumable?
While this isn’t absolutely necessary to be successful, it can be helpful for your personal sales if the product is something that people will re-order from you. Getting brand new customers is generally harder than getting people to re-order from you.

That said, I do know plenty of consultants who sell non-consumable products and are very successful!

Check minimum requirements
Make sure you find out what the requirements are to keep your business open. Many companies have some sort of minimum you need to achieve to keep your account with them open. Is that amount reasonable? Can you see yourself achieving that under normal circumstances?

But what happens in an emergency? I know it’s not fun to think about worst case scenarios but they do happen. It happened to me: in 2016 my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia and I myself landed in hospital in 2018 with a series of strokes and a brain aneurysm. These things happened unexpectedly but I was able to keep my business running through both these crises – make sure you can too should anything happen.

What to look for when choosing a direct sales company by Christine Tylee.

Does the company offer incentives and rewards?
The opportunity to strive for additional products or incentive trips or other major rewards are an important part of the direct sales experience. Investigate what the company that you’re considering offers. Do these rewards and incentives excite you enough to push yourself further?

Having these ‘carrots’ along the way really helps direct sellers to strive harder and achieve bigger things. They certainly work to motivate me!

There are many wonderful companies and great products out there so it can be hard to choose, but with this tips you should be able to narrow it down.

I wish you all the very best with your new adventure and I hope it’s everything you dreamed of!

If your personal passion is for skincare and make-up and you want to partner with an ethical brand, you might like to join me in my Australian or North American teams. Click here to get some more info.

Host Coaching for Online Parties

Host Coaching for Online Direct Sales Parties

So many direct sellers and party plan consultants promote their virtual event as the ‘easy‘ option. They say their hosts ‘don’t have to do anything‘ to host a party online.

Uhhhhmmm…..No.

They do have to do something.

Sure, they don’t have to tidy up before the party, they don’t have to buy snacks and drinks and that does make it easier to have an online party.

However, they do have to be your partner in helping to make the online party a success, perhaps even more so than with an in-home party.

Below you’ll find my host coaching tips to have fabulous direct sales parties.

I’ve also put them together on a checklist that will make it easy for you to plan your online party and check where you are up to in the host coaching process – that’s especially handy if you have a few party bookings at the same time. I’ve also included the ‘Gold Star Gift’ incentive in a few different varieties, ready to send to your hostess.

Host Coaching Tips for a Successful Online Direct Sales Party

Thank the Host
Immediately after the host books a party with you, send a thank-you card in the mail. Yep, the old fashioned ‘snail mail’. We don’t get many cards or letters in the mail anymore (these days all I get in the mailbox is bills), so you’ll definitely stand out.
It also acts as a reminder of the date and time and the reason they wanted the party in the first place (to relax, to celebrate, to get together, etc.) and the theme. This will make the whole experience with you memorable and will help you build a relationship with the host.

Create an Invitation
Use Canva or Picmonkey to create a nice invitation image that your host can easily forward to her friends with all the details about the party. If you’re using a Facebook Group to party, this can also act as the first ‘warning’ that the host will be inviting them to the group. It’s the first step in getting guests to attend.

Host coaching for online parties with free downloadables.

Host Incentive
There are several ways you can incentivize your host to help you make the party a great success. The ‘Gold Star Gift‘ (download below) includes 5 activities that will benefit the party and if the host completes all 5, she receives a special gift from you. For the gifts I use products I’ve qualified for cheaply or free in my business. If the host isn’t local I make sure it’s easy to mail, but do make sure it’s a desirable gift that your host wants to work for.

Do The Actual Coaching
Many direct sellers are so caught up in sending their host invitations and host incentives, that they forget to actually talk to their host and explain how they can help and why they want to do that.
You can do the ‘coaching’ bit in several ways, you can have a chat on the phone or via video call. Don’t make it too long or make it all sound like a lot of work for her, just a quick and positive chat that helps her to understand what you want and builds some excitement.
Another option is to create a short video that highlights the important bits she needs to do (personal invites, invite people from different networks, reminders, participate and be very present in the party). Once you’ve created the video you can easily use it again and again. You can host the video on YouTube and make it ‘unlisted’ and then send the host the link so you don’t have to transmit large video files.
The least desirable option is an email or message in which you explain her part in the success of the party. Most people don’t read or only skim read emails and messages – I’m just as guilty of that as anybody else.
And as a summary, you can send the ‘Hostess Tips for Online Parties‘ printable that you can download along with the checklist and the Gold Star Gift images.

Use FRANK
Using the FRANK worksheet, you can help the host to invite people from different areas of her life. Check the article on ‘Host Coaching Helpers‘ to learn how to use FRANK and why you want this. It’s just as important in virtual parties as it is with in-home parties.

Always keep in mind that the more you engage the host, the more successful your parties will be. Not to mention, building a relationship with your host and having a great party makes it more likely she’ll book again at a later date.

Pinktober – a fundraising theme for direct sellers

Title: Pinktober - a fundraising theme for Ocotber

You’ve probably heard me say this before, but it can’t hurt to say it again:

If you’re not offering themes in your direct sales parties, you’re missing out on a lot of repeat bookings!

Being able to offer new and different themes to your hosts is what will have them coming back again and again (as well as their guests!).

What is Pinktober?

Pinktober is a fundraising theme for the month of October for your direct sales parties and events. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in many countries and this theme will help you to fundraise for this cause.

Pinktober is suitable for almost every direct seller, regardless of the products you sell (yay!)

How to have an awesome Pinktober

Step 1: Register
Make sure you register with an approved charity for your fundraising activities to ensure it’s legal. Google local breast cancer charities and find out what you need to do to register on their website. In some countries it’s a bit stricter than others, but generally they make it very easy for you to do this.

Step 2: Theme Your Social
For a week or even the whole month, post pink-related posts on your social accounts. You can post facts about breast cancer or share some educational posts from your chosen charity, go Live and showcase all your pink-colored products, and use the color pink liberally in all your images – including cover photos. I’ve got a few special Pinktober images to get you started, just fill out the form below.

Step 3: Go Live To Announce Your Pinktober
Do a Facebook Live, an Instagram story or a TikTok to announce your Pinktober theme. If you’ve set a fundraising goal, announce that too. Also make sure you include how much you are contributing (eg. 20% of sales).

Step 4: Add Fundraising Games to Your Direct Sales Party
In your party you can play some games that help to raise even more money. Here are few of my favorites:

Coin Toss: At an in-home party you can put a prize (a product for example) on the floor. Have everybody stand a few meters away and ask them to grab a coin. Guests can toss their coin at the product and the person whose coin lands the closest wins the prize. All the coins become part of the donation.

Pinktober - a direct sales fundraising theme with free social media images

Banned Word Jar: Pick a word that people are likely to use at least once during the party. When someone says the banned word they have to put a coin in the coin jar. You can be quite cheeky with this game by asking questions that almost force people to use the word and get lots of laughs. The contents of the jar will be donated of course.

Buy A Square**: Create a sheet with numbered of squares. You could do 100 squares and use the same sheet all month or only do 25 squares or 50. It’s up to you and depends on how many people you expect to be able to sell a square to. This is easy to organize in-home or online.

Set a price for each square. Once someone buys one or more squares you put their name in it. Once all squares are sold you draw a random number and the person with that numbered square has won the lovely prize you prepared (for example a pretty basket with products).

Step 4: Pinkify your parties
You want to make your direct sales parties as pink as possible. This will help the Pinktober parties to stand out and be a different from your other parties. Here are some ways to pinkify your parties:

Ask guests to wear pink. Best dressed wins a prize (a ticket, a chocolate, or just bragging rights)
Highlight your pink-colored products
Any accessories you use in your parties including the games (eg. Pop the Bloon, try to make them pink)
Ask the host to serve pink drinks or pink snacks
Anything you print for this party, print on pink paper
Use pink sticky notes in your catalog to highlight the business opportunity
Make your prizes pink

Step 5: Report Back
On your social media report back the amount you’ve raised. Take a screenshot of the ‘thank you’ page or receipt email (as proof) and celebrate and thank everybody who’s contributed. Also send a personal message to your hosts with a thank-you message!

** As this is basically a raffle, make sure you are allowed to run raffles in your state or country. Always abide by your local rules!

A guide to recruiting for introverts and shy people

Are you an introvert? Do you struggle with recruiting or sponsoring in your direct sales business because you’re shy?

Then I’ve got you covered with a range of ideas and resources.

What is an introvert?

The biggest difference between introverts and extroverts is that introverts ‘recharge’ from being by themselves and extroverts gain energy by spending time with others.

There are a few more traits that introverts and extroverts tend to display, but don’t worry if they don’t (all) apply to you – we are all individuals:

Introverts	Extroverts
Gain energy from being by themselves	Gain energy from being with others
Are more introspective	Are more action oriented
Reflect more before making a decision	Make decisions quickly
Enjoy one-on-one conversations	Enjoy socializing in a group
Like to observe	Enjoy joining in

The most important thing I want you to understand is that as an introvert you can be confident and outgoing. But then you’ll have to make some time for yourself to recharge and that’s perfectly fine.

Meanwhile, extroverts can be shy or lack in confidence, and that’s okay. Confidence and shyness are not set in stone, these things can be changed if you’re willing to work on it.

Now, let’s have a look at recruiting tips for introverts and shy people.

Visual recruiting ideas

The worst mistake you can make is to do nothing at all to recruit. So make sure that you do something.

The easiest place to start is with your display and drawing visual attention to the business opportunity.

Consider adding this to your display:

A positions vacant sign
A lightbox with words like “flexible” or “earn cash”
A shopping trolley with a sign saying something like “Do you want to be able to put more in your trolley? Join…. to make some extra cash!“

You can also add sticky notes to your catalog to draw attention to the business opportunity. You can write something like: “Could you sell these products?” or “Is this your opportunity?”

Finally, I highly recommend adding recruiting information with your order form on a clip-board. That way people are bound to see it at check out time.

Play games

Recruiting games are a structured way for you to talk about the business opportunity that isn’t boring.

Games are a fun and relaxed way to introduce the career options, without being ‘salesy’ or pushy. Guests are likely to be more receptive to the message when it’s shared in a fun way – especially if you add a little prize!

You can find some tips and printable games here.

Drop little hints to create sparks of interest

Throughout your party or demonstration, you want to drop little hints about how great it is to join your direct sales business. You can make comments such as:

I love that I get paid to party
I joined to support my product addiction – I now get products at a huge discount
I love getting recognition
This is so much fun, I can’t believe this is my job
I just love this company because….

The best way to get started with this technique is to pick just one of these that you think fits best with your style and drop it at your next party. When that becomes natural, add another little hint to your repertoire.

You can find a little more on these little sparks in this article.

Conversation Starters

If you feel more comfortable talking one-on-one than in a group, you can start a conversation at ordering time. Pick one person you genuinely feel would be a great direct sales consultant and start the conversation in a casual way without pressure.

Here are some ways to start that conversation:

I think you’d be great at this, have you ever thought about it?
You obviously love the products/company, have you ever thought about becoming more involved?
You could get all of these products at a discount when you join my team…

Follow-up for introverts

If you’re uncomfortable using the phone to do follow-up, there are other ways of doing this.

But you must do personal follow-up, not generic social media posts.

So what you do is send them private messages, text messages or even snail mail.

How not to be spammy in your direct sales biz

If you’re worried about being pushy or salesy, chances are you’re not! People who consider other people’s time and feelings are rarely the type to be spammy.

Here are a few things to consider:

When you do follow-up, you are not bothering people but you’re providing a service. Trust that if they don’t want to receive any further messages from you that they’ll let you know. And when they opt-out from further contact, respect that.
Your business is a gift that you’re sharing. It’s not something you’re pushing onto people who don’t want it. You’re only working with people who’ve shown an interest.
Always strive to be of service. When you adopt an attitude of service towards your customers, team members and leads you won’t be spammy or pushy.

Party tips for introverts and shy people

There are a few things you can do to make a party or demonstration a little easier for yourself. Remember that people generally want you to do well and are understanding of you when you let them know what’s going on.

A guide to recruiting for introverts and shy people. If you're shy or introverted, you CAN be successful in direct sales!

I recommend addressing the ‘elephant in the room’ by actually telling people that you’re shy or nervous at the start of the party. Keep it lighthearted, make a little joke if you can but by letting them know they’ll let you off the hook. And once that’s out of the way, you’ll notice you’ll feel a lot calmer.

If you’re a new-ish consultant, use an “I’m in training” sign to let people know that you’re still learning. Again, you can make a little joke of it or create a funny little sign. It’s a great way to generate some goodwill towards any small mistakes.

If you worry about forgetting what you want to say due to nerves, create cue cards for yourself. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using some cards to keep yourself on track – in fact you can even draw attention to it by saying something like: “I get so excited and want to tell you everything, this helps me to stay on track…“.

This trick has as an added benefit that any guests who are thinking they might want to join can see that you don’t need to keep all the information in your head. It lowers the barrier for them if they’re wondering if they’re capable of being a consultant!

Encourage yourself to grow

Start small. If you currently do nothing at all to recruit people, don’t expect yourself to build an empire overnight.

Pick the smallest thing that you feel you can do and start there. Then move on to another thing you can add to your routine, and then another. Move forward at your own pace.

It’s important to encourage and reward yourself. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a big deal, celebrate it! Setting goals (no matter how small) and then rewarding yourself for achieving it, helps you to stay motivated and continue towards success.

Read more about the importance of celebrating wins here.

Another important way to get yourself more comfortable to doing things is to focus on the action rather than the result. You set yourself goals in terms of action, not outcome. For example your goal could be to play a recruiting game, to send follow-up messages, to start a one-on-one conversation at your next party. Then when you’ve accomplished the goal – regardless of the outcome – you give yourself a small reward.

Read a little more on why this is so important here.

Now that you’ve read all the way to here, I hope you realize that you can recruit and that you can be successful in direct sales as an introvert or a shy person.

If you want to learn more about getting into the right mindset for recruiting, check out the Mindset Mastery for Recruiting training. You’ll find this training helpful if you worry about ‘selling’ the business opportunity at your parties or if you feel insecure when talking about the business and it’s holding you back. You can explore the training here.

So now it's your turn to talk. What is the one small thing that you're going to do at your next party?

Recruiting Attitudes for Direct Sellers

5 Attitudes to adopt when you start recruiting in your direct sales biz

Recruiting is as much a mind game as it is something that you do. There are five things that need to be in place in you and your biz when it comes to recruiting:

A belief in the business opportunity with your company
Having a consistent business yourself
A sense of fun and joy in your direct sales biz
A focus on others
A desire to learn and develop in your business

Let’s have a look at each of those and I’ll link to some helpful articles that can take you further in that particular area.

You believe in the business opportunity with your company

If you don’t really belief in what you’re selling, people will know at some level that you don’t actually belief in it.

Look around in your team and larger organization: How are others making the most of the business? What does your business mean to you? Have a good think about this and make sure you are firm in your own mind about what the business opportunity means to you.

On my ‘About‘ page I talk about what my direct sales business means to me and my family.

You have a consistent business yourself

You want to be able to get bookings and sales consistently in your own business. Not only does that set a great example as a consultant, you’ll also have gained confidence that this business works and you’ll be able to speak authentically on it.

As a direct seller with a consistent business, you’ll also be able to help your brand new team members get their own business started successfully.

This does not mean you should stop recruiting until you have this in place – but it does mean you should work deliberately towards a consistent business.

Here are some articles with useful tips:

You maintain a sense of fun and joy in your direct sales biz

If you don’t actually like what you’re doing, people will sense this! If you don’t enjoy your direct sales business, you will find it hard to stay motivated and achieve goals.

Make sure you don’t lose your enjoyment in the biz by trying new things, challenging yourself when you get bored and generally staying inspired.

Here are some articles that might help:

You focus on others

During the recruiting process it’s important to focus on the other person. Adopt an attitude of service: you’re not trying to lure them into your business for your own reasons, you’re offering them a fabulous and flexible business opportunity.

As leader you want to adopt that attitude of service towards your team members. Know that by helping your team to thrive, you will thrive.

I’ve got a few articles for you that talk about this a bit more:

You have a desire to learn and develop in your business

Being in business means that you’ll experience ups and downs. Dealing with this requires some resiliency and a deliberate effort to keep up your motivation.

As a direct seller, adopting these attitudes when you start recruiting is super helpful.

You’ll also find that as you grow in your business, you’ll be challenged in new and different ways. Learning how to deal with each new challenge is what helps you to grow as a business woman.

Some of the learning will be skills based – you might need to learn how to phrase your recruiting message. Some of the learning is mental and about coping with uncertainty or stress.

Taking the time to reflect on your business and where your current challenges are, will help you to seek out resources to help you grow.

Check these resources to take you further:

The Do’s and Don’ts for your Profile Picture

A profile picture on Facebook and other social media is prime real-estate for direct sellers. Don’t underestimate this aspect of your online presence because it’s small.

Unfortunately, I see so many terrible profile pictures – which means lots of direct sellers and party plan consultants waste this space.

Your profile pic is part of attraction marketing

Your profile picture is part of your attraction marketing strategy. After all, to stand out from all the other consultants you are marketing you as a person. Your aim is to draw people to you…not a sunset or your cat or your beautiful baby!

Even worse, I sometimes see direct sellers use their company logo or a picture of their favorite product. That just looks spammy and impersonal which is the very opposite of what you want.

Hot tips for great profile pictures for direct sellers

To attract people to your business online, they need to feel connected to you as a person. An easy way to help with that connection is to make sure you have a great profile photo.

That photo doesn’t need to be taken professionally, it just needs to be a good photo following the guidelines below:

Include your face and shoulders
No sunglasses
Show your teeth in your smile
Slightly (!) squint your eyes to make your smile more authentic
Dress well and take care with your hair and make-up

Research shows that a good profile picture helps people to see you as more like-able, competent and approachable – which is exactly what you want as direct seller.

Key Take-Aways:

Don’t have a picture of your cat, kids or company
Do have a good picture of you including your shoulders, well dressed with a smile that reaches your eyes

Not sure how to do this whole ‘attraction marketing’ thing? No fear, I’ve got you. Check out my Attraction Marketing for Direct Sellers course to learn how to set-up and manage Facebook pages and groups, and how to draw people to you instead of pushing them away with boring or spammy content.

Can you make money in direct sales?

Can you make money in direct sales?

I used to get asked this question all the time, but now that direct sales is my career I only hear this question now and then.

The short answer is absolutely, emphatically, 100% yes.

The question that people should be asking is “How do you make money in direct sales?”

Assumptions about starting a direct sales business

The mistake most people make is assuming that because it’s so easy to start a direct sales business in the direct sales or party plan industry, it’s easy to make money too.

And that’s not necessarily true.

Running a successful direct sales business requires commitment and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone. And not everybody is prepared to do that.

Why people join a direct sale company

People join a direct sales company to make money for all kinds of reasons. I’ve had team members join to earn extra money to go and backpack around Europe. I have team members who support their family by paying a fair amount of the household bills with their business income.

I also have literally thousands of people in my organization who earn a couple of hundred dollars per month. Their direct sales business is a fun side hustle to be able to afford a few extra luxuries for their family they couldn’t otherwise afford. They are making extra cash and enjoying the process.

Some people join with a very specific goal in mind. For example to be able to replace their old fridge or buy a new car. A few of these team members even stop after reaching their financial target.

And that’s still a success in my book – they’ve reached their goal after all.

But you can’t make ‘real’ money in direct sales, right?

The most irritating thing to me is when people tell me that direct selling is indeed a great side hustle but there’s no way to make any real money with it.

It’s an annoying statement because I quit a full time job in teaching to run my direct sales business. I now make a very significant income for my family from my business. In fact, my income is now 5 times higher than what I was making as a full time primary school teacher!

I will concede that I’m not an average direct seller. Only a few percent make it to this kind of income level, in the same way that not everyone becomes a CEO in the corporate world.

I have dozens and dozens of people in my organization who are able to rely on their business for their full time occupation.

Many of them don’t have a degree, some aren’t even fluent in English, some need to stay home to care for children with special needs. I have a deaf team member and I have disabled team members, I have team members with all kinds of challenges in their life.

But their direct sales business has provided them all with a life-changing opportunity. They are earning significant incomes and making their business and family life work for them.

And that’s what I love about this industry.

We have a bad name….

Unfortunately the direct sales industry has a bit of a reputation problem.

Part of this stems from confusing a party plan or direct sales company with a pyramid scheme. And some of it stems from unethical people who over-sell the opportunity and undersell the amount of work needed.

I’ve seen plenty of people claim that it’s easy to make a 6-figure income overnight. Has it been done? Yes. Is it common? Nope!

When people join with the expectation that they’ll be an overnight success with a massive income with very little work, they’ll be very disappointed with the reality of things.

Sometimes the problem is that newbies don’t get a lot of guidance and make all kinds of mistakes. They end up selling very little, recruiting nobody and their business quickly fizzles out before it even got started properly.

This is part of the reason I started Direct Sales Inspiration: I want everybody to be able to make the most of the opportunities that really do exist out there.

If you’ve just joined a direct sales business and you need a little help, start here:

If you’re in Australia or America and want to find out more about joining my team, click here.