I’ve become a bit of a direct sales junkie the past few years. All told I have signed up to be a representative/consultant with 7 different ones.
Working for myself, from my house, is a dream. I think at one time or another we have all shared this dream, haven’t we? Making money while in our jammies, sipping coffee at our kitchen table while it snows and our feet are snug in our bunny slippers. So, I tried a number of these avenues in the hope of getting out of the 9-5 office job and it’s politics (and trust me even in a tiny company you will have office politics) and working to make someone else rich. I wanted flexibility and FREEDOM.
The trouble with most direct sales companies is that the start-up cost. I understand that they are sending you product for displaying and sampling, business tools etc in your ‘kit’ and providing you a website to sell from. For that reason they charge an arm or a leg (or both in some cases) to get started. To some degree I think this cost also comes from the mind-set that if you invest your money in that kit you are move likely to work that business.
Now, be honest with me, if you have signed up and paid out $100-$500 for a kit, how many of those kits are still sitting on a shelf, behind the arm-chair in the corner of the living room, or are in the garage? Me too. OH I take out the product, use it and make a decision if it is a worthy product but then I don’t do a darn thing with it.
Okay honesty check here, I DID do something with 2 companies. The one I joined for free, the Jewelry In Candles business (that one is no longer free), and the one I paid $10 to join, Avon. And that $10 investment (it is now $15 to join) now makes me just enough to pay for my car each month. That is changing fast as I’m out of a job and working hard to build it up, adding 3 new team members just yesterday in fact.
So what is it about Avon that made me stick around and actually work it? For starters Avon has been in business for 128 years, so I have some faith in it. I also LOVE the skin care products and use them daily. I have a jewelry box full of Avon jewelry that I wear, and even shoes and some clothes. Avon has a 100% satisfaction, money back guarantee and returns are pretty simple when a customer doesn’t like something, or I don’t. We do not stock inventory, and in fact are discouraged from doing so. We don’t order anything unless it is for personal use or someone’s order so there is no getting saddled with a bunch of stuff we won’t sell. We are not required to order a minimum amount monthly to stay in business. If you want to make money, you have to place an order. If you don’t order for a period of time, you will go inactive. So no commitment for some auto-ship stuff just to stay in business.
We also do not do parties, it is not a party plan business. If a representative wants to do a party, there is a plan in place to use but it is not our business model. Mom and I started girls night out style events so we can allow our customers some social time for an hour and the ability to play with the products as we get them ahead of time when new things are released. But again, it is something we opt to do and is more about the social and fun than selling. Kind of a customer appreciation time out from their busy lives.
Finding customers doesn’t require extra time away from life. Avon is worked into daily life. If I am at the store, while in line, I ask the women around me if anyone would like a brochure and I hand them out of the supply that is ever present in my purse. If I go to the park with the grand kids I will do the same to the moms hanging out at the play ground. If I am feeling up to some exercise then I don’t just walk, but I pull a grocery cart (those ones old ladies pull to the store when they walk) with brochures and I walk up and down hanging the books on folks doors. I get my walk in, plenty of stair climbing, and my “store” is out there. I am amazed at the number of customers I get when I do these simple things and often times recruits who also want to earn some money.
Earning money…how much? Well with Avon the commission is 20-50%. This is based on your sales. If you sold $300, your commission is 35%, so you would earn $105 of that order. $300 is not difficult to accomplish. There are incentive trips, contests, even a car allowance when you reach a particular level (Avon doesn’t pick the car for you, or the color, or lease it, you get the money and you figure out if you are buying it, what you wish to purchase/lease and your color), free products, etc. Our websites allow customers from all over the USA to purchase products from us and have them in a few short days, so our “store” is always open online. That website, unlike many direct sales companies, is free for Avon representatives. We pay for our business supplies, like brochures (very inexpensive), samples etc. and for shipping. Our tools for running our businesses are super affordable, making this the least expensive direct sales business to operate.
So what held me back before? My ‘WHY’ wasn’t big enough I suppose. But now, as this is my only income, I’m kicking tail. I achieved President’s Recognition Club, which means for the rest of this year and all of next year my earnings are at least 40%. I’m not far from making Honor Society, which brings a host of other rewards with it. I now have the freedom to put full time hours into this business and work it as just that, a business, rather than a hobby. My earning potential scares me!
What about you? What would you do with $300 more a month in your budget? If you earned it and saved it you would have $1,200 to use for Christmas shopping over the next 4 months. You could seriously earn a lot more than that if you opted to work it like a job. There are Avon reps who I personally know, making 6 figure incomes. I will be one of them, mark my words.
I’m always looking to grow my team, and if you are seriously looking for a way to stay home and make money, with a solid company who has been around a LONG time, maybe you should consider how spending just $15 could change your life. I would love to have you on my team and will help you (Skype, Email, phone calls not to mention tons of online training that is FREE). Just go to http://www.startavon.com and use the reference code: martigardner to sign up. It is $15 even online, and no shipping cost. Your kit, with brochures for 2 campaigns, 2 full size products (valued more than $15!), initial training books and samples, will arrive in about a week. Meanwhile, once you are signed up we can get your online store set up and you could be making money now.
Why not you? Why not today?
Not up for a business but love the products? I would love to be YOUR Avon Lady! And right now, you can get 20% off of your order of $50 or more with the code: TRIPLEPLAY2 when you order on my site, http://www.marvelouswithmarti.com before midnight 9/21/14.
Okay back to your regularly scheduled blogs.
Marti Gardner 