Donna Partow

When I wrote Homemade Business in 1990, I was not a fan of direct sales or network marketing companies. I had seen women try and fail at direct sales after selling to their immediate circle of family and friends, then having nowhere else to turn for potential customers. I had an even less favorable view of network marketing, after some very negative experiences with deceptive representatives. However, the internet has revolutionized the industry, providing both greater selling opportunities and more careful scrutiny of dishonest business practices. So now, I am a huge fan, as long as you begin with wisdom and proceed with tact.

Simply put, “Direct Selling is the sale of a consumer product or service, person-to-person, away from a fixed retail location. These products and services are marketed to customers by independent salespeople. Depending on the company, the salespeople may be called distributors, representatives, consultants or various other titles.”[i]

Direct sales is a $25 billion industry employing an estimated 9.3 million Americans, 60 percent of whom are women. In direct selling companies, the person who does the work earns the money. You are rewarded for your hard work in direct proportion to your accomplishments without regard to gender, race, education, or any other consideration. Mary Kay has more than four hundred women who earn a six-figure income each year and many of them do not even have a college degree. Sales is a field in which women have consistently excelled. Why? Because success in sales is a result of hard work and building relationships—two things at which women are particularly good.

I have friends who’ve earned a steady income with a direct sales business for twenty, thirty, and even forty years.

Direct sales also allows you to set your own hours and career pace. Your work can be done primarily in the evening, when your husband or friends are available to watch the children. If delivering products is part of your job, no one will mind if you bring the children along.

These companies offer all the advantages of being part of a larger organization plus the advantages of being your own boss. It really is the best of both worlds. You get to belong to something larger than yourself. You have a network of friends and peers. You have mentors who will teach you the ropes, help you set goals and hold you accountable to achieve them. They will reward you and praise you to the high heavens if you succeed… but they can’t really fire you if you fall short. That’s a pretty good deal.

Another huge advantage of joining forces with an existing business is that you don’t have to start from scratch. They’ve already researched and developed the products. They’ve already created all the promotional material you will need and, in most cases, will provide you with your own website. It would take you many months and thousands of dollars to create this type of material for your own company.

However, the number one advantage of joining a direct selling company is the on-the-job sales training and professional development opportunities they provide. You simply cannot put a price tag on the value of that. Even if you ultimately want to start a business of your own, I would urge you to seriously consider signing up with a direct selling company just to develop sales skills and to learn marketing tools like seminars, teleseminars, conference calls and such.

If you’re going to succeed as a businesswoman, you must learn to handle rejection gracefully and develop a thick skin. No one taught you that, did they? Well, a good direct sales company will hold your hand and walk you through. You’ll learn how to listen to “no, no, no, no, no, no” until you finally get to that great big “YES.” These skills are priceless!

Direct selling companies have some of the most amazing conferences available anywhere, featuring top sales trainers and motivational speakers. People who charge $50,000 to $100,000 per speech! And for a very reasonable fee, you’ll get to learn from them. That right there might be worth the price of admission.

If you are interested in learning about companies I personally recommend, you can email me: donna@donnapartow.com

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