In direct sales you receive payment from a new affiliate up front and then the company receives their cut. The sale of products or services occurs through person-to-person contact or through an online business medium away from a retail location with no middleman involved.

If you think about it, selling is an outlandish endeavor because achieving financial success in this industry is contingent upon your own individual efforts. Some consider sales to be an art in the category of persuasion.

It’s estimated that if you bring up the term “selling” over 95% of people will have an instant negative connotation associated with the term appear in their mind. Where is the negativity coming from? When you make a sale all you’re doing is solving a problem or enhancing an existing business model for a potential buyer.

In direct sales if you can express your liveliness and warmth whenever you present your opportunity, people will want to buy from you and be a part of what you have to offer. The reason why the direct selling industry continues to flourish is because word-of-mouth advertising flat out works.

Starting a direct-selling business and developing a team not only means fantastic money, but it develops priceless leadership skills that countless people can leverage into other areas of their lives. It’s one of those opportunities that centers around how intelligently you can work, not on the number of hours you work.

If you’re investigating the direct sales industry your research will show you how financially independent you could be in the near future if you make up your mind to enter this work from home option. According to specific reports, one quarter of the U.S. population has bought products and services supplied by people in the direct selling business.

Another current survey displays the direct selling industry as gaining control of a large chunk of the market share because of the internet. The online medium has revolutionized direct sales because it’s comparatively inexpensive and simple to launch a website. In the online world, there’s a 24/7 global audience for your services.

The majority of home based business opportunities you see online are mainly direct sales based. With the internet and technological advancements you can generate massive amounts of immediate cash flow while offering more availability to the consumer. The financial rewards of direct selling are abundant. However, not all direct sales pay plans are created equal. Select one of the best direct sales business opportunities wisely and forget about having to work for someone else again.

The opportunity that direct sales position brings to the table is the flexibility of time, schedules, income, and management. As a direct sales consultant, you have the flexibility to set your own hours, work on your own schedule, and not have an official boss to answer to. On the other hand, this flexibility can be what hurts your success as a direct sales representative. If you have a hard time with commitment, working when someone isn’t watching you, or just motivation in general, then this flexibility could be detrimental to your direct sales career.

In order to have success in direct sales, and create a business that provides you with a full time income and beyond, you must have some drive and motivation that will keep you working even when you don’t have anyone to answer to. Actually, you do have someone to answer to: yourself. If you can stay on track, and work when needed and be an outgoing and personable direct sales rep, you will have success in direct sales.

Let’s look at the benefits of flexibility when it comes to direct sales. You set your own schedule and hours. If you need time for an appointment, a day off for a short vacation, time to yourself… you can take this time and not have to request it off or schedule it around what your boss will allow. Also, if you want to work more hours and make more income each month, you can do this as well. With direct sales, you will make more money with the more work you put in. At a normal 9 to 5 job, you are going to make the same amount of money each month if you work hard or work just enough. With direct sales, your income will increase if your commitment and dedication increase.

Another benefit of direct sales is that you can do it part time and still make a decent amount of extra money each month. You can work a few hours each week with your direct sales business and receive a decent commission check each month as well as free products, depending on your direct sales company’s compensation plan. You can work your direct sales for a few hours each week and build enough business and income to allow yourself the option of deciding to quit your regular job and move into a full time business that gives you the greatest flexibility.

Industry representative, the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), reported that its 59 regional member associations had accounted for over US$114 Billion in retail sales in 2007, through the activities of over 62 million independent sales representatives.

According to the WFDSA, consumers and customers benefit from direct selling and sales because of the high quality of service, convenience, delivery method, and the satisfaction gaurantees provided. A major benefit to an individual that wants to begin a career in the independent direct selling business is the usually low startup costs. Most companies require little or no required inventory or other cash commitments to begin. If a company you are interested in joining does require high costs for inventory and startups, be very careful. These companies may actually be pyramid schemes, not direct selling or sales companies.

Research by the United States Direct Selling Association (DSA) reported that in the year 2000, 55% of adult Americans had at some time purchased items or services from a direct sales consultant and 20% reported that they were currently(6%) or had been in the past(14%) a direct sales consultant.

Direct selling is different from direct marketing because it is focused on individual sales agents contacting, networking, and dealing directly with clients and customers. Direct marketing is business organizations more focused on seeking a relationship with their customers without going through a salesperson or retail outlet.

Direct sales companies also usually offer a multi-level compensation plan that greatly benefits the individual consultants. Not only does the company pay commission to the salesperson for their own individual sales, but they will also pay bonuses on sales of other salespersons that were introduced and trained by that particular salesperson. Not only can someone make decent income by networking and selling the services or products, but by building and training a large successful team of individual consultants.

Direct selling can be the key to running your own business and being able to control your income. With a successful direct sales company and a well thought out plan of attack, Direct Selling can be your ticket to freedom from bosses, commutes, and time restraints.

Be honest and let your emotions show your customer why the product or service you are selling is a necessity to them. Don’t just start a conversation with a total stranger with the reasons your product or service is the best and why they need it. Your approach should be very light and a way to get some information from the person. You need to build up an “arsenal” to use as a way to introduce your product or service. During first contact, you should listen 80% and speak 20%. This is your chance to find out about them and incorporate why they should need your product or service.

Direct sales representatives that listen the majority of the time are the few that will become very successful in the direct selling business. If your idea of selling to a total stranger is bombarding them and pushing them to purchase, you should think about your approach and why it is too aggressive. Do you notice how pushy car salesmen are? This is why you see so many people looking at cars on lots AFTER the dealership has already closed… they don’t want to deal with the car salesman. These people that wait to search for cars after the dealership closes are going to find the car they want to purchase, and then they are going to go to the dealership when it is open and probably buy it through the salesman that stands out to them as kind and caring, not pushy and aggressive.

Don’t be “that” direct selling representative. If you push a customer into a purchase and they are not happy that they purchased it later on, who are they going to tell the product about? No one! What they will tell people is that they shouldn’t deal with you and to stay away. People are much more willing to tell friends, family, and even strangers about a bad sales experience than they are about a good sales experience.

With direct sales, you want people to be happy because they will spread the word and you will get referrals and friends of that customer coming to you to purchase. Family members and friends of your existing customers will provide a lot of your future business, so pushing them will just be detrimental to your future business. The customers of a pushy direct sales representatives will be much more inclined to spread the word of why NOT to deal with you and your sales business.

Remember, when it comes to being the perfect direct sales representative, you want to listen more and speak less. Find out about your customer and then find ways to show them that they have need or use for your product or service. This is the key to running a successful direct sales business from day one.

In order to meet that guest, you had to first meet the hostess, and you might have even met her at a previous show. You had to ask that hostess to book a show, you had to overcome any of her objections to booking a party of her own, you had to coach her and sell her on the idea of getting other people to come. You had to pack up your car with your products. If you have a family, you might have needed to cook dinner ahead of time or hire a babysitter. Even if you did not have to cook or hire a babysitter, your spouse might have ordered dinner out (I know mine would!). Then you had to drive to a place you have never been before (your hostess’ home). You had to set up your products. And then, after all that, you got to meet the guest I just told you to think of.

WOW! See what I mean about all the time, energy, and money you have to invest to meet a guest at a home show? It is hardly insignificant.

I do not say all this to DIScourage you but rather to ENcourage you to place real value on each guest, even if that guest only buys a $12.95 item. What happens to us in the direct sales business is that we know how much energy we invested into getting that hostess to book and hold a show, so we think that putting time and energy into a guest that only purchases a lousy 12 bucks is a waste of time. We figure she only purchased to fulfill an obligation to the hostess.

I am now going to share with you a little known marketing secret that will convince you to look at all your customers differently from now on. Here it is:

A two-time buyer is twice as likely to buy as a one-time buyer.

Not excited yet? That is because you do not yet understand what I just communicated. But hang on because I am going to explain.

When you are at a home show, it is only natural to think that the key is getting the guests and the hostess to buy from you. That is true. But that is where most consultants drop the ball. Once they get that first sale, they start judging whether or not a customer is “worth” a follow-up call. And this is when the gal that spent $12.95 gets crossed off the list!

AH! If you have ever done that (admit it, you have), it is because you did not yet know that a two-time buyer is twice as likely to buy as a one-time buyer. You see, when you follow-up with the gal who purchased only $12.95, there is actually a good chance she will order from you again. And here is where you cash in – if she places an order with you when you call, she will now be twice as likely to purchase from you AGAIN, compared to someone that has only purchased once (that includes a guest that purchased over $200). In other words, the real value of a customer is proved after the second sale!

That is why the real sale begins after the customer says, “Yes.” Even someone that first only purchased a $12 item can become a customer that purchases from you again and again and again. It is not the first sale that matters. It is that second sale. Once a customer purchases twice from you, it is twice as likely that she will purchase with you again.

If you have had your direct sales business for awhile, you can take a moment to reflect and you will realize how true this is – think of those customers that place an order every season, or those hostesses that you count on every season to host a show. All of them have purchased more than once and now they are twice as likely to buy again.

Consider this. If you are not staying in touch with your past customers, they can still buy your product again, but from another consultant in your company. If your past customers buy for the second time, but from another consultant, they will be twice as likely to buy again, but you will not stand to benefit from that, if you fail to stay in touch with them.

Now remember how much time, energy, and money you invest into meeting a guest at a home show? The key is to keep investing in follow-up. Once you connect again with each of your customers, you will have the opportunity to work on the real sale that counts – the sale that converts a customer into a loyal customer.

Want to know the secret to not having to always work so hard? I just told you. Instead of always working to get new prospects, nurture the customers you have, and discover the amazing stream of income you can generate from customers that are twice as likely to buy from you again as those who are not!