Work Help

Updated on February 01, 2015
R.B. asks from Jasper, GA
5 answers

Hello, everyone.
I just have a simple question, I have recently started selling a product. (Avon) about 3 months ago, I am now wanting to start expanding my team.
Basically because right now is one of the best times to start an I am starting to understand the products/ company.
Does anyone have any ideas of how I can find people that are interested in joining and making extra money? I have posted on Facebook, craigslist etc. But I didn't know about going door to door, or if there is anything that I am overlooking.
Thank you for your time.

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T.F.

answers from Dallas on

You are involved in a MLM which means the more people you sign up, the more $$ you make.

Many people run for the hills when approached to join MLM's, including me. However, some products are good and useful but I don't buy because I don't want to be hit up to be a rep.

I believe you should just market your product by joining school silent auctions, advertising in the PTA directory, neighborhood directory.

Build a clientele that loves your product and reorders and don't think so much about pushing people to join the force.

What is your background? Read marketing materials and how to's so that you can market without turning people off with your efforts to recruit.

It takes time to build a business. You're 3 months into it. Take your time.

6 moms found this helpful

S.A.

answers from Chicago on

I briefly tried working in an MLM company and I know several other people who are currently doing so. They mainly try to get their friends and acquaintances to join them. The larger your network of friends and acquaintances, the more likely you are to recruit people. I've found that you have to be a pretty savvy saleswoman not only to sell your product and build your own customer base, but to convince others to join you. It was not for me.

You should not even think about going door to door to recruit people. That is dangerous and would be unsuccessful. If it's hard to get family and friends on board, strangers won't even open their doors!

Like another poster mentioned, it takes years and years of hard work to build up this type of business. It's not the easy money that they all like to advertise. That's why so many of us run for the hills at the first inkling of it. There are very few people who are successful at it and can make it their main full-time job. But I wish you the best of luck!

2 moms found this helpful

V.S.

answers from Reading on

Why did you decide to go this route? I'm just curious. I know women who do this because they have a friend who does it and hosts a party at their house. So then they sign up and there is two of them hitting me up for parties and sales. Because they know all the same people, they hit up all the same clients. The people I know who do it usually give up after a year or so. Is there a benefit to going the MLM route rather than just a legit job? I'm genuinely curious what the appeal is.
Good luck!

ETA: I realize this is a "legit" business to some. To me, it is not. To me, it invites you to prey on your friends and family for profit. The women I know do it so they can stay home and they ask me to support their little business venture to do so. Well, guess what? I stay home, too. Why would I take money out of my budget to support someone else's staying home? There is not one thing sold by these companies that I couldn't find more affordably and better quality somewhere else, whether it's make-up, jewelry, cookery, underwear, whatever. The only reason I have ever gone to these parties or purchased anything was because someone asked and/or pressured me to. Someone I had considered to be a friend, but always someone who never actually invited me to their house EXCEPT for these parties. Any business that relies on exhausting your friend list is, to me, not a business that stands on its own merits and therefore, to me, is not legit.

2 moms found this helpful
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O.O.

answers from Los Angeles on

Read Guerilla Marketing by J. Conrad Levinson.

1 mom found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Boston on

You're in a company that doesn't include training. You signed up based on your interest in a product, vs. your education about running a business. I know there are people who don't like network marketing, but it's because they've been exposed to companies who do it badly or dishonestly. There are plenty of corporations who do things badly too, so there's nothing inherently more "legit" about a corporate position, where most of the profits go to the management and not to the employees. In a good multi-level marketing company, all of those intermediate layers are eliminated and employees/distributors are paid based on their own efforts. There are plenty of people who don't understand network marketing when it's done right, and they either have a negative opinion of it for no reason or they're afraid of it. If you don't understand it, you have no hope of finding more people to be a part of your team.

So you need to understand your company's compensation plan. Is is a "binary" plan where you sign up 2 people below you, and then they have to build down evenly or otherwise you don't get paid? Bad plan. Can you build as deep and as wide as you want? Excellent plan? Do commissions "bypass" you and go up line if some of your people don't turn out to be motivated? Bad plan. Is your company part of the Direct Selling Association which only admits a few hundred companies based on their business ethics and after a year of their books being scrutinized? Good. Where is your training? Is it just based on the person who signed you up? Bad company. Is there a low start up cost (say, $25) and free training including local, regional, on line, webinar, conference/training call and other programs? Good. Did you have to invest in a whole lot of inventory? Bad. Is there a business guarantee, like a 90% buy-back for one year? Excellent. Is your company a brand new one with little track record, or does it have a long history of being very stable so that people know the company will be around for years to come? Is your product of appeal to a very limited market, such as just women or just people with a certain decorating style or jewelry preference? You have a limited market. Do you have to work only with people in your immediate geographical area? You have a limited market and there may be too many people in your area already doing it.

Are your products a "one shot" deal where you have to constantly find new customers? Are they luxuries that people can do without? You're going to be very frustrated because you're going to constantly be on the prowl for new customers, and you're going to irritate the heck out of people who are sick to death of being invited to parties to buy stuff to help you out. Or, are you offering a consumable product that provides incredible benefit so that happy customers re-order regularly? That's how you build residual income.

I suggest you read books by Robert Kiyosaki and Suze Orman about residual income. There are phenomenal network marketing companies with a lot of credibility - and network marketing is how people made money for years before corporations took over. Everything from Fuller Brush to Mary Kay to Tupperware started this way. Insurance brokers and doctors and hairdressers all build businesses based on good service and good referrals - they aren't part of big corporations. They network.

If you don't have the support and training to work this business, and if you didn't investigate this or have it explained to you, you may not be in a good company (or you haven't investigated enough). How you go about finding customers and team members depends on what your products are. Jewelry is different from nutrition, and brokering energy savings is different from make up or cleaning products. So it's impossible to answer you more fully without knowing what you're selling.

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