According to Entrepreneur magazine, home parties now account for “roughly 29 percent of the nearly $30 billion in U.S. direct sales, and 13.6 million Americans bought or sold goods from home in 2004.”

We are not just talking about Tupperware or Mary Kay, we are talking about some hot new products that are highly marketable.

Consumers demand is high on jewelry, home decor and green products.

I’ve put together the hottest direct sales and multi-level companies based the number of catalog and information requests from my ishopathome.ca site.

1. Women Accessories are hot.  When people have less money to spend, they use accessories to update their wardrobe instead of buying new  clothes.  Check out these companies:

• Lavish Online
  
• Stello and Dot
• Aura Stella
• Silpada
• Latasia

2.  Home Decor and Home Accessories is the next best thing.  Spring is just around the corner and people start wondering what to do to update their environment.   These companies kept coming up on my search:

• Princess House
• Pampered Chef
• Tupperware
• Everyday Style
• Scentsy

3.  We can’t live without food, so cooking and spicing it up can excite the chef in us.  Check these ones

• Epicure Selections
• Gano Coffee
• Wine Tasting
• Sunset Gourment
• Watkins

4. Green companies are joining the Direct Sales / Multi-Level bandwagon.

• Enjo
• Norwex

5. Communications

• Telfund

To be profitable in any business, you must consider the following before joining:

1. Can you advertise your business online?  Read their policy carefully to make sure you are not limited to their company provided website.
2. What’s their initial fee? It is always wise to fully scrutinize what’s included in the start up kit and see if it will actually provide you enough product to start doing the business.
3. What is their buy back policy? Member of DSWA must agree to buy back inventory from their consultants.  Better yet, choose a business that don’t require inventory.
4. Due your diligence before you plunk your hard earned money and make sure there is an actual product or service being provided and stay away from pyramid schemes.

Telfund International

I received an e-mail from my sister last night about this business opportunity.  She’s  been asking me to attend an opportunity meeting for the last two weeks but I was not really interested.

I’ve been busy with my own business so another business  is the last thing on my list.  Not only because there are tons of “business opportunities” online but also because I’ve had a fair share of pie in the sky business opportunities presented to me and frankly, I am getting tired of hearing this phrase.

But when I found out that my sister flew this morning to Los Angeles to join the business, I got curious. I went to the website and spent all morning getting information about the and here’s what I found so far:

Customer Membership

Free Membership – anyone can sign up for free to use telfund’s long distance and money sending system and get a reduce rate. Free members earn 10% commission on their first level referrals.

Basic Membership – $9.99 very low rate and you can send money for as low as $5.00 service fee.

Basic  Plus Membership – $14.99 for unlimited calls to North America(does not matter where you are calling from) and lower long distance rate on any other countries.  Basic members also get a discounted money sending service fee of $5.00.  I’d say this is better rate when compare to MoneyGram or Western Union

Premium Membership – $24.00 for unlimited calls to 30 countries, the lowest long distance rate to other countries and the lowest customer money sending service fee of $3.00 per transaction.

Telfund’s Services and Products

Talk, Text and Money Send

Talk

• It’s a Network Marketing Business, offering long distance, text messaging and money remittance business all in one.   The market for these services are majorly immigrants who calls, texts and send money to their home country on a regular basis. Immigrants population is about 150 million globally so there is no lack of customers for this business for sure.
• Telfund use call-back services to lower your long distance cost.  Basically you dial a toll free number, give your key in your telfund ID and hang up. The system then calls you back and you dial your destination.    I found out that if you have free incoming call package, you can use the call back service to also save on airtime.
• It’s a bit of a hassle to dial the toll free before you can dial your destination, but a lot of people don’t mind if it can save them a lot of money.

How Do you Send Money With Telfund?

Telfund money sending service is member to member.  Members can send money to any member in 21 countries in different currency.

Here is how:

• Sign up as a  member
• The person you are sending money to must also be a member-or you can sign them up online if they have no internet where they reside.
• You can either send money “e-wallet to e-wallet” which basically mean from your wallet to the recipients wallet.
• Or send it from you to their bank.
• Services fees vary according to your membership. For a FREE member, it will cost you only $8.00, and the exchange rate is also higher than other institutions.

Can FREE Members (non-distributors) make money?

The simple answer is yes!

The only business  that does not cost you a penny to make money.  All you have to do is the following:

1. Join the FREE membership here.

2. Your membership ID and password will be e-mailed to you.

3. Use your ID to register others under you (no one can register without a referral ID).

4. Every time the people under you use the service, you get 10% of their usage and/or service fees.

5. Your “backoffice” will keep track of all the people you sign up and your real time (no waiting) commission.

6. As a FREE  member, you will also get a replicated website you can use to promote and sign up others.

Conclusion

After having been with this company for 6 months, used the service to call my relatives both within Canada, US and the Philippines, and sent money 4 times to the Philippines and US – this company is going to grow fast.  I also  met the CEO of this company and spoke to him,  so I feel confident that this business is in solid footing.

Contact author for more info.

The World Wide Web can be an excellent resource for those involved in direct sales. Just as networking offline can be a great boost for business, networking online can be useful in gaining sales as well as new recruits for your business. So the next time that you are online, check out these great places to network online to further your direct sales business online.

Online Forums
Online forums are excellent places for people in direct sales to network while online. Wahm.com and internetbasedmoms.com are two wonderful places to start. You’ll meet and network with moms that are very successful with their businesses as well as moms that are looking for a business to start and lots of moms somewhere in between.

When networking on online forums please be mindful of the rules and regulations of each forum that you decide to visit. Not only with this save you from doing any unauthorized advertising, it will help you build a solid reputation as a business owner.

Ryze.com
Ryze.com is another great place to network your business online. Business owners like you can create a homepage dedicated to networking your businesses. After you create your homepage you are all set to begin joining groups and networking with other business people on the web.

Squidoo.com
Squidoo.com is a fairly new social networking site that is gaining in popularity very rapidly. With Squidoo you can create lenses, which are basically short articles on any topic that you care to write about. This would be an excellent way to establish yourself as being very knowledgeable about the products or service that your business has to offer. Squidoo can be a useful tool in driving potential customers to your websites.

Email Groups
Email groups, like those offered by Yahoo, are another option for online networking. All you need to do is search for groups that would fit your business. “Work at Home Moms in Wisconsin”, or “Moms in Home Business” would just be a couple of examples of the types of groups that you should keep an eye out for when looking for email groups to join.

These are just a few of the great places online that you can utilize for networking. Look for ways to be a useful contributor and supportive friend wherever you choose to network and you will be well on your way to building your business in no time at all.

Finding a great up line is one of the smartest moves that you can make when you decide to get into the direct sales industry. Most successful direct sales consultants that you speak with will tell you that they feel a quality sponsor played a large roll in the overall success of their direct sales business. So why is it important to stay in touch with your up line once you begin a direct sales business?

Training:
Your up line will be able to give you proper training. A very important reason that you should stay in touch with your up line is for the training that they can offer you, which is especially important if this is your first venture into the direct sales world. For example, your up line can answer any questions that you might have on how to navigate through your company’s online ordering system, or how to get your discount on personal orders.

Promotion:
Staying in touch with your up line can assist you in the marketing and promotion of your business. Your sponsor can let you know what kind of marketing materials and promotional tactics have worked well for their business and if you could use them successfully to advance your business. Your up line can also help you develop a plan of action so you can go out and book parties and make the income goals that you have set for yourself. Your up line will also help to fill you in on the rules and the regulations of marketing your business online.

Support:
One huge reason you should stay in touch with your up line is the moral support and encouragement that she can offer you. Many women that have decided to make the jump to start a career in direct sales feel extremely motivated to make their business a success when they feel that they have someone that believes in them and is just as excited for them as they are. Having a good relationship with your up line can help you to get through the hard times to build your business.

These are great reasons that you should stay in touch with your up line when you join a direct sales business. You want to make sure to find a sponsor that is actively working her business and is genuinely interested in signing you up so that you can be successful in meeting whatever goals you would like. This way the relationship will be beneficial for both of you.

Having a well-motivated sales team can be the cornerstone of a successful direct sales career. Building a strong sales team has the potential for great financial benefits for you as an up line. So now that you are on your way to building a good sized sales team how do you keep them motivated so that they will have fun with what they are doing and be able to build a successful direct selling business for themselves?

Team Newsletter or Ezine
One thing that you can do to keep up the motivation of your team is start a team newsletter. This can be done through the mail or by email whichever you think would work better for your group. You can include words of encouragement to get your team members excited about their business, offer tips like theme party ideas and maybe even let your team send in ideas that have worked for them.

Sending Cards
Another thing you can do to let your team members know that they are special to you is start sending cards on special occasions. Remembering things like wedding anniversaries, birthdays or even a consultant that has had an exceptional sales month will let your team members know that they are special to you and not simply a number that you recruited for your own personal gain.

Training and Incentives
Offer team training and incentives to your down line for motivation. Whether your new recruits are direct sales pros or delving into their first experience, training is always a good thing. You could hold conference calls; monthly or even weekly team meetings. Offer incentives for your team to help them reach their sales goals. Offer things like sales aides (order forms, catalogs, etc…) or products from your company if they meet goals like booking so many parties in a month, making so many sales phone calls, or meeting a certain amount of sales.

Support
The best thing that you can do is make yourself available to your team and let them know that they matter to you. Nothing is more motivating than knowing you have someone who is behind you and supports you all the way with your business.

Keep these tips in mind and you will have a sales team that really loves what they do, which means success for everyone.

Learning how to advertise your direct sales business online can mean a definite increase in sales for your business. The thing that you need to keep in mind, however, with direct sales is that there is often a different set of rules for online advertising. Here are some tips and tricks for advertising your direct sales business online through forums.

First of all you want to decide on your target market (or markets). Are you hoping to target stay at home moms? Maybe you are hoping to contact real estate companies in hopes of getting them to buy gift baskets that you have put together. Once you have determined who exactly you are trying to get to purchase your items for sale you will have a better idea of where online you are going to want to be advertising.

Forums can be a great place to advertise your business. You can participate in the forums –offering genuine support and advice when needed, which not only builds trust among the online community you are participating in, it is just simply fun to do. Then when someone is looking for a product that you may offer, you can casually mention that you are a rep for a company that carries what they need and the person will be encouraged to make a purchase from you since you have spent the time and have built that level of trust. Make sure to follow the rules and regulations of the forums that you would like to potentially advertise in. You do not want to be reprimanded for spamming.

If you are not allowed to post advertisements on online forums, then look into the possibilities of signature advertising. All you need to do is create a catchy tag line to encourage people to click on your link and hopefully make a purchase. You could also implement signature advertising in emails that you send too, that way each time you correspond with someone you are advertising your business.

These are just a couple of ideas that you can implement while advertising online. Just be aware of the rules whenever you are advertising so you do not end up spamming. This way you’ll be off to great sales in no time.

Direct Sales companies afford an excellent way to earn a great income with the added bonus of being able to make up your own schedule. Being able to work online opens up a huge market in which you can sell your products. Another avenue you should consider when marketing your products online is fundraising. Fundraising is an excellent feature to add to your online direct sales business for several reasons.

Fundraising assists groups that are in need of money. Some groups that regularly run fundraisers are schools, churches, daycares/preschools, scouts, and non-profits. You can help the group conduct their fundraiser offline, online or a combination of both. Since there are such a wide variety of a products being offered by direct sales companies, groups doing fundraisers have an excellent chance of being successful, as they will be offering something new and different. Most groups looking for a fundraiser are looking for fresh ideas in order to increase their chances of raising the cash they need. (All groups get tired of the same old fundraisers year after year. Offer them something different!)

You are sure to increase your income when you add fundraising to your online direct sales business. Some Direct Sales companies have a set amount of commission that a group can earn doing a fundraiser. Other companies allow the consultant to set how much commission the group will earn and how much commission you will be earning.

Adding fundraisers to your online direct sales business can help you to meet your sales goals. Say you need to make a certain sales quota each month, simply plan ahead to organize a least one fundraiser per month and you are sure to meet your monthly sales goals.

This will also work for long-term sales goals. For example if you are hoping to win a trip that your company is offering as an incentive, fundraisers can go a long way to help you meet that goal. Try to schedule at least one fundraiser each month, and see the difference in your overall sales.

So when you are looking for ways to better build your direct sales business, definitely consider the benefits of organizing fundraisers. Not only will they help you meet your own personal goals for yourself and your business, you will be helping very worthy groups get much needed funds to help run their programs.

When you are involved in direct sales, keeping in touch with your customers is an excellent way to ensure that they will book parties with you and purchase your products on an ongoing basis. The Internet provides those who run direct sales businesses very simple and convenient ways to stay in touch with their client base. So just what are some ways that you can use the technology of the Internet to keep in touch with your customers?

Blogs
You can start a blog to keep in touch with your customers. A blog is basically an online journal and a great place to inform people of your business. With your blog, you can include informative articles relating to whatever product you maybe selling, keep your customers informed of product specials that both your company and you personally are offering and allow them to make comments about your posts should they have any questions. Blogger.com is a popular place for many to start blogs.

Forums
You could start your own online forum to communicate with your customers. It is really quite simple to start your own message board. You can start different forums to deal with customer questions on specific products, customer complaint issues, product specials and even a forum where you can chat with your customers about any topic.

Yahoo Discussion Group
Starting an email discussion group like the ones available through yahoo is yet another way that you can keep in touch with your customers. You can make your group available for discussion or use it to release a monthly or even weekly newsletter to inform your customers about your business.

Mailing List
Starting a mailing list is yet another way that you can use the Internet to keep your customers informed about the goings on of your business. Just make sure that before you start sending out information about your business to your mailing list that you pay close attention to what would be considered spamming.

These are just some of the great ideas for using technology to keep your customers informed about your business. Utilizing the convenience offered by these tools is a smart way to build up your business.

When you are involved in a direct sales company, having a website can be a huge asset. Most direct sales companies offer their sales consultants websites where their customers can place orders. Some are free, and some are low cost. However, being able to sell your products outside your local area really opens up your chances to increase your income considerably.

A company-provided website can be a very convenient option for a direct seller. For a nominal fee you can have a website fully set up to begin taking orders. So if it is so simple to get a website set up through your company, why are consultants making additional websites to market their products?

While a company-made website is very easy to obtain there is really little customization that can occur with them. As many direct sales company consultants will tell you, personalized service is very important to being successful with your business. Because the only personal information a representative can add to a company-made site is usually their name and possibly an email address or phone number, consultants are making their own separate websites to sell their company’s products.

With a custom-made website you can really allow your customers the chance to get to know you and your enthusiasm for the products you sell. What better way to make a sale than to build trust among your client base and let them know that you care about their satisfaction and are thrilled to be offering them quality products.

A personalized website will allow you to better inform your customers about the products you sell. For example if you sell children’s toys you can post articles on how beneficial educational toys are for a child’s development. Or if you sell spa products, let your customers know the potential benefits for their skin if they try the products you have for sale. The more familiar that someone feels they are with a product the more likely they are to make a purchase.

So while using a company-provided website works just fine for many direct sales consultants, consider the added benefits of building a personalized website to use in tandem with it in order to further build your business.

Being able to recruit online has really opened the door for those in direct sales to build large sales teams. Since communicating through the world wide web is a lot different then communicating face to face, there are some things you should be doing as well as some things you should not be doing while recruiting for your direct sales business opportunity.

First of all be honest with your potential recruits. Don’t try and make it sound like the direct sales company that you represent is the only company out there that is profitable. Just let them know the honest facts about the income potential that they can have with your company and by all means share how excited you are about what you are selling.

Make sure to make yourself available to your online recruits whether it is through email, chat rooms, instant messages or phone. Nothing would be worse then to have wonderful conversations through email with a potential sponsor and then never hear from them again once you’ve signed up. If you cannot offer a certain level of supportiveness to online recruits, you are not likely to be successful building a team in this manner.

Another thing to remember while recruiting online is not to knock other companies. You want to present yourself in a professional manner and that is not going to happen if you’re making statements like “You won’t make any money at all with Company X” or “Company B has such lousy products and the commissions are horrible.”

Don’t be pushy. For instance, if someone is looking for a company that offers bath and body products, don’t push them into uncomfortable discussions about joining your children’s toy company. You also can run the risk of getting in trouble for spamming if you post recruiting ads without keeping in mind the rules and regulations of any and all online communities you join.

These are just a few things to keep in mind while you are trying to build your sales team online. Have a solid plan in place before you begin searching online for your future sales team and you are sure to be successful.