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You are here: Home / Articles & News / No! Not Another Article About How Great Direct Sales is, Especially in This Economy

No! Not Another Article About How Great Direct Sales is, Especially in This Economy

By L J June 14, 2009 9 Comments

I’ve mentioned before (See this previous article) there have been numerous stories in magazines, newspapers, and on the television talking about how lots of women are flocking to the direct sales companies given the downturn in the economy.

Yesterday, I picked up my newspaper only to find yet another article about companies like Mary Kay and AVON seeing an increase in their sales forces.

Mary Kay rolled out a new ad campaign in March to try to recruit new consultants. According to this latest AP article, Rhonda Shasteen claims that the traffic on the Mary Kay website increased by 108 percent during the month of March.

Every story I’ve read or seen is always the same. So-and-so was laid off and then decided to sign up with XYZ “direct sales” company and at her first party made $2000. Something like that.

And what a great option direct sales is, they point out. An extra fun job where you can make some extra money.

But here’s what I want to know: Who is going to buy all these products? All these women are signing up to peddle these products, to make some extra money in this lackluster economy, but who is going to be their customer?  You need CUSTOMERS to make any money selling. As more people sign up to sell these products, there are now even more consultants competing for the same customer.

Another thing these articles never mention: These products aren’t cheap. As people are being more frugal, I doubt that they are inclined to pay $13 for a lipstick or $15 for mascara when they can find comparable or better products at the drugstore or Wal-Mart for half that or less. Besides price, the selection at the stores is phenomenal…and you don’t have to deal with a sales person calling you every other week to try to get you to hold a party or invite you to a “girls’ night out” recruiting event.

What burns me is that these stories never mention the expenses, or if they do, they gloss over them. I’ve never seen any mention of the pressure that Mary Kay recruiters exert on new consultants, trying to convince them to shell out thousands of dollars on initial inventory. Never.

The problem is that the people writing these stories know NOTHING about what they’re writing about. And thus, the picture they paint is distorted and incomplete.

Comments

  1. Trigger says

    June 15, 2009 at 7:36 am

    I wonder the same thing, too, sometimes.  But don’t let it get under your skin.  MLMs will put their best faces forward no matter what.  What?  Did you think they would start out saying something like, “It really sucks to be in an MLM right now?”

    And, furthermore, don’t begin to doubt your stand.  We are right.  I just finished reading (on a jewelry blog) about how a lady has been doing this for a year and it’s just fantastic, blah, blah, blah.  It does not move me.

    Nowhere does she mention the shocking number of returns/exchanges which the jeweler has to deal (return to the company with all pertinent paperwork; lugging around heavy jewelry cases and all the stuff that goes in the set up with evey show; etc., etc.

    I’ve heard more than one jeweler comment on how back breaking it is.  Can you imagine yourself at 60 still doing that?  Get real.

    Reply
  2. Jacob says

    June 29, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    I is amusing how ignorant you are about a working business model. No matter how much premium golf equipment you buy IT WILL NOT make you a pro IF YOU DON”T get trained and invest your time and effort into becoming what you are not. Most employees who try out MLM never actually PUT in the EFFORT needed to become their own boss and then complain that they lost money. How come  Warren Buffet OWNS an MLM company????? Is he stupid??? Why does BEST SELLING author Robert Kiyosaki endorse MLM? Is He stupid? Have YOU written more books and make more money than Mr Kiyosaki?  How come Donald Trumph wrote a book about how MLM is the way to make money, does he not know how money works?

    Reply
  3. Anna says

    July 11, 2009 at 9:34 pm

    I’ve read a lot about MLM companies and have tried a few…and agree that I failed at a good number.  But the more I fail, the more I learn. And one thing I learned about the home party business is I never treated it like a business.  Business owners don’t wait for customers to come in their store or restaurant. They participate in the local community, advertise, and promote promote promote.  One thing they never do is treat their business like a hobby.
    Small business failure rates are incredibly high.  Most successful business owners have gone through several failures before their success. It is a learning period.
    I do not give up on the MLM idea.  The problem is MLM’s marketing themselves as a hobby industry.  If you go in thinking you are going to make money by only working 5 hours a week, you are nuts.  If you want to make money, you must treat it as a business. This can be done even if you have kids.  Make phone calls outside in the car during piano recietal…package catalogs and flyers after the kids are in bed.
    If you are going to have a business, treat it like a business. Otherwise, don’t bother. Then you won’t have anything to complain about.

    Reply
  4. Lipstick says

    July 11, 2009 at 10:18 pm

    Anna you make some valid points.  Unfortunately it is like preaching to the choir.  It is the way the MLM’s market their opportunity that needs to change.  Most continue to mislead prospective recruits by telling them they will make lots of cash with very little effort or in very few working hours.  That is simply not true.
    The real truth is that there is not much to be made in MLM’s unless you are on the recruiting end with down line to earn commissions from.  Otherwise you must put in a lot of  hours for little pay.  You would be better off working a regular job with benefits, and a set hourly wage.  JMO
     

    Reply
  5. Claire says

    August 1, 2009 at 8:29 pm

    I would recommend:
    1.  Don’t quit your job but start up in the MLM of your choice part-time.
    2.  Before signing up set aside some money for inventory that way when you join and you are offered incentives to build inventory, you will have some money set aside so that you can take maximum advantage of these without taking out a loan.
    3.  Plan ahead.  Realize you can’t sign up, buy $2000 of inventory and then forget about it.  Talk to your friends and family before you join ask them for referrals.
    4.  Get a jump start before you actually sign up.  Remember you are starting from the ground up.  We are not handed anything on a silver platter.   Get involved with your community, business organizations, social groups.  These are where you will meet people who will either 1) be open to hearing about your product and/or 2) refer people to you.
    5.  Remember it’s a numbers game.  Carry your business cards around and let people know what service/product you are offering.  Don’t take it personally if someone is not interested.
    6.  You do not need to be a “salesperson”.  Just be honest.  If you love the product you represent, your enthusiasm will show through and you don’t need to push anything on anyone.  I’ve met more than a few small quiet women who barely say boo and they are top in sales.   All types of people have certain types of people whom they identify with. If you’re the quiet type maybe you’ll especially appeal to that type of customer in addition others types too.   You don’t have to be flashy, loud, or pushy to be successful just be sincere and honest.
    Have a great day!

    Reply
  6. BabyBlues says

    August 2, 2009 at 11:57 am

    Do not quit your day job…Of course not that is the only way money will be coming in…Inventory is pre set lots…who will be buying it…BIGGEST CON IN THIS  COMPANY (cough cough  Term Company  a joke!   Pyramid Scheme.. Anybody!!??)   Friends and Family get sick and tired of helping you along, HELLO CALLER ID…I am born and raised in my town… active in my community hell yes!…No one wants to buy…most already have their favorite products… those who like MK will buy and other won’t…but you still have a no buy time until the product is used up by the people who do use…
    People interested in this and believing it may be profitable …RESEARCH…RESEARCH…RESEARCH!

    Reply
  7. winetastingathome says

    August 5, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    Hi Everyone!
    First, I definetly understand that you did have bad experiences in MK, so i am not going to say that you were lazy or anything like that, because I do not beleive that to be true(I have been lurking here for a while)…there is bad apples in every bunch…I use to be very active in MK, but as my family increased I did not have as much time anymore…BUT, what I do want to say is that NOT all home party businesses are bad…I belong to a great company where we do not have to sell the product, we market it…men and women are both interested in this company and based on the sales of the party..the company will just give you another sample set (wine….so, there is not out of pocket expenses execept catalogues and our order forms…I am not here to solicit my business, I just wanted to say that NOT all direct sales business are bad….and I am sorry that you guys did have bad experiences in MK, I truly believe that some sales directors have completely lost Mary Kay’s dream…by the way, were any of you that are on this board, were you around when Mary Kay was alive??? If so, do you think things changed once she passed away?? just curious…by the way, I do still sell MK, but have gone more to a personal use…and I do have a great sales director and did not have a bad experience in MK…

    Reply
  8. BabyBlues says

    August 5, 2009 at 4:22 pm

    Winetastingathome,
    Lucky for you =)  and I am glad your experience is and was positive!  I do agree that not all are bad… but alot of the practices and teaching become warped…as with anything there is good and bad…this site is a place for all to learn of others experiences ( I am a active, and do alright IBC) what I despise is people calling others lazy, liars blah…blah! No one has a right to tell anyone that their personal experience was not the way it was… most females join these opputunities to have more time with family , extra income, maybe make new friends and have fun!  Not wind up not seeing the family, spending more  $$ on inventory than is coming in, having people shun you or avoid calls cause you have become a MK stalker, or when you decide to no longer do MK lose all the people in your unit… who you thought were your friends… It happens and I thank God every time I log into PLH that I researched and found this site… before I got sucked into the pink!  
    This site has some of the smartest, caring, family oriented, HARD WORKING, funniest ladies  that I have been lucky enough to become friends with!  So stop lurking and come on in…

    Reply
  9. Tam says

    August 5, 2009 at 10:13 pm

    I agree with BB!  Winetastingathome (and all others), if you’ve been lurking on the main page, join in the forum!  We have an absolute blast there!  Come on in!

    Reply

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