5 Reasons Moms Love a Home-Based/Direct Sales Business

By Guest Blogger Kim DeYoung

Women account for over 75% of the direct sales force in the US. Truth is, most probably didn't start out with direct sales as a career goal and probably weren’t even aware that the industry existed. But once discovering direct sales, the potential is obvious and women and moms love it!

Take a look at these reasons why women love direct sales and see where you fit in.
 

1. MONEY – Direct sales gives you the ability to meet and establish your own financial goals – whether that's a few hundred dollars a month or a more substantial income. And there’s the added benefit of offering opportunities for residual income. Once you have invested the time to create a customer, you benefit from all future sales.

   Direct sales usually requires just a small investment to get started. With most companies, it takes very little capital and very little inventory to get started. Plus you get tax write-offs from running a home-based business!
    

2. CONTROL - Direct sales allows you to control your career. Instead of just a JOB, you get to enjoy something more meaningful. You get out of it what you put in to it. You make the choice about how much you make along with how much and how hard you want to work.

   You can also work around your family's schedule. Moms love how a home-based direct sales business lets a person balance a career with personal and family life. Moms are committed to spending time with children and direct sales is a perfect vehicle that allows you to earn money, but still have time for a life.
    

3. FUN – There are over 30 industries represented in direct sales, so there is certainly something to fit your interests – from books, to finances, to travel, to gourmet food, to wellness products, to scrapbooking… and the list goes on and on. So, with a little research, you can find the one that meets your needs and your personality.

   Then there's the social aspect to direct sales. You have access to your own large support network and have the possibility of partnering with your friends for a common goal. And what could be better than sharing your products through "parties" and gatherings!
    

4. BEING OF SERVICE – When we find a solution to a problem women naturally want to share it with others. We enjoy the opportunity to connect and interact with other women and help them get the products they need. This is a great opportunity for women to provide a very personalized sales service.
    
5. PRODUCTS – Many women initially got involved with direct sales because they are so enthusiastic about the products. Women love to shop and buy, but hate to be sold to. Direct sales allows you to get your products at a reduced price and/or make a commission for sharing something you'd happily buy anyway.

Why should you care about your reasons?

Having clarity about what drives you is an absolute key to success in direct sales. Reflect on all of the reasons why your direct sales business works for you – whether it's the products, the opportunity to share solutions, the ability to balance your career with your family, the chance to make great money or your own unique combination of these reasons.

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As a busy mom Kim DeYoung was drawn to direct sales as an opportunity to make good money running a home-based business. She shares how shifting your inner self will allow you to create, attract and manifest more clients and more profits in a free call. Click here to listen to “Getting Your Head in the Game”.
 

Traveling With Kids

By Guest Blogger and
August "Ask the Expert" speaker Rhonda Moskowitz

(Click here to sign up for Ronda's free "Ask the Expert" call, "Parenting With Purpose, the Screamfree Way" on Wednesday, August 11th at 9:00 am PT/12:00 noon ET).

I love to travel. One of our goals as a family was to make our children citizens of the world. In order to achieve that goal, we traveled. Our destination and mode of transportation changed with the ages of our children and the economy, but we always went somewhere. We flew to visit grandparents on opposite ends of the country and drove to state parks where we rented cabins for a week at a time. We had good experiences and some less than ideal. What we always had were stories of our trips. Even the less successful vacations have become family stories that are still told and retold.

There was one very memorable trip when my son was 5 and was crammed in the back of a very small car with one of his sisters on either side of him. To spice up the drive he spent hours elbowing and kicking them. THAT is why the minivan was invented. Then there were the annual medical crises that popped up whenever we went away. No matter how healthy everyone was when we left home, a strange illness always struck. Doctors across the country (and, yes, even in other countries) became acquainted with the health issues of our family.

Our successes were ideas that were so good they became vacation traditions. Put down your travel guide and try some of these tips for something a little different:
 

• Local treats – It doesn’t matter where you go, there will be some treat that is local and you can’t find at home. Make a game of searching for that unique candy or ice cream specialty. Real Italian ices in New York City or the special chocolate of any city are easy to find and delicious!
   
• Playgrounds! New playgrounds have undiscovered pleasures. It’s a bonus if your child makes a new friend while there and has someone to play with. We were in France and needed a place to run off some steam. Watching my child (who only spoke English) communicate and play with a group of children who only spoke French proved that play is a universal language.

   

• Listen to a book together – Stuck in a small space for hours with no room to move? In the car the entire family can listen to a book on tape. If you’re using a different mode of travel, try downloading kids’ books to an MP3 player for your child’s individual use. Do you know how many hours it takes to listen to Harry Potter?
   
• Caught in the rain (or in our case, evicted because of a massive hurricane)? Even small towns have unusual museums that are not what you have at home.
   
• A deck of cards and non-perishable snacks always travel with us. There is always something to do and something to eat. On that same trip to France our 3 children played cards inside the Arc de Triomphe while my husband and I enjoyed the view outside. Yes, they missed the sight that we came for, but they experienced the trip on their own terms.

Don’t let this happen to you! Beware what your children put in your car when you are packing to go home. After a day at the ocean our car sat in 90 degree heat. When we finally got into it the smell was so bad that we almost trampled each other jumping out of the car. A pail full of clams had been lovingly stored in the car by one of my children. It took the rest of the summer to get the smell out. What a way to keep your vacation memories fresh!

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Rhonda Moskowitz is a trained educator, administrator and parenting consultant. She has extensive experience working with child-oriented issues both from the parents' perspective and from that of educators. She holds certification in parent coaching and a Master's Degree in K-12 Learning and Behavior Disabilities. The 10 years of experience she has working in schools and another 20 years in private practice allow her to assist the client with practical information, consultation and guidance.

You can learn more about her at www.practicalsolutionsparentcoaching.com

Click here to sign up for Ronda's free "Ask the Expert" call, "Parenting With Purpose, the Screamfree Way" on Wednesday, August 11th at 9:00 am PT/12:00 noon ET.

What Kids Gain by Having a Direct Sales Mom

The other day I was doing a training call and glanced out my window mid-sentence to see my sons precariously walking across the roof of our garage. It brought new meaning to the word "focus" as I did my best to continue to talk while waving a fist at them and using sign language to tell them to GET DOWN! I'm not going to lie to you. This week, my kids have been driving me CRAZY! They're home for the summer and they've invaded my workday (literally).

I always forget how challenging it is to transition from being home alone during the day and working my business to being home supervising other people and working my business. Especially when those people are teenage boys!

Still, as I've looked at the craziness of this week, I've thought more than once about how grateful I am that my boys get to experience a WAHM every day and have ever since they can remember. It got me thinking about all the benefits your kids enjoy because you work in direct sales. Here are some benefits I came up with :

• Your kids know what you do for a living because they see you do it every day. I think this gives them a greater appreciation for where the money you use to buy them things comes from.
• They learn the meaning of commitment and see the payoffs for the time you invest.
• If you're earning company incentive trips, they get to go on some pretty cool vacations.
• If you work your direct sales business exclusively (meaning you don't go to another job), they have the benefit of a full time mom (just a note, my kids see this as either a benefit or a curse, depending on the day). You're there for school activities during the school year and camps/swimming/play dates, etc. during the summer.
• They learn to earn. When my kids were little and I was working in direct sales, we always picked out an incentive for them to be working toward when I was working toward one from my company. We used a special container and added money to it based on their level of participation in my business (helping to put labels on catalogs, load and unload the car, being extra good while I made phone calls, etc.). That way, they earned something really cool right alongside me.

These are just a few that I came up with off the top of my head. I'd love to know your thoughts. What do you think your kids gain from having a direct sales mom?

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Julie Anne Jones is a direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read more blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.

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