Network
Marketing is an ideal work-from-home option for single moms. If you're willing to work at it, and stay with it, you can create an income that supports you and your kids, has flexible hours, no income limits, no education requirements, and is a business you can sell or leave to your kids.
A network marketing company has a marketing strategy in which the
sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but
also for the sales of others they recruit, creating a downline of distributors
and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation. Some of the top leaders in
the industry are Shaklee, Mary Kay, NuSkin, and Avon.
One of the most appealing things about a network marketing business is that the hours are incredibly flexible, you don't need to invest in an expensive wardrobe, and you can do it as much or as little as you want. There is no ceiling on the income, you can supplement the income you get from your former spouse and/or job, or make it your full-time gig.
My personal experience in self-employment started at age 23 when I started my own network marketing business with the Shaklee Corporation. My parents were educated professionals and entrepreneurs and their business of choice was network marketing, specifically with Shaklee. I feel like I chose the best, but this is certainly not a commercial for Shaklee. I’m sharing with you my experience, from my perspective, because that’s all I can do. When making a decision about starting a network marketing business, or any business, be sure to speak to as many people as you need to before you make your final decision to weigh all of your options. I am no longer actively** building a Shaklee business, my business is more on auto-pilot, but I still use, love and talk about the products and share the opportunity because it's still a passion. I couldn’t imagine using anything else, and I'm so grateful for all I've gotten from Shaklee through the years. If you’re interested specifically in Shaklee, please visit my website.
I relied heavily on my Shaklee income when I was going through my divorce. Having an income coming in every month, while I focused on myself, my daughter, and growing my new business really lowered my stress levels.
When
selecting a network marketing company, there are several factors that are
important. If I were looking to build a new company from scratch today, I would
recommend to you the same things I recommended to people looking at building a
Shaklee business ten years ago. Look for a company with:
- An
excellent reputation in Direct Sales, with the Better Business Bureau, and “on
the street.”
- The
companies need a good, solid track record, preferably they’ve been in business
for ten years or more
- The
company should be 100% debt free
- Their
compensation plan should be attainable and provide an equal opportunity for all
distributors
- The
best products to sell are consumable, meaning that your customers will need to
buy them again, and repeat business is part of the power of Network Marketing.
- The
products need to be safe for consumers, and better than the conventional products
they can buy at the grocery store or at Target.
The Corporate Office should have a powerful team consisting
of strong leadership. When the company decides to introduce new products or
make a change in the compensation plan from time to time, you need to have full
faith in their ability to make those decisions. This is because they affect you
and your downline!
Interview
your Upline. Ask to see a copy of their Bonus or Income Statements. The person
who sponsors you doesn’t need to be making a ton of money. They could be new and
newly pursuing their dream team (you), but the Upline makes a huge difference
about how seriously your prospects will take you and your opportunity. Choose
someone you feel you can work well with because at least at first, you’ll be spending
quite a bit of time on the phone and doing meetings with them.
The
company should have available affordable (or free) training and on-going
support, business training, and product information. If you want information,
you should have information. There should also be lots of training options:
one-on-one training, group training, online training, and phone training. If
you’re an information person and you need and desire a lot of information, it
needs to be easily accessible to you.
Both
the business opportunity and the products should appeal to both sexes. In my
opinion, make-up companies are fine and can check the rest of the boxes, but
you’ve cut your possible demographic in half. A sound business decision for you
could be to choose a company that appeals to everyone.
The
company should provide excellent corporate support, hold the majority of the
inventory, and do the lion’s share of the product distribution. Your sole focus
is sharing the business opportunity and sharing the products with possible
consumers. They should be able to order the products online or over the phone
and then shipped right to their door.
Finally,
starting your business shouldn’t cost a fortune! With any business, you should
be willing and able to commit a fair sum (less than $1,000, in most cases
around $500, you can become a Shaklee Distributor for just $50) to launch your business. It should be easy and affordable for you
to begin, and easy and affordable for you to earn monthly bonus checks with a reasonable, not huge, monthly financial commitment.
For more information on Shaklee products and business opportunity, visit here. You have my best wishes for your network marketing business success!
**March 2013: Since writing this blog, many have written to ask for information about building a Shaklee business with me as their mentor. While it isn't my full-time focus, my Upline and I have time to devote to a few fabulous single mamas who want to build a Shaklee business. Email me at Honoree {at} CoachHonoree {dot} com for more information.
You Might Also Want to Read:
Guest Blog: Single Moms Selling to Succeed {Andrea Waltz, Author of Best-Seller Go for No!}
The Successful Single Mom is the only book series for single moms written in a positive, can-do voice, from the coaching perspective, by an executive coach who was also a single mom. These books provide that road map for creating the life you want, starting right now, today!
Honorée Corder has dedicated her life to being a positive force for good. She writes personal and professional growth and development books, and The Successful Single Mom book series. As an executive coach and corporate trainer, she turns service providers into rainmakers, average producers into rock-stars, and dreams into reality. For more information on how she can specifically help you or your organization, click here.
