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Friday, October 3, 2014

new vs ground floor direct selling companies

When it comes to direct selling/network marketing business opportunities, the term "ground floor" has multiple meanings, depending on whom you ask. Some direct sales directories for advertising purposes does not allow a company to be listed under ground floor if it's older than 2 years old. I've also heard some distributors consider "ground floor" opportunities as a company having less than 100,000 consultants.

Depending on whom you ask, you'll get different responses. Perhaps it's more about saturation. But let's consider new companies (just getting started within a year or less) and ground floor (10,000 reps or less).

Pros and cons of new companies

Do you have any idea how many new direct selling companies that start and close before you even hear about them? Lots! In fact, the stats is down right scary yet it doesn't stop people from joining a brand new company.

If you join a new company, be prepared to go through many ups and downs typical of all new companies. You're signing up to do your part (recruit and sell to build your individual business) but you're also putting your faith in the new company and hoping they do their part to grow the company.

The latter can be tricky as no one really knows what goes behind the scenes with a start up. You have faith they have the capital to grow the business, hopefully well trained staff to handle customer service, shipping, daily operations. And hopefully, the company leaders know what they're doing. It's a risk you take when you partner with a new company.

From my experience watching so many companies launch and close, one of the biggest challenges is attracting leaders that have the contact and experience that could help a new company grow.

The upside of joining a brand new company is being at the forefront, working closely with corporate, having some input, recruiting opportunities, and other perks as one of the early adopters.

The downside is dealing with instability, lack of growth, lack of product choices, slowness in releasing new products, inability to attract new recruits, shipping delays, website issues, and so forth. But perhaps one of the biggest red flags is lack of capital to market and grow the business long term.

Pros and cons of ground floor companies

I believe everyone has a different definition of what ground floor opportunities mean. Because top leaders with thousands of reps on their teams will tell you there's plenty of opportunity even with a company with 100,000+ reps. They'll tell you saturation is a myth.

If I'm assessing a ground floor opportunity, I'll look at the number of leaders in the company and the levels of activity of consultants. Even with 10,000 reps, most aren't building a business. There are shoppers, casual consultants, or people that work the business periodically. This means there's plenty of opportunity for you to join a ground floor company vs a new company.

There's still plenty of opportunity to grow your business minus all the hiccups and instability of a new company. But the key to your success is not your position but your activity. You can join a new company, be the first consultant but if you do nothing, your business is still nothing. Ultimately, it's your activity that determines your success.

Although, I definitely see some perks and potential with new companies depending on key factors such as capital, leadership and product uniqueness. But I'd be more cautious with new companies given my first hand experience with them.

If you're looking to build long term with a company that already has a proven success track record and want to stick around for years to come with a stable company, I'd go with a ground floor.

Best,

Janette

P.S. This is a brief write up on the pros and cons of new companies vs ground floor. If you're considering a long term business, I'd encourage you to do your research and take your time to find the best fit for YOU. 

Friday, August 8, 2014

3 Must-Read Articles on Non-Toxic, Natural Products

Need more reasons to ditch toxins and switch to non-toxic, natural personal care and cleaning products? You'll find the following articles helpful and great tips on how to make your own safer products too.

The Best Non-Toxic Ways to Clean Your Home by WebMD. A must read if you've been considering non toxic product, natural products and whether they're as effective as products laden with toxins.

When it comes to non-toxic, natural products, you only need a few ingredients to effectively clean your kitchen counter tops such as vinegar, warm water, and a few drops of essential oils (lavender, lemon, are two of my favorites) or use fresh lemons. It's that easy and effective without spending money on store bought brands.

Do Green Products Work? by AARP.

Myth: Natural cleaning products don't kill germs and therefore are ineffective.
Facts: Some "green" cleaners, such as the Clorox Green Works line made from a component found in coconuts, do little more than help remove dirt. They don't disinfect — nor do they claim to — so they don't kill germs
(source: http://www.aarp.org/home-garden/home-improvement/info-03-2011/natural-cleaning-products-do-not-work.html)

"Vinegar is almost 100 percent effective at killing germs if you leave it on for at least 60 seconds, and it leaves a nice shine," says Duberg. (source: http://www.aarp.org/home-garden/home-improvement/info-03-2011/natural-cleaning-products-do-not-work.html)

75 DIY Beauty Recipes All Natural Non Toxic by Healthylivinghowto. Another great article on so many ways to make beauty and home cleaning products yourself. 

If you're looking for more ways to ditch and switch to non toxic, natural products, Pinterest has great pins. While you're on Pinterest, follow my pin and let's stay in touch ->Pin with Janette. I'll be posting a lot more tips in the very near future.

Best,

Janette

P.S.  If you'd like to see a wide range of non-toxic products with 0 ratings on the Safe Cosmetics Database, visit my -> Non Toxic/Organic online store and email me if there's something you'd like a sample of before you buy. 

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Natural Organic Personal Care Products a Good Home-Based Business?

These days, you see aisles of natural and organic skin care, body care, cleaning, in every store- not just health and specialty stores. It's obvious the demand is fueled by consumer desire for healthier choices. But as a home business, is selling natural products a good business?

Organic personal care products market is growing at rapid pace across the world. Rising concerns for health safety, increasing green consciousness and growing consumer’s awareness about the hazards in synthetic chemicals have fueled the demand for organic personal care products. Source: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/organic-personal-care-products.html


From my experience as a top sales leader for a natural direct selling company for two years, I can tell you there's great interest in people buying the products as well as people looking to sell them as a home-based business.

#1 Product quality and value

With more natural and organic personal care products on the market, there's more competition. There isn't anything that can't be purchased online or through a retailer.

When I'm shopping for personal care products, I look for truly natural, non-toxic products based on the ingredients because that's important to me. But price is also a strong consideration. Price points matter even to people that can afford to pay more. Who doesn't want quality products at great prices. People that love natural and organic products are still going to buy them but they're looking for good prices. So prices do matter to your selling success.

#2 How to get started

There are multiple ways to sell natural and organic products. You can make them yourself and sell them on Etsy. You can join affiliate programs which are typically free. Or you can sign up with a home-based, direct selling company for a fee which comes with products, a website, and allows you to sell as an independent consultant for the company.

If you're considering a home-based businesshttps://us.nyrorganic.com/shop/jstoll as an independent consultant with a direct sales company, here are important things to consider:

As I mentioned with personal care products, there's a big market with natural and organic products. You're going to have an easier time getting someone to try and hopefully switch over to your products IF the products you're selling is not only high quality but within similar prices to what your prospective customers are already used to spending. It's not easy persuading people to spend $28 on non-toxic sunscreen when they can buy similar organic sunscreen for half the price.

If the prices are affordable, it's a bit easier redirecting a customer's spending to your products. Prices do matter with customers because there are a lot of natural and organic personal care products on the market.

Think of yourself as a potential customer browsing online for products or shopping at your local stores. If I stumble on a website that offers products that I'm interested and the prices are reasonably priced with good shipping fees or free, I'm much more likely to buy. That's why Amazon is so successful!

Although there's great opportunity to sell natural and organic personal care products from home I would caution anyone thinking about joining a direct selling company to consider quality products, price points, and overall compensation/pay plan.

Best,

Janette

P.S.  As a #1 team builder with the largest team in less than 2 years with a former company, I can help you achieve any level of success. My passion is working from home using internet marketing and teaching others to do the same.