Your business will not take off and you will not grow professionally until you go OUTside of your friends and family. Focusing only on “who you know” is probably the biggest mistake people make.

Secondly, yes people feel pressured to buy something – but that’s because that is what the party is all ABOUT. It is a sales party. It is a personal shopping experience. When you are invited to one you are being invited to come buy something. If you don’t want the stuff, don’t go! LOL Yes they are fun and it is nice getting together with friends but you ARE expected to buy (if you like it) and that is why you are invited to it.

So why would someone want to go to a home party? First of all most direct selling company products are superior to the ones you can get in the store, and some are even unique only to the direct selling company, such as mine. You cannot buy my product anywhere else and it is made just for us to sell through our reps.

Second, you get customer service and usually a guarantee on the products.

Third, the hostess gets to get some (sometimes lots) for free for hosting the party.

Fourth, you get to actually experience the product, use it, taste it, try it on, etc. in the company of your friends, talk about it, see if you like it etc. This is far different than your typical walmart shopping experience!

Fifth, you will learn something about how the products can benefit your lives and if you decide to buy, you will not only be supporting your friend who is the hostess, but also keeping you money IN your COMMUNITY instead of off to walmart or China or Mexico. Your money goes to the company rep who is more often than not doing the business to make ends meet for her family or even to be able to stay home with her kids. When you buy something at walmart you know the sales clerk gets barely anything and is on an hourly wage and gets paid whether you show up or not, AND the money doesn’t stay in your hometown.

The problem lies in that many people who join direct selling companies do not get proper training and wing it. I highly recommend anyone considering direct sales to get involved in the Direct Selling Women’s Alliance (DSWA) for some great direction and local chapter meetings.

I also think there is a lot of confusion out there about direct sales (party plan, door to door, vendors at events) vs. network marketing or multi-level-marketing whose focus is on selling the business opportunity more than actual products. Some reps from those companies can be pretty hard core where as in most direct sales/party plan companies, our focus is on the products and how they enhance lives and although we do recruit other reps, it is so that they can sell the products in their areas and build their own career.

For what it’s worth I sell for a company called Story Time Felts. I’ve been doing it since 1998 and love it. My kids have grown up with me working from home and are creative, imaginative, hard working and goal-setters. I love what I do and encourage others to be open minded about the direct selling profession. In this day of tough economic times it really can be an answer to making ends meet or keeping people out of debt while providing a product people need and want. I sell to schools, parents, childcare providers and they are always so happy to see me! I love what I do!