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<DIV =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 121%">I have been trying to make up my mind if I could be 'successful' in direct sales and one of the ladies I have been corresponding with, sent this to me. I thought all of you might enjoy it as well.
<DIV =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 121%">Is Direct Sales Difficult?
The following article is an excerpt from a speech given by a direct seller at a local meeting. We are told she was asked to speak on how direct sales compares to working a "regular" job. It was submitted to us, and although the original author is unknown, we wish to thank her for her thoughts and insights. We have edited it to share with you as you embark on a brand new year, with new opportunities to count the many blessings we have in this business.

Lately, I have heard so many people say how difficult direct sales is. "Its hard." "I can't get bookings." "This just isn't for me." "I didn't know how difficult it would be."

Well, I am a single mom of three who, before joining the direct sales family, held down two jobs. I would get up at <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:time Hour="16" Minute="0">4:00</st1:time> in the morning and not get to bed until <st1:time Hour="0" Minute="0">midnight</st1:time> most nights, after returning from my part-time retail job, packing lunches, checking homework and relieving my mother, who helped out with the kids.

That, my friends, is difficult.

It is difficult always having to lower your dreams to meet your means. It is difficult to miss your son's football game because you have to work. It is difficult knowing the rust bucket you call a car is eating you alive in maintenance, but you can't afford a new one. It is difficult to realize that someone else is going to watch your daughter take her first step or have your son say mama to the preschool teacher.

It is difficult knowing that you have spent 40 years of your life working for someone else, only to realize that you will be retiring on one-third of what you can live on today. Or, worse yet, it is difficult knowing that you have diligently worked all your life, only to be given an early retirement and replaced by someone younger, more capable.

I will tell you what is difficult. It is difficult waking up one morning and realizing that your children, the most precious things imaginable, no longer need bottles, diapers, have tea parties, or are shorter than the baseball bat they are trying to swing. It is difficult realizing it is too late and that the time frittered away can never be retrieved. It slips through our fingers one second at a time.

It is also difficult watching the spark in your partner's eyes fade because both of you realize the house you have been wanting is just a dream because someone else is controlling your finances.

We have nasty habits about rationalizing, procrastination and skirting important things, rather than facing the issues. Too often we allow others who do not pay our bills, who do not share our dreams, to direct our futures.

As children we have absolutely no freedom; we rebel in our teens and scream for freedom. We reach adulthood and are finally free, only to relinquish that freedom because we think it is too difficult. We do not want to take responsibility. We do not want to make a wrong decision, so we obligingly give that awesome power to someone else. We wake up too late. We hear ourselves uttering phrases like: "I wish I had only . . ." and "If I could do it over again."

You have no one but yourself to blame. You had the chance. Perhaps the opportunity was presented many times and each time you elevated the trivial to a higher priority than yourself.

Let me ask you: Is direct sales really difficult?

Is it so traumatic to show someone an exciting product or idea? Is it so difficult to understand that if you work this marketing idea for three to five years, you just might finally be able to send your children to a college chosen by excellence, rather than one chosen by price? That you could finally put your family in the home of their dreams?

Would you work really hard for eight to ten years, so you could mold a lifestyle of your choosing, so your family could live a lifestyle of their dreams, rather than trying to live how someone else thinks you should live?

How difficult is it to pick up the phone and call your hostess? How difficult is it to pack up your kit and meet some new friends? How difficult is it, really, to share what you love with others? Think about it.

Realize the awesome power you have in your hands with direct sales. There are people out there working three jobs. There are people drowning in debt; or agonizing through bankruptcy, realizing they only needed a couple hundred more dollars per month. That is difficult!

This business you have chosen has the ability to change lives. Direct sales cannot do anything. But YOU can change lives with it. You are the one with the life-changing ability. What are you waiting for?

There is difficulty and pain in success, and there is difficulty and pain in failure. Difficulty and pain in success will last a short period of time; but pain in failure lasts a lifetime. Which one is really more difficult?

You will pay a price for your actions, and your choices. <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
<DIV =Msonormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 121%; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center>Which choice will you make?
<DIV =Msonormal>

That's awesome!! Thanks so much!!

Great article Clever Chick. It's so true. It's only as difficult as you make it.


Barb


www.CandleSuccessInfo.com (http://www.CandleSuccessInfo.com)

I hope no one minds that I'm copying it and keeping it!

Thank you for sharing - I had a similar version of that, but I really like the additions. Sometimes, we all take for granted how blessed we really are.





Nora

I'm glad you all like it! smileys/smiley1.gif

So have you decided what company you are going with clever_chick? If not, have you talked to anyone about Discovery Toys and our awesome opportunity?


Had to ask, LOL, so please don't get offended. I'm a natural born sharer (is that a word?) and love what Discovery Toys offers women.


God Bless!!!

I think the key to being successful in this type of business is to love what you sell. I am an independent wine consultant for the Traveling Vineyard (TTV), and an unlikely candidate at that. (FYI, TTV is a direct marketing company whose consultants conduct complementary wine tastings in people's home. We bring 5 bottles to sample, and guests order from the company's catalog of many wines and accessories) I got a strange start.


I kept getting invited to home parties and buying stuff I neither wanted nor needed. I had no intentions of every becoming a consultant, I usually tried to dodge going to such parties(in fact I have a more than full time job -- I am a health care attorney) but one day as I was complaining to my secretary that I had go to a jewlery party that night, she told me about the TTV, she went to party and said it was the best thing she went to. I *love* wine and learning about wine,so I couldn't resist. I signed up and the rest is history.


For me, its wine, for you it may be something else. I could never in a million years sell Avon or Mary Kay, I almost never wear makeup, barely know how to apply it and have no interest in learning how. I have boxes of unburned candles at my house, and I own three purses. I could never get excited enough about these types of products no matter how great their quality, no matter how much other people wanted them or needed them, because its just not my thing. If I am not excited about it, how can I expect to succeed in selling it?


Bottom line, find a company with a product you can really get excited about and I expect the rest will fall into place. There is such a variety of companies out there, I am sure you can find one you like. After you find the product you like, research the reputation of the company and talk to their consultants (who tend to be people persons by defintion). I cannot believe the interest I am getting from people who want to host, and I am sure it is because I really like the product.


Wishing you all the best as you start you new business!


LoriEdited by: Lori Sievers

thats great!!!

Amen to that!! So very true! Good luck with your quest and findign the perfect fit!!


Chris