Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Exploring the Direct Sales Industry 5 Chapter 1: Examining the Direct Sales Industry 7 Understanding How Direct Sales Works 9 Recognizing the Three Different Direct Sales Models 10 Walking You through Your First Steps in Direct Sales 11 Waiting for your kit 12 Taking action after you get your kit 13 Recognizing Why Direct Sales Models Succeed 14 Selling unique products 15 Identifying types of products and services 15 Identifying Needed Personal Attributes and Skills 16 Belief in the product 17 Vision and goals 17 Superior communication skills 17 Patience 17 Interpersonal skills 18 Presentation skills 18 Ability to recognize buying cues 18 Customer care 19 Technological aptitude 19 Commitment to personal development 20 Working Your Business in Different Ways 20 Online and in-person events 21 Trade shows and vendor events 21 Collaborative events or pop-up events 22 Online marketing and online group communities 23 Fundraising 23 Reservicing 24 Personal shopping experience 24 Chapter 2: The Perfect Side Hustle -- Spotting Which Model is Right For You 27 Focusing on Income Potential and Product -- The Network Marketing Model 28 Recruiting in Network Marketing 29 Sharing the product and the opportunity 30 Recognizing who''s best suited 32 Knowing what you need to be successful 33 Sharing Products during Events -- The Social Selling Model 34 Eyeing the ins and outs of Social Selling 34 Recruiting with Social Selling 35 Sharing the product and opportunity 35 Identifying who''s best suited 36 Succeeding in Social Selling 36 Tapping into Followers -- The Influencer/Affiliate Model 37 Taking a closer look at this model 38 Defining the types of influencers 39 Recruiting as an Influencer/Affiliate 40 Sharing the product 40 Recognizing who''s best suited 41 Chapter 3: Choosing the Right Direct Sales Company 43 Recognizing the Allure to Direct Sales 44 Getting started easily 44 Working with an established brand 45 Having flexibility 45 Providing a community of like-minded individuals 45 Knowing What to Consider When Choosing a Company 46 Examining the Three Ps of Every Company 47 Products 47 Profitability 48 Programs 49 Contemplating Special Considerations for Start-ups 50 Advantages 51 Disadvantages 51 Debunking the Myth of Saturation 51 Part 2: Creating a Successful Business with the Right Mindset 53 Chapter 4: Focusing On Your Mindset Before Your Skill Set 55 Vision: Your Big Picture of Why 57 Your vision will change 57 The importance of having a vision before you set goals 59 Being a leader and helping others with their vision 60 Sharing Your Enthusiasm with Everyone 60 Being enthusiastic in all interactions 61 Being excited while out and about 62 Staying Successful: Attitude Is Everything 63 Discovering how to deal with no 64 Finding the silver lining in everything 65 Keeping a Positive Mindset: The How-To 66 Surround yourself with the right people 66 Stay positive: The three people you need 67 Be grateful and use a gratitude journal 68 Stay positive on social media 69 Be a strong role model for your team 69 Overcoming Self-Doubt 70 Recognizing the four cornerstones of belief 71 Starting with self-talk 71 Building confidence and self-esteem 72 Getting Out of Your Own Way 72 Settling for less 73 Avoiding resignation 73 Managing perfectionism and procrastination 73 Staying away from denial and blame 74 Taking risks: Getting past the fear 75 Comparing yourself to others 76 Chapter 5: Setting Goals and Boosting Your Productivity 77 Goals: Milestones to Success 78 Destigmatizing goals 79 Setting intentional goals: The five Ds 80 Being Prepared Leads to More Productivity 82 Identifying ways you can get prepared 82 Relying on a good planner: More than just a calendar 83 Understanding Productivity and the Power Hour 85 Focusing on how the Power Hour works 85 Your 15 minutes on host coaching 86 Your 15 minutes on booking 87 Your 15 minutes on recruiting 88 Your 15 minutes on customer service 88 Developing Important Skills 89 The power of focus 89 The power of commitment 91 The power of consistency 91 The power of organization, or lack thereof 93 Being Rewarded: Strive for Company Incentive Programs 94 Chapter 6: The Art of Being Self-Employed 95 Shifting Your Thinking about Being an Entrepreneur 96 Remember that you''re in the people business 96 Keep it simple from the start 97 Understand that you aren''t alone 97 Take care of yourself because you''re your actual commodity 98 Committing to Being Self-Employed and Staying Positive 98 Being the Boss You''d Want to Have 100 Recognizing the Systems You Need to be Successful 101 Your physical workspace 101 Your time-management system 102 Your filing system 105 Your follow-up system 106 System for having a video-conferencing presence 108 Part 3: Launching Your Direct Selling Business 113 Chapter 7: Launching Your New Direct Sales Business 115 Getting Ready -- A Launch Prepares You 116 Recognizing the Four Types of Launches 116 Understanding Why Your Launch Party/Event Is So Important 119 Preparing for Your Launch 120 Inviting As Easy As 1-2-3 122 Having a Back-Up Launch 122 After the Launch: Introducing My Two-Booking Method 123 Your second two events 124 Your third two events 124 Chapter 8: Navigating Your First 100 Days of Business 127 Finding Your Way through the First 100 Days 128 Days 1 to 40 -- Starting strong 128 Days 41 to 70 -- Continuing forward 129 Days 71 to 100 -- Keeping the momentum going 129 Bringing a Friend 130 Creating Your Lead List of 100 130 Keeping Control of Your Calendar 131 Setting a schedule 132 Booking for sooner, not later 132 Setting goals for your calendar 132 Studying your calendar 133 Weave dating your calendar 133 Always Being Ready for Business -- Seven Tips to Help 133 Preparing to share your contact info 135 Keeping catalogs with you 136 Having host and opportunity packets handy 137 Planning your show-on-the-go 139 Creating your positioning statement 141 Dressing for success 143 Knowing your next available dates 145 Part 4: Executing Your Social Media and Online Strategy 147 Chapter 9: Choosing the Right Social Media Platforms 149 Selecting the Right Social Media Platform in Four Easy Steps 150 Step 1: Set goals for your social media 150 Step 2: Find out more about each platform 151 Step 3: Create a plan for how and where you''ll show up consistently 151 Step 4: Evaluate your results 151 Understanding the Purpose of Each Platform 152 Facebook 152 Instagram 153 Pinterest 153 Twitter 154 TikTok 154 YouTube 155 Using Social Media to Be Social 156 Recognizing the 7 Cs of Social Media 156 Being Aware of the Do''s and Don''ts of Social Media 159 Chapter 10: Using Facebook for Your Business 161 Discussing Facebook''s Strengths 162 Authenticity: Knowing your audience 162 Finding your audience 162 Building a fan base 162 Staying connected to weak-tie relationships 163 Creating content 163 Going viral 163 Being insightful 163 Watching your competition 164 Enhancing customer service 164 Experiencing service recovery paradox 164 Advertising 164 Using Groups and Events 165 Increasing your search engine optimization 165 Saving money 165 Making Facebook the Face of Your Business 165 Setting up a Facebook Business Page 166 Using your Facebook Business Page: The how-to 168 Utilizing Facebook Stories 168 Giving Your Customers a Group to Gather in 169 Setting up your Facebook Customer Group 169 Utilizing your Facebook Customer Group: The how-to 170 Hosting Facebook Events 171 Remembering the four-core funnel 176 Chapter 11: Utilizing Instagram and Other Social Media Platforms 179 Using Instagram''s Impact and Influence 180 Using Instagram -- The how-to 180 Setting up an Instagram account 182 Embracing TikTok 183 Using TikTok -- The how-to 183 Setting up your TikTok account 184 Creating Searchable Content with YouTube 184 Using YouTube -- The how-to 185 Setting up your YouTube account 185 Gaining Interest on Pinterest 186 Using Pinterest -- The how-to 186 Setting up your Pinterest account 187 Relying on Twitter 187 Using Twitter -- The how-to 187 Setting up your Twitter account 188 Chapter 12: Creating Content.