Direct selling companies have been around now for a little over a decade. What distinguishes them from network marketing and MLM is that the distributor gets paid directly when the sale is made. There are no commissions paid from the company. In some cases big producers may get a share of company profits.

Generally the most high profile direct sales companies deal in a product that costs over $1000. Some notable players in the field are Coastal Vacations, Liberty League International, Emerald Passport, Success University, and Mentors on a Mission. People who are attracted to direct sales fall into a few different groups. Frustrated or burned out network marketers make up the first. They may be attracted to direct selling because it's a generally simpler business model where its only necessary to get a few customers to prosper. People new to home business make up another group of direct sellers. These individuals are likely to be attracted to the generous, easily understood compensation plans used by direct sales companies. A third group would be comprised of experienced home business people looking for a simple business where they can make significant income working part-time.

Whichever group you fall into its important to understand that the product the company sells is only a part of what makes it a good opportunity. Most individuals who buy the entry level product will do so with at least the intention of selling a few units. Whether they do make sales or not is up to them.

One alarming trend that has emerged with internet recruiting for direct sales is what I will call the 'stealing prospects' sales pitch. This is a situation where a successful distributor will entice a prospect away from signing with another distributor with the implication that the new associate is more likely to be wildly successful under his mentorship. How would you like to have your potential new customer taken away by a more experienced or 'slick' distributor? Do your diligence to see which companies allow this kind of 'sign-up under me' recruiting and which frown on it. With any opportunity who you sign up with is ultimately your decision , but the author is aware of only one direct sales company where 'stealing prospects' is actively discouraged.

Anybody can look at a pay plan and get starry-eyed over the dollars to be made, but its important to also look at the cost of marketing the product. Generally, you will need to advertise or buy 'opportunity seeker' leads to get started. If you choose to do online marketing, setting up an auto-responder (automatic email follow-up system) is essential. Don't be surprised if online marketing is more complex that you expected. Little in the way of results will be produced by placing free ads advertising your opportunity. Paid advertising is the only sure way to target market to people who are actually looking, want the product, and have the resources to get started. Buying leads is the subject of much debate. The best leads are no doubt the exclusive leads you will generate yourself with advertising, face-to-face prospecting, or automated marketing systems. Its easy to spend a lot of money purchasing lead packages when getting started and not get any sales with them. One reason for this is that a lot of the leads generated for the lead companies are not qualified for direct sales. Many people who fill out the lead capture forms the lead companies use are in a state financial desperation and you should be prepared to disqualify these prospects.

There are a few direct sales opportunities out there which promise to do a huge portion of the work for you. These claims are generally misleading and one should be aware that who you are on the phone is the primary determinant of your success in the industry. Systems which promise automated recruiting generally fail to mention that driving qualified traffic to your website is not always easy. Those who 'crack the code' may be successful with these systems, but internet marketing novices will need to get some training and do real work to promote automated systems in the right places and to the right people.