Direct Sales Programs 
for the At-Home Business

Ready-to-Wear Businesses:  Turnkey Operations

A Turnkey Business is one that has everything in place for you, often, even the product.

It can be a virtual store run by a third party who provides the web space, site and products, as well as takes the orders. You provide the promotion and referrals and get a commission off of sales. If you have a personal site running, say you have an interest in baseball cards, you might sign up for a store that sells sports equipment and link to it from your page.

This is true turnkey because all you have to do is get the customers into the store. The third party does the rest from taking the order to shipping and handling complaints. The problem is, you get a rather small commission on these - about 6 % to 17% on average. I have seen a few as high as 25%. None of these that I've seen let you build a downline as in MLM's.

Many MLM's or Network Marketing Opportunities refer to themselves as turnkey businesses. This being that they provide you with everything you need for business, including Website and web advertising these days. The plus is you get relatively higher commissions and you earn commissions off other people you place in the business.

Some web services call themselves turnkey businesses because they'll provide you with everything you need to build and run a store - you provide the product, though. And their services can be pricey. Still, if you don't want the fuss of building a Web store but have a product and some cash, this may be for you.

Again, I've added a  link at the bottom of this page to some resources you might want to check. Or, Click Here if you can't wait!
 
 

Have Website, Will Sell:  Affiliate and Partner Programs

So, you've put up a site. Or maybe not, but are thinking about it. Maybe you've got a product or service ready to sell and want to beef up your profits with some sideline offerings. Or maybe you don't have a product.

But you've heard of this thing called Affiliate Programs. What are they? Do they cost anything to join? How do they work? Where does one go to get started?

First of all, most Affiliate or Partner Programs don't cost anything to join. They are sponsored by companies eager to get the word out about their services and products in as many ways as possible.

One way is to pay site owners a flat fee for putting a banner on their page. (More about banner advertising later.) A cheaper way is to get site owners to put banners or links on their pages and the pay them commissions for sales made from click-throughs. Some even pay for click-throughs even if a sale isn't made.

How much do they pay? About the same as your virtual stores that I spoke of in Turnkey Operations, but many more pay in the 12% to 24% range - plus those who also pay .02 to .05 cents per click through. It can add up.

Most, however will require your URL (the address of your site or the page on which you intend to put their link) when you sign up for their program. So, do have a site set up before you apply. Once again, you are providing the referrals, the advertising and promotions that will get people to your site and hopefully to theirs.

You'll do this with banners or links, the codes for which they will provide you. These you insert somewhere on your page and will have your sponsor ID embedded somewhere in the code. Some programs have requirements about exactly where you place their banners or what other advertising  you carry on your site with them.

There are drawbacks to this kind of program.

1. Unless you're carrying one or two programs subject-specific to your site where you audience is already pre qualified (i.e.. The baseball card site I spoke of earlier, where you'd carry a sporting goods affiliate program and say, possibly, a baseball memorabilia affiliate program), you need a lot of banners and links sitting around just to generate a few good commissions.
2. Many of the banners won't get seen. Surfers just don't like to scroll. And, with more and more banners showing up, they're tuning them out. Some people even turn off images in their browsers. That's why copy links can be so important.
3. You are subject to certain specifications for placing certain links. For instance some programs insist you place their link on the top of your page, or within the first one third of your page. Some won't let you write copy for their link insisting on their own, which you might not find agreeable or doesn't work in with your format.

I guess what I'm saying is, don't count on building a giant empire around affiliate links alone. Use them yes as support for your main product or service.

Who keeps track of these sales and click throughs? Well, a lot of it is on good faith. When you sign up for a program, be sure to read their legalese or policy. Not only are you agreeing to abide by  this contract, but so are they.

There is software and scripts out there written for affiliate programs to help you keep track of who's clicking on what links. While on the subject, here's a great article you should read that will give you an idea of how to track the effectiveness of your programs and the advertising you do for them How to Easily Increase Your Affiliate Commissions in Two Days or Less by Mark Joyner.

As I explore the different tracking devices further, I will report back here on their effectiveness.

Besides signing up with the company directly, there are affiliate brokers online who make it easy to sign up with multiple programs and who act sort of as watchdogs for the accuracy of commissions paid out. I don't believe they can monitor clicks from your site, but they'll go to bat for you if you think you're being gypped by one of your programs.

As before, I have a link at the end of this page for more about affiliate programs. But you're welcome to Click Here to go to those sources now, if you like.
 
 

MLMs:  Multi-Level (and Multi-dimensional) Marketing

Multi-Level Marketing or Network Marketing has come into its own only in the last 28 years when the government decided that, given certain rules, it is a legitimate form of sales.

What makes it so appealing to manufacturers is that it uses referral based advertising - commonly known as "Word-of-Mouth.". It's a lot less expensive than TV and print, because, like Affiliate Programs, they have someone else do the promoting. One other thing these programs have going for them... built in customers. If you own your own business, no matter what, you should be buying from yourself! By the way, some Affiliate Programs are also MLMs, and you get paid commissions the same way - by getting others to join.

Now, what keeps an MLM from being a "Pyramid?"

Largely, product sales- real ones. Consumable products  - sold, distributed and used by real people. Not lame schemes that entice people with promises of easy wealth if they just sign up other prople.  Not worthless junk,  pamphlets or coupons that end up stockpiled in someone's basement to make their quota to stay in the business.

And MLM's are work. Don't buy it if someone tells you otherwise.

Another thing that separates a legitimate MLM from a scheme is the fee or commissions structure. There are several valid models out there, but here's something to watch when checking one out:

Do you pay your sponsor - not the company - a sign up fee?  Do you pay your sponsor a monthly fee just to stay in? What do you get for that fee - a product or service? Do you pay your sponsor for your products - and then, a huge markup on those products because your sponsor had to pay a markup to their upline?  Of course, you have to sell something to get commissions, but are you required to buy so much a month, whether you can use it or sell it or not, just to keep your distributorship? If so, be suspicious.
 

Let me give you an example to avoid:

A while back, a friend of mine discovered  an MLM online that provided web space to distributors for parceling and renting out. The company had also supposedly developed a web authoring program to help sweeten the pot, making a web package that distributors could easily sell or use as a business tool for their clients. The company would also put new distributors (who hadn't been referred by someone) into an existing distributor's downline. You really didn't even have to promote the company; it would kind of just happen. Sounds great... so far.

However, the pay structure was this:

You had five people above you - plus the corporation - to each of whom you had to send ten dollars each month, and they had five people plus the corporation that they paid and so on and so on... (Working it down from the top it sounds a bit like a chain letter, huh?)

But buying and brokering space to clients who needed a Web presence is a legitimate concept, and my friend thought, why not? With the Web authoring program, he could even help his clients design their sites.

Where the whole thing broke down was, though the web space was real, it wasn't set up for what it was supposedly intended. One could not host a unique domain name, for instance. The URL was long with several sub-directories and thus not easy to remember and made for clumsy access. In short, though it was touted as a professional tool, it didn't provide the distributor or their potential clients with a professional presence. It wasn't very sellable.

Worse yet, their 'acclaimed' authoring program was at best remedial - certainly not a professional quality html package. When my friend complained and asked for more features and for technical support, the answer that came from the top sent him packing. In effect, the answer was this: Hey we're here to make money, after all, not great Websites.

Do you see the difference between this kind of set up and a business model that sells real products, as well as pays real commissions directly to its distributors - commissions that are based on volume sales within a distributor's group? In fact, isn't this what happens when a sales manager in a traditional sales structure is paid commissions, even bonuses, based on how well his or her sales team produces?

Most legitimate MLMs  today have a very careful sign up procedure, and you pay the company for your registration or distributor's fee. Often, you buy your sales kit directly from the company. However, it's not unusual to pay your sponsor, who keeps a few on hand, the price they paid for the kit..

In short, the person who sponsors you in does not make their money for just signing you up. Their profits come from buying and selling products themselves, and - if they're good at teaching you the business - from your buying and selling products, as well.

I'll say it again, MLM's, like other businesses are work. If someone's telling you there's no work involved - you can just sit back and rake in the money -  say very politely, thanks but no thanks.

That said though, let me point out that unlike other "jobs," where one usually reaches a salary plateau at the age of about 45-50 (and quite often these days, can even expect a lay-off), the sky's the limit in an MLM - if you're willing to work up front. And the income becomes residual after a certain level of performance - sort of like stocks and annuities that start producing income off the interest - whether you're working or not.

With the advent of computer-directed sales, products are easily moved from the MLM company to the shopper - your client. This makes it much more appealing than the old days where everything had to be hand-delivered, or cost you an extra shipping charge when that wasn't possible.

Direct distribution - ordering the product with a referral number and having it shipped directly from the company to your client - opens up whole new worlds for the busy at-home business owner.

Some companies still do it the old fashioned way, though, and for good reason.

They have built their reputations on personal service and relationships. They call it High-Touch these days, and in a world of computer-based business, I suggest whatever you're selling, however you do it, you put a little of your own personal brand of High-Touch into your business, too.