The Direct Selling Opportunity: Make Your Choice

Each day, thousands of people make the decision to leave the rat race, hang the “CEO” sign on their own doors and embark on the journey of business ownership.  And for many entrepreneurial spirits, the direct selling (or multi-level marketing) business model is one they can embrace.

Direct selling offers the flexibility to own your own business, create your own schedule, work with enthusiastic like-minded people and more. Direct sales representatives (also called consultants or distributors) sell services and products, often through home parties or by word-of-mouth. And the industry is rife with opportunity. According to the Direct Selling Association, 15.9 million people worked in the direct sales industry in 2012, generating more than 31.63 billion in sales!

You’re not alone if you desire more from life. And whatever your “more” is, (time with loved ones, discretionary income or flexibility in your daily schedule), embarking on a career in direct sales can lead to belief in yourself and truly change your life. But, choosing the right opportunity is just as important as choosing to work in the industry, so think about the following as you decide the best direct selling opportunity for you:

Choosing the Right Direct Selling Company for You

Identify Your Passion

Are you a budding foodie or chef? Do your friends always have a health or weight loss question for you, the “healthy one”? Or maybe you love adding new stamps to your passport as you travel the world? Whatever you’re passionate about, there’s probably a direct sales company with a product that truly excites you and that you’d be proud to represent. If you don’t believe in something, you can’t show others how to be excited about it.

For WorldVentures Reps (all 110,000 of them) travel is what ignites their passion! Whether enjoying VIP-style treatment on a DreamTrip or introducing the WorldVentures business concept, they serve as ambassadors for a brand that has literally changed thousands of lives the world over.

Know Your Goal

If you’re looking to earn enough extra income to pay off a few bills each month, the time you dedicate to your new business may be different than if you want to turn your 30-year mortgage in a 10-year one. Going into the industry with identified goals will help you make a more informed decision about the company you want to invest both your time and money in.

If you’re fired up about the business and know what you ultimately want to gain from it, your commitment will also increase. This can lead to getting more than you bargained for, but in a good way! Many of our Reps have met the original goals they had when joining the company and have continuously challenged themselves to achieve higher ones, like earning our BMW car bonus, buying their dream home or earning enough extra income to retire their parents.

Ask Questions

What they say is true―there really is no such thing as a dumb question! Any questions about the new venture you’re considering should be answered easily by anyone you know in that business.

Ask questions about the company, the income potential, how training is conducted, etc. You should know what you’re getting into before you get into it!

You should also expect truth and transparency from the direct sales company you choose to work with. For our goal of becoming the most trusted name in the direct selling industry, WorldVentures has established the WorldVentures Trust Council. Formed as part of our global commitment to corporate social responsibility, the WorldVentures Trust Council includes members of our corporate staff as well as Representative leaders worldwide. This is the step that WorldVentures has taken to answer many questions people have about us.

Going into business for yourself is one of the biggest decisions you can make, but it can also be one of the most rewarding. Call us biased, but we feel the direct sales industry is an ideal platform to take that leap of faith and declare yourself the boss of your life.

The Direct-Selling Decision

With all of the avenues available to deliver products and services to consumers, why did WorldVentures choose the direct-selling platform? The simple answer is that it just made sense!

Direct-selling is designed to be an industry where people who work hard can succeed, no matter their background or experience. WorldVentures Reps are a motley crew of ages, races and education levels hailing from all over the world—and story after story of success. Whatever the goal – discounted product, a little extra income or the desire to retire way before 65 – direct-selling is an industry that can work when you dedicate your energy to it. Part-time or full-time—the decision is yours.

Our DreamTrips memberships are also the perfect product for direct sellers. Seriously—who doesn’t like getting away on a vacation? Though on the surface it may not seem to be, vacations are personal business. When people make vacation plans, they consider budgets, locales and most of all, the experiences they want to have. Our Reps are fully committed to helping customers make the right membership choices for themselves and their families—we offer various levels of memberships tailored to member usage and budgets—and what better way to accomplish this than with the personal, sociable approach that is the basis for direct sales?

Ok, now let’s see the hands—who has a busy life? Don’t we all? One of the benefits of the direct-selling industry is that it’s mobile and your office can be anywhere! We call our Reps “mobile-preneurs” for a reason. With no storefront to maintain and no inventory to keep track of, our Reps can work while enjoying a vacation, picking up kids from school, jumping in a cab to grab dinner or basking in the sun at the park. From training materials to social media tools, our Rep’s workplace is as handy as their smartphone or tablet.

WorldVentures is in good company; the direct-selling industry has been around since the first door-to-door salesman came a-knocking  and the industry has changed the face of what success looks like and the lives of so many. Our decision to operate as a direct-selling company has provided the opportunity for thousands to Make a living… Living! and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

A Next-Generation Direct Seller...

I am proud to announce that the just-ended August was the biggest selling month in the history of WorldVentures™! To all the WV family and leadership, I am grateful for your hard work and dedication. This record performance is a reflection of our great product offering, talented sales teams - and I believe something else: our unique culture.

When Wayne Nugent and I started WorldVentures six years ago, we set out purposely to build a different kind of direct selling company. We had each been in the industry for some time, and we knew there was plenty to love but also much to dislike about the business - so we wanted to build something different, perhaps even a new generation of direct selling company. We decided up front to reject many of the negative behaviors of traditional network or multi-level marketing companies - the high pressure sales and exploitive practices, unhealthy competition among teams, the cross line recruiting that runs rampant within many companies; we keep product prices as low as possible and offer a product that makes "front loading" impossible. Instead, we are actively working for something a lot more honest and healthy. Have we always succeeded in our aspirations? No, we made our share of mistakes and missteps, but we have learned and grown from them. I believe we are a company that gets better every day.

From the start, we have built WorldVentures on a foundation of three key principles - truth, transparency and trust - and a strong set of core values. These are the guiding lights of our company, and even when we fall short, these are the standards by which we measure ourselves and always strive to improve.

Our first guiding principle is truth. Too often, Direct Selling businesses try to get away with what I term the Big Lies - that getting rich is easy and effortless, that our business requires no selling, or that our products practically sell themselves. The truth is success takes focused work and dedication to succeed in any field of endeavor. Yes, I have seen many people earn a lot of money in the past six years, but all of it has come to be through a lot of work, perseverance and commitment. That said, I do believe most of us have more modest aspirations when we start out in direct selling at WorldVentures - we want to make a good living, or supplement our income - or simply earn our way to travel. In fact, at WorldVentures we want to replace the idea of "getting rich" with the concept of "living rich" which we call fun, freedom and fulfillment. It means achieving an honest work-life balance, building a business with integrity and finding satisfaction in a job well done - in representing a great product that can literally transform people's lives. It's simply a better way to live.

I believe being truthful is hardwired to our company culture - in our management ranks and throughout the company we emphasize frankness and candor in all we do. And when we screw up, we fess up. We all fall short at times; the important thing is to admit it, learn from it and get better. If you ever feel we have been less than truthful - about the opportunity, the work involved, or the product we sell, I want to encourage you to call us on it. We can't get better without you.

Our second guiding principle is transparency. Too often, the inner workings of direct selling and multi-level marketing are a mystery to people. We don't want that at WorldVentures. That's why we have invested heavily in backend technology and software that promotes and ensures business transparency and integrity. It is why we pack so much information on our websites and in our meetings. It is why we work to answer all questions in a timely fashion; management works real hard to respond to all representatives' emails as soon as possible. I see WorldVentures as a community committed to mutual benefit. As company leaders we make decisions to benefit the entire community. If for any reason you question a business decision or want clarity on our practices, please do not hesitate to ask. Nothing breeds negativity like secrecy and we don't want that at WorldVentures.

Our third guiding principle is trust. Simply put, we want WorldVentures to be the most-trusted name in direct selling. A big, audacious goal perhaps, but we believe it is within our reach. A major pillar in our Core Values, trust to me is the sum of all we do - our willingness to be upfront with the truth; our open and mystery-free structure and culture; our commitment to learn from our mistakes and improve every day. Most of all, you can trust us to care deeply about our company, our good word, our promises to keep.

At its heart, WorldVentures is about turning a passion for travel into the opportunity for a better life.

Whether called, direct selling, network marketing or multi-level marketing, this industry is often misunderstood and maligned. But the truth is, it is one of the most cost-effective ways to start your own business and build a scalable sales force on a shoestring. Direct selling is one of the only ways everyday people with little startup capital can open a business and grow a grassroots sales force without taking big risks. Do you have to invest time, effort and resources in yourself and your growing business success? Absolutely. All smart businesses do. Are you guaranteed to succeed? Absolutely not. Can you make a lot of money? Yes, but more importantly, I believe you can achieve personal success--success in your own way and on your own terms. And you can change your life and the lives of others through a product that allows everyone to see the world in a new way - through the lens of new places, cultures and adventures. When you think about it, that's a pretty good way to make a life while making a living.

In the coming weeks, I plan to amplify all our core values in follow-on communications and continue to emphasize our aspiration to be the most-trusted name in direct selling.

*This article is written by WorldVentures Co-Founder, Mike Azcue.