The Difference Between Direct Selling and MLM

Many people get MLM confused with direct sales. Yet there are massive differences between the two business models. In direct sales, the amount of time and effort you invest in the process will make a direct impact on your income. This isn't always the case in MLM, where the people at the top of the food chain typically make a fortune while the people at the bottom of the food chain struggle on, often spending more time recruiting and managing "downlines" full of people who have no idea what they are doing than in actually taking the steps to sell their product.In direct sales, you are going to find a model where non-participants-that is, people who don't work for the company-also like and use the products. The compensation structure needs to reward people who are actually making sales, and not just people who are trying to drag other people into the business. Though you can leverage a variety of tools, such as the internet, to make those sales, the focus is still on selling and marketing a product. You can draw the correlation to traditional business, and because of that, there are many direct sales companies that have been running strong for a decade or more. You'd be hard pressed to say the same about MLMs, which normally eventually collapse under their own weight.You will do best in direct sales companies that offer products that are in high demand. It's also best if those products have a high profit margin, so that you can enjoy a greater benefit for each sale that you make. Then the focus becomes less one of selling to every person you meet and more one of selling to the right customers; people who can really benefit from what you've got to offer. You will focus on prospecting and qualifying customers, just as you would in a "normal" business.The difference is that you will work out of your home and you will develop into an entrepreneur, building up your book of business until you have something that can support you in the long term. You can then begin working on the exit strategy that will support you when you're ready to retire-something which any professional business person will tell you that you absolutely need to be independent in the long term.