All posts tagged professional development

The Secret To Long Term Success In Direct Sales

The Secret To Long Term Success In Direct Sales

Ongoing Professional Development: A Key to Long-Term Success in Direct Sales

Continuing your education is a critical ingredient to the long-term success of your direct selling business. Make sure to take advantage of your company’s training and educational offerings such as webinars, monthly conference calls and, of course, your company’s annual convention. You’ll also want to participate in training offered by your upline and regional leaders. And, if you are in the Ann Arbor areas, you can soon take a direct selling entrepreneurship course at your local community college!

The Direct Selling Entrepreneur Program (DSEP) is a thirty-hour, non-credit course designed to help independent representatives—and those interested in exploring a career in direct selling—operate stronger, more profitable businesses. Through this personalized approach to entrepreneurship, any small business owner or independent contractor can learn real-world skills to start or grow a successful business. If you’re a direct seller, or considering a career as a direct selling business owner, this course is a great way to gain small business management skills such as:

Business Operations
Using Technology
Goal Setting & Future Strategy
Marketing & Selling
Communication
Financial Management
Leadership & Ethics

Direct Selling Entrepreneur Program at Washtenaw Community College

Where: 4800 E. Huron River Drive

Ann Arbor, MI 48105

Morris Lawrence Building

When: Tuesdays, Thursdays 6:00 p.m. – 8:55 p.m. Oct. 7, 2014 – Nov. 6, 2014

Cost: Register by Sept. 30, 2014, for a reduced tuition rate of $125. After Sept. 30, tuition is $325.

Register: Click here.
For more information, call (734) 677-5060 or email ecdevelopment@wccnet.edu. DSEF thanks Amway for its support in bringing DSEP to the Ann Arbor area.

Taking a course like this is a great way to learn how to bring your business to the next level. Remember that you should always aim to move your business forward, and that requires commitment to ongoing learning. Seek out opportunities to learn more about the direct sales industry, keep up with current industry trends, improve your salesmanship and learn ways to efficiently run your business more efficiently. DSEF will announce more courses soon, and you can check for the updated schedule here.

What are some ways that you have continued your education? Would you consider taking a course like this? Please share your comments below!

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Free eBooks to Grow Your Business

Building a bigger business starts with a decision. It’s the decision to do whatever it takes to grow. Typically this involves stepping out of your comfort zone, seeking the advice of mentors and your upline, and learning and stretching to achieve bigger and better results. As they say, if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll have what you always have. If you want to have more, you have to be more and do more. In short, you have to be willing to grow.

Part of growing involves learning. And that’s why we’ve put together a set of free ebooks designed to help you grow your business. The titles include:

Business Owner’s Roadmap to Success: This e-book is designed to help you learn the skills you need to be a successful small business owner. Whether you are new to entrepreneurship or a seasoned veteran, you will find techniques and ideas here to help you grow your business.
Creating Your Success Mindset: How do you stay motivated in your business when you’re reaching for success? How do you encourage yourself to overcome obstacles and keep driving towards your goals? This eBook is designed to help you create a winning mindset for yourself, so you can enjoy the success you’re striving for.
Reflections on Success: This 30-day journal, Reflections on Success, is designed to help you meditate on areas of your life and business that will help you grow both personally and professionally. We hope that you find this journey to be a powerful one in your growth as a successful business leader.
15 Days to Greater Success: An essential part of reaching your goals is building up the momentum you need to reach the finish line. This workbook lays out a 15-day process to build that momentum and create the environment you need to achieve your goals!

The best part is, these books are all free! They’re created by the direct sales industry to help you grow your business and achieve your goals.

So if you’re ready to do what it takes to grow your business, click here to download these books now.

*NOTE: This download works best on a desktop browser. If you have trouble accessing this page from a mobile device try it from a desktop computer.

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Side Jobs: Your Way to a Successful Business

Although building a successful business involves knowing a great deal about a particular industry, the good news is that there are many ways in which to learn that don’t require expensive or time-consuming resources, such as a business degree. The following is a list of suggestions to help you learn about your industry and expand your network quickly with the goal of growing your business.

Volunteer your time. There are always people in need of extra help, especially the kind that comes free. Find outlets within your community to volunteer in some capacity that is related to your business. For example, if you want to start a home-based daycare business, consider volunteering your services to relatives, neighbors, and places of worship. This allows you to gain more experience in the industry, demonstrate your exceptional service, get your name locally recognized, seek referrals, and make contacts for potential customers. Think of this donation of time as a worthy investment in your business.
Become a temp. Many employment agencies specialize in placing workers in temporary positions and can even meet requests. Temp work not only allows flexibility to work with a variety of businesses, but it is also a very effective way to improve areas of weakness. For instance, if your business is lacking in customer service, consider taking a temporary customer service position. Most retail businesses have a corporate headquarters where customer service reps are trained and take calls from clients. Such a position would allow you to work on your interactions with customers and apply what you’ve learned to your own business.
Work as a consultant. If you have a specialized talent (web design, marketing, computer troubleshooting, financial projections, etc.), taking on a consulting position will help you make new contacts to bring to your business. You can start by contacting local business owners to offer your services for a reasonable hourly rate. Once they see what a great job you’ve done, they will be able to refer you to other business owners. Furthermore, you will have formed a professional relationship and expanded your business network.
Give back to your community. Local business schools and community colleges are chock full of motivated young people about to enter the workforce. Think about contributing your expertise and experience to their cause. For example, an owner of a business that provides classes in mixed martial arts can approach future graduates of local theatre and film programs. Lots of these students are about to move to a big city for the first time, so the owner decided to offer them a free self-defense class. Most of these students wouldn’t be able to afford the tuition for a normal class, but would eagerly take advantage of such an offer. Additionally, they would recommend the business to friends and family.

Taking on side jobs to build your business is a great way to stay motivated, improve areas of weakness, and build a network of potential customers and colleagues. How have you used side jobs to build your business? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!

Free e-book “Business Owner’s Road Map to Success.” It has over 50 pages of techniques for everything a small business owner needs to master, from business planning and ethical selling to a success mindset. It’s all there and it’s free for you. To get it, just “Like” our Facebook Page here: http://on.fb.me/KsIN6P Pass it on!

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Professional Development is Critical for Your Business Success

Professional Development is Critical for Your Business Success

Whether you’re just starting out in business, or have been working your business for years, a key to continued growth is ongoing professional development. The world around you is constantly evolving, and the only way you’ll keep your business relevant and growing is by keeping up. It’s one of the most valuable investments you can make in your business.

Think about what things you regularly spend time and money on to grow your business: a website, business cards, inventory for product demonstration, etc. Professional development should be on this list. New ideas, technologies, consumer needs, and product lines are constantly changing. Don’t get left behind!

Here are some ways you and your business can grow through professional development:

Time management – This skill is vital to the self-employed. By learning to manage your time well, you can run a more efficient and profitable business.
Product expertise – Do you feel a dual sense of both excitement and anxiety when that new catalog or product line from your company debuts? It can be overwhelming to re-educate yourself every time new products are introduced. Get yourself to that quarterly or annual training that the company has in place. There, you will learn the essential features and benefits of new products and the best ways to market them to your customers.
Interpersonal skills – Even if you are a seasoned veteran, there is always value in improving your ability to engage with others. Running your own business requires the building and maintaining of relationships with existing and potential customers, colleagues in your upline and downline, and even those in the corporate division of the company. Devoting your time to your company’s professional development will help you perfect this aspect of your business.
Renewed motivation – Let’s face it: self-employment, although rewarding, is not always easy if you want to do it well. However, the support system of those pursuing the same goals as you will reenergize your commitment to your business. Make it a priority to physically attend local and national training opportunities; the rallying and motivating words of others are infectious. Use them to your advantage.

Successful companies have already invested time, money, and resources into creating effective professional development for sellers. Take advantage of the training they have to offer; it’s there to help you achieve your business goals.

And don’t forget to check out our resources here on our Direct Selling Education Foundation Blog as well. We provide new content every week to help you grow your business.

How do you grow professionally? What are some of your favorite resources for ongoing professional development? Would love to read your tips and resources in the comments below!