If you’re not internet savvy, loves talking to people and marketing unique and personalized products, you may want to enter the industry of direct-selling. This industry survived the recession in the United States as it is favored by customers who seek alternative to regular shopping methods. More and more people are loving the convenience of shopping for goods and services right in their homes or by visiting the home of direct-sellers which are usually their friends, relatives or acquaintance. And usually, such products provided by direct-selling companies are quality-made so it can compete with those found in the malls and stores.

There are two forms of direct-selling: the single-level marketing or SLM, and the multi-level marketing or MLM. SLM is a marketing strategy where the sellers sell products and services directly to the customers. Reward comes from their personal sales activities in the form of commission or bonus.

MLM on the other hand is a form of marketing where the seller recruits other sales people or distributors and gets commissions and bonuses from their sales. The new members a seller recruits are called “downlines” which become his/her sales force. The bigger sales the downlines make, the higher the bonuses and commissions the seller gets. MLM is also known as referral marketing and network marketing. The popularity of MLM as a strategy in direct-selling has attracted bogus companies and entities. Bogus businesses began posing as legitimate MLM businesses but in reality, they are pyramid scams.

Those intending to find work as an MLM must be wary about the choosing the right company they wanted to get involved with. It’s important to research thoroughly about the company’s track record, the reliability and credibility of its products and services, and the terms and conditions the company requires from its sellers. It would be best to find out stories regarding the company from trusted friends and relatives.

The future of direct-selling in the United States remains promising. The directsellingnews.com and dsa.org reported that US has remained the world leader in direct selling with sales volume of  $28.33 billion and sales force size of  16.1 million consultants in 2009.

Aside from person-to-person selling, other strategies are also employed to attract sales from direct-selling. One is telemarketing where the seller makes house calls and tries to persuade the buyer through her/his sales pitch. Another is through direct mailwhere the seller mails letters or brochures to the prospective buyers using through the standard or usual (and cheapest) mailing service available in the area. Last is the direct response method which provides a direct response tool (such as a business reply card) to the consumer willing them to respond in a certain manner, to avail of a product or service, and are given options and opportunities to do so.

Should you decide to become a direct-sales agent, pick what type of products or services you will vend. Some sample categories are health, beauty and wellness; educational and toys; home, entertainment and gardening; clothing and accessories; and products for hobbyists such as those into scrapbooking and stamping.

To guide you further, here are the top direct-selling companies in the world as published by directsellingnews.com. These direct-selling companies highly credible and financially stable and they form part of the DSN’s “$100 million club” for raking $100 or more annual global wholesale revenue. The directsellingnews.com made a truly outstanding job of chronicling these companies. The problem with being part of any of these companies is that selling for them becomes highly competitive because of their large number of workforce all over the country.

Top 1: Avon Products Inc.
Country: United States
Wholesale Corporate Revenue: $10.7 billion
Compensation Plan: Single level and Multi-level
Products: Beauty products, fashion jewelry and apparel
Distributors: 5.8 million
Employees: 42,000
Headquarters: New York City, N.Y.
Year Founded: 1886

Top 2: Alticor Inc. (Amway Corp)
Country: United States
Wholesale Corporate Revenue: $8.2 billion
Compensation Plan: Multi-level
Products: Health/fitness/wellness, home technology, home care, nutritional supplements and personal care
Distributors: 3 million
Employees: 14,000
Headquarters: Ada, Michigan
Year Founded: 1959

Top 3: Vorwerk & Co KG (includes JAFRA Cosmetics)
Country: Germany
Wholesale Corporate Revenue: $3.4 billion
Compensation Plan: Multi-level
Products: Cosmetics and home appliances
Distributors: 530,000
Employees: 23,000
Headquarter: Wuppertal, Germany
Year Founded: 1883

Top 4: Mary Kay Inc.
Country: United States
Wholesale Corporate Revenue: $2.6 billion
Compensation Plan: Multi-level and single level
Products: Skincare products and color cosmetics
Distributors: 2 million
Employees: 5,000
Headquarters: Dallas, Texas
Year Founded: 1963

Top 5: Herbalife Ltd.
Country: United States
Wholesale Corporate Revenue:  $2.4 billion
Compensation Plan: Multi-level
Products: Nutritional supplements, and health/fitness, wellness, personal-care, skincare and weight-management products
Distributors: 1.9 million
Employees: 3,644
Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
Year Founded: 1980

Top 6: Primerica Financial Services Inc.
Country: United States
Compensation Plan: Multi-level
Products: Financial services
Distributors: 100,000 (licensed)
Employees: 2,000
Headquarters: Duluth, Georgia
Year Founded: 1977

Top 7:  Tupperware Brands Corp.
Country: United States
Wholesale Corporate Revenue: $2.2 billion
Compensation Plan: Multi-level
Products: Storage and serving products; beauty and personal-care products
Distributors: 2 million
Employees: 14,000
Headquarters: Orlando, Florida.Year Founded: 1946

Top 8: Natura Cosmeticos SA
Country: Brazil
Wholesale Corporate Revenue: $1.9 billion
Compensation Plan: Not available
Products: Cosmetics, personal-care products and fragrances
Distributors: 700,000
Employees: 5,700
Headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
Year Founded: 1969

Top 9: Oriflame Kosmetiek B.V.
Country: Sweden
Wholesale Corporate Revenue: $1.9 billion
Compensation Plan: Multi-level
Products: Beauty products
Distributors: 2.8 million
Employees: 7,500
Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden
Year Founded: 1967

Top 10: Forever Living Products
Country: United States
Wholesale Corporate Revenue: $1.7 billion
Compensation Plan: Multi-level
Products: Nutrition and skincare products, cosmetics and weight-loss products
Distributors: 9.3 million
Headquarters: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Year Founded: 1978

Browse through the introductory articles on Work-at-Home and Make Money Series:

• Introduction: Work and Make Money At Home Opportunities for Moms. Click Here to read the article.
• Direct-Selling Opportunities for Moms, Part I. Read the article Here.
• Part II of the Direct-Selling Opportunities for Moms containing Industry insights. Read it Here.
• Know the Work-At-Home Online benefits and disadvantages Here.
• The Top Online Work-At-Home Employment and Businesses disclosed Here.
• More strategies and ways in Making Money Online Here.

…

If you have any questions about the presented ideas or wishing to share your experiences and thoughts on Working and Making Money at Home, please drop us a message by using the comment section below or send it to us through the contact form or through our email at newmoms101 (at) yahoo (dot) com.