It starts with building a team of consultants and hosting house parties- that’s what network marketing is- creating a line of independent agents and a hierarchy of different levels of consultants- and making people extra money.

“It wasn’t until I got pregnant that I was all of a sudden looking for a plan B, I didn’t really know how compatible my job as a flight attendant was going to be with having an infant at home, and I was like you know if I could just earn $600 a month then I could get rid of half my shifts,” says regional vice president of Arbonne International, Janna Van Witbeck.

Regional Vice President for Arbonne International, Janna Van Witbeck, admits selling her company’s products directly from her home has turned from a part time job just making couple hundred dollars a month up to a full time business now making around $5,000 a month! She started almost 4 years ago and then her husband lost his job two years later.

“We were just able to not lose everything even though we were totally unprepared for his income to go from bread winner to zero.”

Despite what the consultants say about the products, this particular party is about educating these women to become business partners.

Local hair stylist, Jen Jennings just started her home based business with this multi-level marketing company- and she’s making a couple hundred a month, she says it works for her because it takes up little time.

“It’s not a 9 to 5 job, which I think is very appealing to a lot of people, no one tells you you have to go to work but no one is going to give you a paycheck if you don’t go to work… It was just another avenue, another outlet, another part time job but it’s been bringing in income with little to no effort,” says hair stylist, Jen Jennings.

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Direct sales sounds like a great concept, whether it’s Tupperware, beauty products or jewelry, you can earn up to 50 percent commission, work from home and be your own boss. But before you dabble into this industry, there are some things you should know.

University of Houston student Christina Gemellaro is a sales representative for Mark.

“Mark is a beauty and fashion brand. You can mix any two products that you like,” said Gemellaro.

Across town, Georgette Duane is busy booking a party for Cookie Lee, a company that sells trendy jewelry. The mother of three says last year she had to find another career after losing her job at a car dealership.

“It’s been a blessing ever since, I really, really enjoy it,” said Duane.

Duane usually sets up nine parties a month, making an average profit of $200 for each party.

Financial expert Marilyn Logan is known around Houston as “the money lady.” She’s such a believer in direct sales that she began selling Arbonne, a line of skin care products.

“Right now, the three things that are not suffering are alcohol, tobacco and skin care,” said Logan.

She has been so successful with Arbonne that she’s being rewarded with a white Mercedes from the company. But be warned: She says direct sales is not for everyone.

“If you don’t like people this is not the business for you,” said Logan.

Photo by jenny-pics

A Mary Kay program is teaming up with the Citizens Development Center in Dallas to recycle used compacts.

For every compact which is recycled, Mary Kay plants a tree in the Bitterroot National Forest.

“We launched a new compact last year, and we knew that we had many compacts out with our independent sales force and our customers,” said Carrie Adams, of Mary Kay. “So rather than dispose of those in the trash, we wanted to make sure that we disposed of them in an environmentally friendly way.”

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USANA Health Sciences, Inc. announced today that a third party clinical study led by Dr. David Greene at Australian Catholic University (ACU National) found that use of USANA`s Active Calcium Chewable supplement improves bone health in young girls.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved 20 pairs of identical twin girls, ages 9-12 years old, who were randomly assigned to receive USANA`s Active Calcium Chewable or a matching placebo. The results of the study found that after six months of supplementation, Active Calcium Chewable improved measures of bone mineral content, bone mineral density, and bone strength in these girls.

“We are delighted with the results of the ACU National study,” said Dr. Tim Wood, USANA`s Executive Vice President of Research and Development. “These results confirm the findings of a similar 2003 clinical trial conducted at the University of Utah. The ACU National study design, in which one twin received Active Calcium Chewable while her sister received the placebo, goes a step further and factors out genetic influences.”

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Amway is changing its way. The largest direct selling company in the world, which has emerged a global retail giant over the last
50 years with minimal advertising and no store presence, will soon start product advertisement as it increases its ad spend.

And its showing the way too. The US-based wellness and personal care products firm is part of an army of direct sellers in India that has woken up to the need for complete brand-building exercise through mass media.

Oriflame, Tupperware and Modicare have all started spending more on advertising and even tying up with retailers as India’s Rs 3,300-crore direct selling industry is bracing up for increased competition from traditional players who have added direct selling and e-tailing to widen their reach to rural and semi-urban areas.

Other direct sellers such as international cosmetics brand Jafra and wellness brand New-skin too are looking at advertising their products.

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Economists, politicians, and shoppers focus so much on the massive flood of Chinese imports that we end up paying too little attention to the products, services, and business concepts exported from the United States to China. The vast differential in income between the United States and China has precluded a rampant growth in U.S. exports to China. U.S.-made cars, American doctors, and steakhouses remain far too expensive to appeal to the typical Chinese consumer.

But plenty of U.S. brands have found China to be fertile ground, especially down-market brands that are able to position themselves as aspirational, premium (but not too premium), somewhat affordable products for China’s vast and growing middle class. In America, interest in direct-selling tends to decline among higher-income consumers. But the experience of Mary Kay, the iconic, middle-American direct-sales cosmetics firm, proves that an American direct-sales firm with Chinese characteristics can do quite nicely.

The pink-themed company is a big deal in what Americans used to call Red China. Mary Kay China’s headquarters occupy four stories in Tower 2 in Plaza 66 Shanghai’s fancy mixed-use complex with high-end stores such as Fendi. The spotless, high-gloss offices are filled with images of the bejeweled, heavily made-up Ash and her many maxims in both English and Mandarin, as well as information about the company and its history, beliefs, and values. (There are a few slight changes. A reference to God is changed in Chinese to a more anodyne statement about faith, for example.)

Mary Kay did not have any easy transplant to China upon its arrival in the mid-1990s. Direct-selling didn’t catch on rapidly in a country where knocks on the door could signal something far less benign than the offer of a new moisturizer. And in the Wild West days of early Chinese capitalism, pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes thrived. When direct-selling was banned in 1998, May Kay retrenched and changed its model. It set up showrooms around the country, paid agents to represent the products, and maintained corporate control of the inventory. In 2006, however, a new law permitted direct-selling. Sales directors must have fixed locations and licenses. And selling in homes is still frowned upon. The company maintains 35 showrooms around the country.

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Recently at the company’s Rising Star Academy in Anaheim, California, Zrii, LLC unveiled the release of Prana, a new one-of-a-kind master training book that will change the way home base businesses run during the start-up learning phase. This ground-breaking manual gives the home-based business novice a step-by-step guide to starting their business in the right direction.

“Too often corporations overload a beginner with excess information,” said Brooks Gordon, Director of Opportunity Marketing for Zrii, LLC. “Prana offers a refreshing approach to network marketing; it peaks interest and offers encouragement while condensing simple prospecting methods for those just starting out. But we didn’t forget about those who are already familiar with the industry either; there is fresh information in this guide for everyone.”

The name Prana is derived Sanskrit word meaning life force or life energy. New distributors who enroll with Zrii will automatically receive Prana in their start kit.

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Donald Trump is synonymous with luxury high-rises, his TV show and his distinctive hairstyle. Now he’s putting his name on a vitamin and health products business whose salespeople make money by recruiting more salespeople.

The ubiquitous Trump is partnering with Ideal Health, a 12-year-old Massachusetts-based nutritional products company, and renaming it “The Trump Network,” though the partners won’t specify what their financial relationship is.

The products will be sold via multilevel marketing — a method of selling products through a network of distributors. Marketers receive commissions for the products they sell, along with a cut from products sold by other salespeople they’ve recruited.

Critics of such programs say that most of the products are bought by the distributors themselves, and that few of the salespeople actually come out ahead in the end.

Trump, characteristically, is blustery in his bullishness. In an e-mail to the Associated Press, he called it a “rescue and recovery program” for people suffering through the recession, offering a shot at extra income. The company hopes the Trump name and image will help sell the products.

Photo by Dano

USANA Health Sciences, Inc. today launched its seasonal Vitamin D supplement. The supplement will be available every year from November to March, the months when many people do not get enough vitamin D.

“Recent reports show that populations around the world are suffering from vitamin D deficiency, and there is also evidence that suggests vitamin D deficiency increases during the winter months because of decreased exposure to sunlight,” said Dr. Tim Wood, USANA`s Executive Vice President of Research and Development. “The problem is widespread and increasing, with potentially severe repercussions for overall health and bone-fracture rates. USANA`s Vitamin D supplement is formulated with maximum strength vitamin D to ensure you get the vitamin D you need throughout the winter months in one tablet.”

Vitamin D is essential to bone mineralization and growth and plays an important role in the maintenance of muscle strength and coordination. Vitamin D also supports cardiovascular health and promotes balanced immune function. The current recommendation of 400IU of vitamin D per day may not be enough to prevent vitamin D deficiency during the winter months. USANA`s supplement has 2000IU of vitamin D per tablet.

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‘Tis the season to start shopping for your loved ones, and just as shoppers try to find special gifts for their family members and friends, Scentsy, Inc. has released its Top Holiday Gifts for 2009.

“What makes us different from a typical candle provider is that our candles are flameless, smokeless and soot-free; this means safer candles for family members, including children and pets,” said John Curtis, vice president of communications for Scentsy. The following are Scentsy’s Top Holiday Gifts for 2009:

1. Holiday-Inspired Scents

2. Scentsy Travel Tin

3. Safari Collection

4. D.I.Y. Scentsy Warmers

5. Renaissance Collection

So, how do you purchase these gifts? By going to home parties or visiting an Independent Consultant’s personal Web site. Curtis says this upcoming holiday season offers a great opportunity for residents to have Scentsy parties in their homes, offering people a new way to entertain for the season.

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