Since joining Thirty-One Gifts as an independent consultant, I have slowly been sucked into what might border on an obsession not only with this company but with the idea of multi-level marketing (MLM) in general. I will call it a fascination; yes, that is a better description of it. I have run my own jewelry business before, and so the idea of selling a product you are passionate about is not really new to me. I did have some success on my own too, but it was a lot of work and I only had me, myself, and I to do it, with the exception of my husband who did help with large endeavors like participating in arts and crafts shows.
One of the perks of joining an MLM is that you are not alone, and the “business” end of your business is in many ways done for you. For example, you don’t need to submit sales tax, create and maintain a web site, or design and manufacture a product. Now on the flip side, you do lose some of the control you would have as the person running everything. I sell Thirty-One products, but I do not get any say in what products they offer. Whatever is in the catalog is what you have to offer. For example, I love the new Flip Flop pattern, but it is only available in 4 of their products. If I was in charge, I would have it available in just about any bag or tote I sold. The two bags pictured above (the Inside-Out Bag and Thermal Mini Zipper Pouch) are in the Best Buds print, and they are my summer go-to bags. I like the Best Buds print, but hey, these would both look great in the Flip Flop print too….just sayin’
After Joining Thirty-One, I started to be aware of the numerous other MLMs that exist. In fact, my sister has thought about joining Thirty-One also, but she is concerned that there are too many consultants where she lives and so it would be too much competition for her to make it work. This kind of prompted me to start searching online for other MLM companies that might work well with the products I sell through Thirty-One with the idea that she and I might be able to help cross promote each other or, at the very least, be customers for one another. As I wandered around the Web, I found a fabulous resource called Home Party Review. It is a blog run by a woman who, like myself, was researching MLMs and realized that there was lots of information out there but not necessarily the type that focused on specifics. So her blog is full of reviews written by consultants from various MLMs that tell you about the products, the company, commission and sales rates, all the stuff you would want to know before joining any type of MLM business. My one issue with this site is that I could not find a date of publication for the reviews, so some of the information could change in the future or may have already changed. Other than that, though, I think this blog is very helpful for anyone who is interested in finding a MLM that will be a perfect fit.
