The Balanced Direct Sales Mom

If you're already in direct sales, you know that it's not always easy to keep the priorities straight. Particularly when your business is just starting, but also when you get things going at a good clip in your business, direct sales can take on a life of its own and quickly cross the boundaries of happy home life. Here are 10 quick tips for helping to keep the Mom part of your life at the forefront while still running a successful Direct Sales business.

1. Plan - Sit down with your calendar and write out everything non-direct sales business related first. Decide which of those things are non-negotiable no matter how many people want to do parties on that day. And then keep them non-negotiable! Write in kids events, date nights with hubby, vacations, birthdays and birthday parties and plain old "just because" family time.

2. Power Hour - One of my favorite speakers in the direct sales field is Belinda Ellsworth. Her power hour is a tremendous way to manage your business life. It's simple too! Here's the quick rundown: Take 4 manila folders. Mark 1 as recruiting, 1 as booking, 1 as customer service and 1 as downline management. Decide on an hour in your day when you are going to work the phones for your business. Take your folders, set a timer and work each folder for 15 minutes only. When the 15 minutes is up, move to the next folder. As you interact with customers, recruits and downline put the information in these folders until the next time you sit down for your power hour. You will be amazed at how much work you can really accomplish when you are focused for that hour of time.

3. Office door - Use it! After you are done with your power hour or email time or whatever, walk out of the room and CLOSE the door! Or if you're working with the laptop (see below) turn it off and close the laptop.

4. Get a laptop. A laptop with wireless Internet is a great tool for moms. You can get them pretty inexpensively now too. While the kids are doing their homework, pop open the laptop, sit WITH them and do your emails then. When they're done with the homework, close the laptop and be done with your work as well.

5. Freedom Friday - Decide on one day in each week where you will be "off". This can be Friday or any day, but decide on it and then actually do it. Commit to it with your kids, put it on your calendar and enjoy it. You'll love it and the emails can wait! Once your customers and downline understand that this is your day off, they will respect it.

6. Use the "open date card "concept. Determine which days of the weeks you'll be doing parties and write those down on a separate booking calendar or individual party date cards. When you are at your parties and getting future bookings only book parties on the dates that you set in advance on that calendar or on the cards. If someone needs a different date than you have available, find her another consultant (preferable in your downline!) to take the party.

7. Automate - Use the tools of the Internet to automate as much of your business as you can. Use an auto-responder for your recruit email packets and your downline training. Have a voicemail message available with a 10-minute presentation on your business that potential recruits can call before they call you with questions. Do conference calls with your downline so that you can address issues with the whole group rather than one on one with each of them, etc.

8. Involve your kids - Make your direct sales business a family affair. Employ your children to help with putting labels on catalogs, filing your paperwork, packing up your supplies for your parties, making the bank deposits, etc. As they get older their work responsibilities can increase too. You can even pay them tax-free and write it off as a legitimate business expense. Talk to your accountant about this great home business benefit.

9. Hire a maid. If your business is really on a roll and you need to spend more time on business, don't take that time away from your family, take it away from other parts of your life, like the housecleaning instead. Hire a maid to do the big housecleaning jobs and use the time you'd normally be doing that to hang with the kids. It'll be worth every penny.

10. Have fun - remember that your kids are only young once. They need you to be mommy FIRST and businesswoman second, even if your family does need the extra money your Direct Sales business brings in. Work smarter, not harder and enjoy your kids while you can.

Author: Annette Yen is a successful direct sales consultant and mom to two lovely daughters. Find more details about the ideas above at her website: www.directsalestools.com.