Beginner's guide
Direct Sales 101. Your first 90 days.
Updated Oct. 2, 2026 · 9 minute read
Step 1
Choose a company you'd buy from anyway.
The consultants who last are the ones who already use the product. You’ll be talking about it every week, so pick something you’d recommend to a friend even if you earned nothing from it.
Then check the business side. Compare startup cost, commission rate, monthly minimums and reviews for two or three companies before you commit. Our comparison tool puts any two side by side, and the choosing a company guide goes deeper.
Finally, make sure it’s a real direct sales business, one that pays you for selling product to customers rather than for recruiting. Here’s how to tell.
Your shortlist checklist
- You use and like the product already.
- Startup cost you could lose without hardship.
- A commission rate you know, in writing.
- Monthly minimums you can realistically hit.
- An income disclosure statement you’ve actually read.
Step 2
The starter kit: what you get and what it costs.
Live from our directory
$50
median entry-level kit
Half of the 58 companies with a listed kit price start between $30 and $99.
Most companies offer two or three kits. The smallest gets you selling: a few best-sellers, samples, catalogs and a personal website. Larger kits add more full-size products to demo and sell from.
Start small. A bigger kit only makes sense if you’re sure you’ll use or sell what’s in it, and the product value inside should be worth more than you pay.
Step 3
How the money works, in one party.
You earn a commission, a percentage of what you sell. Across the company profiles on Direct Sales Aid the typical range runs from 20% to 35% on personal sales.
In a multilevel plan you can also earn a smaller override on sales by people you recruit. In an affiliate plan you usually earn on your own sales only.
What matters is what’s left after costs. Samples, catalogs, refreshments, shipping, card fees and mileage all come out of your commission.
- Party sales
- $600
- Commission at 25%
- + $150
- Samples, fees, gas, refreshments
- − $45
- You keep, before tax
- $105
Illustrative numbers. Over about four hours including travel and follow-up, that’s roughly $26 an hour, before self-employment tax.
Step 4
Your first party, from invite to reorder.
Two weeks out
Agree a date with your host, send invitations (text and a social event), and share three products guests will try.
Three days out
Confirm the head count, ask the host for guests' wish lists, and pack order forms, samples and a card reader.
The party
Demo for 20–30 minutes, not an hour. Let guests try, then take orders one by one. Ask one guest if they'd like to host next.
Within 48 hours
Submit orders, thank the host, and message every guest, including the ones who didn't buy.
Two weeks later
Check in when products arrive. This is where reorders, and your next bookings, come from.
Step 5
Selling online, without becoming spam.
Most companies give you a personal shop link, and many support virtual parties: a Facebook group or live video where guests order from your link and the host still earns rewards.
Share how you actually use the product. Post more about the product and your customers than about the opportunity, and never message people a pitch out of nowhere.
If you earn from what you post, say so. The FTC expects anyone with a financial connection to a brand to disclose it clearly, in the post or video itself.
Disclose when you have any financial, employment, personal, or family relationship with a brand.
Shoppers search Direct Sales Aid for consultants by company and city. A profile gives you a page that ranks for your name, your company and your town, with a contact form that sends leads to your inbox.
Create a profileYour 90-day plan
Sixteen things to do in your first three months.
Days 1–14
- Open a business bank account
- Unbox and learn your kit
- Turn on mileage tracking
- List 50 people you could tell
Days 15–30
- Hold a launch party, in person or online
- Book two more parties from it
- Post three times a week
- Create your Direct Sales Aid profile
Days 31–60
- Follow up every customer at two weeks
- Start an email or text list
- Try a virtual party
- Track sales, costs and hours weekly
Days 61–90
- Calculate your real hourly earnings
- Keep what works, drop what doesn't
- Decide: hobby, side income or business?
- Set aside money for taxes
Kit and commission figures are medians across the 58still-operating company profiles on Direct Sales Aid that list a kit price, calculated live. The party example is illustrative; your company’s compensation plan sets your actual rates.
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