The direct selling industry is a strong driver of business growth in America. According to numbers put out by the Direct Selling Association, more than 50% of American adults say they have purchased products from a direct selling representative. Also, one in five people in our country say they have been or are now working in the direct selling market.

Many direct sellers find the flexibility of work hours to be attractive. However, scant few direct sellers ever achieve major earnings. This is due, to some extent, to the time commitment involved and the productivity challenges.

However, a group of new productivity tools ranging from web-based communication management applications, to sharing your desktop apps and telecom solutions are making selling easier for direct sellers. This article looks at three major areas likely to be of help to direct sellers.

Tip 1: Launch a newsletter using web-based template software

Online communication is a major factor in marketing for most businesses. Direct selling is no different. The world has gone far beyond the days of Outlook merge. New services enable direct sellers to create templates where additional content can be added.

Your newsletter might detail announcements about new promotions or products, updates on shipping schedules and the like. The key is that this content enables you to generate professional appearing content with a fraction of the time that older methods required.

The more advanced software solutions provide tracking. These tracking capabilities can show various types of data from the open rates on e-mails to click-through rates. These services also host the ability for recipients to unsubscribe from your newsletter in order to make sure you are not running afoul of spam regulations.

Tip 2: Use a free conference calling service

Recent years have witnessed a number of companies launching free conference calling services. These services provide you with free conferencing numbers and PIN codes which are either temporary or permanent. Direct selling representative can save hundreds of dollars ever month by using such systems to arrange conference calls, tele-seminars, workshops and similar offerings.

Some services offer extra conferencing features applicable to direct sellers. Examples include audio recording of the calls, listen-only PIN codes, and archiving of call agenda and other content.

Tip 3: Use an application to allow desktop sharing

Desktop sharing can be very useful for direct selling professionals. For example, sharing a PowerPoint document can ally you to demonstrate the benefits and features of a new product. Another example might be a spreadsheet illustrating the sales of your down-line members.

Of course, you could just e-mail out the presentation to every participant by way of an e-mail attachment. But a desktop sharing application allows the organizer to control how the material is seen by the attendees. This can certainly be of value for educational goals. The better services enable the organizer to hand control over to attendees.

Some direct sellers select a differentiated approach and use different services for conferencing and desktop sharing. More and more, though, conference calling companies are looking to combine desktop sharing with their standard services. Either way, this is another area where direct sellers can enhance their productivity.