As a direct sales business owner, I am often asked, “How do you continue to grow your business?” My answer is always the same: “You have to be consistent with your advertising, marketing and networking.”

When I’m talking about being consistent, you need to work on your business 4-5 days a week, for several hours a day. Sit down and come up with a business plan and schedule, stick to your schedule as much as possible. Let your family and friends know that your business is important to you and that you work between the hours of __ and __. This will eliminate distractions and keep you on track. A home business does not work alone. You need to spend your time working on the business.

If you are a new business owner, I recommend that you educate yourself on advertising, marketing, and business networking. You can do this by reading various books or magazines related to having a home business.

Here are several ideas to get you started.

Advertising

When it comes to advertising your business online, you can buy buttons and banner ads on a variety of websites that target your niche. You can also place free and paid classified ads.

When it comes to advertising your business offline, you can do print advertising in regional newspapers and magazines. You can hang flyers and catalogs on the doors of the neighborhoods.

Marketing

When it comes to marketing your business online, you can host online parties or participate in direct sales vendor events online. I also like to sponsor contests on highly visited websites that my target market audience visits. Here’s an example: If you sell cookware, try sponsoring some contests on cooking and recipe websites.

When it comes to marketing your business offline, I highly recommend participating in a few local events such as craft fairs, flea markets, and trade shows. I like to print tip brochures related to my niche that have my business information located inside the front cover. I drop them off at local businesses so they can hand them out to their customers for free. This is a great way to build a local customer base.

If you like to write, I would recommend article marketing. You can write business articles, short stories, and how-to tips, and distribute your articles to online websites or offline magazines and newspapers.

networks

Networking online can be time consuming, but it is well worth the effort. I recommend you join MySpace, Facebook, Linked-in, Ryze and Twitter. Go to any major search engine and you should be able to find those groups.

Offline networking can be a valuable business experience. Join your local chamber of commerce and women’s business associations. Networking is all about building relationships with like-minded business owners

Just remember, like any business owner… You have to do the work! Once you get in the habit of working on your Direct Selling business on a consistent basis, you will see your business continue to grow.