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I’m excited to be a guest blogger here at Easy WAHM Websites and I look forward to sharing information about finding and building a direct sales business online. I decided that a good starting point might be to answer the often asked question, “What’s your number one tip for consultants who are marketing online?”

For online success, I recommend that direct sales consultants develop their own online presence, separate from the company and the online tools they provide. Market yourself, not the company you are associated with. By sharing your expertise and developing relationships with potential customer and team members, you will establish trust and earn a loyal following.

Think about how you connected with your offline customers and team members. A friend or family member probably hosted your first sales party and many of the invited guests were other family members and friends. They were all people you either have a personal relationship with or who have a relationship with someone you know.. The company you represent and the products you sell were not nearly as important as the fact that they know you, like you, and trust you. The party guests were there to support you, not the company.

It’s no different online. People want to do business with someone they like and trust. On the Internet you are just one of hundreds or thousands of consultants for your company. Why should someone choose you over all the others? How are you going to stand out from the crowd? And how are you going to distinguish yourself from all the thousands of consultants for other, competing companies?

The answer lies in developing your own online presence and establishing yourself as an expert in an area related to the products you sell and the opportunity you represent.

Your online presence starts with your own website or other publishing medium for self-expression. You won’t be nearly as successful online if your rely solely on your company provided website. It has it’s benefits, and will continue to be your ecommerce site if you sell online, but it is designed to brand and market the company. Success will follow from branding and marketing yourself.

A comparatively easy way to set up and maintain a website is by building a blog. One can be started for very little money, or even for free, and will provide a permanent “home base” for all your online marketing and activities. It can be the one site to which you refer all your current and potential customers, team members, and colleagues, and where they can interact with you. Your blog becomes the center from which you can link to your company site as well as branch out to all kinds of other marketing.

There are a few different options for starting a blog. If you prefer to do things yourself, you’ll need to purchase a domain name, set up hosting, and install a blogging platform. WordPress is probably the most popular choice and many hosting companies provide one click installation of the script.

If you need some help with set up, it’s available here at Easy WAHM Websites or you might want to consider one of the ready-made sites that are for sale. There may be a perfect match for your product line and business opportunity.

Because it’s so easy to use, many first time bloggers choose a hosted program like Blogger.com. If you use one of them, be sure to read and understand the terms of use to avoid being shut down, and always backup your data so it that can be restored or transferred to another platform if necessary.

How you choose to start is not as important as getting started. There’s never been a better time to market a direct sales business online. The recent explosion of online social networking and social media marketing offers new and fun ways to build trust and develop the personal relationships that are crucial to direct sales success.

[Note: Many direct sales company policies prohibit or restrict marketing from your own website so be sure to understand and follow the guidelines before you start building your site. I am not recommending you do anything that risks your status as a consultant. If there are restrictions, I suggest asking some very pointed questions to make sure you know what is and isn't permitted. Perhaps they just don't want you actually selling the products on your site. Or maybe they'll allow you to market from your site if you don't use the company name and you link to your company site for product and opportunity information.]