The BBB is your friend!

Anyone looking to work independently has two choices:  Start your own business from scratch, or do contract work with other businesses.  Most home sales programs (Tupperware, PartyLite, Pampered Chef, etc.) offer you the opportunity to start your own business, but what you really are doing is becoming a dedicated contractor for the company.  You don't receive benefits, you must purchase your own supplies, and you follow their program for the most part. 

In future blog posts, I'll go into greater detail of what I learned from the Party Sales type of home business.  For now, my most important advice is simple:

Remember that the Better Business Bureau is your friend.

If a company you have never heard of has an "F" rating by the BBB, that is a fairly large red flag that you may want to reconsider getting involved with that entity.  Less important is whether an old established company has been rated "F" by the BBB. 

If Party Sales or Catalog sales are interesting you--if you are looking to find yourself a title such as "Independent Representative"or "Personal Consultant"--start of by sticking to the solid businesses.  By that I mean a company that's been at it for a while:  Tupperware, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Avon, etc.  There are a lot of home jewelry businesses now, too.  You'd be surprised to learn that Tupperware has an F rating as well with the BBB.  I'm less concerned with that because of the enormous amount of business they do in the U.S., and the fact that the grade is based on 36 complaints in 3 years (which is literally a drop in the bucket of the overall customers they have serviced in the last 36 months).

Just be sure to research any company that is asking you to pay them money, so that you can sell their products.  That's the standard for the home catalog/party businesses.  You have to purchase supplies to get started.  Before you hop on board, start by going to the BBB.

Tell Peggy Your Favorite Home Sales Company (or least Favorite)!

Leave a comment on this entry if you've got a favorite Home Sales/Catalog Sales company...or a least favorite!  I'll feature some of your comments and opinions in a future posting.

Peggy Bee

Peggy, why did you start "Work at Home with Peggy Bee"?

Back in early 2001, I was an executive with a multi-national corporation based in Boston, MA.  The birth of my first child right after 9/11 changed many things, most importantly--my priorities.

Now, I'm the mother of two elementary-school-aged kids, and since leaving the so-called rat-race, I have been on the prowl for ways to add funds to our family's budget. Some ways have worked reasonably well.  Some have...well...not worked at all.  You'd be surprised at how many ways there are to talk people out of their hard earned cash (then again...maybe you wouldn't be--depends I guess on your level of jadedness!).  I've been talked out of a few bucks myself--and it's time to share my knowledge.

Making money from home won't happen for free (though it's *possible* on a shoestring budget)--so why spend money you don't have to?  I'll share what I know, and let you make your own choices.  You can share with me, too!  [email me at PeggyBee2007 *at* gmail *dot* com]

Why do I do this?  Because while this stuff isn't rocket science (come on, less intelligent people than you or I have made a mint, right?), it's a bear to wade through all the on-line stuff to find out what is truly legitimate and what is just another wallet-emptying endeavor.

And, truly--because I love to write, this is a fabulous way to keep my writing hand in good shape.

For more about Peggy Bee:  check out my transparency post...


Any questions for me?  Stories to share?  Nightmares to avoid?  Email me:  PeggyBee2007 *at* gmail *dot* com

In the interest of transparency

This is my blog...this is my opinion only

Please don't sell the farm, promise someone your first-born, or start selling off the family heirlooms because of anything you read on my blog!!  Yes, I'm opinionated.  But I may also be WRONG.  I may not have all the information, and my opinion is based only on the information that I do have and that to which I've actually paid attention.  Having said that, enter into your own business opportunities at your own risk.  Take my advice, and then educate yourself elsewhere...don't rely on me, rely on yourself to do adequate research into anything that involves your money.  I am not a lawyer, a financial adviser, a tax adviser, a human resource adviser, or a fortune-teller, (though I may or may not play any or all of those roles on T.V.) I am just sharing things as I see them from my perspective.

You'll find links on the blog.  

Some are plain old linky-love because I love the website, writer, picture, product, whatever--no cash or other interest is passing hands with those.   Some are less about love, more of the "don't do this" variety.  A "what-not-to-wear," as it were, for the work at home crowd.

Some will be affiliate links.  Those are links where I have a relationship of some sort with the website, whereby sales made as a result of my linkage are tracked.  I receive a commission for referring customers to the linked website.  This is one way that I can do what I love to do (write) and offer a valuable resource for the readers of the blog.

Product Reviews, Paid Blogging, Paid Reveiwing

I don't plan on doing any paid blogging or paid reviewing.  I love to write, but I'm really stuck on this selfish thing that I love about blogging and that is writing about what I care about.  Not what some marketing company wants to see flooding the blogosphere and is found on 75 other blogs within 24 hours. 

That being said, I do write reviews of products.  Often, it's simply a case where I tried a product, and I'm looking to share what I really thought about it, say, I bought the product the other day, and here's what I think. I have also done product and book reviews that resulted from a marketing professional contacting me--this is not a cash transaction, but I am provided the product to review at no cost to me.

If you have a product that you would like me to consider reviewing, please email the particulars to me at PeggyBee2007 *at* gmail *dot* com.  Reviews that I agree to perform will generally be published within six weeks.  Please understand that I will only ever agree to provide a review of a given product with the explicit understanding that I will not hesitate to be honest about your product. For better or for worse...A+ product or one that I despise, I will be honest to a fault. If you only want a glowing review, you should probably seek out a different blogger.