A Home-Based Business That's Perfect For Women

Sheri Sharman is a young woman who is one of our company's top leaders. She is known around the world for empowering women to take charge of their lives and their finances so they can achieve their own dreams and help their children achieve their dreams. She started out as a single divorced mom who taught pre-school to support her son.

When she was introduced to our industry, she learned fast and worked hard. Today she is one of our Presidential Sales Leaders.

When you meet Sheri Sharman, you will find she is a woman who is very passionate about helping others. She is a dedicated supporter of the Andes Children's Foundation (founded by ViaViente) and has traveled to Vilcabamba to meet the centenarians and the beautiful children who live in the valley.

Sheri literally is a rags to riches story. She is a role model for every woman who has struggled to support her family, her children, and herself. Sheri will tell you that becoming part of this industry and beginning her own home-based business was the smartest decision that she ever made. It may also be the smartest decision that you have made in your life.

Sheri has changed her life dramatically and achieved phenomenal success. And YOU can too.

And now, Sheri's story:

I believe that everything happens for a reason and that even negative experiences in life are valuable tools that can help strengthen a person and prepare them for their life's work. And I've certainly had my share of negative experiences. I am a survivor of childhood incest and two abusive marriages. When my son was only 4 years old I decided that I couldn't take, and didn't deserve, any more verbal abuse from my second husband. I filed for divorce and was ultimately granted a $1.00 alimony settlement!

I was making $11,000 a year and living in a 900 square foot house with my son. We struggled for 3 long years. I can't even remember how many times I had to raid my son's piggy bank just to put gas in my car so I could get to work. We would run out of food by the weekend so I would intentionally show up at dinner time at my mom's home every Sunday just to make sure my son was fed. I felt worthless because I couldn't support and take care of my son on my own.

Just when things seemed to be at rock bottom, a good friend called and said he wanted to introduce me to someone in network marketing. I was very pessimistic but he was a good friend so I went to a business overview with him. What I heard at that overview changed my life forever! I heard a women on stage speak of how she made $8,000 in one month. Now remember, I was only making $11,000 in a whole year. I decided right then that I wanted to take on the world of network marketing.

I didn't have lofty goals or big dreams when I started in network marketing. I just wanted to move out of lower income housing, get my son Eric into a better school and a better neighborhood (there were drug dealers on our street). I also wanted the freedom to spend more time with my family. After watching that woman on stage, I decided I also wanted to be a powerful woman and an example for other women to follow!

So there I was starting a career in network marketing with no business experience, no training and a terrible fear of public speaking. I went from making $11,000 a year as a preschool teacher to making $250,000 my first year in network marketing.

Now don't get me wrong, I worked hard, very hard. My first two years I sometimes worked 18 hour days, 7 days a week. When I figured out that network marketing was really a relationship building business things started getting easier. I developed a very simple way to build relationships and then I kept refining my system until I could teach it to others and they could duplicate it.

What I learned was that the more money I had the more people would listen to me. As my income and success increased my confidence also increased.

I've come a long way and I learned that by staying very focused on helping my team mates get what they wanted, I was able to get what I wanted...my dream home. For six years, I lived in a 6000 square foot ocean front home. It was absolutely breath taking. I left that home in 1997 when I chose to walk away from a 7 figure a year income because of integrity issues with the company I represented.

My income was at zero, I had to start all over again.

After finding a company with integrity and a great product, I was able to build my income back up and I'm now the top female income earner in my company.

I have the pleasure of having my mom, Imo Sharman, work with me. She is 74 years young, making a 6 figure yearly income and truly enjoying her golden years!

I've been able to travel all over the world and share wonderful trips with my son, my mother and friends. These trips and my lifestyle are all possible because of the time freedom and financial freedom I have gained through network marketing.

My decision to take on networking marketing was definitely the best decision I've ever made. It has had a profound impact on my life and the lives of all those around me.

By acquiring money and success, I ultimately acquired confidence and self-esteem which has enabled me to heal and to choose better relationships and friendships. I also learned, if I could build my business once I could build it again.

I truly believe if I "made it" in spite of past negative experiences, so can you!

You know, not long ago women only had two options - go out into the workforce or stay at home raising children. Over the past few decades, the options for women have made a huge shift for the better and women are having a dramatic impact on the business world.

Since the 1970s, the number of women in the US workforce has doubled. Today 30 percent of working women bring in half or more of their family's income. According to the US Labor Department, nearly 50% of all Americans with over ½ million dollars in assets are women. By the year 2010, American women are expected to control 60% of our country's wealth. Women are leading a worldwide wealth explosion!

However, for some of us the current situation is not so bright. Above I shared my story about being granted $1.00 in alimony. Unfortunately that happens to a lot of women when they divorce. In the first year after a divorce, the average woman's standard of living drops by 25% to 73% while the average man's rises 35% to 42%. And even though the number of women in the US workforce has doubled since 1970, women's salaries are still typically 24% less than men's salaries in corporate America.

Nearly half of women over the age of 50 are single and have to take care of their own finances. I was shocked to learn that the average income for a woman over age 65 is less than $7000 a year. And three out of four elderly people living in poverty are women.

Women have made great strides in the past. And fortunately, today the strides are moving even faster. Today, women make up 55 percent of those enrolled in college full-time. Women business owners today account for 40 percent of all private businesses and 70 percent of all new business start-ups in the past ten years. In spite of these strides, the demands of family and work often pull women in every direction.

Women are multi-taskers, nurturers, and motivators. Those of us who are moms know all about getting up before the sun comes up to get our kids ready, taking them to school, working a full day at work, keeping the house clean, grocery shopping, going to our kids' school functions, and the list goes on. We are a 24/7 juggling act. Many women have no time for themselves and no time to recharge because they are taking care of other people all of the time. But guess what? It doesn't have to be that way.

Earlier I said that women were behind the worldwide wealth explosion. Overwhelmingly, this is because of the emergence of person-to-person marketing with a home-based business. Person-to-person marketing or direct selling is a business based on relationships. And relationship building is something that women come by naturally.

In the United States, small businesses account for about half of the country's total economic output and employ about half of the private sector workforce. More than half of these small businesses are home-based businesses.

Senator Olympia Snow, the first woman in US history to be elected to both houses of state legislature and both houses of congress also serves as Chair of the Senate "Small Business Committee". Senator Snow has stated that, "Americans need more options to help them provide for their families. The ability to work from home is an essential means of achieving that goal." This kind of business allows women the "time freedom" to take care of their families and their home AND make a good living. And most importantly, they have time to take care of themselves and plan financially for the future.

If you want to earn a little extra money for your child's braces or school uniforms or a family vacation you can make a little extra money with Via and have what we call "Freedom for All." If you want to take your Via business further and create a full-time home-based business, you can do that too. You might like to know that over 80 percent of our money earners in ViaViente are women. With ViaViente, you can create residual income that we call "Freedom for Life."

For me and my family, direct selling has been a life-changing opportunity and has indeed given us..."Freedom for Life".

Direct selling is a business of relationships. Nothing sells a product better than word-of-mouth and the enthusiastic recommendation of a friend. When we women discover something that helps us or makes our lives easier, we naturally want to share that information so it can help somebody else.

This is what is at the heart of the phenomenal success of direct selling. Instead of hiring a separate sales force, companies like ViaViente compensate people who use and share the product with friends. You can build your business by sharing the product with others while you are living your life. You don't have to be stuck in an office like those of you who are working a corporate job. Conventional marketing needs huge advertising budgets to promote products. Direct selling works exactly the opposite, relying on the simple power of real people sharing their experiences with others. This is something we women do naturally and is one reason why we're so good at direct selling.

With direct selling you have the freedom to manage your home, your family and your life without being pulled in eight different directions at once. We've all heard about the Superwoman who holds down a 60 hour a week corporate job, raises her kids and takes care of her home without appearing to break a sweat. Guess what? That Superwoman is a myth. But our society pressures us to be her.

The women I know want a real life, not some impossible ideal that offers us no quality of life. When I started in this business I was ecstatic to find out that I could pick my hours, work in my sweats or pajamas if I wanted to, and build my business from my home or even my favorite Starbucks if I wanted to. I found out that I could have it all by having my own business in this industry because I am in charge.

Another benefit I discovered when I started in this business is the financial security that it provides. In the corporate world, there is no such thing as job security any more. We know that we cannot expect to rely on Social Security. As women living in the 21st Century, we know that if we want financial security in our retirement years, we are going to have to create it for ourselves. There is no better way to do this than to build your own home-based business and the key to building your financial security is to build residual income.

In ViaViente, you are able to make a little extra money if that is all you want or need. But for those who want to build financial security, you can build your business bigger to create "Freedom for Life" with the residual income that ViaViente offers.

One of the best things about my Via business is that my success is all about helping others succeed. This is another reason why women love this business and are so successful at it. Direct selling is a business of teaching and training and making a difference in other people's lives. As women, it is our natural instinct to support and nurture each other.

Direct selling is a huge part of the home-based business boom and women are the driving force in this industry. Direct selling is one of the easiest businesses we can start from home. You have no commute to the office every day and very little operating costs. And you have tremendous freedom.

The opportunity to be free, to be in control of your life, to acquire financial security for life by creating residual income, to succeed by helping others, and to be able to raise our families without guilt or sacrifice - these are just a few of the reasons that so many millions of women around the world are choosing to begin their own home-based direct selling businesses. Direct selling truly is a woman's world!

Before joining the direct selling industry, Sheri Sharman was a single mom struggling to support her son against tremendous odds. As a single parent with 2 boys of my own, I know that the cost of raising children and maintaining a home seems to increase every year as the children get older. My oldest son has lived with me since he was 2 years old. While I have cherished every moment, I was caught by surprise by the responsibilities of being a single parent. The financial cost is always more than you are expecting, and there's never enough time to spend with your kids. I believe that single mothers have an even more difficult time than I experience as a single father. And women who are married with children too often find that the financial pressures force them to go back to work to help support the family.

For women with children, flexible work opportunities are rare. You could take a part-time job at Starbuck's and have benefits but low pay, or you could take a full-time corporate job and have a good paycheck every month, but find yourself working 50 to 60 hours a week with no time left over for your family or yourself.

The ViaViente business model is tailor made for women. With ViaViente, you have opportunities throughout the day to naturally share the benefits of the product and the business with others without having to be stuck in an office all day long. You can talk to people about ViaViente wherever you are. Whether you are at your kid's soccer game, at the grocery store, at the mall, at lunch with friends, at the coffee shop with friends, talking to the nurse at your child's Pediatrician's office, at church, at the video store, every single place you naturally go every day and encounter people. Sharing the benefits of ViaViente will come as naturally to you as talking to your friends about a great movie that you have just seen. Your family life and your ViaViente business will work well together.

Sheri Sharman is living proof of this. She raised her son and was able to travel with him and share many wonderful experiences with him due to her career in direct selling. She is passionate about showing other women how to succeed (in this business and in life) and achieve their dreams.

ViaViente is a perfect example of a home-based business that anyone can start with very little start-up money. It allows you to be your own boss, work from home, set your own hours, and gives you the freedom to take care of your home, your family and yourself.

Right now you may be thinking, "This all sounds great, but is this business really something that I can do successfully?"

And the answer is a great big YES, because you don't have to be a marketing expert. You don't even have to have any special skills or any sales ability. The best thing about this business is that you can be successful just by being yourself.

All you need to be successful in this business is:

1. To have a strong desire to create success for yourself

2. Be willing to be part of a team and to listen and learn

3. Be willing to invest your time and energy into achieving your financial goals and long-term security

Did you notice that "You have to be a great salesperson" wasn't included in that list? That's because our business is not about selling...our business is about building relationships. It's a team sport. Everything you need to know to do this business successfully you'll learn from people who are here to show you how to do it. Because they only succeed by helping you succeed.

It doesn't matter what your background, if you went to college or not, if you've worked in corporate America or not, direct selling offers you the opportunity to create a significant part-time or a substantial full-time income, all while working from your home.

There was a time when women had two options - to go to work or to stay at home. Today there is a third option and it is changing the lives of millions of women all over the globe. You could be one of them. You can create solid long-term financial success in this business all while developing yourself into the best friend, team mate and leader you can be.

Women just like you are doing it every day. You just have to want to make a change in your life and take a chance on yourself.

Women who are building a ViaViente business find that they have many options in their work schedules.

(1) They can build a ViaViente business part-time and still have time for family obligations.

(2) If they decide to grow their ViaViente business to a full-time income, they can do that and maintain a flexible work schedule that can work around family schedules.

Our Commission Plan is "Simple, Equitable and Fun". It is structured so you can earn commissions from people in other countries whom you don't even know. When you joined ViaViente, someone told you about our product and introduced you to our business opportunity. They may not have told you that we are a global company and that our product is sold in over 15 countries.

As you are building your ViaViente sales team, you may not know people who live in other countries personally, but your next door neighbor or best friend might. As you build your Via business, you'll find you have team members from other countries and that you'll be receiving a referral income from people all over the world. Because ViaViente's distribution model is Global and Internet-based, you will find it extremely easy to communicate with team members wherever they are in the world.

The beauty of your ViaViente business is that there is no inventory to maintain and no bookkeeping. Via Corporate will do all of that for you. Because we utilize the Internet so efficiently, we have no paperwork. Ordering product is done electronically. ViaViente also provides you with a system to keep up with your sales team and with your Via business.

As you begin building your ViaViente business and your team, be sure you maintain contact with your new Preferred Customers every 30 days. This is important because you want to be building a team of people who are also enrolling others and teaching their people to enroll others. Keeping new Preferred Customers active in ViaViente is what we call "Retention." You want to focus on Retention so that the people you enroll in your team become strong team members who help others build strong teams.

Women are natural relationship builders. It's easy for most women to pick up the phone and give someone a call. It's important that you take the time to call each of your Preferred Customers every 30 days to maintain a direct relationship with them. We call this the 30-Day Rule. It's a rule because it helps you to maintain the highest Retention possible of your Preferred Customers. Every 30 days, be sure you call each of your Preferred Customers to confirm that they are still ordering the product on Auto-Ship and that they are getting results with the product. This maintains higher Retention. You will always want to ask them who they know who could benefit from our product. Remember, either you are "Green and Growing Your Business" or if you don't maintain regular contact with your customers, you will become "Ripe" and you will find your business "Rotting Away."

When you pick up any newspaper, you'll see advertisements for department stores, book stores, grocery stores and other retail stores. Even though you may already be a customer of those stores, they constantly advertise to remind you that they want you to continue to do business with them. The 30 Day Rule is like that. It helps you remind your Preferred Customers that you continually want to do business with them. It encourages them to continue to do business with you.

There's another rule you need to be aware of. It's the 10 Percent Attrition Rule. In every business, whether it's banking, insurance, restaurants, a health spa, there is a natural 10 percent attrition rate every year. That means, every year every business loses 10 percent of their customer base due to illness, death, personal issues like moving to another city or divorce. Therefore, you must add 10 percent to your business each year just to maintain your business. To grow your business, you'll need to add more than 10 percent each year so your income will continue to grow.

As your team continues to build, your income will continue to grow so you can achieve "Freedom for Life." As you are making your 30 day calls, you may find that you have Preferred Customers who are interested in becoming Distribution Agents. Or you may have a Preferred Customer who has a cousin or brother who is interested in getting the product and learning more about the business opportunity.

Let me share with you the 3 Key Fundamentals of Building Your ViaViente Business and Increasing Your Income.

1. New Enrollments

2. Retention or Retainment - which is keeping the people you have in your team as you bring in more people

3. Leading your sales team to do the same - not TRAINING, but LEADING. It's just like a piece of string. You cannot push it, you have to pull it from the top and the rest of the string will follow.

These three elements are the entire story to building your Via business and your income.

Growing up, many of us had parents or grandparents who saved their money with the intent of traveling once they retired. Unfortunately, many were never able to travel because health issues or cost of living issues may have derailed their travel plans as they got older.

As you build your ViaViente business, you will find that we offer many travel options. Once you achieve the Gold Sales Leader position, you are invited to travel to Dallas to spend 3 days with us at Corporate and exploring the different activities and sites that Dallas has to offer.

When you achieve the Platinum Sales Level position, you are awarded a trip for 2 to Hawaii. You will have $12,500 to spend on a 1st class trip with 1st class air travel, 1st class hotels, dining in world-class restaurants and all the sightseeing you want. You will have no need to worry about how much anything costs as you enjoy the lush beaches, beautiful sunsets, excellent dining and luxury hotel accommodations that Hawaii has to offer.

When you achieve Presidential Sales Leader, you will be awarded a trip to Tahiti with $20,000 to make it a trip of a lifetime. You will experience this world-class destination that is a distant dream for many people. You'll spend days and nights enjoying Tahiti's Pacific beaches with its thatched huts that extend out over the water, the perfect weather, and luxurious accommodations.

For many of our female leaders in ViaViente, these trips are a great reward and escape from the day-to-day responsibilities of raising kids and keeping a household going. Along with the ability to set your own hours, be your own boss, and build a secure income for life, ViaViente offers you the opportunity to create the "Freedom for Life" that all of us want for ourselves and our families.

Giving back to others is very important to me! I'm telling you this only because I want to share with you some of the many causes and charities I've been able to support. One of them is the Andes Children's Foundation which was established by ViaViente to give back to the children of Vilcabamba. You have probably heard that ViaViente "is more than a company, we are a cause." That is because ViaViente is a company that gives back to others. For me this is an important part of why I love my Via business.

My Via business gives me the financial means to generously support causes that help women, children and our environment. Organizations that I have gratefully supported can be seen in my lens titled Sheri Sharman's Passion for Charitable Contributions.

I truly believe that we can all make a difference in this world...we just have to do it one step at a time...one person at a time!

This lens contains excerpts from a CD titled "Women Are Driving The Home-Based Business Revolution" by Craig Keeland and Sheri Sharman.

Request your Free Copy of the CD today by emailing us at info@sherisharman.com or calling 800-775-9390.