It’s the business of word of mouth. Whether you realize it or not, you are already in it – you just aren’t getting paid for it. Let’s face it, when you tell a friend that they have to go see a new movie, and they do, does the director or studio send you a commission check for your referral? When you recommend a great restaurant to a friend, and they go there on your recommendation, do you get your next meal free?

Owning your own direct selling business allows you to capitalize on something you already do and take advantage of the best kept secrets of the wealthy and happy: “passive” or “residual” wealth. To understand this concept, look at the example of a writer.

The writer sits down, works for weeks, months, even years on a manuscript. The final product is produced and sold. And, although writers may get paid an advance or a small fee, the real money comes from the royalties. They work incredibly hard for a short time, then sit back and collect the royalties. It’s usually a small percentage of the sales price or a fixed price per book or ticket sold.

If you own your own direct selling business, you can do that, because you can take advantage of something called leverage. J. Paul Getty, one of the richest men on his day, put it this way, “I would rather have one percent of the efforts of 100 men, than 100 percent of my own efforts.”

When most people think of selling, they think of giving a long speech about a product. They think about memorizing serial numbers, dimensions, facts, and figures. Word of mouth marketing, however, is different. And remember, you already know how to do it.

Again, when you recommend a movie to someone, do you tell them who the makeup person was? Or how many extras were used in the movie? No. You just tell them it was great! You see, it’s not really about sales; it’s about exposure and relationships. In direct selling, that’s your job. Tell people about the products and services that you already know and like. That’s how word of mouth becomes a business.