Our last Avon representative interview in our Avon home business series was held earlier this month. I spoke with Maria Sutej, a Regional Vice President in Sales at Avon Products, Inc. Maria has been with Avon since 1983, when she began as a District Sales Manager. Twenty-nine years is a long time, but Maria said she “…started this for fun, but had no idea it could be SO much fun!”

Maria shared that there are two ways Avon representatives can make money: 1) by building a home business based only on Avon sales and 2) by taking advantage of the leadership opportunity. She says the latter is where the true business opportunity lies, in not only selling to customers, but also recruiting new representatives. For maximum earning potential, Maria suggests representatives do both.

Maria also shared a couple of stories of Avon representatives she’s come in contact with over the years. She told us about Linda Jones, who was laid off from a corporate job about six years ago and started selling Avon due to the loss of income. Linda now sells $78,000 of product per year and earns about half of that. Another story Maria shared was that of  Donna Reed Mitchell, who is originally from Jamaica and started her Avon career in New York. Donna’s daughter was diagnosed with an illness requiring her to home-school. Donna is a Sr. Executive Unit Leader earning a six-figure income and says she wouldn’t be able to home-school if it weren’t for her Avon business.

Maria’s advice for new representatives is to start approaching not only people you know, but also people you don’t know at various places you go. She said if you want to build a big business, you need to establish yourself. Her suggestion is that representatives list places they frequent and think of who they can approach. A key reminder is to not be afraid of approaching strangers; as Maria said, most people’s response is “I haven’t seen an Avon brochure in years!”

I asked Maria how Avon representatives can take advantage of social media to market their Avon businesses. She responded that Facebook is a great way to spread word and that she sees a lot of representatives using it to launch their business. Maria also mentioned that the internal Avon site has Internet marketing tools to help representatives, including videos, e-cards, and other content.

It’s clear that success through an Avon home business can be different for everyone. In interviewing the various Avon representatives over the past few months, we’ve seen a variety of levels of earning potential and business models. I think the great thing in all that is that Avon provides flexibility and allows each representative to create the home business that’s right for them.

Have you ever explored Avon as a home business opportunity?

Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work with Avon.

Our partnership with Avon continues with a second profile of an Avon representative. I had the chance to speak last month with Yesenia Ward who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and has been with Avon since October 2007.  She moved to Vegas from California and as a stay at home mom (SAHM), she was seeking something that would allow her to have more adult interaction. Soon after, she found an Avon brochure in her driveway; she considered the find to be a sign, so she called to inquire about selling.

Yesenia was already familiar with Avon, since growing up, her mom often had Avon books around the house and was an Avon customer. Her whole family is involved in her business; her two sons especially, ages six and seven, help bag and deliver products. Yesenia mentioned that some customers even request to have their products delivered by her sons!

With Avon, you can make the business your own and work as much or as little as you want. Yesenia takes advantage of this and runs her business mostly part-time, but full-time during her boys’ school breaks. She estimates she puts in about five hours a day while her boys are in school.

The  majority of Yesenia’s business comes from one-on-one face-to-face meetings. She carries business cards and also has a website through the Avon site. Lots of people contact her through the website for both purchasing as well as for more information on becoming an Avon representative. Yesenia also uses Facebook to advertise her Avon link and keep family informed.

Since the majority of her business comes from personal interactions, it’s no wonder that word of mouth is the top way Yesenia finds new representatives. She explained to me that her mom works at a casino and shares information on Yesenia’s business to customers. Yesenia’s husband is in the army, so another way word spreads is through the wives of his coworkers.

I asked Yesenia what keeps her motivated to continue her Avon business, to which she responded that she loves she can work on her own time without a boss. She shares her story with new representatives and lets them know how easy it is for their schedule. She says, “Avon sells itself with not a lot of effort.” Yesenia  has about fifteen representatives under her and periodically meets with them one-on-one. She would like to host in-home parties, but hasn’t been able to yet.

It took Yesenia a while to make money selling Avon. At first, she started selling only to friends and family. After three months of selling Avon, she became a unit leader, which is when she started seeing more income come in. Any income Yesenia earns always goes towards her kids’ schools, their supplies, etc.

Yesenia’s story is different from our last featured Avon representative, Sylvia Tamayo, but that is the beauty of being an Avon representative and selling Avon products. You can make your Avon business be whatever you want it to be. In fact, I’d say that’s the top benefit of any home-based business and being your own boss! Don’t you think?

Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work with Avon.