Help Topics  (Information from Fullerbrush DWT Resource page)

How Do I Make Money With Fuller Brush

There are three ways to make money in your new Fuller Brush business. The three profit centers of Fuller Gold are: Retail, Fuller Direct, and Networking.

Retail: Earn 20 - 55% Profit Through Retailing

Few companies in America have the name recognition and product satisfaction guarantee the Fuller Brush Company has. Fuller Brush sells quality products that every home needs and wants. Even people who don't like selling are finding it easy to collect Fuller Brush orders. Independent Distributors can purchase products directly from the company at wholesale prices by mail or toll free telephone six days a week. There are no minimum or maximum quotas. Fuller has a very generous commission structure, so you can make an excellent income just retailing. However, we recommend that you take advantage of all three profit centers.

Fuller Direct: It's Your Own Mail Order Business

There are very few, if any, networking companies out there today that offer such a complete mail order program. Fuller Direct is a program designed to help the distributor who wants to build his or her business from their home. Fuller has the name recognition to get people to look at your catalog and order from it. And, they deal directly with The Fuller Brush Company. You place your ID number on the catalogs and your customer orders direct from Fuller by mail or toll free telephone. Fuller ships the products directly to your customer, and credits you with the retail profit. (Checks are mailed out monthly.) Fuller provides full color catalogs and monthly sales brochures at nominal cost to you (see your monthly purchase order for current prices and specials). Same commission as regular retail sales. A terrific way to make extra money.

Network Marketing: Sharing An Opportunity

If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want at the same time. Networking is simply word of mouth advertising. If you recruit other distributors for the company, Fuller will pay you, based on their personal volume, and their distributors' volume, as long as you are an active distributor yourself (personal volume of at least $35 monthly). If you sponsor three people who do the same, by the fourth level, you will have 120 distributors on whom you will receive a commission, based on their total sales. Their volume will also push you to a higher commission level on your own sales. If you have built your business to the 44% level, and you have a distributor at the 24% level, you earn 20% commission on all his or her sales. Networking duplicates your time and money.

How Do I Charge My Customers For Shipping & Sales Tax

Shipping:

Shipping costs will eat into your profit margin if you don't pass them on to your customers. Problem is, when you sell locally, folks won't be willing to cough up too much for shipping, since they are not ordering by mail, but through you. So it is important that you combine orders whenever possible.

If you place an order for only one person, you'll likely not get away with passing the entire shipping cost to your customer, and expect them to come back with a repeat order.

But if you place an order for five people, you can charge each of them a modest amount to cover your shipping costs.

You're going to have to decide what works best for you. What many distributors do is simply charge a small flat per person per order, while explaining that it is far less than the standard shipping charge had they ordered from Fuller Direct. (Be sure to point this out, because if you give your customers a break on s/h charges, they may be more likely to come back with more orders, knowing they are getting a good deal.)

Depending on the size of your order, and how many people it is for, and how much you charge each of them, you may have to absorb some of the shipping costs yourself, but that's part of the cost of doing business. Than again, if you order for 5 people and charge each of them $2, you've covered all your costs and then some.

There is no hard and fast rule. It's your business. Charge what you want to, but not so much as to discourage repeat business.

Sales Tax:

Fuller charges you sales tax, so you need to collect sales tax from your customers to recoup what you’ve paid Fuller and stay legal. They then forward the tax to all the states so that you do not need to register with the state to collect sales tax.

What Is Auto Order

Auto Order is a program designed to ensure your account is always active, so you never miss out on your downline over-rides.

Recruiting new distributors is optional. But if you do, you will earn over-ride commissions on your downline sales ONLY if your own account is "active". To be active, you must generate at least $35 in personal retail volume, either through your own purchases from the company for your own use or retail sales, or through Fuller Direct. Any month your account is not active, you will not receive the over-rides you would have been entitled to.

If you sign up for Auto Order, and by the 25th of the month, your account is not active, Fuller will ship you a selection of retail products valued at a minimum of $35, and charge your credit card $35 plus s/h and tax. This way, you can take a month off, go on vacation, and not worry about missing your over-ride commissions.

Auto Order is optional, of course, just like everything else in Fuller Brush. There was a sign-up form in your starter kit. If you need a new one, please contact account administration at 1-800-732-1116.

What Is Fuller Direct

Fuller Direct may be the best deal Fuller Brush offers. Fuller Direct is, quite simply, your own Mail Order business. It is a Mail / Telephone ordering service your customers can use, while you get credit for the sale. Not only can you service out of town friends and family by simply mailing them a catalog, you can market your own business nationally! You can place magazine and newspaper ads, to find people interested in a Fuller Brush catalog. You mail them a catalog, and then sit on the couch.

Here's how it works: You place your ID number on the catalogs you mail out, and include a Fuller Direct order form. The order form is sent in by your customer DIRECT to Fuller Brush. Fuller fills the order DIRECTLY, and handles all payment, shipping, even returns, refunds and exchanges if necessary. At the end of each month, your commission on your mail order sales is computed, and you are sent a check for your profit. Along with your check, you will receive a report showing the names, addresses and phone numbers of your mail order customers, along with the amount they spent on retail products. This makes it easy to follow up with more sale brochures in the future.

By the way, once a customer has ordered from Fuller Brush using Fuller Direct, any future orders they place will be credited to your account! Now that's a deal.

Please note: Fuller Direct Telephone / Mail Order service is limited to use by customers in the 48 contiguous United States.

What Is FullerDirect.com

FullerDirect.com is the online cousin of Fuller Direct Mail / Telephone service discussed elsewhere on this site. You must register for the program before your customers can use it. (A sign-up form was included with your starter kit. If you need a new copy, see the attachment below.)

Here's how it works. Your customers login to the FullerDirect.com web site, and log in with YOUR distributor ID number. Then, when they make a purchase, your account is credited for the sale, and you receive your regular Fuller Gold commissions on every sale. You'll receive a check the following month for any commissions earned in the current month.

Do I Have To Recruit

No, sponsoring new dealers is optional. It is to your benefit to do so, but let's face it, not everyone wants to. So, you don't have to.

If you advance to Director, then sponsoring becomes mandatory. All Directors must sponsor at least 2 new people every year. But by the time you advance to Director, you are a professional with both retailing and sponsoring. So at that point, it's no big deal to find two people a year.

Sponsoring Help

Sponsoring Hotline: Take advantage of the Sponsoring Hotline. This will do a lot of your presentation for you. It's a recorded announcement by Larry Gray, which gives details on our current promotions, and some of the benefits of joining Fuller Brush. Be sure to call yourself so you know what's being advertised, and to know what you are asking your prospects to listen to! Have your prospects call 1-800-477-3855.

FullerBrushGetStarted.com: After showing and promoting the business to your new Distributor prospects . . . have them sign up by simply going to www.fullerbrushgetstarted.com . . . and log-in to the Site by using your Fuller Brush ID#. You’ll automatically be recorded as the sponsor. Your prospect can then complete the Application and purchase a Business Starter Kit using this new secure Website. It’s a great new sponsoring tool created and developed for you by Fuller Brush.

Sponsoring Supplies: Below, you'll find a listing of some of Fuller's Sponsoring aids. All items are listed on the insert of your monthly purchase order. Sponsoring new distributors is optional, of course. But to take the greatest advantage of all that Fuller offers, you should consider building your downline by recruiting new dealers. Your volume will grow, your commission level will grow, your profits will grow.

What If People Say No

Any business that involves selling involves rejection. No matter how good you are, no matter how successful you become, you will not be able to sell everyone.

That is why your attitude is so important. You must be patient, you must be persistent, and you must maintain a positive and enthusiastic attitude.

When you show catalogs, when you demonstrate products, when you share the business opportunity, you'll have some people that are easily sold, some people who need a little extra coaxing, and some people who are simply not interested.

Just keep this simple phrase in mind:

Some Will, Some Won't, So What, NEXT!

Genealogy Reports

Genealogy Reports are available for managers and above online for free at the Distributor Services site (MyFullerBiz.com). If you prefer a paper copy by mail, contact Account Admin at 1-800-732-1116.


How To Link To FullerDirect.com

I have a live web page that demonstrates the different ways to link. You'll find it here.

For complete instructions in PDF format, see the attachment below.

Internet Marketing

Before jumping in with both feet, please remember that Fuller Brush offers every distributor their own FullerDirect.com web site for free. Your customers log in with your ID number, and you get credit for the sale. Most people who have their own web sites use them primarily as an entry port to direct customers to FullerDirect.com, and to collect contact forms for people interested in receiving a catalog or business opp package.

Can I Use The Internet To Market Fuller Brush?

Fuller Brush's "official" policy is to not approve any personal web sites for marketing Fuller Brush products or business opportunities. So do not call the company to ask for permission or help.

However, the "unofficial" policy is whatever works, works. In other words, if you want to post a Fuller Brush web site, just do it.

The company knows about all the web sites operated by Independent Distributors, and they do support our efforts by filling orders and processing applications that are generated from distributor web sites, and submitted through normal channels to the company. So, while you cannot transmit orders or applications from a web site directly to Fuller, you can collect order or application information from a web site and fax or mail it to Fuller for processing.

Please keep in mind that whenever, wherever, however you market your Fuller Brush business, you must identify yourself as an Independent Distributor. You are not an employee of the company; and you do not represent the company. You are in business for yourself. To satisfy this requirement, simply include the words "Independent Distributor" in all of your marketing materials, whether it is in print, or online.

Please note that The Fuller Brush Company, Haynes Fuller Brush Distributing, and The DownEast Winning Team do not offer any kind of support or training for Internet Marketing. You may "unofficially" use the Internet to market your own business if you choose, but you will have to do so on your own.

Important Reminders

Remember, most Internet Service Providers offer some free space for your own web site. By all means, you should use that free space and experiment a bit before deciding to register a domain name and pay for web hosting.

Also, bear in mind that all the knowledge you need to learn how to build web pages is free on the 'net. Go out and search for it. Plus, there are many great web authoring programs that are completely free. So don't shell out big bucks for an HTML editor before trying the free ones.

Note: Much of what used to be "free" on the Internet is no longer free. Search engine placement used to be a matter of learning how to code your pages to show up higher in the search list than your competitors. That is no longer true. In today's world, to show up on top of the search listing, you have to pay. There are very few search engines which take free listings, and those that do are not "major" players. To rank high on AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Google, or any of the other big search engines, you will have to pay for your listings, and usually bid against the competition. Getting listed high on the results pages of major Internet search engines has become very competitive, and in some cases, quite expensive. It's not uncommon to have to pay $1 for a click through to your site, and that does not guarantee a sale, of course. This is not for the beginner with no advertising budget. I highly recommend that you concentrate first on building a local customer base that will provide you with some extra income before delving into Internet marketing.

A Few Words Of Caution

We recommend that you NOT pay someone to create a Fuller Brush web site for you. No matter how nice it is, or professional it looks, there is no guarantee that you'll see any return on your investment. Simply having a web site does not guarantee you'll get traffic to your site, or orders from your site. Do a search for "Fuller Brush" using your favorite search engine, and click around on some of the links. You'll see there is a great deal of competition out there.

Please be aware that there are many scams online, targeting the Internet marketing novice. There are services which promise to post your ad on thousands of sites for a fee. In some cases, this is an FFA marketing scam. Your ad will be shown on thousands of pages, yes, but thousands of pages no one will ever visit or know about. Besides that, posting to FFA pages is free if you know where to look. There are also companies which will charge you to submit your site to all the major search engines. There are two problems with this scam. One, these services will only post to the search engines that accept free submissions, so there is no reason to pay someone else to do it for you. Secondly, just getting listed in a search engine does not necessarily bring you traffic. For best results, you'll have to use a paid service such as those mentioned above to achieve high search engine rankings.

The best way to approach web marketing, at least initially, is to set up a page as an extension of your normal, local, person to person sales efforts. You can advertise your web address on your business cards, on catalogs and brochures that you hand or mail out, in classified ads in your local paper, etc. In other words, set up a page where your potential customers can go to learn about Fuller, your products, and how to contact you to place an order. But you'll still have to advertise your web address the old fashioned way, by word of mouth, classified ads, bulletin board postings, etc. Don't expect that setting up a web page will bring you instant traffic, sales, and income. Internet marketing can be very profitable, but it takes a lot of work, a lot of study and learning, and an advertising budget.

For all the reasons mentioned above, we strongly recommend that new dealers concentrate first and foremost on building a home based business the old fashioned, tried and true way. Order some catalogs and brochures at nominal cost, and go out and see your friends and neighbors. Canvas your neighborhood door to door, introducing yourself as the area's Fuller Brush Man. Place inexpensive classified ads in your local newspaper. Post our advertising flyers on bulletin boards at groceries, laundry mats, etc. You'll find these advertising flyers listed in the business aids catalog.

I Want To Try... How Do I Start?

1. Use your favorite search engine to search for "Fuller Brush". Click the links. See what's already out there, and size up the competition. Make notes of what you like and don't like about particular sites, so you'll know what you want to include and exclude from your own.

2. Decide where you want to host your site: at your ISP's free space, or on a web host using your own domain name.

3. Build your site using an offline editor, or using the online tools provided by the web host you choose.

4. Promote your site. Put you site name or address on every piece of Fuller Brush material you send or mail. This includes email signature lines, catalogs, brochures, letters, recruiting packages, flyers, you name it.

5. Advertise your site. If you have an advertising budget, start using one of the pay per click services.

6. Run it like a business. You can't just put up a static page, and expect it will make you rich in a few weeks. Running an online business is really no different than running a pizza shop. It will require a great deal of your time, energy, and attention.

What Can I Do With A Web Site?

Again, I suggest you search for, and visit, other Fuller Brush sites to see what other distributors are doing online. But basically, you have these options:

A simple page that tells about you and your Fuller business. How to contact you for a catalog, sale brochures, home business info, etc., as well as how to login to FullerDirect.com with your ID number to place orders online.

A more in-depth site might also include the history of Fuller, an overview of the product categories and a listing of some of the products (especially current sale items and/or new products). You could include an online form to allow customers to request a catalog or sale brochure, or home business info. You might even set up a site mailing list, so people could add their names to your newsletter.

You could set up a full blown e-commerce site, complete with the entire product listing, shopping cart, secure payments, etc. Note: if you do set up an e-commerce site, you should NOT get a merchant account for processing credit card payments. Just use the shopping cart to collect order and payment details. Then fill out a customer order form (use R151 or create your own) and FAX the orders to Fuller Direct for processing. This way, Fuller handles all order processing, payments, shipping, even returns and exchanges. If YOU process payments, then YOU have sold the merchandise to the customer, and YOU will have to ship it, and deal with returns, chargebacks, exchanges, etc. You do NOT want that headache. That is exactly what Fuller Direct is for. You don't want or need to open your own Fuller warehouse.

In Closing

I hope that the information above has answered your basic questions about if you can do business online, and where to start your research and learning. But due to the complexities and variables involved, and the ever changing array of services and hosts and site design tools, I really can't be any more specific than this.

There is an "Internet Sales" forum on our discussion board, which you should also check out.

All of the information on this page is provided by Mark S. Haynes, and is not officially endorsed by The Fuller Brush Company. Remember, Fuller Brush does NOT offer online sales help, beyond the FullerDirect.com service, which is free for all distributors to use. Be sure to see the "FullerDirect.com" forum on the discussion board.

Income Taxes

As an Independent Distributor, you are responsible for keeping accurate income and expense records, and for reporting your income to the Federal Government. The IRS has a very helpful site, offering free downloads of tax forms, publications, and instructions.

Visit the IRS web site for help in preparing your income tax return as an Independent Distributor. You'll especially be interested in downloading the following publications:

• · Publication 17 - Your Federal Income Tax
• · Publication 911 - Direct Sellers
• · Publication 535 - Business Expenses
• · Publication 505 - Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax

Miscellaneous, But Important Notes

Sale PERIOD versus Sale PRICING dates:

• · Each monthly sale PERIOD begins on the 1st day of the month, and ends on the last day of the month. The exception is when the last day of the month falls on a weekend or holiday, in which case, the end date moves to the previous business day (generally the last Friday in the month). Any orders generated or received over the weekend will apply to the following monthly sale period.
• · Monthly sale PRICING begins on the 15th of the previous month. In other words, November pricing begins on October 15th. Same exception as above. If the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday, the sale pricing start date moves to the previous business day.
• · Sale BROCHURES are available well in advance, and are generally ready for order the last week of the month before the sale begins. For example, because November sale pricing starts in mid-October, the brochures are available the last week of September.

• Been a While Since You Ordered?

• · If you haven't ordered for a while, then you don't have the most recent sale brochures, purchase orders, and other important info. No problem! Call Customer Service at 1-800-732-1118 and ask for a Literature Pack. It's free!

• Turn Your Home Into a Fuller Home!

• · If you want to know what you're selling, and be able to make informed recommendations and give honest, first person product testimonials, be sure to use Fuller products in your own home. A great way to do this is to order the new product demos as they become available, and replace all of the products you normally use (detergent, hand lotion, kitchen and bath products, etc.) with Fuller Brands. How you can sell it, if you don't use it, is a mystery to me.

• Please Let us Know!

• · Please let us know when you sign up a new distributor! The only way we can help your new people is if we know about them. Wouldn't you want your downline to receive the same professional quality support we offer you? So, please send your upline an email, or use the "Contact Us" page to let us know when you sign up a new distributor!

• Are You Getting All You're Due?

• · As we all know, Fuller has no quotas, no mandatory orders, almost no requirements of any kind. But if you have a downline, you get paid override commissions ONLY if your OWN account is active. Any month that your downline is active, and you are not, you get no overrides.
• · I see it on my own downline report frequently. Dealer "A" has an active downline. If Dealer "A" had placed only a small order of say $35 or $50, they would have been pushed to the next discount level, AND gotten overrides on all their downline sales. But since they placed no order at all, they made NOTHING. No personal sales commission. No downline override commissions. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
• · If you're going to recruit and sponsor other dealers, you MUST keep your own account active, every month, in order to get all that's coming to you.

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