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Check with your state or national government's business regulatory agency to find out what type of licensing is required for you to practice as an independent sales rep in your area. Make your business as professional as possible: Design a simple logo or ask for help from graphic designer friends. Hand out business cards and other informational materials that are appropriate for your industry. Create a website that lists your available products, credentials, and contact information. Set up and manage social networking accounts. Contribute to industry-related online forums, and create a blog. Be sure to include a link back to your website in all of your forum, blog and social networking posts. Always be on the lookout for more potential buyers and new markets. Keep yourself educated about your chosen industry so that you can be a more competitive and attractive potential sales agent for both manufacturers and buyers. Attend conferences, seminars and trade shows related to the industry you are interested in and approach vendors about possible independent sales opportunities. Attend networking events. Find events related to your industry in the local classifieds, in the community section of classifieds sites like Craigslist and on websites like Meetup.com. Meet as many people as you can, hand out business cards and follow-up with useful contacts. Advertise your independent sales rep offerings in newspapers, magazines, trade publications, classifieds websites and industry-related web directories. For example, if you choose to represent a computer hardware manufacturer, you can advertise in technology magazines and in the technology section of your local newspaper. As you continue to grow your customer base and become a more reputable presence in your industry, you might find yourself ready to hire others to work for you. Before starting a multi-person agency, think about how reputable and reliable your services and accounts have been to date. Don't think about expanding unless you have multiple accounts that you know for a fact will continue to be good sources of revenue. When expanding your business, craft a business plan with reasonable expectations and specific objectives. Designate specific accounts or products that you'll delegate to new hires. Use these estimates to decide how many sub-agents you should hire. Set specific goals for your new hires and their assigned accounts. Using your past income, forecast conservative expectations for commissions generated. When added sub-agents to your business, focus on customer service. Make sure that anyone you add to your team will deliver the same high quality service that brought you success.
Create your business. Develop an online presence for your business. Continue to expand your customer and knowledge bases. Hire sub-contractors or sub-agents.