I think part of the reason some people don’t trust the MLM world is that they go in with unrealistic goals. They feel that they can get rich overnight. I don’t blame some people for thinking that either. If you look around you see time and time again ads stating that you can make instant riches and quit your job today! If an opportunity seems to good to be true, it probably is. That is why it is very important to do your homework and to check if an MLM opportunity is a scam or not.

Multi-Level Marketing is legitimate and a great way to make extra income. I, and many others I know, are making good incomes by running MLM programs. So, what is the secret to success? Below I’ve listed out things you need to consider before joining an MLM, as well as the pros and cons of MLM opportunities. At the end I’ve listed a link to my Scam page so that you can research any MLM opportunity your interested in and find out quickly if it is indeed legitimate.

Things to Consider Before Choosing an MLM Business:

* Make sure a real product is being offered. If there is no product and you pay money to enter the MLM business then this IS NOT an MLM. In fact, this is a scam and is very illegal!

* Watch out for “Get Rich Quick” Ads. This is a real business and you will not get rich overnight!

* Please check out the company’s record with the Better Business Bureau. Do they have a clean record? Has there been many complaints about them? It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to starting your own business!

* Make sure the company that you’re interested in has been in business for a least a few years and has established a good reputation.

* Choose an MLM company that produces products that you would use yourself. If you have used the product and enjoy it, it will be that much easier for you to sell!

* Choose an MLM company that uses the internet as a marketing tool. Not only will you have a huge customer base to sell to, but the MLM company should provide you with a site and various online tools to use as well. If you are given a site, it may be in your best interest to build your own site because then it will be unique and will separate you from the other sites. Not sure how to build a website? Find out here.

Pros of Starting an Online MLM Business:

* You can be at home with your family more!

* You have a product that is already established. In other words, you don’t have to pay to develop and manufacture your own product.

* Start-up costs are minimal. You will likely need to pay for some form of advertising, but how much you spend is entirely up to you. And in most jurisdictions, if you register as a business you can write off your business expenses come tax time.

* Online marketing and promotional tools will be available for you to use. No need to reinvent the wheel to make this MLM business work for you!

* You will likely be placed on a team and will receive valuable training and support from them as you build your business. You will learn from their mistakes and become a success.

* You do not have to hound friends and family about your product or business opportunity. Instead, you will have a huge targetted audience on the internet already interested in starting their own home business.

* Running your business on the internet will allow you to tap into an ever-expanding market of people who are searching for a work at home business.

Cons of Starting an Online MLM Business:

* You may be competing with thousands of other consultants in your local area. This may be a problem. Look for an MLM company that has few sellers in your local area. If you have found a great MLM company to join and it does have a lot of sellers in your area, don’t despair. Be creative, be different and stand out from the crowd and that way you will still succeed no matter what!

* Running an online MLM business is not easy. You will work just as hard running your business online as you would offline.

* Because an MLM business offers most of the things you need to succeed such as: website, products, promotional material some people may expect unrealistic things. Because it seems easy, you may think that all you have to do is sit back and an avalanche of money will come pouring in. Not so. You will need to work hard to make this succeed.

* If you can’t handle rejection then you may be in for a tough time. Not everyone who shows interest in your MLM products will act. In fact, most won’t. If you can handle rejection and carry on with promoting your business you will be fine.

about.com

As Independent Entrepreneur, you develop your own sales network, so you are paid on the whole business volume of your organization. This is another particularity of Network Marketing, commissions are divided between the intervening parties instead of the traditional merchant who keeps the profit margin for himself. By this mechanism, you benefit from a residual revenue, month after month, subsequent to an initial effort, which is a lot different in a conventional store where one must constantly look for new customers to maintain the sales volume.

For the manufacturer, the advantages are also important. With the same gross profit margin as they would have allowed to a conventional store, they get, in Network Marketing, a personalized presentation of their products to potential clients. Depending on the nature of the product, Network Marketing is sometimes the only efficient marketing option.

In its concept, Network Marketing brings solidarity, mutual help and exceptional support from its team members. Moreover, it is the most upright system known to remunerate talent and effort. Everyone has equal chances to develop an important organization, if desired.

Other names are used for the same commercial activity, such as VRC (vente par r�seau commercial) in Europe and MLM (Multi Level Marketing) in the USA. However, in the past, Network Marketing has been wrongly associated with pyramid schemes that are illegal in several countries. As in any commercial activity, discernment is important. It would not come to your mind to declare that all restaurants are insalubrious if some of them unfortunately make the headlines. There are those who imagine strategies to make it rich quickly and others, true business builders, who ground their action over several years of honest work.

The interest in this form of marketing goes back to the 50s, the success of Avon and Amway are some examples. Today, several companies explore this avenue. We can observe GE, AT&T, Kodak, Proctor & Gamble who get involved by alliances with existing networks or by acquisitions. Furthermore, some American Universities are now offering Network Marketing courses.

In 1999, a survey conducted by Direct Selling Association in the USA revealed that Network Marketing generated worldwide sales of 84,5 billion $US and 34,6 million registered salespeople. In the USA alone, between 1995 and 1999, sales increased by 36 %, from 17,9 billion to 24,5 billion $US. The number of home based workers increased by 85 % in the USA between 1990 and 1997 and this trend will increase since 96 % of adults aged 25 to 44 dream of having their own business.

Those interested in networking are people from all socioeconomic classes. Their motivations are multiple and vary from one another. However, some reasons arise more often, such as :

� the need for an additional revenue to actual wages
� escape from current job uncertainty
� the need to build up a worthy activity for your retirement
� the need for autonomy and to be your own boss
� wanting to manage one’s own time in home comfort
� simply, start a new career.

Developing a new business project always requires some thinking. Offers are numerous, particularly on internet. Lets review the most important criteria which should be considered in evaluating a business opportunity in Network Marketing :

1) The business capitalization : the marketing of products according to the Multi Level Marketing (MLM) method requires a big investment by the owners. It is important for you to verify the financial stability of the company you are interested in. Inquire about the business antecedents of its directors. Talk to entrepreneurs in place and ask to meet with the directors so they can expose their views on the industry, concentrate your questions on the strengths and weaknesses of the company. Are they paying commissions on fixed dates and without delay ? What are the expansion projects of the company ? Go for a visit of their installation, their customers service and shipping departments.

2) The training : your success as entrepreneur lies in acquiring a know-how. It is the companys responsibility to offer you the tools which will help you to develop. Ask to see the training program. Ask questions about those giving this training and evaluate their competence. Read the available literature about the company and its products.

3) The choice of a sponsor : are you sufficiently at ease with your sponsor to invite him at your house for diner ? to talk to him on a daily basis ? Equally, do you have affinities with other members of this team ? Is your sponsor offering you any marketing projects to which you can adhere ?

4) The growth of the industry : choose a company established in a growing industry, the growth rate must be above 10 % annually for an medium growth and at least 20 % for a superior growth. Refer to available statistics on the subject. How is the company you are interested in positioned in this industry ? Choose preferably a company in the introduction phase which offers a high potential or a strongly growing company having but a few active entrepreneurs in your territory.

5) The remuneration plan : carefully study the rules to qualify for commissions. Are these rules clearly presented to you ? Is your sponsor helping you to establish your business structure in terms of your personal objectives? Talk to those who succeeded in that company and ask for advise on this subject. How many efforts do they devote to their business ? As a networker, can you get a good compensation for your efforts ? Evaluate the time you will need to recover the money you invested to join this organization, it should be no more than a few weeks.

6) The range of products offered : the products must be sufficiently fascinating to you so that you become a consumer yourself. The products must be unique, i.e. available exclusively by the network you belong to. The products must be consumable, therefore excluding durable products. Ask for the loyalty rate to the products, it must be superior to 75 %. In other words, for 100 clients, on average how many will continue to consume the products month after month ? The repeat business is an essential key in residual commissions. Evaluate the quality of the products, ask how they are made and what is their particularity. What benefits will the consumers reap from them ? Are the products offering an excellent Quality/Price ratio ? Does the company own any patents on these products ? This assures you that these products will remain unique. If it is a discovery, is it well documented, is this discovery well recognized and respected by the people in this industry ? Are the researchers who made this discovery respected in their field of research ? The larger the recognition in the field, the more you will have an important discovery in hands. Ask the people around you for their opinion on how they perceive the products. You will certainly join the company offering the best products because this thorough conviction will represent your everyday source of motivation as entrepreneur.

The range of products and the training offered by a Network Marketing company are often underestimated. Still, they are key to an increasing residual revenue. Give these elements a special attention in your evaluation.

You have all the information in hands, you have made up your mind, all that is left for you to do is the most important, work on YOURSELF. Here are the golden rules to success :

a) Develop a project that is unique, a way of doing things that is yours, a personal objective to attain. Put your train of thought in focus so that the objective to attain is clearly impregnated in your mind. Do not hesitate to have grand ideas and develop for yourself the tools at the level of your ambitions. Your profound desire to be successful forever replaces the previous doubts and wavering. Elaborate a single project that will occupy all your attention. Put it in writing and conjugate all verbs in the present tense.

b) Do not enter in competition with anyone, you have a unique product, a fair price, a unique objective, so take what belongs to you and leave their share to others. Opportunities are numerous and the sun shines for all. What you wish for yourself, wish it for each member of your team and help them to attain their objectives. It is the beauty of the network.

c) Express your gratitude to the people who help you, be thankful to them regularly. They will be inclined to be more supporting to you.

d) Go into action, your objective to achieve must be expressed into concrete daily actions. Visualize your daily progress and savor every little step to the realization of your objective. Give to each client more use value than the money value you get from them. Your will to act according to your plan is your source of motivation. Accomplish all you have to do, do not postpone till tomorrow what must be done today. 100 % of your efforts go to the success of your project.

e) Give yourself moments of reflection to readjust your aim and to reinforce your objectives. Develop action plans that are more and more efficient. Your occupation must be the actual moment. You cannot change what was done yesterday and tomorrow is yet to come. Your objective must be ever present in your mind.

f) Be always enthusiastic and positive, gather people who share your views. Keep in the company of winners and stay away from pessimists.

g) Remain creative to imagine new methods of action to attain your objectives. Accomplish the tasks of the day efficiently and without stress. You will give an impression of personal well-being which others cannot fail to notice. Just like a magnet, you will attract quality people who resemble you.

Paul E. Berteau

http://www.gsh-online.com

A few words about the author :
Paul got a bachelor and a master degree in business administration and about 20 years of experience in business. He owns the domain name http://www.gsh-online.com/pb/

1. Has the company been around for at least 5 years?

If you want the efforts you put in today to pay off for many years in the future, choose a company that has proven that it will be around for the long term. 90% of all network marketing companies FAIL within their first 2 years. You don’t want to invest your precious time and resources (not to mention your future) in something that may not be in business next month, do you?

2. Is the company well capitalized?

In other words, does it have the cash that it will need to grow, to maintain a solid infrastructure, to attract talented management, to keep pace with technology — and, of course, to pay your commissions! (I prefer publicly traded companies because they’re required to disclose their financial condition in DETAIL every 90 days to the SEC and other governmental agencies. You may not be able to obtain this information on a private company, so you’ll be taking a risk on its financial condition.)

3. Does the company offer products or services that are unique?

That is, they’re not readily available elsewhere (especially at a discount) and they’re not just another “me too” product that has loads of competition.

4. Is there a genuine need for the product or service?

You’ve probably heard horror stories about people ending up with a garage full of expensive water filters – the reason that happens is because only other distributors will purchase the product at that price! Your product or service must fill a REAL need at a fair price – and there should be a large untapped market for it. In other words, it MUST provide tremendous value, so the customer is the biggest winner.

5. Is the product or service trendy or a fad?

You can’t build long term residual income (i.e., your retirement!) if the product or service only has short term appeal (e.g., beany babies, etc.). Think long term instead. Is the product or service something that your customers will continue to use for a long time?

6. Can you generate immediate income?

So that you can finance your marketing and expansion efforts from cash flow.

7. Does the marketing system take full advantage of technology?

Not everyone is a sales type, but ANYBODY can plug into a system and tools that do the selling and sorting for you!

8. Is the person who is introducing you to the opportunity committed to YOUR success?

If they are, the company is strong, and the product or service is a winner, (and, of course, you’re willing to learn) you WILL succeed. There’s a big difference between a “sponsor” and a “recruiter.” A sponsor coaches. motivates and trains and a recruiter just signs people up and in most cases, abandons them.

9. Is there a way to build your business part-time without losing your full time income?

The company must have automated systems that can do the heavy lifting (i.e., selling and sorting) for you so that you can use your limited time efficiently.

10. Will you have FUN?

Although this may not be an element of your current JOB, we think it’s important! You should have a lot of fun with your business partners while you work together to build a long term business and your financial army.

So there you have it — ten criteria for selecting a superior network marketing opportunity. Of course, even with a great company, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. You WILL have to work! But, with the right opportunity (unlike your job), it won’t have to be forever!

___________________________

John Venezia is a career insurance and financial services professional, both a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant(ChFC), who after 24 years in the Insurance industry decided to also explore network marketing as a business model. Since finding a company that met his criteria, he has built a team of 1,600 people in the last 6 or so years, many of whom are also insurance and financial services agents.

“Make Money 24 Hours a Day”

“Instant Success!”

The headlines are certainly enticing, especially in today’s troubled economic climate. The idea of making money right away without any special skills or major investment appeals to the immediate need, while the promise of residual income appeals to the desire to not end up in your current financial position ever again. And some highly reputable companies have been built on this marketing & distribution structure… Avon, Mary Kay, Excel Communications, and more. But then there’s the down side… “Do I really want to pitch this to all my friends?” “Can I actually make money at it?” “How do I know it’s not a scam?”

If you’re considering an MLM, CDM, or network marketing opportunity, ask these six questions to determine whether a network, multi-level, or consumer direct marketing is worth your while (and your money).

Who is your upline? Take it all the way to the top. What do you know about the person who introduced you to the opportunity? Can you trust what they tell you? Are they willing to divulge exactly how much they’ve been making? And what about the founders of the company (assuming it’s a newer company)? Have they been successful and reputable in their previous businesses? Investigate your entire upline just like you would a business partner you’d never met before.

What is the product? Is it something that would sell well in a retail store or via other traditional marketing and distribution channels? What’s the competition like? How convincing are you going to have to be in order to sign up customers? If you’re not an experienced salesperson, don’t expect to become one overnight. You’re going to have to become an evangelist for the product, so make sure you believe in it.

When will you start actually making money? Don’t fall for the line that it takes months or even years to show a profit. You should be able to recoup any investment and start earning income within just a few weeks if there’s really demand for the product. Making a living at it is another story. You need to be able to work it part-time in addition to other steadier income sources. Will you realistically be able to do that with this company?

Where is the product being promoted and where can you promote it? Is the company doing advertising and publicity of its own to help create demand for the product? And what restrictions are there on where and how you can promote it (advertising, web sites, etc.). There’s not a right or wrong answer to that question – a wide open policy is more flexible for you, but for everyone else, too. If you’re prepared to be highly competitive, that’s fine, but if not, you may prefer to work with a company whose policy is more restrictive.

How were you recruited? Were you recruited primarily as a customer, with just a mention of “income opportunity”, or was the primary pitch about the business opportunity? The ethical way to build a downline is to sign people up as customers first, and then if they like the product, they’ll be drawn to become a rep. A hard-sell on signing up as a rep right at the outset should send up a red flag for you.

Why are you doing this? This is perhaps the most important question of all. If you’re doing it because you think it’s going to help you out of a cash crunch, forget it. If you’re doing it because you think you’re going to be rich in a year, well, it’s fine to have a vision, but don’t bank on it. On the other hand, if you really believe in the product, that gives you the best likelihood of success with it.

There are no absolute right and wrong answers to these questions. The point is to make sure that you’re going into it with your eyes wide open. Many people have made a lot of money in network marketing, MLM, and consumer direct marketing, but many more have ended up wasting a whole lot of time and money chasing a pipe dream. You can ensure your success best by being sure you’re getting into the right opportunity in the first place.

From Scott Allen