There are literally hundreds of different MLM opportunities all wanting a piece of you. Which ones will you give the light of day? I have compiled a guide to help you evaluate MLM companies and choose one that works for you, not what your sponsor says.
First of all, there are three criteria for fulfillment. You are obviously going to sponsor others into the MLM business of your choice. In order to guarantee that the people you sponsor are satisfied with their choices — and feel good about them — it’s essential for these three criteria to be firmly in place.
SAFETY — There’s little or no risk involved. They won’t lose their money (not risk a whole bunch, anyway), their health, their happiness, their friends and family, their reputations, their dignity, their status, their job, their self-esteem… nothing will be worse than it already was.
EFFICACY — It does what it says it will do. It keeps its promises. It works! (This includes the company, the compensation plan, the products, the support systems, and the upline team.)
VALUE — The benefits are much greater than all of the conditions that had to be met to obtain them. (The difference defines their degree of fulfillment. If that difference is negative, it defines their degree of disappointment. Either way, it will make them want to tell others about how they feel!)
Most people consider themselves lucky to get two out of three when they buy or commit to anything. If you are fortunate enough to get all three out of three you have a fantastic start!
In addition, there are five factors to consider in order to properly evaluating each network marketing business opportunity…
1. The Company
The Company comes first in priority for one simple reason: if the company goes out of business, so do you.
Company failure is the single biggest threat to network marketers, because 90% of them fail in the first five years.
Check out the track record of the company owners and senior management. Have they been previously involved in failed companies? Do they have convictions for criminal or corporate offences, such as fraud? (Corrupt, incompetent or inexperienced management is still a major cause of company failure. Any decent company will be happy to be scrutinized.)
Start-ups of course are risky but they also can provide a high return because you can reach more people especially in the network marketing industry who haven’t heard about it yet. Because of this I recommend getting your foot in the door by first focusing on one solid business to start a foundation, and commit yourself to it before quitting or expanding your portfolio so you have somewhere to work from.
Another word about companies… “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”. Building multiple streams of income is the quickest and easiest way to creating a large income online. Once you have created a foundation create a secure income by adding on other income sources.
2. The Compensation Plan
The compensation plan is second in priority because 90% of network marketers fail to make money, despite their valiant efforts and hard work, and despite name calling (”quitters” or “losers”) by some upline ‘leaders’ and company managers.
The simple reality of network marketing is that most compensation plans are geared against the part-time marketer. They reward the company and the “heavy hitters” with mega-networks at the expense of the part-timers.
Beware, too, of “breakage.” This is the money that rolls up to the company when distributors fail to qualify for bonuses due to high group volume qualifications. Breakage can results in windfall profits to companies that can amount to as much as 50% of their net annual profits. This money rightfully belongs to the members.
3. The Products
The basic truth about products is this… they do NOT drive network marketing. Money does. It’s estimated that as many as 75% of most companies’ distributors don’t even use their own products because they can’t make enough money to buy them.
There’s a name in network marketing for people who are focused on products and prices. They’re called customers.
As an entrepreneur, you should be focused on marketing and margins, not products and prices.
While it’s crucial to have good quality, well priced, high demand, highly consumable products in network marketing, they’re what you carry in your business vehicle — they are NOT the vehicle itself.
Be wary of companies and network leaders who promote heavy emotional commitment to their products. Too often it’s a cunning distraction to keep you from looking too closely at the first two factors — the company and the compensation plan.
Despite this fact, you should have 100% belief in the product, compensation plan, and company. In a perfect situation the products should be something you are excited to personally use and recommend.
4. The Support Systems
You need effective systems in place that can be easily and inexpensively duplicated, over and over again. Systems for lead generation, prospecting, presentation, sponsoring, training, communication, recognition and support allow you to focus on people and their needs. You don’t get bogged down by the workings of the systems. Systems for ordering products, shipping of products, payments and bonuses should be provided by the company.
5. The Upline Leadership Team
Committed, caring, supportive upline leaders are crucial to your early and long term success. They should have training programs, supervision and support strategies and systems, and they should be accessible to you and your downline.
You owe your upline leaders nothing but gratitude for helping you succeed. They, on the other hand, owe you and your people their livelihood — their incomes and lifestyles. They have an obligation to YOU, not the other way around. Don’t be afraid to ask for help — and demand to know their level of commitment BEFORE you decide to join them. (It pays to check them out with other downline members, too, to learn the reality of their fine sentiments and promises.)
Just a small tip before I end this. The scams and duds in network marketing (they’re never true network marketing, they only pretend to be to fool people) are easy to find — when you know how.
Here’s the reality…
They always create a FALSE vision of getting rich with NO time, NO effort and NO discipline required.
So anytime you encounter an “opportunity” that tells you it can make you rich with no time, no effort and no discipline, you can be absolutely certain of one thing… it’s a FAKE. Let’s get real, would they need you if any of that was true? If it does work for some time, it is very short lived and is not a good strategy for long-term success.
In closing, it is still always better to get started right away instead of spending too much time looking… while you are out in the field you just may accidentally come across what you have been looking for!
To your success!
Darren Olander
Network Marketing Consultant
©copyright : Darren Olander
Darren Olander is a network marketing consultant dedicated to teaching others how to effectively build your mlm business and attract more prospects and generate more leads. You can learn more about him at DarrenOlander.com
KUALA LUMPUR: Amway (M) Holdings Bhd plans to expand its distribution network this year to widen its presence in the country, said executive director Paul Yee.
Amway, which offers more than 200 products, currently has 13 distribution centres in Malaysia and Brunei, and some 188,000 core distributors.
For the first quarter of the financial year ending Dec 31, 2008, it made a net profit of RM21mil compared with RM17mil previously. It recorded a revenue of RM145mil compared with RM142mil previously.
AMWAY (M) Holdings Bhd expects single-digit growth in revenue for the year ending Dec 31, 2008, given the cautious mood amid economic weaknesses in the US, according to executive director Paul Yee.
“The US and global economies are seeing weaknesses while the domestic market faces inflationary pressure. These factors would affect consumer spending, hence impacting us,” he said.
For the year ended Dec 31, 2007 (FY07), the direct-selling company reported a net profit of RM87.9mil on record sales of RM584.3mil.
“Last year’s incentive programme was a trip to Alaska, and that spurred distributors to achieve better sales. The improvement is also supported by our marketing plan to promote our products,” Yee told StarBiz.
The two major products launched – Nutrilite Double X and third-generation water treatment system, eSpring – had received positive response, he said, adding that Amway also introduced 12 other new products into the market.
PETALING JAYA: A continuous flow of new products will ensure that Hai-O Enterprise Bhd’s earnings continue to be healthy in the financial year ending April 30, 2009 (FY09), according to financial controller Hew Von Kin.
The company, which is mainly engaged in manufacturing, wholesaling and multi-level marketing (MLM) of traditional herbal and pharmaceutical products, is mulling over a venture into the cosmetic and skincare segment next year.
“We’re looking at bringing overseas products, like those from South Korea,” Hew told StarBiz in a telephone interview yesterday. Presently, two of the company’s best selling products are the water filter and healthcare supplements.
Sales doubled to RM100.5mil from RM51.4mil previously. For the first nine months, earnings per share (EPS) improved to 40.07 sen against 20.51 sen a year ago.Hai-O is consistently one of the best-performing groups with a large part of its business in MLM.
Hew said for FY09, it would be difficult to replicate the same growth rate seen in FY08, which was buoyed by the MLM division that grew more than 160% in the first nine months.
PETALING JAYA: Hai-O Enterprise Bhd has developed over 110 millionaire entrepreneurs, of whom 95% are bumiputra, since the setting-up of its multi-level marketing (MLM) division.
These entrepreneurs, supported by a group of down-line agents, are known as crown diamond managers (CDM). Last year, more than 10 entrepreneurs earned RM1mil each.
The commission structure is subject to the performance of the CDM as well as sales generated by his down-line agents.
“It is not easy to reach this level. All the CDMs earn five-figure incomes every month,” group managing director Tan Kai Hee said during the appreciation dinner yesterday.
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