You probably have an image firmly planted in your mind of what
network marketing (also known as direct sales or multilevel
marketing) is all about--housewives buying and selling Tupperware
while gossiping and eating finger sandwiches, or a high-pressure
salesperson trying to convince you how easily you can become a
millionaire if only you and your friends and their friends and so
on would buy and sell vitamins with him.
Both of these images couldn't be further from the reality of
network marketing. It's neither a hobby nor a get-rich-scheme
but an opportunity for you to earn money running your own part- or
full-time business.
But what does it take to succeed in this industry? Vincent J.
Kellsey, director of member services for the Direct Selling Women's
Alliance, an organization that provides a variety of resources
to women and men in the direct-selling industry, offers these tips
for making it:
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Choose wisely. There are six key elements you should be
looking for [when selecting an opportunity]. Number one: stability.
How old is the company? Number two is excellent products or
services that consumers will use and need more of.
Number three is the pay plan--how even and fair and generous
overall is the distribution? This is really crucial as the pay plan
represents exactly how you'll get paid--or not get paid. There
are really only two questions to ask [regarding this]: How many
pennies out of each sales dollar get paid back to the distributors
each month, and how fair is the distribution of these pennies
between the old members and the new members?
Number four is the integrity of the company and the management.
As much as possible, [investigate] the experience of the CEO,
[their] experience in the network marketing industry, and their
background. [Have] they been successful in other companies in the
industry? Do they have a good reputation?
Number five is momentum and timing. Look at where the
company's at, what's going on with the company, and if
it's growing.
Number six is support, training and business systems. You may
have [chosen] a great company with excellent management, products
that make a difference, a pay plan that's uniquely fair and
very generous, and momentum and stability, but if you don't
have a system in place that works, all of that [doesn't
matter]. Most companies will have a transferable training system
that they use, and that's where mentorship comes in.
Practice what they teach. [To succeed,] you need to be
willing to listen and learn from mentors. The way this industry is
structured, it's in the best interests of the [MLM veterans in
your company] to help you succeed, so they're willing to teach
you the system. Whatever [your mentor] did to become successful,
it's very duplicatible, but you have to be willing to listen
and be taught and follow those systems.
The higher-ups. It can be called various things, but the
general term is the "upline," meaning the people above
you. How supportive are they? Do they call you? Do they help you
put a plan in place? Are they as committed to your success as they
are to their own? You should be able to relate to [the people in
your upline] and be able to call them at any time to say "I
need some help." How much support there is from the people
above you in the company is very important.
Take up the lead with your downline. There's a term
in the network marketing industry called "orphans"--when
somebody is brought in and then the person who brought them in is
just so busy bringing in other people that they don't spend the
time to teach and train [the new person]. You should be prepared to
spend at least 30 days helping a new person come into the
industry--training them, supporting them and holding their hand
until they feel confident to be able to go off on their own. You
really need to ask yourself, are you willing to do that? Are you
able to do that? This is really about long-term relationship
building. It's not about just bringing people into the business
and just moving forward. It's about working with these people
and helping them to develop relationships.
On the net. People are utilizing [the internet] as their
main marketing tool. [You can set up your site] with autoresponders
so when you capture leads, the autoresponder can follow up with
that person. One of the greatest keys to success in this industry
is follow-up. Many people will have someone call them who's
interested or they'll call the person and say they're
interested, but then they don't follow up with it. Automation
on the internet has allowed a much more consistent method of
following up.
The only drawback with the internet is people who utilize it to
spam. If there was one thing I could put forward to say, "Do
not do" when utilizing the internet as a marketing tool,
it's spamming because that can give a very bad reputation not
only to you but also to the company you're working with.
Taking care of business. This is a business, and just
like if you were running a franchise or a storefront, you [should
have an] accountant. You have all the same write-offs tax-wise that
you have with running a [full-time] business, so it's very
important to [do your research] prior to getting involved, before
you start making money from it. How is that going to affect you
tax-wise? What are your write-offs?
It's important to set up a [support] team around you.
I'd suggest seeking out lawyers who deal in network marketing,
so they're very versed in all the laws and how that affects
[your business.]. There are also accountants who specialize in
dealing with homebased businesses specifically in the
direct-selling industry.
Don't quit your day job...yet. Never leave your
full-time position unless you're absolutely certain that the
income that's coming in with this company is going to be there.
[Be sure that] you've been with the company [for awhile] and
that you know it's a stable company, and the income that
you're earning is equal to or greater than the income
you're earning from your job before quitting.