Some of the most commonly advertised business opportunities are thinly veiled multilevel marketing programs. While multilevel marketing is a legitimate business model, the quality of the individual programs make them suspect from the beginning. Numerous major companies have used this model to great success and have created legions of avid followers however; a few bad apples have spoiled the whole bunch for several others. My Hundred-Fold-Life is build upon a great and ethical MLM business that I am proud to be a part of. My use and belief in the products only strengthens my belief of the company. If you would not use or give a product to a family member of use it yourself don't get involved with that company.

In its absolute form, multilevel marketing can provide a great chance for average people with little or no business experience to operate their out distributorship of a quality company without a huge investment in time and money. Essentially, a main company offers individuals the chance to distribute their product or service with commission payments made for every sale. This distributor can also recruit others to joint the program under them and receive a small commission on their sales as well as their own.

Typically, with a viable product the level of distributors will only get two or three deep, with commissions cut off once they reach a certain level. In order to increase their earnings, distributors can climb into the higher ranks of management as district or regional directors and in rare cases can move into executive positions, collecting commissions on sales of hundreds of people working under them.

Many major companies were able to expand their sales force as well as their sales through the use of independent distributors through multiple levels of marketing and have done so legally for years. Unfortunately for the multilevel marketing industry, as few companies have entered the business with less than legitimate methods in mind. Some companies have required the payment of a sponsorship fee to become a member of their program, which offers no product or service for sale and counts on the cost of the membership for their members to receive a return on their investment.

These programs are usually classified as pyramid schemes and are illegal in all states and in most countries. To get around the law that requires these programs to offer something in return for the money received, often sell a program that tells people how to recruit others in order to get their money back. Again, there is no viable product or service being offered for sale and if no one is selling anything, there is no legitimate way to recoup the money invested in the plan.

In order to qualify as a legitimate MLM company, there has to be real and viable product or service offered for sale and the distributor should not be forced to pay for more products that can reasonably be expected to be sold in order to be eligible to earn sales commissions. Any program that requires the purchase of their products in order to become a distributor should be looked at with skepticism.

Additionally, while many companies do charge an up front fee for training and product demonstrations, the new distributors should be able to see an immediate benefit for the money being charged. If there is nothing tangible in the fee to become a distributing member, chances are it is not a legitimate enterprise.

If you want to build your Hundred-Fold-Life using the MLM approach you will need to do your homework. I have fond many good companies and chose the one that best fits me. Check out the local meetings, talk to the people who are involved in the business. They may not want to give you the downside of the company but you will be able to ask yourself "Would I want to be in business with those people?" When you have your answer you will know what to do.