After deciding to start a MLM business, how do you know which company is the best fit for you? My advice is to ask everyone you know, especially business experts and people who network a lot. You need to feel a passion for the product, but it also needs to be a great business opportunity. Also, if the representatives claim that you can earn a full-time income working part-time, I wouldn't believe it.

One important consideration is the support coming from your upline. For example, if your organization offers a monthly coaching call or weekly status meeting, that's a good indication that they want you to succeed.

Also, if ALL the emphasis is on creating a big downline and almost no effort placed on selling product, I find that business model suspect. The fact is, nobody gets paid if there is no exchange of goods for money. If there is never an exchange of goods for money, the company may be dangerously close to being a pyramid scheme, which is most likely illegal ? at least in the U.S.

Once you have picked a company you feel will support you and who offers a product you can really believe in, then what?

Starting a MLM business isn't that different from any other business. You need to learn about the product, the company and the industry (including your competition), and you need to learn all the components of how to manage a business. This last one is far more difficult than the rest!

You must figure out how much you have to put into this business ? time and money. If you have 20 hours per week and no money, you might just consider getting a part-time job instead. It will be awhile before you can expect to have an income ? just like other businesses.

I recommend that if you need an income right away, you need to have 24 months of living expenses saved, plus a few thousand to invest in marketing, before you consider starting any new business. The old adage "you need to spend money to make money" really is true to a certain extent.

Building a customer base and also a downline are time consuming and take a great deal of effort and business knowledge. For example, if you plan to use networking as one of your marketing strategies, you need to know where your target market is and go there. In addition, once you find the right place to network, you need to only focus on one of your businesses ? either selling product or building the downline.

It is a bad idea to try to do both at the same time ? in essence, you are selling two distinctly different ?products'. For each networking location, pick one or the other to promote and stick with it consistently. Define the benefits of either your products or owning your own business and make an emotional connection with your target market.

Many people approach their network marketing business as being different than other businesses, like a franchise or other service business, but the concepts are the same. You still need a target market, you still need to spend money on your marketing and you still need to work a lot of hours in order to get the payoff ? if you want to make money, that is.

Copyright (c) 2006 Audrey Burton