I recently saw a statistic that over 20,000 people in the U.S. are making over a million dollars a year in network marketing. The profit possibilities are really that huge.



Network Marketing works, and it is not as hard to get started as most of us think. What can be vital to your success is to do some research before choosing a company.

Here are a few tips to differentiate an honest network marketing company from a scheme.

1. How can you tell the difference between a pyramid scheme and a legitimate company? It's simple. A pyramid scheme is when no product is being sold. It's where people recruit people, who recruit more people, and so on. There is no product. What eventually happens is that no more people join and everyone except those at the top are left with nothing. Understand that you do not receive anything of value when joining a program like this. All you get are empty promises and that is why it's a scam.

2. Another problem with some companies is that they offer expensive products and training. If a product or service costs more than what you normally would pay, than avoid that company. You do not want to end up pushing overpriced products with empty promises of making money on others. You can tell a good company if their products or services are priced below or at market value. This makes it much easier for those who just want to consume the products and not recruit anyone.

3. Reasonable or no startup costs are very important. A network marketing business should not cost alot to start. It is important to get value out of every dollar that you spend. What may be surprising to most people is how inexpensive it actually can be to start a network marketing business.

TIP: Find a company with products that you are already buying and just switch your purchases, that way your startup cost is free! What a way to start your home business. You can actually make a profit with your first sale because you are not spending anymore money than you were before starting your business.

4. A good company will offer free or inexpensive training because they should be interested in everyone's success, not just the companies.

5. People in a company should seem honest and have confidence in their business. Contact people from a company you are interested in, talk to them. Do they seem genuine? Are they excited? If they are just trying to sell their company, then find another company.

6. What is most attractive about network marketing is the passive component. A company should provide your efforts with the opportunity to be multiplied as more and more people join your team. I love the concept of getting paid over and over again for work that I did just once.

7. Find a dedicated mentor that will help you build your business. Before joining any company find out who your sponsor will be, talk to them and make sure that they are committed to working with you, and sharing what they have already learned. An active, helpful sponsor can determine your success within any company.

8. Find a company that ships the product directly to the customer. Avoid buying any more product than you can consume.

9. The compensation plan should be easy to understand as well as provide a nice balance between passive income and income made off of actual sales. A good plan should offer more than one way to get paid, such as fast start commissions, bonus pools, as well as residual income.

10. Finding a company that has a high rate of customer retention will save you allot of stress in the future. You should understand that every company will have some retention, but if they provide quality products with quality training then members will stay around.

One big reason that most people are not successful in network marketing is because they fear rejection! If you want to start your own business then you will either have to get on the phone and market your business or pay someone to do it. The only way to avoid it is to continue working for someone else.

Successful entrepreneurs are willing to do the things that most people do not want to do.

Remember this:

1. A percentage of people that you call will answer.

2. A percentage of people that answer will listen.

3. A percentage of people that listen will be interested.

4. A percentage of people that are interested will sign up.

By understanding these percentages and learning what the above ratios are for your business then you will know exactly what you need to do to be successful.

Copyright 2008 Joe Rispol