How to Choose a Network Marketing Company

Warning: Don’t read this if you’re happy with your network marketing company. This is for people who are either unhappy with their current company and want to find a new one, or for someone who isn’t with a company just yet.

I was a participant at Never Work Again School some years ago and met MLM guru, Randy Gage. He was a wonderful speaker and I learned a lot of information about choosing a network marketing company from him. I’m going to share with you what he shared with us plus I’ll add some new things I’ve discovered since that time.

Here is the checklist:

Exceptional Product

You’ll want to be selling a product that is unique in some way. Maybe it is unique because it doesn’t have any competition. Maybe it is unique in that it involves some new proprietary technology that no one else has. Maybe it is unique because it is the BEST at what it does. If you’re really lucky, you’ll find a product that has a “wow” factor. Health Product example: Can you get quick results in a matter of minutes versus a matter of months?

The Product is Consumable

If your product is something that someone can buy once (and use forever), you’ll be struggling to get new customers every month. Nutrition products or the product I market, for example, are consumable. We don’t have the pressure of continuously finding new markets and new customers. Our customers purchase the product each and every month.

Exponential Growth Phase

Unlike conventional wisdom, it isn’t always the best to get in on the “ground floor” for network marketing. Why? Because most network marketing companies go out of business within the first few years. In contrast, choosing an established company such as Amway, is good for people who like security and experience.

But there is a downside to choosing an older company according to Randy Gage in that your market may be saturated. For example, I know at least ten friends in my neighborhood who sell Melaleuca. According to Randy Gage, the best companies to join for people looking to earn the “big bucks” in the industry are companies that are in their exponential growth phase, which typically is within the two to five year mark.

Leadership

Seasoned network marketers always look at the leadership behind the company. They know that who’s at the top makes a big difference. One person who recently joined my team had over 40 years of experience in network marketing. She researched my company and the competition. She found out that one of the founders of our competition happened to be a former employee of our company. This amused her somewhat, but turned her off.

Another distributor who recently joined me left her company because it was bought out by a prominent wealthy celebrity. Turns out, she didn’t like him, so she left. I lucked out. The first company I joined and I am still with is headed by someone who I like very much and is very much like me (a science nerd, into metaphysics, humble, healer personality). So bottom line: you need to personally resonate with the people at the top. If you don’t, there will be a palpable “disconnect” when you work the business.

Fair Compensation Plan

There are many great compensation plans out there. The best ones help you build by allowing you to get paid on volume of all of your downline, not just the first few levels. Many compensation plans in network marketing have dismal retail profit commissions, which forces you to keep looking for marketers instead of customers.

Kim Klaver, a prominent business trainer with our industry, estimates that one out of ten people are interested in your product, whereas only one to three out of one hundred is interested in selling it. So, in other words, it is much easier to find customers for your product than distributors. I’ve had patients purchase retail even though they could buy “wholesale” by being a distributor, all because they didn’t feel comfortable divulging their social security number to the company.

Again, I lucked out here with the company I’m with. We used to get $20 profit on a $90 retail product, and that’s pretty decent according to MLM gurus like Kim Klaver. But recently, the company decided to reward its distributors for finding customers, so they upped the commission to $40 for a $90 retail product. Do your research and find out what the company pays for retail sales and see if that works for you.

You Love the Product or Service

Don’t bother selling anything you don’t absolutely love to pieces. I’m serious. If you’re passionate about holistic health, like me, don’t sell a webinar system or a financial system. If you’re a couch potato who eats at McDonalds, don’t sell a health product. If you’re in the business because of the money and you really don’t care too much about using the product yourself, you’re in big trouble. You’ll have a hard time attracting customers and marketers who’ll stick around. You’ll attract the same energy: people who just want to make big bucks but who don’t care about the product/service.

Great Distributor Training

Sometimes this takes a few years to develop especially in a new company so if you’re with a “ground floor” opportunity, don’t expect too much in this department. But what you’re looking for in a more established company (at least three to five years old) is a system that supports its distributors with adequate training. This can be in the form of a training website, training videos, webinars, conference calls, audio CDs, downloadable Quick Start Guides etc.

Lastly, when you’ve narrowed down your choices down to your favorite, go searching for a leader that you feel comfortable joining. It is more important that they are a leader who will support your development and growth than a leader who is a top money earner (of course that doesn’t hurt!). Some leaders don’t know how to teach or mentor so they give you a cookie cutter method of how to do the business, whereas others excel in finding the best in YOU and help you in using your natural skills and gifts to be successful in this business.

If this article was helpful for you, please comment and visit me on my blog: MLM Business Leaders: Tips for Network Marketers Who Hate "Selling"