7 Tips for Network Marketing Success

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:
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.