Network marketing is a good and viable business option for anyone who has a goal.Based on my experience,network marketing offers more advantages than disadvantages.Here what I consider it’s general advantages/disadvantages:
The pros are:
-Very minimal startup costs compared to starting a franchise/brick and mortar business
-Flexible Scheduling
-Residual income
-Established infrastructure/plan.
-Potential for time/financial freedom
-Create the only true partnerships in business and make friends as well
-Presence of a sponsor/mentor to guide you throughout.
The cons are:
-Like any other business, there are good companies, and bad companies. If you’re not careful, you could get caught up in a bad company
-Certain companies may limit your creativity by putting some restrictions on advertising/marketing.
-You may have to compete with your peers in your area/region
-Frustration for new recruits who don’t receive proper support from their upline
-High failure rate
-Have to learn a lot
In MLM the key to being in the 5%(successful) and not the 95%(unsuccessful) is mentoring.
Why is franchising the most successful business model? It is because there is a system to follow which includes ongoing support and training(mentoring).
Because of the low start-up investment in MLM you attract many folks who are not self motivating or business savvy. Thus if there isn’t a strong mentoring program or upline mentor to guide them they give up/quit, or as the negatroids call it, fail.
Look for a solid debt free company with a product that is in demand, and, most importantly, make sure your sponsor is willing to take you by the hand and lead you every step of the way.
BUT, you yourself must work hard, invest in your business and eventually go from student to teacher/mentor to your people as well, if you want to be in the 5%.Look for company management with experience, timing in the company and the industry, a remarkable product, a compensation plan that pays its part-timers and a duplicatable system.
In a nutshell, those are the five essential pillars every company must have in place for YOU to be successful.
I believe that it works if YOU are willing to work. Think about it like a brick and mortar business. You have to invest in it. You have to be creative. You have to treat it like a job. Determine what hours and days you are going to work on it and Be there!! On time!! Find a mentor who is successful and follow them!
The truth is more people probably make full-time incomes promoting the direct sales income opportunities like | Liberty League International | Emerald Passport | Coastal Vacations | and while the “start-up” costs for these companies may be higher ( at least they are commonly perceived that way ) it takes no more effort to promote a plan where you earn $1000-25,000 per customer than it takes to promote an mlm where you earn a $5.oo residual per customer (who stays on autoship).
The direct sales companies are set up not only to attract people who have some funds to start a serious home business with early retirement potential, but also to sort of screen out those who are not capable of building such a business. People who get reactive over investing $1500.oo in starting a business are not the people you want for any team
People who are worthy of success will show merit in any situation, however, with the direct sales model it is much easier to spend valuable time only dealing with and mentoring those who are truly serious about building a business and back that up with an investment of time, money, and energy.
Lets have no illusions about what the real product of the MLM industry is: its the dream of easy big money for people with little education and no history of success in business. The vitamins, tonics, magnets, gas pills or whatever are the products that legitimize the industry, no doubt. And its great if you stand proudly behind the product you promote. But the real money is made by recruiting business builders who have been sold on the same dream we bought. Don’t forget it.
Alexandre Sobolevskiy
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-business-articles/pros-and-cons-of-a-network-marketing-business-229673.html
June 20th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Network Marketing, Direct Sales, Home Based Business?
What is it that interest people so much in working for a Network Marketing company, Direct Sales as their Home Based Business? What are the pros and cons of Network Marketing? If it's so good then why aren't more people doing it? How can people be successful in one.
June 20th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
I believe what interests people the most are the sales pitches. That is, the unrealistic belief that "anyone can be a millionaire" simply by following a "formula" for success. The reality is, while some are hugely successful, the vast majority will make no money or will even loose money. By vast majority I mean 70%+. The other attraction is that one can get started with such a minimal investment. Those that are risk adverse or who don't take the time to learn about starting and operating a business will gravitate to this type of opportunity. You know, the something for nothing mentality.
In a nutshell, you get what you pay for. As for your comment, "why aren't more people doing it?"…..the reality is that a lot of people do it. The problem is, very few actually make a living at it.
Good luck!
References :
June 20th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
It isn't "so good" — the people who fall for it are either stupid or desperate. What hooks them is promises of massive payouts for next to no work; what keeps them is the fact that they at least want to make back their "investment" in the scam and walk away even. In the end, they lose even more. It's a combination of greed and naivete that gets them into trouble, and evidently there's no shortage of that in the world because the scams keep popping up.
Finally they fail, and just get a normal job like they should have done in the first place.
References :
I have an actual business.
June 20th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I read the other two comments to your question and it appears to me that they either have never been a part of a legitimate direct marketing company or they did not work the business and failed at it. There are many legitimate companies, the granddaddy of them all is Amway and there are many others.
If you interested in receiving the names of some representatives in a legitimate company you can email me.
Good luck!
References :
June 20th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Any human being on this plant has only 24 hours and in that 24 hours one can work maximum upto 12 -14 hrs a day. In this, we are exchanging our time for work. But, only few big heads leverage their time. Leveraging hear means that they hire people who will work for them. i.e, suppose 100 people working for 8 hrs a day for his boss, then his boss will get 800 hrs working hrs. This system is utilized in Network Marketing.
For second part of the question:
I hope you been in school…. In a class of 30 – 40 people why do you think only couple of them score high marks, few average and rest below average. Its not like the syllabus is bad\vast. It depends on individual dedication and concentration. The one who dedicates, will learn\earn good in his life, no matter if its studies or profession.
References :
June 20th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Some of the pros of network marketing:
Low start up cost and low overhead
Learn on the job as you earn
Work from home
Flexible schedule
Your income is not limited by someone else's wage scale
You won't suddenly have your income cut or lose your job or income because of the greed or business mistakes of some corporate CEO
Your time is leveraged by the efforts of your team
Residual income pays you multiple times for something you do once
You can gain a lot of personal growth if you are willing to learn
You are in control of your own life!
Cons of network marketing:
You need to do your research and pick the right company, profit margin and products.
Some companies are oversaturated with reps
You need to pick your products carefully. Pick something that is competively priced and that most people buy use and then buy again. It helps if the products are unique and are in step with current buying trends but not a passing fad.
(Personally, I'd also stay away from nutritional supplements and health elixirs – there are way too many out there!)
You need to work and put in the effort
You need self-discipline and self motivation
You will need to step outside your comfort zone
You can't fire your boss (you) and sometimes your boss will be an idiot! (You will make mistakes!)
Most people need to work on personal growth to be successful
The reason more people don't get involved with network marketing is that they don't want to do what it takes, and some people think it is a "pyramid scheme" but actually it's not.
In network marketing you can't be successful without building a team and helping other people to be successful, too. Your income rises with the income of the others on your team.
More and more successful mainstream business leaders like Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump and Warren Buffet have become supporters of the network marketing business model.
A true "pyramid scheme" is corporate America! Think about it! – the top executives make wages hundreds of times more than most of the other employees and the CEO wages come from paying the other employees as little as possible.
To be successful, you have to be willing to learn marketing and interpersonal skills, work hard, be persistent and build a team by helping other people to be successful. And don't expect to be an overnight success. It takes 3 to 5 years for most people to build their business to where it will provide a good income.
References :
June 20th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
There are lots of great reasons to work with a NM company.
1. They have the products already
2. They take the orders, money, ship the product, handle customer service, etc.
3. Its a group effort and people love helping people
Why aren't more people doing it? They are. There are millions of people doing Network Marketing around the world.
Another problem is that people are misled about it. They are hyped up to think that their friend will want to do it and they will make a couple thousand a month in a matter of months.
Then none of their friends don't want to. It gets discouraging and they think it doesn't work.
How can people be successful?
People can make money but they have to think like a business minded person and/or more like a sales/marketing person/manager.
Forget what the company tells you how to build your business. Just don't break their rules.
If you break their rules, they can fire you and then keep your customers and not have to pay out any money for them. All profit for them.
MLM compensation should be only 1 method of making money. If you only rely on the money from the company, you can lose it in 1 day. There are other ways to make money and these are developed during your marketing.
Let's say your MLM has an excellent weight loss product. The company says, go call your friends, neighbors, family, and so on, and tell them about it. Don't do it. Forget they exist.
Your marketing campaign should begin targeting people that want to lose weight. You can create online presences all over drawing people, not chasing them. You could create videos teaching people what they need to know. You could create informational products that you can sell. You can have people sign up for an online email list. Then you can also sell them the product.
This is, in part, how to run your business more like a business and have You in control of what is happening. If you MLM company fired you, so what, you have your email list and people coming to you from all over the internet.
References :
http://blog.mlmlivesupport.com/
http://blog.mlmlivesupport.com/2009/04/mlm-lead-source-free.html
June 20th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Good question…
There are hundreds of these programs out there, including some great ones. The trouble is that they all require the same things for success!
You must be able to recruit passionate, active, people like you who won't quit when things are slow.
You best approach to success in MLM is NOT to find a good company first, but to find a good training program that will teach you at least these 3 things:
1. How to evaluate and find the best MLM program.
2. How to Recruit people who will stay with you.
3. The most important of all…
MLM is all about YOU, NOT the Product, and NOT the company you represent. All of these things may change, but you will want your business to be successful and to grow.
People will follow a leader who help them to become successful. At the end of the day, they will switch companies at the drop of a hat if things go wrong. Not so with an effective leader. They will follow you even if you happen to change companies.
To succeed in MLM you have to become a successful leader first. That's why those 3
Here are a few reasons people normally fail
with MLM programs.
1. They do not know how to recruit people
2. They are taught the wrong things by their upline who do NOT know what works either.
3. They run out of money and the business cost them more than they earn…and since they went into it to earn money, they quit!
4. The hook up with the wrong company/product, but don't realise it until it is too late.
5. They let family and friends discourage them, because they have not yet developed the courage to stand for what they believe in.
The resource below will help you to make a good decision from the vantage point of a considered opinion backed by expert advise.
All the best to you.
Anthony
References :
http://coluden.magneticsponsoringonline.com MLM Training
http://www.youshouldberich.com/ – my blog, with more answers