MLM’s (Multi Level Marketing Companies) in the past have done some really horrible things to their members. I remember being asked to join one where you had to buy over $100 US of product every month on top of the big joining fee. Now at the time I was in Australia so doing the conversion it was like being asked to spend $160 per month on only the stuff that could be shipped to Australia – so it was a very limited selection of American food, clothes and other bits and pieces.
Of course the electronics or DVD’s etc would not work (wrong power and wrong format on the DVD’s). The people that asked me to join were friends and they were very serious about it. I just couldn’t see how it would grow and sure enough it failed.
Other MLM’s have made you attend “rah rah” meeting each week. Yes I have spare time to do that and to market my business… and to have a life. Not! So what are some tips for picking a smart MLM today? These days we have the Internet and it is the most powerful tool to market your business – bricks and mortar, online store or MLM, so you want to get into a business that has good Internet reach.
If you are starting out you can buy ebooks or affiliate website but you will really have to work hard to cut through the crowds of people out there pushing the very same thing. This is one of the advantages of a MLM in that you can thread into your business growth some people interaction. Not enough to take up all your time, but for many it is nice to mix it up with some other people.
In addition, the MLM up-line can help and support your business growth. In many models it is in there interest to help you. The MLM I am part of TVI Winner, (a part of TVI Express), is very focused on you getting 2 people to join and then you helping the down lines further down your tree and they reward you accordingly. I have never seen this model before and it works quite well. I can not progress through the system unless my people further down push me off and imaginary board. Getting thousands directly under me does not help me, so in this case everyone tries to get their people below to get more people – it is a little more community minded and I like it.
Another great reason for choosing a smart MLM is the rewards. Let’s face it – that is what we are in their for. Now many MLM’s in the past have been all about giving you a small every decreasing percentage of the sale of their products. Again it relied on people buying product which in many cases were over priced and not necessarily the brands we usually used. Today smarter MLM’s are looking at where there are growing markets and basing their sales around these areas. For example, my MLM does not sell a physical product instead it has punched into the booming travel industry.
Yes for all the bad press, travel is booming. A contact of mine that I have booked a cruise through told me about a month ago that she had exceeded sales for 2008 already and was set for a record year. All the discounts on offer have made people keen to travel. So having an attractive product really does help you to sell your MLM, much more so than yet another jar or peanut butter, a vacuum or another overpriced eBook or seminar.
At the end of the day, you want something that will make you good dollars. Again while this is personal choice you want to have a good look at the numbers and choose something that will give you rapid business growth. For my money I want something with a pretty fast return on investment. In other words I want to get my money I have invested in this business back fast, and then go into profit mode.
I am not interested in this idea of making back your money over the next few years. It is too risky and quite frankly I find it very hard to be motivated. I like the whole notion of making money quickly. As well as that I want the opportunity to make a lot of money. If I am going to work hard – which I do – then I want a handsome reward for my efforts.
Really there are some good options on the market as newer MLM have woken up to the higher expectations of buyers these days. They have realized that there is a booming Home Based Business Industry they can tap into and that are pitching their products as a viable option for start-up businesses. Smarter products, easier ways to participate and make more money faster all make it an interesting market.
