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the stuff you need to know before you sign on the dotted line....
Starting a new venture is always fun,
but usually a bit nervewracking! One
thing for sure - it always goes better if
you do some homework first! Here are
some good questions to ask - some are
more pertinent to MLM, but most apply
to both Affiliate Programs and MLM opportunities
1) First and foremost - try the products!
Whether it’s vitamins or software or a
book - give the products a good testing.
Don’t leap in immediately and try to sell
the product or the opportunity until you
are personally sold on both! If you don’t
believe in the value of your product and
company - neither will anyone else!
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2) Do some market research! Is the product or service competitively priced? Is it unique in some way? Are you going to have to convince people that the vitamin you have is really worth twice the price of the vitamins at the drug store? Or can you point to the label and show that the product has 75% more nutrients for 75% of the store brand??
3) Is this something you can see yourself doing 6 months from now? A year from now? If yes, why? If no...why not? What’s missing or wrong?
4) Do some homework on the company! If the company has been around for a while, contact your local Better Business Bureau (or log onto its Web site at http://www.bbb.org) for a reliability report on the company. Consult the Multi- Level Marketing International Association by phone at (714) 622-0300 or by visiting http://www.mlmia.com to see if the company is a member in good standing. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in Washington, DC, has information on any complaints that may have been lodged about the company; contact the FTC at (202) 326-2222 or http://www.ftc.gov
However - if the company is new, there simply may not be a history to check on so.....
5) If you cannot get much history on the company, then check out the core staff, their background
and previous business history. Ages really don’t mean much in this industry - leaders can be 22 or 62! - but the senior management should have a strong prior experience in Network Marketing. As many successful business people discover - being successful in another industry does not necessarily translate to success in MLM.
6) Is the company privately or publicly owned? Financially sound? Don’t be fooled by the often used
term “debt free” - it can also mean the company cannot get any commercial credit and has to pay
cash for everything - technically, this means they are debt-free...but they may be cash poor, too!
7) What kind of training does the company offer? Are there numerous conference calls, online and offline seminars? While you may sometimes have to buy some books or tapes - the costs should be nominal. Be wary of any company that pushes it’s reps to purchase expense training programs and seminars, or that include the sales of these programs in the commission plans. Also - avoid any company that allows you to move to a higher commission structure based on the purchase of a training or educational program. Again - the emphasis of a legitimate company will always be on the sales of the products or services of the company, and the building of a balanced base of customers and representatives
8) How and when will you get paid? Is the compensation plan so complicated that your eyes glaze over whenever you try to figure it out? Can your upline explain it clearly to you - so that you can explain it to your recruits? Don’t settle for the response “don’t worry - you’ll get paid” - that’s a risk not worth taking.
9) Avoid a company that encourages you to purchase large quantities of product to attain a higher level in the commission structure! This is called “frontloading” and is illegal. If you are selling to a lot of local customers, then you might want to keep some extra product on hand for local retail sales - but this should be your decision - not something that the company coerces you to do.
10) Does the company have a clearly stated refund or return policy? Make sure that you know exactly what it is before you make your first purchase!
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