11 Things To Consider When Choosing A Network Marketing Business

By Lynne and Chad

Working from home can be an incredible blessing, but choosing the right company isn’t always easy.

There are a lot of things to consider, which is why we’ve prepared this list of eleven important things to think about when deciding on a network marketing business.

1. Find A Product Line That You Are Passionate About

Don’t market something you wouldn’t purchase yourself. A good salesperson can sell just about anything – but if you want to be a salesperson, you should be applying for a job at a car dealership, not starting your own business.

What do you care about? What excites you, or brings a tear to your eye? Once your business is as successful as you know it can be, and you don’t need to worry about a job, or bills, or anyone’s expectations but your own, what will you do every day?

What will you focus on when you have complete freedom?

That’s your passion. The products you market should fit that passion. If you don’t truly care about and believe in the products you are selling, your customers will sense it.

Once you have a product you truly believe in, your business really becomes more about sharing your passion than about selling a product – and that is what people trust and respond to.

Without it, you usually just come across as another marketer, pitching something to anyone who will listen.

2. Valuable and Unique Product Line

Another important thing to consider is the value and individuality of your prospective company’s product line. When looking into different opportunities, be sure to evaluate the products they offer, both in terms of their value, and how unique they appear to be.

If you can easily name or find half a dozen companies that appear to offer a similar product, then those products are effectively going to be competing against one another. If your future prospects learn about your product and feel like they’ve heard the same story from other companies in the past, they are much more likely to move on. You may want to consider looking for a product that is as unique as possible.

In addition to being unique, the product you intend to market should also provide real, identifiable value. If the only benefit to purchasing your product is that it carries a business opportunity with it, you may want to look for alternatives.

If the only reason people buy your product is to join your biz opp, then there is nothing really setting you apart from the other countless business opportunities that are available to them. Your product should be something that can stand alone, even without a business attached to it.

A product that can provide value, in and of itself, is much more likely to attract customers than one that feels like it’s only real purpose is to make your business seem legitimate.

3. Compensation Plan

When looking for a good company, you are obviously looking for a good compensation plan. That doesn’t mean the plan that appears to pay the most!

Make sure the compensation plan makes sense… you shouldn’t need a PhD to understand exactly how you are being paid!

You should also evaluate how effective this compensation plan will be in terms of the goals you’ve set for yourself. Based on the commission structure, how many sales will you need to make to meet those goals? How realistic is that number?

Don’t be afraid to look at companies that offer higher-priced items that carry larger commissions. There is a belief that it is easier to sell 100 fifty dollar products than it is to sell a single $5000 product – this is not necessarily true, if you market to the right audience.

Consider your comp plan, the price points and commission levels carefully before you join a company!

4. Built In Training Platform

Building a new business involves learning a lot of new information – more so than many new business owners realize. An important aspect of choosing a new network marketing company is finding one that will help you gain the knowledge you need.

Ultimately, this is your business, which means gaining the necessary skills is your responsibility. As you build your business, it will be up to you to perform your own due diligence on new marketing techniques and training materials, but it can be extremely helpful to align yourself with a company that helps you get the ball rolling.

This applies both to you, and to your developing team.

When selecting a network marketing business, it is important that a system is in place to streamline the process of mentoring new team members. You should be there to answer your team’s questions, and help them find the information they need, but you don’t want that to become your only focus! After all, you still have your own business to focus on!

When selecting a company, make sure there are tools in place to make it easy for your team to duplicate your success.

5. Access To Online AND Offline Marketing Strategies

The internet is a powerful tool, and leveraging it can be an incredible useful weapon in building your business. That doesn’t mean that online marketing is for everyone, or that it is the only way to succeed.

It is entirely possible that you, or some of your future team members, prefer to take an offline approach. Not everyone is comfortable on Twitter and Facebook. Not everyone wants to master Google Adwords and SEO!

Now, in today’s world, trying to build a business without at least SOME online presence is a guaranteed way to leave a lot of money on the table, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be everyone’s primary focus.

It’s important that your company provide avenues for marketing both online and offline – allowing you, and your team, to market in the way that they are most comfortable with, or even with both.

6. Marketing System/Sales Funnel

So you’re building a business. Meeting people, driving traffic to your website… then what?

Make sure there is a system in place to help you organize and deal with your prospects, leads and customers. Once someone comes to your website or meeting – how do you stay in touch with them? Is there a process in place for you to easily gather their contact information?

Once you have that information, what do you do with it? How do you organize it? What do you say or send to these people? What do you do if they aren’t interested in your product? How do you recoup some of the marketing expenses for all of the leads that don’t become customers?

These are important questions to ask before joining a company, and not all companies have all the answers. If this is the case, figuring out how you intend to handle these obstacles is an important step, and will save you a lot if time, energy, money and aggravation.

7. Ease Of Order Processing

One of the most important aspects of running a business is taking care of your customers and processing their orders. When choosing the perfect network marketing company, make sure you consider what you will be responsible for when a customer orders a product.

Do you process their payment? If so, how? Is it your responsibility to place their order? To ship the product? To handle any returns or refunds?

What kind of shipping fees, or transaction fees will you be responsible for? How much of this process is automated or handled by your company?

These may be some of the most important questions to ask when starting a new business!

8. How Strong Is The Leadership?

You are your business – to be successful, you must be the strong leader your business needs! This principle holds true for any company you consider joining.

Strong leadership is absolutely essential, and should be considered strongly when considering any new network marketing opportunity.

Who are this company’s leaders? What’s their story? Where did they come from? What got them into this business, and what did they do before?

How involved are these leaders? Are they someone you’ll hear on weekly training calls and talk to at events? Or are they just a face on a newsletter?

The leadership of your company will say a lot about it’s future – these leaders should be dedicated, passionate and involved.

9. Integrity

One definition of integrity is “Adherence to moral principals; honesty.” This is something you should look for in a company.

If the company you are evaluating isn’t completely transparent, if they aren’t open and honest about their products, their business plan and mission, or if they are unclear about their goals over the coming years, you may want to look a little closer.

Do the leaders we just discussed a moment ago act with the highest level of integrity at all times? Are there any conflicts of interest in the business model?

The integrity and ethics of any company should be a major factor in whether or not you feel comfortable aligning yourself with them.

10. Find A Good Mentor

A company is only as good as it’s people. When starting a network marketing business, you want to make sure you are aligning yourself with a good mentor – someone who is there to help and guide you.

Ensure you are joining your company under someone who is capable of guiding you and answering your questions as you learn and grow your business.

Ultimately, your success – in any company – is in your own hands. It’s up to you to learn the principles and strategies of effective marketing. It’s up to you to consistently implement those strategies. It’s up to you to put in the time and energy required to succeed.

Your mentor is there the help you along the way, or to guide you when the training materials at your disposal need clarification, to offer feedback on your marketing materials.

What you want to know is how dedicated your potential sponsor is, how passionate they are, both about the business you are joining, and about helping you learn.

You mentor should be professional, meaning they take their business, and yours, seriously! They aren’t just there to collect their commission when you join, but to help you learn and grow as a business owner.

11. Company History and Track Record

New companies get started all the time – meaning you’ll see a lot of pre-launches and chances to “get in at the ground floor!”

To many marketers, this is the best way to start a business: be there at the beginning, so you can “be at the top” as the company grows.

Other marketers believe it wiser to choose a company with an established track record. A company that has already demonstrated that it has a valuable product, successful business model and effective comp plan may be a better fit for you.

We certainly aren’t here to tell you which of these philosophies is right or wrong, but this is definitely a topic that is worth a little thought – consider carefully which option best suits your needs and risk tolerance.

Tying It All Together

Ultimately, the decision lies with you. The list we’ve provided here certainly doesn’t outline everything that goes into selecting a network marketing business, but it does share what we see as some of the most important ones, based on our experience in this industry.

It’s up to you to perform the research and due diligence into your own company before you get started, just as it is up to you to decide how important each of the items on this list is to you.

Deciding what company you want to be a part of is an important task – the last thing you want to do is get caught up in the cycle of joining company after company, always finding something that doesn’t feel right, or fit with your values. Jumping from one business to another is counterproductive and inefficient, which is why choosing the best company possible the first time around is so crucial!

We hope this list helps make your decision easier. We welcome any comments and feedback to add to this list below (as always, please keep it constructive ).