Marketing online! – 11 do-or-die tips for starting a network marketing business

Several years ago, I discovered that there are limitless paths one can travel through this journey we call life. Until that moment, he had only dreamed of the day when he would play professional soccer. My senior year on the college soccer team was interrupted by a serious ankle injury, so I focused on finishing my degree and graduating.

There I was, I had just graduated from college where I was getting my degree in computer science and I was ready to do what I was supposed to do, get a 9 to 5 job for the next 44 years and retire at 65. years. I went to work at a reputable aeronautical company as a software engineer. My head was always great with computers, but my heart never listened to my head. I found an “MLM”/network marketing company shortly after starting my future short-lived software engineering career. After paying a LOT of money ($5,000) for a LOT of product, he became a “director” of this company. Long story short, 6 months later I had $4,900 worth of products in my parents’ garage, and the network marketing company was involved in a lawsuit and had been shut down entirely. They were supposed to fund me a portion of the $5,000 I had invested (after attorney fees and such are deducted), but that was about 7 years ago and I haven’t seen a dime since.

Fast forward about 4 more years down the road. I was in my third software engineering position and had nearly tripled my income since graduating college! This was GREAT, but even then I realized the reason I was forced to find my third job was because the company at my second job went through a company-wide downsizing and laid off about 2/3 of All the company. I did NOT like the idea that one day my family would be at the mercy of bosses and vice presidents of companies who only care about themselves. I had to do something about it…

I saved money for several months of expenses and began to explore many businesses that I could start on my own. I had a short stint with my best friend and one other person. There was a pretty successful company that they had both worked at before… and they said it would be easy to recreate everything their old company had done. We started and I left quickly after making 200-300 cold calls per day. (3 1/2 years later, this company is doing monthly sales of $250,000-$300,000 and all the owners are making 6 figures… whoops!) I still talk to my best friend every day and we are always planning our next big source from income. .but I’ll talk more about that in a moment…

I finally decided to start a franchise with my parents’ estate in their house. (After MANY hours of talking to them). After investing over 6 figures in this franchise, we quickly found out that we should have gone with a much more experienced franchise. (Of course, we couldn’t have afforded the larger franchises…) 5 years later, I made about $8,000 from the company (total), and on top of paying all the employees, taxes, products, rent, etc. …we have nothing more to pay the monthly interest only the loan payments to the bank. (This is after working 80-100 hour weeks for the first 11 months of business… at which point I was forced to find another job because I had to earn SOME income to pay my mortgage.)

Finally, after all these “failures”, I found the PERFECT company, a network marketing company. First, after countless hours of research, let me tell you what to look for in a network marketing company:

1) Solid bottom. The company you work for must have at LEAST 5 years of history, and it must be a POSITIVE history. Look for things like a publicly traded company, honors from big-name companies (Business Week, Forbes, etc.)

2) Great leadership. I learned this from Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great. See what company leaders have done in the past. (ie, were you selling magazines out of the back of your car before joining this company?) Also, are there any high-profile figures endorsing the products? (With a high-profile person’s reputation on the line, they’ll only partner with the best products.)

3) Reusable products. Anything you are selling and/or consuming should be items that sell out quickly and are reordered regularly. (Mortgage refinancing doesn’t work in network marketing because the average person only refinances every 5 years.)

4) Products in demand. Example, the healthcare industry is experiencing tremendous growth because of all the baby boomers. This is combined with the increase in life expectancy every day. (We will have a life expectancy of 120-150 years in a short time). The health field is a GREAT example of a great place to do research.

5) Solid marketing techniques. There are something like 6 or 8 main models for how a network marketing company can pay its associates. Make sure your business model is fair, requires no minimums, and is truly residual. (So ​​that if you ever stop growing your business, your income will keep coming.) Also, how do you find your associates? (Through the Internet? Friends and family?) (Read Wave 4: Network Marketing in the 21st Century by Richard Poe)

6) Do your research. You need to take calculated risks to succeed at anything in life…but make sure you’ve done your research by consulting the BBB (better business bureau). Try to find “dirt” in the company. (Verify the validity of sources claiming dirt.)

7) How are the products delivered? (Need to stock a garage full of products? Can associates order directly?)

8) Great workout. Make sure you have the proper training and support from your team. You don’t want to be a part of something that you’re totally on your own to figure out. (This usually ties directly to the companies compensation plan.)

9) IMPORTANT: How many hours per week do you need to dedicate to the business? Are true passive/residual income techniques employed? (for example, how do you find your downline? How are they trained? How helpful is your upline?)

10) Make sure you keep your current “linear” income job until your new network marketing company’s residual income can surpass it!

11) MOST IMPORTANTLY: learn to dream and also learn to set goals. (Read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill) 90% of this business is mental. (This is true of any endeavor in life, playing professional sports, achieving great wealth, affecting humanity en masse, etc.) EVERYTHING starts with an idea in a person’s head. Conceive it, create it, achieve it. (Read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point)