Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You probably have an image firmly planted in your mind of what network (also known as direct sales or multilevel marketing) is all about--housewives buying and selling Tupperware while gossiping and eating finger sandwiches, or a high-pressure salesperson trying to convince you how easily you can become a millionaire if only you and your friends and their friends and so on would buy and sell vitamins with him. Both of these images couldn't be further from the reality of network marketing. It's neither a hobby nor a get-rich-scheme but an opportunity for you to earn money running your own part- or full-time business. But what does it take to succeed in this industry?

  1. Times Network Marketing Excellence Award
  2. Network Marketing Times
Network marketing times magazineNetwork marketing magazine

Kellsey, director of member services for the, an organization that provides a variety of resources to women and men in the direct-selling industry, offers these tips for making it. There are six key elements you should be looking for [when selecting an opportunity]. Number one: stability. How old is the company? Number two is excellent products or services that consumers will use and need more of. Number three is the pay plan--how even and fair and generous overall is the distribution?

This is really crucial as the pay plan represents exactly how you'll get paid--or not get paid. There are really only two questions to ask [regarding this]: How many pennies out of each sales dollar get paid back to the distributors each month, and how fair is the distribution of these pennies between the old members and the new members? Number four is the integrity of the company and the management. As much as possible, [investigate] the experience of the CEO, [their] experience in the industry, and their background. [Have] they been successful in other companies in the industry? Do they have a good reputation? Number five is momentum and timing.

Mar 22, 2018 - The thing that most people don't understand about Network Marketing right now is how early it still is. And that makes this is a magical time for. For instance, let’s say you start your own Network Marketing business and begin by investing five hours per week into your business. You introduce your business system to Mike and begin working with him. He also puts five hours a week into his business. In the main, the answer appears to be a cautious yes: network marketing historically has. The last twenty years. Your first year in network marketing is your. Every week, The Learning Network brings you teaching and learning materials based on New York Times content. Please verify you’re not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address.

Look at where the company's at, what's going on with the company, and if it's growing. Number six is support, training and business systems. You may have [chosen] a great company with excellent management, products that make a difference, a pay plan that's uniquely fair and very generous, and momentum and stability, but if you don't have a system in place that works, all of that [doesn't matter]. Most companies will have a transferable training system that they use, and that's where mentorship comes in. There's a term in the network marketing industry called 'orphans'--when somebody is brought in and then the person who brought them in is just so busy bringing in other people that they don't spend the time to teach and train [the new person]. You should be prepared to spend at least 30 days helping a new person come into the industry--training them, supporting them and holding their hand until they feel confident to be able to go off on their own.

Times Network Marketing Excellence Award

You really need to ask yourself, are you willing to do that? Are you able to do that? This is really about long-term relationship building. It's not about just bringing people into the business and just moving forward. It's about working with these people and helping them to develop relationships. People are utilizing [the internet] as their main marketing tool.

Network Marketing Times

[You can set up your site] with autoresponders so when you capture leads, the autoresponder can follow up with that person. One of the greatest keys to success in this industry is follow-up. Many people will have someone call them who's interested or they'll call the person and say they're interested, but then they don't follow up with it. Automation on the internet has allowed a much more consistent method of following up. The only drawback with the internet is people who utilize it to spam. If there was one thing I could put forward to say, 'Do not do' when utilizing the internet as a marketing tool, it's spamming because that can give a very bad reputation not only to you but also to the company you're working with.