You have just been shown the business plan for a Network Marketing Company that looks perfect. But, you have also heard of many others that also appear ideal. Now the problem. Should you start?

My suggestion is that you should do your homework. Make sure that this company is a company where you can succeed. Following is a list that will help in your decision.

Do a Google search on your firm and find out if it is a scam. Just type “ABC Company Scam” into your search. You will probably find many articles. Many leaders in our industry do investigations of many network marketing companies. Just be aware that you may also find articles from dissatisfied EX-distributors who could not make it.

How long has this company been in business? 1 year, 5 years, 20 years? The longer, the better. Now several start-up companies have very good plans – and several do succeed. However, be aware that even more fail.

Does your prospective company have a training program? Are there different ways to learn? Can you learn via one-on-one training sessions, webinars, conferences, national conventions, audios and / or videos? If you do not find several of these methodologies, stay away from this company.

Is there training on the product, the business plan, how to market and on self improvement? You will need training in all of these. The best network marketing companies have training in all of these areas. If your company does not, be aware.

Will you have a mentor? Now, it may not be the one who got you started in the business – but it should be someone that you have access to. The person who found you may be just as green as you. That will NOT be a problem as long as you have access to a mentor. Is it possible to meet several of them before you get started? This will give you a clue as to whether you should start this business. You CANNOT do this on your own.

Have you met several other members of this firm? Do you like them? Are they friendly or phony? Are they businesslike or party animals? The bottom line is to learn if you can get along with them and if you can you work with them? Just remember, if you are successful in this company (and you DO want to be successful), you will be spending a lot of time with these people.

How does this firm market? If your prospective company expects you to create a list of family and friends and no more – run! You will run out of family and friends. Now, everyone will probably start with family and friends, but you will eventually need more prospects. Does your firm show you how to market your product? Does your firm show you how to market your business? If they do not, it is NOT a show stopper. There are ways to learn how.

Finally, have fun with your business. Be aware that many people fail in their new network marketing businesses. Those who fail either joined a firm without the items I explained or else quit too early. Good luck!

Do you feel that many folks on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks spend the majority of their time SELLING and not even try to make friends with you? I do.

Now, I am not against making money. That’s one reason why we are all in business, right? BUT, have you ever gone to a party when someone you don’t know says “Hi! I’m Bill. Would you like to buy something from me?” Gross, right?

So, I am in favor of providing value, making friends. Yes, I, too fail sometimes. But I know that the way that we can truly help others succeed in their business is to befriend them – find out their pain. In fact, this is the same way that we can find new customers or business partners. The ‘ol FORM is key. FORM = Family, Occupation, Recreation, Money. Just ask questions to find out more about their family, their job, what they do in their free time and how they spend their available cash. Here’s a hint. If they are not willing to share, it is an indication that you are still coming off too much as a sales person.

How do we improve? Be sincere in your desire for friendship. Share your life with them. You do NOT need to be the perfect, polished network marketing pro in order to gain friends, in order to gain customers, in order to gain business partners. Several of my friends have shared excellent tips on how to excel.

Trish Mullen stated that “I have been thinking over the past couple of days how everyone is just speed selling all the time on all of the social networks”. Nancy Burban reminds us that those who spam or try to sell constantly lose friends & followers quickly. Ellen Graeger stated that she makes friends with personal comment on their articles, writing on their wall, replying to their questions.

A very close friend of mine, Jocelyn Jones, let me know her secret: The way that I make friends is start out by introducing myself and telling them about my children and interests. I then ask them about themselves. Once they respond, I then ask them about their experiences with Network Marketing, how long they’ve been involved, their likes, dislikes, struggles, etc. I don’t try to “pitch” them my opportunity the second we make contact. That DRIVES me crazy when people try to cram their opportunity down my throat the second we talk. Sound like wise advice?

Theo Marcellus rightly suggests that “People sign up with people, not with businesses. If someone likes and trusts you, he/she will do business with you and follow you.” We have heard this advice many times. Let’s pay attention to it.

Vernon Nate gave me this advice. When I’m looking to befriend people on all social networks, my intention is to build long time relationships and not to just sell them. People do business with people that they know and TRUST. My mindset when I’m connecting with people on the internet is to add VALUE to them and truly help them be successful. With these combinations, you will stand out from the rest of marketers out there.

Robert Reed had a unique suggestion: How fast you get referrals depends on how fast you give referrals and the product or service you offer, of course. Here’s what he did: I created a referral website where I place video business cards with all of my networking friends on it.

Finally, I want to finish with thoughts from my friend Barry O. Canada:

Just be yourself. I completely forget about the business and focus my attention on connecting. If you really care about people and you want to provide them solutions, you need to know their problems. It takes time for people to see that you are not trying to con them into something, but that you have a genuine interest for them and what they may be going through. Slow and steady, building lasting friendships and partners along the way… that’s how I am building my business. For the record… it really disturbs me when someone greets me with their business. However, I come to expect that on Facebook. Then I focus on building a relationship with them and teaching them the appropriate way to market their business. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they do not.

Now I received dozens of suggestions to help you in our great industry, and they all fall right in line with the great suggestions I’ve included. I am just sorry I didn’t have space to include even more. Nonetheless, pay close attention to these suggestions and you will succeed in network marketing. The road to success in our industry is to make true friends and to help others.

“Quantity over quality….”

Sometimes network marketers have it all backwards. It’s a proven fact that the MLM industry retention rate is five percent. If ninety-five percent of all network marketing business owners fail to achieve success then there’s obviously something wrong with this philosophy of sponsoring.

First would be duplication. Training your team members to duplicate your efforts is one of your most crucial responsibilities as their sponsor. If you’re an advocate of the “super sponsoring” approach and are capable of sponsoring say, fifty to a hundred reps a month, you do need to be superman to be able to teach each of those persons the most important ways to build their business and do what you do. Unfortunately, for everyone concerned – especially for the MLM industry’s reputation, there are no supermen, so the industry attrition and retention rate applies.

Are we after the sign up bonus or the residual income? Without proper training, a large percentage of the new reps would be treading water. Sooner than later they would be washouts. There are no profits to be gained from these failures. And since they lost cash when their business went down, they’d be telling everyone that MLM really is a pyramid scheme.

You know what’s worse? The surviving reps, having been your best students, will have taken the lesson on duplication seriously. They’ll do exactly what you have done – sponsor a large bunch of new reps, attempt to teach all of them the finer points of duplication, then lose most of the group to attrition. The whole cycle of error over and over, with no one getting any nearer to financial freedom, which is supposed to be the goal isn’t it?

Why do we keep on doing it? Because the selection process of sponsoring has always boiled down to “anyone with a credit card.” That’s the way we were conditioned and unless we think “out of the box”, most of us end up as part of the ninety-five percent.

So how come five percent gets to achieve success and gain financial independence? That’s the point isn’t it? Why only five percent? Of course everybody can’t be successful but why not at least fifty percent?

Let’s do a little experiment; reverse the abovementioned philosophy, then apply the new approach. Make a pledge with your team that everyone is to sponsor only one new rep per month. No more, no less. One rep that each of you could train extensively – one on one – for a whole month before the new guy makes his own pledge of bringing in one rep a month. Make the sponsoring and duplication process work slowly but steadily in an ever expanding network of highly effective entrepreneurs. We should get interesting results.

Bill McMahon
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joinbillmcmahon

Find out more about effective duplication:
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The attrition rate in network marketing among distributors is brutal. It’s analogous among companies and a reality that most do not want to hear or discuss. The fact of the matter is a great many MLM companies do not survive the first five years. It’s just sad how start-up companies which are here today and gone tomorrow do not learn by the mistakes made by the forerunners.

When it comes to staying power, there seems to be a common denominator among the best of the surviving network marketing companies – the facility to develop systems to further enhance the methods that has been profitable for them.

If you are a complete neophyte to the MLM business arena and looking to join the bandwagon, there are points of interests to consider.

Every now and then a company comes along that just seems to shoot up to fame. Those lucky enough to seize it during the all important progression stage have produced incredible profits in a short amount of time.

Ideal opportunities are hard to catch and there is an art to becoming part of one of these top network marketing companies because these “chances of a lifetime” are extremely hard to come by.

The question you should ask is do you just plainly join an established network marketing company that has been in eternal existence or do you wait for the next phenomenon? A direct answer is neither. There are some straightforward qualifying conventions that you can apply to any network marketing company which can give you guidance as to whether it can become your instrument to financial autonomy.

Let’s take a look at some of the things you need to be on the look out for before joining up with any MLM company:

1. Perhaps the main consideration is what the company has to present in the manner of products. If their product line-up looks exactly like the next company’s offerings then find out which one makes the better products. One may offer significant improvements to what has previously been produced.

2. Look for a company that’s has shown steady growth in its first five years of operation. Most do not survive this crucial period.

3. Look at the management composition of a company. Do they have a reliable track record in the MLM industry? It is a definite advantage if those at the driver’s seat of the company management system are established in the industry.

4. When choosing a “new” company, find out whenever possible, if it has the financial resources to survive the start-up period and establishment phase. Lack of capital is the main reason why many companies bite the dust.

5. Joining network marketing companies which have been around for decades may not be a good option. These are great companies that have experienced their major growth and most of them may have already attained the “plateau” stage.

Bill McMahon
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joinbillmcmahon

Has running your network marketing business turned tedious? Does everything seem boring and that nothing ever changes? If you’re experiencing something similar, then you must know that suffering a depression like this can be extremely fatal to a business. Lack of motivation usually leads to indifference which can lead to despair. Ultimately losing focus in maintaining a steady effort to improve your business is the end result.

With the present dismal economic environment, it’s relatively simple to consider taking the easy way out and just throw in the towel. Don’t even consider it. Keep in mind that steadiness in your network marketing business will benefit you because it will help you ride out a bumpy economic spell and then provide the groundwork for a flourishing endeavor during improved times. So what can you do to keep yourself motivated and focused on building your business during an economic downturn? Here are some tips on what to do if you find yourself losing the motivation to function effectively as a businessperson. Let’s start with the basics:

Tip 1
Review your business and figure out why you are unhappy. Is it that “working” the business is boring or is your mind always elsewhere? Spend time writing down the pros and cons about running your business.

Tip 2
Find out what you need to change to keep yourself in focus. What can you do to spice up your operation? Consider checking out network events. Going to networking events is important because you get to meet potential clients and you learn what other people need or are looking for. Keep a list of those you meet and their requirements. As you meet others, you can connect all those people together. This will not only keep you focused on networking and meeting people, which forms the heart of a network marketing business, but will generate motivation for it by way of looking out for the people who are likely candidates for your network . It’s also a terrific way to validate your abilities and professionalism which may have taken a slump during your depression.

Tip 3
You may want to introduce exercise into your regular routine. You can insert exercise in between tasks. Exercise can do wonders for your physical and emotional well being.

Tip 4
Implement a news black-out. When you read or hear about companies going under and people losing their jobs – anything related to a gloomy economy – it’s quite easy to get affected by the media hype. While it’s important to keep the state of the economy in some part of your consciousness, time off from harsh reality and focusing on your business would be more productive. Your role in uplifting the beleaguered economy as a whole could be insignificant, but you have yourself and your network marketing business to make your life, and the lives of others associated with you better. This alone would serve as a strong motivation to succeed.

Bill McMahon
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joinbillmcmahon