Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Products are Great --- BUT!

I'd like to share with you an experience a friend of mine had. She found this company and their products are great.

What she did NOT know is that the payplan is a horrible fiasco at the expense of the hardworking and naive distributors who are never taught to look at the business aspect of a company they join. People joined because they liked a product a friend or neighbor introduced them to and they could get products cheaper by joining.

After the 9th pay plan change (cut) in 11 years, and the elimination of the car bonus program without replacing it with something else, her income from that company was suddenly slashed about 80%.

But at that time, she did not know how important it was to understand the business side and comp plan payout schedule and to search out the track record of the company owners and management - their integrity, business acumen and skill, and global experience.

That's when her REAL education about MLM began.

What she learned (and so have I) in addition to having a great product and the company owners having integrity, skill and global experience, there are three other things to consider when choosing a company which are these:

======> timing in the industry and timing in the company.

You never want to get in on a ground floor opportunity and you never want to get involved in new industry. Let the company work out the kinks for a couple of years. If it is a good opportunity, it will be after two years (if it survives.)

======> a fair compensation plan

A fair compensation plan is not one which pays the top 1% or only the full-time network marketers. A fair plan is not one which you can never earn more than your upline because of the way it's structured. A fair plan is not one which requires a balancing act or hoop jumping to qualify.

Okay, a fair compensation plan is one which allows the part-time distributor the same opportunity to earn money as the full-time distributor. A fair compensation plan is one which allows the newest distributor to earn as much as his/her upline. A fair compensation plan is one which does not require you to do a balancing act. In other words, you won't be required to have two balanced leg before you are paid.

======> a system for success

When you due your homework and find a company which meets the above criteria, you can almost guarantee your success if you have a system that you and your entire team can use. You need to have duplication going on. You don't want to be a sponsor monster because you will never be able to retire from building your business. You want everyone duplicating your efforts so they can get the same results.

Which brings me to this final point. Be sure to read your company's policies and procedures so you can be sure you can retire when you decide. If you see clauses which say you must have ongoing sales or ongoing recruiting -- BEWARE. You will never be able to retire. But then, that brings us right back to a company having integrity.

To guard yourself from having the same or similiar experience as my friend, click here to start your due diligence about network marketing.

Be empowered to prosper!

Irma White
A Mentor with a Servant's Heart

1 comment:

JenniferF said...

And we think it will never happen to us. What's more amazing is when they cut the comp plan and make it sound like they have just done you a favor. Excellent blog.