CHECKLIST: How To Choose A Network Marketing Company

“How To Choose A Network Marketing Company?”... that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?

The fact that you’re asking it though, immediately sets you apart from 99% of network marketers out there. (Myself included, by the way!)

Why?

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Because most people tend to jump into an opportunity with both feet without looking first!

As a result, many end up regretting it later when they realise that the company has deficiencies in one area or another. Or they’re just not the right fit.

Can you imagine how you’d feel if you chose badly and had to pull out, letting down your team and your customers?

Maybe you don’t have to imagine; maybe it happened to you?

I don’t blame you.

As I say, I did it three times (twice with the same company! Embarrassing but true).

So, I have a few battle scars.

And, having finally found the perfect MLM (for me, anyway), I want to give you the benefit of my learnings along the way.

So, without further ado, here is my checklist for how to choose an MLM.

Is Your MLM Truly International?

My preference would be to for an international company.

This means that you have the freedom to go and work wherever they operate. You may be settled now but what if you meet someone abroad and want to move there?

I don’t know about you but when I'm earning seven figures, I want to have the option of living and running my business abroad; preferably somewhere I don’t need an umbrella!

What would happen if the economy in your own country took a dive?

Would you value the flexibility to move and continue to build your business abroad?

Also, watch out for companies that say they are international but may charge you extra fees to operate in territories other than your home country.

What is Their Track Record Like?

Look for a company with a long and solid track record.

I cannot stress how important this is.

Hundreds if not thousands of new MLMs start every year and just as many go under. Very few make it past 5 years and still more will fold before they get to 10.

A startup MLM can seem exciting and sexy but statistically, they’re just not likely to make it. Sad but true.

I wouldn’t be willing to take that gamble, would you?

What’s Their Marketing Model?

How do they teach reps to build their team?

Do they recommend the stone-age way of hassling friends and family until they stop taking your calls? Or the smart way that involves none of that?

My bet is the former.

Don’t worry, most companies are like that (even mine). It’s my personal bugbear with the industry and it frustrated me for a long, long time. That is, until I learned how to get round it. So be sure to take my free bootcamp, where I’ll show you how you can too.

Do They Have Credible Endorsements?

Although not essential, solid celebrity or business endorsements can certainly help boost credibility when promoting a company and its products.

Are the Sales Targets Flexible?

Many companies have strict monthly sales targets.

I prefer a model where you just have to reach a minimum customer requirement and then maintain that, rather than having to chase new customers all the time.

This allows the flexibility to work as little or as much as you want and not have to worry about the pressure of hitting any sort of monthly targets.

Products vs Services

Products are awesome -- we can fall in love with them and often our customers will too.

Just don’t give in to the temptation to fill your garage with them in order to make that next promotion!

Personally, however, I prefer a company that has at least some element of essential services (e.g. energy or telecoms) in their offering and here’s why:

I’d also be cautious about going for an MLM that focuses solely on health products. I say this because the FDA in the US (and its equivalents around the world) are gunning for natural health products.

That said, the wellness industry is one of the fastest growing on the planet; Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Zane Pilzer says that “the wellness industry will exceed the $1 trillion health care (sickness) industry within 10 years”.

Could this be why Big Pharma is pushing the FDA to regulate the wellness industry in the manner above?

Consumer vs Business

The majority of MLMs target the consumer market but if you are coming from a small business background (like I did), perhaps you have contacts in that world you’d like to leverage in your new MLM career?

Some MLMs do however offer services to business as well as to households, so may be worth considering.

Debt

Is the company debt-free?

Many MLMs will have borrowed heavily in order to establish themselves in the market, or to expand. High levels of debt inevitably make a company vulnerable to economic conditions.

Great Compensation Plan

Many compensation plans are not balanced; what I mean is that it takes a long time before your income becomes high enough to even think about packing in your day job.

I still know people from my first MLM years ago who were with that company back then and it is still just a sideline for them more than ten years later!

So, unless you want to wait a decade for financial freedom, look for something that could work for you in months not years.

Quality Products / Services?

This kinda goes without saying but test these yourself if at all possible. I don’t know about you but I’d not want to be promoting poor quality rubbish to my friends and family!

Private vs public

For me, this is a biggie.

Any publicly traded company is accountable, first and foremost, to their shareholders.

For this reason, my preference is for a privately owned MLM. When privately owned, the profits can be funnelled back to the reps, instead of into shareholder’s pockets (assuming the owners are not greed and shortsighted, of course!).

You can make a quick check on this using the Bloomberg database. But be careful you’re searching the correct name as companies will often trade under a different name to their publicly registered name.

A Company of Integrity?

Normally, if the leadership has integrity then this will filter down through the company.

This is something I actually didn’t appreciate fully until I’d been with my current company for a while but it comes to mean a lot as time goes on.

I really sympathise with reps who join a company and put effort into building an organisation, only to find that their values don’t line up with those of the men/women at the top.

Great Vision

Some companies may have lost their initial spark and be merely treading water but others have clear and exciting vision: always making things better for reps and going into new territories and markets.

The Right Sponsor

The last couple of things I’ll mention aren’t strictly to do with how to choose a network marketing company but are arguably just as important.

When I joined my first MLM, my sponsor showed little interest in me and wasn’t a great deal of help. This was a definitely a factor in my failure and eventually quitting that opportunity.

Choose someone you resonate with. Choose a leader. Choose someone who can teach you attraction marketing. Choose someone who cares.

The Right Team

Are you joining a team that has great resources, great momentum and great training?

Do they run regular training webinars? Do they have a private discussion group where you can go for advice?

I’ve seen people who have joined the wrong team in the past and regret it so much that they quit in order to join a different team within the same MLM!

This is definitely counterproductive, especially if you’ve spent time getting customers and building a team, only to have to throw it away and start from scratch again.

What next?

Now you know how to choose a network marketing company, you might want to check out our MLM reviews section.

If you have any questions about how to choose an MLM, drop me a comment below.

And whatever company you choose, I recommend you learn how attraction marketing can help you build it without the pain and frustration of traditional methods.

Happy networking!​