Multi-level marketing opportunities abound on the Internet. If you find yourself signing up to receive information about business opportunities, 95% of what you will receive is MLM. For those who are looking for that type of business, the odds are in your favor, but for those looking for a real business opportunity with immediate income potential, it can be frustrating. For the person who is interested in the world of MLM, you need only search the Internet to find how many opportunities are available.

One of the most appealing parts of multi-level marketing for many people is how easy it is to set up and how little the initial investment is. Unfortunately, those who are new to network marketing and MLM can be led into believing that there is almost no work involved, and sadly, many of the sites that other networks have for the sole purpose of recruiting tell you just that very thing. You see advertisements like, “I made $60,000 the first month.” Really? And how was that? Unless someone went out on the street and grabbed everyone he saw and dragged them by the hair into his network, there is no possible way that someone can build a network that quickly. Is it deception? More likely exaggeration and an attempt to draw more people into the network so they can make the $60,000 in one month that they are claiming.

When you’re looking for a MLM business opportunity, the key is to look for reality. Don’t believe all of the claims that you see about how quickly the business can start earning money for you because each person is different. Another determining factor is how much time you have to devote to promoting your business and bringing in new members to the network. If both a husband and wife work, there is little time to work on the business, especially if there are children; however, if a wife is fortunate enough to stay home, she can work on the business during the day as she has the time.

The important thing in this type of business is to find the one that suits your needs. Some organizations are set up to require a lot of out of town meetings with the upline, and others are almost exclusively Internet-based. You must choose the one that meets your needs and budget. The differences in needs are one of the reasons that so many different organizations exist on the Internet and have not yet become saturated. New ones are developing on a daily basis, so if you don’t find the right organization for you today, keep searching because eventually you will find exactly what you need in order to make your dreams and aspirations a reality.

The name of the game is BALANCE

When it comes to evaluating network marketing opportunities, it's not which company, which compensation plan, which products, which support systems or which upline team is the best that really matters. If there's not a workable balance between all five criteria, real leverage will be almost impossible to achieve.

The five critical criteria you need to consider when analysing and evaluating network marketing opportunities are:

1. The company – always the Number One risk factor for network marketers.

2. The compensation plan – can you make money, especially as a part-timer? Is the company siphoning off windfall profits through high breakage? This is the bottom line of any compensation plan.

3. The products – are they MONTHLY-consumable, in-demand, safe, effective and outstanding value for money? (Value… not cheap!)

4. Support systems – from the company and the upline team to make the opportunity 100% duplicable and to save time and effort.

5. The upline team – do they value people and use money, or is it the other way around? Will they actively support, train and encourage you? When YOU need it?

Most opportunities excel in one or two criteria, but fall down badly in others. Typically, they have excellent products, but the reward plans are geared against the part-timer. Or they have excessive breakage to the company because of high group volume requirements.

After almost three decades in network marketing, more than 25 of those years spent as a management consultant to MLM and party-plan companies, I've learned some valuable lessons. Of all those lessons, one is more valuable than any of the others. That lesson is that careful, intelligent BALANCE is the name of the game.
What about leverage? Isn't leverage vital?

Yes, leverage is critically important. But leverage is really all about balance, if you think about it. No balance, no leverage.

So tearing off in any one or two directions, while leaving others weak or vulnerable, can lead to serious risk. Just because a business opportunity has the best products, or the best compensation plan, or the best support systems, is NOT reason enough to choose it over another if there are serious deficiencies in other aspects of the business, such as company management, management priorities, or an upline team that isn't serious about supporting its downline people, or chooses to exploit them.

You need to look for a well-balanced mix, so that the end result is a business opportunity that can actually be made to work, and to make you money in the process.

Sometimes the lack of balance applies only to the local scene. A company may be a solid success on its home turf, but face serious problems in other local markets, due to any number of causes, including those not of its own making, such as over-regulation, atrocious exchange rates (if the reward plan is seamless globally) or logistical problems with things like deliveries, collateral materials, etc.

How do you know if the right balance exists?

The simplest way is to rate the opportunity you're analysing in each of the five critical criteria for assessment. Draw up a simple grid, analyse each of the five criteria in turn, and rate them on a scale of, say, 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. This gives you a basis for comparison with other opportunities.

I realise that this isn't a totally objective method. I'm not convinced that there is such a thing. All personal decisions will have some degree of subjectivity. It's when subjective, emotional decisions outweigh the objective, rational decisions that imbalance occurs. As long as the balance is reasonable, you should be able to come to a realistic choice.



Prepare a small chart like this for each opportunity you wish to compare (perhaps on Post-It® notes), circle the rating you assign to each criterion, then see where the strengths and weaknesses lie. Which opportunity offers the best overall balance?

Remember… this is just a basis for comparison. The ratings will only have real relevance in comparing two or more business opportunities. But you'll find, as you compare and make adjustments and revisions to your initial ratings, that you'll gain a progressively better overall view.