Wednesday, 28. July 2010
There are definitely more than ten questions you need to be asking before you join Herbalife as a distributor, but I’m going to focus on the ten that I feel are most important and these can be applied at any potential network marketing business opportunity you are looking into. You will have to get the answers from your sponsor or the person trying to bring you into their business Too many people join business opportunities without asking the tough questions, only to find out it was a big mistake. You should be well informed BEFORE joining! If you are new to this company be sure to read the Herbalife review and then come back to this article.
Question 1 – Is the company selling an actual product to the general public? MLM companies are heavily scrutinized by people and the government to make sure they are not illegal pyramid schemes. There simply must be product being sold to the public or you need to look elsewhere for a different business opportunity!
Question 2 – Do you get a bonus for recruiting people? Since we are talking about network marketing, it’s obvious you have to bring people into your business to succeed, but you have to be paid the bonus from the actual sale of product. If you didn’t you would really be a glorified salesman for the company rather than a business owner. Question 2 is tricky because you are obviously going to get paid for bringing people into the company, but it’s not the act of bringing them in that gets you paid, it’s the sale of a product. If you get paid for having someone signup in your business, you need to look elsewhere!
Question 3 – Who runs the company and what is their track record? The leaders of your company need to know what they are doing. If they aren’t good business people, your success could be short lived. You wouldn’t want to build a big organization for yourself only to have the company shut down over a shady business deal or something that was out of your control. Don’t get caught up in a bad company run by shady people because you didn’t ask the tough questions!
Question 4 – Do the owners of the company have specific experience with MLM? You might not think this is a big deal, but it truly is. I have personal experience with this. The last network marketing company that I was involved with was doing very well. I built up a substantial business only to have them shut down their MLM operations. Overnight the company sent out an email letting all of it’s MLM distributors that we had 30 days and we would no longer be paid. This particular company took away a major source of income for a ton of people and it’s because the company leaders were from the corporate America mindset. They are two different worlds!
Question 5 – Do they have sufficient capital? If you company has been around for a while you may not even need to ask this. This question truly needs to be addressed on start ups. Debt is not something you want when starting a large company, and you need to ask this question!
Question 6 – What is the startup costs? Even if you already know what the cost is, let’s look a little deeper. Remember, when you join a network marketing company you are basically purchasing a business. You get to be your own boss!When you join a network marketing company, you become your own boss. It’s your business! Herbalife has been around for a long time and it obviously costs to join. That’s not a bad thing. There are actually companies out there claiming that you can join for free and be making thousands of dollars in a few months. I just don’t see that as a possibility. In order to be joining a successful company you need to expect some upfront cost. If you were starting your own business, the costs would be outrageous compared to MLM.
Question 7 – Is there a minimum purchase requirement every month to maintain your downline? There are some compensation plans out there that require you to purchase a ton of product just to remain active. If you don’t they will flush your downline and you will have to start over. That doesn’t seem fair to me. Be sure to read and re-read the companies compensation plan BEFORE you join! If the comp plan isn’t easy to find and ready, you may have an issue.
Question 8 – Does the company tell you who they are upfront? You don’t want to be involved with a company that doesn’t show who they are upfront! With the way the internet is, if you can’t find something, or all you find is bad publicity, you probably have an issue. This is a major issue and if you have trouble finding info, you need to bring it up to the person recruiting you. If they can’t answer your questions, there’s another red flag.
Question 9 – Can the average person read the compensation plan? If it’s not you may be missing some key information. This is not a small issue. You need to discuss this with the person that is bring you into the company.
Question 10 – Does the company provide you with the training and marketing you need to succeed? For most companies, the answer to this question is NO. You have to create your own success because it’s your business. You have to market it yourself, you have to sell it yourself, and you have to build it yourself. It can be done, but you may need to plug yourself into a 3rd party marketing system.
If you were able to get questions 1 through 9 answered to your satisfaction, you can feel confident that you are getting involved with a good company. I wish you all the success in the world! If there were any discrepancies, I would suggest running in the other direction! Ultimately it’s up to you. Question 10 really is all up to you! If you want to succeed in MLM you need a business coach and duplicateable system to help you reach your goals. You must learn how to market your business on the internet as well as offline. You need to build a list and brand yourself. All of that is outside the scope of this article, but be sure to follow the information at the bottom of this article if you have questions.
Joseph Turbin is a internet/network marketing coach that has helped countless people bring their business online and showed them how to market themselves using the power of the internet. Be sure to check out his lead generating marketing system, and if you haven’t read the Herbalife review, check it out as well!