company to work with for the next five, ten or twenty years.
Getting the answers to these questions will save you years of failure
and frustration.

And remember … IT’S NOT ABOUT THE PRODUCTS.
You can have the greatest products on the planet,
but if your company does not have all 5 pillars,
you can have everything taken away from you overnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Company Management Experience with Integrity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read your Policies and Procedures. Look for the words
“termination” and “ongoing”. Find out how safe you are,
how your downline is protected, and whether you can
ever retire.

Rule of Thumb: The longer the contract, the more
overhead the company has, and the less you earn.

Do a Google search on the company and the owners
of the company you are researching. Add the word
’scam’ to your search. Check reliable websites like
www.mlmwatchdog.com, etc. for warnings.

Beware of companies where you can buy your way
to the top. Check ebay to see if the company’s
products are being sold there.

Beware of sponsors offering you a “good position”.
There can be no “deals” in an ethical company.
There must be a level playing field.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Timing in the Company / Timing in the Industry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beware of “ground floor opportunities” and start-up
companies. 99% of companies don’t last two years.

Most people don’t make money in the first two years
while the company is dealing with problems.

Profit comes AFTER two years. Join then.

Do not join a company with a product with no profit
margin, e.g. long distance or vinyl records!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Remarkable Product
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be sure your product is unique – not invisible among others.
Read Seth Godin’s “The Purple Cow”.

Warning: If the product would not sell without a business
opportunity attached, it is ILLEGAL.

If you can’t pay online with a credit card, and if you can only
pay by cash or money order, it is ILLEGAL.

If distributors collect the money while the company stays
at arm’s length, it is ILLEGAL.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. Compensation Plan That Pays Part-Timers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
95% of networkers are part-time. Make sure that people can
make a decent income working a few hours per week.

Beware of companies that advertise how many millionaires
they have created. Make sure it’s not at the expense of
those “at the bottom”. Everyone should be able to benefit.

Ask the question “How many people must I have in my
business to earn $10,000 per month?” There are companies
out there that require as many as 10,000 and as few as 400.
It’s not unusual to see well-established companies that
require 3000 to 7000 people, and still attract new distributors.

If your upline won’t or can’t answer this basic question,
you should run.

If a company stresses “Recruit, Recruit, Recruit!”, you should
“Run, Run, Run!”

The key to success is moving product from the company to
the end consumer.

If you are making only 5% to 8% commissions, you are
being extremely underpaid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. System for Success
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The company must have a duplicatable system for success.
People are not duplicatable – systems are. e.g. If you have
to rely on upline doing presentations, this is NOT duplicatable.

DO NOT MAKE A LIST OF YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

STOP BUYING LEADS.

These methods do not work anymore.

I hope this short summary has been informative and useful.

If you’d like to read more, please download the free ebook 
Success in 10 Steps

To Your Success,

Cristiana Martinez

]]> http://cristianamartinez.com/2010/03/are-you-with-the-right-mlm-company/feed/ 81 http://cristianamartinez.com/2010/02/common-mistakes-everyone-makes-in-mlm/ http://cristianamartinez.com/2010/02/common-mistakes-everyone-makes-in-mlm/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:59:20 +0000 Cristiana Martinez http://cristianamartinez.com/?p=242 A common mistake, often fatal to your business is: “Failing to check the background of your company’s leadership!
When the management team has built a downline themselves, they
respect you.

Companies are nothing without us!

If they could sell their products themselves, they’d just put some
magical ad on the internet somewhere and people would come
to buy in droves.

But that does not happen.

Why? Because it takes you and me to build the relationships
with the prospects, so they buy from us.

And how do you know if your company leadership has integrity?
Simple. Read their company Policies & Procedures. (not the
Terms & Conditions) Then you will know.

99.9% of the people you talk to want to build a business and then
retire and enjoy the fruits of their work.

But these companies have come in the backdoor like snakes in
the night. They’ve changed their Policies & Procedures, adding
phrases like “ongoing sales”, “ongoing recruiting,” “continuous”,
“regular meetings.” You cannot retire – even though they’ve
promoted early retirement as one of the main benefits of their
business!

It’s amazing. If you retire, they can legally terminate you! Does
that show any sign of integrity?

Absolutely not.

Your Policies & Procedures are THE contract between you & your
company. They are written by the company lawyers. You’d better
know for certain what YOUR P&Ps say!

Here are some additional steps to insure your safety & security.
• Search Google for the owners of the company.
• Do the owners have Integrity? Add the word ‘Scam’ to your search.
• Do the owners have a Corporate background or an in-the-field Network Marketing background?
• Read your “Policies & Procedures” and “Terms & Conditions”;
both are part of your Legal Contract.
• Look for the word “Ongoing”.
• Look for policies that strike you as “Unreasonable”. Like “Termination, with or without cause”.
• Ask yourself “Does this contract protect me or the company?” “Is it clear which way it leans?”
• Does the company charge you for training or a company web site?
• Does the company charge you for each paycheck they send you?

Rules of Thumb:
• The longer the contract, the greater the possibility that the policies important to you
are being hidden in “Legalese”!
• If it’s a “Cash Only” business…It’s a Scam!
• If you can buy a position at the top…It’s a Scam!
• If you are offered a “Special Deal”…the playing field isn’t level for all.
• If the products are sold on eBay at a greatly reduced price…Buy there instead.
• If a company is publicly traded, Financial Decisions Will be made in Favor of the
Stockholders at the Expense of the Distributors.
• Check these two websites: http://MLMwatchdog.com and http://MarketWaveInc.com.

The above info (taken from our trainng) covers only 1 of 5 critical legs (Pillars) that make up ALL companies. This and much more is available to each member of our community, Mentoring For Free.

To have Access  to us and all the Free training start here

To Your Success,

~Cristiana Martinez

By Tom “Big Al” Schreiter:

“It is not the quantity of information we lack. There already is too much of that. It is the quality of information that we need to move ahead.

I have several different books on network marketing on my bookshelf behind my office chair.

If I do a search for “MLM Coach” (yeah, everyone is an MLM coach), Google gives me 74,000 results. Now, if I just do one coaching call a week with 74,000 coaches . . .

If I do a search for “MLM Training,” Google gives me 452,000 results. Yikes, how could I ever go to over four hundred thousand pages in my lifetime?!

If I do a search for “MLM Blog,” Google gives me 48,000 results. I think I would be tired after 75 or 80 blogs.

If I just want information about “MLM,” Google gives me 25,000,000 results. Okay, I give up.

Our distributors are not failing due to lack of information. They don’t need more information.

What do they need?

1. Quality information. The actual word-for-word skills to get the job done.

2. They need to get started. We all have distributors with all the information and skills they need, but they just can’t “pull the trigger”and get out there and talk to someone.

We have all been frustrated with this problem.

This is more than a motivational CD problem. It is a huge problem.

We’re talking self-image issues, procrastination, fear of rejection, subconscious mind sort of thing.”

Whether you are a beginner who wants to be off to a fast start, or if you are a pro and want to have the exact skills to build faster, you will want to start the Free training by downloading this free e-book.

To Your Success,

Cristiana Martinez