MLM or Multi-level marketing By Jim Taylor, Publisher Work From Home Jobs news Before you believe everything a nice looking fellow might tell you about MLM, read and digest this article first! You and your bank account will thank me. A lot of people have made a whole lot of money in the multi-level marketing business. And a great many of them have done it by marketing a useful, legitimate product that has staying power and repeatability. Sadly, there are also a great many 'scammers' in the business who will only make money by convincing you to buy into their product or scheme. The actual products or services being presented are actually used by a very few consumers and most of the product you by to 'qualify' winds up in your garage collecting dust. Usually the amount of money you have 'invested' will range from $500 - $5,000 depending on the 'level' of opportunity you are buying in at. You will be encouraged to buy in at a higher level, in the hopes of earning higher overrides and commissions on future downline sales. Sadly, since the products do not actually sell to end consumers, those commissions never really materialize. But since the amount you have invested (lost) is not all that substantial you tend to shrug it off and carry on. Exactly, how the scammers operate and never get held accountable. HOW TO JUDGE AN MLM OPPORTUNITY? Will the product 'actually' sell to real customers who will return to buy again? To me, that is the acid test for any opportunity. It does not matter how good something 'sounds' the only thing which matters is 'will it sell'. And by this I do not mean will the 'oppportunity' sell, but will the product sell?? How to determine if the product will sell??? Simple, try selling it, BEFORE you buy a garage full of product. Use it yourself, to see what you really think about it. You will never sell something you don't like, and the enthusiasm which comes from something you personally use and like, is unmistakable. Ask the person selling you the opportunity how much product they actually 'retail' as opposed to how much they sell to new 'recruits'. Remember, if the product does not actually sell to end using consumers, it will have a short life and only the people who started the idea will ever make any real money, and some of it will be YOURS! A GOOD MLM OPPORTUNITY The multi-level company I did make money with offered a product which really works, which people really need and will buy again. It also offered the ability to make money by helping other people get into the business. A good rule, in the beginning is to look for at least 60% of your income to come from actual retailing yourself. By this I mean actually selling product to friends and associates. If you stick with a good product, it won't be long before people are coming to you to buy. There is a tendancy in MLM to get lazy and try to 'recruit' other people to do the selling and ignore the retailing end of the business. This may make you some short term money, but if you can't actually retail the product yourself, you won't be able to help others either. You will have made some profit on the product you sold to them, but that is short term gain if you can't help them build a solid retail business. Remember, their solid retail business, is your future override commissions, which can grow to be considerable if you build the business properly.