Being recruited into a business you hadn’t heard of until yesterday might be more like being sucked into a vacuum cleaner than making your own informed choice, so here we present some simple ways to weed out bad ideas.

Don’t be afraid to say ‘no’! Remember, there are literally thousands of network marketed businesses out there – you can find the right one for you if the first ones you look at don’t fit.

On the other hand don’t be overly afraid of making the wrong decision either.  MLM companies are not expensive to join and if you find you don’t like one it won’t be the end of the world if you say good bye.

First things first

If you have heard of a company, jump online and research. You might also specifically look up rankings on review websites such as this one. (MLMrankings.com is good because they accept no advertising and have no affiliation with any company they rank.) Your research is a ’sniff test’ #1, but don’t be misled by reviews that are written by people advocating or advertising for you to join. (These are very prevalent!)

Finding an abundance of critical reviews outweighing good reviews would be an obvious red flag, for instance.

Rankings measure dollar volume, profit, or age and won’t give you a good subjective opinion, but at least you will have some ‘base’ of information.  If you want a ‘ground floor opportunity’ at least you will understand that there is a risk because the company is not old enough to be stable, etc.

Sniff Testing

For Sniff Test #2 is easy. If you would not want to buy and use the product, or if you believe it is overpriced or unnecessarily shipped because you can buy similar things locally in stores, then the odor is getting a bit foul! Companies that rely too heavily on recruiting under pressure and not enough on a great product at a good price are likely to be problematic.

Next, only now is it really time to get local and get personal. If someone has been attempting to recruit you, you should have at least put them off until you have gotten this far. If they passed your first level of investigations, then move closer.

Find out where you can find a meeting in your area, contact the company for a referral near you, etc. If you know people in the company talk to them about their experience. If they have not been in the company long, talk to the people who recruited them.

There is simply no substitute for personal experience and knowledge.  If the excitement level of the person you are talking to is overtaking their common sense, find someone who seems level headed who has been in the organization for a while. Don’t be afraid to ask to speak to others.

Pressure-testing

A good lens (test #4) through which to examine a company is the pressure it exerts and requires for recruiting.  Once you are talking to people in the company you can begin to measure this aspect of the business.

To a degree this may be harder to judge than you think at first. Hearing  ’all you have to do is get X people, and then they get X people and you are done…’ is generally misleading. If you MUST get ‘X’ people in so many days the pressure is on and may well be uncomfortable. You will be expected to pass on that pressure!

How much will you be pushed to do everything or anything?

Look again at reviews online, ask people as high up in the organization as you can, and ask for personal experiences from people who have been in the company for a year or two.

It will be normal to hear that a lot of people join and remain inactive and that a number of people drop out.  But if you are seeing complaints from a lot of people who have left the company posted online or 90% of those who join leave in six months, there is a real issue.

The Critical Level

If an opportunity has passed these tests and you have any interest you are ready for Test #5 – the critical one!

Try the product!  Most of the time you can try the product or service without joining the company. Sometimes it is less practical, but do this when you can. In many cases joining the company is so inexpensive as a business proposal that you can sign up in order to try it out.  You generally won’t have a big loss even if you decide it is not right for you.

It is a sure bet that if your experience is good using the product or service that you will be able to communicate your satisfaction to others.  Your confidence in the whole picture – the company, product, price and value, service, the system and the people around you – are ultimately what will allow you to confidently move forward building a successful business!

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