OK – so you’re interested in doing something to earn a little extra bread…

What’s the something going to be? What do you do next?

There are more than 3,000 network marketed (direct sales) companies in America. The ‘top’ companies therefore number in the hundreds.

There are several opportunities that have passed our ’sniff test’. (You can read our criteria here.) We also have literal rooms full of network marketing people we call on locally.  (The companies at the top of our list are not all ones we are involved with.)

You can take a look at our short-list here under ‘opportunities’ and / or do what we did – seek out groups of people locally who are involved and ‘canvas’ the room. (That plus internet research is how we found what to look at.)

That makes a ’short list’.

Finding the right one for you will hinge on several factors, all of which are personal judgments.  No one can simply tell you ‘this is the thing for you.’

In doing any business you will be doing one thing on a regular basis: talking with people (or at least communicating with them somehow.)

====> You will be putting your name and reputation on the line.

In that light, the one thing that can start you off right is to look at any company in terms of whether associating your name with them would be a good thing.

Perhaps you could start a list or a chart of possibilities and ‘rate’ companies by some categories. For certain you can talk to people who are involved, go to meetings, etc. But an immediate caution is required!

Making an emotional decision often yields poor results. Going to a meeting with a friend is likely to put pressure on you to join. Remember – if there is a meeting today, there will be another one tomorrow.  You can do your research FIRST and THEN go to the meeting.

If you Google a company and the results are full of complaints or legal problems, maybe that is a red flag – but network marketed businesses involve lots of people so there will always be some with a problem or complaint.  (In some cases it is therefore worth digging a little deeper. There are often simple reasons behind a complaint or problem.)

The other side of the coin is that finding a lot of positive news ought to be reassuring.  Again, however, just because people rave about something doesn’t make it good. You may again wish to read a little deeper or find resources that are more likely to give unbiased opinions.

How you rate or think about each company on such merits as ‘reputation’, ‘in the news’, ‘interesting product’, ‘great idea’, etc, and how you balance those attributes against each other is something you could think about until way past dark!

Chart or no chart, if you begin to see a couple of companies, products or services catching your interest more than others in one or more ways, you at lest will narrow the short list to a smaller number of possibilities.

One other attribute needs to be considered. If you share your life with a significant other or spouse, you are both involved to some degree whether you like it or not.  The same is true of any job. Working hours, earnings, lifestyle, etc., will all be effected. You might or might not both be ‘involved’, but you shouldn’t make your decisions in a vacuum, either.

With a short list in hand, you are ready to get in touch, go to the meeting with your friend, talk to people who are involved and come to a decision!