For more information, visit www.mlmlegal.com.

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.

A Conversation with Jeff Babener Video Series: Is cross-sponsoring legal? What rights does the distributor have? What rights does the MLM companies have? Can a company legally ask that distributors only work for one company at one time? Distributors are independent contractors. But companies may lose distributors through raiding. What are your rights? And if cross-sponsoring is legal, is it a good idea?

Watch the video to learn the legalities of cross-sponsoring from both the distributor’s and the company’s perspective. To view more videos in this series, visit MLMLegal.com.

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.

A Conversation with Jeff Babener Video Series: Learn about the difference between the various compensation plans and how distributors are compensated with each plan. It’s called multi-level marketing since distributors are compensated at each level as they recruit more consultants. How many levels are distributors compensated at? Learn about breakaway compensation plans. Learn the difference between sponsors and recruits. Get the definition of each unique compensation plan and which plans are most common and which are less successful. How many levels deep is it most common to go, and legal, to go?

When does a compensation plan become a lottery, which is considered legal by many states? Which programs have stood the test of time, and which have gone by the wayside? Which compensation plan should you choose so that your company is legal and stands the test of time? Learn how to ask the right questions to determine a legitimate operating MLM company vs. a pyramid scheme. Watch the video.

Keep yourself educated on the legal aspects of the MLM industry. Visit MLMLegal.com. Are you starting a MLM company? Make sure you have your legal aspects covered. Contact legal MLM expert Jeff Babener for your free legal consultation today.

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.

Watch this video and more here.

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.

A Conversation with Jeff Babener Video Series: Some companies face issue of manipulation by distributors, with distributors signing up their spouses, children, even pets. This is not so much a legal issue but a standard in best practices for network marketing companies.

Watch the video!

To learn more about the direct selling industry, visit MLMLegal.com!

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.

Interviewed by Robin Seymour.

A Conversation with Jeff Babener Video Series: A network marketing distributorship is an asset of a marriage. State law will determine what happens to your distributorship in the event of divorce. Watch the video. And to learn more visit www.mlmlegal.com.

Watch the video!

For more information on legal aspects of direct selling, visit MLMLegal.com.

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.

Other to do items: Talk to others in the business. Talk to customers. Do a Google and Google News search. Do an online blog search. Watch YouTube videos. Look to websites such as www.mlmlegal.com that profile companies. Attend a businesspresentation. Do an internet search for review of the quality of the products.

Bottom line: Approach this decision as you would any other important decision, and do it with common sense.

MLMLegal.com is bustling with educational content for direct sellers and startup/existing MLM companies! Be sure to visit us often!

If you are interested in attending the Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company conference visit our conference page, view our speaker list, or get more details. All executives/owners of direct selling companies are welcome to attend. Call 800-231-2162 to register.

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.

To answer this question, it is best to look at the two phases of MLM companies: start up and maturity.

Although many things can go wrong in a startup direct selling company, two factors are repeated with frequency for the failure to launch. The first factor is inability to recruit. MLM is a business based on recruiting a successful sales force to market products. (Obviously, there are many important factors ranging from logistics to personnel to technology to quality control to distribution… and all these can go wrong as well.) It should be noted that the need for capital is in inverse proportion to the ability to recruit. A MLM company that can recruit is often positioned for fast growth and may even become a cash cow. If the company does not have that native ability, it needs sufficient capital to hire the talent to make recruiting happen. And in the absence of the recruitment asset, a company should plan on a much longer trajectory to profitability.

And the recruitment challenge dovetails with the second major reason that companies fail at the onset: lack of adequate capital or funding. Many companies start the business without adequate capital to allow for a one or two year run to become profitable. In fact, many companies assume that they will be profitable within months or that they will not need capital for growth. The lack of buffer capital to survive the early unprofitable days of a company is a prescription for early failure.

As to mature companies – who’ve been around for years and years but find themselves on a downward spiral, the key answer is to continuously innovate and create ways to bond with both distributors and customers. Companies that can’t grow with the market, or maintain loyalty of distributors and customers, will find that sales will plateau and ultimately decline. This is a branding business and a relationship business. Unless a mature company is ready to continually reinvent itself and stay fresh, it may find itself on a slow, or sometimes rapid, road to contraction and failure.

MLM, network marketing, otherwise known as direct selling, is a relationships business. Those that succeed do so because they have a deep relationship with their customers and distributors. To maintain long-term success as a MLM business owner, you too have to make sure that you’re not just running a company, but a business of relationships.

As mentioned, networking is a big part of MLM. Come network with us. If you are interested in attending the Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company conference visit our conference page, view our speaker list, or get more details. All executives/owners of direct selling companies are welcome to attend. Call 800-231-2162 to register. It’s run by the most trusted and knowledgeable man in the business, offering legal services for over 25 years to companies like Avon and Mary Kay, Jeff Babener.

Sign up for the MLM News Global newsletter for top headlines, news stories, scam alerts, videos, articles, and more information on the network marketing industry.

Learn more: Watch the Video. What are the two main reasons for a MLM company’s failure?

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.

What does failing mean to you?

What is the meaning of failure? If a distributor only makes a few hundred dollars a month, does that mean they have “failed?” What would that make the distributor who doesn’t make any money from network marketing at all? Or the one who loses money?

It’s difficult, in a sense, to lose money as a network marketing distributor in today’s world. This is due to the policy changes in direct selling companies. Most network marketing companies offer a full refund (or at least a 90% refund) to distributors who have changed their minds and want to return their starter kits.

In addition to policy changes within the company, the majority of leading MLM companies offer earnings disclosures on their websites which disclose the level of earnings and average earnings of all active distributors. Some consultants join a direct selling company to simply become discount buyers of the company’s products. These sorts of independent business owners don’t actually make money with their distributorship since they aren’t pursuing the opportunity to begin with.

The vast majority of active distributors (who make money with the company) earn only a few hundred dollars per month. There is a common saying in the industry, “95% of distributors fail.” This isn’t a fair statement unless you view the company’s products/services purchased by consultants as worthless. Unless you’re working for a pyramid scheme, this simply isn’t the case. Most MLM companies who build a direct selling business model do so because of the unique opportunity to offer their high-quality products and exclusive services through person-to-person selling.

So, how many distributors fail in network marketing? The answer depends on how you define failure. And if you view the products and services offered by your MLM company as special, then you’ve succeeded in making yourself happy and happiness alone is a measurement of success.

Would you like some tips on how to become a successful network marketing distributor? Watch the video by expert MLM Attorney, Jeff Babener:

MLMLegal.com is bursting with educational content for direct sellers and startup/existing MLM companies! Be sure to visit us often!

If you are interested in attending the Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company conference visit our conference page, view our speaker list, or get more details. All executives/owners of direct selling companies are welcome to attend. Call 800-231-2162 to register.

Sign up for the MLM News Global newsletter for top headlines, news stories, scam alerts, videos, articles, and more information on the network marketing industry.

Visit us at www.mlmlegal.com to learn more.