View the video on our website: mlmattorney.com or mlmlegal.com; or view it on Youtube.

In this hour-long video, Jeff Babener addresses network marketing industry topics such as:

– Distributor raiding

– Pyramid scheme

– Personal Use

– Legal

– Social media

– Recruiting and communication

– Noncompete agreements

– Distributorships with multiple companies

– Company and consultant responsibility

– Startup

– Trademark

– Regulatory

– Compliance

– Funding startups

– Training and education

– Federal Trade Commission

– Keys to startup success

– Passion for company vision and products

– Determination

– Success strategies

– Regulatory environment

– Legal services

To watch the video visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzX1sXgTg_Q&feature=youtu.be or visit our blogs to read more: www.mlmlegal.com and www.mlmattorney.com.

The conference will be held May 15th & 16th 2014, which is quickly approaching!

MLMLegal.com Launches the  Innovation Campaign  for the May 15 & 16, 2014 MLM Startup Conference!

Fill out the short survey here to receive two free tickets (worth $345.00!) to the next MLM Startup Conference in Las Vegas!**

For over 26 years MLMLegal.com and Babener & Associates has hosted the most prestigious MLM conference for executives of startup and existing direct selling companies. In celebration of our 67th conference, we are offering two complimentary tickets* — worth $345.00! — to attend the esteemed event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In our ongoing effort to offer the absolute best network marketing conference available, we invite you to participate in our May 2014 Innovation Campaign. To receive your two free tickets, fill out our Innovation Campaign form by following the link below.

We invite the input, ideas and innovation from the very MLM company owners who are in the startup and launch phases of their companies. We strive to offer the best conference in the United States. MLMLegal.com always covers current issues and events at all of our conferences, but this time it is different! We want your input in the Innovation Campaign!

Are you an owner or executive of a startup of existing direct selling company? Do you want to attend the 67th Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference for FREE?! Fill out our short survey below! Share with us your experience as a network marketing entrepreneur!

Fill out our  Innovation Campaign  form to receive your two free tickets today! Also visit this page for additional information on the May 15 & 16, 2014 MLM Startup Conference

Each attendee will receive a FREE copy of the Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Manual.

How do you find out more information?

Visit our website:

www.mlmlegal.com

Visit our blogs:

http://mlmlegal.com/MLMBlog/

http://mlmattorney.com/blog/

Watch the Conference videos:

MLMlegal Releases New Film on MLM Startup Conference – Produced by Networkingstar.com

The MLM Startup Conference in Las Vegas

MLM Startup Conference – A Must for Executives of Startup and Existing MLM Companies

Contact Us: REGISTER TODAY! 503-226-6600 or 800-231-2162

The next MLM conference will be held May 2014 in Las Vegas (keep a look out for the October and February conferences as well). Each day will begin at 9:00AM and end at 4:00PM, when the one-on-time will begin and end around 7:00PM. For more information visit: http://www.mlmlegal.com/srs2.html or call 800-231-2162/503-226-6600. Registrations are taken by phone and questions are always welcome.

Presented by one of the most trusted individuals in direct selling and MLM, Jeffrey Babener, Editor of www.mlmlegal.com.

About Attorney Jeffrey Babener: Conference Host and Chairman, Editor of www.mlmlegal.com, as well as the leading direct selling attorney in the United States — With over 25 years of experience as a direct selling attorney, Jeffrey Babener has advised leading companies in the MLM/Direct Selling industry, ranging from Avon to Nikken, to Herbalife, to Melaleuca, to USANA, and to Excel Communications, plus many more. He’s been published in national magazines such as Money, Inc., Atlantic Monthly, Entrepreneur magazine, Direct Selling News, Direct Sales Journal, Success magazine, Money Maker’s Monthly, among countless others. He’s authored several books, including his most popular Network Marketing: What you should know. Mr. Babener has chaired more than 64 national conferences on direct selling.

View the Press Release HERE.

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

Interviewer: Talk to me about what makes a MLM company successful. I know you’ve worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. You’ve been in this business for a very long time. So you’ve got a real unique perspective on the industry because as you worked with so many successful MLM companies. I bet from your own point of view, you see some of the things that companies are doing well and some of which they can improve on. With all of that collected experience, tell us what makes a company successful?

Jeff Babener: You know, we often hear about the newest sizzling compensation plan. I’m going to say that a good compensation plan is one that pays fairly and proper remuneration is a given. Your company can’t go anywhere unless you’ve created your compensation plan correctly.

Interviewer: So, you got to have a good compensation plan…

Jeff Babener: It should be good and it should be fair. But I have to tell you, a company that touts its compensation plan is often using that as an excuse to cover up for other elements that are missing.

Interviewer:  Got it.

Jeff Babener: What drives the success of direct selling companies, that we have seen, has been high quality products and services. Products and services that stand on their own in the marketplace, something that distributors and consumers bond well with.

Representatives and consumers bond with products and services. They bond objectively. They bond emotionally. So, bonding to that quality product is really important.

Secondly, the people who run the company, for better or for worse, are extremely important. When the distributors of Mary Kay sat in the audience and listened to Mary Kay speak, each of them believed that she was speaking directly to them. There is no substitute for having a connection with the leadership and founders of the company.

Thirdly, the company’s vision is important. What are they doing? Do distributors want to do something good in the world? That is why companies that sell health products, or that sell transformational products (like financial services) resonate so deeply with people. We live in difficult time. Companies that participate in philanthropic or charitable programs connect passionately with the distributors.

When Mary Kay started her company, people may have thought that she was in the cosmetics business. But, what she was actually in the business of empowering women. That is why Avon hosts marches for cancer research.

There must be a vision, a mission or a calling. There must be something greater than a single person for everyone to rally around. People always relate to projects larger than themselves.

Prior to my coming here today, just before we were going to do the interview, I saw a picture of Babe Ruth on the wall in your office.

Interviewer:  Yep.

Jeff Babener: …Looking up the bleachers, hitting a home run… Now, there is a man who transcended all sport. Every person in America relates to Babe Ruth. There are times and there are people who transcend what they’re doing. And they give meaning. They make you feel good. They give you a purpose. They give you a goal. And they drive you to be a better person. Babe Ruth hit home runs, but he did much more than hit home runs. I’m assuming that’s one reason that you put his picture in your office.

Interviewer:  Yeah, he’s a guy that only knew how to hit home runs and grand slams.

Jeff Babener: And, these things happen only a few times in our lifetime. Along comes a John Kennedy who will inspire people. You can’t explain why, but they will do it. And then a MLM company will come around that can do the same thing, which is important, spread inspiration. And that’s the last issue I wanted to bring up.

The amount of time and expense that you spend on training your sales force and your team leaders will be well paid because distributors who join companies not only need to relate and bond with the people who run the company, they need to bond with the people who brought them to the dance, the upline distributors. And those are the leaders of the company, the sales leaders, and they basically are the glue that holds everything together. Every ounce of strength and training, every penny that you spend on really developing those people into leaders, is a good investment.

It comes down to having a good, fair compensation plan that can motivate the right kinds of behaviors. The right kind of product that distributors and customers can bond with and that is a need in their lives.

And, you have got to have the right kind of owners, the right kind of people with a vision to do something greater than themselves. And, training. You must spend the time making an investment in people. You must train them and help them understand the company and how to achieve their own success. You must create the opportunity for everyone to dance together.

Interviewer:  Thank you.

For more information on how to create a successful MLM company, visit the following links:

MLM Consulting: How to Build a Successful Direct Selling Company

MLM Consulting: Starting Your MLM Company

FREE MLM Start-up Manual: Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company

The MLM Startup Conference: Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference

Factors that Make a MLM Company Successful Video

Understanding the Basics in Order to Succeed In Direct Selling – Companion Video to this Blog Post

MLM Legal on iTunes

MLM Startup – The Basics

Or, read some of our other blog posts on success in network marketing, MLM, direct selling, and party plan:

Are you Starting a MLM Company?

An Interview with Industry Expert and Advocate, Jeffrey Babener

It’s Passion that makes a MLM Company Successful

The Top Two Reasons Why MLM Companies Fail

Learn What is Needed to Recruit Top-Selling Distributors for Your MLM Company

Passion, Patience, Persistence – Attitude in Direct Selling

Four Factors that Make a MLM Company Successful

Explaining Your MLM Company to the Public: Answering the Hard Questions

MLM/Direct Selling/Network Marketing: A Validated Channel of Distribution

How Much Does it Cost to Start a MLM Company?

The Next MLM Startup Conference in Las Vegas – May 16th & 17th, 2013

Choosing the Right Product for Your Direct Selling Company

Where to Find MLM Startup Tips and Answers from an Industry Expert

The Nine Basics You Need to Understand in Order to Succeed in MLM – Interview with Jeff Babener

Gaining Experience in MLM – Possess it or Buy it?

Make sure to visit our blogs for the latest information on the direct selling industry: MLMLegal Blog Home and MLM Attorney Blog Home

Find us on our social networks:

Google Plus: http://plus.google.com/u/0/115279960045099999909#115279960045099999909/posts

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mlmlegal

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BabenerLawFirm

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/mlmlegal

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=696968133

And, as always, visit MLMLegal.com, the best MLM resource on the web. The next Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference will be here before you know it! On May 16^th and 17^th, 2013 we are hosting the MLM Conference for the 25^th year! This is now our 64^th annual conference (held almost consistently three times per year over the last 24 years). All executives/owners of MLM, direct selling, network marking, and party plan companies are welcome to attend. This is the original MLM Startup Conference, hosted and perfected by direct selling industry expert, MLM Attorney Jeff Babener. Call 503-226-6600 or 800-231-2162 to register. (Can’t make this event? Keep an eye out for our October and February conferences as well.)

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

Interview with Expert Attorney – Are Earnings Calculators Legal?

Interviewer: Jeff, talk to us about earnings calculators because there are a lot of consultants out in the field who want to know is if there is an appropriate way to demonstrate earnings with a calculator.

Jeff Babener: Kris, we’ve had some problems in the direct selling industry in the past, particularly with the Federal Trade Commission and Attorneys General regarding earnings claims. Problems have risen when companies come up with assumptions and make claims about earnings potential.

Let’s assume you’re going to find five people, and they are going to do so much volume, and they’re going to find five people, who are also going to do so much volume… The claim is then made; if you recruit so many, and make so much in volume, then you’ll be making $10,000 a month. Now, that has been a problem in the absence of some disclosures of average earnings of distributors, average number of active distributors, what people can expect to make, etc.

But earnings claims are a different issue than earnings calculators. The issue that arises with earnings calculators is really an extension of what we used to see when potential distributors would go to a meeting and companies would say to them, “We want to show you how our compensation plan works, how it pays differently at different levels. We aren’t going to tell you what our hypothetical expectations are of what you can do, rather we are going to give you a piece of paper that shows how many people you think you could sponsor at this level, how many at this level, and so on. How many people do you think you can sponsor? What do you think their volume or production could be?” You make the assumptions and then you have a piece of paper and a chalkboard that shows you that that allows you to multiply and guess what you would make. You’re to make the calculations.

Today’s modern earnings calculator is doing nothing other than doing the calculation for you based on your expectations. Obviously there are some underlying assumptions, not of your productivity, or of your sponsoring ability, but of very basic things, for instance that a particular product sells for so many dollars. Those are basic assumptions which are incontrovertible. The earnings calculator then asks you, “What do you think you can do by way of production, by way of recruitment, what do you think your sales organization can do?” and then it helps you. It merely calculates what you would earn based on your assumptions.

Interviewer: So, if I were sitting at a seminar or sitting down with someone one-on-one, the important thing for me to know is that I’m not throwing hypothetical’s out there for them. I am saying that you have to answer these questions so that this device can help put out the results based on your situation and I’m not going to do any “winking,” leading you along, or encouraging you to put certain numbers in to boost your results. It’s got to be 100 percent about the person I’m talking to and what their goals are. And, that would be the appropriate way of using that tool?

Jeff Babener: That would be the credible way. Now someday, with every company, as they progress, they develop a large mass of statistics which indicates how people do, what percentage of people who join the company are active in making money, what is the average earnings are of people in the business. If the company would like to indicate: here’s how you might earn 5k in one month, the company has statistics to disclose what percentage of people actually earn that amount. But at an early point in time, it is difficult for companies to do that, so the earnings calculator is really the way to go. Someday, the company, having made these disclosures, will be able to actually present its own hypothetical’s.

For more information on earnings calculators, visit the following links:

Interview with Expert MLM Attorney – How to Handle Compliance Discussions with your Distributors

6 New Videos: Q&A Interview with Expert MLM Attorney, Jeffrey Babener

New Video: Earnings Claims and Consumer Protection Laws

Major Corporations have Adopted Network Marketing

The Difference Between MLM Earnings Calculators and Earnings Claims – Video

Distributor Training – Two Common Questions

The Hallmarks of Legitimate Direct Selling/Network Marketing Companies

What Differentiates a Legitimate Direct Selling/Network Marketing Company from an Illegal Pyramid Scheme?

Make sure to visit our blogs for the latest information on the direct selling industry: MLMLegal Blog Home and MLM Attorney Blog Home

Find us on our social networks:

Google Plus: http://plus.google.com/u/0/115279960045099999909#115279960045099999909/posts

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mlmlegal

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BabenerLawFirm

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/mlmlegal

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=696968133

And, as always, visit MLMLegal.com, the best MLM resource on the web.The next Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference is quickly approaching! On February 21^st and 22^nd, 2013 we are hosting the MLM Conference for the 25^th year! This is now our 63nd annual conference (held almost consistently three times per year over the last 24 years). All executives/owners of MLM, direct selling, network marking, and party plan companies are welcome to attend. This is the original MLM Startup Conference, hosted and perfected by direct selling industry expert, MLM Attorney Jeff Babener. Call 503-226-6600 or 800-231-2162 to register. Ask Charity how to get a discount! (Can’t make this event? Keep an eye out for our May and October conferences as well.)

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