There are so many MLM, network marketing companies in operation. How do you know which one is a good fit for you? Have you thought about what type of product you’d like to sell? Or the compensation plan that would work best for you? Do you have a sponsor that will support you in growing your home-based business?

As you are researching your options, keep the following six questions in mind before you choose to sign up with a direct selling company.  

1. Does the direct selling company have a valid product or service that you believe in—that you are passionate about selling?
2. Does the company management have proven experience in network marketing?
3. Does the compensation plan provide retail profit to the distributor and pay bonuses for developing a downline organization?
4. Does the MLM company offer top quality promotional and support materials?
5. Does the network marketing company offer ongoing field training and support available throughout the country?
6. Do you have a sponsor that is willing to work with you and help you in your efforts?

These questions are all imperative to the success of your distributorship business. Weigh your options carefully. Network with other distributors about the companies in which they’ve had success. Do your research, compare each company apples to apples, or apples to pears. Make sure that you choose a company that you are not only passionate about, but that is also supportive of its distributors.

Watch some of our most popular videos to learn more about network marketing and MLM.

Do You Have Some Tips to Become a Successful Network Marketing Distributor?

If I’m a New Distributor Then Should I Focus My Selling In Areas Where Other Distributors Are Successful Or Should I Focus On Untouched Territory?

If a Sales Kit or Startup Fee Is Several Hundred Dollars, Then Is This Considered “Frontloading”?

Why Do MLM Companies Require Distributors to Use Replicated Websites Rather Than Distributor-Created Websites?

What Do I Do with Distributors Who Go Passive (for MLM Distributors)?

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It is common for distributors to be recruited based on an attractive compensation plan. Instant monetary benefits, promises of instant wealth, and enormous payouts are often advertised by companies. However, no company has ever been successful based on its compensation plan alone. An out-of-this-world compensation plan often gives the company an initial jump start, but time will prove that a great compensation plan alone isn’t enough to sustain a company.

Of course, a competitive compensation plan with great incentives are important, but “ground breaking” plans are more often a mirage for poor products, that you may have a hard time selling, or poor company management.

In the short term, “unprecedented” compensation plans may work, but they are not sustainable in the long term. Great products, which attract quality distributors and customers, and an organized management team, are what carry a company long-term.

For more information, visit www.mlmlegal.com.

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

Some legal case authorities claim that if a consultant announces that they are going to join another MLM company on Facebook then it’s protected under freedom of expression by the First Amendment. Therefore, a company cannot accuse a consultant of raiding their downline for distributors. Other courts and cases have suggested that consultants separate out their Facebook downline from those of friends and family.

It is very common for consultants to have friends on their social media accounts who are friends and customers, or co-workers and friends, or family friends and work friends, as well as also being someone they know in their direct selling business as customers or sponsors. Since many consultants often sell to their warm market first, distributors often know their customers or sponsor as friends, relatives, or church members. This causes some issues to arise for the MLM company.

A common issue that the industry is grappling with right now occurs when a consultant leaves a network marketing company and joins another MLM company, then begins promoting the second company to their Facebook friends (or other social networks) and to the people who are in their downline organization from the first company. The question is often asked as to whether or not this is considered distributor raiding. The industry has not come to a consensus on this issue yet. Many MLM companies, however, do ask that consultants who leave their company and start selling for another company, not raid their sales organization because they’re damaging the livelihood of all of the other consultants left behind. The industry is working its way through this issue but has not come up with concrete solution to the problem yet.

There is conflicting legal case authority on the issue. Some legal case authorities claim that if a consultant announces that they are going to join another MLM company on Facebook then it’s protected under freedom of expression by the First Amendment. Therefore, a company cannot accuse a consultant of raiding their downline for distributors. Other courts and cases have suggested that consultants separate out their Facebook downline from those of friends and family. But, as we saw above, Facebook friends do not always fit into black and white categories. Often, your friend is also your co-worker. Your relative is also your customer. Your neighbor is also your friend. The courts have argued that Facebook is, in a way, simply a sophisticated means of sending emails because each post is like sending out a bulk email to several hundred people. From this prospective, deciding on whether or not there is a conflict is complex.

We will let you know if the courts come to a deciding factor anytime in the future. In the meantime, if you are in a similar position, we recommend that you read your company’s policies and procedures to see their specific policy on the topic of consultant raiding. You will also find hundreds of articles on our website(s) and blogs on the topic of distributor raiding.

Here are a few that may be of interest to you:

Why do MLM Companies Require Distributors to Use Replicated Websites Rather than Distributor-Created Websites?

Executive Interview by the DSWA – “Legal Hotspots for Direct Selling Companies” with Jeff Babener – Video

Can I and should I join multiple companies and establish multiple downlines?

MLM Company Policies on Social Networks and Distributor Raiding

How Have Raiding Rules Evolved in Direct Selling Contracts and Policies and Procedures? – Video

How Have Raiding Rules Evolved in Direct Selling Contracts and Policies and Procedures?

Has There Been Cases Won or Lost on the Topic of Social Media and Distributor Raiding?

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.

Our next Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference takes place October 22 and 23, 2015 in Las Vegas. View our conference flyer and speaker list online. Participate in our Innovation Campaign for your chance to receive TWO FREE TICKETS to attend our next conference.

If you’re reading this blog post and the conference dates above have passed, check our website for the current conference dates.

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It has long been recognized that there is high attrition among network marketing consultants, perhaps as high as 80-90%! The vast majority of MLM distributors are part time and they join and leave for many reasons. The fault is not necessarily with the company. In fact, a direct selling company is competing for their time. MLM companies are competing for time with consultants who may be involved in the PTA, little league, another part time job, family demands, shifting duties as work, etc.

What is most important is that a MLM company use its time with its consultants to demonstrate great products and great service. Surely, it is important to try to keep distributors active; but if they do go passive, hopefully they will continue to buy products and services in the same fashion as preferred customers. Whether or not that happens is dependent on whether the distributor has truly bonded with the quality of product and service. At that point, MLM companies should take a lead from online sellers such as Amazon to determine what drives customers to continue coming back again and again. And at some point in the future, when the time is right, the passive individual who has a continuing positive experience, may well be back again as an active distributor.

For more tips on being a successful network marketing company owner, visit expert MLM Attorney Jeff Babener’s websites: www.mlmlegal.com and www.mlmattorney.com.

In addition, our next Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference takes place October 22 and 23, 2015 in Las Vegas. View our conference flyer and speaker list online. Participate in our Innovation Campaign for your chance to receive TWO FREE TICKETS to attend our next conference.

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Most companies will allow consultants to join downlines with multiple companies so long as they don’t raid the sales organization.

Some companies state that you can’t recruit people that you didn’t personally sponsor. If you personally sponsor a friend or family member then why can’t you recruit them to join you at your new company?

The short answer is that company policies have evolved over the years, resulting firstly from a combination of increased raiding by distributors who switch companies. And secondly, direct selling companies have become more rigid in trying to retain their sales force, sometimes with good reason, although they sometimes appearing to be “overreaching.”

For instance, around 20 years ago, leading direct selling companies maintained a policy that required consultants to only offer the opportunity to people who they personally sponsored. Twenty years ago, this was a common policy.

Over time that policy changed. With the increased ease of communication due to technology, many companies asked that consultants not participate in raiding anyone in their organization while they were active with a company. The policy later morphed again to require consultants not to sponsor anyone in a new opportunity except for those that they personally sponsored upon leaving for a new company. Then the policy changed once again to where companies required that consultants who left a company not sponsor anyone into the new company.

In a few instances, some companies have provided non-compete agreements, which aren’t considered fair and are not even enforceable as a matter of policy in the state of California. Some companies have gone so far as to tell their distributors that they cannot participate in any direct selling activity for a certain period of time after leaving the company. Almost all states frown on non-compete agreements because they inhibit people from conducting their livelihood. Compared with the policies of twenty years ago, the extremities in policy have morphed extensively in terms of restrictions.

Today, the most common clauses seen are ones in which companies have moved from the concept of “don’t recruit anyone unless you’ve personally sponsored them” to “during your time with our company, we ask that you not raid anyone in your sales organization, whether you’ve personally sponsored them or not.” Most companies today will also ask that former consultants not raid people in their organization and recruit them to another for a period of six months to one year.

Most companies will allow consultants to join downlines with multiple companies so long as they don’t raid the sales organization. In the party plan arena, companies will often implement restrictions based on product. If you are selling jewelry, for instance, then the company will ask that you not join another company which is selling jewelry.

What happens if consultants raid anyway?

As a practical matter, not a legal matter, if a distributor is affecting the entire franchise of the company – having a major impact – a company will not hesitate to file suit and to seek an injunction against the distributor. It is very rare to see a company pursue a consultant who is very low on the sales genealogy or who has a very limited sales organization. Legal action is usually reserved for consultants whose major raiding activities would take a good portion of the business away from the company. Often in situations, such as these, there has been a bad-faith decision by the distributor themselves, which isn’t fair to the company.

Is there a right or wrong? Probably not. However, it is important to the future of direct selling that companies and distributors reach some common ground on acceptable practices by distributors who leave companies and recruit their former colleagues to new companies versus reasonable expectations of companies in restricting distributor movement in a way that is not overreaching in the marketplace.

For more information on the network marketing industry visit www.mlmlegal.com and www.mlmattorney.com.

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Our next Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference takes place October 27 and 28, 2016 in Las Vegas. Call 503-226-6600 or 800-231-2162 to register. If you’d like to see how you can get free tickets to the next MLM Startup Conference, visit our Innovation Campaign page.

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Why Do People Join?

You might think that the main reason to join is for the money, but believe it or not, that is number four, five and number six on the list.

1. Number one on the list in the studies is that people join because they like and believe in the product;
2. Second on the list is, “I like being my own boss”;
3. Third, “I like working from home”;
4. Fourth, “The harder I work, the more I make.”

Again, earning extra income is obviously important, but it would be a mistake to ignore the “intangible” factors that pull people into the business.

Why Do People Stay?

Company owners and distributor leaders are always asking, “Why do our representatives stay with us and what can we do to support their retention?”  On a list of the top five factors, take a look at where earnings comes in… number five, and then think about what you are doing.

The top five reasons that distributors stay:

1. A favorable response to the products;
2. They relate to the leadership, management and owners of the company;
3. They relate to the leadership of the sales force, i.e., the top distributors and their sponsors;
4. They relate to the vision of the company.  If it’s about women’s empowerment or about health, they relate to it; if it is about helping households save money to create a better life, they relate to this vision;
5. And maybe you will be surprised… or not… but the fifth ranked reason that distributors stay with companies is “earnings.” Go figure.

Why do Distributors Leave?

Finally, one of the industry’s leading direct selling companies pondered the issue of the departure of its distributors. So much so, that the company conducted a series of “exit” interviews with distributors.

Again, although money is important, the answers demonstrated the glue of the company-distributor connection as relationship-driven. Almost across the board, the answer was “communication,” or lack thereof. Consultants need to feel that somebody is responding to them, that they are communicating with them. If consultants feel ignored and this is true in every realm of business, they vote with their feet and they leave.

The following factors were disclosed as leading to departure:

1. Poor Communication;
2. Inferior Support;
3. Inadequate Leadership;
4. Lack of Training.

What Can We Learn as Companies and Distributors?

Of course, the necessity of a competitive compensation opportunity goes without saying. After all, network marketing is a business opportunity. With that in mind, however, the driving force that bonds us all is quality product and attention to relationships. Actually, this should come as no surprise.

Watch the videos in which MLM Attorney Jeff Babener discusses why distributors join and stay with direct selling companies:

Why Do Distributors join MLM Companies?
Why Do Distributors stay with MLM Companies?

For more information and updates on the direct selling industry visit www.mlmlegal.com and www.mlmattorney.com.

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Our next Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference takes place October 24th & 25th, 2013 in Las Vegas. Call Charity before September 1st to receive a discount! 503-226-6600 or 800-231-2162.

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For more information on why distributors, consultants, members, representatives join MLM, direct selling, network marketing companies, please visit the following links:

About the MLM, Direct Selling, Network Marketing, Party Plan Industry – Q&A – Videos

Why Do Distributors join MLM Companies?
Why Do Distributors stay with MLM Companies?

“How to Analyze Compensation Plans” Article

“9 Basics to Success in Network Marketing” Blog Post

“Networkers: Motivated Entrepreneurs” Blog Post

“Bare Basics for Success in Network Marketing” Blog Post

“Value is the ‘Watchword’” Blog Post

“Am I Taking a Risk by Joining an MLM Company?” Blog Post

Or, join us in the conversation!

Why Do You Stay With Your MLM Company?

What are Your Reasons for Joining a Direct Selling Opportunity?

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

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1. Products – The distributors enjoy the products that the company offers

2.  Leadership of the company – Distributors are motivated and encouraged by the leaders of the company

3.  Leadership of the field sales force – Distributors are motivated and encouraged by the leaders of their upline and by others salespeople

4.  Company vision or purpose – Distributors believe in the vision of the company and its mission

5.   Earnings – And, of course, distributors always appreciate a good income opportunity

Why do you stay with your direct selling, network marketing, MLM, party plan company? Can you relate to one of the top 5 reasons distributors stay with a company? Or, do you have a different reason?

(A plethora of information on the direct selling industry can be found online at MLMLegal.com and MLMAttorney.com.)

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