For a full list of videos on the multilevel marketing industry, visit the Video Library.

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

This Video Explains Which Statement is True: Celebrity Endorsements Improve Marketing or Celebrity Endorsements are a Double-Edged Sword.

In the conventional advertising world, celebrity endorsement is very effective. Among the factors for effectiveness includes the fame of the celebrity, the connection with the product or service, whether or not the celebrity is a user and whether or not the statements of the celebrity appear as truly authentic or merely a “pay for endorsement.”

The use of celebrity endorsement is far less successful in the direct selling industry. In fact, the advertising model for MLM is quite different than conventional advertising. In conventional distribution, such as retail stores, internet or broadcast media, companies pay advertising dollars and endorsement fees to promote the brand. However, in direct selling, the commissions and rewards paid to distributors are effectively the advertising dollars that would be paid in other channels of distribution. Instead, the branding, in direct selling, is accomplished by the promotion of the sales network of the direct selling company. Looking at the success of major companies such as Avon, Mary Kay, Tupperware, Herbalife, etc., the branding task has been accomplished by the distributor force, and generally without the use of celebrity advertising.

One final note on celebrity advertising is that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has adopted significant rules on endorsements and testimonials to require clear disclosure to consumers of relationships between endorsers and the advertising company. For a detailed discussion, see www.mlmlegal.com article on this subject:

FTC Guidelines on Endorsements and Testimonials Resource Center.

If you are interested in attending the Starting and Running the Successful MLM Companyconference 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.

Your success in network marketing is dependent on many factors. Deciding on which direct selling company you want to join is just the beginning of the process. Of equal importance, you must be open to new ideas and company developments in order to achieve success in the multi-level marketing (MLM) industry.

Here is a brief list of what it takes in order to achieve success in the network marketing industry:

1) Sell a Product that You Enjoy

The most successful consultants are people who like the product and are passionate about the products they sell.

2) Don’t Sell a Product That You Don’t Like

If you sell something that you consider redundant or ineffective it will make you an unconvincing salesperson. Consumers today have many options to choose from when deciding on what to purchase. You have to show consumers why your product is better than your competitors’ products.

3) Do Some Research

Start by researching network marketing publications and choose a product or service that you feel comfortable selling. If you skip this step then your chances of building a successful downline will be substantially diminished.

4) Keep Yourself Educated

Use the industry’s network marketing publications to educate yourself about new trends, and how to improve the way you promote yourself and your product.

5) Keep Up-To-Date on the Niche Areas of Network Marketing

Network marketing is constantly evolving. To be successful in the MLM business, you must to be open to new technologies and methods of selling. For instance, the internet is exceptionally hot today. But tomorrow there could be a completely different technology or development that redefines the basic rules of success in network marketing. Be open to change and continue to read and learn.

6) Familiarize Yourself with Internet Marketing

Internet marketing provides great opportunities for MLM experts. Investing some time into internet marketing is relatively inexpensive and it will guarantee excellent results every time. Online promotion enables you to access an audience you may not otherwise be able to address due to the limits of your geographical location. It’s easy! Build a website that advertises your network marketing business, then promote it using the power of social networking.

Even if you refrain from selling products online, you can use internet resources to communicate with potential product buyers and people who might be interested in joining your network.

7) Learn from the Best

Network marketing publications are great for improving your professional skills. You should also learn and apply the strategies and techniques used by other network marketing professionals.

Learning from the most productive and successful members of the MLM industry can give you access to some great techniques to success. Ask questions. Good network marketing businesses have excellent support structures that allow new members to learn the specifics of MLM activities from the best sellers.

Network marketing is a great opportunity, whether you want to get additional income or you are interested in a full-time job. Unfortunately, many consultants aren’t successful. There are many reasons this can happen. These people can lack the motivation, marketing skills, and the belief in the product. Make sure that you are joining the MLM company that is right for you and make sure that you are passionate about the opportunity.

For more encouraging words to achieve success in network marketing, visit Attorney Jeff Babener’s websites: www.mlmlegal.com and www.mlmattorney.com.

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

The most assumed and expected incentives are monetary and come in the form of bonuses and commissions. Since direct selling companies are trying to incentivize different types of consultant behavior, the compensation plans of MLM companies are often complex and multi-task to provide incentives for retail selling, preferred recurring customers, building wide, building deep, working with immediate downlines and deep into a downline, time sensitive personal and group sales production, personal and group sales, longevity, quick start, among others. Incentive programs are usually designed to affect the distributor’s ultimate sales behavior.

Beyond cash incentives, most leading network marketing companies understand the power and inspiration behind noncash incentives that resonate financially and emotionally with distributors and keep them bonded to the company. Among the common incentives are auto lease support programs, house payment support programs, travel/trip incentives, conventions, reward pins and accessories, iPads, and tangible giveaways.

Of course, the most powerful noncash incentive is recognition for distributor accomplishments.

Do you want to learn more about incentives? Check out the video by expert MLM Attorney, Jeff Babener:

Do Incentives Increase Sales? How Worthwhile Are Consultant Incentives?

Join us for the next Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference in Las Vegas. Call 503-226-6600 or 800-231-2162 to register.

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

It’s always a good idea as a MLM distributor to keep yourself encouraged and engaged in your career by participating in company-offered training events. Company training events are meant to enhance your sales skills and increase your motivation. Enthusiastic network marketing companies will offer their distributors tools and seminars to help you improve and grow your business. Many MLM companies offer training tools in an online, back-office environment, while others will host elaborate in-person events in select cities.

You can always find ways to improve your sales and business skills online, either through your company’s training materials or by performing your own online research. Articles, business and sales books, and blogs written by successful distributors are great places to start.

MLM company seminars are particularly encouraging for MLM distributors. At company events, you’ll be able to meet other like-minded, goal-oriented distributors who will inspire you. Networking at company training events will empower you to meet other distributors within the company.

When you attend a distributor recognition or training event, shake plenty of hands and ask a lot of questions. We suggest a few starter tips for networking at company-sponsored events:

• What is your motivation story? Successful distributors will share motivational stories and tips for successful selling and recruiting. Have you ever wondered how top distributors earn incomes in the $10,000, $50,000 or even $100,000 range? At your company’s training event, successful distributors will share their stories of how they became successful as MLM consultants.
• How do you use social media? There are top distributors who have mastered networking and sales through social media. Be sure to meet people who have creative ideas on how to use social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, to sell bucket-loads of products/services.
• Who do you sell to? Do you feel like you’ve exhausted your friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances? Company events are a great place to hear the secrets of how top-earning distributors have reached outside of their social circle and sold to the rest of the world.
• Why are your customers eager to make purchases from you? It’s not magic, but tricks do exist in selling and creating memorable introductions to potential customers. Make sure to ask how top distributors are engaging with their customers. What makes them good at selling? Perhaps you too can learn a few tricks to help you in your business?

Try to attend as many company events as possible. Take advantage of these events, meet people, and soak in the knowledge offered by the company and its top distributors. A MLM company training event is the absolute best place to learn how to grow your own business. If at all possible, use these events to find yourself a mentor or sponsor who will support you in your sales goals and teach you how to sell, where to sell, and how to meet your sales goals.

Being around people who are pursuing similar goals can help you stay focused and work harder to attain professional success. MLM company events will help you get excited about what you’re doing, and give you the extra boost you need to set your goals a little higher than before.

And always, with hard work and dedication, you may find yourself mentoring new distributors or starting your own direct selling business some day!

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.

Want to learn more? Watch these videos by MLM expert attorney, Jeff Babener.

What Are the Most Important Things to Remember When You Host a Distributor Recognition Event?

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?

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

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

Because we are globally-connected, you are bound to become involved in long distance sponsoring.

Embrace the opportunity to recruit beyond your city walls. You never know if – in a city a thousand miles away – long-distance sponsorship will be your most productive downline.

Like everything else in this business (in life); however, there are right and wrong ways to go about long distance sponsoring.

In a Business Start-Ups magazine interview, a national developer and producer of marketing and training materials for MLM companies and distributors, notes that “a conscious game plan may make all the difference in effective long distance sponsoring.” The interviewee points out that the helter-skelter approach to sponsoring (“go wide and see where it goes”) won’t necessarily yield the best results for your time and effort. Using this approach, he says, people are told to sign up anyone “as long as they breathe.”

Like any other important financial decision, the interviewee goes on, give it thought. “Just because you know a guy in Ohio, doesn’t mean you should sign him up, particularly if he is going to do nothing in your organization but draw on your time.”

This approach may support a few heavy hitters at the top of a network marketing organization, but not the average distributor. The interviewee points out that the top people in a network organization always try to put active, motivated people on their organization.

Here are 10 tips to help you when it’s time to cash-in on long distance sponsorship:

1) Know your craft: Before you start sponsoring long distance, make sure that you’ve mastered sales and recruiting in your own locality. The interviewee advises, “Know what you are doing and what you are going to teach.” Be a deal closer!

2) Choose wisely: If you want to increase your chances of success in long distance sponsoring, look for people who are “wired to win;” independent people with a track record of success. In fact, the further the distance, the more independent and reliable that person must be. The interviewee parallels the long distance sponsoring relationship to that of a long distance romance, saying, “If I am in LA, can I have a successful romance with someone in NY? Perhaps if I choose wisely.”

3) Create a system: You should start off with a comprehensive plan of attack and communicate it to your downline distributors so that you are all singing from the same song sheet. This is best accomplished at the beginning of the relationship by emailing them your proposed plan of attack.

4) Agree on responsive commitments: When you first establish relationships with long distance recruits, take some time to qualify the candidates. You need to talk to them, says the interviewee, and determine what they want, how much they are willing to commit in time, money and resources, and in what timeframe. Although you are all operating independent businesses, you are somewhat dependent on one another. Once you find the right person, develop an agreement that details your respective commitments – at the very least – in an email dedicated to the subject of business goals and plans.

5) Establish a long distance sponsoring budget: You have to spend money to make money. Long distance sponsoring is going to create expenses you don’t normally have when you sponsor distributors locally. To determine whether it will pay off for you, you’d better understand the costs involved. The first obvious expense is of calling charges and data rates on phone plans that don’t have unlimited data. Are you going to be mailing support materials to downline distributors? Plan on postage and mailing expenses for communication and shipping expenses for support materials. Are you planning on flying out to meet your downline or join an event? Plan a travel budget to support your downline group. This is obvious, but must be mentioned anyway: Make use of free technology (email, Skype, messaging services, etc.) to cut down on your long distance communication expenses.

6) Get some support from your company: If it looks like long distance sponsoring will be a real winner for you, you should take a close look at the multilevel marketing company you are working for to see if it has systems that will work to support your efforts. These may include voice messaging systems, national conference call service, digital communications and documents, email services, distributor website, as well as engaging materials to support retailing and team building.

7) Make sure the company training program supports long distance growth: Although this has been a problem in the past for some network marketing companies, many MLM companies today are developing new systems to support essential training for long distance recruits. Just take a look at their marketing materials.

8) Build your downline in geographical areas supported by your company: When you build your organization long distance, try to build in areas where the company is supporting growth through tours, rallies, events, and training. It’s much easier (and less expensive) to arrange meetings if most everyone in your downline is located around the same regional area.

9) Focus on areas where other successful distributors are located: Geographical areas where there is an infrastructure of successful distributors should be your first focus. It is particularly helpful if you can develop a reciprocal relationship where you support distributors of long distance recruits in your city in exchange for your distributors being supported by successful leader outside your city.

10) Provide the personal touch: The interviewee suggests that “training is everything and three-way calling is the name of the game in long distance sponsoring.” Be sure that you are on the phone with the first 10 contacts your new, long-distance distributor calls. This bonds potential customers to your organization from the very beginning. And also – when your distributors contact their potential customers – your new recruit will have the opportunity to listen to your presentation, gather information, learn how to overcome resistance, learn how to close the sale, and begin to build their own successful business.

In network marketing, long distance sponsoring opens a world of opportunity. If you’re willing to do it right, it can be an extremely profitable world. Remember, it takes time. It take a lot of effort and patience. And, above all, it takes determination.

Learn more about recruiting from Attorney Jeff Babener!

What is the benefit of recruiting experienced distributors? Video!

What’s the difference between sponsoring and recruiting? Video!

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

Workplace Prospects:

– People who need to earn extra income

– People who are intrigued by new opportunities

– People who are in a similar line of work, like sales

– People who are high-energy and gregarious

Neighborhood Prospects:

– College students looking for extra money

– Stay-at-home moms/dads who are looking for extra money

– Landlords/tenants

– Members of Neighborhood Watch

– Retired people looking to supplement their income

– Members of community organizations

– People you commonly run into at the grocery store, post office, library…

Service-Provider Prospects:

– Diaper service delivery

– Dry cleaners

– Meter readers/electricians

– Exterminators

– Firemen/policemen

– Gardeners

– Housekeepers

– Postal employees

– Salespeople

Religious Organization Prospects:

– Minister/rabbi/priest

– Ministers of music

– Religious educational directors

– Youth workers

– Members of the religious organization

– Religious community outreach opportunities

Professional Prospects:

– Accountants

– Attorneys

– Dentists

– Doctors

– Nurses

– Hairdressers and salons

Athletic Prospects:

– Clubs

– Fitness centers

– Teammates

– Athletic partners

– Competing teams and their families

School Prospects:

– Alumni associations

– Co-students

– Parents of other children

– Teachers/PTA

Social Contacts:

– New and old acquaintances

– Friends

– Social media networks

– Website networking

– Online forums and groups

Organizations:

– YMCA

– Lodges

– Boy/girl scouts

– Volunteer groups

Other prospects who may be interested in joining your organization:

– Babysitter/child care center

– Bakery

– Banker

– Builder/contractor

– Carpet cleaner

– Department stores

– Druggists

– Florist

– Gift shops

– Health spas

– And plenty more

Solicit the Solicitors:

– All door-to-door or party plan salespeople

– Other direct selling representatives

Relative Prospects:

– Distant relative

– In-laws

– Extended family members

Newspaper Prospects:

– People who are actively looking for part time work

Potential customers and distributors are everywhere. We hope that this extensive list will help to give you some ideas of where you can start to begin growing your network marketing business.

Just remember, you’re lucky to make one sale out of 10. Don’t get discouraged. Embrace rejection. Hard work and confidence will go a long way in your success!

Want to know expert MLM Attorney Jeff Babener’s advice on finding new leads? Watch this video:

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

• 2 million people were involved in direct selling in the U.S. during 2015.
• Those people sold an estimated $36.12 billion dollars in retail sales, an increase of 4.8% from 2014.
• 2015 revenues were higher than any other year in history.

In 2014, 18.2 million people were involved in direct selling. In 2015, that number increased by 11% to 20.2 billion people. Of those people, 28.2% were between the ages of 35 and 44. 24.9% were between the ages of 44 and 54. 20.5% of those involved were between the ages of 25 and 34. Women represent 77.4% of participates, while men represent 22.6% in 2015.

The direct selling industry continues to grow. In 2014, U.S. retail sales were $34.47 billion, and in 2015, that number increased by 4.8% to $36.12 billion. The highest sales in product group belongs to wellness products, at 12 billion dollars in 2015, around 10 billion in 2014, and roughly 9 billion in 2013. Services were the second major group of products sold with roughly 8 billion in 2015.

Geographically, the South held the highest sales at 35.7%. The West held 26.2%. The Midwest held 20.3% and the Northeast 17.5%.

Read the detailed charts for yourself at the DSA’s website.

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.

Our next Starting and Running the Successful MLM Company Conference takes place October 27 and 28, 2016 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.

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.

• In 2009, 16.1 million people were involved in direct selling, compared to 15.8 million in 2010, 15.6 million in 2011, 15.9 million in 2012, 16.8 million in 2013, and 18.2 million in 2014. The increase was 8.3% from 2013 to 2014.
• In 2014, 74.4% of company distributors were women, and 25.6% were men. In 2013 that number was 74.2% for women, 25.8% for men, and in 2012, 76.6% were women and 23.4% were men.
• U.S. retail sales were $34.47 billion in 2014, $32.67 in 2013, and $31.63 in 2012.
• In 2014, 71.5% of direct sales were person-to-person, 22.4% were party plan, and 6.1% were other. Compared to 2013 when 70.2% were person-to-person and 22.5% were party plan.
• 30% of sales in 2014 were in the wellness product group. Personal care was around 15%. Services were around 22%.
• The highest sales by region goes to the South, were 37.4% of goods and services were sold. The West sold 24.3%. And, the Midwest came in third at 20.5%

The MLM industry held consistent and increasing growth from 2013 to 2014. I bet you’re thinking, “Geez! Where’s my piece of that pie!”

*Information sourced from www.dsa.org.

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

Can online-only starter kits be done in a way that ensures a high perceived value?

There has been a clear trend in recent years to offer sales and marketing support online and in the cloud. In reality, the developmental costs are equal or more in providing such support. The quality of support is quite significant, including: all company forms, distributor agreements and terms, policies and procedures, administrative housekeeping rules, product descriptions and updates, compensation plan descriptions and updates, training, communication tools, back office management of down line sales performance and financial reporting, replicated websites, the list goes on. In reality, the real and perceived value of emerging online sales and marketing support will far exceed the limited (physical) sales kits of “yesterday.”

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.

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.