Network Marketing Scams aside, you still need to be able to evaluate a company because let’s face it, some apples just taste better than others – even IF they look the same on the outside.

When you really break it down to the basics of what makes a good opportunity, you need to consider the following five key points:

• Timing
• Product
• Compensation Plan
• Leadership
• Duplicable System

All five components are vital to your success in any network marketing venture, however some can be more important than the others. In my list above, I have ordered them in order of importance – backwards.

Just by looking around in the network marketing community you would think that timing is the most important ingredient for your success.

Wrong-o!

While timing can definitely help you succeed and even multiply your efforts, it is nowhere near the most important thing you should be looking for. Many people jump from one launch to the next because they keep thinking the right set up will set them up for life.

Bad news… not even a pre-launch can help you if you don’t know what you are doing.

Getting in too early can actually hurt you if you don’t know what you are doing, as there are fewer tools developed and a greater risk of the company failing. My rule of thumb for beginners is to get involved after the company has been around for at least 2 years and is still growing – this shows that they have staying power.

Generally speaking, if you become involved before the year 4-5 mark you will not miss out on the company’s hyper-growth period.

Moving on to the product – there are a lot of hyped up products out there, but there are also solid ones. Forget about finding the white unicorn cure-all, because it really doesn’t exist. However, you do need to make sure your product is scientifically sound and not just something that was thrown together quickly to make some money. I like to ask myself if I could picture people buying it for a similar price if they found it on the shelves at Wal-Mart.

Also, take into consideration the number of products offered, as it will have an effect on your marketing efforts.

Finally, the product has to be something that you actually believe in. If you can’t get behind the product then you are wasting your time. People will be able to tell in a heartbeat whether or not you really believe in it, so make sure you’re not putting up a façade.

Next is the compensation plan – the way that you get paid as a network marketer. Once again, most people focus too much on the comp plan and knowing every detail about it when the truth is, most comp plans work. People make money in all of them. However, if you know what to look for you can have the cards stacked in your favor rather than against you.

Average people need to be able to make money in it for you to really succeed, or chances are the people that you work so hard to get on your team will end up quitting and you will be right back where you started. Having that knowledge, let’s take a look at the average person.

The average person sponsors 2.7 people into their network marketing business. (I realize that you are not average and that you are going to sponsor millions, but we are looking for something that works for everybody here…)

So what does that mean? It means that the fewer people you have to go wide to get paid the better. You’re not going to find a comp plan that requires only one leg – that leaves two as the lowest number, which the average person can handle, right? They go up from there. My recommendation is 2, maybe 3 wide, but no more than that. Remember, the average person only sponsors 2.7 people. (How you can sponsor 0.7 of a person, I don’t know.)

Another important part of the comp plan is the minimum required each month to stay active. Ideally you and your whole team will be active at the highest level so you qualify for all the nifty bonuses. However, chances are that some of your team will not always be able to afford a $100-$300 per month auto-ship. Having an option to stay active for less than $100 is a pretty important piece of the puzzle – it will help retain more people while they are getting started building their businesses or going through rough spots.

Also, look out for flushing volumes and any other little gimmicks to keep money in the company’s pockets. (As a side note, if you do not remain active on your monthly shipment then your sales volume SHOULD flush.)

Now we are starting to get to the really important stuff.

Having good leadership is an absolute must for your success in this industry. Ultimately, you want to be on a team that has both effective warm/offline and cold/online marketing approaches. One without the other is like riding in a car that is not firing on all cylinders. You will be losing a lot of potential power.

Also, beware of greedy leaders, both on the corporate staff and on your distributor team. If their only focus is on the opportunity and how rich you will become monetarily, you may be in for a short ride.

Finally, what I might consider to be THE single most important thing you need to look for in a network marketing company is a duplicable system. I don’t care how impressive the guy giving the presentation is – he is not duplicable.

You absolutely MUST have a good system in place – not only to help you train your down-line (your team of distributors), but also to help you continually generate leads for your business. New distributors are the life-blood of any network marketing company, and trying to get your family and friends to join you month after month can get REALLY old REALLY fast.

Do NOT join a group unless they have a good system in place. There are a lot of good systems out there, including The 7 Figure Networker, Carbon Copy Pro, Renegade University, Prosperity Central, and last but not least, My Lead System Pro. These are all good systems, but the one that I prefer above the rest, is My Lead System Pro. You can search for any of them online to learn more, or just click here for a Preview of My Lead System Pro.

99.9% of network marketing companies lack a truly good training and marketing system. Usually all they will offer you is a replicated website, which really honestly doesn’t do that much to help build your business. If they offer more than that, then they are moving in the right direction, but to get the best results, you really need a stand alone, customizable system like one that I mentioned above.

If the opportunity that you are evaluating has all of those things in place, then by all means dig in. Like I said above, you probably won’t find something with an effective system in place. The beautiful thing about MLSP or these other systems is that you don’t have to join my company to use my system. They are generic and customizable for whatever you are trying to market.

Pretty nice, huh?

You (or your network marketing company) would spend at the very least tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars putting together systems like MLSP for you and your team to use, or you could just use one that is customizable and already in place.

So chances are, regardless of what company you are promoting, you will need a good system – my recommendation is to try out MLSP (or search for any of the other ones listed above).

(Keep in mind, these systems are not magic… if you don’t work, neither will they!)

At any rate, with these five components in place, you will be on the right path to succeeding in your network marketing career. The only thing that will stop you is yourself. Don’t try to get too flashy… just stay consistent with the proven techniques and sooner or later you will get to where you want to be.

If you have had experiences (good or bad) with any one of the 5 key components listed above, please leave a comment telling us about it!