Too Little Or Too Much In Network Marketing

Who doesn't love a good cup of coffee in the morning? The aroma fills the air and awakens your senses. When it is made just the way you like it, with the right beans, roasted to perfection, freshly brewed with your favorite blend of flavors, sweetner, and cream, a cup of that liquid gold can carry you through the day. With so many factors to consider, some people search far and wide for the perfect cup. The key is knowing what elements are important in creating that primo flavor. The selection of an investment vehicle to carry you throughout your life can be much the same. There are many factors to consider. I would like to address a factor that is vitally important to selecting a Network Marketing Opportunity, Home Based Business, or Multi Level Marketing Company. That of initial cost. Let's refer to all of these businesses as "MLM" from here on out in this article.

Depending on your goal with your MLM Opportunity, this cost factor should weigh heavily in your decision to move forward or not. If your goal is to make a little extra money with it and dabble then stop reading because this article is not for dabblers. I want to save you time. Now for those of you that are seeking financial freedom and to replace a full time Job income, keep reading.

There are typically two costs involved when you decide to enroll in a MLM business. One cost is your initial investment and the other is your monthly investment. Most call this monthly investment an autoship and it is typically billed automatically each month. Keep in mind there are other additional costs involved. For example, marketing materials, travel costs, conventions, opportunity meetings, business cards, additional product, etc. However, for the purposes of this article I am only addressing the initial investment and the monthly autoship.

In life I have learned that sometimes there is too little and sometimes there is too much. Take, for example, that cup of coffee. Is it ever good to have too little cream? How about too much sugar? I can definitely tell when my coffee is out of balance. I understand that everyone takes their coffee differently and you may think your coffee is perfect without any cream or any sugar. But this is my analogy so lets keep it simple. Just as you are sensitive to obtaining the right balance of cream and sugar in your coffee, so should you be mindful of obtaining the right balance of initial cost and autoship in your MLM choice. There are companies that charge from zero to over one thousand dollars for their initial investment. On the other hand there are companies that have zero to over $200 a month autoships. These are perfect examples of too little and too much.

Let's tackle those with too little first. Any company that has an enrollment of $100 or less - JUST SAY NO! If it costs that LITTLE to enroll then your commission is going to be that LITTLE. Make sense? Let me explain. If you enroll for less than $100 bucks, how much commission do you think you are going to get out of that? Listen very carefully. Are you ready? Here it is. If you are making less than $100 per enrollment, RUN! DO NOT PASS "GO"! THERE IS NO $200! Do you know how much time and effort it takes to enroll a new distributor? Allow me to do the math. Let's say you need $500 a week to cover all expenses. How many distributors do you have to enroll to make $500 a week? If you get (let's be generous) say 50% of the upfront enrollment, that would be a whopping $50. Simon says it takes TEN enrollments to achieve $500 a week. Now, I have been in MLM for 5 plus years and I am pretty good at enrolling new distributors but I can to tell you I have never enrolled 10 distributors in one week. Get the picture yet?

Now let's talk about too much. Any company that as an enrollment of $1, 000 or more RUN! The cool part about enrolling with this type of MLM is that the commission upfront is going to be a very nice chunk of dough. The downside is that you will not make that very often. You see, if you haven't noticed yet, our economy is not in the best shape nor is it heading there anytime soon. If you want to debate with me, I invite your emails. If you like, take out a note pad and write down all the things in my article you do not agree with. But for now, keep reading. Most people are not going to drop $1, 000 as the initial investment on a MLM making it very difficult to duplicate. I personally know many that have tried this type of MLM. None of them are successful with it and most have quit.

The sweet spot for a MLM Opportunity is between $250 and $400. Have you ever seen the movie Sweet November? In it there is a scene where the leading man asks the leading lady "Why November?" and she answers, "Because its long enough to be meaningful and short enough to not be dangerous". The same is true with the sweet spot. $250 is enough to keep it meaningful and $400 is just enough to push the dangerous. $400 is not going to cause massive disruption in someone's life if the business does not work. You see, people feel more comfortable risking $400 or less. Therefore, more people will be able to come up with that amount to get started. Hence more distributors and more duplication. Remember, it takes a little effort from a lot to make serious money in this industry.

Now for the monthly investment. Let's pick on the companies with NO autoship. Hmmmmm, if there is no autoship, how do you get paid your Residual Income? You see, for an income to be called Residual Income it has to be coming in every month non negotiably. That is where the autoship comes in. An autoship is an amount required to keep your business active or to qualify for discounted product pricing etc. Most MLM companies have a minimum required on a regular basis. So, enough said on that note. No autoship - RUN AWAY!

How about the MLM requiring $200 or more each month? NO - RUN AWAY FASTER! Remember the economy? Do you think people want to spend over $200 on vitamins, skin care stuff, makeup, juice, etc? How about $100? NO! You don't believe me? Let me illustrate my point. What are some examples of current monthly recurring costs you typically have no control over that you have now or have had in the past? What is a typical land line phone bill? What is a cable bill? How about an internet bill? How about La Fitness gym bill? Water bill? Gas bill? How about a wireless internet card bill? The common theme is they are mostly well under $100 and none of them listed are FREE. I know what you are thinking. What about my house payment, car payment, boat payment? Those are over $100. Remember, I said bills you have no control over - you have control over these because you have the choice of how much you want your payments to be by choosing the price of the car, house, boat, etc.

Remember that sweet spot? The sweet spot for monthly autoship is between $15 and $45 a month. Remember Sweet November? And remember how we are programmed for monthly bills on things we have no control over? Let's keep it in the comfort zone and your distributors are less likely to cancel their autoship if enrollments are not happening as fast as they would like them to.

Never forget the goal of your MLM business is to make money. To do this, it must be accessible and sustainable for yourself and your potential team. The right balance of initial investment plus monthly costs can mean the difference between duplicating and building a thriving Residual Income stream or draining your pocketbook and energy. Having both in the "sweet spot" makes for one killer cup of coffee! Sip on that while considering your next MLM Opportunity.