There’s no shortage of network marketing companies both online and offline which are competing for enterprising entrepreneurs every day of the week. The fact is, though, that some companies are better than others. Like most things in life, some companies are too good to be true, some companies are too expensive to be viable, and some companies are too impersonal to feel comfortable. But amid these companies, there are a handful of solid opportunities that support their network marketing representatives and prime them for long-term career success.

With that being said, perhaps the biggest question is: how do you find those companies in a world full of less-reputable ones? Well, there are a few key steps.

1. Begin by researching an network marketing opportunity online
   It’s the 21st century, and any reliable company offering multi-level marketing positions will have a website full of information about how they operate, what they expect of their representatives, and how they compensate success. This is the first line of defense against nefarious companies: a good website will have almost all of the information you need in order to make a sound decision that most directly benefits your own bottom line.

   A good website will feature a wealth of information on how the company supports you: how their marketing materials work, what you can expect to receive from the company in order to further their brand and product line, and how often you can expect to receive support and materials from them. They should discuss, at length, their list of fees and how they are charged, as well as how they compensate their network marketing representatives. And they should have testimonials from existing representatives who have been with the company for some time. You should be able to get a sense of their corporate ethos simply by reading the website.

2. Call a prospecting multi-level marketing company to discuss your goals
   After you’ve gotten a sense for the direction of a company via their website, it’s important to use their contact information for your own personal benefit: give them a call and discuss what you want to do with their tools and opportunities. This is your chance to essentially grill the customer support representative and make sure that the company isn’t just an empty promise with a great website, but is in fact a solid earning opportunity with a supportive staff to back it up. You can also use this time to fill in any gaps left by the website as they pertain to compensation, fees, regulations, and bonuses.
3. Look for customer reviews of the network marketing opportunity that you are considering
   Nothing is so honest as an online review, and the same holds true for those reviews written about multi-level marketing companies. Look for reviews online that detail each network marketing companies real-world experience. Be sure to pay attention to negative reviews and see if you notice a pattern. Has a company repeatedly failed to pay its representatives? Has a company failed to send marketing materials time and time again? Have representatives found it hard to get in touch with a customer service representative when they needed one? You want to get a sense of what it’s really like to work with this company from people who have done it — not just from people whose job it is to make sure you enlist with their company.
4. Look for guarantees and money-back assurances
   Finally, even the most reputable of companies can let you down from time to time. Therefore, even if you’re choosing the multi-level marketing company that seems like the best option for you, it’s important to look for service guarantees, fee refund guarantees, or other assurances that you’ll incur minimal financial loss if the business opportunity simply does not work out. This helps give you peace of mind in an increasingly uncertain economy that does not promote losing large sums of money to greedy corporations.

Now, Select an Opportunity

Once you’ve done an adequate amount of research and made sure that your money will be going to a reliable company that has a genuine interest in helping you succeed, it’s time to make things official and choose the company that you will be working for. These opportunities are extremely competitive, so be sure to do thorough research at a fast pace and jump in before someone else in your local area steals your spot.

There are no shortage of non-traditional job opportunities out there. From franchise opportunities with multinational corporations, to the self-guided home office environment that promotes working alone, to small business start-up opportunities, America is bursting at the seams with ways to ditch the boss and make a healthy annual salary. So, amid all of these diverse and differing options for self-employment, why should you choose network marketing over the competition?

The reasons are many, but the ones below are by far the best reasons to consider network marketing as your source of self-employment income — be it part-time, full-time, supplemental, or primary income.

1. Network marketing allows you to fire your boss
   It’s no secret that most people have a strong dislike for their boss at the office. America has never been a country that enjoyed respecting authority — be it king, queen, or office manager. And that’s where network marketing comes in: you’ll be working for a corporation, sure, but you won’t be answering to their every whim and they will not be standing over your shoulder to ensure that you complete a set list of tasks. Instead, they’ll take a more hands-off approach and essentially allow you to work from home and be your own boss. You’ll determine your workdays, your compensation levels, and how long you work each day. You’ll even decide whether you want to work on weekends — or take a three-day weekend. The boss is history.
2. With network marketing, you can increase your income by bringing others into the fold
   With a typical small business, you have to make a large amount of annual profits in order to be able to hire even one employee. And you’ll be responsible for covering things like their employee healthcare plan, their dental coverage, their retirement savings account, and ensuring that their taxes are properly deducted. This is simply not the case with network marketing.

   First and foremost, you can spend the entirety of your network marketing career working alone if you so choose. But if you want help — and you want to increase how much you earn — you are free to bring friends or family members into the fold as part of your sales force. They’re not technically your employees, but you are the one who reaps the reward of their hard work. You’ll earn a little commission on every sale they make, as well as on every sale you make in the meantime. And if you get enough people to help you out with your multi-level marketing job, you can even earn a monthly cash bonus simply for expanding the company’s reach.

   Best of all, you won’t be responsible for any employee-related costs or headaches. You won’t have to cover healthcare, taxes, or retirement. You’ll simply have to provide motivation and marketing tools — and from there, it’s all about enjoying the extra boost to your monthly income.

3. Pursuing a multi-level marketing job means you have flexibility for emergencies and illnesses
   At the office, you got a week of vacation each year and a few sick days — if you were lucky. If not, coming down with a bad cold meant that you either had to sacrifice your vacation that year or go into the office feeling like you might not make it out alive. Multi-level marketing companies don’t require 40-hour weeks, nor do they dispense sick time or vacation leave. Instead, they allow you to work whenever and however you want.

   That means you can work four ten-hour days and have a three day weekend, and it means you can stay at home and nurse your cold without sacrificing a day or two of your summer beach trip. You are essentially self-employed, and that means you will no longer have to sacrifice vacation time for earnings, or health for vacate time.

4. No more asking for a raise
   Finally, perhaps the biggest perk of engaging in multi-level marketing is the fact that you will no longer be subject to grueling office evaluations and the sometimes-humbling experience of asking for a hard-earned raise. Instead, you’ll earn more if you worker harder and make more sales. You’ll earn less if you work less. There is no guesswork as to how much you’ll earn or how much of a raise you’ll get. You make a goal, you meet that goal, and you are compensated accordingly.

Network marketing truly is a wonderful way to work for yourself, enjoy the flexibility of making our own schedule, and enjoy unlimited earning potential that is directly tied to your level of ambition — not to politics or balance sheets.

Network marketing is an occupation on the rise, with new opportunities arising every day. Relatedly, more and more Americans are choosing network marketing as a way to earn their annual salary working at home instead of working eight hours in a traditional office setting. Especially amid a backdrop of a struggling and stagnating economy, the allure of working for one’s self and determining one’s own income levels is especially attractive. But, there are many things to take into account when getting into this burgeoning field of sales opportunities and rewards.

Conduct a Thorough Amount of Research

All network marketing opportunities are not created equal, and it’s worth noting that there are quite a few dangerous scams to be found online when pursuing a legitimate job in the field of multi-level marketing. The internet age has introduced many Americans to the cruel realities of giving sensitive information to any and every website indiscriminately, so this probably shouldn’t need to be said. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting: some companies promising network marketing opportunities are simply shell companies looking to “skim” customer data, charge them a high fee, and not provide them with any real income.

Furthermore, a large number of multi-level marketing positions will state that they require a high initial fee — whether to secure products, put down a deposit on materials, or for other purposes. Be wary of companies that require extremely high up-front fees, as they are likely more interested in profiting off of your big ambitions than they are about providing you with the corollary income that accompanies such motivation. Many of these businesses do have up-front costs, but they shouldn’t be anything that is not manageable and easily paid off with your first paycheck.

Once you’ve found a company that is legitimate and isn’t out to merely charge you a high fee and skim your bank account information, it’s time to do research into their business practices and policies. This means looking at the fees they’ll charge over time, as well as how often they pay their network marketing representatives. You’ll also want to know how you get paid: via check, direct deposit, or even a Paypal transfer. And you’ll want to know what materials will be provided to you in order to help you maximize your earning potential, and whether or not these materials come at an extra fee.

Take the Business Online with a Personal Sales Page

The next step toward developing a successful network marketing business is to take the venture online. Many of the most prominent multi-level marketing companies will actually provide you with a user account on their own website, and that will include a subdomain where you can list products for sale. Each customer who buys through your unique storefront will generate a small commission for you, and you can count on that to supplement the income that you’re making in the offline sales world. And, because those sales are immediately billed and shipped, you can count on payment from them much sooner than sales which are paid for via check, money order, or even cash.

Another perk of selling online is that you can accept credit cards, whereas offline sales must often be completed using paper sources to transfer money — such as checks or money orders. So not only does online selling increase your income and speed up its inclusion in your next paycheck, it also opens a credit card processing option to customers who prefer plastic over paper. And the simple fact is that many customers will prefer to pay with their debit or credit cards over a slow-to-process paper check.

Begin Promoting Yourself Online and Off

The next step is to use the company’s promotional materials to promote your online and offline sales experience. This is relatively easy for online sellers, as many companies provide pre-made banner ads and text ads that highlight their best-selling products. Those banner ads will link directly to your own online store that resides as a subdomain on the parent company’s website. Each click may even be monetized by a company that keeps track of referrals and affiliate numbers.

In the offline world, you’ll have to send post cards and booklets to friends and family members that you feel would be interested in the product or service that you’re selling. This can be a bit of a dodgy process, as these promotional materials typically come at a premium. You’ll want to send them only to the people who you deem most likely to respond favorably and help you make or close a sale on the product. For everyone else, rely on word-of-mouth advertisement or consider posting updates to Facebook or Twitter that announce your new occupation and sales opportunity.

Repeat and Succeed

Once you’ve completed the process, repeat it over and over for each opportunity you wish to proceed. And begin finding your own sales force — they’ll boost your profits, increase your commission amounts, and help expand your reach beyond your own immediate town or region.