Do you ever wonder why some people are able to consistently make money in Network Marketing while you continue to struggle, losing more money than you've ever been able to make? "I've tried everything," you say, "and nothing works!" Does this sound familiar? Or, "I've been in literally hundreds of companies, and either people drop out faster than I can bring them in or the company goes under before I get a check!"

What is it that the people who are making the big money in mlm are doing that you're not? Do they posses certain qualities that you lack? Are they just super sales people, and you can't sell a chipmunk to a cat? Did they just get lucky and get in at the beginning of opportunities while you always manage to join companies the day before they go under? Do they luck out with super sponsors while you end up with someone who is working 25 mlms simultaneously and thinks that "money games" are the road to riches?

Before we go on, the first thing you need to do is some "soul searching" to determine whether or not you are cut out for this business in the first place. Sure, you want to make money from home, and you desperately need the extra income to make ends meet. You have heard about all the millionaires being made from network marketing, so you decide to try it.

You plunk down your initial fee, maybe mail a couple hundred postcards, and then you sit back and wait for the checks to start pouring in. You can hardly sleep, thinking about how much money you are going to make now that you've gotten in this super program.

Months pass, and maybe you get a check for a few dollars, but more often you get nothing. You become depressed and totally discouraged. Why doesn't everyone see what you saw in this opportunity? "Ok, you think, maybe I joined the wrong company. I mailed out 100 postcards per month for three months, and nothing happened." You're depressed for several days, until someone calls you with the most incredible business opportunity that has ever existed!

Tens of thousands of people are supposed to be joining this company within the first few months that the doors open, and you will get a huge amount of spillover! And guess what? A famous movie star is endorsing this company! So you join. Again, you mail out a couple hundred postcards, but after two months when you have not sponsored a single person nor gotten anyone from spillover, you drop out again.

The next program you join is different. This is a passive mlm, and you never have to sponsor a single person to make money! Sure, it costs several hundred dollars to join, but in 3 months from now your money will triple, even if you do not sponsor a single person! No work, no sponsoring...just sit back and watch your money work for you. You send in the $300 and wait. And wait. The next thing you hear about the company is that it was closed down by the Feds.

Now you are really depressed. All your hard-earned money has gone down the drain. But instead of doing anything about it, you continue to join one program after another whenever 3 months go by and you haven't made any money. You repeat this cycle over and over and over again, and you continue to fail at every attempt you make to get ahead.

Is this you? Come on, admit it, we've all been guilty of doing some, if not all of these things. But don't be too hard on yourself, because it may not be all your fault! Yes, there are good companies and bad companies. There are things you can do to change your vicious losing cycle and become a winner. If you continue to believe all the "hype" out there, and there is enough of it out there to last you a lifetime, then I suggest that you buy lottery tickets instead. At least with lottery tickets you might get lucky! But if you are willing to follow these 10 tips, you won't need luck.

1). ADVERTISE
Never, ever stop advertising your business. In the beginning, you may not be able to afford much when it comes to advertising. You must work within the confines of your budget, but the key is to advertise consistently. Mail postcards, advertise free on the internet, talk to people you know who are interested in making extra money, place small classified ads in mlm publications, etc. But don't quit after two or three months!

If you want to be successful in any business, you must never, ever stop advertising. If you've ever watched the Olympics or the Super Bowl, have you ever noticed how many ads you see by industry giants such as Coca Cola? Virtually everyone knows about Coca Cola! Yet they still advertise heavily, every day, week, and month, year after year. No matter how small your budget is, you need to continue advertising. You never know who is looking at your postcard or classified ad. People may not act immediately, but I have had people save ads and respond to them up to a year after I placed them! Keep advertising, and eventually you will get results.

2) COMMIT
If you have any intentions at all of being successful in the business you start, you must be willing to commit to your business for at least a year. Success starts slowly in any business, so you can't let yourself become discouraged. If you want to experience that exponential growth that happens with multiplication over time, you need to be there long enough for the growth to occur. Can you imagine someone who spends millions on a franchise thinking "If I don't break even in 3 months, I quit?" If you're married or plan to get married some day, are you thinking "I'll try it, and if it doesn't work I'll just get a divorce?" If this is the way you think, you've already set yourself up for failure. Winners never quit, and quitters never win.

3) CHOOSE YOUR COMPANY WISELY
You may be doing everything right, but you still cannot get people to join your opportunity. Before you join, examine the opportunity very carefully. Is this a startup company? Most startups don't last a year, let alone 3 or more years. New mlms are popping up daily, and many will be out of business within six months. Do you really want to risk all your time and money in a company which may be out of business within a year? A good company to consider would be one that has been around at least 2 years and is growing steadily.

Second, are you choosing a company that is affordable? If the monthly product purchase amount is over $50 to start, you may be able to afford it, but most people can not. Look for companies with beginning monthly product purchase requirements no greater than $50. Ideally, the purchase requirement amount will increase as you make more money, which will lead to even greater profits in the future.

Third, how much of the money is the company actually paying out to distributors? Make sure that the amount is at least 75%. And make sure that the recruiting requirements just to break even on monthly purchases is not too high. An ideal company would put you in profit with 3 to 5 distributors and/or have an extra monetary incentive for those who recruit, such as fast-start or matching bonuses or increasing percentages of the company's profits. If people have to recruit truckloads of people just to break even on product purchases, chances are extremely high that your downline members will drop out in a few months. If people are making money, they continue to buy products!

4) LOVE YOUR PRODUCTS
Are you joining a company simply because of all the money you are supposed to be making but you could care less about the products? Again, chances are slim that you'll have any sustained success with this company. If you are buying products on a monthly basis that you love and/or need, you will be more likely to continue to purchase them. Most companies/opportunities that do not have good products or services go belly up in a short amount of time.

5) DUPLICATION
Does the company you are choosing have good recruiting materials that are available to all reps? Do they give you camera-ready flyers, postcards, etc and other sales aids which can be mailed or handed out such as product brochures? Does your company have weekly or at least monthly conference calls for training and questions? Does your company offer free online training and resources for people who are on the internet? Do they have affordable co-op shares?

All of these things are extremely important if you are to market your business successfully. You also need to look upline to find out what successful distributors in your company are doing to be so successful. Don't ever use the excuse "I have a terrible sponsor who does nothing for me!" Of course we'd all love to have the best possible sponsors, but perhaps your sponsor is also just beginning or simply does not know what to do. In that case, go upline. Find out who in your upline can help you, and pass that information on! There are always successful distributors in your upline who will be more than happy to show you what they are doing.

6) AVOID "ONE-TIME PAY PROGRAMS"
These programs are often wildly popular, especially when the joining fee is less than $50. They claim that you make your money by cycling people through them and generating money each time you cycle. If you happen to be one of the first persons in a program like this, you will probably make money. But in order for companies to continue to issue checks, more and more people need to be brought in to cover the increasing amounts of applicants. Not only is this illegal, but after a while these numbers become astronomical and the money dries up. If you don't have monthly product/service purchases, you are involved in a Ponzi scheme and will never be able to make a residual income. Product sales are what keep a company in business and you in profit!

7) DON'T COUNT ON SPILLOVER!
Please get this word out of your vocabulary if you plan on becoming a success in network marketing. If you sign up for a company simply because you are hoping for massive spillover, then you will most likely end up dropping out when you don't get it. Yes, spillover does happen if you are one of the lucky ones who gets into a good position in a company or under a super recruiter, and some company compensation plans are more likely than others to lend to spillover.

But counting on spillover for success is a sure road to failure. When you join a company, you must have the attitude that you are going to work for your success and do what it takes yourself to achieve that success. If you get spillover along the way, great! But don't count on it and don't join a company under the promise that you will get massive spillover from all the people who are expected to be coming in to your company.

8) SET REALISTIC GOALS
Do you expect to be making hundreds of dollars your first month in business? Do you get frustrated and feel like quitting if you are only able to sponsor one person in a month's time? Are you planning on quitting if you are not successful in two or three months?

If the answer to these questions is YES, then perhaps you need to look at a different kind of business. Some people do manage to always be in profit their first month in any company they join, but the majority of networkers are not "heavy hitters" and do not have instant success. If you continue to feel this way, chances are that you will become an "mlm junkie" and will spend your time hopping from one opportunity to the next. Months become years, and when you look back, where has this past pattern gotten you? Are you much better off or much worse off from repeating this pattern? Chances are it's the latter.

What you need to do is get off the roller coaster, once and for all. Think of your first year as your building year. Think of your second year and beyond as the years to reap profits. Instead of dropping out of your current company and spending more money to join another when you get frustrated with your progress, use that money to do an extra mailing, buy another co-op share, or take out a classified ad for your current program.

Do this consistently, month after month, and eventually you will be making some very serious money. Jumping from one program to another every two or three months is a sure way to financial suicide! Not only will you lose the money you've spent on your previous company, but you've also just thrown away lots of valuable time. Isn't your time worth more than that to you?

9) STICK TO ONE COMPANY IN YOUR BUILDING YEAR
Some people manage to work several opportunities simultaneously and do it with success. Generally these people are successful networkers who have large advertising budgets. But if you talk to these networkers you will find that they originally worked one and only one opportunity until it reached a success level that enabled them to branch out.

If you have deep pockets and can afford the monthly product purchase and advertising for more than one company at a time, then go for it! But if you're like most people, you will need to concentrate on one program at time and should not try to switch directions until your first opportunity has reached the success level you desire and is still growing.

Most of the very successful networkers I know are only involved with one opportunity but may have other sources of income in affiliate programs or programs which enhance their primary programs (such as stamp or lead programs). Working too many programs can lead to confusion, frustration, and leave you more broke than you were when you started. Most people are not successful at working one, let alone two opportunities simultaneously.

Throwing money at every program that comes your way and hoping one of them will work is simply gambling. There are literally thousands of companies out there and the grass may always look greener to you when you're frustrated. No matter how tempting the next program looks, stick to your original plan!

10). PASS THESE TIPS ON TO YOUR DOWNLINE!
Have you ever heard of the "Power of One?" The facts are, that if you and everyone you recruit is only able to recruit one person a month, then in one year's time you will have 4,096 distributors in your downline! The sad fact is that most people only last an average of 3 months in any program and are never able to experience this growth. For once, do yourself a favor.

Follow these tips and pass them on to everyone who enters your downline. You will soon realize that they work! If you are unable or unwilling to follow these guidelines, then you should quit while you're still ahead and try to find another type of business. Better yet, buy lottery tickets because you probably are not cut out to run your own business. Maybe you'll finally get lucky!

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Barbara Laski is a former School Psychologist turned Stockbroker turned full-time mom and network marketer. She is a distributor for Cajun Country Candies and can be reached at 23225 S. Hidden Lake Trail, Crete, IL 60417. Visit her web page at: http://www.replicate99.com/candy/832.shtml

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