Multilevel Marketing (MLM) is a good method to earn some passive income. In fact, if you are actively pursuing MLM as your only source of income, with the right methods and right kinds of investments, you can easily make a good profit. This article discusses everything you need to know before you invest in a MLM company. To make sure that you don’t get scammed in the process, keep reading.
How exactly can you earn money with MLM?
So, MLM companies hire a network of independent distributors to sell their products directly to the end-users. So, if you become a distributor, you can earn money by directly selling their products which is the obvious method.
The other way in which you can really make a good profit is by hiring more distributors who will also sell the product, called the down-line. You can earn commissions on sales made by the distributors in your down-line.
Thus, you can earn money through two different ways – by directly selling their products to the end users or by hiring more distributors to your down-line. But, take caution that you are not scammed.
There is something called a pyramid scheme which closely resembles MLM but is actually a scam. So, the first thing you have to do before you invest in an MLM company is to make sure that it is not a pyramid scheme.
Difference between MLM and Pyramid Schemes
A pyramid scheme is also a hierarchical scheme which is very similar to MLM but is different in the fact that it is not legal and usually scams people.
Here, people are recruited to invest money with a guarantee that they will get a return on their investment if they recruit other investors, much like the down-line thing in MLM.
This is false as people are deceived into investing money even though no product or service has been provided or received by the investors. That being said, some pyramid schemes do involve some kinds of products to disguise the scam.
But in all pyramid schemes, the only way to make money is by bringing in more investors. Money cannot be made by selling any kinds of products or services.
In an MLM business, legitimate products are involved that people actually want to buy for a fair price. For example, products by Amway and Mary K are in demand and of good quality.
People actually want them and they are made available at a fair price. Here, the distributors can actually make money by selling the products directly to the consumers.
They don’t have to hire distributors to their downline to make money. This is what makes MLM legal and legitimate. Hence, even though you can make money by recruiting more people, you don’t have to do that.
Thus MLM does not take advantage of anyone and some kinds of services or products are always provided in return of the investment made.
A few things to keep in mind
Even though the MLM business model is legal, does not mean that it is always a good investment as there are a lot of risks involved. Firstly, the distributors are required to buy products that they may or may not be able to sell.
Also, the real profit comes from down-line but making such a network which is big enough to return profits takes a lot of time. Plus, you put the distributors in your downline at the above-said risks as well. You can only make money if they manage to sell products or hire more distributors.
Find a good stable company with a solid history and excellent products to invest in. Investigate how long it has been existing and about its management and other backgrounds. Make sure that the products are unique and of good quality which the consumer will actually want to buy. And always research the compensation plan employed.
Find out about how you will get paid and what percentage of the commission gets back to the distributors. Familiarize yourself with the different types of MLM compensation plans like the uni-level plan, matrix plan, etc. Also, ask about the training you will receive. Listen to your mentors and find out what they did to become successful.
How to make money by selling products?
If you have a product that can be sampled or demonstrated, host gathering in your home and invite 50% more people than you think will actually attend. Offer reductions and free samples of the products. Make the party fun and encourage people to bring friends so that you can recruit distributors while you sell your product. Host customer appreciation events in a good location and share product stories, do demos and have drawings and prices. Make sure to invite all your friends, family and their close people too.
Attend trade shows and fairs where you can set up your own booths for selling products. Engage customers in conversation and draw traffic to your booth. Collect everyone’s contact information. Include promotional materials in everything you mail. For example, include product info when mailing bills, personal letters or shipments of products.
Send flyers and coupons out to customers. Use social events and business group events to speak about your product. Be well informed about your business and speak with authority and expertise. Educate attendees about issues they are concerned about. Distribute promotional materials in such gatherings to notify customers about upcoming events and tell them where they can purchase your products.
Make use of social media. Create a blog and post product information and reviews on your blog. Create contents that demonstrate how customers can use and benefit your product. Start a YouTube channel for a video demonstration.
For example, create videos that teach particular recipes if you are selling kitchen products. Create a Facebook page and circulate it to make your product more popular.
How to make money by building down-lines?
- Build a large network of distributors. Learn about different recruitment strategies by talking to mentors and top earners in your network. Recruit friends, family, and co-workers – they are known as your warm market. Since these people already trust you, they are more likely to invest in a business opportunity with you.
- Practice cold market prospecting which is recruiting total strangers. Build a relationship by finding commonalities and creating trust.
- Advertise for new recruits in newspapers, magazines or online job boards.
- Create personal blogs or websites with relevant, SEO optimized content and share them on social media platforms.
- Purchase leads from a reputable marketing solutions business. They do the advertising and pre qualification to find qualified leads. Some companies even give you a script that you can use when contacting leads.
- Support new members of your down-line. Train them for at least a month and give them a lot of support during training so that they can learn what they need to work independently.
If you follow these methods and invest your time and effort in the business, you can build a successful MLM network which will bring in a good profit for you while providing good products for your customers.
