Phoenix Alliance’s previous business segment discussed how to evaluate the quality of an MLM business and we mentioned that the details concerning the commission structures are quite elaborate and would appear in another Phoenix Alliance business segment. So here it is. After reading this article, you should be able to determine which compensation plan is best suited to your personality.

I will freely admit that the compensation plan aspect of MLM businesses is my absolute favourite part to study and assess. I have a geek side, and math has always fascinated me. But rest assured, you don’t have to be a fellow geek to understand compensation plans, as long as they are properly explained.

I hope this article will demystify what is considered by most to be the least understood of all MLM business aspects. But since MLM is a business, it is of capital importance that you have a firm grasp of the financial compensation you can expect from a pay plan. Because in the end, the goal of an efficient compensation plan is to leverage your time.

I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic than a man who devotes all the hours of the waking day to the making of money for money’s sake.
– John D. Rockefeller

It is commonly agreed in the Network Marketing industry that there are four main types of compensation structures. In this article, I will bypass the less common ones and hybrid ones, to concentrate only on the following four.

Phoenix Alliance’s previous business segment discussed how to succeed in MLM and we mentioned that choosing a good MLM company was an important aspect of it, and deserved to be explained in detail as the main subject of another article. So here we are.

It took me seven years to finally find the Network Marketing company I have now been «happily married» to, for over ten years now. Of course, that was before the Internet and Google were as efficient as they are now. Also, I have to admit that I had not realized how important working with a great company actually is.

So I hope that this article will impress upon you that no amount of talent will ever compensate for choosing the best company for you. And don’t be fooled, there are important business principles to be followed, but you also have to be a good match for each other.

Women when they marry buy a cat in the bag.
– Michel de Montaigne

Based on my personal experience and the experience of many other professional Network Marketers, I identified six crucial aspects that absolutely have to be carefully considered when choosing between all the MLM companies out there. And here they are.

The question : «How to succeed in business?» is timeless. There are university, college and private training programs around the world which exist for the sole purpose of answering it.

When that question is applied to MLM businesses, the answer, not surprisingly, is very similar. The difference, I find, is that most people treat their MLM business like a hobby instead of like the business it actually is, which is the perfect recipe for failure.

If you have ever owned an MLM business, there is a high probability that the success advice you got on day one sounded like this: «Make a list of 100 names, call each one with your sponsor, write down your goals, attend company presentations, learn about the products, sell the products, etc.»

But how many of us got the actual 411 on the real investment needed to succeed, right off the bat? Very few, I’m sure. So here’s the truth about the actual costs of building a successful MLM business from someone who’s been there (more than once).

If you are new to the home-based business industry, or maybe even a more mature entrepreneur, one of the questions you might be asking yourself is: « Are Network Marketing and Multi-Level-Marketing the same thing or what? » I know that was one of my first questions when I started almost 20 years ago, and now I wondered about the evolution of the answer to it.

So I re-did the research and was actually surprised by what I found. There seemed to be more confusion now than several years ago. And the basic definitions appeared to have changed quite a bit. I cannot be certain of the reason for it, but my guess is that in the business world, we like to simplify things in order to make owning a business more accessible. But in this case, I find we went a little overboard.

Although opinions on this subject are very divergent, there seems to be more supporters of the theory that Network Marketing and Multi-Level-Marketing are exactly the same thing. As far as I can remember, this is the first time I disagree with the opinion found on a great site: Wikipedia. And here’s why.

In 2013, more and more people feel the urge to be their own boss, make their own schedule, travel whenever and wherever they want, work from home, and generally create more freedom for their family and themselves. For all these reasons, and more, many of us are looking toward owning our own business, in the hopes that our wants and needs will be met more fully.

But then we start looking, researching and listening to those around us, and more times than not, end up with more questions than we started with. Phoenix Alliance’s business segments address one of those questions every week. This week we will explain the difference between Network Marketing and Franchising, as well as the pros and cons of each one.

First of all, it is important to realize that Network Marketing and Franchising are both «Franchise Concepts», the first being a «variation on the theme», a «derived product», or an «evolution» of the second. Because of that, most (if not all) of the advantages of Franchising are also found in Network Marketing. Let’s explore Franchising first.