Smoke & Mirrors 

How many times have you been approached by people to enroll in a business that has a huge enrollment fee (administration/donation) and insists on you committing to a huge monthly (autoship) cost to buy products you don't want or need, your sales commission is 25% to 40% and the pay structure is not clear? I have! And even studying the pay structure, I was still fooled. The problem is, they make it complicated and do not tell you everything. They make you all kinds of false promises. I call this "smoke and mirrors".

If you are approached by a company that has a huge product or service portfolio, you will already be confused and you will be confusing all your prospective buyers and enrollees. In addition, they will have a pay and bonus structure that is very detailed and confusing since the volume of products and services are too huge and in order to market these products, you must have sufficient knowledge on what they are, do and made of.

This is where the "smoke and mirrors" apply. You will be "promised the world" by the people at the top. "The people at the top make all the money". I have heard this statement made, many, many times. If you can learn to understand how multi-level marketing works, you will find, at the inception, there is few people building the business, then it grows exponentially to a point where it is saturated and slows down to nil. I have been told the phrase, "it's a  proven business", but I see it as a saturated business after about 10 years.

I've been dabbling and enrolled with many network marketing business's for over 30 years and I have found for quite a few years they have been using "smoke and mirrors". But in the last couple years, there have been a "new wave" of network marketing companies starting up with features that are changing the way people think and with changes based on the advancement due to technology and finance opportunities. Plus they are not greedy like the previous companies.

Why do you want to start a business? The number one answer is to make money, either it be financial assistance, to make a living or to set up your retirement. I believe the "only" way is through network marketing (pyramids that are legal) to generate a residual income that continues for life. The trick is to find one or many that are simple, easy and affordable. The lesser the products or services, the less confusing (this is the part that makes the business legal). The pay plan/structure should be the most important feature because why would we bother wasting our time and energy if we are not going to achieve our goals. The design of the pay and bonus structure (compensation plan) must logical, simple and easy to follow, plus be able to support us in the future.

Previous companies push product, product, product and only paid a small percentage for your efforts. They are designed for higher middle class and high class people. Today things are different. The "new wave" companies are "not" asking for huge administration, making it affordable for a lower income population to enroll. The compensation plans are set for a much higher percentage and are paid faster. Delayed gratification is still an issue but much less. They are concentrating on marketing the architecture/design of the pay/compensation structure before the product or service. Join/enroll and hold your spot in the matrix (learn as you earn). They are "Keeping It Simple" (my motto). They are not requesting anyone to attend meetings or rah! rah! seminars, all of the training and education information is directly in their back offices. Now that's freedom. I have seen so many leaders "have" to attend meetings and praise that they are free. Are they?

I don't put all my eggs in one basket, but this is me. I know " every" business either traditional or network can fail, but traditional business fails more than network because of the high start up costs and the three areas of destruction, technology advances, economy changes and bad people. So if I have a few, I am covered. Again, my team is called the PowerXS Group of Services (the excess power of people networking products and services together). I have failed many times with "smoke and mirror" companies and have learned allot. I believe the generation of "new wave" network marketing companies is the way to go.

I LOOK FOR THESE FACTORS WHEN STUDYING A NETWORK BUSINESS:

- When was the company inception (launched). If the company has been around for a while, is it a "proven business" or a saturated hierarchy? A fresh new business give you the chance to be at the top and not at the bottom. Buying in (enrolling) fast, ensures you to "hold your spot" so you can achieve success for you and others you wish to join your team.

- Is the enrollment fee affordable? Not a high donation for nothing and affordable for lower income prospects.

- Is compensation plan (pay and bonus structure) workable and understandable? How fast and level are we paid?

- The "do nothing" factor. Can people in your team still make money doing nothing or very little? Allot of team members are lazy. They expect the enroller to do all the work. The work is "networking", like facebook. Just "sparking the interest" to people you know or even family members. Never force anyone to join you but "do" show them your opportunity and let them make a decision themselves.

- Is it an easy system to follow? Complicated systems fool us and project a complicated "following". You can spend hours and hours, wining and dining prospects. f it's complicated, there goes your time and freedom. The secret is to build your team "fast" and "deep". You can't do that with time-draining prospects. It's a business and your future.

- Is the training on-line and not forced to go to meetings to have to learn? This provides you with "total" freedom.

- Do they have a forced sales system? Do they utilize "ewallet reserves" to purchase product and not have to pay for purchases "out-of-pocket". This is huge. A member can go broke just to be qualified to be legally paid. It's much better to pay from your profit (ewallet reserve) instead of your pocket.

- Do they have a forced matrix? (Forcing your team to grow with or without your help)

- Do they have a direct pay system? (Utilizing direct pay credit card systems, paypal, etc.)

- Are they international? Can you offer this business opportunity world wide? Canada and the U.S. have been bombarded with the old network marketing companies and are a bit shy about them presently, but international countries are open minded with networking and love them. They are exploding all over the world.

- Do they have marketing tools? (Auto responders, advertising, video presentations, etc.)

- Do they have an on-line support team? This gives you the freedom to just "prospect" for new members to join your team. Build i fast and build it deep. Just get them to hold their spots, if that what it takes.

- Are all the bonus goals achievable? Some companies will financially break you if there is allot of out-of-pocket expnses.

- Do they have webinars and conference calls or even team chat lines? This helps in making the business more of a team effort and not making you feel alone.

These benefits and needs, plus more, are all part of the "new wave" of network marketing!