How many times have you heard the siren calls: "join now before this thing explodes", "get in on the ground floor", "a once in a lifetime opportunity"?

How many times have you jumped in only to find that the company was just a marketing shell? Or didn't have the resources to survive? Or was just plain full of crap?

Who cares if you get in on the "ground floor" if the foundation crumbles beneath your feet?

So what does it take to start a successful network marketing company? What are the characteristics you should be looking for to find that true "once in a lifetime opportunity"?

There are three crucial elements found in a company that will be successful in network marketing: a solid financial backing, a solid product, and a solid management team. To illustrate these elements I will use a relatively new company named Agel (www.whyagel.com).

Household Goods - soap, toothpaste, paper towels, etc.

The problem with this category is that the products are almost always overpriced when compared to what people can buy at their local supermarket. Also people often perceive them as a "generic" brand similar in quality to the cheaper products sold at the supermarket. So why would you spend up to twice as much when you can get the name brand product at half the price?

The only reason to do this is if you are getting the other 1/2 of the price back in sales commission. But no network marketing plan is going to pay you the entire commission amount. (Which is really what makes the product more expensive than the regular brands - some say they take the amount of the product price that they would have spend in advertising and make this the commission, but if that's the case, why does their product cost so much more?)