Multi-Level Marketing or MLM as it is usually referred, is a complex business, not in terms of its concept, which is fairly simple, get somebody to buy a product or service, give the person who sold it a commission or profit and then also give that person a commission each time they get somebody else to start selling that product or service. There, that's it, no problem, go away and make a fortune, after all don't we see ads every day telling us how this or that person made a killing after only selling a product for a couple of weeks. Live on the beach just answering the odd email, new car expensive yacht never wanting for anything. But wait a minute how come most of us are still living the same life, with the same unfulfilled dreams, so there must be a catch.

Just as "location, location, location" is the key factor in real estate, "product, product, product" is a key factor in a successful network marketing business.

The product alone can make or break a new network marketing business. To be successful the ideal product will have these characteristics: a unique product, professional packaging, streamlined delivery mechanism. A relatively new company named Agel (www.howearly.com), has all three of these characteristics and I will use it to illustrate these points.

UNIQUE PRODUCT

The largest network marketing companies are invariably the first successful company in any given product line; Amway, Melaleuca, NuSkin, Marinda, etc. The "me-too" companies who come after and copy these "first-to-market" leaders seldom, if ever, become as large or as successful as the originals.

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?)

Problems With Some Network Marketing Products:

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?)