My heart sank a little today when I read the news that Arbonne (Natural Products Group, LLC) has officially filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Why?  Because hopes and dreams of a home-based business income were shattered.  Contrary to what some of the ‘gurus’ might say these are not just numbers, they are people like you and me.  Mothers, fathers, grand parents. sons, daughters, people trying to live their version of the American Dream.  I am blessed that I found out the truth about what it takes to succeed in network marketing without having to witness the news about my company filing for bankruptcy.

Several things have to be in place to avoid such news, first and foremost is company management experience with integrity.  Man is this so important for the success of the average network marketer.  Why?  Because, believe it or not, not all of the superstar ‘top income earners’ built their way into their position.  Kinda hard to believe but it’s true.  I have been offered the ‘opportunity’ to bring my organization over to another company.  But this ‘opportunity’ as they put it would eat like cancer upon my moral fiber and destroy all my efforts of building a solid future.

Let’s just assume that all network marketing companies have killer products because they probably wouldn’t remain in business if they didn’t.  So the sale of products would be where the company’s main source of income resides, right?  Only if those products are value priced.  Otherwise the main source of money would come from signing up new distributors.  The proof is in the financial filing of bankruptcy of companies without integrity and run by greed and ego.  I hope you’ll join me in a little prayer for all the families affected by this news, my hope is that they may find the right community and company to call home.

So this leads me to the obvious question of someone, like myself, who was being dragged under the bus by a company whose management doesn’t even know how to spell M-L-M.  For example, here’s how the training went…

1. Make a list of friends and family

2. Make a list of the most successful people you know

3. Make a list of the people you are afraid to speak to about the business

Now, I know-I’ll wait for the side splitting laughter to die down before I continue.  What, that wasn’t funny?  You mean you heard something similar to this in your training?  Guess what?  That’s not training, that’s what they call ‘leading with the chin.’  That’s definitely a way to alienate yourself from friends and family and while that may be a good thing, usually it is not.  So, did I succeed in my first MLM opportunity? No.  That was way back in August of 2008, I am so very fortunate that I saved myself years of failure and frustration in this wonderful industry by finding what I call My Loving Family.

Now that first company cost me some time, money, and loads of frustration but it also served as a valuable experience.  It helped me understand how valuable a team of professional network marketers can be to someone like me who wants a lifetime of residual income.  Not only do I not want to struggle and alienate myself from family, I don’t want to be drug under the bus by every ‘Heavy Hitter’ in the industry.  You know that I’ve called almost every single person in my upline genealogy and they actually call back and help me to succeed right where I’m at in the process.  My team cares enough about the relationship they have with me that they will tell me the truth as well as point me in the right direction to become a professional in the industry.

Our industry is amazing and many traditional companies are investigating how to restructure to lower costs in these exciting times.  What they will have to keep in mind is that the quality of the relationship with their distributors will ultimately determine their success. I say these are exciting times because as Jim Rhon once said, “After recession comes expansion-not to think so is naive.”  I have been naive about network marketing in the past but I know now that with My Loving Family, I have all the tools necessary to succeed.  Day by day, in every way, I awaken to a new world of limitless possibilities for service and inspiration; sharing this energy with all the wonderful people I meet.  It is a pleasure to say, when asked what I do for a living, that I help people.  I mean, how cool is that?  I have been helped over the years by some of the very best people I’ve ever even heard about.  And they did it without an agenda, they helped me because they had been under that same bus.  There was a time I just needed someone to give me the right words like, “please stop the bus,” and “help people with the right agenda.”  What time is it for you?

And when dealing with people it is not possible to form a lasting, quality relationship with them by ‘getting them in’ and moving on to the next 350, 000.  Some will need mentoring, some will need technical training, some will need personal development, and all of them will need to have a relationship with YOU, the leader of your organization.  So how is this possible if you have hundreds maybe thousands of leads in a short period of time?  It’s not, and so many people miss the opportunity to follow their dreams in this amazing industry because of this very failing.  They become jaded, they get burned, used up, and cynical.  It happens for two main reasons: greed and ego.

So, it would stand to reason that there should be a checklist when looking for a network marketing organization.  The most important is, almost always, buried deep within a lengthy document written by lawyers-it’s called the policies and procedures.  Here is the first time the upline relationship needs to be solid, accommodating, and accurate.  Second, is the compensation plan.  Sometimes this one can be harder to decipher than Egyptian hieroglyphs so having a sponsor to explain exactly what it’s going to take to make the kind of income you want is vital.  There should be no stuttering or evasion when asking questions about the compensation plan, and it should be easily found along with the policies and procedures BEFORE you sign up for anything!  Why?  Because how can you expect to be successful without ALL the information?

There are several other things to consider about any MLM company or opportunity but for me the relationship and support from your upline and your team are crucial ingredients.  I like to think of success like baking a cake.  Mmmmm….cake.  What happens to a cake if you use salt instead of sugar?  You might get a cake that looks good but tastes like, well you know what.  And if there’s not a supportive upline relationship then you might end up like thousands of people who wander from one MLM scam to another like a junkie wondering what’s wrong with me that I can’t succeed?  Like the casinos in Las Vegas the ‘House’ has an edge and the cards are stacked in their favor.  And without a team working together to help each other to reach success and good upline relationships the cards will continue to be stacked against your possibility of achieving your dreams.