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In Parts I and II of this series, you learned that there are 4 very critical components of the perfect MLM opportunity for YOU. The first 2 are the most critical.

1. An Exceptional Upline Support Team

2. A Compensation Plan that Rewards Part-timers, but also Offers Generous Leadership Bonuses for Heavy Hitters.

3. Good, useful, fairly priced products or services that members will happily buy month after month.

4. An MLM company with a good track record, low debt, good management, a good product development strategy, and a good customer support organization in place.

In the first 2 parts of this article, we looked at the first 2 of these important components. Let's move on to the third.

I'm going to make a very controversial statement: Product is NOT the most important consideration in choosing an MLM opportunity. Nor is the MLM company!

One of the most pervasive MLM myths is that product is the #1 criteria in selecting an MLM program. Old-timers in this industry are particularly adamant in that belief. And they may have been right 20 or 30 years ago when a majority of the MLM compensation plans were built around retailing product.

But most of the MLM programs of today build their compensation plans on the reality that most people would rather dig ditches for a living than retail product! The MLM plans of today emphasize building a network of people who each consume or retail a small amount of product each month.

In my experience, product rates a distant third in importance when choosing an MLM opportunity! And not for the reasons the old timers will tell you.

It is pretty safe to say that you could make a lot of money in many different MLM programs if you make your choice based on the 2 most important criteria:

1. An Exceptional Upline Support Team

2. A Compensation Plan that Rewards Part-timers, but also Offers Generous Leadership Bonuses for Heavy Hitters.

Product is just the third element. Get the first 2 right, and you will probably find the third at the same time.

The perfect MLM opportunity should have good, useful products or services people will buy month after month.

Do they need to be one-of-a-kind sizzle products that no other company manufactures? NO!

Do they need to be endorsed by dozens of doctors? NO!

Do they need to be products that will totally revolutionize health-care, or change the way you do your business forever, or take care of your every problem? Again, NO!

And do they have to be "hard" products that are shipped to your doorstep every month? NO again!

I can tell you from long experience that almost every sizzle product one company introduces is quickly copied by other companies.

I remember the first company that came out with a diet cookie. It was the hottest program around for a few months, even though their compensation plan was very poor. But the diet cookie was their only product.

And within months, almost all the other big nutritional companies had their own diet cookies - along with a broad range of other products to choose from. The first company didn't even stay in business for a year.

When it comes to product, the most important consideration is that the company offer a CHOICE of good, useful products or services at a fair price. The best products are in the category of items that people ALREADY buy and use every month. You won't have to change their buying habits to get them to use your company's products. They can simply substitute who they are buying them from!

Your company should offer products or services that almost everyone will use and fit into their lives. While weight loss products are very popular, if they are all that your company offers, your prospect list is going to be much smaller. While more and more people in our modern society are overweight, not everyone is!

Everyone isn't in the market for weight loss products. And even if they are, what will they purchase when your products successfully help them lose all the weight they need to lose? Much better is a complete line of nutritional products that include weight loss products.

The products should also be consumable or part of a package that will be valuable to people on a long-term basis. That means that your members will use them every month and need to replenish their supply. Or they will want to keep their membership because it continues to be of value to them.

If your company sells satellite TV systems, how many of those will your downline buy each month, for instance? If they can only buy and use one, they'll have to do some retailing to make any money. And most people simply WON'T retail product!

Retailing product requires another complete set of skills. It takes lots of time and energy that are better directed at building a sales organization of people who each buy and retail a small amount. This is much easier than moving thousands of dollars worth of product every month all by yourself. Retailing product was the old MLM/direct sales model, and few people were very good at it. That was one of the major reasons for the high MLM attrition rate.

Your company's products should be fairly priced. I've seen too many nutritional MLM companies that charge up to 3 times as much for their multi-vitamins than my local health food store! Their justification is that they have to pay several levels of MLM commissions. But don't believe that for a minute! Traditional companies also have to pay to sell and distribute their products. Their marketing costs aren't any less than the commissions MLM companies pay their distributors. In fact, they are often more!

Product is not the most important consideration in selecting the perfect MLM opportunity. But everything else being equal, it is better to choose an opportunity with good, useful products or services that members will buy month after month and easily fit into their lives. And the better programs will offer enough variety to fit almost everyone's needs.

© 2003 MLM Millionaire Training Systems, Inc.