A Network
Marketing Application Isn't What It Appears To Be
A
Network Marketing Application / MLM application purports to ask for
pertinent information.
And some of it is pertinent.
They have good business reasons
for asking for
- Your name
- Your address
- Your phone number
- Your email address
- Your tax ID number (or Social Security
number)
- Your sponsor's name or ID
- And if you are to be paid via direct bank
deposit, they need the bank tracking information for that.
But that's it.
They do NOT need
- Your age
- Your sex
- Your income the past three years
- Your tax returns
- Your investment portfolio
- Number of dependents
- Your educational background
- Your career resume
- Your "goals"
- Whether or not you own your home
- Your height, weight, or color of your
eyes.
They certainly don't need the names and addresses
of ten friends.
Yet all of these things have been requested in
network marketing application / MLM applications.
Why?
Obviously, it's not because they need the
information. And it's not because the "wrong" answer will get you
kicked out of the program. No, if you are willing to apply, you
will be "accepted".
There are actually two reasons why these
applications get out of hand.
(1) The affiliate company wants
you to feel like you are applying for something "special".
Maybe they want you to think that you are "special"
because you are applying.
There is a strange validity to this. If
people have to "work" to get something, they somehow feel it is more
important. And more legitimate. The fact that there isn't a
chance in heck that they will be denied entry into this exclusive club
doesn't seem to enter the minds of most applicants.
(2) The affiliate company
needs a document that says you have read AND UNDERSTAND all the rules
and regulations.
By the time most people have filled out these long,
convoluted applications, all they do is check the little box that
acknowledges that they have read everything. Mission
accomplished: If you ever have a complaint about commission
structure or payouts, Hey, you've signed the Acknowledgement!
So What Am I Supposed To Look
For?
The most important thing you need to decipher is
the commission structure. It is usually hidden in long, convoluted
sentences and paragraphs, and in very tiny print.
| The rule of thumb is that the smaller the print, the more important it
is to read. |
If it is something the affiliate company really
doesn't want you to read, it will likely be in very tiny print in very
long paragraphs. Print it out and take it to your local print
shop, where it can be enlarged so you can actually read it.
There can indeed be pitfalls for the unwary
individual who blindly trusts that what he is verbally told is in the
contract and doesn’t read it carefully himself.
For instance, watch out if you are required to
reach minimum sales levels in order to earn any commission from your
down line at all. This is a common "small print" item.
It means that if you take a vacation you will not earn income on your
down-line for that month.
Be very wary, too, of companies that place more
emphasis on recruiting new people than on product sales.
And any time you are required to buy a certain
amount of product each month, question whether or not it is
realistic.
The network marketing application/ MLM
application isn't made to protect you. It is written to protect
the affiliate company. There isn't a single word in it that is
negotiable. There is not a single word you can change. So I
cannot say this emphatically enough: IF IT LOOKS "NOT
GOOD", WALK AWAY. Immediately. And never look
back.
