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.
