Over and over again, people ask if network marketing means the same thing that multi level marketing means. Yes, it does but while the meaning is the same, the titles are often interchangeable.

You might even hear it referred to as networking online or network marketing. Those who sell the company’s products are often called independent contractors or distributors. What it means by independent is that your potential to earn is not limited by the company.

Though you’re working to sell products the company produces, you’re in business for yourself. It’s one of the fastest and least expensive ways to have your own business. Typically, those who get involved with MLM will take a product produced by the company (buying it at a fraction of the cost) and selling it for retail cost, thereby earning a tidy profit.

Legitimate MLM companies will pay you for the products you sell and for the products your downline also sells. You won’t earn money on head count. In other words, you don’t earn just because you get people to sign on the dotted line and become a distributor.

Before you get into MLM, make sure it’s a product that you fully believe in and that you think will help others, because it can become difficult to sell a product if you don’t believe in it yourself.

Take the time to know everything you can about the product or service. Learn how long it’s been on the market and what the success rate for it is. Find out who the top sellers are and what they did to reach that point.

Make sure you ask around about the company, see if others are pleased with the way the commission pay out is set up. Ask what the most any one individual has earned and what the average earnings are. Then, being honest with yourself, ask yourself if you believe you’d fit into the average category or if you have the determination and drive to rise above that level.

Get all your start up costs and fees up front so that you’ll know what getting into the business will cost you. There’s a big difference between a $50 start up kit and a $5,000 start up kit. Usually the reason the company has to charge for kits at all is because it contains samples of products as well as promotional materials.