How to Know if a Network Marketing Company is Legitimate

MLM and network marketing is not a new concept. It has been around for decades. For a short while, however, is seemed to lose its popularity slightly. Now, with the expansion of internet commerce, MLM marketing has experienced an enormous resurgence. The many MLM marketing companies around the world oversee millions of dollars in revenues. Some may wonder if these businesses are legitimate. In all honesty, some of these businesses are completely legitimate and others are decidedly less than stellar in their business dealings. Of course, this raises questions as to how one can pinpoint which services are legitimate and which ones are scams. To answer these questions, one must look for red flags that will point towards whether or not a company runs itself in an above board manner.

The simplest way to find out whether or not an MLM company is on the level ... type the name of the company in the major search engines and add the word scam to the search words. If the company has scammed people out of money, they have surely blogged about it or posted it on a message board. If your scam search comes up with a match, read the commentary and weigh your decision as to whether or not the statements are credible.

Even if no negative information comes up in your search, it still does not hurt to do additional research work to ascertain the legitimacy of the company. Often, the website of the service itself can be very telling. For example, a sparse contact pages will be cause for alarm. A company that wants to work with you in a business venture but offers no phone number or street address might very well be suspect. As such, it would be wise to avoid dealing with such a company.

Many MLM marketing companies charge fees for affiliation. However, there are restrictions on what it may charge. Regulations in certain states require any company asking for more than $500 to be registered with the state. (Some states even cap the fees at $200) Any MLM opportunity that asks you to invest in excess $500 must be registered. If it is not, then you would probably want to avoid sending them any money or, for that matter, dealing with them in any way at all. $500 is a huge investment. You really want to be sure you are sending such money to a company you can verify and trust.

And it should also go without saying to be wary of any website making outrageous and over the top claims. MLM and network marketing are legitimate businesses. They should not embody carnival barker style come-ons in their advertisements. If they do, it may be indicative of amateur hour at best and a total scam at worst.

Once again, MLM marketing ventures have been around for years. Some are better than others and a little due diligence will allow you to avoid the below board companies that are potential scams.

Author Ralph Bass and his wife are both deeply interested in MLM and in the power of the Internet to build a Network Marketing business. He and his wife have been married for 46 years; they have 5 children and 17 grandchildren.
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