Top Network Marketing Companies
This site looks at how the top network marketing companies got a high ranking and then explains why all of that might not even matter to you.
Generally speaking, the top network marketing companies are the leaders in one or more aspects. These companies are usually better in some way than most of the other companies in the network marketing industry, which is also known as MLM (multi level marketing) or referral marketing.
We will look at several of those aspects and what each one means. We will also look at a few examples of numbers or statistics that might not tell the whole story.
Most importantly, we will outline the things that should matter most of all to you if you are looking to get involved with MLM.
Before going any farther, we want to let you know that we are blunt and brutally honest. Overall, we love the MLM industry, but a few “bad apples” have brought it negative attention and we do not try to hide that. We just tell it like it really is.
Age of the Business
Some people say the top network marketing companies are the ones that have been around the longest. They have a valid point since a lot of MLMs do not last more than a couple of years.
The oldest MLM is Amway and it has been around for over fifty years. Thousands of network marketing companies have started since then and many of them have fallen by the wayside for one reason or another. Only about 50 MLM companies have lasted more than ten years.
So, the age of a company can be an important factor. However, each and every company was once the newest one. Sometimes, you can tell that a certain company does not stand a good chance of making it. Other times, it can be hard to know which ones will survive the first couple of years and do well in the long run.
We know of two different MLM programs that had been around for several years and then suddenly turned sour. Both of them were sold when the original owner wanted to retire. The new owners/managers changed the pay plan and the qualifications to make a decent income became harder to meet. A lot of good distributors left and both of these former top network marketing companies soon faded into history.
Type of Product
Some people make fun of MLM companies that promote “lotions, potions, and pills.” The truth of the matter is that the majority of MLM programs have “lotions, potions, and pills” included in their line-up of products.
In fact, a recent report about the 25 top network marketing companies indicated that 21 out of the top 25 were in the health and wellness, and/or personal care fields.
Out of the remaining 4 companies, 3 of them were service-related companies (Pre-Paid Legal, AmeriPlan, and Team National), and the other one was a technology company (ACN).
It is interesting to note that no travel companies were on that list of top 25, even though a couple of travel-related programs have gotten a lot of attention in recent years.
Think about this for a moment… When you are in a large store such as Kroger, Wal-Mart, Target, or Walgreen, you can see shelf after shelf with nutritional supplements and personal care products (lotion, soap, shampoo, and so forth).
Retailers stock a wide variety of these kinds of products because there is a huge demand for them. Likewise, many MLM companies have their own unique line-up of “lotions, potions, and pills” because they know that’s exactly what a big segment of the public wants.
Sales Volume
As you might imagine, the top network marketing companies have a tremendous amount of sales. A few of them have boasted about reaching 100 million dollars in sales, or more, during their first two years in business.
That is a great accomplishment, but it doesn’t really tell the whole story. When we see a figure like $100,000,000 (100 million dollars) in sales, we want to know how it happened. For example, we would like to know whether it was one hundred thousand units sold at $1,000 each OR one million units sold at $100 each.
Also, it would be interesting to know how many distributors were responsible for generating the total sales volume. Were a small handful of distributors credited with the bulk of it? That is often the case, and those people are the ones getting the hefty commission checks.
Another thing that would be nice to know is the percentage of sales made to distributors to keep them active in the program and the percentage of sales that came from actual retail customers (not distributors).
Number of Distributors
It should come as no surprise that the top network marketing companies are usually the ones with the most members, or independent distributors.
Just as with sales volume, the number of distributors does not always tell the whole story. We would be interested to find out if a certain group is really good at recruiting and sponsoring new members at an above average rate. Also, it can make a difference is the MLM program is available around the globe or just in a few countries.
To get a more realistic perspective of the numbers, we would like to see a year-by-year growth rate comparison for each of the top network marketing companies.
Number of Millionaires
The MLM industry has allowed many people to become millionaires. It is a fact that a person from any background or educational level can do well in this type of home business if they follow a proven plan of action and stick with it. However, when you look at the total number of distributors, it is only a small percentage that really does well.
Why is that? Sometimes, a pay plan has qualifications that are hard for the part-timer to meet. Since most distributors are part-timers, the odds are stacked against them with the kind of plans that favor the full-time heavy-hitters. However, most often a person does not do well because they do not treat it as a real business or they simply give up too soon.
Anyway, some of the top network marketing companies say that their opportunity will create more millionaires than any other MLM. That’s all fine and dandy, but we would much rather see the kind of pay plans that are fair for everybody! After all, we know from experience that the retention rate is much better in a program where all distributors have a real chance to get a strong residual income. And, when the retention rate is high, you are growing and building a good downline instead of replacing the members that leave.
The Most Important List of All
No matter how many lists the top network marketing companies get their names on, there is only one list that should matter to you. That list is the one you create when you look at a wide variety of MLM programs and make notes about the ones that appeal to you.
Review each program carefully and narrow down the list until there are only 2 or 3 that remain.
Then, look for a strong team of independent distributors that represents one of those MLM companies. After all, a company that appeals to you is only part of it… you should join with a good team that can help you and the people that end up in your downline. A good team will know the best way to market the program and how to keep the retention rates high.
Your best chance of success lies in picking a strong combination – a network marketing plan that excites you AND a good team for training and support.
So, it might not matter if it’s one of the top network marketing companies or a relatively unknown and/or new company, as long as you can feel passionate about being part of that program.
