If you have an MLM business that sells a certain product, chances are that you are passionate about your products. If you're not, you may want to rethink which company you've chosen. To be truly successful at this kind of business, you need to love what you do and what you are selling.

The reason for this is that this passion will help you make sales and recruit others. If your business is not currently doing well, and you DO have passion for what you are doing, then perhaps you need to learn how to channel that passion to help you become more successful.

Here is some advice that will help MLM business owners channel that passion and take their business to the next level.

Make sure you love the products. If you are selling vitamins and other supplements that have a good reputation, but you happen to get a stomach ache each time you take them, chances are you won't be able to sell the products very well. Take some time to make sure you really love the products and feel strongly about them. If you don't, find another MLM business that you can really stand behind.

Check into the company's business practices. Some people really want to know what a particular company believes in. For example, if you sell skin care and the company does not test on animals - an issue that is important to you - make sure you let the customer or potential customer know that this is a great feature of doing business with them.

Know the product inside and out. Learning about a product that you love is another great way to make additional sales. If you know the product inside and out you can answer customer questions and in effective convince them that the product has value. Just enjoying the product is not enough. By knowing the technical details you increase your chances of success.

What need does the product fit? Sometimes the best way to sell is not by making a sales pitch for the product. It's by assessing what the product does and what need or needs that the customer may have that the product fits. Instead of telling them what the product does, take it one step further and tell them what the product can do for them. The difference between the two is that you will be making even more sales. When a customer can identify with the problem that the product can solve, that is when you will make more sales.

If you are passionate about the product you will take the extra step to do the research needed to effectively sell the product. Just liking it is not enough. If you love the product and can explain why, this will translate to extra money.

As I said previously, I’ve had quite a lot of experience in network marketing over the years, involving a number of different companies. That’s how I got to know the ins and outs, and the pluses and minuses of different types of compensation plan.

But (you might be asking) if it’s such a good industry, why would anyone want to change companies?

The answer is not too surprising. While it has some unique advantages, network marketing also has a number of things in common with all other forms of business or profession. For example, no matter what the industry, a lot of people move on to advance themselves at some point in their career. They may even be head-hunted, as I was on one occasion. And companies are sold, things change, and some people leave. All pretty normal.

With network marketing, it might be that you’re keen to progress, but for whatever reason you can’t get the support that you need. Or the compensation plan may have looked good, but it just doesn’t work as well in practice. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, people “stall” at a point in the marketing plan (like middle management in a job) and start to lose their momentum.

At this point a lot of people stay on as product buyers – because usually the products are very good – but they stop building the business.

Then along comes a friend with an exciting new proposition, and a powerful new product line, which gives the person the shot in the arm that they needed. All of a sudden they’re off and running, all the more rapidly for the experience they’ve had in their previous company.

So let me describe to you what drew me to my present company, and what’s happened since I joined. Because I haven’t been this excited in years, and it typifies some of the “new breed,” the “new generation” of marketing plans and products that I mentioned last time.

Remember: we’re talking here about the binary style of plan that I wrote about in my previous post. If you haven’t yet read it, or need to refresh your memory on the details, you might like to check out my April 28 post before going on.

This plan has always had some very good points. (E.g. you can pick up volume as far down in your organization as you need to go, all the way up to “maxing out” one of your business centers). But one of the plan’s limitations was those two positions immediately under you.

Left side, right side, and that was it.

To reward business builders who brought in good, reliable weekly volumes, some companies granted re-entries to people who maxed out consistently (i.e. built up to the maximum paid weekly volume) on both the left side and right side of one business center.

This meant that, if you wanted to, you could increase your total earnings beyond the maximum for just the one or three business centers you joined with. You put your re-entry in to pick up volume under an already maxed out center, under someone in your downline who had a lot of potential and was going places, or wherever else you felt it was going to do the most good. And off you went again.

A pretty good incentive for the person who wanted not just a nice extra income, but the whole lifestyle thing that network marketing can provide. Throw away the alarm clock, work from your home at whatever pace you wanted, be there for your spouse and children, and onwards and upwards from there.

But here’s where the “new generation” binary plan makes it a whole new ball game.

Once you reach a certain level in this binary, you are granted another position above your existing one, putting your entire existing organization in one leg as you start a new one. This is opposed to others where you just open an internal leg and half your organization becomes one leg. You also get three of these re-entry opportunities giving you four positions in total as opposed to three which is common in other plans.

The plan truly rewards those who are helping others. You can't become an executive until you have helped someone to Star 500 and the plan continues to challenge you in this way to reach each successive level. I see more people making "decent" money in this plan with this company and product than I have ever seen in my experience.

At an event, you are used to that smaller group of big earners. But at the most recent one I attended there were well over one hundred low level (Bronze, Silver, and Gold) executives honored — and this was just a regional meeting for one large team.

In fact, there are pages and pages of people advancing in rank (and income) every pay period. With other companies, you might see one or two pages of advancements at most. What’s more the company itself is setting new records for growth in the industry.

The other thing that I’m excited about with this company is the product itself.

Obviously I can’t mention the product name and make any therapeutical claims about it, as that could infringe FDA regulations.

But I can tell you this: before I started to take this product I was having some really bothersome joint pain. Now I don’t. On top of that, my mother had elevated blood pressure, some knee pain and some fibromyalgia pain. Now she doesn’t.

Stories like this abound, which gives you not only a great feeling, but a lot of confidence that this is a company and product which is going to be around for a long time. And for those who grow with it, I truly believe that the sky’s the limit.

Next time, we’re going to look at a new topic which will help you on the road to success in this wonderful industry.

As promised, here's a rundown on the standard binary plan. (I'll finish up next time with some comments on the "new generation" binary and its advantages. But first, let's clarify the basic principles.)

The binary operates like this. When you join, you set up one or more "business centers" under the person who sponsors you. Each business center has a notional left and right side. These sides are the only two positions on the front line of each center, which is how the plan got its name "binary." So the binary is a "limited width" plan.

You can continue to sponsor new people once you've filled these two positions, but you have to place them in an open position further downline, in someone else's left or right side. (But still, of course, in your own downline.)

This leads to a phenomenon called "spillover," meaning that someone in your upline may choose to place one of their new recruits underneath you — giving you the benefit of this person's volume, and that of whatever team they may build. Equally, you can choose to place one of your new recruits in a position where you feel it will assist and encourage somebody else already in your team.

By the way, don't make the mistake of thinking that you can sit there and live off spillover from your upline. Number one, if your upline is building actively, he or she will have an ever-increasing number of choices as to where to place new associates; number two, they're not likely to place a keen new person under a go-nowhere distributor. Instead, they'll be looking to encourage an already committed and active member of their downline, and at the same time ensure that the new person is placed where the energy is high and they can get some help to get started, plus good, ongoing mentoring.

When you join a binary, you generally have the option of taking either one or three positions. The second option simply means that in addition to your No. 1 center, you also take up the left and right positions on your No. 1 center's front line. This ultimately gives you the chance to double your commission earnings, as long as you take the business seriously, and follow your upline's advice and business-building system.

You "activate" each of your centers — that is, turn on the commission switch — by purchasing a set amount of the company's products, worth so many points value for each position. This is a once-up requirement.

Incidentally, some plans allow you to "re-enter" via a new position in your own downline, as a reward for building up consistently high turnover. Under these rules, big players can end up owning 20 or more centers, and reaping a reward from each one. This is how it's possible to earn very big money in a binary plan. Just remember that it doesn't come by luck or accident — you have to work hard and smart, and follow a plan, to create this kind of result.

Here's how the serious player works a binary network marketing plan.

You start with three centers: your 001, 002, and 003 (the latter being on the left and right side of your 001 center). With the help of your sponsor and upline, and using their business development and training system, you continue telling your story. This might concentrate on the products, or on the income opportunity, or both. Some very successful people I know start with the network marketing concept itself: the chance to build your own business for minimal cost, and develop a residual (or passive) income. They tie this into Robert Kiyosaki's well-known Cash Flow Quadrant.

(How you get people to talk to is a job for a separate article. Just understand that there are numerous methods.)

Your job is not to persuade or convince anyone, but simply to give people enough pertinent information to help them make an informed decision as to whether your opportunity or product is right for them at this time. (If you don't steamroll people, and treat them with dignity and respect, many of those who say "No" now will say "Yes" later, when their circumstances have changed.)

Using this approach, and improving your presentation with practice, you'll soon start adding new personally sponsored distributors to your team. You'll place them down the left side of your 002 and the right side of your 003 centers — continuing down the "outside" and ignoring all "inside" positions until your 001 center "maxes out" (see below). You'll also attract people who just want to buy the products at wholesale prices.

Some companies require such people to register as distributors; some don't. Either way, their purchases will add to your group volume for the particular week when they occur.

You then earn weekly commissions based on balanced group sales volume on the left and right sides of your 001 center, according to the company's commission schedule. This payout will be in specific increments, like 1000 points per side, 2000 points per side and so on, up to a maximum of say 5000 points per side per week. At that point, your 001 center is said to be "maxed out." Meaning that you can earn no more commission from that center for that week.

The first objective for the serious player is to max out their 001 center each and every week (bearing in mind that each distributor is required to purchase only once every four weeks, and customers normally do likewise because that's how long a product pack is usually designed to last. Of course, purchases may be more frequent where several family members are on the product, or a distributor gives samples to new prospects.)

There are a couple of things to note here. The first is that some companies don't require an exact balancing, but pay on a ⅓—⅔ split of volume. This means that you'll get paid for the full amount if you have, for example, 1000 points left side, 2000 points right side (or vice versa). The second point is that to receive commission, most companies require you to be on "autoship." That is, you agree to an automatic order for a fixed amount of product each 28 days (the normal cycle for a binary plan, because of their weekly payment schedule).

Once you are paid commission on volume points, they are deleted. A serious flaw in some early binary plans was that ALL points were "flushed" or "washed" at the end of the week, with no carry-forward of unpaid points. No reputable company still uses this practice.

You are paid on an infinite number of levels deep, up to a maximum of whatever balanced volume per week maxes out that center. (Levels don't matter; only volume does.) Above this amount, any additional volume is non-commissionable and is flushed. However, if you max out four weeks in a row, in a company with re-entries this is where you would slot yourself in to take full advantage of the additional volume.

Below the maximum amount, unpaid volume is carried forward, as long as you remain on autoship.

The final feature of binary plans that I want to mention is the phenomenon called a "runaway leg."
This just means that someone downline in your left or right leg sponsors lots of people, and develops a group whose momentum drives rapidly downward and out of your pay range. (In our example above, your pay range would be 5000 points per week on each side.)

Glass-half-empty types moan and complain about not getting paid on this volume because their other leg is too small. Glass-half-full types welcome it, because they realize that half their work has been done for them. They only have to focus on building the other side of their group to take maximum advantage of their runaway leg.

I'll leave you to figure out which type of person has all the fun!