Welcome to the world of Network Marketing where you can build a future of residual income to provide a life style most people only dream about provided you are in the correct company. There are some key facts you need to know - about a company you may be in or looking to join. They are called the five pillars to success. If you can't find these 5 key ingredients before you waste your time and money - RUN AWAY!

PILLAR 1 Company Management Experience with integrity.

Do a Google Search on the company owners. When you are in a company that is built by someone who has built a down line, they will be "Distributor Minded." The pay plan will be excellent and will be easy to build a business with them. The care and support will be in place. IF you find a company built by a Fortune 500 CEO who has never built a down line of their want to be aware are: the company's policies and procedures. If the policies and procedures are short, then there is low overhead (meaning the cost to run the company is minimal) and you the distributor will get paid more! Companies with high overhead always have long policies and procedures. You will probably need lawyer to read it for you. This company will not pay you well.

PILLAR 2 Timing in the company, Timing in your industry.

Approximately 92% of network marketing companies don't make it past the first two years. You do not want to be the first one blazing the trail. Give the company time to work out all the start up bugs. A good compensation plan has to be in place. Let the company work out all of their software problems. They should own their own software so they can perform their own maintenance themselves and any upgrades they may have to make. Don't get caught up in the hype of getting into a start-up opportunity.

PILLAR 3 A remarkable product.

If you look at a company that has been around for more than two years, they probably have a good product. If you want to make money with that company you still need all the other pillars provided you are in a legal network marketing company not some gifting program.

It's necessary to have a product that retails well and ask yourself, "Would I buy this product if there was no business opportunity involved?" Is there a distributor discount on the product? "What's the real price of the product? Doesn't this behavior show that this company only wants to recruit distributors? If a company is recruiting, recruiting, recruiting, you are just building a temporary paycheck. Now, there is no residual income in recruiting alone. You want to be in a company where you can retail products. Retail sales allows you to develop true residual income.

PILLAR 4 The compensation plan.

A good pay plan is a plan that pays the most for the least amount of people in your organization. You should get paid on total volume not on a specific number of levels or stop after a set depth. A good compensation plan will pay a good percentage to the front end of the plan so the part-timer will be able to make an income. How much money do you make on retail sales. Seven percent and under will not make a viable business. Do the math, figure out how many people you will need to reach your monthly goals. How much money will you generate from each person, per spot, and divide this by the desired monthly income! Ask yourself: "Will this comp plan work for you?" "Will it be possible for me to sponsor, teach, and retain this many people?"

Study your compensation plan. What type is it? What are the pros and cons of this type of plan?

PILLAR 5 System for Success

The success to any network marketing company is to have a duplicatable system in place. People are not duplicatable! Systems are! You must have a system when a new distributor can plug in and become successful. Network marketing is a relationship business. People join people.

These are the five pillars to success.