Is MLM Network Marketing Better Than Home Based Business Opportunities?

The MLM Network Marketing opportunities and the home based business opportunities have been around for decades. They both have stories of failure and stories of success, and some with major success. So, which is better? In this article, I will attempt to answer which is better - MLM Network Marketing opportunities or home business opportunities.

As you read this article, you will discover:
* Fundamentals Of MLM Network Marketing Opportunities
* Fundamentals Of Home Based Business Opportunities
* How To Find Which Option Is Best For You
* Points To Think About

* Fundamentals Of MLM Network Marketing Opportunities
There is a big difference between MLM and other home based business opportunities. The biggest difference is how they operate. For example, a home business may have a product which you need to make or you have to market or do both.

In a MLM Network Marketing opportunity, you will predominantly be involved in marketing - hence the name Multilevel Marketing. The Multilevel part is what makes Network Marketing opportunities so unique.

Instead of simply earning money through your own efforts, you also have the added advantage of selling the opportunity. The result is that anyone who joins your "leg" and sells products earns you money. So this becomes a great residual income. And some network marketers are at a stage where they don't have to work, because others bring in enough commissions.

* Fundamentals Of Home Based Business Opportunities
Home based business opportunities are great for many reasons. The home based business opportunities are home business ideas that people have had, made a business out of, and are now making it available to others as a out of the box type business.

You create a product or sell a product. You get a system to run the business, which is great for people new to business.

* How To Find Which Option Is Best For You
Starting a business is not easy; there are a lot of tasks that need to be completed. What is more, if it is your first business, then you will want as much help as you can get. Books do a great job and so do formal business courses for entrepreneurs, but there is nothing like the practical training you can get in home business opportunities.

Your choice will come down to your goals, and expectations. MLM seems to work better with people who know a lot of people and or are willing to "get out there" so to speak.

* Points To Think About
Starting a home business can be an arduous process. If it is your first time in business, then consider the home business opportunities. These opportunities don't need a lot of investment, and can produce good results. However, in all cases, remember that business takes time to be successful.

Internet Business Opportunities - Hook, Line and Sinker!

Many innocent and otherwise intelligent people get scammed on the Internet each and every day. Most of the people I know who have "swallowed the bait", are people of reasonable to exceptional intelligence. High IQ or good common sense is no deterrent to getting scammed. There are so many illegitimate scams and frauds online that offer an illusion of success, but only deliver empty promises and broken dreams. I refer to these scam business opportunities as "Bastard" web sites. They have no traceable long-term history of ownership (no father or mother), and can disappear as quickly as they came. When they have exhausted a fresh supply of "suckers", they will disappear off the grid, only to re-manifest as a web site with a different name, but the same message and marketing letter. Their only purpose for existence is to separate people from their money. These web-sites have no real product to sell, they do not provide a reasonable service, and yet, they are so proficient at selling something that doesn't exist. The owner of such a web site is often touted as an expert of some sort, but you would be hard pressed to find background on them. My question is this; How do we separate the wheat from the chaff as it were? How do we tell the difference from a legitimate opportunity and a scam? I think I can speak to this subject with some authority because life on the Internet is no different from life outside the Internet. Whether online or offline, if you live long enough, you will be scammed by someone. Many times in life, the deception of others, costs us more than just money. We often are scammed by the people we closest to, and even though we have their best interest at heart, they have no regard for what they are about to do to us. I believe myself to be a sensible person, but my family and friends have taken advantage of me far more often than I have been fooled by a stranger. This is indeed disheartening, but by no means am I ready to write off all of humanity, simply because of the selfish motives of a few people who managed to get past my defenses. If you are presently seeking a legitimate, online business model that you are truly ready to invest your time, talent, and money into, consider a few key elements, that will minimize the possibility and pain of taking the wrong bait... Hook, line and sinker.

Firstly, let us consider what a legitimate business is. An honest and forthright business provides a tangible and needed product or service for real people. A legitimate business exists to fill a need in the community. Admittedly, sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between a real need and that which is simply a desire, but that is for the consumer to consider, and is not the responsibility of the business. For example: Often in life, we seek out a product that we feel we need, but if the truth were told, most men don't really Need another expensive tool for their collection, and most women don't Need another pair of shoes for their closet. So, Whether a need is real or perceived, a business is there to fill the order. I don't know any person that actually Needs a Video Game Console, and yet it is a multi-billion dollar industry, and anyone would be foolish not to sell video games based on the fact that it is not a "Real Need". Although it is not a real need, it is a tangible product or service that is offered to real people.

Next we need to consider the source of the opportunity. Is web site or person that is making this offer to you readily accessible. If it is a legitimate opportunity, there will usually be a contact page where you will find the name of the company or individual, along with a telephone number or a valid email address. If you see a mailing address and profile information, that is a very good indicator that the opportunity is legitimate. This will allow you to contact a real person with your questions about the opportunity that is represented, by telephone or email. Most Scam opportunities will only have one marketing page with a sales pitch that makes outrageous claims, but no way to find out any further information. Most bastard sites will also have a disclaimer at the bottom of the page that states how your results may vary. For example: If the web site sales pitch claims you will make $6,000.00 in 6 days, you can usually click on the disclaimer link where you will be told that everything they claim in the sales pitch, may not really work as advertised.

About those Outrageous Claims. If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. Watch out for key phrases such as those that promise you a certain amount of money in a certain period of time. No one can deliver on a promise that you will make $1,000.00 in one day (or any combination thereof). I have learned that "completely duplicateable system" usually only applies to the person making the claim. Also be wary when there is too much use of outrageous adjectives. "Recliner Millionaire", "Secret", or "Instant Cash", should set off some kind of alarm in our head (however often we choose to ignore it). Many of these sites will also offer to "train you", they neglect to tell you that the training and advice you receive will be outdated and unusable. Any legitimate work offer should come with some training, make sure the training you will receive comes from both online or printed resources and most importantly, a real person that is willing to help you get going. If the training is "online only", be wary. Another outrageous claim is that you can put this business on "autopilot". In other words, they will claim that once you set up "the system", whatever that system is, that you will not have so spend any more time, energy or money to keep it going. A legitimate business opportunity offers real work, and you should expect to have to dig in and work your butt off, before you begin to see any profit. It does not matter what anyone claims, you must be expected and willing to work hard to gain success. There is No Easy Way to Success! We all know this to be true, but sometimes we briefly allow ourselves to be deluded by a promise of fast and easy money, only to end up ashamed of ourselves for becoming a victim. And by no means should we have to victimize other people to reach our goals.

"There is no such thing as a FREE puppy". This saying is true and reliable. Whenever you see the word FREE, you should know that something will be required of you. In Internet language, "Free" usually means "Trade" or "Trap". Sometimes following up on a Free offer is simply exchanging our email address for some information, which will result in some unsolicited emails (or spam). Sometimes Free can cost us our money and our integrity. It is important to research each "Free" offer, and see what the real cost is going to be. You should also know that there is an entire network of legitimate online business-people who exchange, barter or trade, by using the word Free. This is fine as long as you know who you are dealing with and are willing to trade your effort, product or service for the same from another person. This is where you can honestly and openly trade for a valuable product or service. These exchanges are called Joint Ventures (where you work with another business to achieve a common goal, or Affiliate opportunities, where you trade something like space on your web site to promote another persons product or service for a sales commission or more traffic to your site (It is useless to have a web site, unless people look at it, and buy your product or hire your services). Trading is an integral part and portion of doing business online, and there is nothing under-handed about it, unless the trade is not of equal value, and someone gets the short end of the stick. Don't be afraid to trade and barter with other online business owners (especially to share and exchange site links), it can save you some time and money and bring visitors to your web business, if you trade with an honest person. I always try to do some background research on other sites, even if we are just exchanging services to our mutual benefit. It can save you some heartache later down the road.

Finally, an online business opportunity is an offer for work. No matter how much research you have done, no matter how well you have matched the opportunity to your skills and talents, there will always be something about the JOB that you will not like doing. If we enjoyed everything we did at our job, we would not call it work, we would call it play. If you think about it, I'm sure you'll agree that even that which we call play, has some element of work involved with it. If you love to ride dirt bikes, you probably don't enjoy cleaning and maintaining your motorcycle. There will always be something in any opportunity that you will not enjoy doing, make sure you balance that with a majority of things that you would really enjoy working at. Research the possibilities, decide on one that you are comfortable with, and work hard like you would at any other job, and you can realize your dream of having an online business without getting scammed.

To complete this article, I need to write a little bit more. There can be many reasons for desiring to operate an online business. Usually the reason is that something has changed in your life, and out of necessity, you are seeking a means of providing an income with more flexible hours. Have you, or someone you care for, been diagnosed with a chronic illness? Do you need to take care of a sick spouse or relative? Has the economy affected your present job so that you simply are not making enough money? Are you just tired of the stress and politics surrounding your present job? Or maybe you need to be able to work from home. We usually seek opportunities out of necessity. As for me, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia about fifteen years ago, and it is extremely difficult to find a job that can accommodate my physical limitations. So I started seeking out a way to work that would allow me the freedom to just vegetate on the days that I don't feel well enough to work. From a Christian perspective and as a Minister and Pastor of a small Church (that cannot afford to pay me), I sought out Gods' Will for a business that I could operate, that would allow me to maintain my integrity and give me the freedom of time, to be available for the spiritual needs of our Church. As a pastor, I often have people ask my advice on how to find God's Will for their business life. The Bible has very clear principles that we are to adhere to, if we want to be successful (blessed). It really can be summed up in just a few words. God does not really care what kind of work you do as long as you do it as if you were working directly for Him. Put your head and heart into your work and always do the best you can possibly do. Help other people to become successful, and you will become successful (seek a business that will allow you to do this). Treat your clients with the same respect and dignity that you believe you deserve. Always give one tenth of your income to your local Church, so God can bless you with abundance.

I have been scammed a couple of times in the process of testing out different business opportunities, and it has taught me some lessons. By the way, trying and failing is much better than Never Trying at all. I have learned to research and investigate their search engine status, look up whois info, and searching for complaints against a person or company. I have learned to stay away from one page web sites that make outrageous claims. I have learned that Free never means free (there's always a trade off). I have learned that every failure has taught me valuable lessons that I would not have learned any other way. The most important thing I have learned is to simply choose a legitimate opportunity and work it. Use all the tools and helps you can, find affiliate and joint-venture opportunities. Work your business patiently and persistently, and even though it may take awhile, you can find success as an Online Business-person without getting scammed or scamming other people. There are many opportunities to be had, and many of them take very little money to start, but you can expect to spend your time, talents, energy and some money to achieve any level of success so choose an opportunity that suits you well, and you will be happy to do the work. Use your instinct and common-sense to avoid being a victim. Don't let yourself get Caught Swallowing the Bait- Hook, Line and Sinker.

Business Opportunity - Home Based Business Opportunities

There are many business opportunities in the home-based business world. You just need to know where to look for them. Business opportunities present themselves to the Internet, business acquaintances, friends and family and just about anywhere you look. When you see a need for something, this is a business opportunity. You must have an entrepreneurial sense of curiosity in spirit make your own business opportunities in the home-based business world.

A business opportunity can come from a friend who needs some writing done for his or her business and they hire you as a ghostwriter, this is a business opportunity to make extra money. And then you can hire yourself out as a ghostwriter because now you have experience. And if writing is something you enjoy and are good at, you can write articles for other people and their websites that is a perfect business opportunity for you to make extra money.

A business opportunity can be found everywhere on the Internet if you know which keywords to type in the search engines. You can type in business opportunity and you will get a whole host of information regarding business opportunities. And depending on what you want to do, like selling or helping others set up their own business opportunities you can find it on the Internet. However the Internet is not the only place to find a business opportunity. A business opportunity can present itself to the newspaper - in the one ads, through your friends and family, just about anywhere.

If you sell a product or service from a website or out of your home there are many business opportunities when you meet other business owners for you to trade website links or information where you might become an affiliate of each other's businesses. This means you will be selling for the other person and they will be selling for you. This will broaden your sales team - even if you didn't have one you have one now - and you will get more business this way and so will the other person. When you're at a party like a dinner party or a meeting and you start talking with people about your business opportunity its called networking and they in turn talk to you about their business. It's always a good idea to carry business cards with your website address on them so people can check out your website and your products and services so they know if they want to join you in selling your products and services. The same goes for you, you want to check out their products and services to make sure this something that you want to represent to your business associates. This is a great way to produce more business opportunity to make more money for everyone involved.

You can make your own business opportunity by networking and therefore becoming an affiliate of someone else's business and they become an affiliate of yours therefore widening your sales reach to include theirs at the same time you are widening their sales circle which is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Keep your eye out for a business opportunity because they are hiding everywhere.

Home Business Opportunities - How To Sort The Eagles From The Turkeys

Several home business opportunities make promises they can't keep. According to a recent study, nearly 98 percent of advertised home business opportunities are scams. That simple fact makes it quite difficult to find legitimate home business opportunities online. Business opportunities that promise thousands of dollars overnight are generally not legitimate. Those looking for great home business opportunities can follow one simple rule: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

A home-based business differs from a work-at-home job in several ways. The most significant difference is the simple fact that a work-at-home job does not require a down payment or purchase of a business kit. Home business opportunities, like brick and mortar business opportunities, will always have start-up costs. You will be personally and solely responsible for all decisions regarding the business. A home business opportunity will always require at least a minimal fee and probably a Web site setup fee. Work-at-home opportunities are always free.

Finding the perfect home business opportunity to suit your needs may not be as easy as using your favorite search engine. If you haven't had the luck you expected, you may be more successful matching your talents to a new business opportunity. Here are a few examples of how your current skills may be applied to start your own home-based business:

* Accounting Service

* Auctions

* Sewing or Alterations

* Pet Grooming Service

* Answering Service

* Medical Transcription

* Scrapbooking Service

* Herbal Remedies

Some skills are better suited for an online business. Here are a few examples of businesses you can start.

* Newsletter Service

* Health Consulting Service

* Proofreading

* Resume Writing Service

* Virtual Assistant Service

* e-Book Author

* Online Tutoring

* Web Design Service

Home franchise businesses are rapidly growing in popularity. Franchise opportunities include a wide variety of businesses that have a proven track record. Prepaid phone and adult Web access cards are viable home business opportunities for someone who's confident in their selling abilities. Financial, business and personal life coaches have also banded together to teach others how to create their own wealth using patented, proven systems. Their systems help the business owner help others in niche markets such as weight loss and health care.

Like brick and mortar franchises, online franchises require a down payment and a lot of hard work and dedication. Any home business opportunity will require hard work from you. Those that talk of easy money are among the 98 percent that make promises they can't keep. Always steer clear of overnight money making scams. Any business that offers a large return on investment with little or no effort on your part is potentially a scam waiting to happen. Any successful business owner will tell you how difficult it is to build an empire. This stands true with any business venture. The key to choosing a successful home-based business is to choose something you enjoy. If you do not enjoy what you're doing, you aren't likely to succeed.

While searching for the home business opportunity that's right for your situation, perform your due diligence. Research each opportunity thoroughly via your favorite search engine, but also join message forums and online communities. Even there, take everything with an ounce of skepticism. What some may consider a scam may be a great business opportunity to others. Business needs will differ from one person or situation to another. Input from others who have been where you presently are will provide a wealth of knowledge and help on your journey.

Which UK Business Opportunity Should I Sign Up To?

UK Business Opportunities

Business opportunities have always existed even in tough times like wars and draught. UK business opportunities have only grown newer and larger with changing times, so looking for business opportunities of the bygone times may be worthless barring the few of essential types. This drives home the point that one needs to look around with open eyes to identify a business opportunity of his or her choice. An opportunity need not be the one requiring huge investments and long gestation periods as also the one which comes with high risks despite promises of high returns. Let's try to explore a few 'low investment low risk' but having decent returns potential here.

Low Investment UK Business Opportunities

Low investment UK business opportunities may be broadly classified into two categories, one that requires no office setup and the other that requires it. However, how big the office should be is dependent on aspects like how much you can afford to invest and whether you need a full fledged office at all.

The first thing that comes to mind, as far as low investment and low risk businesses are concerned, is franchise business. While many of these types require some investment, there are still quite a few of them that don't require it at all. However, since you are riding on the success and brand value of your franchise, so much so you can rest assured that your business is insulated from violent fluctuations of business fortunes.

Some of the franchise businesses require franchisees to have previous business experiences where they have skillfully tided over difficult situations; you can expect such franchises also to look for certain degree of financial stability in you. On your part, base your selection of a franchise on your skills and expertise; for example, if you are comfortable with services it would not be justifiable on your part to select a product based business opportunity, no matter how strong the brand equity of the product or company may be. Think about it, this principle applies even more stringently to financial services franchise.

The success or failure of a business opportunity rests equally upon how far the business owner is capable of steering his business, drawing from his experience and dedication. No matter what, without total dedication a franchise business will almost always drift towards failure.

Top Rated UK Business Opportunity

The top rated present day UK business opportunity has to go to companies that offer generous payment schemes and incentives, and offer services that are essential to our day to day living, and one that sticks out from the crowd is the business opportunity of Telecom Plus The Utility Warehouse. This home based business opportunity offers everyone the chance to either make money or save money, and the most of the UK would like to do one of the two. It is a very low cost UK business opportunity besides being the one carrying the lowest risk factor in its respective areas.

Choosing a Business Opportunity

This question is irrelevant for those who have a background in business or a certain degree of exposure to business. However, those getting into business for the first time ever in their lives need to exercise a great deal of caution even if the investment requirement were to be low or almost nil. I can easily cite two critical points to justify this:

1. Your lack of experience may lure you to choose an inappropriate or a disastrous business opportunity.

2. Evitable long gestation periods can frustrate you endlessly before finally forcing you to shut shop.

Surely, business opportunities help you realize your dreams when utilized in most appropriate ways. UK being a vibrant economy with low inflation rates, it is rather easier leading businesses to success. Choose the one in which you are confident of plugging the gaps easily and can sustain for long times to come.