BE AN MLM DETECTIVE™
MLM Detective Due Dilligence "Investigate" Program 2008™
BY Push Buttons & Brain
11 SIMPLE INVESTIGATIONS TO AVOID GRIEF BEFORE YOU JOIN
A "SUPPOSED" MLM or NETWORKING COMPANY!
1. SIMPLEST MLM INVESTIGATION: Get into the "BRAIN & PUSHBUTTON" MLM Dectective mindset! Look at the supposed MLM Company’s website. First suspect clue would be no street or city address, worse yet, only an email address, no phone number. Then look for the pictures and names of the owners of the company. Not having these on a website is a quick absolute reason NOT to join. Some wise, seasoned MLM distributors doing their Due Dilligence Investigation will use “http://earth.google.com/” to look at a satellite picture of the size and location of a supposed MLM Company office. Address = trailer house or home? Run!
2. RUN FROM A COMPANY TAKING ONLY BANK WIRES, MONEY ORDERS OR CHECKS: Use your MLM Detective Investigative "BRAIN." Only use a credit card that will accept charge backs. Returns? Honest companies allow refunds within 60-90 days (8 states require a year)! Money by Fedex - UPS only? Yikes! Scam Time! A trained MLM Dectective will tell you the scam artists do this to avoid Postal Fraud charges! A PMB (private mail box) address is an indicator of dodging Postal Fraud Investigators = SCAM!
3. EASY MLM INVESTIGATION TRICKS: Next MLM Detectives will go to the Internet and enter the following into one or two of the major search engines:
A. The MLM Company's name (owners too) and the word "scam". Go through two pages! Look for forum message comments for legitimate complaints (see D below).
B. Then do the same for "complaints, lawsuits, and news articles archived on search engines.
C. Also check who registered the website domain of any new company claiming: amazing, incredible, proprietary, never seen before in the universe, revolutionary, products, services or technologies! Check http://www.whois.net/ for the domain lookup. Companies with good offerings would register a name 6 months to a year ahead of time.
D. A warning on MLM due diligence for MLM Researchers! There are sad sites and forums that are unfairly negative toward all MLM - Network Marketing companies. Ignore these "Anti -MLM Zealots" and only look for appropriate information. A good MLM Detective will ignore 99% of their B.s.!
4. A LOT OF NUTRITIONAL PRODUCT HYPE – Raise the dead? Live 130 years? Cure Cancer (which is an illegal claim for any nutritional)! If not a nutritional skip down to next due diligence for MLM Detectives.
A. Get a list of the MOST critical ingredients in the MLM’s nutritional product and put them beside your computer.B. Go to the U.S. Government National Institutes of Health nutritional research website PUB MED. Go to Pub Med after you read the next two sentences! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez C. Look up the major ingredient(s) by entering its name in the search box. D. Read through the scientific studies. Some may be complex, but the END sentence usually gives you a good idea if the study was a Plus or Minus for the product. Read over at least 10 articles use a piece of paper to keep track of studies like this Study #1 Good Study #2 good #3 What did they say? (or just What?) Study #4 Good Study #5 Bad. Make your own judgement!
5. NEXT MLM DETECTIVE DUE DILLIGENGE RESEARCH: MLM Detective "PUSHBUTTON" Go to the Better Business Bureau website for the city where the MLM-Network Marketing Company is located. Most are free. You are looking for the number of complaints the BBB has NOT resolved. If there are over 2-4, hold off joining, it very well could mean problems. MLM Dectectives don't overly trust BBB reports but we the can be good indicators. Here is the National BBB Advanced Search - don't use the quick search. http://search.bbb.org/SearchForm.aspx?mode=Business
6. WATCHOUT FOR: An email solicits you to a "HOT" MLM, Party Plan or Network Marketing Company!
A. Look for exclamation marks and capital letters used to lend legitimacy or urgency! Beware of disclaimers such as “this is not a pyramid selling scheme or scam” (legitimate offers don't contain such claims). Don't believe promises of fast wealth.
B. If you feel, see or hear "Get Rich Quick!” Run! If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is! MLM - Network Marketing takes some work, like any good Home Based Business.
7. MLM, PARTY PLANS & NETWORK MARKETING COMMON SENSE: Don’t let the money over-excite you! Use the products or services being sold first! If they excite you, then look at the money. You should try sharing and selling the products/services to test them out. Spending some money to test a company and their offerings is a wise thing to do.
8. DON'T SPEND OVER $500 TO START: There are approximately 21 states that say this should be the maximum to get started in any business opportunity (not just MLM). Two states say it must be kept under $200. Following the advice above should not cost over $500. A good MLM Detective will run if there is no way to join for under $500 See the new FTC warning (below) this MLM Detective due diligence article and my notes on the $500! EXAMPLE INNOCENTS SUCKERED INTO SCAM AND THOUGHT IT WAS MLM - CLICK HERE
9. FOLLOWING RESEARCH FOR DEDICATED MLM DETECTIVES: Check with the Attorney General in the state where the company is located. Be very brief with your email or phone call and stick with asking, “MLM Company XXX is located in city in your state, do you have complaints against Company XXX?” A complete list of Attorney Generals is in MLM WatchDog COMPLAINTS Library.
10. READ THE FINE PRINT IN THE MLM CONTRACT: MLM Detective "BRAIN." These are the Enrollment Agreement or Terms of Agreement plus Policies and Procedures. These all together are a business contracts, enforceable in a court of law. The Distributor Rights Association says they shouldn't be over 15 pages long. Don't sign if you don't feel comfortable about the contract.
11. COPY THE PAY PLAN AND ASK QUESTIONS: Then find an expert to analyze it.
A. If it only pays for signing up new people and not sales of products/services - run!
B. There's a copy of my MLM Compensation Pay Plans Book on Amazon. Search for my name by author - Rod Cook. No, this is not a shameless promotion for my book. My book is the only one with big pictures, diagrams and detailed to help both the new person and expert. MLM Watchdog ethics let me say it's a good book! Plus my book has a whole chapter on avoiding Pyramid Schemes.
Rod Cook
MLM WatchDog
BE AN MLM DETECTIVE AND DO YOUR MLM NETWORK MARKETING DUE DILIGENCE
