Network Marketing for Christians

Bill Boylan

Introduction


This book is not about a specific network marketing company; in fact, I don't refer to any particular network marketing company in this book. The book is generic. It applies to the network marketing industry as a whole. I wrote it as a means of encouraging you as a Christian to work at your network marketing business-or to become a network marketer if you're not one already-as a training manual to supplement your own company's training materials, and to teach you how to attain genuine biblical success and prosperity through network marketing.

Network marketing is at the forefront of the home-based business revolution, a revolution of ordinary people-probably just like you-who are leaving offices, factories, warehouses, shops, stores, and other commercial enterprises by the millions to establish and conduct busineses from their homes.

I'm assuming you already know a little about network marketing, but maybe that's not a wise assumption. If you don't know about network marketing (sometimes abbreviated to "NM"), here's what it is.

Network marketing is a legitimate form of doing business that began here in the United States in the 1940's. It's a method of distributing goods or services by independent associates of network marketing companies. Each associate is an independent businessperson.

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Network Marketing for Christians

Never, never confuse legal network marketing companies and businesses with illegal pyramid or Ponzi schemes or with "chain letters!"

Your own company's training materials should explain what those are; if not, you can find their definitions in any good reference work.

In network marketing, you recruit or sponsor other associates into your business organization and earn commissions from the products or services they purchase for their own use or for distribution to other associates or to retail customers. When the associates you recruit also recruit other associates you earn commissions from the products or services those other associates purchase or distribute, too.

As you recruit more associates, and they recruit more associates, and they recruit more associates, and so on, you create a network of business associates with levels of other associates "below" you in your business organization; hence, the name "network marketing". The older name, "multi-level marketing" (or MLM) is seldom used anymore.

As mentioned above, a typical network marketing company pays you commissions on products purchased by your business associates on the various "levels" of the business network you have built. The number of levels below you on which you are paid commissions is predetermined by the company.

There are thousands of network marketing companies doing business in the United States and around the world.

Some of them are great companies with which to be associated; many, many of them are good; a few of them are not good.

Some are very large with millions of distributors; some have only a few thousand distributors.

A very, very small number of network marketing companies have been illegitimate. Yes, there have been some abuses in network marketing, but the abusers have been spotted very quickly and those companies have either gone out of business or legitimatized their operations. As long as we live in an imperfect world with imperfect people, there will be abuses of all human endeavors, including network marketing.

At this time, a few network marketing companies are openly Christian, either offering "Christian products" or doing business by clear Christian principles-appealing primarily to Christian network marketers. As of this writing, we have been successfully associated for three years with one of those Christian companies.

How do you find a great, good, or Christian company (if you're not already associated with one)? By doing a lot of research!

Network Marketing for Christians


With no background in network marketing, a few years ago we began to believe God wanted us to join the network marketing industry and conduct business from our home.

We spent 18 months diligently researching and studying over 100 companies before we finally decided to become associated with the Christian company mentioned above.

You need to make many phone calls when researching a company. Contact the Chamber of Commerce in the city where the company's home office is located. Contact the Better Business Bureau. Contact the Attorney General of the state where the company is located. And the state's Division of Consumer Affairs.

Study the company's literature. Talk with people already associated with the company. We even contacted businesses in the neighborhood where our company's home office is located-just to see what the business neighbors thought of our company. Make sure the company operates on sound financial principles. Make sure they've been in business a minimum of two years. 90% of new network marketing companies fail within the first 18 months!

If they're a brand-new company just starting up, take a trip to the company's home office; meet the people involved; ask to see their ledgers; check with people who know them. Visit with their bankers and accountants. In other words, do your "homework".

Far fewer people would be disappointed and disillusioned with network marketing if they would do their research before ever joining a network marketing company.

These statements often comes up when people are thinking about becoming network marketers: "I can't sell anything. I don't want to sell anything. I can't talk with people face-to-face to sell them anything. I could never sell anything door to door."

Believe me, we understand. My wife and I are not sales people; we never have been, and never will be.

When we were praying about a company to join, we actually "told" God that we refused to engage in direct selling. Fortunately, God is gracious and knows our hearts; He led us to a company meeting our non-selling needs.

Since its beginning nearly fifty years ago, network marketing has now evolved to a point where experts in the industry tell us that we have entered the third phase of network marketing's evolution. Here is what that "phase three" is. With modern technology, most network marketers can conduct their businesses without doing any direct selling (or at least very little of it).

Also, most phase three company's are now set up so network marketers can conduct their businesses entirely from home by means of a computer, regular mail, UPS, FedEx, telephone, FAX, E-Mail, the Internet, etc.