If you're considering joining a network marketing company to earn supplemental income, want make it a full-time career or seek tax advantages to offset your W-2 tax burden, here are some things to consider. As someone who has nearly a decade of experience in the industry, these are the questions I would ask before getting involved in any company.

Will the product sell easily? Is the target market narrow or broad? Will the customers stick? If I’m not focused on selling the product then who could I recruit? What type of people would want to be involved with? Are people working for a promotion check or monthly production checks? Can I make more money than the people above me? Is there a monthly expense? How long will it take and what do I have to do to offset that expense with passive profit? Is there a monthly quota? Do product purchase requirements increase as I move up? How quick will it duplicate? Is product knowledge necessary or is it simple to sell? How easily could I recruit people? This is the “Credibility Issue.” Will people doubt the credibility of the company due to being brand new or without much 3rd party documentation to reference? Will it last or is it a cash grab? Will it build something sustainable long-term based on customers using products and services or is it a recruiting hustle to keep making more money? If the recruiting stops, will people still be using my product? Will you end up with a garage full of products you cant sell? Can I buy the products on eBay for half off? (This is where people sell the products who are garage certified quit. It's hard to sell yours at full price when the quitters are selling them half on on eBay). If the recruiting slows down, will there be a long-term residual based on people continuing to really use the products or service? How many complaints have they had? You have to look on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) here. Google will have people complaining about anything that is performance-based. Is there a BBB accreditation? How were complaints resolved? Do the Attorneys General know about it? (Many companies bring them in-house to make sure they are within compliance and follow consumer protection laws and regulations.) Who has made big money? Are there local testimonials? Are there regular local events? Is the compensation plan understandable? Is it Binary? Is it Coded? Will I get paid to help and support people long-term or will I get cut off and be rewarded more for personal recruiting than helping the team? Do they make big promises in the presentation or do they keep their projections conservative? Does the company have a history of taking money out of the compensation plan? (Doing this will kill your organization and makes it impossible to build.) Is the company public? Is it a fast changing industry? Does it lend itself to adaptability? Is there strong support and team culture? Is there a system for growth? Does the company invest in its people with personal development materials? Are there opportunities for leadership development? Is it at least 10 years old or is it in its first 10 years and an experiment with a high chance of failure? What is the market penetration? Is international expansion possible? Is it already in every other country or can I be in on the launch of those key countries? What is the owners’ industry experience?

There are many benefits including but not limited to: It's one of the easiest ways to gain tax leverage and reduce tax burden by having write-offs. You can set your own schedule. Positive encouraging associations to join. Leadership communication training. Supplemental income. Passive/residual income. Performance based income. Live in hope and optimism. Social benefit. Contribution to society. Happiness from social investment. Leverage. Exit strategy.

Whether it's for you or not depends on whether or not you have or are willing to develop the following qualities. You must......Be optimistic. Be able to act and live in faith. Be coachable and teachable. Take massive action. Be likable. Care about others. Want to help others succeed. Be courageous. Be a “make it happen” person. Be assertive.

Whether it's for you or not depends on whether or not you are willing to change and be coached and mentored. Anyone can do it but it's not for everyone. To be self-employed you must be your hardest working employee and your toughest boss. Everyone can be involved just for the the tax leverage alone but not everyone should want to make it their full time income.