Harvey is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in the Network Marketing industry. He is continuously approached to join companies in their formulative stages and has an established criteria, honed from experience, for evaluating the opportunity presented. Whether the company is a ´start up´, or already several years in business, it must have all the vital components in place to ensure it´s immediate survival and long–term success. Should any of these be missing, you will find yourself looking for another opportunity, sooner or later. Here is a check list for finding a home in this exciting industry.

Credible Leadership.
Leadership being the operative word. To succeed globally, there must be a talented visionary at the top. Don´t be overly impressed with highly credentialed university MBAs. The company must have seasoned Network Marketing industry executives in management key roles. This is a people business and leadership is paramount to the company´s long-term success. Look for a company with people in management and upline support whom you can trust, who speak the truth, and deliver on their promises. Check into their track record. Speak to other distributors in the company who have been involved for a year or two and ask questions about management. If the management doesn´t have honesty and integrity, nothing else really matters.

Look for a company that is a member of the Direct Sellers Association
(DSA) and/or Multi-Level Marketing Association (MLMIA). Member companies and their founders must meet strict criteria guidelines in order to be accepted, and as a Member must comply with all governmental and consumer agency regulations. They must also adhere to the Code of Ethics of the Association to which they belong. For more details see http://www.dsa.com

Products / Services.
The ´product´ has been and always will be the foundation upon which any viable, long term business is built. Ask yourself… would you purchase and use the product being offered… IF there were no income opportunity attached to it?

The products offered should be innovative, proprietary, of the finest quality and have added value to the end consumer. The more passionate distributors are about the genuine benefits offered by their product, the greater chance of them becoming successful building a base of loyal consumers who also become life-long users not easily enticed by competition offering price-only advantages. A consumer product company with a line of products will have more long-term staying power than a single or limited product line. Internet-based Products - Every month some new ´flashy´ web-based product appears on the Internet that someone is telling you that everybody needs. Does everyone really need one? Or do they just need one in order to get paid by the company. That is a very different thing.

Once you have decided that the web-based application being offered as a product for you to sell on the Internet, is something that YOU would personally use and has genuine consumer value, then you are ready to evaluate the income opportunity. Unfortunately, many web-based products being marketed through an online income opportunity lack legitimate value and/or a reason to exist other than to ´mask´ a money game being perpetuated as legitimate.

Financial Strength.
Unless the company is publicly traded and/or has current information on file with Dun & Bradstreet it will be difficult to determine the company´s financial strength. Therefore, a company with a minimum of three (3) years of successful business operations is preferred. Look for a company with a record of dramatic, yet steady, growth, that has successfully navigated the early building phase where many new companies fail and is currently entering the momentum stage where fortunes are created. If you feel compelled to get in on the ´ground´ floor of a start-up network marketing company, do your homework. Do an Internet and media search on the company. Make sure you check the background of the founders and key executives in the company to determine their previous track records. Successful track records speak volumes for the likely success of a new company launch.

Technology.
In the new century, companies on the cutting edge of technology will rule the global economy. Look for a company poised to be a dominant factor in eCommerce. Ask yourself these questions: How comprehensive, creative, functional and consumer-oriented is its website? What kind of downline management programs are online? Can you find out instantly where every meeting is being held, how each person in your downline is progressing weekly, how to track your own product orders and income, and can you download sales presentations and important data from the company´s database? How sophisticated and practical is the company´s voice mail, fax dispersal, eMail, telephone, web conferencing? Is the company prepared for “real time” video streaming? Are the company´s marketing tools and meetings "second to none"? In today´s world, unless you´re online, you´ll be in a breadline.

Marketing Support.
Your Network Marketing company must have a generous compensation plan, professional marketing tools, solid corporate office support, a responsive Customer Service Department, and timely order fulfillment. Highly duplicable business building methods should be in place so each distributor is free to devote their energy to be being productive rather than creative. The underlying key to success in building a large network is duplication.

Look for a compensation plan that allows all Distributors an opportunity to succeed and succeed early. Resist the temptation of joining any networking company that talks about the multi-millionaires at the top and focuses on hyping lifestyles of the rich and famous. In building a downline that stays with you, it is more important that everyone can experience success, not just a few.

Avoid companies that promote excessive up-front inventory purchases for the mere purpose of qualifying for ´rank´ advancement in the compensation structure. Do not pre-purchase more product than what you can consume personally each month and/or what you feel you can sell to personal contacts.

Timing - a significant factor.
Volumes could be written on the subject of being at the right place, at the right time. Entrepreneurs understand the importance of timing. Whether you are buying shares in a publicly traded company or investing in the early stages of a real estate project, the end result of good timing can pay big dividends.

Important Note: Getting in on the ´ground floor´ with an established company´s hot new product launch or the opening of a new country, versus the ground floor of a ´start-up´ company is a HUGE difference! One is building on a solid foundation, years in the making. The other is being built on a hope and a prayer, that Management has sufficient capital to stay in business long-term if sales don´t accelerate and/or if they can handle exponential growth if sales do explode.

It is important to determine your immediate objectives, and/or long-term plans, before you choose a Network Marketing income opportunity. Are you interested in merely earning a few extra hundred dollars a month retailing quality products? Or, do you intend on building a 6-Figure retirement income based upon residuals from a large, successful distributor network? It is much easier, without question, to recruit a large distributor organization when a company is in its ´momentum stage´ of growth.