Are you looking for a career that offers plenty of variety and challenge, as well as opportunities to learn and grow? If so, you might want to consider becoming an MLO. MLOs work in a wide variety of industries, performing a range of tasks that keep their businesses running smoothly. They are responsible for everything from ordering supplies to scheduling appointments to handling customer inquiries. And thanks to the ever-growing field of technology, there are now more opportunities than ever for MLOs to use their skills in new and innovative ways. This blog post will explore some of the many opportunities available to MLOs, as well as the requirements you’ll need to meet in order to pursue them.
1. What Is an MLO?
Multi-level marketing organizations, or MLOs, encompass a wide range of businesses in a variety of industries. They are also sometimes referred to as network marketing companies due to the fact that they rely on networks of independent sales consultants for their success. The majority of these companies sell some sort of product, although some just offer training and other related services.
MLOs are also unique in that they base their entire business model around relationships. The companies themselves rely on consultants for their very survival, and the consultants need them to provide tools and training that will help them (the consultants) expand their businesses. MLOs typically sign up new sales consultants by awarding them with a small initial batch of products then encouraging them to sell these products to their friends and family. These new consultants are then rewarded with many more free products, as well as cash bonuses for selling established consultants on additional product packages.
2. What Does an MLO Do?
As a starting point, it’s worth noting that every MLO has a slightly different job description. Some companies only offer training and other support-related services, while others are exclusively focused on selling products. However, there are some basic tasks that almost every MLO expects its sales consultants to perform. For example, MLOs often rely on their consultants for marketing efforts, whether it’s finding new recruits or encouraging current customers to purchase more products.
Other common tasks include handling incoming phone calls, emails, and other inquiries. MLOs might also ask their consultants to handle the distribution of the product, either passing it out to prospective customers in person or arranging for its delivery. Some companies have begun asking their consultants to find new ways to use the products they sell both in order to encourage repeat business and improve their own personal earnings.
3. Types of MLOs and Their Purpose
While most MLO companies offer a wide range of products, there are some that specialize in just one or two types of items. For example, some organizations only provide health and beauty products, while others focus on household goods such as cleaning supplies and food items. A few even market collectibles such as watches and precious metals.
To help you get a better idea of what some MLOs have to offer, here is a brief description of several popular companies and their product specialties.
Amway – One of the largest MLO companies in the world, Amway specializes in household cleaning supplies and personal care items. The company also offers free e-books on its members-only website that cover a range of topics related to personal and professional success.
Herbalife – Herbalife is an MLO that offers nutritional supplements, weight management products, and skincare items. They also offer business training classes for both new and established sales consultants.
Nuskin – Nuskin has been focusing on skincare items since the 1980s, but it’s also one of the leading MLOs in terms of product lines. In addition to offering a large variety of cleansers, emulsions, and moisturizers, Nuskin also provides homeopathic remedies, perfumes, and even swimming pool water sanitizers.
Pampered Chef – Most MLOs that sell kitchenware focus on specialty items designed for savvy shoppers. Pampered Chef, however, offers its consultants a wide range of relatively affordable items such as mixing bowls and bakeware.
Primerica – Primerica has made a name for itself by offering life insurance products to new recruits. This company focuses on term life policies, savings plans, and other insurance-related products.
Sunrider – Sunrider is best known for its wide variety of healthy food items. Company sales consultants are expected to share recipes that feature these foods in order to give customers ideas about how to use them.
Tastefully Simple – This MLO company offers a wide range of condiments, dips, and other snacks that can be enjoyed by health-conscious individuals or people on special diets. Most items contain less than five grams of fat per serving, making them popular with many dieters.
4. Requirements to Become a MLOs (Education, Experience)
The vast majority of MLOs don’t require their sales consultants to possess any specific educational or professional qualifications. As long as applicants can pass a background check and meet the company’s age requirements, they should be able to become an MLO no matter what their previous experience is.
Different companies also have different policies regarding how much money they expect new hires to spend on initial inventory purchases. Some will only ask for a few hundred dollars worth of product, while others might request that their consultants invest more than $1,000. However, most MLOs expect all potential employees to make this investment before they start working as independent distributors.
In addition to purchasing products up-front, most MLO companies also require new recruits to attend a training session or seminar before they start conducting business as a sales consultant. In the case of Amway, for example, these meetings typically last three days and take place at regional seminars across the country.
5. How to Apply to Be a Most?
Individuals who want to become a member of an MLO should spend some time researching each company before they start filling out application forms. By studying the websites and visiting social media profiles for different companies, you’ll gain a better understanding of their product lines and what it’s like to work as a sales consultant with them.
While it may not be necessary to purchase products from one or more MLOs until after marketing training is completed, most experts recommend that you do this anyway in order to get a feel for how these businesses operate. In most cases, potential recruits can place orders directly through their website and have these items delivered within just a few days by mail instead of buying them at full price through retail channels.
The idea here is to spend several hundred dollars on products before you start your MLO marketing business. This tactic is intended to help you decide whether or not the company‘s product line is right for your purposes, as well as give you an idea of what it feels like to work with that particular MLO.
6. How Much Does One Make for Working in an MLO?
Most MLOs offer their consultants a generous compensation plan that includes commission based on product sales, training bonuses, and other incentives. Amway, for example, pays its independent distributors between 20% to 50% of all commissions earned by their down lines whenever they make direct sales to customers or sign up new members.
Some MLOs are also willing to compensate consultants who refer people to become Amway members even if those referrals don’t enroll as active distributors. In most cases, these “recruitment rewards” come in the form of cash payments ranging from $100 to $25,000 per person that’s successfully enrolled through your personal contacts.
To give you an idea of how much money MLO reps can through this process, consider the fact that Amway’s average annual revenue per distributor in 2015 was $135,653. To achieve this feat, most representatives reportedly spent at least 15 hours each week working with customers and promoting their products to friends and family members.
7. How Difficult Is It to Succeed an MLO?
The vast majority of MLOs are very successful when it comes to generating sales for their product lines, but there’s no guarantee that every new member will be able to replicate these results in his or her own marketing campaign. The main reason that some recruits fail when they start out with an MLO is that they’re not willing to invest the necessary time and effort into building a strong business foundation online.
If you plan on becoming involved with an MLO (or any company, for that matter), it is essential that you set aside several hours each week to conduct marketing activities. You should also consider calling up past customers to see if they might be interested in purchasing additional supplies directly from you instead of through your upline representative.
8. Benefits of Being an MLOs
The main benefit of starting a business with an MLO is that many of these companies can help you build your own brand from scratch without any experience. In addition to providing direct sales training, some MLOs will offer their consultants individual websites and social media profiles free of charge in order to increase the chances of generating income through direct sales.
Once you’ve gotten past the initial learning curve associated with making money with an MLO, most representatives experience tremendous freedom because they’re able to set their own schedules and work from anywhere in the world instead of being tied down by a traditional 9-5 job. It’s also worth pointing out that most MLOs provide generous compensation plans that pay up to 100 commissions on every sale generated through personal consumption and recruitment efforts.
9. What Are the Drawbacks of Being Involved With an MLO?
Perhaps the biggest drawback to starting a business with an MLO is that you won’t be eligible for any kind of traditional loans or lines of credit if you ever run out of money. This means that it’s very important for new reps to find ways to generate income before they end up getting into serious financial trouble, especially since many MLOs only provide training materials in digital form instead of supplying their consultants with physical products upfront.
The other major disadvantage associated with working for an MLO is that most companies don’t accept applications from people who have felony convictions on file, which immediately prevents over 40 million Americans from being able to build a successful online business in their spare time. You’ll also find that it is harder to measure your results when you’re working with a company that doesn’t offer individual reporting tools, which can lead to delayed commission payments and low morale over time.
10. The Employment Outlook for an MLO Representative
The job outlook for people working within the MLO industry will be largely dependent on how fast the market and its products grow. Since Amway and Mary Kay have been around since 1959 and 1963, respectively, the chances are good that you’ll always be able to find a need for personal development consultants who can share these companies’ products with their own circles of influence.
If you never plan on getting involved with an MLO, it is still possible to make money from home by running your own site dedicated to customer acquisitions. In order to make this approach worthwhile, however, you should invest in learning about digital marketing strategies so that you can start ranking high in search engine results once you begin buying traffic from a PPC provider like Google Adwords.
Conclusion
In addition to being one of the easiest ways to start an online home business, MLOs offer many unique benefits that you won’t find with other types of companies. With that said, it is also important for up-and-coming reps to possess a serious work ethic if they ever hope to generate sustainable income through direct sales activities.
MLOs are a great way for people to make money from home. They offer many benefits such as being able to work anywhere in the world, setting your own schedule, and more. MLOs also has some disadvantages like not getting any traditional loans if you ever run out of money or having a felony on file. The job outlook will be largely dependent on how fast the market grows, which is uncertain, but it could always grow into something big!
