Network marketing opportunities that work not only exist, but are also doing quite well for themselves and their representatives. Some people will no doubt scoff at the notion. It’s understandable considering the number of businesses that pose as reputable top notch network marketing opportunities.

To give you a better idea of what network marketing is and what it isn’t, let’s look at some of the basics of network marketing. Network marketing isn’t an industry in and of itself. It’s a method of distribution for various products and services.

Network marketing organizations rely on their representatives to promote and sell the company product or service. This saves the company the huge expense of marketing themselves.

Also, because network marketing allows reps to recruit and train their own sales team, they receive a portion of the revenue generated by their sales team.

When most people hear the terms network marketing or multi-level marketing, they tend to immediately think "oh no…! Not another pyramid scheme." It’s good to have a basic understanding of the fundamental difference between the two.

Point blank, pyramid schemes are illegal. Besides that however, pyramid schemes don’t rely on the sale of a product or service. Instead, these organizations focus heavily on recruiting and provide give little or no value to the new recruit aside for the promise of big bucks.

So, if the business opportunity you’re looking at doesn’t have a clearly defined product or service, or relies heavily on fancy recruiting systems to "do all the work for you", it’s most likely a just another attempt to dazzle you with lots of hype.

Believe me, I speak from personal experience. "Everything that glitters isn’t gold." Use good judgment, and be sure to do the proper background research before you spend your hard earn money on a potential business opportunity.

Network marketing opportunities are a legitimate means to provide some additional income at low cost and limited risk.