In the time I have been involved with online or network marketing I have seen a large amount of different sorts of business opportunities come and go. I have been involved with a number of them mostly with little success. One thing I have learned is that the companies that a lot of people tend to like and do better with are the ones that they can can earn from without the need for referrals. Usually referrals will increase their income opportunity but there is few opportunities that do not require them to earn.
 
MLMs, cyclers, list builds etc all are based on members managing to find a number of others so they can earn. Usually these are based on a monthly charge although some have a one time fee only. The problem is that recruiting others is the hardest thing to do for 95% of people. Making it even harder, when they start they have not yet earned. So invariably the question will come up, ‘how much are you earning?’. Unfortunately they do not have a good answer to this. It is because of this that many people will give up before they have earned anything. That in turn means the people above them lose a member and the process can become tough for people to maintain a income trying to fill in the empty spots that are created. Of course there are people that are great recruiters and get thousands of people involved very quickly and make a heap of money from the start. They are the other 5%.
 
There are alternatives out there where people basically have control of their own destiny. By being able to earn without referrals it actually becomes easier to get referrals. It sounds wrong but it is true and I will tell you why. The member who joins and starts creating an income without referrals has a lot of confidence in the program. They can share it telling others that they managed to make money without needing anyone else. This then gives the other people more confidence to start and they are more likely to signup. This remains true whether there is a monthly charge or not.
 
It is easy to identify these types of opportunities. All you have to do is ask yourself one question. Can I earn from this opportunity and get paid without having a referral? If the compensation plan shows that you cannot then it is the more common type like the ones I mentioned above. I should also stress that I am not telling you to only join opportunities that you do not need one as there are very good mlms that you can be involved in and the cost is fair for what you are receiving even if you do not earn from it.
 
In the long run if you want to make a lot of money online then you do want to have a good referral base. It is the law of duplication. While it is great to be able to earn with your own effort, to be able to get a percentage of others effort to contribute to your earnings will greatly leverage your income. This is something that you should grow consistently. While doing so you will get the best results by teaching your referrals how to earn themselves. If they are earning then they will remain active which means you will continue to benefit. You need to teach them how to find referrals and teach them the same. If you can do this you will constantly have an increasingly profitable business.
 
It is important to not just find a heap of people to join either. It is far better to have 3-5 good referrals that are active than a couple of hundred that are doing nothing. You need to work with the people that are wanting to learn and earn. Look after them and help them achieve some success. This will repay you in the end as they will be faithful to you and also recommend you to others. Every person that you have like that is gold. Try to work with people to get them to that stage and you will have a thriving and very profitable business. You will also make lifelong friendships.
 
The best leaders will make the time to help their people. Remember that when you have people following you. Everyone starts with a different amount of resources and situation. It is good to learn about them to see what they want to achieve, how much they are willing to commit, what their strengths and weaknesses are. That way you can better determine the best way for them to grow.