"We'll give you all the tools and training you need to build your downline and sell products for high commissions." This is another popular half truth that is used by most network marketing companies as part of their selling point.

Even if youre a total newbie, our comprehensive training will have you well on your way to

blah blah blah

Most MLM companies will provide members with cookie cutter text ads, replicated web pages, and colorful banner ads that brand the company name. Of course these resources are actually of greater benefit to the program owners than the individual affiliates.

A few programs do actually offer some pretty nice tools, but only to affiliates who choose to upgrade, or pay additional fees for stand alone marketing resources. In other words, these marketing resources are actually another income stream within the system.

While listening in to a conference call in the spring of 2005, I heard a friend of mine who has made a good deal of money with network marketing suggest that a company's true intentions can be seen in the way marketing support is handled. This is something that had occurred to me before, but as the conversation grew from this thought, I really started to weigh the subject in my mind.

In 2002, the popular network marketing company Pre-Paid Legal Services reported a gross income of $304 million, with a profit of $27.1 million dollars. 20% of the total revenue generated ($60.8 million) came from distributor purchases of legal insurance, and $17.5 million in earnings came from marketing tools sold to their distributors.

In May 2004 the NBC program Dateline aired a show in which hidden cameras were taken into Quixtar (Amway) recruitment meetings. Video collected by these cameras showed that many of Quixtars (Amway's) heavy hitters generated significant revenue from the sales of books, video tapes, and other training material to new distributors. Such tools, the new recruits were told, would help them to achieve success within the Quixtar (Amway) system. While specific data on the money generated through the selling of such tools is unavailable, estimates put the profits in the millions of dollars.

SFI is another opportunity system that is notorious for fleecing its members through the sale of so-called marketing tools on the back-end. A perfect example of this type of exploitation is one of their primary products; a membership site called IAHBE.

This stands for International Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs. Certainly a grand title, and in fact the members area appears very robust at first glance.

Allegedly, this resource is intended to provide business training and exclusive information for a monthly fee of around $30. However, a little inspection reveals the true function of the IAHBE website; to funnel SFI affiliates into the other income streams promoted by Gery Carson and his associates.

The lessons found within the IAHBE back office are nothing more than sales letters for paid programs. Precious little can be obtained from this website that justifies the monthly expense, yet all SFI affiliates are immediately and continually urged to enroll in this program in order to obtain their income-qualified status.

If you are involved in a network marketing opportunity, here is something you may want to consider. Does the company behind your opportunity offer free, quality marketing resources that are designed to help affiliates promote and sell, or are you required to pay extra for valuable promotional tools?

If a network marketing company has a solid product line, shouldn't they go the extra mile to give their affiliates some powerful tools and resources with which to promote and sell? Isn't the point of network marketing to build a customer base and move products through contact building?

I have a bad feeling about a company that exploits their affiliates by charging them for sales tools. Can such a company truly be concerned with the ultimate goal of empowering their sales force and moving product? It seems clear to me that a program inclined to generate additional revenue off the backs of their distributors in this fashion is more interested in making the quick buck than in building a real, product-driven enterprise.

And what about the cutting edge affiliate training most network marketing companies claim you will receive? This typically amounts to a series of pre-written emails new affiliates receive during the first week(s) of their membership. Some companies take this a step farther, and include a training resource section in their members only area. While there are a few programs that offer some useful tips, very few network marketing systems make strong retail training and quality marketing education a part of their curriculum.

When all is said and done, the tired and insubstantial mantras "just keep trying" and "if you believe it, you can achieve it" are the extent of the mentoring received by most new members.