Starting a Home Based Business – Which Way to Go? – Number 1

Hi, there.

My last article gave a brief run-down of the three main types of Home Business models available.  I said in the article that I was going to go into the types in more details in later articles – so here is no. 1 in the series!

1. Multi Level Marketing or Network Marketing

My opinion is that this model is a good, low cost way to become independent of the boss. Initial setup costs are usually affordable (as little as £100) and there are many companies operating this marketing system for their products. 

Rather than go into the mechanics or the pros and cons, which most people who will be reading this article will be well aware of (and since there are differences in the way different MLM companies work) I thought that the best way to enlighten my readers is to give you some statistics on the best ones.  Which one is the best? Errr, NO COMMENT!  Of course any measure of anything is subject to how the judgment is measured, so that answer is not going to be forthcoming from yours truly!  However, what I am offering (yes folks, for free!!) is a ranking of the top ones, based on two interesting pieces of research that I’ve found.

The first piece of research was done last year by Kim Klaver, a leading trainers and leaders in the network marketing industry. She ranked the top 50 MLM companies in the world based on Alexa ratings, but freely acknowledges in her Blog that her list is but one way to gauge the popularity of various MLM companies.

More recently Mark Worthen, in his excellent site Best MLM Opportunities has come up with perhaps a more accurate ranking of the top 25 MLM companies, based on Google Trends.  Although there are some caveats on this particular tool – it’s a beta site, i.e. in the development stage. (For more details, go to the website at the URL shown below).  However it is probably one of the better measures available today, especially in terms of how these companies are being integrated into the world of the internet.

Below you’ll see a listing of the top 25 MLM Companies per Mark’s Blog, with the comparison of the Alexa positions alongside.

Top 25 Most Popular Network Marketing Companies

Google Trends Ranking (May 2009)                 Alexa Ranking (July 2008)

1. Amway                                                                        30                   
2. Herbalife                                                                       9
3. Mary Kay                                                                      6
4. Pampered Chef                                                             25
5. Monavie                                                                        –
6. Arbonne                                                                        8
7. Partylite                                                                         –
8. USANA                                                                         3
9. Melaleuca                                                                      5
10. Forever Living                                                               36
11. Stampin Up                                                                    –
12. Creative Memories                                                         32
13. Xango                                                                         21
14. Quixtar                                                                         4
15. Longaberger                                                                  –
16. Isagenix                                                                       19
17. Amsoil                                                                           –
18. Tastefully Simple                                                           37
19. Nuskin                                                                         16
20. Nikken                                                                         43
21. YTB Travel                                                                   15
22. Shaklee                                                                       11
23. Young Living                                                                 48
24. Prepaid Legal                                                                 7
25. Mia Bella Candles                                     

    Source by Martin John Roche