You have been looking for just the right home business for months and now you have finally found it. You're so excited you can't wait to tell all your friends and family. But as you announce your new found network marketing career you can't help but see the fear and wonderment in their eyes. "Have you gone nuts" they say.

If you have ever ventured into the home based business industry you have surely been face to face with the above situation. You are laughed at or made to feel like you are disappointing someone. But it never ceases to amaze me what people's views really are about the network marketing industry. There are some very real advocates of this industry; Robert Kiyosaki, Robert Allen, Mark Victor Hansen, just to name a few.

So, what is the problem with network marketing?

Could it be that proverbial "pyramid" structure? How funny is that? Every large sales organization in the world is based on a tiered compensation structure. All sales people who receive a commission have a manager that receives a bonus and a director and VP that also benefits from the sales persons efforts.
OK, well maybe it's because you have to pay to participate. I doubt that, since that is a standard franchising model.

Well I conclude it has to be all the negative press on illegal pyramid, or "Ponzi", schemes. These schemes were made famous because people were signing up other people taking their money without having a product to sell. However, what about all the happy customers who have purchased products from Amway, Global Resorts Network, PrePaid Legal? There must be a perception problem here, and it seems the perception is a bit out of line with reality!

But is that all there is to this bad view of network marketers?

The real problem is not the network marketing business model but rather some of the less honorable people the industry attracts. The positive aspect to the industry is its low cost of entry, and its potential for massive income.

The sad aspect here is that many of the people who start a home based business are not prepared to become business owners. They have no previous experience in running a business, they have no sales or marketing skills and some have little or no business or personal relationship skills. All of which are valuable tools for the successful home business entrepreneur.

So the end result for the many new network marketers is failure, disappointment and an overall sour experience; adding to the industries already bad name. But to be fair this does not happen to all network marketers and to prejudge the group would be wrong.

So what's the solution?

There is a first time for everything, and not have tried is failure. Treat it as a business, and if you have never owned a business, you're not skilled in sales and marketing…Learn! Find a good mentor in the field you have utter confidence in and do what they do. If you act like a small business owner, people will treat you like one.