- Your mentor should be a 6-figure income earner. Obviously, you need to have access to a successful mentor. You need a mentor you is going to teach you the keys to success. If your immediate sponsor does not make a 6-figure income, than you need to have access to someone in the company who is making a substantial income.

- Your mentor should have an established training system so that you can easily duplicate their success. The training system should be a step-by-step process that you can easily follow in order to reach success.

- Your mentor should have various ideas on how to market your product and opportunity. You should have access to marketing your warm and cold market. Most importantly, you mentor should be a successful internet marketer. Why? Because that is the direction that the world is going! If you want to be incredibly successful, you will need to have access to an excellent internet marketer.

- Your mentor should be readily available to help you succeed. They should return your phone calls and emails in a timely manner. However, it is important to understand that success is ultimately up to you. Your sponsor should be available to help and guide you, but not run your business for you. The Company

- $100+ million in annual sales. The company that you choose must have a strong presence in the world. - 3rd Party Validation. This is basically bragging rights. The company should have references or accolades from other organizations, trade magazines, journals, and so forth.

- 5 or More Years in Business. According to the Small Business Administration, 30% of businesses fail in their first year. 60% fail within the first five years, the toughest period in the business cycle. When a business has been in business for 5 years or more, they are substantially less risky. You do not want to spend time and energy with a company that eventually goes out of business!

- Debt-free and Stable. Obviously you do not want to associate with companies who are in start-up mode and have an accumulation of debt to pay back. The risk is not worth it!

- Good Reputation in the Industry and with the General Public. The company should also be in good standing with the Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org/), the Direct Selling Agency (http://dsa.org), and the local District Attorney. - International Presence. This one is also critical. Any company should have at least one foreign market (not counting Canada or Mexico), but the more the better. An international presence means the company is expanding and growing.

- Low Hype. The company should not use hype or promises to position the opportunity. Does the company lead you to believe that you can get rich with little to no effort? Or do they emphasize that this is a business and it WILL take effort and some investment to make it succeed? Product / Service

A business is the exchange of a product or service for something else of value, usually money. It's a simple concept, but you'd be surprised how many people don't get that. For a home based business opportunity to be legitimate, a service must be offered or a product must be moved. Here are some of the things to look at when analyzing the product or service:

- Unique. Products should be patented or proprietary. Trademarks and copyrights are good as well. If the product is not entirely unique, then it must have some strong differentiating qualities from the competition.

- Product Advertised as Much as Opportunity. The company should put at least as much attention on the product as it does on the home business opportunity. Check out the company's website. If the site is all about how you can get rich with a home business and there is little to no mention of the product / service, then the company's approach is unbalanced, borderline illegal, and definitely unethical.

- Competitively Priced. The product/service price should not be overly inflated in order to support the company's compensation plan. High prices should have a reason (better quality, efficiency, delivery, customer service, etc.).

Compensation Plan It is vitally important that your company has an excellent compensation plan. There needs to be the distinct possibility that you can make a lucrative income with the company. In addition, you want to make sure that the payplan ensures that everyone within the company has the possibility of making money - not just the "guy at the top." Study the compensation plan carefully, because it is a vital ingredient to your success. After accomplishing your research ask yourself a couple of questions:

1) How comfortable do you feel with company, the product/service, and/or your prospective business partner(s)?

2) Do you like or trust your prospective sponsor?

3) Do you have a good feeling about the company?

4) Do you believe in what they are trying to accomplish?

5) Have you tried or do you like the product / service?

6) Would you recommend the product / service to someone else?

Finally:

1) Will this opportunity help you reach your goal?

2) Is it ethical and fair to everyone concerned?

3) Will it take you closer to or farther from your major objective in life?

4) Can you commit yourself to start and finish?