A bonus system like this will allow you to help people who want a successful home based business and bypass those who are lazy and not interested.

More things to look for in compensation plan. Does plan pay a number of levels deep or does it stop after a few levels and levels below this are infinity levels based upon sales volume? Also how many legs are required to maximize pay plan? Does plan require you to have numerous legs to earn maximum bonuses? The point is this, a plan that only pays a few levels before infinity bonuses and/or requires numerous legs really limits amount of upline help you will receive - in other words you're virtually on your own.

7. Get with right distributors at right time - Years ago my wife and me sold a house. We had several options but they came down to listing house with this relatively new agent down street or hotshot million dollar sales earner. We went with latter - big mistake - he was so busy with his big deals he didn't have time to mess with our little house. The house sat month after month before selling and we had already moved out of town. The lady down street would have pushed it to max. The point is don't just sign up with some big name distributor because of their name - they could be semi-retired or too busy to give you attention you need. The best scenario for you is to find some experienced heavy hitters who because of a hot product have just recently started marketing that product and are rapidly building their organization. This essentially allows you to not only get in on ground floor with a hot product but also with very experienced people looking to build huge organizations. This is a case of being at right place at right time. All that is required of individual is to take a lot of action.

8. Does company have an emotional product? - point here is people talk about two things to others - things that interest them and things that leave an emotional impression on them. Certain types of products like nutritional products can much easier cause an emotional reaction in people than other products. If someone feels much better health wise from taking a nutritional product they are much more likely to tell others than they would about some insurance or laundry product for example. And face it, you want people talking about your product - word of mouth advertising is most effective form.

9. Does home based business company have exclusive products you can't get elsewhere and/or expert marketing to justify their winning products as superior products and actually a better value than similar products?

10. Reusable products - It kind of goes without saying but any product or service, which someone uses and reuses on a monthly basis is best because you continue to earn on that person month after month.

Bonus Tips: To monitor strength of a business opportunity here are a couple things to look for:

Are there plenty of excited people on conference calls along with numerous calls - absence of these items can indicate a ''dead'' business opportunity.

Also find out what's been going on in last 6 months - 2 years - are a number of people advancing up through ranks - if not once again you could be looking at a ''dead'' business opportunity.

For an educated person, reading seemingly basic online concepts can be rudimentary at best. For educated person or Pro, it's easy to think "This is too easy, what makes this person different than me, this is simple!". Be smart, consider source.

If concept, idea, or product is from a true expert, (someone who has really made hundreds of thousands of dollars online) difference between that person and professional is that expert has actually done it, not planned to do it, or theorized about it! It's easy to be critical of others and not focus on your own plan...a Pro, like rest of us, should never underestimate anyone who has made a great deal of money online, it's quite an accomplishment.

For professional, mind set needed to be successful online has to be one of respect. The Pro has to be smart enough to know that online business can be very basic, but a well laid out plan is really all it takes. That plan, of course, includes following experts, keeping it simple, and taking action.

The professional should welcome being presented with information and products distributed by experts and should take each powerful concept to heart no matter how basic they may seem. The Pro should avoid getting blinded by all hype in any marketing campaign and realize that "sales-like" tone is there for a reason, to appeal to masses. Almost anything online has some level of 'pushy' content...for professional, this can be a serious turn off. The experienced person should read between lines and look at concept or product for value it brings, and focus on benefits, not features or 'estimated' savings or results.

Professionals who start an online business have an immediate crossroads if they have an arrogance about them or believe they can transfer all their past experience to their online business. Yes, lots of skills Pro accumulated during their past career will be useful, but most meaningful skills need to be learned if Pro hasn't successfully owned an online business. Just because someone knows Calculus, has an MBA or has climbed corporate ladder, doesn't mean they automatically can be successful online. Traditional education doesn't automatically mean success unless that education is "Online Marketing Education"… and, for most of us, only way to get that education is to learn from people who have done it before.

Author, "9 Deadly Mistakes To Avoid When Starting An Online Business" Publisher, "Starting Smart!" e-zine

Starting an online business