Multi-Level or Network Marketing (also sometimes called MLM) is the last bastion left in the free enterprise system where the average person -- without a large investment, vast experience, or a lot of education -- can still create wealth. Many people with no college education, big war chests or powerful connections have built fortunes in Network Marketing (myself included).

Imagine living in your dream house, driving your dream cars, and living your dream lifestyle. Spending quality time with the people who add quality to your life. Doing work with meaning, building your wealth as you help others reach their dreams as well. This doesn't have to be a dream. It has become a reality for many people who have built a home-based network marketing business.

In about 10 or 12 hours a week, you can build a lucrative business from your spare bedroom or kitchen table. You choose the hours you work and the people you work with, which makes it perfect for people juggling family schedules and other personal obligations.

You get great tax advantages and you also have the opportunity to travel to fun and exciting destinations. The income potential is unlimited and, even better, you earn residual income, the best kind of all.

You'll love building your business because you'll be helping others build success also. You have the rewards and independence of being your own boss, yet still enjoy the training, resources, and support of a major corporate support structure behind you. It's like owning a franchise, but without paying the large franchise start-up investment and ongoing royalty fees. And while a majority of the population is faced with money challenges, your business is poised for long term growth opportunities.

By the way, I'm not talking about pyramids, chain letters, or Ponzi schemes. Those kinds of get-rich-quick scams have been around for thousands of years and will probably be around for thousands more. What I'm discussing here is the powerful and proven network marketing business model.

The business actually began in the late 1950s with the pioneer companies of Shaklee and Amway. Others like Nu Skin, Herbalife, AVON, Melaleuca, Agel, and Mary Kay continued the evolution. For the last 20 years, the industry has steadily developed, actually growing 91 percent in the past decade.

Today, the network marketing/direct selling industry spans the globe, is practiced in more than 100 countries, and is still growing. Fifty-three million people participate and will produce estimated revenues this year of $100 billion worldwide -- $30 billion of that in the U.S. alone. Is it any wonder that investors like Warren Buffet and companies like Virgin, Remington Industries, Sara Lee, and Time Warner are buying direct selling/network marketing companies?

In fact, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company now owns three direct sales companies. And Buffett said, "Dollar for dollar, it's the best investment I've ever made." Fortune magazine called the industry "the best kept secret in the business world."

Buffett and Fortune are not alone. Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, is another champion of the industry. He states that the business "gives people the opportunity with very low risk and very low financial commitment to build their own income-generating asset and acquire great wealth."

Another author touting the benefits of the industry is David Bach. David is the author of the best-selling book, The Automatic Millionaire. In his new book, State Late, Finish Rich, he gives 13 reasons to join the industry.

1. The moment you join a direct selling company you're in business
2. You don't have to reinvent the wheel
3. You don't have to do it all by yourself
4. You will be forced to stretch yourself
5. You fill find mentors and experts
6. You can create passive income
7. You may make a new circle of friends
8. You don't have to retire
9. You get to help other people
10. You make your own hours
11. Tax incentives!
12. Is less expensive to get in than many other business
13. It's a family business

Famed economist Paul Zane Pilzer also speaks up for the industry in his latest book, The Next Millionaires. He forecasts that 10 million new millionaires will be created in the United States over the next decade and predicts that many of them will be created through Network Marketing.

Like the other two business models, you need some training. But in Network Marketing, you have a whole sponsorship line of people above you who have a vested interest in the growth of your business. They are happy to train you for free. And the investment is ridiculously tiny, while the upside is extraordinary.

One of the surefire ways to create great wealth is to put yourself in front of powerful, emerging trends. Both Network Marketing and the work-at-home option are experiencing dramatic growth right now. It doesn't matter whether you have four university degrees or are a high school dropout. You can build a residual income money machine with Network Marketing.

I promote this business model over the other two for a couple of important reasons. First, it offers a much lower level of entry cost. For $1,000 or $1,500, you can acquire a full-fledged business that can produce serious cash flow. Second, the learning curve is much faster to traverse, and you have people who actually want and are rewarded for training you (whereas in the other business models, you basically have a bunch of competitors who want to eat you for lunch).

Leverage Your Leverage...

Now let me tell you what you could do to seriously turbo-charge your wealth and prosperity. Start a network marketing business and create a strong residual income cash machine. Then invest some of that money each month in financing an information entrepreneur business, and use part of that income to purchase some real estate. You use the first business to create cash flow, and the other two to get that cash flow working for you. You actually leverage your leverage. You are putting the greatest prosperity secret to work, and doing so exponentially!