Depending on the type of network marketing program you're promoting, your choice of who you sign up to the program under can be absolutely critical. Indeed it can be the difference between making a modest monthly income and making an absolute fortune. So what attributes should you look for in a potential sponsor?

Firstly, if the network marketing company offers spillover then I always recommend looking to sign up under a big hitter. I define big hitters as being those people who have huge lists of opt-in subscribers they can send promotional emails to, and / or those people who have large advertising budgets to spend on recruiting new members.

If you have been involved in the internet or network marketing industry for any length of time you will soon learn who these big hitters are. You will find their solo ads in popular newsletters, see them listed in the pay per click listings, and possibly at the top of the organic search results for related keywords as well, hear their names crop up in related forums, come across articles and ebooks that they've written, products they have created, etc.

If you can find one of these big hitters that's promoting the program that you want to join, then they immediately become good candidates to sign up under. However there are other factors you should consider, particularly if you are a relatively inexperienced network marketer.

Because of the very fact that they are big hitters, these guys have the resources to recruit hundreds, if not thousands, of people into their downline. Therefore they will not have the time to work closely with individual members, so you will often have to figure out for yourself how to successfully promote the program. So rather than just blindly signing up under a big hitter, you should email that person before you join the program, and ask them what support they will provide to you if you sign up under them, and ask them if they can advise you on how you can promote the program.

You will find that some of these big hitters are actually very good in this area, and will provide you with duplicable promotion methods or systems put in place to help their downline recruit members for themselves. Unfortunately these are in the minority, however, as most big hitters are not too worried about members failing in the program and dropping out because they know they can constantly recruit new members on a regular basis, and continue earning large residual commissions.

So to sum up, the ideal person to have as your upline would be one that has the resources to recruit plenty of new members so you benefit from their spillover. It would also be someone who provides leadership, offers help and support, and has a duplicable promotion method that fellow members can use to build their own downline. If you can find someone who has all of these qualities, then you will be on the road to success.

However, don't forget that you have to put some work in yourself to be really successful in network marketing. In addition, your long term ambition should be to become a big hitter yourself, and someone who prospective members actively seek out when looking for someone to sign up under. Even if you don't have a great sponsor yourself, aim to become that perfect sponsor, and watch your network marketing career really take off.