The ads shout at us from left and right....Make Money From Home! Own Your Own Home-Based Business! Touting their success stories, Multi-Level Marketing schemes promise a freedom and career opportunity that can seem alluring. But is it for you?

My highly sophisticated answer: Maybe.

The answer to two questions will give you the information you need in deciding whether or not to go this route. These questions are also found in the "Solvent Sleep Well" hub, and are courtesy of personal finance guru Clark Howard.

First, ARE YOU CUT OUT TO BE A SALESMAN? This is a question of both training and personality. Are you someone that has never met a stranger? Are you always the life of the party, the center of attention? In general, do people like having you around? Do you like being around people?

If you answered "yes" to most of these questions, you may have what it takes to be a successful sales rep. At it's soul running an MLM business is exactly like being a sales rep for any other type of business, the only difference is that you work from home and have more autonomy.

Second, WOULD YOU BUY THIS PRODUCT IF IT WERE NOT IN AN MLM BUSINESS?

MLM businesses as a category get a bad rap. Yet the truth is that the most successful among them offer innovative products at competitive prices.

The annals of American business include MLM businesses that have become household names. Ones from the past few decades include Mary Kay Cosmetics, Avon Cosmetics, Amway Soap, Amsoil Lubricants, and Tupperware. All of these products can stand on their own two feet in the marketplace. The leadership of these companies just so happened to have chosen a MLM model to market them.

More recently, our region is rife with salespersons for Longaberger Baskets, Southern Living Home products, and Kelly's Kids children's wear. These are all high-quality products that have a loyal regional or national customer base.

Over time, though, the MLM industry has had more than it's fair share of bad product offerings. Some of these have been little more than cover for a Pyramid Scheme. Many are actually legitimate products, but they are sold to sales reps at prices that almost guarantee few will ever be sold. A close friend of mine became involved in a scheme selling multivitamins, only at a price at a multiple above those available in the market, for example.

The moral here is: caveat emptor. Thoroughly investigate any MLM product offering. Check with the Better Business Bureau for any complaints. Do a Google search. Search the aisles of your local retailers for competing products.

If the primary appeal of the MLM scheme is the residuals you'll recieve from recruiting others into the scheme and not the product offering itself, BEWARE. The scheme is more closely related to a pyramid scheme than it is to a legitimate MLM organization. If so run, don't walk, away.