It's a story old as time: a professional starts a business, expands over time, and creates a lasting team to run said business. It costs money to build, train, and promote, and sometimes that money can undercut profit, marketing, and bottom lines.

C'est la vie. Seriously.

Most professionals hope for a salary but will settle for tips or commission. Those with the ambition to achieve their own "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" will eventually branch out or move on. And for many professionals, it's the healthcare or benefits that act as a trade-off when the salary isn't as promising. For any business, it's always going to be the top earners who bring in up to 80% of sales.

Then there's the "get-rich-quick" ads and seminars that recruit for a "pyramid scheme" faux-business, promising no-money-down platforms to eager workers. This is a long, gone, broken idea. It belongs in the dustbin of failed business models; it is far from the serious and respected network marketing ideas of real, trusted franchises and companies that seek to truly build a brand.

Purchasing a franchise, however, is expensive and seems out of grasp for many. Starting that small business without a network or brand professionals can take years to make grow and achieve sustainable profits. Simply moving up in a company can also be out of reach for those who are nowhere near top management.

An affordable franchise buy-in or investment from a brand name, however, is often a perfect alternative. So would an online shop or a community-based brand network. And any professional can become part of or join a successful network while working a company job.

For network marketers, according to expert Eric Worre of the GoPro Podcast, it's all about helping people, not just wealth acquisition. Income is always related to the number of people who are helped by the team and brand. The number of people who are inspired and positively affected by successful network marketing can run in the millions (and if some members want to quit because they are making enough money, then they must continue and give away the money if they don't need it). It's all about continuing because each team needs to help as many people as they can, always.

That's one hell of a "positive" pyramid.

Multi-level marketing provides a strong, solid base for finally getting (or steering) that company! With the right network marketing coach and team members, those professionals will start on a more solid footing because they will have mentors and a strong brand behind them. No more "lonely store syndrome" where an owner and her store are surrounded by other brands, the lot of them hoping to make their mark amidst competition and higher demand elsewhere. No more 9-5 office days working for someone else, hoping the company doesn't fold or get bought.

Good, healthy business is built on relationships. Network marketing is all about bringing key talents to the network and creating a unique part of a brand or business. With network marketing, however, professionals can stretch their arms and create their own career, building their own "positive pyramid" that offers the same potential to every new member and their community. A great team must be built on a robust work ethic, integrity, and transparency in order to bring in that talent and keep it going beyond initial goals (and into other networks!).

Every economy is built on debt, acquisition, and a top-down model that doesn't offer the breadth and freedom that most professionals need. But network marketing does! Especially when one professional invests in an affordable developing brand or is able to have multiple levels of income, all built at their own pace.

For professionals who want to see wealth grown at their own pace (or one that they are pushing towards), network marketing "work-life" is for them. Most workers are somewhat satisfied working 40-plus hours a week for someone else's company – but with network marketing, anyone can push towards a self-owned or networked-niche company. It happens all the time.

And that "pyramid" of team and tribe members that help along the way? They then become the network that each professional needs as each member's success grows out, around, and up.