Got myself into an MLM meeting... Any tips?

That happened to me before. Barnes & Noble too... so weird. In Times Square actually.

My tip: DON'T GO. It's BS. I promise even going to McDonalds and scarfing your face is a better decision (and more delicious). That meeting will be a complete waste of your time.

Get ready for:

Well dont you want to make more money ?
Yes.
Then why dont you join ?
Because this is not for me.
But I just showed you how easily you can make extra $4K a month and I will do all the work.
Yeah I still think this is not for me.
Well let me ask you this. Will extra $4K a month not improve your life ?
Yes it will.
Than why dont you take advantage of this opportunity.

Rinse and Repeat.

Unless you have free time to spare or love offline direct selling, I would plan a quick holiday trip.

AJ

Bring lube and sex toys...

Knock on the door....

When they answer, just tell them you're there for the swingers party.

If they kick you out you didn't really miss out on anything.

But if they're cool with it, you can have a good time.

It's a win-win...

Why does MLM Feel dirty.

I'd go and troll if you have no intent of joining. Might as well have fun with it. As Joseph said, if you don't know what you are doing MLM definitely isn't the best way to start (at least for most). That being said, there are a few members on here who do very well with it, so it could be a future option.

B&N a marketing tool now?

Exact same thing happened to me a few years ago (B&N in the business section and everything). He wasn't pitching it as an MLM, but that's basically what it was. He wanted me to make cold calls, which I hate doing. That's why I stick to internet storefronts.

Anyway, I listened to the pitch, talked to him on the phone a few times, then dropped him when I heard the words Cold Call.

My 2 Cents: Go and listen if you don't have anything else to do (it's always interesting, at least to me). And if you decide to do it make sure there are more ways to make money with it than just signing your friends/family up for the same program.

Man dont go. I had a friend of mine turned "insurance broker" try to sucker me into paying $200/month for their MLM opportunity. And their marketing plan is stupid. I wasted 1 hour of my life talking to my friend and his business partner... or i guess you could probably say that i wasted 1-hour of their time... friend was mad that i didn't invest in his MLM gig. I told this dude he was foolish to rely on a business model like that.

MLM sucks. Run the other way.

I'm one of the ones on this forum who is not against MLM, and think that it can be a great opportunity for the right person, although it isn't for everyone.

Network marketing is not "bad" and it doesn't "suck." But if it isn't your thing, that is cool too.

I would personally go, because you never know...if you get one nugget of information that you can apply to your business, it could be well worth it.

Here's my advice. After you have heard from all the "experts" that "know"someone who did it, or "heard" about someone who did it, or "read" about someone who did it, and then after you hear from people soon to be commenting in this thread about their first hand success at it, if you have the time and are open minded, go to the meeting and find out for yourself.

It may not be for you but, what have you got to lose?

The same thing happened to me a a local Barnes and Noble store. Amway/quixtar must be teaching this as a technique. It happened to a friend of mine as well. I have found that quixtar people are so ashamed of their organization that they hesitate to admit that is who they are signed up with. They have all sorts of gimmicks to get around telling you that they are with quixtar so you don't find out until you show up to the meeting. This kind of deception is why mlm got it's bad name in the first place. When I asked what the name of his company was he told me the name of his independent business and added that everyone has their own names to their own businesses in his organization. When he dodged the question and didn't tell me the name of his organization I knew he was with quixtar. He was ashamed to admit it because quixtar AKA Amway has a bad reputation because of these deceptive sales methods. Don't waste your time going to the meeting. You don't want to become like one of them. They'll eat your brain and you'll become a quixtar zombie roaming around Barnes and Noble store looking for other brains to eat to spread your zombie empire. If you're intent on going be sure to tell them your name is Zarcon, destroyer of worlds and you're there to cleanse them of their wretchedness. Then sit silently scowling at them the whole time.

The amount of ignorance and outright bad information
in this thread is astounding... lol

OP... go to the meeting... pay attention... you might
learn something interesting or meet some interesting
new people.

Nobody there is going to beat you up... lol

I know a lot of people in MLM. One thing they all have in common: they are all broke and everyone hates them because they are always trying to desperately recruit anyone who will listen under their command line.

My tip would also be to not bother going.

Thanks for all the great insights guys, I actually just got back from the meeting.

When I got there it felt as if I had walked into a church. They had this young guy in a suit greet me as soon as I walked in, and then most of the older guys came over to talk to me. It honestly felt like a cult of some sort.

Once the presentation started, they started talking about how powerful Facebook was, ect. Then once he goes over his company's amazing products, he tells us how much money we could be making by turning all of our Facebook friends into "recruits."

That's when my brain pretty much just disconnected, and started coming up with excuses for when the sales pitches came at the end.

The guy giving the presentation did a pretty good job, but the whole hour revolved around "connecting" with the audience, and selling us the idea of operating our own business, and what the extra money could do for us.

Thankfully I didn't have to go through any sales pitches, as they apparently leave that for the next meeting, to which I have also been cordially invited. Don't think I'll be going.

I honestly really wanted to be able to get something out of it, but I really do not like their marketing strategy. I mean, going after your own Facebook friends as recruits? I'm sure that must work for some people, but I'm not even going to bother trying it.

I'll stick to looking for genuinely interested people, and provide them with whatever it is they're actually looking for.

Sorry to say, but I didn't enjoy the meeting too much. I'm glad I went, as I learned a couple of things - but I don't see myself going back.

Stay away from Amway. My advice. There are some really good MLM companies and I have some good friends who make a ton. Not my gig. They have a bad reputation not sure what for I might ad and my info on them does not come from my friends ; ) I will say the one thing they have all told me is that to make great money in MLM you need to know that you want to be a business owner and not a product pusher. People buy you not the S&*t product you have. Keep that in mind and you are golden. That's my 2 bucks.

Yeah, they're trying to connect with a younger crowd and then alienating them immediately when they start talking about recruiting their friends. It's probably the fastest way I know of to start losing friends. I've never met an Amway distributor yet that understood what "target marketing" was about. They seem to think that everyone is their target because that is what they were taught.

30-40 years ago contacting everyone you knew really was the best way to start building a MLM business. Now there are many more cost effective and efficient methods that don't hammer people that have no interest in starting a business. Unfortunately, there are still a bunch of old schoolers out there teaching these methods. Yes they may work sometimes, but unless you have some very good sales skills and some mighty thick skin, it just isn't an efficient way to build any kind of business.

-- Edit --

And this is coming from a former Amway distributor and someone who has nothing at all against MLM.

run, run away... as quickly as you can.

Hi Pedro...I myself am involved in mlm. And basically I'm hearing a lot of negative things about it, and I can see why. But mlm or network marketing isn't a bad industry at all, its just that some people have given it a bad name. Just think about it, Amway is a company that's been around for more that 50 years, and that is endorsed by celebrities like Sandra Bullock. Just think if mlm was bad like most are describing it, then would this company still be around? or many other companies for that matter?

You said this person was in IM? This tells me that perhaps this person uses the internet to market their business...and honestly that's the best way of marketing mlm in today's world, although some offline tactics still work. But most traditional ways of marketing aren't effective anymore. Personally I would go to this meeting, why well because this person had a conversation with you, and didn't verbally vomit everything about their company. I think he'll understand, if you don't join, because that is part of the business. But be open to it, you may like the business model.

One tip that I can give you is to check out people who've really made it in the mlm industry. I recommend you check out David Wood, Ray Higdon or Rob Fore, these guys really know their stuff especially when it comes to combining internet marketing with mlm. Just google their blogs and you'll find them.

Also just out of curiosity where are you from? Reason I ask is because I'm bilingual and of mexican heritage.

Cheers, hope I was able to help

I have left the MLM. for some personal reasons. Its kind of bluffing other people to me. I don't like the theme. that's totally my personal opinion. There are thousands of MLM marketers who are successful and lacks of marketers who have left them. So take your decision carefully.

Sure. Listen carefully and take notes, on pitching, on sales techniques, etc. Ask questions, lots of questions. Although it's an offline company, many things can be used and imported online. Simply ENJOY the meeting. Being there does not oblige you to anything.

The general public has similar feelings about internet marketing and MLM. It surprises me that so many people think MLM sucks. I think that those same people QUIT on MLM because they did not have success. Who doesn't want perpectual, residual, leveraged income? Your insane if you are saying no to that. There is nothing more powerful then perpectual income. No product owner can compare affiliates with perpectual income. Seriously I thought internet marketers knew this stuff?