Whats the hang up people have against mlm?

If you want to do it, go for it. I just think they are basically legalized pyramid schemes, you don't market on solving people's problems, just their greed.

well as far as I understand it..they aren't too far off from a pyramid scheme. BUt i'm not positive about that

I loved MLM back when I had an email marketing company! Well, not MLM per se, but the people who were involved. Since MLM relies so heavily on always bringing in new people to the next big scheme, they always needed tons of leads. I probably made $250,000 selling leads to those folks. Sigh... the good old days.

But yeah, the problem many have with MLM is that it's usually a cleverly disguised pyramid scheme. Most offer some silly products no one really wants to keep things legal, while the only people really making good money are the ones who start the company or are the very first in (at the top of the pyramid).

John

Well the good thing is that for this particular mlm id be pretty high up as far as the pyramid goes. My host is someone who was basically on the inside frm the start so he's top tier and id be right below him. Thats one of the things that makes me interested in getting into it.

I know a cop (not exactly a friend) who did really well with with an MLM company called Excel, a Telecommunications company. Then suddenly, Excel dissolved and they were all left in the lurch. I don't really have too much against MLM, but I've seen another guy in MLM (Amway) awkwardly barging in on strangers' privacy then weirdly try to steer the conversation to his business (which I accidentally discovered he had only managed to sell to a handful of relatives after years and years working at it). MLM is hard. Does it work? Like most fields, perhaps for a limited number of people. But most who join it will spend loads of money on it (eg buying all those how-to products) and get little to no return on their investment. Me, I can go out right now and talk to strangers about internet marketing and make more money in one hour than most MLMers will make with years of effort, and also get the ongoing "residual income" that MLM companies love to use as a talking point.

Why put all the effort into building someone else's business, someone else's list, someone else's revenue when you can put the same effort into building your own business and not having to worry about being shut down in an instant for some reason?

MLM works if you know what you are doing. It's just like internet marketing, 90% really don't make money cause they don't take action... While the 10% do go off making 6-7 figures cause they just stick to something that works... Day in, and day out.

Im in an MLM company for household bills!

Now it is a great company but i need to get those intial 2 signup's offline before i can take everything online.

Only annoying thing is it pays pennys on the dollar to what they spend! But then it's also monthly recurring and kinda viral so kinda good.

Im just not the sort of person who enjoys following up everyone and meeting them just to get a lead that is worth a few hundred a year max.

Mark Blaze

Aside from this brief comment that 99% of the responses
in this thread are crap born of ignorance I just have this
one tip to offer the OP...

It doesn't matter where you are in the company hierarchy
if it's a legit company. The opportunity is exactly the same
whether you are two levels deep from the company or 100.

I'm not going to tell you to not join... I'm going to tell you
to not let that be a motivating factor... it doesn't matter.

If your potential sponsor tells you it does matter you need
to take a step back. He's either ignorant of how the business
works or is flat out lying.

Tsnyder

Legit MLM - you make sales of a product or service, and you refer new salespeople who also make sales of a product or service, and you make money from your referrals' sales.

Pyramid scheme - you pay someone, then get several people to pay you.

Sh**ty MLM - you pay someone for a "business opportunity," in which the business mainly involves recruiting your downline. The product/service is either non-existant, gawd-awful, or you and your downline do not directly sell it. IE pyramid scheme.

alt - you don't sell the product directly, but you have to buy the product to be in the mlm sales machine. equally evil.

Hang ups? Goodness, man, there are TONS.

1. Most MLMs have you try to sell to your friends and get them in on this "great opportunity" that will "change your life." I hate selling to friends. It turns people off. You can easily lose friends this way and I know people who have seriously alienated friends because they were really in to Xango MLM. It gets to the point where you don't answer the calls of that friend anymore and/or want to hang out with them until they get that you have zero interest in their MLM BS. It gets to the point where if I saw that person at a function I would make an effort to keep as many people as possible between him and me.

2. Some people HATE selling to their friends. Oh wait, did I say that already? That's for me. I hate having to sell my friends on some weird scheme that sounds fishy. It needs repeating. While I never joined the MLM I quickly got the idea from being the target that I did not want friends feeling the same way about me that I felt about the two different friends trying to get me in their respective MLM programs.

3. There have been a lot of fake pyramid schemes in the past that scammed people out of their money. The problem with MLM is it uses a very similar model, or at least a model that sounds exactly like a fake pyramid scheme to the majority of people you will approach.

4. Building on number 3, people need to have a lot of trust in you to join your MLM. Your company needs to be one of those that is actually legit and you need to show them a lot of proof to convince them.

5. It's selling. If you're good at selling and like it, then you can succeed at it. However, you have to be prepared to do the numbers. 1/20 of the people you approach signing up is probably a realistic target for most. You wouldn't get much more than that, in my opinion, unless you're very good at it.

6. MLM just sounds fishy to most people.

7. I personally hate MLM and would never get involved in one. I think a lot of people feel this way.



So you asked. Good luck. I have nothing against people who do this. It's just not for me. But these are the hangups I think a good number of those you approach will have.

You can put the same amount of effort into Internet Marketing and make a lot more money!!!

I dont like getting into something I dont own (too little profit margin)

Cheers,
Mukul

Traditionally this forum is not kind to MLMs, but I wouldn't let that
general attitude affect your decisions. People here just seem to
prefer other ways of making money.

This general attitude about MLMS has been around for YEARS
here. I don't think it would change anytime soon either.

-Ray Edwards

MLM is just like internet marketing. It gets a bad name because there's a lot of hype and very few people actually make any money from it.

Is this because it's all a scam?

Of course not. A lot of people make great money with MLM just like internet marketing. The key is to find a good product, in a good market and stick with it. It also helps to work with someone (a mentor) who is making good money with the system and that can help you. Not someone who is also just beginning.

Do your research into the offer and the market and see if you can potentially make it work. Then if it all adds up, go for it.

Good luck

Some of you would be absolutely astounded at some of the
big name IMers who are involved in MLM programs...

I'm talking about people who most of you would regard
as the cream of the crop on this forum.

Tsnyder

First, calling MLM a legalized pyramid scam is a ridiculous statement. MLM got started in the 70s with companies like Amway and Shaklee. When they had immediate success, scammers with no products used the model to promote nothing. They paid others to recruit and told them they would get paid when they recruited someone in the business....like filling up empty seats on an imaginary airplane.

The pyramid scammers are who gave the MLM model a bad name. It's no different than the credit repair, loan modification companies and sub prime lenders of today. There are good companies out there and when the scammers see opportunity, they flood the market with their scams and give the industries a bad name.

MLM is a distribution method. Instead of middlemen between manufacture and end retail, the profits go to the distributors (and the company of course).

MLM has products that are of value and often products that you cannot get anywhere else. Often, they are cutting edge products. Decades ago Amway was selling "green" products with "green" packaging. Big corporations are just now going green...

I agree with the statement that most Internet marketers do not like MLM. I have several Internet based businesses and have owner several brick & mortar businesses in the past...and I have a network marketing business on the side as well.

Understand that network marketing businesses take 1-2 years to make a serious income. They are not a quick fix. Most people drop out of MLM because they expect results right away and when they don't see the money rolling in, they leave. You have to look at is as an asset that will grow in time.

Before joining, you should ask yourself this: would you buy the company's products and services if there was no business opportunity involved? If the answer is no, then do not join. MLM is fueled by people who love the product and are excited to share it with others.

To me, having an MLM with products you like and use, is a no-brainer. The MLM I'm involved in has a serious lack of people that know how to market using the Internet. Their upline is teaching them to do traditional marketing through home parties and in-person presentations, etc. This opens up a huge market for those of us that do know how to use the Internet to market.In fact, I had six distributors under me in three weeks time when I started....from a simple blog and a few articles. I did not know any of these people personally nor did I speak to any of them prior to them joining me. I received my first commission check in my first two weeks...

As a member of this forum, you have a lot of tools that you can use in MLM that the majority of those involved do not know anything about. If the company is a good fit for you, you should definitely give it a shot.

True...the IM stuff that we take for granted here is complete Greek to many new network marketers. For my guys, they learn MLM and at the same time, they get an ongoing course in internet marketing. Education + keeping them motivated is key to all our success.

I actually had a guy come up to my while I was looking at protein in a local grocery store. He started asking me a bunch of questions (and I was assuming he needed help). But then it turned into a pitch about how I should buy protein from this company he "works with". Well that company turned out to be Amway. And that is why I dont like mlm

Most of the time I would never even bother to read through a discussion like this but, alas, I had time and... whew... make it through both sides of the mud bath. Here's my input, for what it's worth, and I'm one of those 10% who make a lot of money in MLM.

The network marketing industry is huge. It is nothing more and nothing less a distribution model. To succeed you need to become proficient at building a distribution network. Within the industry there are good products... bad products... good companies and bad companies. Good, integral promoters and bad, not so integral promoters. Oh... and surprise! Same hold true for internet marketing, affiliate marketing and direct sales.

I have over 10,000 people on my team. 95% are not making any money because they haven't learned how to promote the products or their business. I also have an affiliate marketing "coaching club" with hundreds of members. 95% of them are not making any money because they haven't learned how to take action and get things done (I've taught them the HOW).

The biggest reason why I believe MLM gets a bad name is because the results are 100% entirely up to YOU. It's a level playing field and you get paid EXACTLY what you are worth in regards to the business. Most people don't get paid because they major in making excuses versus getting things done. You simply cannot hide behind excuses when running your own business. The results speak volumes.

On my team right now are a few well-known IMers and Gurus who you would all know on this forum. Many of you have purchased other products from them. Some are earning 10s of thousands per month... and growing... because they have taken 100% responsibility for their businesses and have learned to market them.

So Whats the hang up people have against mlm? Who cares? I would never spend a second attempting to "convince" someone to join my team. They are either a leader looking for more, or not. For some it's the right move. For others, not so much. And it's all good.

MLM marketing is really no different than marketing information products, the only difference is that it's digital.

Your first mistake my man, was coming in a internet marketing forum asking for advice about MLM.

You shouldn't care what other people here have to say about MLM in this forum because you will get mostly negative responses on a system I personally know works.

Like with any business, you want to do your due diligence on the great ones out there.

MLM is considered a bad thing...network marketing is considered a step above traditional mlm...and my favorite is Direct Sales (high ticket items like Carbon Copy Pro, Reverese Funnel System, YTB, etc).

I personally recommend getting into higher ticket items like Direct sales, but that's just me.

again, this is NOT the place you need to be asking this question...but as you can see, you will get your answers

Wow guys, thank you for all the wonderful posts. I feel bad because i've been really busy and completely forgot about this thread. I wish I could reply to all of you guys personally but sadly that isn't going to be possible right now. So instead i'll just say that I love the ideas you guys are throwing out there. And i'm glad to hear some of the drawbacks from everyone before I get into it.

I've decided that I am going to try getting into it and see what happens but I'm doing my research on the company right now in order to make sure that it is legit.

I do not like MLM (many level pyramids). Ironically, we´ve been asked to make some MLM system with our products by our customers. So now I am trapped in creating of fair MLM system (I prefer to say "direct sales").

After studying lot of materials and examples from 70´s until today, I think this system could work until it is flat enough (2, max. 3 levels) and good products are involved for fair price. However, under this conditions, it is no "get rich quick" scheme for sure.

Loren's right on the money, G!

All of the warning signs are there. The typical lines recruiters use.

But, you're also showing WHY they use those lines - they are powerful.

Here's a little experiment I would like to suggest: Tell your MLM friend that you posted here asking for comments. Then see if they encourage you to get the story from all sides, or if the immediately discourage you from it.

I have a guess as to what they will do, but don't take my word for it. Try the experiment and see for yourself.

All the best,
Michael

I want to emphasize - I have no real hard judgment about MLM
or network marketing. I think there are a lot of good things about
it and if you're willing to work hard you can make money and you
don't even have to be a nasty or dishonest person to do it.

That said, there are realities about the business model that
make it tend to instability. While people are led to believe
they are building their own businesses, they are really not.
What they are doing - is sales.

Good salespeople in many industries do many of the same
things successful MLM people do... the exception is that in
MLM recruiting is a big part of it while in many inside and
outside sales jobs your success would come from actual
sales to end users. In MLM sales are made, mostly, to
other distributors. It's not good or bad, just a fact about
the way it is.

I've never had to pay a legitimate company any money in advance to market their products. In fact, in most cases, the reverse is true. I'm the guy creating the sales and the cash. I'm controlling the customer. I'm the value creation in the mix. That makes ME the valued commodity in the equasion because I can create the customer base.

In MLM, the agent is really the customer, with great layers of organization hawking business kits, success tapes, etc... The product is just the vehicle necessary to attract the hopefuls into the opportunity. But make no mistake, the real customer is the opportunity-seeker, and the real product is the "business support system".