No MLM

As a member of three very large online marketing forums (two mainstream, one adult) I would have to say that warrior forum has the most open and accepting view of MLM of any of them.

MLM and IM dont often go together but they can from time to time.

I tend to avoid MLM like the plague though.

I remember a thread a few months ago which basically determined that while MLM is a legit way of making money online, it's best to stay away unless you know what you're doing and only if you find a legit company.

There is nothing wrong with MLM itself. In fact I am involved in one myself and it makes me good $$.

The problem is the majority MLM people are ALWAYS recruiting which puts all of us on the defensive while we await the impending pitch.

Why reinvent the wheel, when there are already great MLM's out there.

Find one that has a product retail customers will actually purchase, focus on sales first, downline second, and you're set to make tons of money.

Oh yeah, MLM is heavy-duty stuff... you really need a love and a dedication for what it entails, as well as a mean competitive streak and lots of street smarts to really make a go at it. In my opinion.

I spent a couple years as a youngster very involved with a large MLM company, doing the sales and recruitment and world-conference circuits all over the place... and the people in my life that I both most despise -and- most admire and look up to are still all from that group of people that I met while in there. Some of the most hardcore marketers, people who literally dedicate EVERY second of their lives to the pursuit, are in MLM.

In the end the whole experience changed my mindset forever and made me what I am today, and I don't regret it, but I also will never go back.

As to your proposal, doing MLM in 'online only' mode, I can't really see it working, since a big part of building your group and your downline is the personal one-to-one contact and support. Without that person in front them smiling and exuding the courage and confidence they need to work up every single day, 99.9% of people will just fold up under the pressure. I could be wrong and it could be different today, but I doubt it.

There is a facinating, free ebook by Eric somebody called "Merchants of Deception" Google it. It is well written and one of those "you can't put it down for even a few minutes" read.

The author and his wife were high-up distributors and have quite an MLM nightmare to tell.

:-Don

I have to agree with the little girl in the eagles cheerleader outfit. You have to be a great sales manager to pull off MLM. You have to be selling your business more than your product, which is why I never wanted to get into it.

i am in several small MLM but compared to my IM business, IM is SO MUCH EASIER and less hands on...so IM is much better in my opinion...

but even with MLM, you have to use IM...but for IM, especially digital products...it can be so much more "auto pilot" than mlm...

Hi all,

Im not against mlm per se. I have had moderate success but I agree with Brad who said earlier that people are always on the defensive "waiting for the pitch"

Most of these companies slap up a few sales materials extolling the companies virtues and send them out into the marketplace all doing the exact same thing usually word for word (if I see another email start with the phrase "I'll trade you $10 for the keys to $10,000" I'll scream.)

Now I know this accusation can be levelled at internet marketing as well but when done correctly and ethically, im can add genuine value to a prospective customer.

I'll relate a quick story on why I think people may get frustrated.

One of the largest online mlm opportunities available right now has a set of very specific conditions attached that you don't really know unless you search for. Now I won't mention the company by name but I am sure as you read on it will be familiar to alot of you.

As usual the sales pitch and video is fantastic, very tempting. They offer a domain and website hosting for $10 US per month. For every person you sign up underneath you, you get a $1 residual commission. Plus you get $100 for every 5 members you sign up within a calender week. So far, so tempting. They give you all the usual tools and banners to promote heavily, including the same pitch page and video that you probably saw in the first place to sign up. All of these with your affiliate link.

In my case I went out and I found 26 paid members underneath me within my first 7 days using all their provided materials. I went to look at the leaderboard expecting my name to be there at weeks end, along with a juicy $500 for my time, expense and trouble. It wasnt.

I then went to fill out the nominated tax form (I am based in Australia) before I can get paid. Fair enough. Instead of being able to fill it out online I had to print it out in pdf form and fax it back to the states (more expense) Then I tried to figure out why I wasnt on the leaderboard, when I came across the fine print. You are only eligible to receive your commissions if you spend at least $29.95 US (approx $40 AUD) per commissioned week for their promotional video series. They mail it to you, you mail it to your prospects. (more expense) This video is the same as your redirected landing page, but in physical form but with no guarantee of success. These fees are paid on top of your monthly hosting of $10 US per month.

Then if you decide to do all that you can get paid by cheque with a minimal threshold of $25 (they take a $3 cut for admin fees) or paypal.
Now if you already have a paypal account in good standing (I have two which have several hundred dollars per week flowing through them at least) this is of no use. You have to set up a separate one just to receive their payments alone "for security reasons"

So a quick recap scenario...

I gotta spend at least $10 per month for hosting with them.

I gotta spend at least $120.00 per month ($29.95 per week) to buy a series of 10 physical dvds to be sent to prospects with no guarantee of conversion. (If I get a 50% sales conversion rate, which is 5 people and frankly unheard of, I will get $100. I'm still behind !!) and yes I know I can also sign people up online but they want you to buy and use the videos.

PS I forgot to mention you can also buy "50 qualified leads to send you're videos to for an extra $50

I gotta physically print out and fax back my tax information

I gotta use their marketing materials only otherwise my sign ups are null and void (they will keep them though)

I gotta set up a separate paypal account just to receive their payment

and I gotta spend my money and time to promote their product

Thats a bare minimum of $130 US (approx $200 AUD) per month for the OPPORTUNITY to promote THEIR product so I can get paid ! If I don't do these things they keep the signups and all their fees and you get nada.

If you do a google search for reviews on this product they are all singing their praises. I found one honest review. From what I understand if you are prepared to do all these things, they will pay you like clockwork, but thats not the point.

The reason why people become so frustrated and quit so soon while the companies themselves grow everlarger is that in this economic climate no one wants to and nor should they have to spend that amount of money just to promote somebody elses business, just to qualify to be paid.

Anyway that's just my 2 cents

To your success,

Scott Allan

I would imagine that just like just about any form of web marketing, mlm does have its pros and cons. One nice thing about mlm unlike many other forms of web marketing (I am a GDI member by the way, just FYI) is you can acutally work as a team with your downline members. For example, if you were to buy into the Alive Max program, you could almost start your own business with it by buying into the program, purchasing inventory, recruit people you know looking for work and that have decent marketing skills, and work together to promote the products presented to people that want it. Of course, on the downside, building up a downline can be tricky, especially at first. At GDI, for example, I've been getting quite a bit of hits (mainly from traffic exchanges, safelists and htis2u), but have only gotten 2 sign ups since joining. Though I have been focusing more on putting my website through them together. And so once I start working on promoting, that might change.

I'm new to the forum but not to the business. All of you have made some really great points about MLMs and I think the biggest issue for me echoes what JoMo said about selling the business over the product. I absolutely agree with this sentiment. MLMs are all about hype, which is great for motivating agents to sell and recruit but is irrelevant to most consumers. If you're any kind of decent agent, the consumer should mean something to you since they're the only reason you sustain a legitimate business practice. The problem is they don't mean anything to the MLM. All we ever hear about is how so and so should check out this MLM because you make so much money with a 30 tier down-line. Are MLMs paying for that? No, they're leaving it up to you to sell the consumer on how great it is to be paying 50% more than they'd pay if they bought the product or service from anyone other than an MLM.

Robert