i read through alot of articles about MLM some articles deny MLM and encourage others not to do it and in the other hand some artilces just prooved how much their life was improved because of MLM. I want to know which to believe, all the articles are confusing me... some said that they lost respect from their friedns and family because of doing this but some said that because of MLM they found their family... wa--?!
ive attended the one of the world most know MLM company's BOM (business oppertunity meeting) and felt that the people hosting the BOM have some kind of madness... like they are so full of energy, hope and enchantment.. (?! whatever you mean by that..)
What is in MLM that is so bad yet so good?
~End~ Yes, I do lose respect for those in MLM, and here are some examples that has caused me to lose respect for MLMers:
The MLM person who has no business experience whatsoever such as a lifelong cashier or waitress who suddenly signs up with an MLM and then has the gall to come into my business and totally disrespect me by implying that they now have all this business intelligence.
The MLM person who somehow by signing up for health/wellness company (yet had no prior health/medical experience whatsoever) now suddenly seems to know more than my doctor about what is good for my health.
The MLM person who couldn't sell their way out of a paper bag nor has ever made a single phone sales call, yet comes to me telling me that their business is product driven. This person seems to think that because I do sales successfully for a living that by signing me up will be their meal ticket despite the fact they are their only customer.
The person in MLM who will tell me I am a bad person for spending 10 minutes explaining why I don't want to have anything to do with the industry, yet will waste hours posting replies to yahoo questions spamming people they have never met about their business.
The person in MLM who will tell me about all the money I could be making, yet when I ask about how to possibly achieve the volume it would take to make that money on the tiny commission percentages they tell me not to get mixed up in the numbers and worry about building the business instead.
The person in MLM who will tell me how much money they are making yet is unable to afford a car, or a home of their own, or rides public transportation to my office to present their business opportunity.
The person in MLM who will tell me I merely need to do a 3-way call with their successful upline who has already built the business, and finding out this person, although having sponsored many people, is actually in fact less successful than people whom I employ at base salaries.
The person in MLM who constantly tries to contact me in every manner possible because I run a successful business, yet is someone with so little education and/or experience that I would not even hire for an entry level position in my company.
The person in MLM who is promoting a product that they claim has amazing benefits and tells me about all the customer revelations about their product, but when pressed for referrals the only people who swear by the product are those trying to profit from its sales (essentially other people in their MLM company).
Add to all this that every MLM company compensation plan is based predominanlty on recruiting as oppose to sales and you have the biggest reason. These people don't care about actually trying to add value by selling product. It is done by companies you might never hear of in terms of providing long standing products and services. Very few have great reputations. Also it is considered quite belittling if the only reason you are contacting friends and relatives is to make a sale. Business is always best done by recommendation when asked for by the person to you (when your opinion/advice/counsel is sought for). MLMs are reliant on you making a sale on a product/service you have already paid for without really being sure who will pick it up from you. It is good for some but not recommended for many. Finally MLM offers are always on a get-rich-quick-extra-cash-on-the-side schemes and therefore never give the people who want to make money on it anytime to really develop the business properly where they can become masters of it. MLMs are basically all the same in terms of presentation and style. Best counsel, develop a business of your own/invest in the proven companies that are making money and you see their performances in the market or work with somebody who is confident and well-experienced in their field who is now venturing into business. Please AVOID all MLM business.
They are following Evangelist / charismatic type of marketing by playing with peoples emotions while selling their brands of products that are cheap but sold in a very expensive price.
The only ones that truly EARNS anything are the MLM company itself.
I had known people that are in the top tiers of MLM and they still have financial trouble!
All of that never be poor again are just bunch of Ballonies.
Safe your money. If you encounter these people, I suggest you RUN. Well I can tell you that I have been in Network Marketing for about 5 years now and I make money with it. Consider this, If you loved a car and your friends didn't would you still buy it if it was what you wanted or would you let them influence your decision. It's really up to you if you can find a company with a product you believe in that is affordably priced why not? Also consider that mlm is a very efficient business model. If is wasn't companies such as Avon, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, etc. would not be able to stay in business. Let me also ask you this. Have you ever heard of "principleless interest"? Let's say you chose a company and within 6 to 12 month you have created a monthly income of $400 okay. In order to cashflow that much income from a saving account at current rates around 4% you would have to have around $100,000 in savings. With the low start up cost of some companies of between $40 to $400 that is easier than saving a hundred grand wouldn't you say. Try this take $400 to a financial planner and tell him you would like to cashflow $400 a month in 12 months with a $400 investment and see how long he laughs.
Don't value my opinion too much or anyone elses just do your do diligence and research the industry and decide if this is something for you. And yes there are ways to build a network without bugging your family and friends. I sponsor people every month and some I didn't even know 6 months ago. Whatever you decide just decide what is best for you.
It is true that while some succeed in mlm many fail. Why? People are their own boss and have to motivate themselves because it is netWORK marketing and it takes effort and patience. Many people want immediate success and don't realize that it's like going to college and you have to educate yourself. If you wanted to be a doctor it would take time to get your degree. Nobody would graduate in 6 months. The difference is in mlm you earn while you learn.
If you would like a better understanding of our industry feel free to contact me as I have a website devoted to educating people on mlm hosted by a Harvard graduate named Dr Charles King who is the professor of marketing at the University of Illinois where he teaches a class on Network Marketing.
Best Wishes,
Shannon Stacy The thing I lose respect for is all the blatant misrepresentations. MLM as a whole is built on so much hype these days because its all about recruiting, and that hype causes people to say and believe some of the most ridiculous things.
Often times it is just naivety, meaning people don鈥檛 even realize how ridiculous what they say is because they are so emotionally overblown by the exiting possibility that they can become rich merely by finding a few other people. Other times it is intentionally deceptive and that is the least respectful of all things.
Take for instance Shannon Stacy鈥檚 answer, who seems to be a well meaning person. This answer is riddled with some ridiculous comparisons that if given anything more than even the most basic level of though appears quite ridiculous.
For instance, Shannon Stacy mentions that MLM is very efficient because a handful of companies have been successful. What baseless proof does giving a handful of companies suggest? Does this mean that a company鈥檚 mere existence proves that it is efficient? That is illogical.
Think about that, she mentions a handful of companies as though it is some proof that MLM is an efficient model, so does this mean the millions and millions of retails operations in existence proves that traditional methods are even more efficient? By her logic the mere existence suggests so. The claim of efficiency in this manner is ridiculous.
In MLM, you have countless representatives getting paid commissions on sales of product from their down line that offer no value to the sale whatsoever. How is this possibly efficient? Any traditional business has middleman but ALL middlemen serve a purpose in the process otherwise they are cut out by competing companies who compete by offering the same product at a lower price. This is basic economics.
Principleless Interest??? MLMers are now making up terms? You can see that this line of approach deserves no respect whatsoever. What she is trying to suggest is residual income, but the problem is that you have people who have zero business backgrounds trying to act as if they know enough to teach others, and the result is you have people spreading terms that do not even exist.
Let鈥檚 look at her example as well. She is comparing a $400/month income in MLM to earning interest on a lump some. (THE MATH IS NOT EVEN CORRECT, 4% of $100,000 = $333/month, not the $400). But even so, this example COMPLELTEY disregards that one has to spend all the time working in MLM to get up to that income.
This ridiculous example is like suggesting that you can spend a year working earning $400/month and that is the same as earning interest of $400/month with an invested lump sum of money. I mean would anyone truly respect someone who equated these two examples as the same?
What she likely is trying to suggest is that once you build up the business, you will have a residual income that requires you no longer doing any work. If that is the case, she is kidding herself because anyone who understands even simple concepts realizes that MLM has to be continually growing (new people in at the bottom) or it falls apart. So much for the dream of sitting back doing nothing that every MLMer strives for.
In short, you should not believe anyone that doesn鈥檛 offer factual logic to their explanations and MLM is littered with people who present concepts that are totally baseless. Most of these concepts are accepted by the masses that join because emotion offers a stronger pull than common sense.
The difficult part about MLM is that the promoters are experts in the mindset of the average individual. What I mean is that they know all the buttons to push to not only cause people to overlook the obvious flaws, but also to totally disengage those that speak logically. For instance, there are MLMers that inevitably will group me into a category of negative minded people or dream killers that should be completely blocked out; however, in turn, reality will ultimately show those MLM promoters to be the actual negative people because they perpetuate a dream based on emotional and illogical conclusions to keep you pumping in the money and new bodies with more money.
SO you need to seriously ask yourself what information you are going to use to assess what is in front of you. Keep in mind as well, that if you think I am negative, I am the one who has little interest in whether you move ahead with MLM or choose to avoid it altogether. It is the MLMers who NEED to keep people coming into their business鈥o where does bias lie?
Best of luck. What you鈥檙e describing and feeling is the worst part of MLM, direct sales and Network Marketing in general. There are good companies and there are bad ones, just like every other industry (used car sales is a perfect example). However, this industry does not train its sales staff on how in sales and market. It relies on recruiting thousands of sales people, then letting the talented ones (those with sales skills) to rise to the top. In fact, most companies will say that it is not sales and marketing, but it is and those who are successful have that talent (or training). The rest, up to 97%, simply bug their friends and family to death and opt out after a short period. Second, the bad companies use lots of mind games like 鈥榝ake it, till you make it鈥? 鈥榞et in on the ground floor鈥? 鈥榗atch the wave鈥? 鈥榟ey, look at my big check鈥?and acting crazy at meetings (as you described). These are the companies you should AVOID. It was the downfall of Amway, typical for most of the juice based companies and a clear indicator that they and you will fail in the long run. However, there are good companies; some like Tupperware, Avon and Fuller Brush are consider American icons. These companies strictly forbid the type of shenanigans used by others, have been in business for many years, have a broad product line (not just a single product), no risk money back guarantees, don鈥檛 require huge investments (or any at all) and offer the average person a business that they can retire on. That鈥檚 what makes them attractive! However, even these good companies fail to properly train their sales staff and many people still are not successful. If you know someone in a bad company, then stay clear and don鈥檛 try to help them (you can鈥檛). The mind games played by these companies is like a drug that just has to wear off. On the other hand if you know someone in a good company, then please steer them away from bugging friends and family and into developing/buying a marketing plan. It is the only way to be successful in the MLM, direct sales or Network Marketing business.
Chris
Who else is sick of chasing down prospects and harassing relatives?
http://chrisandpatricia.the7greatliesofn... This is a good question.
To properly answer it, let me think about what lies mlm people will tell their downline....
1. That mlm is the greatest business opportunity, and if you are thinking about doing a conventional business, then you are a fool. fact: I can think of about 1,000,000 easier, more profitable and less sketchy ways to make money.
2. Donald Trump endorses mlm. What?! If he endorsed mlm, he would do mlm. He wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.
3. Our company has the "best" compensation plan. They are all the same. They are all bad. You will not find one mlm plan where you can make money just selling the product. You must recruit to make money, the people whom you have recruited must recruit.... in the end it always collapses. It always does.
4. We are about to take off as a company, hit hyper growth... etc etc... and getting in now is such an amazing time. What a load of bull. They is no best time to get into mlm. There is a best time to get out of mlm though.... now.
5. In 5-10 years... 90% of products will be moved by mlm. I read a book back in 1996ish. It claimed that by the year 2000 95% of products were going to be moved by mlm. What a load of hogwash. If 1% of products gets moved by mlm, then I would be surprised. And most of those products are bought by the people in mlm and most end up in the garage.
6. (Mlm is just a glorified pyramid scheme).... but they try to deflect the heat by saying stupid things like corporations like McDonald are pyramids as well... Ok, here is one big difference. Even the janitor at McDonalds is earning a wage he can live on. What percentage can be said about mlmers. I want to say 1%, but I will be generous and say 10%. the janitor doesn't need to find 5 other janitors to get paid. AND he gets paid even if he never falsely convinced other people that his job is the greatest opportunity.
7. The amount of money they make is for the most part a fabrication because generally they will be talking about their gross and not their net. They don't tell you about all their expenses and all extra product that needs to be bought, so everyone can hit their level... Factor in all the travel expenses, seminars etc...
8. Robert Kyrosaki says it is the greatest thing, so it obviously must be. Look at the facts about Mr. Kyrosaki. He wrote a pretty good book awhile back about building assets, called Rich Dad Poor Dad. Now Bob was a smart one... he included a chapter on mlm, and how it is like building an asset as well. Now generally this book was on real estate. Well the mlmers went CRAZY for his book. And mlmers made up about 99.99999% of the people that bought his book. So guess what Bob does now? He writes books on how great mlm is. Guess what Bob doesn't do? That is correct, he doesn't do mlm, lol.
9. Here is probably my favorite lie of all. That mlm is being taught as a course at an accredited university. It may be one of the units covered by one of the profs that has been sucked in... but as an entire course? That university would be a laughing stock.
I can write all day long on this stuff. Bottom line, do the math. Even if you have a 3x3 downline... by like the 20th level, you are in the billions. It just doesn't work. Also think about the success rate of mlmers..... I would guess only 1% of people that get into mlm make any kind of OK money... and even then, it is fleeting. Sounds like a great opportunity to me!! I can't believe I was thinking about starting a conventional business, lol.
BTW: I love how mlmers are trying to plug their own "opportunity" on here, all in the premise of trying to "educate" you. Classic. |
