Your Take on Multi-Level Marketing

[LuckyJB]

I am just cuious of everyones opinion on Multi Level Marketing...good and bad....

Have you guys heard the new term now MULTI GENERATIONAL..???


I have done my research on the background of it...and I also work for a financial firm coming from a multi level background.

I will respond to comments.

Thanks

[sweeps]

In general, they are scams.

Please be careful where you're going with this.

[LuckyJB]

Originally Posted by sweeps

In general, they are scams.

Please be careful where you're going with this.

Well what is your definition of a scam? I agree there is scams out there...and bad multi level marketing...and also fyi MLM is not illegal. Researching a companies background what be a safe bet.

[Brokemofo]

MLM are great for real go-getter networking types who know how to manger time and convince others to drink the koolaid. I know some MLM people who got rich, no, i mean wealthy doing MLM.

[LuckyJB]

Originally Posted by Brokemofo

I know some MLM people who got rich, no, i mean wealthy doing MLM.

i DO TOO...im on my way up there...

[cschin4]

Highly annoying. Who decided it was OK to turn your friends and family into a "network" to try to part them from their cash with overpriced products, questionable sales pitches, and strong arm tactics. I run like the plague when any friends or family has something to sell me. I absolutely positively DO NOT want to buy ANYTHING from my friends or family and i seriously resent those who try to take our relationship and turn it into nothing more than a dollar bill. I think it stinks and is damaging to relationships.
I have found that those who get involved in this kind of stuff never stop talking about the miracles of their "products". Over time, you just can no longer stand to be around them.

[disneysteve]

I think they are a "scam" in the sense that they try to suck new people in with promises of wealth, when in reality, it is usually only the uppermost people who got in early who see the really big bucks.

The average person might make a few bucks until they have exhausted getting all of their willing friends and relatives to host sales parties. Once you've dried up that network, you're usually out of business.

I have often found that those involved become brainwashed into believing the hype the company promotes, that their products are truly unique and better than anything else on the market. For example, my wife sold Tupperware for a while. At the intro party she had, our friend, who was my wife's "superior" in the pyramid, ran the show. She demonstrated numerous products and glowingly their benefits. I'll admit that a select few items were truly superior, and we bought and still regularly use a number of them. But many others, most I'd say, were no better than items commonly available at better kitchen stores at substantially lower prices.

I'd have a tough time selling items that I didn't really feel were better or worth the price. Plus, as cschin4 said, I hate when I or DW gets invited to a "party" because it is really awkward. We don't want to buy any of that overpriced junk, but we sometimes feel obligated because of our relationship with the person. Friends shouldn't use friends like that.

So as a general rule, I'd advise staying away from MLMs. Unless you investigate the product and truly feel it is superior to anything else on the market and don't mind annoying the heck out of your friends and family to try and get them to spend their hard earned money so that you can make a few extra bucks.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I think a lot of "little people" in the MLM scheme do poorly, don't you think so LuckyJB? I've seen some pretty desperate people give it a try and come up with nothing, or less than nothing when they had to invest in product to sell.

What part of MLM would appeal to you, LuckyJB? Convincing other people to sell or convincing other people to buy? Does the product matter to you, or do you think that selling anything at all is worthwhile?

What do you know about the psychology of people who are attracted to MLM participation? (If there is anything to be known, anything in common.)

[click4credit]

My take is that they are not always scams (although there are many that are) but they should always be approached with caution.
Those that involve turning your friends and family into a network are among the worse. I've had friends in these schemes and everytime you see them they are trying to convert you to join the scheme and tell you how great it is. In the end everyone ends up avoiding these people. Is it really worth annoying everyone you know and even losing friends over!!
In most schemes I've seen then although some people are successful most are not and the side effects such as losing friends outweigh many of the benefits.
I also think that if a product is really that great you should be able to rely on direct marketing.
There are some genuine opportunities out there, I would simply suggest you approach with caution and think it through before joining one

[cschin4]

People that want to get involved in this need to stop pestering everybody. Some friends of ours are always selling and hawking something. It has changed our friendship. We are still friends but it is ALL they can talk about and is really annoying and sad.
I also cannot stand it when some acquaintance invites me to a "party". Sorry, but if the only time you can invite me to your home is to sell me something, I am not interested. I refuse to attend any and all "parties".
I used to go out of some sense of obligation to friends or coworkers but no longer. In fact, I do not even RSVP to these anymore. It is no different than a telemarketer or anyone else hawking their wares.
I find the whole thing very tiresome. I would like to have relationships with people and just be friends. However, when you start throwing business and money into the relationship it becomes tainted and you wonder if you are really their friend or just part of the business network.

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by Brokemofo

I know some MLM people who got rich, no, i mean wealthy doing MLM.

Just because someone got rich doesn't mean the MLM is not a scam. In fact that is the definition of a scam: Getting rich at the expense of others through some deceitful scheme.

[poundwise]

MLM is all about getting others to buy into the system. It hardly matters what an MLM "sells" or "provides" - if you are in a MLM, your task, if you wish to be a success, is to get more people in the MLM - period.

I despise MLM.

[PrincessPerky]

Some MLMs sell items that are better quality than what you can find easily in a store..generally about 10% of the line sold is worth it.

I hunt up an MLM person when I want to buy those items, but I would prefer it was easier to find.

While most of the information from the top MLMs is basically correct, the claims of wealth are there for MAJOR go getters and networkers...the line of 'couple hours a week' is False how2ever (just like scouting, one hour a week is not enough to fully lead a pack .)

[Scanner]

I think it's a flawed concept (except for the chowderheads at the top who greatly benefit).

It rewards "sales managing" vs. "sales."

That's an ultimately inferior way to promote an item and reward your downline.

You could be the Zig Ziglar of tupperware and you'll do bad, unless you can convince people to "start their own business."

[Scanner]

I must admit I cringe too when I hear the phrase,

"Dr. Scanner. . .we'd like to invite you to a meeting. . ." The MD next door did that and it really makes things awkward. He provides me with referrals.

Do I come to just please him? Do I buy his long distance to please him?

It breaks the normal boundaries.

He does this:

ACN - World’s Largest Direct Seller of Telecommunications Services

[cschin4]

No, you don't go. Just say tell him you are busy and have other committments. No need to explain any further.
The big red flag of the MLMs to me is the focus on recruiting other people to sell. If you are selling a great product, then I would think you would want to sell as much of it as possible yourself and not be focused on turning other people into salesmen. That is what MLM is all about, not the actual product.

[brig2221]

Originally Posted by poundwise

MLM is all about getting others to buy into the system. It hardly matters what an MLM "sells" or "provides" - if you are in a MLM, your task, if you wish to be a success, is to get more people in the MLM - period.

I despise MLM.

I totally agree and could not have said it better myself. THe ONLY way to make money in MLM is not by actually selling said product or service in large quantities, but to actually recruit as many people as possible to sell the product for you and under you, taking a nice commission from them every time they make a sale.

IMHO, they are all scams. For example, one of my buddies is now trying to hock $4,000 water filtration systems, claiming they prevent cancer due to making the water an alkaline, not acidic like the current drinking water we have now. Cases of people losing extreme amounts of weight, curing diabetes, etc.

I then got on Google after the phone call, sure enough, first hit, a big site devoted to how much of a scam those filtration systems are.

You ever wonder why anyone would ever need to market products and services in that way if they were actually legitimate, and not ripoffs? The answer is painfully simple to me, it's because they are not legitimate products, and they are ripoffs.

[Scanner]

Or you can take legitimate products (toilet paper, paper towels) and just mark them up 50% and sell them.

[brig2221]

Originally Posted by Scanner

Or you can take legitimate products (toilet paper, paper towels) and just mark them up 50% and sell them.

That would fall under the ripoff category

I guess I should have stated that they were not legitimate products, OR were ripoffs.

I would call a legitimate product marked up 50% a ripoff for sure!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I've told this story before, but here goes again. Once in a bank parking lot, I spotted an "Ask me about tea tree oil" bumper sticker. This was oh, maybe, 22 years ago when it was still hard to find tea tree oil retail. I had run out of a tiny bottle and was happy to think I'd spotted a salesperson. So I did as his bumper sticker requested; I asked him. Well, fricken-fracken murrgledy-gump, I couldn't get the guy to sell me any or give me the contact info for another sales person. All he wanted to do was given me a recruitment folder and tell me how much money I could make.