My Thoughts On Multi Level Marketing

I like it and think it's a great opportunity for those wanting to build their own businesses.

Ok, hold on to the rocks, I shall explain myself.

To start, I am really not sure I understand why people see it as a fake, unscrupulous way to make money. The idea takes a bit to get used to, but once you open your mind and see for what it is, it is the easiest, safest and most of the times, cheapest way you can ever expect to own your own business. Now there are MLM's out there that are scams, and there some out there that are legit. You have to do your own research to find ones that are legit and that you believe in their products to begin with.

Let's first talk about the "pyramid" scheme that people talk about. They say that on a MLM only those at the top make the big bucks.

Well that certainly is true, those at the top have more people to override and they get the sweetest commissions. But in your company, do you make more or less money than your manager or CEO? Probably less right? So why is it OK to earn less money than your manager workplace, but it's suddenly unethical to have the same thing happen in a MLM system? If you don't have a business, then you're also working in a pyramid "scheme" and you probably didn't even realize it.

Think of it then as a triangle:

This is your job.  I got this from "Why We Want You To Be Rich" from Robert Kyosaki and Donald Trump. They both think MLM is a great thing and are both big authors and agents in the "rich land".

So here's what they say, sort of. Only one CEO at the top, making a lot of money, and a lot of people working under that one big CEO. Is this not the "pyramid" everyone's been freaking out about? But it gets better: your CEO will make less money if you also become a CEO for the same company, so chances are that he likes it just the way it is right now and does not really like to change it.

If you have been working for a while then you know that in about 10 out of 10 cases in traditional corporations, the CEO wants to remain the CEO and he wants you to NOT become the CEO. There are very few chances for you to actually reach the top of the company from within the same company.

We like to think MLM as an inverted pyramid. Why? In a true MLM business model, the ones at the top will only make more money if the ones below them make more money because of overrides. So if I'm on top, I want a lot of people working under me, but if no one makes a dime, I'm also not making anything. But, if they are all making 100,000 a year, then I'm in paradise. So I want to grab every single one of them and drag them to the top where the big bucks are, so while in a ordinary corporation there's very little incentive to help you grow, in MLM, "growth" is the only keyword that matters.

Now some people say that in order for MLM to work, then that group of people at the bottom always needs to be there. That is as true for MLM as it is true for any other business model. The only difference is that in the traditional business model they want you to REMAIN at the bottom, while in a true MLM business model they do NOT want you to be there at the bottom for long. They make more money if you are stacked up higher.

Notice how I keep say "true MLM business model". There are, as there are in businesses, some who will use this system to just cheat their way up the system. Because MLM grows so fast, it's a lot easier for these people to be successful. You have to trust the system you're looking at and most important of all, trust the people who are working in that system so that you can be successful. It's your own responsibility to make sure that you are signing the contrat with a good MLM company, offering a product that you honestly believe in and feel passionate about. If you don't, then you should rethink about joining that MLM company.

Another great advantage of going into a MLM business is that you get to learn the core basics of selling and social skills, which you would probably not learn at your job. Ask anyone who is a successful business owner: they know how to sell.

Sales. Why does everyone hate sales? Do you honestly think that you don't sell?

You sell your skills to a company on interviews, hoping for a job.
You sell your idea to friends if you want them to go somewhere with you.
You sell yourself as a good person to live with when out on your first date.
You sell new ideas at your work place if you want it to change.

So you are constantly selling. The only thing that changes is what you're selling and what you're going to get from it. If you have a business, you must sell that business to the public in order for it to be successful.

I remember reading Rich Dad Poor Dad from Robert Kyosaki and he was meeting this newspaper reporter and she had told him that she wanted to have her own business as well. He advised her to take a class in sales. She became furious! She started saying how she was above sales because she had a masters degree, this and that publication, this and that certification... He then got one of his books and pointed at that silver sticker and said "see here? It says 'best selling author' and not 'best writing author'".

So being able to sell is very important for a business and if you really want to become rich. Another thing that is important is to be able to surround yourself by people who want to be successful and who want you to be successful. At my job I know a lot of people who do just the enough to "get by" and they will "get by" their entire lives. They work very hard at what they do, but they will often not do anything other than that. Everyone is surprised whenever I tell them that I'm studying for this and have plans for that. In their heads, why would anyone go home after working for the entire day and work on something else that is not paying a hourly wage?

If everyone you know thinks like that, then you'll also think like that. There's nothing wrong with it, but understand that it is not the mindset that will take you to riches. It is the mindset that will make you want to save money and play it safe. Whether or not it is a good way to think about the future is beyond this post (and I shall post about it later on) but as long as you are truly satisfied with what you want, I say go for it.

Of course, it is your ultimate responsibility to be involved with a true MLM business model which offers a good product and a terrific sales program training. If you find yourself being "ripped off" then I'm sorry to say, but you should have known it better. With todays disclosing requirements, it is very improbable that they hid a material fact: maybe it was written in that contract you signed; maybe it was written in that manual you took home but never bothered to really read it and just took everyone's word for it. Either case, you're the one at fault, not the MLM business model.

They are not for everyone, far from it. But if you want to have a business and time to grow it without spending a lot of money, it really does not get much better than this.