All MLMs Are Not Created Equal
Jennifer McCune, Ph.D.
Project Management | Instructional Design | SaaS | EdTech | Communications | Sales | Marketing
Yes, I am one of the dinosaurs who still gets the daily print newspaper, and generally I like reading the advice columns. Today's Carolyn Hax was so surprising to me (link above), not that there was a lot of negativity about MLMs - I hear that a lot. What I was surprised about was the completely one-sided, biased responses she printed without any alternative view points. Here's what I emailed to her. I know many people have a lot of opinions about direct sales, but at least make an educated decision. #AllMLMSAreNotTheSame #KnowWhatYouAreSaying#EducatedDecisions
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks so much for your continued logical, rational, even-keel presence in your advice column. I opened today's paper excited to read about what you would have to say as you generally present more than one position. I was completely taken aback that you had not offered any other view points on MLMs nor had you offered any other way for the reader to be gracefully tactful in her handling of the situation. Three things:
1. Some people do make money with MLMs, and it is not at all about preying upon family and friends. When done right with a good business model and high-quality products, it's absolutely about sharing with your network and expanding said network much like any business owner should do. If you own an ice cream store, you absolutely invite your friends and family to your grand opening and then continuously meet and reach out to new people. It is marketing and sales 101.
2. If said family and friends are not interested in the business, they can gracefully say no by letting the business owner know that they are happy for them and will cheer them on but are not interested in what they have to offer. Why would the sister not cheer her sister on? Why would she not be happy that her sister is happy? Maybe, just maybe her sister will change her life and how beautiful would that be? The reader sister does not have to be rude in her sister's goal of bettering her life.
3. If the top earners in fact are the only ones making money in the business that people are investigating, that is not a true business. Just like bricks and mortar stores, not all MLMs are created equally. People should do their due diligence and research before jumping to snap conclusions and before starting any business endeavor, MLM or otherwise.
Again, in general I think your responses are spot on, well thought out and extremely helpful. In this case, you presented such a one-sided point of view and no real helpful take aways. I hope you consider presenting a balanced response on this topic in the future.
All the best,
Jennifer J. McCune, Ph.D.
Freelance Document Specialist | Creating, editing, & beautifying your business documents & forms
5 年There are some good points here. It is always possible for an MLM seller to succeed as a viable business. Anything is possible with research and hard work. The problem is that most of the typical qualities of an MLM are against you in such an endeavor. - Luxury items with limited usefulness for the price (i.e. jewellery, make-up, personalized bags) These kinds of items are hard to sell to begin with because they are not necessities and the market is oversaturated, but for an MLM you now have scores of other sellers competing against you with exactly the same products. Successful businesses sell something that's useful or different or fills a need. - Potentially useful products that are over-priced and touted as "miracle-cures" using exaggerated claims (i.e. fitness shakes, “natural” make-up, cleaning products) People don't like being sold to or hustled, and most people have a sense of when something is too good to be true. - A corporate mentality that doesn’t educate you to succeed as a business, but preys on desperation, emphasizes dreams, and hides costs. - The most effective way to make money is through recruiting, which is the basis of a pyramid scheme. The top-earning sellers and recruiters usually use pushy or shady tactics. People are sick of ads and being sold to and are used to shutting down at the slightest sense of something iffy.? These businesses also usually teach you ways to sell to your friends and family, knowing full well that they usually feel obligated to buy something and guilty if they don't.? Many who work for MLMs end up being thought of by friends and family as always trying new get-rich-quick schemes and eventually tuning you out when you finally do choose a good venture to pursue. Yes, anything is possible. But trying to solve your problems or build a business with an MLM is not usually *probable*. For someone willing to do the hard work and research to make an MLM profitable (and not scammy), their efforts are best spent comparing many business types and choosing the one that’s best for them. If after research and due diligence an MLM is what you choose, then at least it was with eyes wide open and hopefully a proper knowledge of business. Dreams are important, but on their own they only get you so far.