Most
of the money making opportunities on the internet and in magazines
are network marketing known as multi-level marketing ( MLM ).
Ye
gads !! Here comes another tremendous opportunity in network
marketing or multi level marketing (MLM). Why don't we all go
down and sign up...
I
can hardly wait to get into another one of these deals... My
friends will be saying "Oh lord, here comes Harry or Harrietta
with a new MLM deal... quick... run to the men's room, or hide
behind the water cooler..
Sure,
people can start a network marketing
business
with a small investment and have the potential of making decent
money by becoming distributors for a company that makes products
that they really like.
It's
also a great way for the marketing company to get their products
out into the market place. The company doesn't have to spend
big bucks on advertising, and recruits a network of paid distributors
to do their marketing for them.
What
happens is that the distributor works his tail off to bring in
dozens of other 'distributors' since he gets paid more for that
than just selling products.
Then
some state Attorney General decides that the company is a pyramid
scheme and the offices get raided...
I always wonder what the A.G. expects to find in these raids...
they never find anything but office furniture... but the top
distributors are so frightened that they will be prosecuted that
they run to the next MLM company they can find and start all
over again.
The
distributors down the line stop getting their checks and they
either forget MLM or start some other
venture
or go to work for someone else.
The
difference between a legitimate MLM company and one that is being
attacked by the A.G. probably has more to do with whether the
company donated to the correct political party than anything
to do with the structure of the offering... i.e. Microsoft...
So, the approved company acceptable to the State is a decision
so far removed from the individual distributor that even if she
knew all the facts from the beginning, she couldn't really make
an informed decision whether to join the company or not
The
other thing that happens is that the product is the world's greatest
and the distributor is absolutely enthralled with the stuff because
it makes her feel 20 years younger... it's a bit pricey but well
worth the extra dough... Two years after recruiting her ass off
to get a thousand people in her down line... the distributor
finds that the the $50 product can now be purchased at Wal-Mart
for $10. ($Actually: $9.95... $8.79 on sale) What do you think
that does for MLM sales? Well, as they say in the military...
' 10% never get the word' so sales dwindle to almost nothing
... but never go away completely. So what to do?
If
someone is so good at marketing, I always maintained that one
should set up their own marketing organization and promote their
own product that they ' control'. Why would you want to 'tag
along' with some one elses idea when you could set up your own
national sales organization where if you build it up properly
in the beginning, you will have something you can leave to your
grand kids someday.
I
have a friend that set up a small business which imports camera
cases and picture frames from the far east and sells them to
camera shops all over the U.S. I found out that the markup is
so small in cameras themselves that no one makes any money on
the camera. So all of a sudden my friend shows up with a ' profit
center ' for the camera store owner. Do you think they welcome
him with open arms ? You bet they do...
Do
you think the government will shut down that operation? Do you
think he is dependent on a bunch of part time distributors ?
Of course not... Even if he has trouble with a regional distributor
he can still go to the shops directly!
Letter
from a Reader.......
My
husband and I spent ten years with Sunrider International and
built a
wonderful business in MLM. However, when it became obvious that
the top
income had been reached, we started focusing elsewhere, always
qualifying
for our large check each month. Sunrider terminated us. My husband,
then
64, had a stroke several months after and he is now on SSI. So
much for
the residual income MLM talks about. I am now working for $10
an hour while
I try to put my life back together. Sincerely June (Name Withheld)
If
you still want to join up with MLM...
Good Luck... at least pick one that's been around for a while...
but be careful...