Why should I not do this mlm?? Thatfreething

[jake_russell]

Hey YE,

I know alot of people on here believe that all mlm's are bad but I do not think so. If you find one that has a good product (Mary Kay) then it is not a pyramid scheme as long as the majority of the money is coming from the sale of that product.

Anyways I joined thatfreething.com the other day and I wanted to know what yall think about it. It is like groupon but you pay per month for unlimited access to coupons. By paying for access to coupons you are also automatically set up in the mlm side of it. You can only have 3 people in your direct downline and then any spillover from the people above is filled in from left to right so everybody gets a fair share.

Anyways I paid $25 to get into it and $10 per month after the first one. Supposedly if 8 people get under me (from above or me) it will pay for itself and then anything above that is money in the pocket.

Also the website has been around for a couple of years but this side of it launched 5 weeks ago so I got in at the beginning.

What do you think? Stay in? Get out? Check it out for a month?

[borisfowler]

MLM is a great way to make money if you have the focus and discipline to do so. Too often though, people think it is get rich quick. Are you willing to approach and follow up with close to 60-70 in order to get 8? Those are the metrics you are looking at if you are good, if you have a high learning curve it could be closer to 90 or 100.

I believe that real entrepreneurs do not do MLM, because there is nothing truly entrepreneurial about them. If you want to experience startups, go start a business. Work with a supplier, learn about supply and demand, and learn how to recruit and do sales.

[Rich Grads]

Jake,

I've been involved in MLM for over 5 years and have seen many companies come and go. In over 40 years, of the tens of thousands of MLM companies, only 30 companies have lasted more than 5 years. 80-90% of companies shut down in their first 2 years; 96% shut down by the 5-year mark and only 0.8% reach 10 years.

If your goal is long term residual income (like mine is), it is critically important that you spend the time to do your due diligence into the different companies out there and pick a solid one. I spent 3 solid months researching companies before I selected one. I treated the decision like I would have treated investing $100,000 in a franchise. I looked at it from the standpoint of, if I'm going to put in a solid 4 to 7 years effort into building an organization, then I surely want the company to be around for the next 20 to 30 years to pay me that residual income. So having been around to make it through the start-up phase it crucial.

Just some of the criteria I used were the following:

1.) The founder of the company started the business for a purpose he or she was passionate about.

2.) The products are consumable. For example, if the company sold water it would meet this criteria as water is consumable. Vitamins are another very good example. If the products aren't consumable, you are unemployed until the next sale.

3.) A binary compensation plan is used. It is far easier to make passive income with a binary compensation plan.

4.) The company has a good reputation. Google it! Sketchy companies will have many negative comments written about them. Good companies will have more positives than negatives.

5.) The company has been in business for at least seven years.

6.) The industry the company is based in has a future not a past. Therefore, there is growing demand for the products. A good example would be products that serve the baby boomers (a growing segment). I strongly believe that the Health & Wellness Industry is the absolute best to get into.

7.) The company has exceptional training programs and marketing materials.

8.) The product or service is distributed through online systems and does not make you stock a large inventory.

9.) The company prides itself on HELPING people not selling to people. Sketchy companies focus most of their energy on training you how to just recruit other distributors. Good companies focus on training you about their products and why they help people and how to help people achieve their goals

10.) The company has an exceptional product or service that people will want to recommend to their friends.

I did a 1-hour training webinar that teaches people how to properly select a company. You can check it out here: How To Select A Quality Network Marketing Company

At first glance of what your company is all about, I'd honestly say that I feel that if you want long term residual income, which is the greatest benefit to starting a network marketing (MLM) business, then you may want to look into other companies as I feel you have better options available to you.

To Your Success!

[jake_russell]

What value can you place on getting in at the start of a mlm? I understand that very few mlm last two years and I also understand very few "real" businesses last two years so I am not particularly concerned about that. I like the idea of this one because it does meet many of your list of recommended requirements and it just started. I have never been in on any this early. Will that make a difference?

[Rich Grads]

What value can you place on getting in at the start of a mlm?

It can be good. It may not be. I don't really know. I don't have a crystal ball unfortunately

When was the best time to get in at Microsoft? When was the best time to get in at Kodak? Of course at the beginning. There are companies that get started every day. But how many are the size of Microsoft? There are pros and cons in both. The new company vs. the proven company.

If you want to witness total confusion in this area, watch the business news when all the experts, analysts and financial guru's try to pick the future value of the proven companies vs. the new companies. It's hilarious! Most of the experts are just plain wrong.

Here's another thing to think about. Has Microsoft or Apple peaked? Or will in 20 years from now, will one of them be a $30 Trillion Dollar company because it becomes the standard operating system around the entire world? Beats me. I do not have an answer for this question. Neither does anyone else. Some people are better educated in to what to look for in a company's history, but history is just one perspective. I just personally put a lot of value on the length of time a company has been in business - as I mentioned above though. But that's just me.

The more important thing to understand and focus on is that MLM compensation plans are designed to reward production: do a little - earn a little; do a lot - earn a lot. How else could you possibly compensate people? Do a little - earn a lot? That’s the welfare system.

MLM pays based on performance standards. If you perform to a certain standard, you earn whatever that standard or level pays. How many people will achieve this? However many perform to the standard! So then it shouldn't really matter when you get in.

An MLM company puts NO RESTRICTIONS on anyone. They don’t say, “We will only allow 10 people to earn the top level of commissions.” They don’t look at the school you attended and decide what you’ll be paid. They don’t look at your salary at your last job and use that as the basis of what they will pay you, as most employers do.

An MLM company doesn’t even look at what “experience” you have. Whoever meets the required performance standards enjoys the benefits of that standard. So again, it shouldn't really matter if it is a "ground floor opportunity" and you get in at the beginning.

Hope this helps.

[jake_russell]

you are right about the compensation plan. MLM's really are a performance only thing. They do not care about your past besides what you did last week for the company. I appreciate your response, many people bash MLM so much that you get nervous getting in one even if you think it is a good deal.

I think this may be a good one for me and others that are on a budget but would like the opportunity to make decent money over the next couple of months.

[f5mtadas]

80% of MLM companies opened this year will be closed next years. I personally not look at the company, which
would be working at least 5 years.

[jake_russell]

f5mtadas, I understand but I am in a very good situation to take on risk. I am in college with no mortgage, wife, or kids. I have a company I started about 8 months ago that is going very well and allowing me to put money in the bank for the future. so this mlm is kind of my gamble for the year. if I make some money great, if not I am only going to be out $10 per month.