[bakerboy]

Those who say MLM is not entrepreneurial are confused. Business and selling go hand in hand. You cant have one without the other. I am a small business owner (32 employees) and i also dabble in MLM. My personal business has nothing to do with MLM, it is a manufacturing facility. To me, MLM depends what you are selling. The product needs to be the focal point of the sale. Especially in todays economy. Please are less gullable, and not willing to "try" something if the product is not there. In MLM you need to sell something life-changing. If your selling cable/telephone/tv bundles at a cheaper rate, it is not going to work. But if your selling something that is going to drastically change somebodys life for the better, you have a chance. I feel good about the fact that what I am mulit-level selling is changing peoples lives. I see it everyday.

Some people view MLM as an easy way out (obviously not), others have tried and failed, most are annoyed by constant calls, salesmen trying to get you to buy this or that. The bottom line is that MLM works if you have a product worth selling and you believe in it. Would you sell it to your mother,father.. grandmother.. whatever.

Theres a reason why Warren Buffet bought six MLM companies last year.

[hjsmael]

Most people don't actually hate MLM. But we hate MLMers who are too pushy and selfish to close their sales or recruiting downlines.

[DrinkAcai]

i'm a fortunate 22 year old that has seen enormous success with MLM so i definitely do not hate MLM. what i do dislike are the network marketers that use lies to pull people into their organization. as one of the many success stories from MonaVie, what i hate most are the people who make fake medical claims of our super fruit products

[mondort]

I do not hate nor am I a sucker for it. So just allow me to put the pros and cons why people are into it and why many hates it too

Why some are into it...

• An MLM distributor has a chance to make huge income from a small investment
• People in MLM business only has one goal, and that is to be rich and financially free. You barely hear anyone joining MLM just to be secure
• Legit and good companies has good trainings
• Some products of good MLM companies had benefited the people so much.
• Passive income! The more distributors you have under you, the more they all work, the more you earn and the lesser you work.

Now here are why people hates them...

• SCAM! There had been lots of ponzi schemes that had ruined the MLM image.
• Scam victims share their experiences and people believes them right away.
• RECRUITMENT STYLE OF THE MLM MEMBERS - they exort every means just to get you to listen even if it has to take "kidnapping" you. Some MLMs highly encourages this move which is totally UNPROFESSIONAL and IRRITATING
• Many MLMs were also a scam

What I feel is that the biggest negative factor contributing to people hating MLMs is the recruitment style.

During presentations, the recruiters show them that they will surely be rich, shows them the heavens and all. Of course, the prospects would really expect and put in false expectations thinking the job is easy and chicken feed. They end up failing after they learn lots of efforts are needed to be placed in. So to those in MLM, be transparent, and do not hard sell in order to just get your prospect. You may end up making more enemies.

Another in recruitment style is how they try to set meetings with prospects. Instead of being all out transparent, they have to hide the truth and say some BS just for the prospect to go. Of course being the prospect, I expect something different and not an MLM presentation. To a few, it came in as a blessing but to majority, it was something irritating and a total waste of time.

[financialfreedomaz]

I find it interesting just how many people dont do their research BEFORE getting involved with MLM companies. Sure there are some scams out there, but there are also alot of great opportunities. Obviously the most successful companies are going to have a solid product, otherwise there wouldnt be anything to back up the business model. Another interesting thing i keep hearing over and over is the term "salesman" if you have to turn into a salesman then you either dont have a strong enough product, or the product doesnt fit the network marketing model. The last thing a network marketer wants to do is become a salesman. Ideally you would want to teach or inform people about your product and its benefits then show your comp plan (and in that order). Then leave it up to them to decide. If your product and opportunity are strong enough, there shouldnt be an issue. Another reason so many people hate the network marketing industry is that they simply dont understand it. They sign up under some company that has been around for years that has hundreds of products and they wonder why they arent making money. There should be lots of research on the company, product, timing, market trends, and compensation plan before choosing a MLM company.
I also love it when people refer to network marketing as a pyramid scheme. First of all Pyramid schemes are ILLEGAL. Second, you cant say its a Pyramid scheme simply beacuse it looks like a pyramid. Otherwise, we would be saying all major corporations are pyramid schemes (first you have ur president or CEO, then your Vice President(s), Then Reigonal Managers, etc). Whats funny is that in the corporate model, the person below you doesnt make as much as you do. Yet in a network marketing model, the person below you may actually be making more money than you are because their other business legs may have taken off quicker. There is a great clip on youtube of Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki both being asked what they would do if either of them lost their fortunes today. Guess what their answer was........Network Marketing!

[Warranties-For-Less]

Interesting,

Good points on why MLM is not respected as a legitimate business by many, and in most cases, those who don't respect MLM are the ones who have tried it and failed, or better put, quit. We all know what happens when you quit, you are a loser, you not only lost your money to start, more importantly you lost your dreams of financial freedom which is why MLM exists to begin with.

It is one of the few ways an average person can ever hope to be financially free, but not if you don't respect system and work it as a business, something most don't do. When there is little investment required, there is little commitment put into their home business as well, and that leads to failure in most cases.

What I see is happening is MLM is trying to look like other than, and affiliate programs are starting to see the power of leverage and are looking more like MLM's. lol Amazing, is started with Melaluca claiming they were not MLM trying to distance themselves from the negative reputation of MLM, so what we see now are affiliate programs doing the same thing, so as I see it, we are entering a new era where the best of both are merging.

Researching everything on the internet has clearly disclosed we have many multi tier affiliate models now. I started one of the first two tier affiliate programs over a decade ago for similar reasons, MLM was getting a bad rap with Amway, Equinox and all the illegal pyramids popping up more and more with a long list of names that would not fit in this post. lol

Simply put, leverage is king, it always has been and always will be, and with direct sales or single level affiliate programs, you are missing the power of leverage. It all goes back to the statement, I would rather have 1% from a hundred people than 100% of my own. I have owned several traditional businesses, as well as online ones, and this was the lesson I learned long ago, and why I ventured into developing multi tier affiliate arena, it works.

In the last few months I have seen several affiliate programs move to MLM model, so this trend is catching on. I was an affiliate with a VOIP technology which was single tier, did OK, but now with introduction of new VOIP-COIP technology, putting dial tone on your mobile cell phone, the merged with a Social Media membership and just converted to MLM, so this really got my attention. Always look for a new trend and get in front of it is my best advice, and when I see a new technology, along with an existing affiliate merge with a Social Media viral model, it got my attention. We all know what Social Media is doing for owners, making them rich, just look at what MySpace sold for, $580M, and now FaceBook at $6.5B, this is mind blowing given they both were not revenue producing business models in the traditional sense.

MLM is here to stay, and is growing, and with this new era of seeing the merger of affiliate marketing and MLM, I see this as good move, especially when a company launches as an affiliate first. Having been in the affiliate marketing industry from start, no doubt about it, revenues are dropping off quickly in affiliate marketing, and with so many new people looking for a home business with recession crippling the economy and unemployment rising, this is why I am seeing this merging trend developing, so in my opinion, MLM will see an improved image as the focus will be on products and services, not the hyped up income side of MLM. With Trump launching his new MLM and Warren Buffet invested in MLM company, who knows, maybe in my lifetime MLM will become a respected business strategy. lol

Success to all,

[Asael]

You said it.

"EVERTHING in this world is network marketing".

I personaly believe in the MLM model, but many quit for the simple fact that they fail to effectively market the business.

What they end up doing is selling. And no one likes to be sold.

Its pitch after pitch after pitch. It gets old.

[kameron]

Because there are better business platforms out there, MLM is old technology, it did work, thousands and thousands of people got rich from the platforms and many others were able to substitute there 9-5 with incomes from MLM businesses. But there are much better developed business platforms today that actually make u a residual income that keep building and working adn actually involve ahving business partners and team members rather then a down line. The best part about these new platforms is that they rely on people helping people, by the top earners teaching the New Buisness owners how to make money in essence they are making money. So theoretically if u can teach someone to make a million dollars then you would have a million dollars right? So if u could teach ten people how to make a million dollars then you would have 10 million dollars. Its like built in karma to a system and the only non believers of the system after been shown cold hard proof and facts and results are just plain ignorant and dont want to believe what they cant understand. Its the future and the evolution of business. Pyramid Schemes are old business that was developed in the 80's and it got the people on top rich so technically it served its purpose it got the people who invented it and implemented it what they set out to achieve.. wealth. Now there are business systems such as Carbon Copy PRO that are developed to make everyone a residual income. where everyone helps each other and has built a community of people making money and building wealth and freedom away from society's 9-5 wage slave ways. If you understand what im taking about here im going to invite you to click the link below. On the link you will find Micheal Force, my current sponsor and business partner where he will go over a very lucrative business model with you.

Entrepreneurs Wanted

Thanks

Dedicated To Your Success!

Kameron George

[strosdegoz]

MLM is so hated because people have the wrong expectations.

[leo33]

depends on what company you are involved in...many scams out there in mlm..

[Reuban01]

Well to be totally honest it is because MLM has been given a bad name by bad companies, but there are great companies out there. Also because people say "NO" and don't do the research on the company on the company background, they never check with BBBonline nor take the time to read! I have dealt with MLM companies, work from home jobs, Surveys, pay per click all of that over 5 years. And overall some work some don't. But if a person does join a company that is MLM or another business opportunity, they want the money right now, but don't read the fine line or the policy or procedures to actually needs to be done to get that large amount of money there bound to fail. It's all about research. and if your looking to get rich quick ha you will be broke, if you are looking to build and grow a business do the research, get training, and be patient and do the work step by step.


If looking for a business opportunity email me Join(at) ardyssaestheticsteam (dot) info, My team does free training and conferences every day M-F.

Visit my webstore Ardyssaesthetics(dot)com

[Future of Edu]

Obviously way too much for me to read and catch up on so I'll just make a couple of points.

1. MLM is a legitimate business and because you don't like it or tactics used does not make it a scam.

2. If you truly understand MLM and you know it can make money, why do you chose not to do it? BECAUSE IT'S A LOT OF WORK!! People are afraid of doing true hard work. Young people now (being a younger person I can say this) want something for nothing. They don't want to put it in hours and hours of work and they do NOT like hearing no.
MLM is sales. It's a hard sale even if it's a great opportunity because of the history that comes with it.

3. I said this up top, because you dont like the tactics needed to make it work does not make it a scam. I google'd "stream energy scam" the other day and the first few posts that came up were the same article. The article was written by some one that called it a scam because you have to "prey" on friends and family to make it work. Even if that was true, it does not constitute a scam.


I dont personally like MLM's but I'm grown enough to admit why. ITS TOO MUCH HARD WORK. There are many other ways to come up with a nice income and not waste nearly as much time as creating a successfull downline.

Enjoy Life,
Nick

[Powell]

Hi,

MLM is a legitimate business model, but some people have chosen to create MLM scams from this model. With a lot of work, one can make good money with MLM. MLM scams often require that people purchase items that are backordered.

[Sanojio]

its all about the people not the mlm

[ritty]

MLM is a numbers game. If you are on top, then your promoting the business the most. Just like anything. I never been involved with it, but know of some successful people that are!