Are some people addicted to MLM?

Scott@KarmaContent

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The more and more I read on here, the more I'm convinced there are MLM 'junkies' who seem to be addicted to MLM and other similar types of scheme. Even people who have tried several and not made much money still seem to sign on for more, even though the outcome is most likely going to be the same. Why, when there are lots of other options out there?

It seems that once bitten by the MLM bug it's very hard to get away!
 

Jon

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It's a way of earning money (or trying to) where 80% of the work is done for you. Stock, back office, support etc it's all there once you pay up.


It is also VERY strong with the stay at home mums brigade / I am woman, hear me roar on Facebook etc.. They are normally exposed to it via other Mums or internet groups they frequent.


The 'good' people tend to join one, rinse it dry and move onto the next one, always trying to keep one step ahead of the curve. You can only sell SO MUCH of one product in a market before people tire of it so you would then move onto the next franchise and probably take your customers with you and rinse and repeat
 

caledonia1972

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Completely agree with Jon. There is a minority of people who are good at spotting opportunities, get on the bandwagon as one of the first 1% or 2% of people to join, make money and then move onto the next thing. Those people are a tiny minority.

I also agree that most people are lured in by the "sit on your arse and log into facebook" ads which make people think they can earn £1000 a month doing very little. They are naïve, new to the world of online work, gullible and easily led. They do not question why the person trying to recruit them isn't giving the negatives as well as the positives and don't do research. They aren't prepared to put in the work needed to build their business and fail.

I just don't "get" the appeal of this sort of business when there are SO many other opportunities. Even if you like the idea of selling stuff, why not research independent wholesalers of candles/cosmetics/jewellery etc and sell in that way? You're dealing direct with the wholesaler and not lining the pockets of several other people up the chain.
 

martay

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I'm actually into MLM, but I would not class myself as the regular "mlm tryhard" you usually see or hear from, so I am going to have to chime in here.


Personally, I joined an mlm around 6 or so months ago, and I will explain (briefly) why in a second.

Since joining, I realised there would be a bit more involved than I had first imagined, and I realised I would have to do a bit more leg-work than I imagined to make it work with My Plan i had set out. Basically I have not started as well as I would have liked yet because I dont like the companies website or marketing material in general, based on my own personal experience it is not conducive to sales. but I can make my own website and marketing materials :) (which I have been doing)


Very briefly, I joined MLM coming from a sales and self employed background. I have sold lots of things, door to door, online, via websites or auction sites, on the phone, etc etc.

I have started my own businesses, making stuff and selling, offering services and selling those, etc etc.


As of yet, I have not found the thing that I want to stick at, maybe I have ADD/ADHD/Whatever, but thats by the by, not what this conversation is lol :)


All I am saying is, I have tried a lot of stuff, and in my eyes, it always comes down to sales.

A sales based business is scalable. most other businesses, are extremely hard to scale. A service based business, very hard to scale, especially if you cant find people as good at offering the service as you are.


I thought LONG and HARD before joining an MLM (only one, and I am not jumping ship till I have seen my plan to the end).

I had great issues with PAYING someone for the privilege of promoting their products. After all, I did sales, and affiliate sales, and none of them would ask me for money to promote their products.

however none of those would offer the "Downline" and scalability and leverage.


I decided, that after years of taking "up front money", and even helping lots of people with getting their "up front money" I wanted to try and build something that can pay out over the long term.

Short term, sell some products, but long term, all the help I have given people over the years, if I help people make even just a little bit of money selling my MLM products, I hope it will build into a long term income.



Anyway long and short is, unlike a lot of people in MLM I sought out an MLM company because I had decided it was time to try the MLM route.

I have my own plan, not the plan that the MLM company is pitching.

I do have a lot of problems with MLM in general, especially the MLM Try Hards who have been brainwashed etc, it is really hard talking to some of them lol :)

I am with Wikaniko BTW, because they have a massive range of products (from a sales mans point of view thats good) plus they are flexible with promotion methods (whereas some companies are strict)


caledonia1972 said:
Even if you like the idea of selling stuff, why not research independent wholesalers of candles/cosmetics/jewellery etc and sell in that way? You're dealing direct with the wholesaler and not lining the pockets of several other people up the chain.

You also have to buy a large amount up front, and deal with all the admin/clerical side of the business. as Jon pointed out, all that is done for you with an MLM and some good ones have no minimum order or signup fees.
 

martay

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BTW, as an answer to the original question,

Yes, many people are addicted to MLM.

In fact, it is common practise for MLM companies and larger MLM teams to use Brainwashing and Cult like tricks and tactics to indoctrinate their downlines and teams.

It is a very big problem in the industry, and is why many people will plod along for years making no money.

I have no intentions of falling into any of the above categories, and if I ever brainwash my team, I hope that the soap I would be using would at least be decent :)
 

sparkleandshine

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I don't think it's just mlm businesses I think it's true of anyone who starts their own business doing/selling anything, you invest a lot emotionally plus your time, effort, often money and your hopes and dreams for the future and it's very hard to face up to the fact if it's not working out as you hoped it would, and it takes a strong person to walk away. It's a bit like walking away from a long term relationship, there's a grieving process you have to go through if it doesn't work out. like entering into a long term relationship, starting your own business is a commitment. It's not like a job which is just a straightforward transaction of a company's cash in return for your time, be that an hourly rate, per 1000 words, per project, per sale or whatever. You work at a job 9-5 or whatever and then you go home and forget all about it. With your own business you are either working on, or thinking about your business 24/7. it can take over your life. People compare starting your own business to having a new baby in the family. Mlm companies know all of this of course and exploit it to the max for their own advantage.
 

martay

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The point you made about people feeling committed, and not wanting to give up on investments of time and emotion is very valid.

The problem I find with MLM is that it makes people feel they are to blame, when often the system they are pushing is actually no good.

And then that also applies to a lot of businesses that fail too, people struggle to get a system going for whatever reason, and things get overwhelming or no sales/customers come along.
 

Jon

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martay said:
The point you made about people feeling committed, and not wanting to give up on investments of time and emotion is very valid.

The problem I find with MLM is that it makes people feel they are to blame, when often the system they are pushing is actually no good.

And then that also applies to a lot of businesses that fail too, people struggle to get a system going for whatever reason, and things get overwhelming or no sales/customers come along.


ok BUT


if I setup a business and it fails then fair enough.


if I setup a MLM and it fails I wonder why. I was told I could earn xxx amount sat at home in my pyjamas and this would change my life and empower me as a person yadda yadda yadda


these people that recruit have no idea a lot of the time about how to do that properly apart from spamming facebook and the thing is, people respond!
 

sparkleandshine

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you're both so right it's also messing with people's heads. If you set up your own business, then you can work on it, or not work on it, as and when you choose, you can throw yourself into it or just leave it ticking away in the background, there are no expectations, no targets, no feelings of failure (some people are very target driven of course and will set themselves their own very ambitious targets, but that's their choice if that's the way they want to work)

With mlm there are targets every month to be met, to get a certain level of commission or to keep a certain title...it's very easy to get into the mindset that you are not succeeding, that others are doing better than you all the time...also other people's successes are constantly being celebrated by the company, and if you are not achieving the same success you can start to think why, is there something wrong with me

So that's another way they hook you in, by getting you to think you're not good enough and you need to work harder next month and then maybe you will be good enough...it's all pretty unhealthy....
 

sparkleandshine

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and then there's the social aspect of it too, that can be a real hook for some people...but you will find as soon as you start to question things or go against the group, they will drop you as quickly as they welcomed you in...that's another cult like aspect
 

Jon

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I suppose another major difference between running your own business and running your own business MLM style is that you are in a walled garden with the MLM

there are rules to be followed when it comes to quality, marketing and what can and can't be said regarding the company and finances.

You are very much controlled from when you hand over your money to them
 

sparkleandshine

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Yes - there's that as well - so again that can put you at a disadvantage - if you're naturally more inclined towards doing things one way but your company only allows you to do things another way - how many people actually do read all of the small print before signing up and handing over their money, probably not many!
 

Stims

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Yes. I particularly hate the ones promoting products in the health and fitness industry, as these are full of false information and the people selling it preach it like its the truth. It's horrible to see and i love putting those in their place on facebook.
 

martay

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Jon@TheMoneyShed said:
ok BUT


if I setup a business and it fails then fair enough.


if I setup a MLM and it fails I wonder why. I was told I could earn xxx amount sat at home in my pyjamas and this would change my life and empower me as a person yadda yadda yadda


these people that recruit have no idea a lot of the time about how to do that properly apart from spamming facebook and the thing is, people respond!

yes that is true. I do not agree with this. Many companies and the reps make claims about incomes that themselves or noone they know is earning.

It is not something that I would do, I would not teach my team to do that either.

I would rather share my £50 monthly profit for a couple of hours work on ebay setting up dropship listings, if that does not appeal to someone then fair enough but at least if it does, I can speak from experience and they can expect similar results if they put in similar amounts of work.

Basically I agree, I dont like lies, and I would not endorse or engage in promoting something I have not done, or speak about results I have not personally achieved.

unfortunately yes, most people are not like that.

sparkleandshine said:
you're both so right it's also messing with people's heads. If you set up your own business, then you can work on it, or not work on it, as and when you choose, you can throw yourself into it or just leave it ticking away in the background, there are no expectations, no targets, no feelings of failure (some people are very target driven of course and will set themselves their own very ambitious targets, but that's their choice if that's the way they want to work)

With mlm there are targets every month to be met, to get a certain level of commission or to keep a certain title...it's very easy to get into the mindset that you are not succeeding, that others are doing better than you all the time...also other people's successes are constantly being celebrated by the company, and if you are not achieving the same success you can start to think why, is there something wrong with me

So that's another way they hook you in, by getting you to think you're not good enough and you need to work harder next month and then maybe you will be good enough...it's all pretty unhealthy....

As you said, some people are target driven, and competitive. a healthy target driven environment like MLM can be productive for such people.

You are right though, high pressure targets can be unhealthy for a lot of people.

The problem with most MLMs is they try and make a "one size fits all" solution, and in life that just does not work.

sparkleandshine said:
and then there's the social aspect of it too, that can be a real hook for some people...but you will find as soon as you start to question things or go against the group, they will drop you as quickly as they welcomed you in...that's another cult like aspect

I've actually experienced this kind of behaviour against me first hand. I question things, I wont take what people say for granted, do my own research, have my own opinions etc.

indeed, in many if not most or all MLMs the general rule is become indoctrinated and dont question those above you making money.

Well that is a hard pill for me to swallow I can tell you!

However that does not mean I will quit, it just means I will run my MLM organization/team/business/hobby/whatever you want to call it, a bit differently.

Jon@TheMoneyShed said:
I suppose another major difference between running your own business and running your own business MLM style is that you are in a walled garden with the MLM

there are rules to be followed when it comes to quality, marketing and what can and can't be said regarding the company and finances.

You are very much controlled from when you hand over your money to them

I looked at many, if not most of the MLMs available before settling on one.

This problem you mentioned is common throughout almost all of the companies.

One company, I went to their meetings, asked questions, tried to offer an alternative "route to membership" that suited my situation, and was promptly shot down.

Another one, I went to more than one meeting, began discussing the idea of doing catalogue drops (for a company that does not do that method) and at first was enthusiastically welcomed.

When I wanted to spend my startup fee on catalogues, instead of the product pack, I was promptly shot down.


Again, not all companie are like this though. I managed to find a company that offers flexibility, no issues with red tape and walled gardens. So long as I am not taking the piss, and lying about products, I can pretty much promote Wikaniko any way I like, using any means neccessary. It is a lot like having my own business, and the way I am planning to set up my online promotions, the product sales is going to be seperate from the "biz opp" and almost 100% white label, pretty much as close to my own business as I can get without having to stock all my own gear, or run through an affiliate program like Amazon or something.






Hey guys, I hope you dont think I am trying to persuade you, or pimp my MLM, I am just engaging in conversation and sharing my own point of view.

I agree that there is a lot wrong with MLM, but if you can strip all that away and focus on the principle only, to me it is a sound principle. I think that the principle of layered sales commission management, is actually a proven principle across other "verticals" that are not associated as MLM, but are in fact Multi Layered commission driven business models.

:eek: big post ;)
 

katykicker

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I noticed today a name on a Facebook group I loosely follow had popped up for the third morning in a row.

She was saying 'Want to give up the grind of life? Want to stop working for someone else? Want to make everyday different?' blah de blah.

My first thoughts. 1. Clearly is grinding at life posting the same thing everyday, at 5AM. 2. Clearly working making some company lots of money. 3. Clearly every day is not different as I've seen her pos the same message, three days in a row, at the same time.

I looked back and there were LOTS of other posts, exactly the same, at stupid o'clock. I just asked 'Don't you get sick of copying and pasting the same shit day in and day out and getting no reply?' Then I felt bad so I just left the group.

MLM is NOT my thing!
 

Jon

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She is probably using an autoposter


and yes that 'be the boss, sack the boss, oh your not STILL working for someone else instead of yourself' is very much a 'thing' when trying to get people to part with cash and sign up
 

katykicker

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I'm my own boss, someone else's boss and I have a boss in my working life ;D

I sometimes call my husband the boss, mostly for my own humour, as I persuade him to buy something frivolous that I don't want to pay for haha.
 

sparkleandshine

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Did you see the news article that someone in the us actually died of liver failure because they were drinking so much Herbalife and not eating properly in the belief that it would make the slimmer. These people are not doctors orproperly qualified nutritionists and are in no position to be advising anyone on health matters
 

martay

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Yes I saw that, it's not very good press for that company for sure.

And I totally agree with not giving medical advice etc. A lot of these products are actually really good if used correctly, in moderation and as part of a balanced diet. Thats where the problem is as reps tend to forget that part, and try and get people living off the products.

As an example, aloe vera is well known to be a powerful substance with lots of beneficial properties. It is also known to be very strong, and health practitioners that may advise someone to use it would also advise them to take it sparingly, and for a limited (not ongoing) period. Maybe it might be a regular treatment, but not daily and forever as some company reps would have you believe.

its a shame really
 

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