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February 19, 2004
Not about Quixtar
By QBlog in
I found a column titled Understanding Multi-Level Marketing Firms on the New University Newspaper Web site last week. The author of the column, Hans Pang, describes (in detail) his experience with a "Multi-Level Marketing" company called World Financial Group.
Near the end of the column Pans provides "warning signs" that should indicate if you're being propositioned by an MLM company:
One, the company requests money from you up front to hire you...It was interesting to read this guy's experience with WFG and the "lesson" he claims he learned as a result of that experience.Two, when a company puts more emphasis on recruiting more sellers than selling the actual product...
Three, a company that strongly coerces you into buying their own product that is not right for you...
Four, a company that plays on your greed by telling you to sell their product on a commission basis to everyone you know.
Five, a focus on how much money you can make. If a company keeps promising you will make tons of money, they are only playing on your greed and trying to make tons of money off of you.
With that I'd like to make a generalized observation (look out!). It seems that most people who endorse and condone MLM are either actively participating in some sort of MLM business or are business veterans themselves.
Conversely, it seems that a great deal of people who are critical of MLM are either former MLM participants or those with very little "real-world" business experience.
Of course, as always, I may be wrong on this observation but it's just something I've been thinking about today.
Comments
Number one...So you paid to start up with a company and call it your own. So do business owners that start franchises.
Number Two...Can't argue with that one.
Number Three...ditto
Number four...MLM is commission sales. Problem is to many companies fluff that up so folks who think selling is some kind of vudoo will still join.
Number five...Nothing wrong with having goals and being excited but if they are talking Diamonds and Cadillacs from the get go then wave that red flag!!
As always my appologies for spelling and grammer errors...it would be IMMATURE of me not to admit my weakness in those areas...;o)
Interesting observation and I would have to agree. There is a fair part of MLM that is business as usual, and it would be fair to say that people that have never been in business before might not "get it".
On the other hand there are a lot of MLM companies out there that promote a concept that would make no sense to the critical thinking business person. See high priced products and building your web based business by sttending 2-3 meetings a week in hotel conference rooms.
Posted by: mlmblog | February 19, 2004 11:53 AM