Network Marketing: You either hate it, or love it.

Here is an interesting opinion that I found while I was doing my search:


It never ceases to amaze me on the extreme views people have of network marketing. There are some people who are truely passionate about it, such as Robert Allen, Denis Waitley, Robert Kiyosaki and Jim Rohn; Who are bestselling authors and speakers.

And on the flip side, you might as well have the SARs virus if you admit to being a network marketer.

So whats wrong with MLM or network marketing?

Maybe its the business model? That pyramid like structure? But you can't really say thats wrong. Almost any large organisation in the world will have that structure. Theres always 1 CEO, 2 Presidents, 5 Vice Presidents, 20 Division Managers, 100 Managers, and 1000 front line staff. Heck, even the government is in a pyramid like structure.

Or maybe that the top makes the most money? Well, don't they always? I don't see a division manager earning more than a CEO in the same company. To put it the other way round, I can't imagine what will happen if it doesn't happen that way. Would a division manager have more authority than the CEO then? *shudders* BUT! In network marketing, the top need not neccessarily be the person who joins first. If A joins, and recruits B along the way. There may come a time B will earn more than A if he puts in more effort. (More on that topic another day)

Or maybe the fact you have to pay money to participate in it?? But that doesn't sound right... Its just a standard franchising model. Like a Mcdonalds franchise for example. You pay US$1million just to be able to operate a franchise in your country. After that, you still have to buy inventories, take care of the store front, hire employees, etc etc. Try telling Mcdonalds you want to try out the business first, they pay for your store, and when you make money, then you'll pay them. (If you do find such an opportunity, do let me know! I'm serious!)

And even that, the money you pay to participate in a network marketing business is probably less than 0.001 of what you pay for a franchise.

Or maybe, its all just a scheme! This is where money is being made by signing up as many people as possible with little or no real product ever being moved to the consumers. Well, I'm sure there are companies like those. But try telling that to the people in Agel, Amway, Herbalife, Melaleucca, Nuskin, Usana who have sold millions and millions of products to happy customers, many of whom are not distributors of any company. All just happy customers, getting high quality products. So there may be a perception issue here. But its more of seeing one black sheep and calling everybody else black.

But surely, there must be a reason why network marketing has such a bad reputation?

The real problem is not in the business model itself, but instead, its the people it attracts. The business model, is in fact, just that, a neutral business model. And for that, it has a low cost of entry for business, with a huge potential for high revenues and there are people achieving that.

But its because of these exact same qualities, it attracts other kinds of people. Its low cost of entry, allows any Tom, Dick or Harry to join the business. People with no prior experience in owning or running a business; people with no experience in relationship management other than that of employee/employer relations; People who are unaware of the effort required to succeed in any form of business, thus setting unrealistic targets. Together with the potential of high revenues, you can imagine the kinds of people it may attract.

As a result, many network marketers end up giving others unrealistic income expectations. Others, comes across as desperate by forcing people to sign up or to buy tons of products. In the mildest form, some discuss business in inappropriate social settings or come across as deceptive about their business.

Of course, I don't mean network marketing consists of only these kinds of people. But true be told, negative news spreads faster than positive ones. And over here, it spreads like wild fire!

So whats the solution for this?

Firstly, do your due dillegence and find out about a business opportunity before chucking it one side simply because you think you know whats it about.

Secondly, recognise it for what it is. It is not a get rich quick scheme. Its not a fast buck scam. It is a business. And you are a business owner. If you have not owned a business before, LEARN. If you have not networked before, LEARN. If you have not done sales before, LEARN. If you have not worked with or managed people before, LEARN. You need to learn how a business is conducted, how human relations are done, etc.. Not only from established network marketing experts, but also from other experts of various fields too.

Network marketers who are serious about building a business should be reading more, learning more. Continously improving your conceptual skills in life.

Act like a small business owner, and people will treat you like one.