Name of the product: MLM

Overall Rating: Risky                                                                              

Price: Varies  $1 – $1000+                                                                                          

Introductions: MLM stands for multi level marketing. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is a system that has been often called a pyramid scheme. MLM’s are built to put it simply by one person recruiting other people to be part of their team, they then encourage each person in their “down line” as they call it to do the same. As the process continues the “pyramid” per say grows. The original person who started this particular group makes commissions from everything that everyone does below them, this is also true for everyone in the downline as they continue to recruit their own teams and encourage those members to do the same. And on and on it goes.

Pros: Depending on how trained and business aware the person is that brought you into the “opportunity”, for a usually small start up cost, there is potential to make some money. You can learn how to talk to people, take rejection, push forward, make goals, make connections with other like minded people, and finally build yourself a business that offers a supplementary or full time income.

Cons: It is not all sunshine and rainbows. It is hard work. Most people who get involved with an MLM stop within the first year. Why? because they were sold a dream by someone above them. They were taken to a meeting and showed a slide show that tells them they can easily make $xxx by only doing a few steps. The steps usually are something like, buy a kit, tell all your friends and family about the opportunity, get a few of them to join, have some meetings to show more people the opportunity, have a few parties to sell your products… and BAM!! a full time income… It is not that easy. People are becoming more and more skeptical of the MLM system as more and more people have realized the challenges and that it isn’t as easy as people tell you it is.

Age group: There is a variety of different products and companies out there to join. All the ones I have seen have a min age of 18 required to join.

Who its for? MLM’s were created for the people that wanted more control over their time and how they earn their money. They could be someone with a full time job that wanted to do this part time for extra money. A lot of MLM’s have stay at home moms as their target market for recruitments. Really anyone can get involved…. Doesn’t mean that they should.

Training or support: Training should be the number one thing you look for when thinking of getting into a new business adventure. Not everyone has been to business school, or understands how to run their own website, advertise, use social media for marketing, talk to people, understand customer service, hosting meetings, taking rejections, staying motivated, balancing cash flow … All important things in an MLM. The training will vary from company to company. And unfortunately a lot of the times your training and success depends on the person that brought you in to help you and guide you along the way… set you up for success if you will. I am not saying that someone who does not do well in this sort of market can say it was 100% not their fault, it is up to them to make sure they are getting the training they need, and to do your research, ask tons of questions and make an educated decision before you get involved with an MLM. One of the most important things when getting involved with a new adventure is the training and support. You need to know there is lots of material available to you and that the people you are working with know enough about the business that it is not the blind leading the blind.

Verdict / Final Thoughts: MLM’s are defiantly not for everyone. A lot of these companies offer products that no one has ever herd of before so it will take a lot of product knowledge and some salesmanship to help move your products. You also have to have some understanding on how business works, why? because you are creating your own small business. Be skeptical, there is no such thing as get rich quick, it takes a lot of time and a lot of dedications to build a strong foundation that will eventually pay off in the end. I have tried many MLM’s myself and have found in every case that the presentation that gets you excited to join the “opportunity” is not how it works in the real world. I chose the road of affiliate marketing after everything I have learned about MLM’s. I currently use Wealthy Affiliate for my website hosting and training platform. If you are like me an tired of all the MLM misguidance and want to try something different, I would encourage you to check it out…Oh and its free to do so, and Im not taking you to a meeting, or asking you to bring 5 of your friends….