How to Change MLMs Bad Reputation

I recently read a post asking how M-L-M or Direct Sales companies have received such a bad reputation. I agreed with many of the comments posted to that question. As with many of you, I have been involved in a few MLM companies. Experiences have been good and bad. Have I made a fortune? No, not yet. Have I lost a ton of money? NO. But some people have experienced the emotional highs and financial lows.

When people have a bad experience, the news travels FAST. People LOVE to complain when they feel they have been wronged. There are some issues with certain MLMs that are inherently BAD and that is usually how people know about them and what the believe is the norm.

Here are some of the reasons I see responsible for the bad taste in people's mouths

• People believe in the 'hopium' they are exposed to at these dog & pony show recruitment venues
• They treat it as a social club with events instead of a business
• They do not get the training that is required to be successful
• They may quit their day job too soon and fall flat on their face
• Many of these companies ARE into recruiting to pay upline and their 'product' is just enough to satisfy the Federal regulations to avoid being a scam, pyramid or ponzie
• Sign ups are friends or relatives-people you would not be doing business with otherwise!
• The lure & promise of BIG money-IF you get in now, IF you buy the mega-pac, IF you recruit lots of people.
• ...you know I could go on and on and on....

First let me express that most M=L-Ms are NOT pyramid schemes. The definition of a pyramid scheme as currently defined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is: "generally ignore the marketing and selling of products and services, and concentrate on the commissions you could earn just for recruiting new distributors." Pyramid schemes may or may not involve the sale of products. Some multi-level marketing (MLM) programs fall under this category."

The KEY word in that description is SOME.

There ARE Positive Attributes to being successful in legitimate MLMs:

IF People do their homework, treat it like a real business-have a business plan, realize it will take 2-5 years of WORK to make real money and LEARN how to excel at DIRECT SELLING, they will be successful.This means that they don't go 'puke' on their families and friends, charge up their credit cards, quit their job too early or believe they will become rich overnight.

Do your research! www.mlmwatchdog.com is a great site to read pros and cons of companies. Remember that some people are venting because they didn't make a ton of money, but there are legitimate complaints from people who have been used and tossed aside.

There are training systems now available that will help those that want to be successful in Direct Sales to help alleviate and change the statistics that plague the industry now.

Here are the numbers that people should be aware of:

• 70% will drop out in the 1st 90 days 
• 27% will make back their money, maybe make enough to pay for their own products 
• 2.75 % will make a real good living, maybe enough to quit their day job
• only 1/4 of 1 % will make it to the big leagues of the cars, cruises, vacation, promotion levels and job-dropping residual income.

Which category do YOU want to be in?