MLM, OR ML-LAME?!

Isn't this how most organizational structures look anyway?

Audio option if you can't read (suggested):

Intro:

~Alright, so most people know, I did MLM. We should just be real clear about it. Multi-level marketing, network marketing, "friendship" marketing, relationship marketing, however you wanna call it, it's a direct way for good/services to be exchanged, no middle-man, no retail store. At its core, it's simple.

~And I'm gonna share my experience because most people are going to be approached with this as a unique job opportunity, many already have, and it's gonna sound tempting working from home, I'll tell you the ups and downs about it.

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MY TOP TAKE-AWAYS:

~First of all, you CAN make money, and it's legit. Cash flow. It works. The question is, if you want to make money this way or not. What I hate are the "tactics" that some network marketers use, and I'll get into that later. If you're driven, got that entrepreneurial drive, then it's a way to succeed. You CAN make money.

~Secondly, It can be pretty fun! I had a lot of good times when I actually had a team; the most fun came from getting together with people and having that face-to-face interaction with people I LIKE, than the marketing opportunity itself. It was fun when we invited new members onboard, or made money together, but I enjoyed going to eat afterward... road trip. Just being around.

~Thirdly, these companies usually have a really good product, which lends to the direct side of the marketing. It's very easy to show someone, "oh you wanna lose weight? I got something that guarantees you'll lose weight." or, "oh you have pimples? I got something for that." People just love that face cream. So as good as these products are, it seems like a lot of groups focus more on recruitment than on customer acquisition. If the product was really good, you should be able to acquire and retain a lot of customers, as opposed to having the majority of customers being retained as distributers themselves.

~So what I didn't like most was the idea of recruitment and prospecting my own friends. It just wasn't fun. It makes sense as a business model, but as a relationship model, it didn't seem very genuine most of the time. "hey. sup. how you doing? cool cool. come to this meeting. hehe."

~Having said that, it was probably my biggest mistake to do MLM, in 2012. I should have just focused my energy on my own plate. Not to say I regret it, cuz I did learn a LOT, and it's good people involved, not all bad, but it's definitely not the best thing for me at my station in life. If I was old, older, and all my friends understood multiple streams of income, and a few hundred wasn't a big deal, then HELL YEAH I'd do it... economically, it makes sense. You're GONNA make money. At least a little. They have a system for it.

~Now a lot of people think, Tom, You'd be great at Network Marketing, you're so positive, uplifting, and high-energy, and can talk in front of people, and you can dance, and all this other shit. Let me tell you then, just because I'm good at OTHER shit doesn't mean I'm automatically good at Network marketing. In fact, from what I've seen, most of the people who are really really good at Network marketing, got to that position because they WEREN'T good at anything else! Doesn't mean it's a free ride either, cuz they had to grind as hard as hell to get on top, just like with anything. Of course I could be good at it too if I wanted to commit all my energy and focus into it, but I do a lot of other shit, so that's not gonna be my best option. Essentially, I was a TERRIBLE network marketer, I stayed up late, I avoided correspondences, my work ethic was inconsistent, I didn't know how to close a sale on people who came to ME expressing interest, but just cuz I couldn't do it doesn't mean it can't be done. Anyone can do it, I've seen the lamest people do it, just cuz there's a system they can learn, and they're probably more disciplined than me. 

~I WOULD do it again... But not now.

MLM tactics:

-"we're making so much money, I'd had for you to miss out."

^FEAR OF LOSS

-"the time to join is NOW, the wave is coming!" "Timing!"

^URGENCY

-"sooo many people are joining, ___ joined, _____ joined, ____ made money."

^JONES EFFECT

-"we don't need you. you need us more than we need you. how long do you wanna stay broke for? you don't have x amount of dollars? how long do you want THAT to be the case?"

^INDIFFERENCE

Okay, so, my formal apologies.

1: To my friends/family that I reached out to, chatted with superficially, in attempts to get you to see it. most of you didn't get to see it. so you probably still don't get it. and most of you probably got annoyed. i encourage you not to judge it until you actually get a good grasp on it, seeing it yourself. or just ask me questions. But to my friends and family who I reach out to, let's actually kick it. Let's get together. Because the only reason I reached out to you is because I LIKE you, I respect you, I could see you as being successful. My intentions are pure.

2: To my direct team. If you were on my team... I let you down. I'm sorry. Giao, Robert, Michelle, Jona, Johnny, Christy, Vivi, Mi, Viv, Brian, Lennon, Kenny, Alex, Michael, Chris, Riverside crew, we had good times! We were doing good for a while, but I got talked out of it, and essentially broke the cohesion we had as a team. It was starting to get shaky, and I wasn't the first one to stop, but when I stopped, the team really fell apart. And it was one of the hardest decisions I had to make, to stop, but I couldn't go on promoting something that I didn't believe in anymore, especially when I saw more people struggling than thriving.

3: To my support team. a lot of you are still in it. thank you for the help, the mentorship, the support. I learned a lot from you all. Judy, Barb, Simon, Helene, Mi, John Wayne, Jae, Ian... everyone except Julian Doan who blocked me on facebook. AHAHAHAHAH.

I've had about 3 attempts at direct/network marketing. Each time I got better, and each time I had fun. I can detail those experiences another time.

If you're driven, even a mistake is a detour on the way to success.

For more info, this guy: http://simplygovind.blogspot.com/2012/10/does-multi-level-marketing-mlm-really.html

And if you do MLM, there's nothing wrong with it, here are good tips for you and your team: http://vincentstlouis.com/mlm-insider/

For the record, MLMs aren't get-rich-quick schemes. It's a get-rich-slow or medium-paced depending on what you're work ethic is. It can work, and residuals are real if you get recurring customers.