MLM Directory

Why do close minded people think network marketing is a Pyramid?

Heres my problem! Every morning alarm clocks are sounding around 6 A.M. and the average person wakes up goes to work for some company and slaves 8 or more hours a week for a mere pittance of a paycheck. They work hard for years and absolutely have no shot of getting to the top of that company to make the big bucks one day. Then there is the Owner who sits on top of it all, living a lavish lifestyle making 4-5 times more $$$ than the employee...not to mention they work a lot less. Why is this not a pyramid scheme? And then u hear of a network marking company where you and your friends and family can work together to help make each other more rich and people say "o no this is a pyramid scheme"! O yeah by the way I work with Primerica and I make money with them as well. I am just saying that network marketing companies offer the people who have dreams to be the owners of their own businesses because thats what it takes to be financially free today. A normal job just doesn't cut it!

Public Comments

1. Networking is something that people do everyday! They refer people to people that they do business with because it makes them feel good to be doing something to help someone else's business grow. However, when you combine network with marketing....Network Marketing.... People seem to want to run the other way. I truly believe a lot of that comes from bad experiences they have either had or heard about. It also comes from a lack of understanding what it is that we network marketers do. Our lives are innertwined with network marketing daily. Our jobs.... Our government - now there is a pyramid for you!... Our families...and the list goes on! I guess our job also includes trying to educate people that it really is okay to be involved with network marketing. It takes being self-employed to a whole new level (no punn intended). They are in charge of their own success or failure... Maybe that is where the real fear lies???
2. I know where you are coming from regarding people's misconceptions about business. I think I could add to your descriptions though that would help in finding a good answer. Let's remember that many owners also work very long hours to ensure their business is operating, often 10-14 hour days. Most owners do not start living lavishly until their company has become successful (which is the goal after all), as most owners during the early phases of a company are forced to live quite the opposite in order to ensure the company can make its payroll as well as maintain its place in the industry. What you seem to be describing is the end result, when the goal is closer to being obtained. This usually is an owner who spent a career building a business only to finally succeed with his business to the point where he can lessen his hours and move close to retirement While I agree most jobs feel like slave labor, I know that when I really got into econoimcs I realized that the employee is also the one who is able to trade mere hours for pay without having to generate a process or idea of making money on their own, nor do they have to concern themselves with capital risk (or even having any money to begin with). Employees also are able to leave a company and join another without more than a few weeks notice giving them vast options...all within the 8 hour workday. The business owner who has his money and responsibilities tied up in his business does not have these luxuries. Business owners willing to put in the effort, risk, and ingenuity to develop and idea that provides income to themselves as well as others provides considerably more value than one who merely trades man hours for pay. As a result, the owner will naturally receive more pay deservingly so. I know it is hard to not assess each person's situation by merely looking at what they have to do on a aprticuliar day and how much they get compensated for it, but so much of compensatoin is also tied to hisotry, so looking at it that way is never going to give the best reflection of what is fair. I really do beleive it is very different than MLM as you had asked. Maybe I am closed minded as you have stated, and if you believe that based on what I have said thus far, than I suppose you can move on. But if you are the only who is truly open minded, then maybe there is benefit to hearing me out. The fact that even the lowly janitor at a company makes a living wage is the key. In MLM, if you are at the bottom, the only way to increase you pay with any significance is to recruit others, so the pyramid has to be continually growing. Intelligent business owners realize this methodology is unrealistic because having to depend on unending growth of new people is faulty. Consider if the janitor had to hire 5 other people before he was to get paid, and those 5 new janitors had to do the same. Over time, there would need to be thousands and thousands of janitors just to maintain pay. The biggest difference is that any conventional company does not need to you bring other people to the company in order to pay you. In MLM, the ONLY way to move up the ranks is finding new people to put below you. If MLM companies were run on the basis of having to make a personal living of your own sales prior to recruiting, you add some viability to the process. But the compensation plans and the dreams of riches in MLM are all based on recruiting, not sales. As for the other answer that tries to make the leap that we are always network marketing in our daily lives, let me point out the obvious. If you recommended a movie to me and I know you get paid if I see that particular movie, do you really think I am not going to consider your opinion unbiased? Do you really think that if you are making recommendations to me on a number of products and services and all the recommendation you make get you paid that I would consider that a viable opinion? The big difference is that when we network on a daily basis we are offering unbiased opinions. When you network market, you are offering your opinion with the intention of making money as a result. There is a large difference, and generally those who are always selling are among the least desirable people to be with.
3. I think it is cool that you are branching out and going for it. Too many people in this society listen to the masses and get their degree (no matter what it is), goto work for 40 years, then retire on a income that is tough to live on. Not many people would feel that something is not right with that plan and decide to do something different. I do think it is commendable to shoot for something more and to shoot for something better. You are also correct that both conventional business and mlm resemles a pyramid. In conventional business the people at the bottom usually make close to minimum wage and the people at the top make millions. In mlm however it is very difficult to even make a wage that even a janitor would make. It is the way it is set up. The only way for it to work is continual expansion. This is because you can't make enough money just selling products or services. Lets take an example that every person in the world would want to join the new XYZ mlm company. At the 30th level in a 3x3 matrix, it would exeed the world's population. Then it would implode. the 29th level would all quit cause it has no one left to recruit. Then the 28th level would quit cause it just lost its only reps, and so on. Mlm also doens't take into account over-saturation. If a rep was the equivalent to a franchise, an mlm compy doesn't care if there are is a rep on each corner of the neighborhood. The mlm company might not care, but the reps can't make any money and eventually quit. It is in my humble opinion that there are 1,000,000 million better, easier and more profitable ways to try to make it in this world than mlm. I totally agree that conventional business is not the way to go either, but it is a way to earn a living until you come up with the next facebook, google, youtube, rubik's cube, hula hoop or whatever else your imigination, dedication and persiverence comes up with. I wish you well in whatever you decide to do.