ARTICLES
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Network Marketing and the Net
K. Laskowski September, 2001 © e-work-zone.com
Network marketing, MLM (multi-level marketing), whatever you call it - the connotation is 'sleazy', 'scam' -- but is this always true? Are all networking marketing/MLM's scams? While some of them are, the answer is - NO not all are, and in fact the problem with network marketing may be more a perception problem than anything else.
I have been a network marketing naysayer for years, but have recently done some re-thinking, and have actually changed my position -- and here's why. When you think about it, all companies use some sort of MLM scheme in their sales organizations - the difference is usually the employee doesn't recuit his 'underlings' (read downline), the company does. But no matter who does the recuiting, if the employee does well, his sales manager does well, and so does the sales VP, etc. If you look at some newer network marketing pay plans, they are starting to give their levels these types of names. At first glance (especially if you are skeptical about network marketing), this may seem a stretch, but in fact it really isn't based on the way these titles work in 'regular' companies. In fact, the newest compensation plans at most corporations tie ALL employees pay to sales success in some form or another. But in major corporations, it's called something like 'incentive compensation' -- so they have managed to avoid the MLM perception problem.
Another concern is the legality of MLM. Network marketing/MLM is NOT the same as a chain letter or pyramid scheme. As long as there is a product sale involved, network marketing is perfectly legal. It would have to be -- it is being used all the time by major corporations under other names. And for the home based or one person business, in conjuction with the internet, it does present great opportunities for leverage which didn't exist before.
But, the downside for many like me who don't consider themselves the 'salesman' type, since with network marketing YOU will be recuiting people for your downline, you need to personally believe in what you are selling or else have really thick skin in order to be effective and still sleep at night. Here is where there is still some 'sleaze' factor involved - but it isn't associated with MLM itself, it's more of a 'get rich quick' mentality pushed by some network marketers, especially on the net. As an example, if you've been exposed to the 'start your own internet business' craze at all, you have probably been bombarded by email and websites promising 'secrets revealed', or 'money machine', or 'make X dollars in Y days'. After a (fairly short) while, these all begin to sound and look the same, and you are left with the feeling that it must all be a scam. While some probably are, others aren't, so how do you sort out the 'real opportunities' from the 'time wasters' and make some sort of educated decision about which company(ies) to join and promote?
The article 'Ten Tips to Evaluate a MLM Opportunity', gives you an initial set of criteria to use.
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