Forums

[Mark Fuller Contribution Level: 3]

I do understand that many of you are patriots of the network marketing religion. Many of you hold political and religious views with the same intensity. I do think MLM in theory is the greatest business model and it should be revered as the greatest business model at the moment, but right now, IT SUCKS! From a performance standpoint, MLM is one of the worst performing compensation systems. Currently wage/salary job incomes are exceedingly more than associate/distributor incomes. We are one of the best compensation systems in theory and one of the worst performing business models in practice. Unfortunately, the former is what a business model is measured by.

Before, you misconstrue my statements as a negative attitude toward MLM, please hear me out. MLM has a 95% failure rate in the context that most people fail to generate a livable wage. There are significantly more people making a livable wage in the wage/hour system. This is a fair measurement of our industry which is at present poor and needs significant improvement in order to be taken seriously. Yes, we can say that distributors/associates in our business are not good enough, tough enough, disciplined enough, focused enough, organized enough and lack adequate training. This claim has enormous merit, but distributors/associates in the system selected these people. They are a reflection of the MLM culture.

[Tom Mattinson Contribution Level: 2]

I think Fail is a strong statment and to set the success bar as able to live off the wage...

I also think you are comparing apples to oranges. In a wage/hour system you have a boss and assigned role. In MLM you have no one telling you what to do and when to do it. If in the wage/hour system you sat at home and did no work on your job you would not get paid... IF you had a job where you were to move item "A" to point "B" and all you did was run laps around point"B" you would not get paid.

If you want to run a successful MLM. I think the trick is to run... Standing still or doing nothing will get you exactaly what you put in.

It is true MLM do not have a place where you can do "your own thing" or nothing and still make a decent wage.
lol not that I have seen anyway.

[Joshua Wharton Contribution Level: 1]

Hi there,

I think it's kind of hard to compare the two. In network marketing you have the opportunity to do the work right once and get a residual income for life. With a J.ust O.ver Broke you have to contiuously work day after day with no residual income. When you stop working your money stops.

The only thing that I could say the two have in common would be that duplication is necessary for both.
Just for an example:

Job: You go to work everyday for $10 hr. Work 40 hrs or more a week. All for the same pay. Then you get sick. And if you are the main provider for your family or just yourself. Now you are losing money because you can't work.

Same scenario with Network Marketing:

You start building your business 10-20 hrs a week. Build it to an income of lets say to $1000 a month. While your still working your job. Now if you get sick you have some money to sustain you until you are all better to go back to work.

With that being said I beleive if you truly DESIRE to succeed in network marketing it will happen for you.
But most importantly your income will never grow if you don't. Personal development is necessary.

[Greg Shakarjian Contribution Level: 2]

Here's my take on this subject. I own a small Buis., so I know all about long hours and hard work. The reason I got into MLM was I saw the endless possibility of residual income vs my Co. limited expansion. I quickly realized that most people don't understand the concept of residual income. They want instant results for there efforts, I.E. work x hrs. get x dollars. MLM doesn't work that way and quite frankly neather does starting a buis. Most small buis. fail in their first year. I think just like any venture in life you really have to have the desire to follow through with what ever you chose to do. The skills needed for this industry are subtle but very powerfull, and most people, 90% don't stay around long enough to implement them.

Good stuff
Greg

[Jeremy Sandy Contribution Level: 2]

Unfortunately we live in a world where 'privilege' has become the mindset of the masses. I think it is safe to say that the majority of people out there are only doing 25 hours of 'actual work' at their 40 hour per week jobs. When that mentality is made in the network marketing, the results speak for themselves. Of coarse, there are lots of people I know who work their tails off too, so it is not completely one sided.

In network marketing, working smart and working hard are two different things. Too many people in this industry are too busy doing busy work that they never really spend much time doing income producing activities. You need to take a serious look at what you are doing on a daily basis to create income, and then how much you are generating suddenly makes sense.

I have spoken to people in this industry who spend 2+ hours in their email everyday! That is way too much time. Talk to anyone making money in this industry, and 30 minutes is usually the cutoff point.

Start spending more time in income producing activities, and your income will definitely increase.

[Jeremy Sandy Contribution Level: 2]

Many of the points made above are why I will use network marketing as a side income/second job, but will keep my hourly job.

It makes financial sense to have a safety net to fall back on. Eventually my network marketing business may grow to the point where I could conceivably leave my job. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Not to pick on you specifically Ryan, but you do bring up a very interesting point that hits so many network marketers.

If you look at anybody in network marketing that has a considerable amount of success, then you will see that they have eliminated the "I will try this and see how it works, I can always get a job..." mentality and put forth the "this is it. I'm going to succeed at this whether I like it or not" mentality.

Once you put yourself in a position of do or die, it is amazing what you will accomplish. If you are constantly looking at your 'safety net' then that is all you will ever see. If you can never see yourself in the success arena, then you will never get there.

You are always focusing on your goals. The only difference between those who are struggling and those who are succeeding are the goals they choose to focus on.

[Claire Mosley Contribution Level: 2]

Great points of view!
It's all about what we know, what we have been brought up to know ... and for most of us working as a worker bee is just that. Our calling!
We go to work, 9-5, we get stressed, our bosses don't respect us, we don't get that raise that we hope for, we don't get the promotion, the Christmas bonus turns out to be a below avaerage party with cheap beer and wine .. and yet we all carry on this way, because that's all we know. Awful isn't it?
Then we get a chance, we hear about work from home, this MLM, that opportunity, and we give it a go, and we get burnt because we have no idea what to do ... so we go back to what we know .. and never return.
I am glad to hear that MLM is being taught in business studies at schools and universities, as we will soon have a fresh workforce who know this business is very do-able.
For the rest of us, who are not fresh faced and just out of business school ... we must learn!
I personally have gone over Mr Dillard's courses, and am now going through the tuition of Renegade Professional, which I'm finding very helpful and easy going.
All the best everyone,
Claire.
http://www.wolfcruise.marketingmerge.com/guide

[michael norman Contribution Level: 2]

Great point Mark,

I love your statistic that 95% of people in the MLM industry fail. Interesting enough in the traditional 'real business world' where you have to go out, raise capital, find investors, put your house up for the loan, hire workers, etc - 95% of them fail to.

If you look at life in general - according to the Social Security Administration (look up their site) 95% of people fail in general and not just in business.
According to the SSA - out of every 100 people that reach the age of 65:

1 are rich (1%)
4 are financial fit (4%)

Now for the bottom 95% of society

5 are still working (5%)
28 are dead (28% - don't make it to the age of 66)
65 are flat broke (65%)

To sum up why 95% of all people fail in life - the education process.

The problem with many network marketing companies (and it is usually not the companies but the individual distributors) is the education process. And the reason why the statistics are so low is because many people do not treat their business as a business. If you were to hire someone for your company that you were going to spend your time and money training wouldn't you hire the best and the brightest. However, when translating over to network marketing that is lost and all of a sudden it is a sprint rather than a marathon so most people take anyone and everyone that wants to make a few extra bucks on a monthly basis.

For now I feel I have written enough and feel that I am going to put this into an article soon. Connect with me and follow along later.

Michael

[D Jay Van Company: GBG Contribution Level: 2]

No comparison.

Traditional businesses have a high failure rate also.

Corporations are laying off 600,000 people per week. The supposed security of a job no longer exists.

People are searching for a lifeline.

Let's throw it to them.

[Mark Fuller Contribution Level: 3]

No comparison.

Traditional businesses have a high failure rate also.

Corporations are laying off 600,000 people per week. The supposed security of a job no longer exists.

People are searching for a lifeline.

Let's throw it to them.

A business is not a lifeline for most people. Perhaps we should only select those who want to be in business.