Newsflash: MLM is NOT a Business!

Sunday, June 20th, 2010 at 1:54 am

Howdy do, all! It’s great to be back in Internet Land after a short sabbatical into the realm of Face-to-Face recruiting. And with all the great people I’ve met and all the fantastic conversations I’ve had with folks lately, I’ve got fresh article material for the next six months, easily!

One of the more heated debates I’ve had was over the classification of network marketing as “the perfect business.” My people, I hate to burst your bubble, but you all that have been reading my articles for a while should be used to this by now, so here goes…

MLM is absolutely NOT a business!

Now, before all of you start abandoning my downline, let me explain what I mean. I am a huge fan of Robert Kiyosaki, a fellow Phoenician, and the author of the New York Times Bestseller, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. In one of his other books, The Cashflow Quadrant, he talks about the four ways that people generate money: as employees, self-employed specialists, business owners, and investors. Kiyosaki cautions the reader to make a distinction between self-employed specialists and business owners, and he says that many self-employed people believe they are business owners, when they are not. According to Kiyosaki, if your business REQUIRES your presence in order to continue to run effectively, you are self-employed; but if your endeavor will go on even when you are not there, then you’ve got a business. Here’s a simple way to look at it: The late Henry Ford owned his own business. The late Jack Kevorkian owned his own job.

Now, back to the MLM connection. The average MLMer does not own their own business — they own their own job. Due to the incredibly high attrition rate that is inherent to the industry, an MLMer that wants to experience full-time success MUST continue to prospect and sponsor. Even if it’s just one distributor every quarter, or one distributor for every one that quits, if you don’t continue to add new blood to the organization, it doesn’t matter how large it is, it will implode!

MLM is probably closer to being categorized as an investment than anything else. And what do we do with investments? We buy low, hold for a time, and sell high when the market shows signs of change. We mine the gold out of the opportunity. We flip this house! We have a great time sharing wonderful products and services with friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances, and others, and our MLM companies pay us for spreading the word. Then we take that money and move it to another vehicle that moves faster and more steadily with less potential of internal spontaneous combustion.

But understand this. I LOVE network marketing, and I am extremely proud to be a positive part of so many financial and spiritual lives that have changed for the better. But rest assured. I have no illusions about what type of financial vehicle my MLM endeavor happens to be. I’m not one of those people riding around in a Chrysler 300 pretending that it’s a Bentley. I know what kind of car I’m driving, I know what it’s designed to do, and I respect its capabilities wholeheartedly. I know that I have to invest time and energy into it in order for it to perform.

So why am I sharing all this with you good people. Here’s the reason: I’m hoping that this revelation is not an epiphany for you. I’m hoping that you are like me, and you have come to this MLM opportunity with a full understanding of what it is, how it really works, and what it can do for your financial life. However, if you have been shocked by what I’ve shared here, and now you “see the light,” at least you can proceed forward with a newfound sense of understanding and acceptance.

The bottom line is this: Stop treating your MLM opportunity like it’s a business. It’s not, and if you insist on doing so, I guarantee you a world of disappointment. Respect your MLM business for what it truly is: an opportunity to leverage your talents and relationships to create an incredible income stream that can be used to uplift and expand your financial well-being, and the well-being of your downline. And, as usual, don’t just take my word for it…take it for checking!