Saving The World (And Probably Your Mum) From MLMs
This post has once again been adapted from a Twitter thread musing. This one got out of control; apologies for the formatting, which I’m editing right now.
I recently went on Facebook.
I’ve now hit the age where the girls – now women – I knew growing up have all hit the “Start a multi-level-marketing business” phase of life.
This is dangerous, because MLMs are scam-city.
Why MLMs Succeed
What is Multi-level Marketing?
(MLM from now.)
At its core, MLM is a business model. It’s suspiciously close to a traditional pyramid scheme.
Basically, it’s the mail order beauty products, lingerie parties and slimming supplements.
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Here’s what makes MLM different:
MLM has two revenue streams:
- Selling the products
- Encouraging people to join
The first one isn’t a problem except all the products are overpriced crap that you can get on Alibaba and put a label on – incidentally… that’s what they do.
The second is where trouble begins.
Why MLM Is Mostly Scam City
The second point is where MLMs make mugs of the people they scam.
Think of it like a sales job or an affiliate commission structure as a pyramid; you get referral money for everyone you sign up, and you get a percentage of the referral money for the people they sign up.
It’s tiered all the way down.
Now, bear in mind the products are mostly rubbish, the earning incentive is for signups.
“MLM victims are sold a promise; you sign up your friends, every time THEY sign someone up, YOU get a commission. It’s money for nothing.”
Of course, nobody makes any money, so the trickle-up doesn’t ever happen.
Here’s why it’s insidious (in many parts.)
You’d think the selling point would be “you can get rich.”
This is only true for Real Estate MLMs (and crypto, etc.) targeting guys.
Most MLMs target women.
How?
MLMs For Women
(Allow me to talk in generalities here.)
Women go through big parts of their lives where they’re socially isolated. Worse now due to social atomisation.
Mostly, when they quit work to have kids. Sometimes divorcees. Other times single mums. (3 big markets for MLMs.)
Most MLMs focus on social aspects:
- Meet new people through company get-togethers
- Have product parties with your besties
- Treat yourself with earnings
- More time for social activities
Also, women in above positions are economically weaker:
- Don’t work/part-time hours
- Relying on state/spousal support
- Mostly, ever-expensive kids to provide for
- In US, healthcare coverage (I don’t understand, but seems big targeting thing)
In step MLM company to tell you that you can:
- Make new friends
- Be more popular with current friends – even help THEM make money
- Make money so you can go to Disneyland with your kids and stop worrying
ADD TO THIS there’s also the dream of entrepreneurship.
It’s a myth only guys want to deliver economically/creatively.
Women naturally tend towards creating stuff and selling it/sharing it.
BUT…
Women’s historic cottage industries have been supplanted by big business:
- Food/markets replaced by Walmart/Tesco/Etc.
- Craft fairs replaced by Alibaba China manufactured products
- Clothing replaced by Big Bangladeshi warehouses.
Etc.
Women don’t in general play the current business game too well.
- Lower self-esteem (which is required for modern business.)
- Inability/lack of “wanting” to shut off and do the 18 hour days expected of small businessmen.
- Ton of hats that they simply haven’t ever had to wear (taxes, accounting, computing, etc.)
Most entrepreneurs are guys, and to go further – they’re guys with particular traits.
- Blue collar guys who are willing to expand and do 18 hour grunt days when needed.
- White collar guys who are your stereotypical nerds willing to bash out 18 hours on computer.
Etc.
That tangent was necessary, because MLMs say:
“You can start a business from home.
We will give you the marketing.
We’ll do the hard stuff.
Give us $5k and we’ll even give you the product!”
That’s a short-circuit to all the insecurities your average MLM girl will have about starting their own venture.
We’ll come to MLM guys later in the thread, because a) it’s slightly different and b) some guys SEETHE when you talk about girls for a whole thread without mentioning them
Take it further a second though:
MLMs are then structured like cults. (Some literally.)
They dispel objections by “most people aren’t ready for the marketing.”
“We’ll ALWAYS be your friends.”
“Don’t let NEGATIVITY enter your safe-space.”
Remember, most of these women are down, lonely and in need of hope.
They get given hope through marketing.
Then told “Ignore the negativity of your life.”
Now, most people are going to say, “MLM is a scam.”
Objection countered before it’s begun.
This is why MLMs are INSIDIOUS.
Why MLMs Are Really Insidious
Not because fools and their money are separated – which they are.
But because a LOT of people burn all their family and friends out by trying to turn them into customers or “partners.”
Think about it for a second…
Hosting a lingerie party?
Good idea according to MLMbots. Get your friends round, make some money, help them start a business.
Except your friends don’t want to go to a party only to be told to pay up for some lingerie and then recruited into a pyramid scheme.
So they come around your house less.
Going for tea and cake with your sister?
This is usually a time to catch up.
But your down-line hunbot manager told you to relate every problem back to MLMLife.
So when your sister moans about her husband not doing the dishes, you say, “Maybe you should sell slimming pills!”
And she stops going for tea with you.
Naturally, your husband if you have one is mad because you end up with a house full of “inventory” you can’t sell, a bunch of friends that are weird cultists and a lighter purse you keep telling him will get so fat with money one day if you just BELIEVE.
That, sadly, is what happens to a lot of MLM girls before realising they’ve been duped.
Sadly, a lot don’t learn the first time. Because another strategy is for new MLMs to come and do EXACTLY the same thing – but use the old MLM dissatisfaction as a selling point.
“Hey hun. Heard you’re selling MLM1. It’s not going too well? Oh. I heard they were a scam. But I’ve joined MLM2, and they’re great! It’s a real happy place!”
Do not fall for this. There are real alternatives. We’ll come back to this.
First though… MLM guys.
MLM For Guys
MLM for guys: It’s different but the same.
The difference between guys and girls is that guys are happier, and even happy, to be the OUTSIDER.
You don’t want to fit in with your friends and have lingerie parties (well, not that sort,)
AND most guys are tight.
So guys don’t buy products and they don’t do the social thing.
Guess they’re impervious?
Wrong.
Guys are sold on MLMs in a few ways:
- Beat your friends/boss/bullies at the GAME
- No money down! (Except… the money)
- Make FAT STACKS by Christmas
And as always… girls.
You’ll get the girl in your limo and live happily ever after.
At this stage in the game, MLMs use different targeting but same methods.
If out of the blue one of your old chums texts, “want to meet for coffee?”
He’s probably an MLMbot because what guy does that, right?
But…
Chances are, the MLM will look like an “investment opportunity.”
Real Estate, Crypto, Elite Golf Private Jet Club memberships.
The structure is the same as any MLM: You don’t ever sell anything.
But you make money for signing up other guys.
MOST networking clubs are like this. Hefty fees and ostensible ballers on the surface but you wonder where the cash comes from – and increasingly it’s obvious nobody in the network knows any more than you do.
They all make their money by referrals in most scenarios.
ALSO, guys are sold easily on Pump and Dump schemes. That tends to be the “first” income stream from the top of thread.
We saw this last year with crypto ICOs. Bunch of “new coins” were suggested by guys who got in at $0.0001. They recommend it to you after you’ve paid your fee, and then the price goes to $0.09 where they sell. They then use the pump to prove they’re legit at $0.1 and you sell as it dips down.
Or, you’re left holding a bunch of alt-coins worth $0.01 that they sold at the top they created.
The thing that Guy MLMs do is attach to real industry and flub the connections.
There’s nothing inherently pyramid-scheme about real estate, white labelling or crypto, but MLMs are the dodgy cousin who turns up at the family reunion just before the family silver goes missing.
Ostensibly, it looks legitimate and they use real results from real industries to bolster their shit.
How to Avoid Becoming An MLM Victim; (Guy Or Girl.)
Business has risk.
If someone is selling you risk-free business, guaranteed profits or the Dream Without Details™ it’s probably bad news.
It might not be MLM, but it’s bad news anyway.
Never enter into business without doing research.
Do the products sell? Simple question. If they don’t – bad business.
Is the most lucrative revenue obtained through referring people into a tiered distribution pyramid? If so… MLM. Bad.
DO NOT mix business and pleasure. Your friends are your friends and your business partners are business partners.
There are exceptions to this rule, but SlimPill Sponsored Parties aren’t those.
Do not buy a ton of inventory on an untested business idea.
Anybody trying to recruit you with mandatory inventory requirements upfront is a SNAKE.
If they don’t understand, “I don’t want to spend $1k on yoga pants that might not sell” they see you as a wallet, not a human.
If you have money for inventory, buy it yourself, put your own brand name on it and start a real business. The SlimYogaMLM brand is a liability, not a “household name” for any good reason.
If you’re being sold on ending your social isolation, it’s a fib.
They AREN’T your friends if you’re a paycheque to them. You can’t buy friendship. You’re a customer, regardless of what they say.
Anyone who isolates you from the rest of the world, “Insiders vs. Outsiders” is a cultist – either literally or figuratively.
You get to choose who to spend time with, not some guy who is selling you a timeshare or some girl who’s selling you Detox Tea.
And if someone is selling you your dreams realised quickly, without effort and beyond your expectations, it’s probably a ruse to open your wallet/purse.
You can fix your problems and achieve your dreams in most cases, but it takes more than signing up for an exclusive member club and selling your friends on a once-in-a-lifetime, single-payment opportunity.