I had a conversation recently with a aging "mlm big-hitter". A guy that did achieve a large degree of success with one of the first, if not the first network marketing company to use a powerline system. Since that first success he has collected residual checks that have slowely dwindled down 5 years later to somewhere between 5 and 10k per month. Not bad really, in fact pretty darn good for having done nothing but purchase the monthly minimum requirement.
Now comes the slightly disturbing part of the conversation.
Since being actively involved in mlm he has gone on to build a very successful company that develops the same type of powerline systems and other online marketing tools for other companies and teams. He has built dozens of systems, in fact he built one for my team a while back. My thoughts and opinions on powerline systems are food for another blog entry but for now I'll just say that like most labor unions, powerlines are a bit past their prime and no longer of much use... i.e. the days of email blasting 10,000 people and getting any real response is over.
OK, here it comes...
His latest venture is starting his own mlm company, not one, but multiple!!! And he plans on continuing to roll out new mlms every 6 months or so, and here was his logic: every 3-6 months some new online deal comes out that is the latest and greatest and everybody rushes and jumps to it, why try to start one company only to see it go in and out of style, I'm just going to have the latest and greatest deal for everybody to jump to every couple months. Unfortunatelly he is doing extremely well with it and at last count he is on his 3rd company
I believe that this kind of get rich quick attitude is killing mlm. It's no longer a "give 2-4 years" for a lifetime of residual income, now it's spam the hell out of everybody with the latest get rich quick mlm for a 2-4 month run of scamming people out of money gone toward something that was never meant to last.
It used to be that the bad apples would show up on www.mlmwatchdog.com but now they come and go so quick that you never knew that they were there except that several thousand more people got a bad taste in their mouth by a company riding the popularity wave of mlm.
Your thoughts please...
Shawn Cornett
www.MLM-Training-Manual.com
shawn@biggerthinking.com
210-232-6032
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1 comment:
Hello Shawn,
I just found your blog through Alexa as I was checking who linked to my site.
Very interesting article and I totally agree with you!
I'm involved with USANA (NutriSynergy.com) and I'm always trying to expand my social network. So recently, I joined a very young social network to connect with other entrepreneur like ourselves and build friendships.
And I just can't belive how many people out there are joining these "get rich quick" scams that won't even make it until the end of this year.
I firmly believe that you have to choose a company that has superior products that offer real value, and a solid management team with a proven track record. And these are only two of the things I researched before joining because I wanted to make sure I was not investing time and effort in a business that would not last and have to start all over again, and again, and again.
And I also believe in the good old ways of doing the business. Internet and lead generating systems (there are some good ones out there) are only tools and should not be your main focus to build the business. It is so much more fun to go out and meet people, touch them with your stories and help them achieve financial freedom.
Best regards,
Eric J. Wilson
TurboRecruiting.com
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