MLM Myths #1 “The Business Is So Easy, Anyone Can Do It”
Sorry to burst your bubble from the off here, but let’s be realistic, I am not going insult your intelligence. The truth is: A business so easy that anyone can do it, simply does not exist.
Think about it, everyone working the 9-5 slog would be doing this instead, if that were the case.
If you have been involved with MLM or Network Marketing before, no doubt this was almost certainly one of the first things your would-be sponsor said to you. (By the way, usually this person is quite new to the industry themselves – tend not to hang around too long before they discover that they too have been mislead, or they have maxed out their credit card – whichever comes first).
My last MLM sponsor signed me up, only to tell me afterwards that she was moving to another opportunity. As far as I can tell, she is back to that MLM company which I signed up for; she has after all, invested at least half a decade in making it work and she cannot just let all that go so easily. Strangely enough, she also has a 9-5 job, so you make of that what you will!
This is how your ‘work from home business’ all begins:
You will be shown the product range and even be encouraged to buy a selection of them. You will be told that these products are “revolutionary”, “life changing” and “so powerful that everyone will be knocking down your door to get their hands on them”. (So, perhaps they are good, but how’s your garage or spare room looking right now?)
You will be told that even with absolutely no previous experience of any type in business, it is possible for virtually anyone to build a residual income by “sharing” these products with anyone and everyone you come into daily contact with. Network marketing business is “THAT easy!”
But I’m getting ahead of myself here, more of MLM style “marketing strategies” in MLM Myth #2.
There are many reasons why people are attracted to the MLM or Network Marketing Business. These might be some of the very same reasons that you are looking into it right now:
- The prospect of making money from home
- Sacking your boss
- Choosing when, where and how much you work
- No more office politics
- An end to nightmarish daily commuting
- More time with family or loved ones
- More time doing the things you love
- Achieving financial security or even freedom
Don’t get me wrong, these are all great reasons for wanting to pursue internet or network marketing as a business opportunity. Unfortunately, these benefits are almost always combined with marketing strategies which lead prospects to believe that the business is aseasy as telling people.
MLM marketing tends to focus on the income claims of the top earners . The truth: these top industry producers usually represent about ONLY the top 1% of the total number of active consultants in the company.
And so now you are to believe that: firstly, not only is the business easy, secondly: you need no previous experience, and thirdly: only need to do the minimum amount of work to realistically generate a six figure income at lightening speed. Hmm…
Now, the trouble is, what this style of marketing does, is attract the wrong type of people to the industry in the first place. People who are looking to “get rich quick”. People who have a “lottery mentality”. People who expect that the money will come flooding into their bank account by magic thinking.
People who think that any legitimate business can be built this way should not even be considering self employment. The simple home truth of the matter is that in some ways, this business is even tougher than a “brick and mortar” business.
Just think about it for a moment.
Let’s imagine that you have opened a shop in a busy part of town. You lease a building, put up signs, bring in stock and then advertise your new business.
If you have done your market research well first, you will have positioned your business in a place where your niche market is likely to be walking past your shop every day, and there is a pretty good chance that at some point, they will walk in your front door to see what you have to offer.
Not so in a home based business. There is just you, your phone, and often a cupboard chock full of your ‘life changing’ new products. If you have been given a replicated web-page, you might feel particularly blessed, until you try to advertise on Google and they throw you out!
Still… You have no boss to answer to.
No deadlines to stress over (except perhaps those imposed by your bank or lending institution).
No daily routine to work to.
No need to even get dressed if you don’t feel like it.
It may sound like work freedom. But it takes a particular type of drive and discipline to build a business out of nothing under these circumstances.
My experience has been that people who have had previous business experience in either brick and mortar or MLM have a far greater understanding of the consistent and focused effort that is required to build a business. People who have been career employees tend to find the learning curve far steeper.
So if you are looking at a “business opportunity” and it all sounds too good to be true, keep looking. Because if it sounds too good to be true… it is… Not least because how can you trust a sponsor who deceives you? (Albeit they may well be deceiving themselves too if they are still new to the business).
Want to know more about the under-belly of the internet marketing industry? Check out the Coffee House Letter here
There’ll be more on this subject of MLM myths in the future…
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