Multi-level marketing, or MLMs, tends to be a controversial subject. Statistics say that 97% of people who join a network marketing company quit within three months without ever making their initial investment back. Those who have tried MLMs and quit generally develop a sour taste for it and sometimes make it their life mission to tell the world that they are scams, or don’t work, or that all the company cares about is making money from you.
Let me straighten some things out here.
- The vast majority of people who join MLMs have absolutely no business or marketing experience. It is insane to expect to be successful in just a few short months with something that is brand new to you.
- The vast majority of network marketers join out of hope, not realizing that building their business will require time, effort, and money.
The MLM naysayers tend to be those who joined a company, grew impatient and/or discouraged, and left before they had learned the skills necessary to get results. I feel sorry for them, because they are throwing away the best opportunity to develop financial independence offered in the free market.
Pros of Multi-Level Marketing
The pros I’m about to list assume that a network marketer doesn’t give up.
1. You learn better communication skills.
I personally know a guy who was painfully shy when he first joined an MLM. He quickly got over it, and now is a formidable local businessman who owns his own network marketing company.
2. You develop confidence.
I have experienced this effect personally. The more I talk with other people about my products and business opportunities, the more strongly I believe in the business. And the more strongly I believe, the more confident I become in my ability to succeed.
3. You grow as a person.
A good multi-level marketing company will provide the training you need about the products and/or services, as well as how to build your business. Learning these new skills increases your value both to the marketplace as well as to yourself.
4. The income potential is, in most companies, virtually unlimited.
The amount of money you can earn is only limited by your persistence and determination.
5. You can build your business in just 4-8 hours per week, maybe even less.
Unless you’re a consistently bestselling author, network marketing is the best way to be able to eventually earn six and seven figures annually, having worked for only a few hours a week.
6. You may eventually be able to quit your day job.
Again, that depends on the time and effort you are willing to put into training and working. But if you are one of the majority of Westerners who can’t stand their job, building an MLM business could be your way out.
7. Your residual income continually grows.
Assuming you’ve joined a company whose products and/or services are unique and in high demand, and assuming you’ve done the work to get your business growing, you can realistically expect your monthly check to gradually increase.
8. Financial freedom=time freedom
Wish you could go overseas on mission trips? Or take a year off to tour Europe? Maybe you just want to be able to spend more time with your loved ones. Once you reach the point of being able to quit your job – if that’s your goal – you will have abundant time to do the things you want.
I could probably think of more pros if I wanted, but this list hits the basics. Of course, building a multi-level marketing business is not easy, and does have its downside. I will address the cons of network marketing in a later post.
But for now, if you are brand new to the concept of network marketing, are in a company and about to quit, or are part of the 97% cited above, I urge you to revisit the pros, and ask yourself this question: “Will the freedom I can ultimately attain in an MLM business make it worth the time and effort I need to see results?”
