Scam is a thrown loosely about in reference to the MLM industry, especially among those who are disappointed with their experience. You can hardly blame them with all the hype in this industry, but most people fail because they quit, then they call it a scam. The fact is, most people fail at a lot of things; traditional business, franchises, golf, tennis, and marriage, because they quit. Personal failure is not the gauge for determining whether a business or anything is a scam. Fortunately, not all Networking businesses are scams, but some are.   There’s a lot of marketing hype and gimmicks in this industry.

Marketing Gimmicks: Using “scam” in a headline like I just did, is a marketing gimmick.  Using terms like “scam” and “pyramid” tend to get better Google search results and can increase the amount of people searching for your business opportunity.  So marketers use a negative term, in some cases to get people to click on their business and take a look. People are looking for a reason to be critical of Network Marketing, or a particular company, so they click on the link, they discover a positive review of the business, usually from the person pitching the business. They thought they were going to get all the juicy dirt on it.  Wow, what a coincidence!

The FTC is extremely critical toward Network Marketing along with state Attorney Generals.  A disgruntled customer or distributor complains about how this horrible “pyramid scheme”, another hackneyed expression, ruined their life.  In some cases they have cause to complain, no doubt.  FYI: Traditional, big business corporations are structurally pyramids but employees don’t call them a scam unless the CEO runs off with all the assets.

My Experience: I’ve been in the Network Marketing industry for over 22 years and been a full time six-figure earner with a great company for fourteen years. The good old days of one company loyalty is rare in the new economy. Things have changed in the 21st Century, information age economy.  Information, good or bad are seconds away with the click of a mouse.  That’s good, but can often times be mixed with misinformation.

Here’s another challenge.  There are thousands of companies building MLM programs around the same products — travel, Juice, vitamins, shopping websites… etc.  In many cases a “me too” product is just plugged into a Binary compensation program.  These companies come and go, year after year and people jump in and out of them.  Lack of integrity and longevity, gives Network marketing a bad reputation, earns the title of a scam, and creates MLM Junkies.

My humble opinion: If someone asked my opinion on a networking program, I make sure that it’s a business model that has a unique product and provides a solid “long term” business opportunity.  “Unique” refers to a product niche that no one else has, or a superior way of doing something.    I see a lot of “fast money”–”get rich quick” schemes that don’t have much shelf life.  You can’t just sell money — that’s a pyramid scheme.   If you are looking, find an enduring, useful, quality product that meets a need for a lot of people.   Fast money schemes are a waist of time.  They hurt the newbies and create a bad reputation for legitimate business opportunities within the Network Marketing Industry.

Marketing Gurus: There are a lot of self proclaimed internet, network marketing gurus that have never actually developed or maintained a profitable network.   They jump from one networking or affiliate program to another, looking for the next big thing.

Here’s the key to success in business and in networking: Find a product that YOU are passionate about and stick with it.  Does your business provide unique products and financial benefits?  Most important: People join people in business. Are you willing to stick with it and serve your people?