Doc Bunkum
07-03-2010, 07:40 AM
"Browsing the business book section at Borders last night, a guy came up and started a conversation about Robert Kiyosaki’s Cash Flow Quadrant. It turned out to be a lead-in to pitching me about an MLM company. He seemed geniunely distressed when I pointed out that the standard-issue MLM pitch (core message: work now and build residual income so you can do what you really want once the money rolls in) is the polar opposite of true entrepreneurship.
True entrepreneurs create and build because they are people who love to create and build. They feel it deep in their bones. It stirs their souls.
The MLM pitch is designed to appeal to the “9-to-5 workers” dream of what the owner of a business should or could be like. In other words, not about the business and the rewards inherent in being who you are as an entrepreneur … but the rewards that come afterwards.
It is not a pitch designed to appeal to what I consider “true” entrepreneurs. It is a pitch designed to appeal to dreamers.
Is it any wonder the % of implementers at MLM companies is so low?
He didn’t have a flip-book answer for that one."
Michael Cage - True entrepreneurship vs. “the MLM pitch” (http://www.entrepreneurslife.com/thoughts/entry/true-entrepreneurship-vs-the-mlm-pitch/)
Then there’s the other obvious arguments -
The exponential growth of the network that is the backbone of the MLM concept breaks down after a few generations. If the MLM concept worked, the entire planet would be recruited after a few generations… which obviously is BS.
The profit margins are pretty slim (not near enough to succeed with direct response) and the products questionable at best.
If the products were so great… why isn’t the Mother Ship selling direct to the consumer via QVC, direct mail, internet, etc? Or at the very least getting a small slice of a huge pie by going through WalMart, Sam’s Club, etc.?
I love the recruitment strategy: “I’ve got this amazing opportunity… I don’t want to give you any details… but come hang out with me at this hotel (or living room) so I can tell you more about it.”
It’s sad that in a land of so much opportunity that some folks fall for this junk.
True entrepreneurs create and build because they are people who love to create and build. They feel it deep in their bones. It stirs their souls.
The MLM pitch is designed to appeal to the “9-to-5 workers” dream of what the owner of a business should or could be like. In other words, not about the business and the rewards inherent in being who you are as an entrepreneur … but the rewards that come afterwards.
It is not a pitch designed to appeal to what I consider “true” entrepreneurs. It is a pitch designed to appeal to dreamers.
Is it any wonder the % of implementers at MLM companies is so low?
He didn’t have a flip-book answer for that one."
Michael Cage - True entrepreneurship vs. “the MLM pitch” (http://www.entrepreneurslife.com/thoughts/entry/true-entrepreneurship-vs-the-mlm-pitch/)
Then there’s the other obvious arguments -
The exponential growth of the network that is the backbone of the MLM concept breaks down after a few generations. If the MLM concept worked, the entire planet would be recruited after a few generations… which obviously is BS.
The profit margins are pretty slim (not near enough to succeed with direct response) and the products questionable at best.
If the products were so great… why isn’t the Mother Ship selling direct to the consumer via QVC, direct mail, internet, etc? Or at the very least getting a small slice of a huge pie by going through WalMart, Sam’s Club, etc.?
I love the recruitment strategy: “I’ve got this amazing opportunity… I don’t want to give you any details… but come hang out with me at this hotel (or living room) so I can tell you more about it.”
It’s sad that in a land of so much opportunity that some folks fall for this junk.