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Thread: The false lines used by mlms

  1. #1
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    The false lines used by mlms

    I thought it would be fun if we posted our fave lying catch phrases commonly used by MLMs.

    Here are some of mine:

    "Fake it till you make it"

    "Make money while you sleep"Ahhh.... the lure of actually doing nothing for something that some MLMs promise to their recruits.


    "We are in Pre Pre launch" This means, we are trying to line up people early because we need the money to actually launch our business and line our pockets and set up the heads of the Pyramids and give them their downlines.


    "It's just like any other business...such as buying a franchise" - except when you ask to see their income from mlm (or even their upline who supposedly are successful) its suddenly personal income and none of your business. As if you would ever buy a franchise without looking at the working numbers of the same franchise in other locations.

    " Its a ground floor opportunity" or "the time will never be the same to get involved" -yet on the other hand the entire compensation plan is for people to be continually signing up forever, with it being geometric so 2, 3, 5 years from now, there will need to be exponentially more people needed to be coming in to continue the same oppotunity...but somehow the opportunity is better now than it will be in the future!

    " MLM has a system that cuts out the middle man and advertising costs," -yet now several layers of people get paid and MLM products are always more expensive than market.

    "MLM is the easiest business opportunity in the world,"- that is until you ask them about their dismal failure rate and then suddenly MLM is what you make of it and most people will fail, because they didn't work hard enough.

    "We have Celebrity endorsements"- ahhh, you mean D listers who are paid to be a spokeshole for you.

    "I made ten zillion dollars in three months and quit my day job"- shows a pic guy sitting on a rented mercedes in front of a mansion that he does not live in or own.

    "Anyone can do this and make money"-of course you will need to attend seminars that you pay for, training tapes and books that you also will pay for, pay various fees and after all of that, you are still broke.

    "Our product is the most amazing product out there and it sells itself"- but the comp plan in not really about the product at all- it's all about recruiting others to your downline.

    "Your enroller and upline become your family. They become your friends. They become the ones you count on." And when you have trouble making your monthly quotas, they suggest that you get yourself in further debt by opening new credit cards to make your qualifying orders. They tell you about the mother of 4 who was living in her car and managed to make her monthly orders. If you go to these people because you heard something negative about the company or MLMs, you will be told, "Those people are just negative and not worth the ****** - don't waste your time on it." Your concerns will not be addressed.

    "You will get (for a monthly fee) your own persoanlized website". Of course it is the same exact cookie cutter websit that all the others members in your MLM have and pay for.

    Individualism discouraged; group think prevails. Right from the start you're advised that there is no money in creativity, as the perfect "system" of success has been created. Although personal business ownership is touted, it is a farce. Distributors are referred to as "IBO's (Independent Business Owners). You may work for nearly a decade developing an international business, but not have the freedom to even put a newsletter into your group or call a meeting with your leaders that is not "pre-approved".

    Rigid rules and regulations. Despite the claim of "personal choice" and "freedom," Distributors are bound by the rules and regulations of the MLM, by the regulations set by the Owners, by the rules set by their upline, and by the statements in their agreement that they must sign. The "rigidity" of the rules may also vary between groups.

    "Own your own business". In MLMs, you do not own your own business, you do not own the product, and you are not in control of your destiny. The company holds all the strings--product supply, computer tracking, commissions, collections, customer service, order fulfillment, publicity, compliance, public relations, comp plan, everything. All you own is a position in a long line of distributors. You do not control the product you sell, the comp plan, what the company does or does not do, the money that is paid . . . distributors own nothing other than the opportunity to sign more distributors and manage the existing downline. You are at the mercy of the company, upline, downline, media, and the government.


    "MLM is the best opportunity around."- Imagine you are a teenager in the mall, looking for an "opportunity" to work. You see a clothing store with "help wanted". You go in and ask for an application and how much the "job" pays, and you are told to wait in a very long line that extends out the door and into the mall. As you are standing in line, you notice a certain smell, a sort of stink. Perhaps this is why there are very few, if any, customers walking into this store, only nervous applicants.

    When you get to the front, you are told that the "job" is really a "business" and will cost YOU to participate in. If you pay the nice lady sitting at a desk (there seem to be more desks here than clothing racks...), you can then sell the fine products they have on display. But you have to buy the inventory yourself on top of the fee to be "hired". And MOST IMPORTANTLY, you are told that to succeed, you must do what she is doing, recruit others to make them "successes" like her.

    You do the math on the clothing profits, and indeed it is not likely for you to even make minimum wage just selling product, and besides this... there are all these other people in line as well. The profit, it appears, is to find others who will pay, like you, to be "hired" into this "ground floor" opportunity.

    You should set up a similar store next door, you are told.
    You walk out confused, and as you pass the long line , the thought strikes you that all these many people will be attempting to recruit EVEN MORE PEOPLE in geometric expansion to set up a store "next door".
    What do you think, a good opportunity?

    If such an absurd clothing "store" were ACTUALLY to show up in your local mall, could you really NOT see the difference between it and the other businesses: the way they hire, the likelihood of saturation, etc.?
    Can "success" be had through voracious "recruiting" of competitors? How could this possibly be sustainable?

    With MLM, of course, there is no mall or line--just nice meetings in homes; the odd lunch with a "friend"; the seminar at the hotel--so that you cannot see the absurd line forming of those whom you will be "competing" against for yet even more recruits.
    Great opportunity, eh?

  2. #2
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "Live The American Dream"- Pick up any brochure or videotape for an MLM and you are more than likely to see a cheesy, obvious, and blatant appeal to greed and materialism. This is offensive to everyone, even die-hard materialists. Typical is an appeal to "the American dream." Usually there will be a mood shot of a large new home, a luxury car, a boat, perhaps a beautiful couple boarding a Lear jet, and so on.

    While this need not necessarily be part of the MLM approach, it usually is.
    Such a transparent appeal should make people suspicious. "Why the bait?" "Are they trying to 'get my juices going' so that my brain turns off?" "Couldn't they show people doing more wholesome things with the money they make?" "If this is really a legitimate opportunity, why not focus on the market, product, or service instead of people reveling in lavish materialism?"

    But we have reason enough to know, why the distraction is needed. Unbridled greed suspends good judgment. When the eyes gloss over in a materialistic glaze, common sense is a stranger.

    Besides being cheesy and offensive to our sensibilities, this is not a big deal for participants, right? But consider that all companies must have control over the way they are presented to the public. Thus, an MLM has the right and obligation to dictate what material is used. Otherwise any agent could say whatever he or she liked about the nature of the company, causing obvious problems. Again, it would take too much time to audit and approve each individual's idea for a presentation where the goal is mass marketing. Using "boilerplate" presentations affords the added benefit of consistency. This is basic "information quality control."

    that the MLM rep is "stuck" with the company-approved video, brochure, and presentation outline. So much for "Be Your Own Boss."
    Last edited by A Life Aloft; 07-02-2010 at 03:25 PM.

  3. #3
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "Mr. Prospect, now you aren't required to buy more than three product units, but why bother joining unless you plan to succeed? Besides, all of our products are 100% money back guaranteed."

    Hmmm... To ask for a refund, then, is to admit defeat. Others appear to be doing O.K. at this. I'm no failure! Perhaps I should go to another motivational seminar or strong-arm and alienate one more friend to join. I wasn't fooled! I'm no failure!
    So, the "inventory" and "recruitment kits," never viable, collect dust. They become a pile in the back closet or attic, a trophy to pride being unable to admit that greed seized the moment.

    "We are Legal!" -It is a fact that a few large MLMs have survived against the best efforts of law enforcement officials to shut them down, spending millions of dollars to protect, lobby, and insulate themselves. But the same could be said for any organized crime. It is difficult to stop once it becomes so large.

    And MLMs look so legitimate to the public, so decent. So many nice people are involved. Surely, it can't be illegal! The people lower down may even defend the very organization that is robbing them, hoping that they might get their chance to make "the big money" later.

    But if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. Unless it is an MLM, and then it is NOT a pyramid.
    The Feds generally see it differently... when the ML (multi-level) aspect begins to eclipse the M (marketing) of products or services.

    People can make money in an MLM, undeniably. The moral issue is: Where is the money coming from? Selling product? Then why not sell the same product in the "real world"? The real money is ALWAYS in the recruiting!
    But everyone knows that the real incentive is the pyramid aspect, and the product just the excuse to make it legal, or at least the MLM promoter would like you to believe it is legal.

    Talk to a mobster, and he will tell you that he is "merely misunderstood in his benevolent intentions." "We are just trying to 'build our business.'" "It's all a conspiracy to make us look bad." "The Feds are out to get us because they are jealous or afraid of our new way of life." "Why, look at all the good we do!" "We are looking more legitimate every day." "Here's a statement from a famous DA that the Mob is really a good organization and no harm ever comes from it." "We've even got a minister to endorse us now!"

    "Just show people the opportunity, it will sell itself." - MLMs grow by exploiting people's relationships. If you are going to be in an MLM, you swallow hard and accept this as part of "building your business." This is "networking." But to those not "in" the MLM, it seems as if friendship is merely a pretext for phoniness, friendliness is suspected as prospecting, and so on.

    It should be noted that when selling product, the only distinction from a real-world business is the possibility for deception due to the "looseness" of the MLM and the incentive to exaggerate claims without any accountability. Other than this, selling product in an MLM is fairly similar to selling any product in the real world.

    But when it comes to getting you "signed up" as a "distributor," the MLMers get pushy and deceptive beyond the boundaries of polite social norms.
    Remember, an MLM is defined by its rewarding people to recruit others in multiple levels.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "There are prospects everywhere"- Apparently, it is difficult for gung-ho MLMers to see how they look from the outside. They can watch lifelong friendships unravel, churches and civic groups poisoned, the avoidance of friends and family, etc., and never see that MLM was the cause.


    If you try to point this pathology out, you are treated as if you have attacked the very gospel! Perhaps for some, the MLM approach is a new gospel?

    They will claim to have made "new friends," most of which are MLMers or new acquaintances who could be considered "future prospects." The shallowness of these "new friends," the stilted conversations among the "old friends," and the embarrassment, in general, for what seems clear to everyone but the MLMer go unnoticed. Callousness sets in; standards are lowered.

    Of course, it could be pointed out that this might have happened anyway. Perhaps the die-hard MLMers would have ruined their friendships anyway in some other non-MLM business failure. Is the MLM really the cause, or just the vehicle?

    Business failure of any type is traumatic on the relationships involved, but in most small businesses there is at least the chance of success. And this is never the case in an MLM, unless "success" can be defined as profiting off of the failures of others.

    Non-MLM real-world businesses that offer products of interest to friends, family, etc., such as insurance agents and small retail shop owners, seem to be more circumspect in dealing with personal relationships in all but a few rare (and grievous) cases. But the MLMer is recognizable by duplicity of friendship overtures, overbearing glad-handing, full-time prospecting, outrageous initial deception, and social callousness. This is no accident, but rather sheer desperation. How could it be otherwise? For the active MLMer is in a hopeless bear trap: with hubris as one steel jaw and oversaturation the other.
    And so the MLM relationship "bull" tramples through the relationship "china closet," blindly ruining fragile and valuable things. Some never pull out of this, figuring the coldness they experience in their emotional lives is due to some other cause than their MLM participation.

    Many will share the experience of observing MLMs divide families, friends, churches, and civic groups. Lifelong friends are now "prospects." The neighborhood is now "a market."

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "We Are not a Pyramid"-

    For most MLMs, the product is really a mere diversion from the real profit-making dynamic. To anyone familiar with MLMs, thry are "doomed by design" to reach market saturation and thus put the people who are legitimately trying to sell the product into a difficult situation) may seem to miss the point. The product or service may well be good, and it might oversaturate at some point, but let's get serious. The product is not the incentive to join an MLM. Otherwise people might have shown an interest in selling this particular product or service before in the real world. The product is the excuse to attempt to legitimate the real money-making engine. It's "the cover."

    Intuitively, we all know what is really going on with MLMs. Just don't use the word "pyramid"!

    "You see, if you can convince ten people that everyone needs this product or service, even though they aren't buying similar products available in the market, and they can convince ten people, and so on, that's how you make the real money. And as long as you sell to a few people along the way, it is all legal." Maybe...
    But the way to make money in all this is clearly not by only selling product, otherwise you might have shown an interest in it before, through conventional market opportunities. No, the "hook" is selling others on selling others on "the dream."

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    " We cannot fail"- Nothing irritates a die-hard MLMer more than the preceding argument. If you point out the absurdity, for example, that if "the pitch" at an Amway meeting were even moderately accurate, in something like 18 months Amway would be larger than the GNP of the entire United States, then listen closely for a major gear-shift: "Well, that is absurd, of course. Not everyone will succeed, and so the market will never saturate."

    Well, which is it? Are we recruiting "winners" to build a real business, or planning by design to profit off of "losers" who buy into our "confidence"?

    During "the pitch," anyone can make it work. "It's the opportunity of a lifetime." "Just look at the math!" But mention the inevitable saturation and the losses this is going to cause for everyone, and then you'll hear, "Of course it would never really work like that." "Most will fail," you will be told, "but not you, Mr. Recruit. You are a winner. I can just see it in your eyes."
    If you are a starry-eyed recruit, it will grow as presented. If you are a logical skeptic, then of course it would never really work like that.
    But the dialog usually never even gets to this. The fact that MLM is in a mad dash to oversupply is largely chided as mere "stinkin' thinkin'." Expert MLMers know how to quickly deflect this issue with parable, joke, personal testimony, or some other sleight of mind.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "We Believe In You." - The age-old technique of "con men" is to create "confidence" in some otherwise dumb idea by diversion of thought, bait, or force of personality. The victim gets confidence in a bogus plan, and, in exchange, the con man gets your money. MLMers are very high on confidence.


    Since the brain inevitably intrudes itself into the delusion that an MLM could ever work, spirits drop and attitudes go sour. But this depressive state can itself be exploited. As doubts grow when the MLM does not do what recruits were first "con"fidenced to expect, then a further profit can be made keeping the confidence going against all common sense.

    Thus, a parallel or "shadow" pyramid of motivational tapes, seminars, and videos emerges. These are a "must for success," and recruits are strong-armed into attending, buying, buying, and buying all the more. This motivational "shadow pyramid" further exploits the flagging recruits as they spiral inexorably into oversaturation and failure. The more they fail, the more "help" they need from those who are "successful" above them.
    So, MLMs profit by conning recruits up-front with a "distributorship fee," and then make further illicit money by "confidencing" these hapless victims as they fail via the "sale" of collateral material.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "We Have Great Leaders"- Another morally questionable practice that is intrinsic to MLMs, and seems axiomatic, is the pent-up idolatry of the leaders.

    In FUND AMERICA, for example, the "approved materials" showed what a great man the founder was, depicted the depth of his management experience, showed him in mood shots, etc. It is easy to swoon in admiration of such a powerful, visionary man, dedicated to bringing this wonderful opportunity to common Americans like us.

    It turned out he was a criminal fugitive from Australia, where he had been run out of town for doing the same.

    But you would never guess it from the company material. A great man.
    There are more than a few MLM "executives" like this who will pop up tomorrow in the MLM du jour. MLM exploitation can be very profitable and the jail sentences light. Let the MLM "dream" buyer beware.

    It does pay to do some research here. Are the idols you are being asked to worship in MLM worthy of respect, or contempt? Have they been prosecuted or sued for exploiting people in the past? Have they done prison time?

    You will find that many of the "leaders" in new MLMs that spring up, left and owned other MLMs, milked them dry and left the members holding the bag and some of them have had lawsuits against them, are being investigated by the authorities or had to pay out millions in law suits.

    Do not expect to hear the full truth in the MLM video.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "We Are Just Like Any Other Franchise" -

    Imagine that Wendy's became suddenly possessed by the idea that "everyone needs to eat," and opened four Wendy's franchises on the four corners of an intersection in your neighborhood. Who would benefit from this folly? The consumer? Certainly not the franchises; they would all lose. Wendy's corporate? Perhaps temporarily, by speculative inventory sales while the unfortunate franchises were under the delusion that they could all make money. But in the end, the negative image of four outlets dying a slow death would likely offset the temporary inventory sales bubble. Even the most unreflective of the hapless franchisees would think twice about doing business in such a manner again. This is why real-world distributorships and franchises are contractually protected by territory and/or market.

    Again, the simple fact is that even the most successful products will have partial market penetration. The same is true for services. Demand and "market share" are finite, and to overestimate either is catastrophic.
    So why are MLM promoters obscuring this? Who is in control of the supply "knob," carefully and skillfully managing the size of the distribution channels, number of salespeople, inventory, etc., to insure the success of all involved in the business? The truth is chilling: nobody.

    Imagine trying to write a computer model of how MLMs work, and you will see this point most vividly. An MLM could never work, even in theory. Think about it.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "Get In Now, While We are at The Groundbreaking Opportunity Stage"- Chernobyl had a control system that failed. MLMs have no control mechanisms at all.

    Where is the "switch" that can be flipped in an MLM when enough sales people are hired? In a normal company a manager says, "We have enough, let's stop hiring people at this point." But in an MLM, there is no way to do this. An MLM is a human "churning" machine with no "off button." Out of control by design, its gears will grind up the money, time, credibility, and entrepreneurial power of well-meaning people who joined merely to supplement their income. Better to just steer clear of this monster to begin with.

    There is simply no way to avoid the built-in failure mechanism of MLMs. If a company chooses to market this way, it will eventually "hire" (with no base pay and charging to join) far too many people.
    Thus, the only "control system" will be the inevitable losses and subsequent bad image the MLM company will gain after it does what it was designed to do: fail. And sooner or later we have got to stop blaming this particular MLM company or that, and admit that the MLM technique itself is fundamentally flawed.

    To get a job at Taco Bell, one must fill out an application and have some type of education and experience minimums. But anyone, who can write a check can and will be recruited into any MLM. It's all about recruiting and getting those fees.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "Don't read all the negative stuff on the internet. Those people are just jealous and want you to fail"
    In other words, don't do the research, speak to former member who quit and were ripped off, aske for proof of income statements, ask for the viable research to back of the claims of our crappy product, just accept all the lies and false promises that you are fed, pay your monthy dues and keep quiet. Don't ask us questions whoich we will not answer but will be happy to deflect around.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "MLM offers better opportunities than all other conventional
    business and professional models for making large amounts of money."
    -For almost everyone who invests, MLM turns out to be a losing financial proposition. Fewer than 1% of all MLM distributors ever earn a profit and those earning a sustainable living at this business are a much smaller percentage still.

    Extraordinary sales and marketing obstacles account for much of this failure, but even if the business were more feasible, sheer mathematics would severely limit the opportunity. The MLM business structure can support only a small number of financial winners. If a 1,000-person downline is needed to earn a sustainable income, those 1,000 will need one million more to duplicate the success. How many people can realistically be enrolled? Much of what appears as growth is in fact only the continuous churning of new enrollees. The money for the rare winners comes from the constant enrollment of armies of losers. With no limits on numbers of distributors in an area and no evaluation of market potential, the system is also inherently unstable.

    "Network marketing is the most popular and effective new way to bring products
    to market. Consumers like to buy products on a one-to-one basis in the MLM model."
    - Personal retailing -- including nearly all forms of door-to-door selling -- is a thing of the past, not the wave of the future. Retailing directly to friends on a one-to-one basis requires people to drastically change their buying habits. They must restrict their choices, often pay more for goods, buy inconveniently, and engage in potentially awkward business relationships with close friends and relatives. In reality, MLM depends on reselling the opportunity to sign up more distributors.

    "Eventually all products will be sold by MLM. Retail stores, shopping malls,
    catalogs and most forms of advertising will soon be rendered obsolete by MLM."
    - Fewer than 1% of all retail sales are made through MLM, and much of this is consists of purchases by hopeful new distributors who are actually paying the price of admission to a business they will soon abandon. MLM is not replacing existing forms of marketing.

    It does not legitimately compete with other marketing approaches at all. Rather, MLM represents a new investment scheme couched in the language of marketing. Its real products are distributorships that are sold through misrepresentation and exaggerated promises of income. People are buying products in order to secure positions on the sales pyramid. The possibility is always held out that you may become rich if not from your own efforts then from some unknown person ("the big fish") who might join your "downline."

    MLM's growth does not reflect its value to the economy, customers, or distributors, but the high levels of economic fear, insecurity, wishes for quick and easy wealth. The market dynamics are similar to those of legalized gambling, but the percentage of winners is much smaller.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "Success in MLM is easy. Friends and relatives are the natural prospects.
    Those who love and support you will become your life-time customers."
    - The commercialization of family and friendship and the use of"'warm leads" advocated in MLM marketing programs are a destructive element in the community and very unhealthy for individuals involved. People do not appreciate being pressured by friends and relatives to buy products. Trying to capitalizing upon personal relationships to build a business can destroy one's social foundation.

    "You can do MLM in your spare time. As a business, it offers the greatest flexibility
    and personal freedom of time. A few hours a week can earn a significant supplemental income
    and may grow to a very large income, making other work unnecessary."
    - Making money in MLM requires extraordinary time commitment as well as considerable personal skill and persistence. Beyond the sheer hard work and talent required, the business model inherently consumes more areas of one's life and greater segments of time than most occupations.

    In MLM, everyone is a prospect. Every waking moment is a potential time for marketing. There are no off-limit places, people, or times for selling. Consequently, there is no free space or free time once a person enrolls in MLM system.

    While claiming to offer independence, the system comes to dominate people's entire life and requires rigid conformity to the program. This is why so many people who become deeply involved end up needing and relying upon MLM desperately. They alienate or abandon other sustaining relationships.

    "MLM is a positive, supportive new business that
    affirms the human spirit and personal freedom."
    - MLM is largely fear-driven. Solicitations inevitably include dire predictions about the impending collapse of other forms of distribution, the disintegration or insensitivity of corporate America, and the lack of opportunity in other occupations. Many occupations are routinely demeaned for not offering"unlimited income."

    Working for others is cast as enslavement for "losers." MLM is presented as the last best hope for many people. This approach, in addition to being deceptive, frequently discourages people who otherwise would pursue their own unique visions of success and happiness. A sound business opportunity does not have to base its worth on negative predictions and warnings.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "MLM is the best option for owning your own
    business and attaining real economic independence."
    - MLM is not true self-employment. "Owning" an MLM distributorship is an illusion. Some MLM companies forbid distributors to carry other companies' products. Most MLM contracts make termination of the distributorship easy and immediate for the company.

    Short of termination, downlines can be taken away arbitrarily. Participation requires rigid adherence to a "duplication" model, not independence and individuality.

    MLM distributors are not entrepreneurs but joiners in a complex hierarchical system over which they have little control.

    "MLM is not a pyramid scheme because products are sold." - The sale of products does not protect against anti-pyramid-scheme laws or unfair trade practices set forth in federal and state law. MLM is a legal form of business only under rigid conditions set forth by the FTC and state attorneys general. Many MLMs are violate these guidelines and operate only because they have not been prosecuted.

    Recent court rulings are using a 70% rule to determine an MLM's legality: At least 70% of all goods sold by the MLM company must be purchased by nondistributors. This standard would place most MLM companies outside the law.

    The largest MLM acknowledges that only 18% of its sales are made to nondistributors.

    "100% fully automated system does all the work for you!" - Okay, if this is the case why do you even need me?

    "We can build this business for you!" - Again, why do you need me?

    "There is No Selling Involved" - When MLM companies have distributors or sales material that say that the products sell themselves, this is not true. It’s basically playing on the fact that most people don’t like to sell or are not good at selling. To make money, besides trying to sell crappy, overpriced, sometimes worthless products, you have to sell the flopportunity to others and recruit them into your downline. Stop the lies already.

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "If We Are Illegal, Then Why Hasn't the FTC Shut Us Down?"- Typically, in law enforcement, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Officials respond to complaints in a reactive, not proactive fashion.

    Victims in endless recruitment chains almost never file complaints. Often this comes from fear of personal embarrassment. Since MLM recruits must recruit a large number of people to have any hope of earning enough in commissions to recoup their ongoing investments (including required purchases), every major victim becomes a perpetrator.

    Fearing self-incrimination and/or consequences from or to those they recruited (often close friends and family members) and blaming themselves for their “failure,” they simply drop out and accept their losses.

    Also, when law enforcement does not act, recruitment prospects assume the MLM is legitimate. No law enforcement, no complaints. No complaints, no law enforcement.
    MLM may be the most successful con game of all time. Many of the very people who are out recruiting to extend the endless chain of participants (their "downline") are themselves victims until they run out of money and drop out of the chain.

    And since victims in endless chains almost never file complaints, law enforcement seldom acts. So the game goes on, extending the chain of recruitment from state to state and from country to country – then starting the cycle of recruitment all over again with new products, aliases, or divisions – as Amway (Alticore) has done with Quixtar and Nu Skin has done with IDN, Big Planet, Pharmanex, and PhotoMax.

  16. #16
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "It's just like any other business...such as buying a franchise"
    The comparison to franchises is one of my favorites. Franchise owners actually own their franchise, as long as they abide by the stipulated contract.
    "IBOs" (Independent business owners) of MLMs "own" nothing. They are merely independent contractors, and most end up owing.

    "Our product is the most amazing product out there and it sells itself"
    Most of the time it's overpriced and either of poor or unknown quality.

    "Just show people the opportunity, it will sell itself."
    For publicly traded companies, such as Pre-Paid Legal, the numbers are visible for all to see: the inability to sell the craopportunity, and the high churn rates.

    "Fake it till you make it"
    Translation: Lie, deceive, repeat.

    "We are Legal!"
    A legal pyramid scheme. The products make it legal, and the so called FTC "biz-op" rule was beaten back by more than 17,000 comments, most of which came from the MLM industry. The FTC rule would have required much more of the industry, and in the end, they excluded MLMs.

    "We Are not a Pyramid"
    Corollary: "All businesses are Pyramids". Never mind the distinction between pyramid scheme (endless chain recruiting) vs. pyramidal shape of corporations. The lowliest employee at a corporation makes minimum wage, receives benefits, and doesn't have to pay a fee for his job.

    And if you don't "make it":

    "You didn't work the business" (You are a lazy loser)
    A half-truth is a whole lie.

  17. #17
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    My favorite from YTB: "You can come from Yale or Jail, Penn State or the State Pen - We'll take anybody and make you successful."
    GEORGE DRANICHAK - OWNER OF SCAM.COM, PORN MOGUL AND KING OF THE PORN SPAMMERS

  18. #18
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    Quote Originally Posted by Emet View Post

    And if you don't "make it":

    "You didn't work the business" (You are a lazy loser)
    That's what I don't get...what if the product is just simply not worth selling? Do I fail because the product sucks and that it's overpriced?

    There's only so much you can do with a 4 dollar everything drink.
    No time for love, Doctah Jones

  19. #19
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "The Real Estate and Insurance industries are paid exactly like multi-level marketing companies."
    A half-truth is a whole lie.

  20. #20
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    Quote Originally Posted by Unsaved Trash View Post
    My favorite from YTB: "You can come from Yale or Jail, Penn State or the State Pen - We'll take anybody and make you successful."
    They didn't really use that did they?

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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    Quote Originally Posted by Whip View Post
    They didn't really use that did they?
    It wasn't the YTB official slogan, but I believe it was a YTB recruiter that said that. It could have been at one of their conventions. It was pretty common to hear that from then on.
    GEORGE DRANICHAK - OWNER OF SCAM.COM, PORN MOGUL AND KING OF THE PORN SPAMMERS

  22. #22
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    They stole it from Lewis Carlyle's article:
    "From Prison to Paradise"

    Since there was little he could do about building a financial empire while in prison, Long concentrated on
    pursuing one very important precursor: education. “I tell people I went to jail, not Yale,” Long says with a
    smile. “I went to the state pen, not Penn State.”
    http://www.weldonlong.com/Weldon_Story.pdf

    ETA: I just read the pdf: It was in the autobiography of Wally Long.
    Last edited by Emet; 07-02-2010 at 07:22 PM.
    A half-truth is a whole lie.

  23. #23
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    "Just Do the Math!"

    This one may not get as much use these days as it once did since it's the easiest to destroy, but it was a favorite a few years ago, and used often to demonstrate the impressive "Unlimited Growth Potential" of Multi-Level-Marketing. They loved this one because you were 'seeing for yourself' how the math worked, a very convincing situation, as long as you don't have time to really think about the numbers themselves... Or to keep doing the multipication...
    Once folks realised the Earth itself had a finite population that you could reverse the math on, seeing how few levels were in fact possible before the planet ran out of people to join, it fell out of use quickly.
    It's still one of my favs though.

    Last edited by Mike!; 07-02-2010 at 07:47 PM.
    "Never judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes...
    Because then it doesn't matter, you’re a mile away and you have his shoes!"

  24. #24
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    Quote Originally Posted by Whip View Post
    They didn't really use that did they?
    It was used at a YTB convention a few years ago. Amazing isn't it? But then when you look at the history of Coach, and some of the founders, some of the Directors and former Board Members, and YTB's SEC filings, it's not really surprising. lol

  25. #25
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    Re: The false lines used by mlms

    J.O.B. Just over broke.

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