Thread: Why Not Start Your Own MLM?

I was reading over on FastLane about this guy that met up with the owner of a MLM company. The conversation went something like this:

Met the owner of a successful MLM recently. this guy came in a black Rolls Royce Phantom with a license plate that said "Easymoni" (which made no sense to me until I found out he's in the MLM game...marketing expense never looked so luxurious )

The second I heard that, I said to him "You know what...your the man. Why? Because you didn't take part it in one.. your started your own. Whole nother game your in."

Guy looks at me for a second, clear that he'd never heard anyone actually say that to him, leans in, smiles and quietly says "....I want to sit on the throne, not help other guys lift it"

Makes perfect sense to me. If you check, the majority of the people that run MLMs were distributors at one time - then got smart. Doesn't it make sense, really, if you're going to put all the effort into building a downline, that it would make more sense to start your own MLM?

Robert Ford, a former top earning Herbalife Distributor, recounts what it took to reach President Team level:

This is what I did to get my phone to ring off the hook:
15 classified ads per week
25 pole signs per week
1,000 business cards per day, 6 days a week (I wore out two pair of Nike running shoes)

... for three straight years

Was it easy to do? Absolutely not.

Did it work in building a network marketing business at that time? Absolutely yes.

Then he saw the light and realized it was all a waste of time. (Why A Herbalife President Team Member Resigned His Six-Figure Income)

Which begs the question, why don't more supposedly intelligent folks wake up to the fact that it's better to sit on the throne rather than under it? We keep talking about Lenny Clements, so let's use him as an example. Here's a guy that's been in MLM since puberty, researched the industry, jumped around with at least a half a dozen companies, knows comp plans inside out, is a court certified witness, MENSA alumni, yet he's still hacking away peddling YOLI blast caps or whatever it is they're hawking these days.

Don't you think if the guy (or a lot of other MLM distributors for that matter) was half as smart as he claims to be, that he would have figured out by now that it might be better to start your own company? Geez, all you have to do is find a supplier of some cheap protein powder, get some computer geek to work up a software program to keep track of your comp plan, then make up some bullshit about how good the product is and all the ailments it cures. You don't have to hire anyone - they only get paid once they sell the stuff, so you're home free.

Dunno, but it makes perfect sense to me that if you're going to play the MLM game that it's better to be the dealer than the player.

Len Clements has left his Yoli crap up and lists it on LinkedIn but....

GoYoli

The enroller's site you are trying to visit is not active at this time.

I guess our new MLM could be his next in the lists of jump and dumps!!!

Originally Posted by Soapboxmom

Len Clements has left his Yoli crap up and lists it on LinkedIn but....

GoYoli

Oh, really?

Must be a computer glitch or the site is down for maintenance.

Whatever happened to...

NOTICE!

THIS SITE WAS THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE FREESTYLES TEAM WEBSITE BEFORE
A NEWER SITE WAS DEVELOPED.

THE ONLY REASON I'M LEAVING THIS SITE UP IS BECAUSE A SMALL BUT OBSESSIVE
CLIQUE OF ANONYMOUS INTERNET TROLLS, WHO CLAIMED AFTER YOLI'S LAUNCH IN
NOVEMBER OF 2009 THAT WE "WOULDN'R LAST 6 MONTHS", HAVE EXPLOITED THIS SITE'S
LACK OF DEVELOPMENT IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO SUGGEST I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE
IN YOLI DUE TO ITS INEVITABLE DEMISE.

THEY ARE WRONG.

I AM STILL ACTIVE IN YOLI AND 100% COMMITTED TO IT.

Originally Posted by Doc Bunkum

Oh, really?

Must be a computer glitch or the site is down for maintenance.

Whatever happened to...

Bluster!!!

Originally Posted by Soapboxmom

Len Clements has left his Yoli crap up and lists it on LinkedIn but....

GoYoli

I guess our new MLM could be his next in the lists of jump and dumps!!!

Wow. It's been exactly one year to the day that you last posted this lie.

http://www.realscam.com/f9/clements-...html#post67292

I don't know if this is deceit, gross incompetence, or onset senility, but whichever, I really do appreciate the opportunity to expose it.

See you next year

Originally Posted by Len Clements

Wow. It's been exactly one year to the day that you last posted this lie.

http://www.realscam.com/f9/clements-...html#post67292

I don't know if this is deceit, gross incompetence, or onset senility, but whichever, I really do appreciate the opportunity to expose it.

See you next year

Well, lookie who dropped in. If you are in fact still pimping Yoli the lowly you sure have kept it a ginormous secret. The current websites, phone calls and all the accompanying crapola are sure hard to find on Google. Why is that Lenny? Are you not getting invitations to the big Yoli shindigs? Are the top of pyramid promoters not all buddy buddy with you, muffin?

Len Clements ‏@mwave1 1:18 PM - 30 Jan 2015

MLM Power companies simply can't succeed w/o big signup fees that pay big sign up bonuses – & more red flags than a sold out Cardinals game.

Len Clements @mwave1 · Jan 30

(Sorry – I have a whole garage full of idioms I can't return)

Probably has a garage full of Yoli he can't return either.

Originally Posted by Doc Bunkum

Dunno, but it makes perfect sense to me that if you're going to play the MLM game that it's better to be the dealer than the player.[/COLOR]

Doc IF someone wanted to go this route I would be inclined to agree.

Although it may be muck less aggravating to go the Timothy Ferris route in http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workwee...houre+workweek and just get a factory to formulate a bottle of brain pills, slap a on label and spam the web. I'm certain no one has tried that yet.

I don't know about sustainability as all these companies seem to be selling the same crap from one of a handful of manufacturers. For a hearty "ramp and run" it might just be the ticket to bank a few million. And if they go lose a bunch of cash, well that was virtually inevitable as a distributor.


Kevin Thompson has a few words of wisdom for would be MLM Kingpins. Although knowing where his bread is buttered, he might just be trying to steal a distributor's dreams.
================================================== ===========
33 Reasons NOT to Start a MLM


Your product is already a commodity. There’s an equivalent in the marketplace with mass distribution and lower price points. If the main driver leading people to buy your product is the financial opportunity, it’ll lead to trouble.

Your product is dangerous. The ingredients are so cutting edge, you have no idea of the long term consequences. After taking your pill, customers can’t feel their fingers for three days.

33 Reasons NOT to Start a MLM | The MLM Attorney


================================================== ===========

Originally Posted by ribshaw

Kevin Thompson has a few words of wisdom for would be MLM Kingpins. Although knowing where his bread is buttered, he might just be trying to steal a distributor's dreams.

================================================== ===========

For this unfamiliar with Mr. Thompson, there was a time when Mr. Thompson made an effort to help clean-up the MLM industry in his home state of Tennessee. Specifically, Mr. Thompson sponsored a Bill in the Tennessee legislature designed to codify the difference between a legitimate MLM and a pyramid scheme or endless chain.

Any guesses what that Bill said?

The answer can be found here on Mr. Thompson's blog. It makes for fascinating reading. Tennessee House Bill 2843.

I asked Mr. Thompson once whatever happened to the bill he sponsored. His response - the DSA killed it. It seems the MLM cabal sunk their teeth into Mr. Thompson good and hard to reel him and his common sense in. Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs makes you enemies with the DSA very quickly. This young idealist learned a valuable lesson and learned it the hard way.

Years later, Mr. Thompson seems to have changed his tune. Career risk and the need to keep one's income alive will have a tendency to do that. Like many in the upline, Mr. Thompson's livelihood depends upon the proliferation of deceptive marketing schemes.

Does MLM Attorney Kevin Thompson Have Amnesia?

I think you're right, ribshaw.

Knowing where his bread is buttered, he might just be trying to discourage competition in the industry.

After all, there are only so many marks, why water down that pool?

Lenny would have the additional expense of having to hire someone to write all his marketing material. otherwise he would bore any potential members to death with his unnecessarily complex and detailed explanations of why people should buy his product or join his "opportunity"

One only has to look at his in depth analysis of the Amega Wand to see what a mashup Lenny is capable of making of what should be simple and straightforward subjects.

The sad thing is, Lenny, you think you're doing yourself and your cause some sort of good with your childish drive by posts.

In reality, your circle of influence grows smaller every time you stick your head up.

Originally Posted by littleroundman

The sad thing is, Lenny, you think you're doing yourself and your cause some sort of good with your childish drive by posts.

In reality, your circle of influence grows smaller every time you stick your head up.

You are a tiny, insignificant little coward. That's why you have to hide behind an anonymous screen name, and admin garbage dumps like this one – so you can feel some small, pathetic, delusional sense of power by freely smearing people and then blocking their responses when they make you look stupid.

Surely you must know that this site has a horrible reputation, and is considered little more than a cesspool for trolls to bath in. It, like you, has zero credibility.

Originally Posted by Len Clements

Surely you must know that this site has a horrible reputation,

With whom ???

Lenny Clements supporters ??

As I type this post, there are currently 872 visitors to the forum.

That's a heck of a lot of people here to see just how little credibility we have.

Remind me, Lenny, was it you or your boy Doyle who made the bold prediction the forum would never see 100 members.

Originally Posted by Len Clements

You are a tiny, insignificant little coward. That's why you have to hide behind an anonymous screen name, and admin garbage dumps like this one – so you can feel some small, pathetic, delusional sense of power by freely smearing people and then blocking their responses when they make you look stupid.

Surely you must know that this site has a horrible reputation, and is considered little more than a cesspool for trolls to bath in. It, like you, has zero credibility.

and yet here you are having to post here. And since we've never met you.......you're anonymous also. You are just a screen name and that absolutely kills you.

Originally Posted by Len Clements

That's why you have to hide behind an anonymous screen name

Originally Posted by littleroundman

The sad thing is, Lenny, you think you're doing yourself and your cause some sort of good with your childish drivel by posts.

In reality, your circle of influence grows smaller every time you stick your head up.

There! Fixed it for ya!

My my, deja vu all over again. Some things never change in MLMland, the attacks on poor Lenny are never ending, and I wonder why, he isn't a bad guy as far as I have read, and many of his articles were all well written and researched, so why are so many so disrespectful here? I remembered I had registered years ago, but now I remember why I never posted until today, too many angry hateful comments. I'm all for calling out scams, but why are you picking on Lenny, has he every promoted a scam? You can disagree, as I heard mod state, but attacking a persons character as some have done is pretty sad. Oh well, carry on, my visit was short as it was several years ago.

Good luck to all,

Originally Posted by JOIN-FREE

My my, deja vu all over again. Some things never change in MLMland, the attacks on poor Lenny are never ending, and I wonder why, he isn't a bad guy as far as I have read, and many of his articles were all well written and researched, so why are so many so disrespectful here? I remembered I had registered years ago, but now I remember why I never posted until today, too many angry hateful comments. I'm all for calling out scams, but why are you picking on Lenny, has he every promoted a scam? You can disagree, as I heard mod state, but attacking a persons character as some have done is pretty sad. Oh well, carry on, my visit was short as it was several years ago.

Good luck to all,

Welcome back JOIN-FREE. In regard to your post you made a couple of points that I want to address. May I suggest that you need to read further than you have and you would find your answers. And yes, Len has been involved in a couple of MLM scams. For someone who is such an expert on MLM, he could not figure out that Empower Network was an illegal pyramid scheme, nor that the mega-wand was all nanotech psycho-babble technology. You did not have to buy one to know it. There are others, but you get the idea. This does not mean that he hasn't also done some good work because he has. He has exposed some bad MLM programs and I congratulate him for doing so.

But you see Len is just as guilty of the personal attacks against his detractors just like you say the people here at RS do. There is one major difference though. Len bans his detractors and in several cases has deleted entire threads in forums he controlled. You might want to ask Len why he was terminated as a Mod at SCAM.com and his name was banned, which is a first. Like I suggested, you need to do a lot more reading.

I realized shortly after I started this thread that I had a brain fart at the time.

I forgot - Lenny DID start his own MLM at one point in time.

2004 - Epic Network

But it never got off the ground.

Reading Lenny's fascinating explanation why - Len Clements Steps Down as Owner and CEO of Epic Network - made me realize that it's not as simple as it appears to start one of these businesses.

Originally Posted by EagleOne

Welcome back JOIN-FREE. In regard to your post you made a couple of points that I want to address. May I suggest that you need to read further than you have and you would find your answers. And yes, Len has been involved in a couple of MLM scams. For someone who is such an expert on MLM, he could not figure out that Empower Network was an illegal pyramid scheme, nor that the mega-wand was all nanotech psycho-babble technology. You did not have to buy one to know it. There are others, but you get the idea. This does not mean that he hasn't also done some good work because he has. He has exposed some bad MLM programs and I congratulate him for doing so.

But you see Len is just as guilty of the personal attacks against his detractors just like you say the people here at RS do. There is one major difference though. Len bans his detractors and in several cases has deleted entire threads in forums he controlled. You might want to ask Len why he was terminated as a Mod at SCAM.com and his name was banned, which is a first. Like I suggested, you need to do a lot more reading.

Lynn, I have a better idea. Rather than make JOIN-FREE do all that digging for dirt he'll never find (or for the lies you all completely make up about me, such as those above), how about you and I get on a live call, which we can both promote in advance to our respective audiences, and you can ask me all these questions yourself? That way you can expose me before a much larger audience, including my own peers, the entire exchange can occur within an hour instead of over a number of days, and I don't have to leave a feast for all the trolls here to engorge themselves on.

How about Saturday, March 21st? That gives us plenty of time to get the word out, and for you and your team of "scam busters" to compile a mountain of incriminating evidence against me. What time works for you? How about "high noon" (PST). Seems kind of fitting.

I anxiously await your acceptance.

I must admit it is a whole lot easier to poke fun at Lenny Clements these days.

Lenny went a long way to destroying any credibility he may have had by publishing this (not so) little piece of nonsense and then defending himself rather viciously when it was pointed out the stupidity of even discussing such a blatantly obvious fraud.

All any of his many critics have to do now is laugh and point at this:



Len Clements pontificates

So, can we take it the anger management counselling hasn't made any difference, Lenny ???

As for anyone here blocking your posts - get over yourself.

Why would anyone want to prevent readers from seeing your pearls of wisdom ??

It's a security feature in the forum software.

Any posts from new members with under five posts and which include a URL are automatically placed in a queue for moderation to prevent drive by spammers

Originally Posted by littleroundman

As for anyone here blocking your posts - get over yourself.

Why would anyone want to prevent readers from seeing your pearls of wisdom ??

It's a security feature in the forum software.

Any posts from new members with under five posts and which include a URL are automatically placed in a queue for moderation to prevent drive by spammers

it should be pointed out he knows this after begging for an admin position and being granted it to censor people at scam.com. A hypocrite in mlm? shocking I say.

Say, Lenny, did you learn to back up your files yet?

I was saddened to learn someone hacked your MarketWave website, leaving it in a... "zombie-like state both blind, and with no ability to communicate, alive but in a semi-comatose state, awaiting a SQL specialist to perform a transplant. And then, the plastic surgeons … well, to do the best they can do".

And no, you can't hang that one on Bunky - I didn't have anything to do with it.

Honest injun!