The other day I was reading several posts on an MLM message board, allegedly designed to discuss Scams- one of which, of course, was about the network marketing scam. After reading several pages of posts, I decided that I had had enough with the trash-talking about how all MLMs or Network Marketing companies are scams.

Actually, less than 10% of network marketing companies are truly “scams”. The reason why this industry has such a bad reputation, I believe, is because of the marketing methods used by many of the industry’s leaders. What methods? The hotel meeting, the sizzle call, the glossy brochure or video that highlights people making six-figures plus, driving around in Ferraris, standing in front of their mansion. Telling people that all they need to do is talk to everyone they know about the business, take them to a hotel meeting to hear a guy talk about his millions, and that’s it. They talk about super duper bonuses when you get 1,000 people into the business. They tell you about how they got the super bonus in just 2 months. And if you get busy, you will too.

The truth is…this type of marketing doesn’t work out in the long run for a lot of people. I believe that the marketing style I mentioned is one of the main reasons why there is a 97% attrition rate in network marketing. Why? This form of marketing primarily appeals to people who: (1) are in a desperate financial situation or (2) want to make a quick buck.

Most likely, neither one will stay in the business for more than a year, here’s why.

Type (1) People in a Desperate Financial Situation:

Network Marketing is a business not a job. Businesses take money to grow. I don’t care what anyone else says, to grow a business you need money. You need money to make money. If you don’t have any money, you won’t be in business for long.

Most of these people end up dropping out because they spend themselves out of the business. They didn’t know it would take money after the initial sign up fee or product purchase. They didn’t know that if they want to grow the business that they would likely have to buy leads and marketing materials. Sadly, when you don’t have the money to fund the business, it won’t grow.

Type (2) People Wanting to Make A Quick Buck:

Businesses, in addition to some money, take time and effort to grow. A major flaw in the current industry is that most leaders don’t tell you that your friends and family might not see the business for the great opportunity it is. When that happens, people either must go and talk to every person they can or they must purchase business opportunity leads. To introduce the business face-to-face to all of these people takes time.

What really gets my goat is when top money earners are quick to tell people that they made the Super Duper $100,000 bonus in just 6 months. But they fail to disclose the number of companies before this one, in which they tried and failed. They don’t tell people that the REAL reason they got that Bonus in just 2 months was because they brought a downline of 500+ over from another company, a downline that took them YEARS to build. This lack of information gives most opportunity seekers a false expectation of the time and effort it takes to succeed.

Typically Quick Buck people quit after a few months, when the reality of the time commitment sets in.

To try to prevent these results, we always tell prospects what it really takes to make it in the business. That’s why I’m writing this article. I don’t want a single person to join my team unless they know exactly what it will take to succeed. With that said…

You’re probably wondering… is she going to say anything good about Network Marketing?

You bet!

Unlike traditional businesses, which take a lot of start-up capital (typically between 10s of thousands to millions) for things like rent, insurance, inventory, legal fees, licenses, etc., network marketing allows people to have their own business for a fraction of the cost. It’s the most affordable way for someone who wants to be his or her own boss, to start a business.

It gives the little guy a chance to make way more money than he ever could at his 9 to 5. It gives people a better chance at living the American Dream than a lottery ticket. The best part is, there are TONS of average people like you and me, making MILLIONS in network marketing. It is a real possibility, if you are willing and able to do what it takes.

Consider these things before signing up with any network marketing or MLM company:

1. If you have little to no money to grow the business, are you willing to talk to everyone in a 3-foot radius to tell them about your business?

That’s what it’ll take for you to get your business going if you have little to no money. It CAN be done. If you aren’t willing to consistently talk to people for one to two years at least to get money coming in consistently, a network marketing business isn’t right for you.

2. What are you willing to do to grow your business once your contacts or “warm market” has been exhausted? You’ve pretty much got two choices:

A. Purchase Leads

This means you’ll make hundreds of cold-calls to business opportunity seekers, a large percentage of which will be rude and hang up on you. This method has be proven to work too, but it truly is a numbers game. You’ll need to make a whole lot of phone calls to grow your organization this way.

B. Start marketing your business on the Internet

This method takes a lot of time and some money. If you want to market your business on the Internet, you must be prepared for the fact that it takes several months of hard work of laying the foundation before you start seeing results. It takes time to get your presence out on the Internet. You’ll also need to be willing to spend time and some money on educational materials. If you are new to this industry and/or this style of marketing, you will become a student again. (without the horrible tests).

The great thing about the Internet is, if you HATE the idea of making a sales pitch, or going to hotel meetings, or pestering your friends and family, like I do, you can still grow your business! How?

By using what’s known as an “Attraction Marketing” campaign. In just a few short months, we have people contacting us on a daily basis inquiring about our business. We teach our team to grow their business the same way.

After reading this, you may be wondering why I am being so brutally honest about what it takes to succeed in network marketing. In fact, I’ll bet that several Network Marketing veterans will be pretty mad at me for being so honest. They’ll say that I’m scaring off prospects. I probably am. But I don’t care. Want to know why?

We personally mentor each of our team members to help them reach their goals, no matter how large or small. We aren’t interested in wasting our time working with people who are unable or unwilling to do what it takes to succeed. We want a team of solid business owners who are serious about having their own business; who acknowledge that it takes time, effort, and money to grow a business; and who are willing to do what it takes to reach their business goals.

If I haven’t scared you off yet, then you’re the kind of person we want on our team. Unlike many sponsors out there, when you join our team we’re with you every step of the way. Because we are so honest about what it takes to succeed in this business, we know that finding people who are willing and able to do it are so few and far between that it’s a lot like mining for gold. That’s why, when someone joins our team, we automatically know they are like gold. And we treat them as such.