I do not deny the fact that every one including me wants to get rich, or at least financial free as fast as possible during our limited lifespan. We want money, and our own precious time at the same time. This is something most of the people cannot achieve with a full-time work.
This is where multi-level marketing comes in. You can call it network marketing, pyramid schemes, referrer marketing or many more terms.
Multi-level marketing (MLM), by definition, is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of others they recruit, creating a downline of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation. Most of the direct sales companies are using multi-level marketing to get more people joining as well as selling products.
There is nothing wrong with MLM, in fact this is a good concept and strategy. However it turns ugly when people become aggressive to make money. Some of the companies no longer supply any products and only focus on recruiting people into their “business”.
Pyramid scheme, by definition, is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment, services or ideals, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme or training them to take part, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Pyramid schemes are a form of fraud and illegal in many countries.
The common similarity of pyramid scheme is that you have to pay an amount of money to join the business, and the recruiters may force you to do it immediately on spot without giving you any time to consider and even persuade you not to consult any people. Moreover, they promise you that you will not lose your capital no matter what, or you can make money even you fail to sell any products.
Not all MLM are scams, but mostly are. To me, if a business wants you to pay before join and wants you to recruit other people in order to generate income, this is a fraud. You do not know when this bubble will burst and those 5-digit-income managers run away with your money, no matter how long the company has stand in the market. The reasons are:
1. You do not know how big the pyramid has already grow.
2. What are you going to do when every one has joined in?
If you do not have the answers, I suggest you do not join them.
You have to analyse carefully before you spend any money. Most of the fraud companies use products to cover their pyramid schemes. Then they just sell the distributorship, and if you have a terrible upline who just take your money and do not even bother you, then your money is gone.
I would not say that pyramid scheme is 100% cheating and fail. Some of my friends are doing it too, and there are successful examples out there. It depends on what you need and how you do.
The perspective above may be wrong, so please enlighten me. Anyway, please be cautious to the scams.
Some Whispers