5 Things We Love To Hate About MLM

The over exposed or even those not so exposed to MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) would understand the love hate relationship that many of us have with the industry. Those of us who have been around the business for a while come to love many things about it, but this does not absolve us from loving to hate some aspects of the business as well. Many would say "speak for yourself" and I will. Therefore I will take this opportunity to highlight five things I dislike or find downright annoying about MLM. I am certain that there are many more that can be added to this meagre list.

1. Attending the dreaded weekly MLM business opportunity meeting.

I know many of us find this especially annoying. Every "Tuesday" night having to dress up and show up with guest at the business meeting. Many people found this difficult because it simply did not fit in with their schedule and immediate commitments.

Thank to the internet this is rapidly changing. We can now all sit at home and attend online webinars and conference call in our Pyjamas with our coffee in hand. Some companies have gone so far as to work out a full ongoing schedule of daily meetings.

One company have found it useful to created an ongoing daily schedule so that anyone who choose to can attend any of at least five (5) opportunity meetings in as many as twenty (20) different languages, all from the comfort of their own home. This does not take away from those who choose to attend a live offline meeting if there is one schedule in their area. You now have the convenience of choosing to attend a live on or off line meeting.

Here is an example a of the A daily Webinar Scheule. All you need to do is scroll to the date and language of your choice hover your mouse and when the schedule drop down menu appears click on your desired time. You then can sign in as a guest at that time and join the live MLM business opportunity presentation right from the comfort of your home.

2. Being required to spend money over and over on MLM training and motivational material

Here again thanks to the internet this is a thing of the past for most "savvy" MLM business owners. Much of what is needed to build an MLM business comes with the business opportunity Start-up-kit. Most people today have some idea how to find free motivational material online and  many companies now host free online training webinars for their Associates.

3. Waiting to receive your MLM check at a given pay period.

Back in the old days of MLM many of us can remember waiting for the end of the month to collect our bonus and commission cheque. Which in many ways is not different from having a regular job and waiting for month end to be paid. If you are like me and live in the Caribbean this process could take up to three months. I can remember having to wait an extra 45 days after receiving my cheque and taking it to the bank. The bank nicely informed me that it is indeed a 45 day process to vet and clear such cheques.

Thankfully MLM companies have now found ways to pay their associates via debit cards and the process is much more efficient and people can have their earnings available to them in a much more reasonable time regardless of where they are in the world.

Even more phenomenal some MLM companies have led the way and created Compensation Plans that allow associates to get paid immediately on making a sale or achieving a bonus.

Here is a short video of one such Compensation Plan:

4. Listening to MLM associates boast about their commission and bonus cheques.

Have you ever seen those post on Facebook and other social sites with a photograph of a hand full of money claiming its their commission of X amount made in the last "two" days from their MLM business. Maybe you saw the ones that post huge snapshots of their commission page from their back office or payment processor detailing all the payments they have had over a given period.

They look something like this:

It all verges on annoyance and though I am not the one to speak of whether it is the correct or incorrect thing to do I am sure that many people find it distasteful. Many may even get turned off from MLM after being exposed to this seemingly common act perpetuated by those who persist in doing so across the internet.

5. My MLM is better than yours.

This is a very special one and thus must be made mention of. Many in the industry might have been guilty of this at one time or another.  Though on giving it some thought the stark pointlessness of such an argument becomes painfully obviously.

There can never be a useful argument about whether one MLM is better than the other since many people join the MLM of their choice for a variety of reasons. People look for what appeals to them about a given company; - the company's compensation plan, the product/s they market, availability and accessibility to that product, their connection to the people they are about to do business with among many other considerations.

In my case having been in the industry for some time, I choose to stay away from any MLM that market a physical product. This is simply due to my experience with the hassle of shipping products into the Caribbean. Marketing a product that the customer have immediate access to via the internet compliments my lifestyle and circumstances much more convenient than having to deal with shipping and handling along with other bureaucratic hurdles like customs and excise.

Does that make my company better than a company that market nutritional or luxury products, I doubt it. The individuals who chooses those companies would have done so because of reasons that suit their lifestyle and circumstances.

Those are the five immediate dislikes I can think about that I know many have harboured about MLM over the years. There are many more that can, have and will be mentioned as time passes since the MLM industry seem to do a relatively good job of generating continuous debate.