Something I have pondered over many times is why some people refer to NWM as a ‘predatory’ type business.

But would this really be a fair and reasonable statement to make as a generalisation of NWM across the board?

Maybe… maybe not. I mean there’s plenty of people who’ve achieved significant wealth recruiting & building large teams and that’s great.

However, at the same time I also ask myself…

At what cost?

Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s everything. I guess it all comes down to one’s belief and perspective.

With that said… I believe most people like the general concept of Network Marketing and what it can offer.

Do the4 work once… get paid over and over on autopilot etc.

Sounds pretty good and a nice way to live doing what you want to do each day, right?

However, I’m yet to fully agree with every aspect of it because in many cases things like integrity, ethics and intuition can unfortunately go overlooked or just completely tossed out the window.

Why?

Because the sacrifice can deceivingly appear to be worth the reward.

Now does this mean I think everyone involved in NWM is deliberately operating unethically and lacks integrity?

No, of course not!

That would be extremely ignorant, arrogant and just flat out wrong. I just wish to raise some points which revolve around a few concerns and I would encourage anyone involved in NWM to seriously consider the information, which I’ll be raising.

Now before I get stuck into it, I have no doubt some highly dedicated and passionate network marketers reading this may already be thinking…

However, I promise it will all make sense because over time my perspective has certainly changed somewhat from being a firm believer and supporter of network marketing to now questioning a few things, which I believe need to be raised within this space.

Actually whilst you’re here… I’m going to give just one quick example right now where some network marketers may say something along the lines of…

“It’s not about the money. I just genuinely want to help others”.

Okay… that sounds really noble and all, but I’m sorry to say that everyone else also knows this is a complete and utter load of bullshit.

Telling people this will be about as popular as bird shit on a freshly detailed car and ruin your credibility faster than a fart in a cyclone. To be blatantly honest, it only makes those who spout off this nonsense look like a fool and the more they try to convince others of this, the more dodgy they appear simply because the words don’t match the action.

Why is that exactly?

Because if they really thought that way and want the actions to be 100% congruent with the words, they would happily recommend the product or service without any thought of reward or financial compensation for doing so.

FACT: You don’t need to join a business opportunity to recommend or ‘share’ a product or service to ‘help or benefit’ someone else so please…

But wait there’s more…

Some even reach the pinnacle of stupidity by signing up to a business opportunity just to be involved in the recruiting / money making side of things and only purchase the product or service associated with that opportunity to avoid it being considered an illegal Ponzi / Pyramid Scheme.

This is by far the most dodgy way to be involved in a NWM venture and will more often than not be looked at as a scammy, sleazy and predatory type of Pyramid Scheme because the underlying motivation is all about recruiting for one’s own benefit rather than genuine sales of a product or service to legitimate retail customers.

Unfortunately this sort of unethical crap plagues this type of business model and it’s usually the primary reason why many network marketing companies are shut down. This really is a good thing because it’s one of the main issues why so many disheartened ex-distributors feel like they’ve lost out when they end up earning stuff all and eventually quit empty handed or even go into debt due to inventory loading depending on the company they’re with.

They never cared about any genuine results from a product or service they or their customers were using and only purchased it so they could get paid from recruiting, which is a really super hard thing to do (not to mention maintaining the ongoing retention), hence why the failure rate is so high with this sort of thing.

So, of course they’re going to feel ripped off when it doesn’t work. They went in with the intention of focusing purely on the money and what they can get from everyone else, whilst peddling a product or service they don’t care about under false pretence.

This type of greed mentality and trying to screw the system will almost always end in tears, anger and disappointment. That is why this sort of BS needs to stop within the NWM arena if it wants to revive any sense of ethical credibility within the marketplace.

However, on the flip side, if a current customer chooses to partake in the associated business opportunity because they were already happily using and enjoying the benefits and results from a product or service as a genuine retail customer… then really… what’s the issue?

None of course, because the risk is minimal.

They shouldn’t feel ripped off at all because they were already an existing customer who was using the product or service, and the business opportunity is just an extra benefit and way they can make extra income by retailing the product or service to other legitimate customers.

Even if the company charges a small annual admin fee (not in any way associated with the commission payment structure) for a distributor to have a professional back office that handles all essential components to running a successful NWM operation such as CRM systems, customer order fulfilment, commission payments & tracking, KPI’s etc. then it’s not a big loss if you happen to find that the biz side of things isn’t really for you and realise you’re just better off remaining as a customer.

See the difference?

There is a completely different intention and motivation between the two and that is also why I firmly believe a person who is considering a network marketing venture should always become a customer of a chosen product or service first and receive real genuine proven benefits and results BEFORE they even consider the business opportunity associated with it.

There’s absolutely no harm in giving something of interest a go to see if it’s of benefit and worthwhile. That way you can make a truly informed decision as to whether it’s the right thing for you or simply cancel or easily opt out if it’s not.

With that said, it’s also important to realise that very few customers are suited to taking on the business side of things and I’ll get to why that is in a moment.

Now some may say…

“I only joined the business opportunity to get a discount on my own product purchases.”

C’mon… no you didn’t!

It’s total BS because everyone who joins a NWM opportunity is hoping they’ll be able to build a downline of some sort that pays them a residual income, even if it’s just enough to be able to cover the cost of their own monthly product / service expenses.

Otherwise… why do it?

But here’s the thing…

If you say this to others and then you start encouraging them to do the same, so they can also earn a residual income from their own product purchase/s, then you are now involved in the promotion of an unethical and unsustainable model (that others have referred to as a ‘Product Based Pyramid Scheme’) due to the exponential compounding effect from the continuous recruiting of new distributors, who are also the customer!

The funny thing here is that it doesn’t even matter if it’s shaped like a pyramid. It can be shaped like a circle, square, rectangle or a fucking trapezoid for that matter because the continuous compounding effect of recruiting distributors who are also the customer continues to expand exponentially in the same way, to a point where the numbers become completely unsustainable.

This is also why the claim that… “It’s not a Pyramid Scheme because there’s a product or service offered” is in fact incorrect when it is promoted in this way. I’ll also admit that I’m guilty of having used that line in my early days too, particularly in the context of speaking about the concept of NWM in general.

However (and unfortunately), this way of conducting business is more often than not made out to be perfectly acceptable within the world of NWM, particularly when it comes to recruiting and team building, even though it has been proven the numbers simply don’t add up.

Therefore, it becomes a topic that’s simply ignored, conveniently overlooked or just merely brushed off and denied mostly by those already earning an income from promoting and doing things this way.

Now, I personally believe the only reason anyone should be signing up to a NWM business opportunity is to have the ability to resell the actual products / services offered and create an income from a legitimate retail customer base who is NOT involved in the business opportunity. No matter if it’s a one off sale or based upon a repeat sales system (i.e automated drop shipping), which should also offer the option for customers to easily cancel at any time.

Many network marketers will declare that’s exactly how it works… but when you apply the magnifying glass it really doesn’t. In fact, to make any decent money you have to run the system where the downline recruit is also the customer and it more often than not happens that way because the product or service is usually very challenging to retail with minimal profit involved.

Unfortunately this naturally encourages the formation of an unethical and unsustainable product distribution & income generation model where the numbers simply don’t add up and the rug is just pulled over the truth or simply ignored.

Yet, this is often promoted as ‘the way it should be done’ especially by many NWM trainers / coaches who are also ‘conveniently retired’ from NWM and ‘no longer operating in the trenches’ yet still happy to peddle expensive courses / books etc and continue piggy backing off what appears to be a faulty and unsustainable model.

So please be very careful who you listen to because not everything is black & white when it comes down to earning the mighty dollar and it’s easy to become confused with all of the contradicting info and coaching available out there.

Know what I mean cobber?