I have stumbled upon an article about multi-level marketing (MLM) that has really hit a nerve. Not because I am an Internet Marketer who believes in the marketing method, but because the reasoning behind the accusations this article makes about MLM are misguiding and lack true thought of what MLM is, especially within Internet marketing. My purpose in this article is to show you a more optimistic and truer side to MLM, one that reveals a greater truth to MLM and the opportunity it provides. I am going to look at arguments made in the article and give further insight at why these particular statements lack true thought and substance when looking at the much bigger picture and the actual MLM business model within Internet marketing. My responses will be broken into a series of four different articles.

Note: I am not distributing the author or source of the article under examination due to possible confidentiality issues and to avoid confrontational enemies. Therefore, I will use Peach to reference to the article.

Article 2:  MLM Structural Organization:  Coached by Millionaires Is The Exception…

Peach – “The product is the excuse to attempt to legitimate the real money-making engine. It’s the cover.” Okay, let’s say the product is the cover for the “real money-making” engine of MLM programs. My question is, despite if it is a cover or not, who doesn’t want to be apart of a “real money making engine?” To attempt to refute the comment that “the product is the excuse,” I want to say I have found a multi-level marketing program where the product is the driving force behind the program’s success, and not a mask covering the “illegitimate money making scheme.” How am I so sure of this? Because, this product is one of a kind MLM program that is not based on “selling to others, how to sell others on the dream”, as Peach says. The program I talk of is, Coached by Millionaires, a program designed to give ordinary people the chance to gain advice from self-made successes in virtually every market sector (real estate, Internet marketing, social media, etc.) I have this program to promote, but the fact that it’s a MLM affiliate program completely undermines the actual service the program offers? I don’t think so; in this circumstance the actual driver of the program is the service (being taught by millionaires), not the fact that I can make some extra money on the side as well, but a little extra money doesn’t hurt.

Here is a perfect example of how the original business theories of yesterday are not compatible to today’s MLM methods: The geometric expansion of the MLM structure. You know the saying, “If you get 10 people, and if each of those 10 people gets 10 people, and so on.” Well, Peach denounces the entire structure by pointing out how many people there would actually be at each level. The article says, “At a mere three levels deep this would be 1,000 people. There goes the neighborhood! At six levels deep, that would be 1,000,000 people believing they can make money selling. But to whom? There goes the city! And the MLM is just getting its steam going. Think of all the meetings! Think of all the “dreams” being sold! Think of the false hopes being generated. Think of the money being lost.” This particular section of the article really frustrates me and actually leads me to believe the entire motive of the article is to bash Amway Global and not MLM in general, but the distinction was not made so rebuttal is necessary. Most MLM programs now are internet based; meaning at 3 levels (1,000 people) can be 20 people from each state, very possible! The geography the Internet is goliath compared to a city block (around 1.6 billion people use the Internet Worldwide). The reasoning that eventually the market will be out of commission because of pure geographic is absurd. The Internet has no limit like the cities and towns that are used in this ill-thought out example. Another reason why Coached by Millionaires will thrive, and why Peaches “geographic” analogy is way outdated, failing to convey the truth about the potential of today’s Internet based MLM programs.

The last point I want to make about MLM and the misguided allegations that are thrown at a perfectly good business model, concerns the “pyramid scheme.” The thought that the organizational structure is built for the people at the top, only to let the people at the bottom “wither” away, is consistent with most all aspects of business hierarchy. There is a hierarchy in every form of business, even in the job you have been working for the past 30 years. The only difference is that in a normal business environment you work your way up the ladder to the top. In MLM, you create your own ladder. Yeah, you may be several rungs below the top, but there is really no limit to the rungs that can fall below you, especially through means of the Internet.

The main point of this article is to distinguish MLM from the laws of normal business economics and see the value MLM contributes for those who seek financial freedom. The examples used by Peach are true when looking some MLM programs (Amway Global for example). To label each MLM program as such is unfair, for there are many circumstances in which a good MLM program can thrive and create wealth and value, not only for the people who find it first, but also for the ones who find it last.

Look for the next article: Morality and Ethics of MLM