As a former "independent contractor" of the MLM scene, I like most of you feel the need to write about it. It's been over a year since my final involvment with the business, and although I've been thinking about writing something for a while, it seems like a good time now.
The reason for my little rant here though is for a bit of a different reason. I don't want to shoot fire venemously over the bow of my former masters, nor do I want to stick up for them. The reason I feel the need to express myself on this subject is because of all the attention the subject has received from former slaves of this business. Ripoffreport.com, and DSMAX the aftermath, are just a couple of examples of such attention. Reading the posts and reading what people say, I empathize, I understand why they are going through what they feel.
I tend to be a very anayltical person, anaylzing my own feelings and emotions about this subject. While in the business and after quitting, the range of emotions a person goes through is quite intense. Hence the anger laced comments of many people who at one time or another have fed into the promises and hopes that the MLM offers. The experience also offers interesting insights into why they (MLM's) work, why we fall for them, and why we are angry afterwards.
Taking a look at a lot of the people I have come in contact it seems that most people have at one time or another been a part of an MLM. Amway is a major one and others like it follow suit. Even the great Donald has been mentioned in conjunction with Amway, although it seems he has been misquoted. Even when I was in the business a common line to use was, "even Donald Trump has done network marketing, he did Amway". This quote however seems misdirected as upon further review it seems the was telling the people he was speaking with that if he lost everything he would turn to network marketing. Perhaps it was true, but from the different reviews I've read it seems it was in jest of network marketing.
The interesting thing about MLM is that everyone and their dog is attracted to them. Perhaps not the actual idea of being in a multilevel marketing company because we as a society seem to have an aversion to these types of companies. The idea of the financial freedom and ability to run our own companies without going to school and without any formal training attracts even the best of us.
The best part of the MLM, maybe particularly the one I was a part of (Cydcor), and by best part I mainly just find it slightly amusing. The best part is that they teach you the very skills they are using to get you to join. You are learning sales techniques on how to impluse people to buy whatever it is you are selling, and without realizing it are allowing yourself to be implused with the same sales techniques.
For those not familiar with the five impulses, they are Greed, Jones Effect, Fear of Loss, Sense of Urgency and Indifference. Every one of these is used on every person that steps into the door, then taught to them, then used on them again to move them forward in the business. Then you are taught how to use these techniques on other people, and train them to do this. And as previously stated the best part is that the top ninety percent of people don't realize this is happening to them, even though they are being trained to do this to others.
Having spent two years in the business and looking back on it the brainwashing really begins before you even enter the door to the mini office that the owner is trying to pass off as an office. From the second you read the heading of whatever ad it is that they used that week, you are sort of hooked. They use smart headings such as "Are you a Sports Minded Individual? - Do you enjoy working with the Opposite sex? It targets young people who are fresh out of school, don't know what they want to do next, and see it is a way to make lots of quick easy money. The other people it targets are those that are inbetween jobs, those thinking of a new career, and those currently out of work.
Why did I stay? An interesting question. You take 99% of people in these types of business and they wholeheartedly believe that there is no other way to get ahead, that it isn't an MLM and that "this" particular business is legit. They may not feel that all aspects of it are, but the aspects that aren't, they easily ignore.
The reason. Those that stay till that point, I would say longer than three months, usually have close to the same story. They are usually the same type of personality, usually from a home that always got by, but never got ahead, and this is their chance to get ahead, set themseleves and their future families into a lifestyle that they can only dream of. This is where they can also prove themselves to everyone they know, become a business person, dress in a suit everyday. It makes them feel important and gives them a sense of worth, power, status.
I stayed because even though I realized that it wasn't the best company to be working for, that it was an MLM, and that certain people were getting screwed over, I was one of the people who could make it big. The thing that these companies are great at, is taking your far fetched dreams of being a millionare, of not having to work anymore, and "putting it within reach".
This is where people who quit or get fired from the job get angry. They have had people telling them for the last few months that with hardwork and determination they will be the next owner, (Jones Effect: He's doing it) and make yada yada yada amounts of money. (Greed) Hence the multiple forum posts about all these different companies.
The interesting part is that we do it to ourselves. The companies just use it to their advantage. We all have that dream, but until it is true that's all it is.
The business is setup so that you are rushed in, with a second of hesitation so that you feel like you want the job (Fear of Loss: "You seem like the type of person we are looking for, however we need to review the other applicants as well") It makes you feel as though you should be good enough for the job, and therefore psychologically you want the job. So from day one you feel like you want to do this. Everyone is also very indifferent to you, when you first start. This creates a feeling that either you don't belong, or you want to belong and so you try harder right away. It either makes people quit, or it makes them do better at the beginning. A lot of people in the business have the attitude, "I don't know their name until they've been here a week. Otherwise it's a waste of my time getting to know them." (Indifference: A sales impluse used to show that you really don't care whether or not the person buys, all your doing is showing them the stuff. No pressure)
Then they play with your dreams and goals. If you have a dream, what are your goals for getting there. Now that you have the ability to reach those dreams, what are your goals. In this way they make it your fault for not reaching them. If you didn't get far in the business then perhaps you didn't want it bad enough, or perhaps you didn't try. Your fault, no matter, they will find someone else. This however is the point, because if everyone could do it, then everyone would be working for them, and everyone would be financially secure. They use the Sense of Urgency, to make you feel as though you need to do this quick quick, or your opportunity is lost, and to a certain extent they are right. There are a special kind of people that can do this business for quite some time, althought they are usually just in it for the sales. Sounds strange but it is true. For the rest, unless you get promoted fairly quickly, it's very hard to stay motivated. Even though your dream is there, you slowly begin to realize that it just isn't something you can do.
The fact that you begin to learn the farther into it that you get, is that the percentage of people who can actually succeed at these types of business is quite low. I believe it is around 2% of everyone who ever walks into the door and gets a job there will ever make it to a management position. Not very good odds. This leads to the next reason people get mad. No one will believe, or should I say, most people will not allow themselves to believe that they are not good enough to do it, and this is what the business also trains you to think. The Leaders of the business hype people up and make them feel so good about themselves, that by the end they feel there is no way they can't be an owner or the next Avie Roth.
The difference is that, it isn't that we aren't good enough, but that it takes a certain kind of manipulative, backstabbing, cold, self centered person to achieve it. And most of us aren't capable of keeping that up for long. It's not that we can't do it, but everyone has a tolerance of how much of that they can take and give. We just don't all have the energy for that, because it takes a lot of energy to fuel the dreams of yourself as well as other, while knowing that 98% of the people you are training and getting to know will never make it.
Something I discovered is that those who can do it usually have vice or several vices they use to deal with the pressure. The amount of drugs and alcohol consumed by many of the people in this business to deal with everything is amazing. Or perhaps it was just the people I was around. Having been a able to travel between several different offices though, is where my conclusion is based. Now not everyone has a substance abuse problem, usually the really sucessful MLM's don't seem to have these addictions, but perhaps they hide it better. It does seem that those in this business are more prone to it. The number of people who started a substance abuse problem immediately following them quitting or being canned was also something that made me think. I have seen more people run themselves into the ground based on the binge they have fallen into after their career has abruptly ended. I was one of the people who got caught up in that as well. Luckily I realized and got out before it was too late. Others I know are still caught up with drugs and alcohol.
The interesting part is how much of all this people in this business deny about it. I was just as bad. I had a good answer for everything negative you could throw at me about the business. I knew better, but I hung on to the fact that I knew I was good enough. There wasn't anything that could get me to quit, because I felt that if I quit, I would never be successful at anything else ever again. I would have to return to a regular job, for regular pay, for a boss who was making money in a postion I would never achieve. It didn't even matter at the time that I was putting myself into debt to stay in the business. What mattered was that "soon" I was going to have everything I'd every wanted.
There was a point however where I realized that I couldn't and wouldn't be able to achieve ownership. I quit in my head probably three or four months before the office I was in got shut down. I knew that the only way I would actually stop going in to work, was if I was told not to show up again, or if the office I was in ceased to exist. This is another reason people get mad. They don't want to admit to themselves that they should quit, even if they know they should, and the easiest way to deal with this is to blame the people blowing smoke up your ass.
Now I'm not saying it isn't their fault, because it absolutely is. The idea is that unless you are doing something wrong as far as lying to customers or being negative around others in the office. Being a nag whore in the office is the easiest way to get canned. (Nag Whore: one who is negative and brings down the positve attitude of the othes in the office) Other than that, as long as you are being positive and making a reasonable amount of sales, they are happy to keep you in the office. Number one, you're making the owner money even if it is a smalll amount, and Number two, your positive attitude about achieving your dreams, makes newbies realize they can to.
In the end when you quit, it's as if you never existed. I'm sure that this is because although you had a connection with one or more of the people there, once you leave you are no longer one of them. It's as though they feel betrayed by you, or they know that association with you may comprimise the fragile world they have created around themselves with work and sleep. They don't want someone who no longer views the business as the be all end all messing up their plans for world domination.
Another angry reaction that I get, and am sure others feel is the anger towards the people who are still running the office I was a part of. Anger at the fact that they used my own wants and dreams against me to further themselves. Anger that they ignore the fact that people that come in contact with the business sometimes get hurt, either directly or indirectly. Anger that even if you confront them they will deny. Then I realize that perhaps it's not anger, but frustration, and while I wish I could march up to them and smack them in the face, it's probably better if I just realize that I need to get myself to my dreams, rather than putting my faith in some lost hope of a get rich quick scheme.
While it is fun to blame others, sit around and nitpick about what they did to me, I find it much easier to deal with by reasoning that I was as much to blame in that I didn't walk away when I thought I should. Of course there are others who did walk away when they thought they should, perhaps too late.
Either way the experience has taught me a few things.
Trust your gut.
Dreams are great, as long as they don't rule your life.
If it sounds to good to be true, check it out.
Don't ignore the warning signs.
If other people have had a bad experience, don't ignore it, it may be you one day.
You're not as good as you like to think you are.
Be honest with yourself.
If you're special, and I'm special, and everyone is so special and unique, isn't kind of a nice way of saying we're all the same.
Something I realized after I quit was that even though I wanted this dream and I wanted the business to be the answer, deep down I never really believed it. Perhaps this is why I failed, or perhaps it was just my inner voice warning me.
Either way, the past is the past, it doesn't exist anymore. I'm letting this one go.
