Boy that hurts, especially from such an otherwise brilliant and witty guy whose stuff is regular reading for me. Jason’s post appeared tonight, 3.31.06.
What’s the occasion? Well, he’s dumping on a referral program Seth Godin is doing with Squidoo, which I am part of, as some of you know.
There must be something creative and light hearted we can do to change this horrid perception among so many of the brightest of the bright out there in the business world, think?
Suggestions welcome. Would love some good and creative ammunition to use in my reponse. I can’t just let this go.
What if we could get people like this to go, “Ohhh. I see.” And change their mind, at least a little bit?
Anger and such won’t do it. I am thinking more along the lines of George Bernard Shaw.
“If you are going to tell people the truth, you’d better make them laugh. Otherwise they’ll kill you.”
Low rent scammers of the world like one-time Corporate America icons Bernie Ebbers, Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Dennis Kozlowki (sp?), etc. etc. etc. I would say the thousands of lives and retirement dreams of employees who worked for these sterling individuals rivals or at minimum equals any bad experiences in MLM. As a matter of fact, if the people impacted by these “business leaders” and one time “experts” in their fields, had built an MLM business just part-time then they would have something to fall back on and lessen the blow.
Kim, I love the fact that you are one of the bright spots in our Industry. You are a thinker and always elevate the level of the discussion. That will help change the landscape of the business…keep doing it..
Here’s my thought on your question…
I find it interesting that Affliate selling is a positive marketing effort when much of it is borrowed from MLM. It’s the daily conversations we have or have been told to have with customers and prospects that will elevate our Industry. Do you think if we compare the affliate model and MLM more closely we could help create a more positive perspective?
This thought came to me the other day when I listened to a teleseminar on how to attract more affliates for an internet business…. got me thinking to how that is OK and seeking partners in MLM is not Ok, but imploys the same activity. Hmmmm…just thinking…
We can make a difference one blog, one lens and one customer at a time.
In order to change the perspective of MLM, we must first change MLM.
It’s happening, but it’s a slow process.
Bitter people who failed numerous times trash things that they have failed in. It’s that simple. They get sucked in to them just by looking at the income promise and nothing else. They always overlook the product they are peddling and the company they are representing. Just look at forums like Quatloos and Scam.com And look at the ones who are on there 12 hours+ a day bashing things left and right. They are all failures and former MLM junkies.
I couldn’t agree more with all of you. There are some statistics to consider though with MLM. 90% of people in MLM make less than 10 bucks a week. Most of the money is going to the company owners. This is why I chose direct sales. My customers and business builders pay me for the product. Make sure you get paid first and not the company.