In defense of MLMs

[Guest guest]

Every list I've ever been on gets into this kind discussion about MLMs, and I never speak to it. Well, this time I'm putting my 2 cents in.....

Many years ago when MLMs became popular, the business community launched a massive smear campaign from which MLMs never recovered, evidence of which is the suspicion and prejudice that still invariably shows up when someone tries to promote a product through an MLM.

The structure of the MLM marketing system is fairer and more equitable than our normal accepted marketing systems which are the real pyramid schemes. An MLMs spreads the wealth horizontally. In our usual systems, the wealth flows from the bottom to the top. A more visible difference is the sales force. It's not composed of highly polished professionals trained in the latest marketing techniques and backed up by a well-heeled industry. The sales force of the MLM consists of ordinary blokes from the neighborhood. They're our relatives, friends and neighbors who tried the product, liked it, and wanted to make a buck promoting it. The resistance they face can be partly from their own lack of effective technique, but it is mostly due to the ignorance and prejudice of a population still influenced by the smear campaign launched by the 'big boys' to whom the MLM system of marketing and income distribution is a real threat.

I object to the blanket dismissal of MLMs and the hostility so often directed toward distributors. But mostly I despair over our nation's ability to survive given our willingness to hand over our resources to the 'big boys', putting our faith in glitz and glitter, and kneeling to power rather than sense; and the common attitude toward MLMs is just more evidence of that tendency. If we had any sense or humanitarian impulses we'd encourage and promote business models like MLMs that distribute income more equitably.

Naomi