This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey everyone, let's have some fun today. How should we have some fun? We should have fun by talking about multi-level marketing. Oh my gosh, I can't wait. This is always such a joy.
Whenever I talk about MLM, I inevitably get emails from multi-level marketing fans, network marketing fans, you know, whatever it's called. I love hearing from people who want to sell me on why their program is so different from all of the others, which are a waste of money. And you might suspect already, in fact, I'll tell you right now, before we hear the question, I don't have a favorable opinion of this industry. I believe it's predatory. I think it's responsible for a lot of good people losing their money.
And, you know, for all those folks who email me talking about Amway or whatever it is, all I can say is if it's really working out for you, that's awesome, but you know, we both know that for the vast majority of people, it doesn't work. So of course, I'm getting ahead of myself here. I get really excited when this topic comes up. How do I really feel? Might as well listen to the question, the listener question today, and see if there's something to be learned one way or another.
That question is, are there any good multi-level marketing companies? As I said, so much fun. Stay tuned for their question and my answer. [Music]
Hi Chris, this is Lauren, and I recently discovered the show through Spotify. I'm really enjoying the stories, advice, and puns.
Have you talked much about network marketing? A close friend of mine is really into it, although she doesn't call it network marketing or MLM because people have lots of preconceived ideas about it. I'd imagine that it's like lots of other businesses or companies and that there are some bad apples, but also a lot of lucrative opportunities if you can find your way through the maze. Can you recommend a few of the better ones? Thanks.
[Music]
All right, first of all, thank you for the question. I do appreciate you raising that. It's helpful to be able to talk about it with our other listeners who might be in this situation. But as for the question itself, my answer like, are there any good multi-level marketing companies? Shocking, there are not.
There aren't any, there really are not. Or let's say at least this, okay? Because who knows what's out there, but let's say the business model is flawed, okay? Maybe consider it like this. Here's a metaphor.
Imagine you are manufacturing and distributing meth, or some other really harmful illegal drug. And you're like, hey, we are a very modern meth brand. Like all of our workers have health insurance. You know, we also have a really good customer service rating. What would you think about that?
You know, most people I think would say, that's great, but you know what? You're still selling a product that destroys the lives of its users, right? So you can't just be a good meth company. And that's what I think about multi-level marketing. It is a predatory industry, as I said.
It is built on flimsy products that are designed to suck as much life force, you know, from the people who give in to its presentations. And by life force, I mean money, energy, contacts, you know, social relationships. The reality is, unless you are starting a network marketing company, or unless you were in at the very top, you were gonna lose money, because they're just not an infinite pool of people to come and join this great opportunity, whatever it is. And if the company had great products in the first place, then they wouldn't have to use this business model, you know. Inevitably, the business model is entirely about bringing other people, you know, into the funnel.
So short version is, if you can actually succeed doing this, you can probably succeed much more doing something else. So I would say, don't do it. You know, there's no such thing as a good multi-level marketing company, just as there's no such thing as a good company selling meth, right? Don't do it. And listeners, if you've got some feedback, 'cause I always hear feedback about this, if you've got a question or comment, sidehustleschool.com/questions.
I'm happy to feature any predatory, multi-level marketing companies who wanna talk it out, and we'll talk about what's wrong with the business model. Also any other questions, because, you know, those are good too. We only bring this topic up like once a quarter. So much more's on the way, different stuff. New episode tomorrow, I hope you tune in.
My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
