This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Well, I've got a fun one for you here today. Thanks for tuning in. It's Chris Guillebeau with Side Hustle School. And this is, of course, our weekly collection of short stories under the heading Failure Friday. It's all about mistakes, missteps, disasters, and of course, failure.
All those things that don't go so well, right? So you get to hear directly from a side hustler who has struggled in some way or otherwise had some difficulty. And I'm really excited about today's because it's about network marketing. If you've been listening for a long time, you know that I hate network marketing. I hate multi-level marketing.
I don't think there's anything good about it. It is a predatory industry. So wherever I get the chance to kind of point out why it doesn't work so well, then I'm gonna jump on it. And today I don't have to do it much myself because one of our listeners is going to share her story. And it's not the whole story of why network marketing is a disaster, just to be clear.
But just one particular part of it, she tries to host a party for some friends, a network marketing party. And she learned kind of a hard and awkward lesson. Nobody wants to come to that, right? Nobody wants to do that, so don't bother. But let's let her tell the story.
Her name is Jordan. I'll have a brief wrap up at the end. But first, over to her. [Music]
Hi, this is Jordan from Arlington, Virginia. My failure Friday story is also a confession.
I got sucked into an MLM. I know you're not a fan of network marketing, but I guess I just thought this program I found would be different. Long story short, it wasn't. I wasted close to $1,000 getting set up and buying training materials from my mentor, who was nowhere to be found once I realized it wasn't going to work out. But even then, the whole experience was ultimately a failure.
The story I wanted to tell you today is about one specific part of it. After I'd gone through the training and listened to a motivational audio book from the program's founder, I was ready to host my first party. That's how the marketing tended to work. People would invite their friends over, serve them cheap wine, and then pitch them on how amazing this program was. It sounds sleazy, I know, but it seemed normal to me at the time.
Anyway, I planned a party, and I invited eight people, thinking that maybe five would come. That sounded like a good, non-intimidating number. Unfortunately, it was also a number that proved to be much too small, because when the big day came, no one showed up. That's right, no one, not one person. A few of them had already told me in advance that they couldn't make it, especially once they learned it was an MLM party, but three of the eight said they'd try to stop by.
None of them did. So in the end, it was just me and the cheap Chardonnay, which at least got better the more I consumed. I learned a few lessons from this experience. First, to host a proper party, you need to invite more people and push the pre-commitments hard. Once people know that other people will be there, they're more likely to turn up.
Second, and probably not shocking, MLM is not for me. I felt awkward inviting people to hear my pitch, which of course may have been part of why they didn't want to come. But that's the whole business model, right? You have to sell to your friends, and I don't want to do that. So maybe in the end, this story is a success.
It's good that no one came, because that disappointing evening ended up accelerating my departure from network marketing. I'm now looking for something more sustainable and more enjoyable. Any tips? [Music]
Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. I'm glad that Jordan is moving on from this experience.
It's okay, I do appreciate her honesty. You know, lots of people have these experiences and never want to talk about it because it's awkward. So well done to her for sharing. And, you know, as you heard, she's looking for something more sustainable and more enjoyable. So that's great.
My tips are, you know, every single day on the podcast, we have a different idea or case study or something that you can take and apply. So just keep listening. You know, it's totally free. I also have a book, "100 Side Hustles," which has, well, 100 ideas. So check that out as well, perhaps.
And of course, I'm happy for you to get it at the library or borrow it or however it works. If you have a question or an update for us about your hustle, if you have a negative experience with multi-level marketing, you know, whatever it is, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Let me know what's going on. Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/2113. Two, one, one, three.
I'll be back with you again tomorrow. We have a new episode seven days a week. You can subscribe, follow, wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
