The following is a reprint of an article by John
Milton Fogg from Upline® Journal. It's time to set the record
straight and stop perpetuating this nonsense.
The lies that limit the future of Network Marketing
began as so many untruths do. They were told initially to bolster up our
insecurity — in this case, our industry's perceived lack of self-esteem.
The lies were harmless "little white" (i.e.
"okay") ones, meant to make us seem bigger and better than we
really thought we were. As they always do, the lies backfired. Now, when
people ask us about this or that "false-fact", and we have to
admit to their fabrication, we come up looking smaller and worse than
we are.
What lies am I talking about?
"The Wall Street Journal
says that "by the year 2000, 60 to 70 percent of all goods and
services will be sold through MLM..."
"Network Marketing is taught at Harvard and
Stanford business schools and in numerous other leading colleges and
universities throughout the country."
"20-some percent of all the millionaires
in America were created through Network Marketing..."
"John Naisbitt, in his best-selling book,
Megatrends, says Network Marketing is the wave of the future..."
There are others. These are the leading offenders. I
have yet to speak to any group of people about Network Marketing — from
established MLMers to the general public — and not be asked about one
or all of these statements.
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Here's what I say:
The Wall Street Journal, etc
According to more than a dozen reporters and staffers,
The Wall Street Journal NEVER endorsed Network Marketing or "Network
Marketing methods." Yes, they have reported on some companies. But
they certainly never said that MLM would be moving 60-plus percent of
all U.S. commerce — goods and services — by the year 2000. They're
not stupid!
The U.S. sells about $6 trillion plus worth of goods
and services per year — give and take ten or twenty billion. By the
most aggressive accounts, Network Marketing (which for the sake of quoting
really BIG numbers must include the Direct Selling industry) accounts
for $50 billion in annual sales. More conservative estimates put the figure
at a max. of $15 to $20 billion worldwide. Super-conservative folks say
MLM is about $10 billion really.
Hmmm.
One percent of all U.S. goods and services would amount
to $55 billion. 50 percent — 10 to 20 percent less than the journal was
falsely quoted as saying — would be $3 trillion. Not bad growth for nine
years!
Okay — get our calculators. This is a lie of the lowest
order; not even creative — just stupid. If someone tried to sponsor you,
boastfully claiming he or she made $30,000 per month, and you discovered
that he or she really made one percent of that — or $300 — what would
you think of that person? Enough said.
Harvard, Stanford and the rest
Network Marketing IS NOT taught at Harvard and Stanford
business schools — nor in "numerous other leading colleges and universities
throughout the country". Truth is, most of them detest us. They don't
understand us and do not care to. As Harvard 'B' School professor Thomas
Bonora recently said in an article in Marketing News:
"We do not teach such methods [MLM] at the
Harvard Business School; they are not part of the curriculum; to my
knowledge, they are not taught at this or any other reputable business
school in the country ... Multi-Level Marketing schemes, like chain
letters and other devices, sometimes are at the borderline of what is
legal — and over the borderline of what is ethical ..."
He concluded by saying that examples of legit MLMs are
few and far between. Not a glowing endorsement for such a valuable curriculum.
Harvard has reviewed a case study of Mary Kay Cosmetics. Also, there are
courses in "Networking" as it pertains to management resources.
That's it. Stanford refuses to discuss the subject.
MLM Millionaires
20 percent of all the millionaires in America WERE NOT
created through Network Marketing. By most accounts, as many as 90 percent
of them were created through real estate, 90 plus 20 equals 110, and that
kind of math would get an F in any school — even Harvard 'B'.
And how many millionaires came from manufacturing or
distribution (the family Walton of Walmart — $25 billion plus)... ? High-tech...
(Bill Gates of Microsoft, the richest man in America — and the 300-plus
millionaires his company has created... or Ross Perot)? Franchising (Mrs.
Ray Kroc of McDonald's)... ? Entertainment... ? Etc... ?
We've got lots of men and women who make a million dollars
a year in this business. Many more who've made $1,000,000-plus in their
Networking careers. But ... 20 percent of all the millionaires in the
U.S.? Please, use some common sense.
The only possible reason I can think
of as a basis for the existence of this 20 percent figure is that the
founders of Amway, Rich Devos and Jay Van Andel, have a combined net worth
in excess of $6 billion. That's 6,000 millionaires right there. Maybe
that's where the 20 percent comes from.
John Naisnitt and "Megatrends"
John Naisbitt NEVER mentioned Network Marketing in Megatrends, Megatrends 2000, Megatrends for Women, nor
anywhere else for that matter. I can't even find a mention in back issues
of his far more liberal Trend Letter. (If you can, please
let me know.)
I called him and asked him for his opinion on MLM and
he said — well, his people told me — he didn't have one.
There is no listing
of Network Marketing or MLM in any index of a Naisbitt book. The references
he makes to "Networking" are many.
The use of them by MLMers are convoluted
mis-quotes and rubbery stretches of the truth.
So what's the problem?
A good friend of mine — a leading MLM trainer and acknowledged
expert who is depended upon by many people as a source of "how-to
truth" about this business — recently sent me a generic prospecting
product, proudly offering it for listing in our Upline Resources catalog.
Sadly, I can't offer it — because it includes every one of the above lies.
If this garbage (it's much nicer to use than the affected
French pronunciation) finds its way into this guy's repertoire, how many
others are running around saying this stuff? We've got to paper-train
this industry! You can't build lasting relationships with people — let
alone government regulators and the press — with lies. You will be found out — and when you are, your stock, and the stock of the entire
industry, will go way down.
The truth is, there is so much that's positive to be
shared about Network Marketing — facts, not even opinion, much less lies.
You may make a sale with a lie, but you won't create a customer, and you
certainly won't build a successful Network of Distributors. What you'll
make is a house built on get-rich-quick-sand.
My request
Please: Do not say false and misleading things about
Network Marketing to anyone. If you are insecure about the legitimacy
of this business and feel the need to bolster up your courage and confidence
— please shut up 'til you bone up and grow up. If you need credible stuff
to say about MLM, read
Upline® (No
longer published)
John Kalench's Being The Best You Can Be In
MLM and The Greatest Opportunity in the History of the World.
Burke Hedges' Who Stole the American Dream?
Jeff Babener and David Stewart's books, brochures
and tapes.
And there are others out there — lots of them. I urge
each of you to quash the lies you find out there. Tell the truth. Honesty
is and always will be the very best of policies. For my part, I will continue
to set the record straight every chance I get.
Integrity is our most precious asset. Like our bodies,
it requires proper diet (the truth) and exercise (telling it) to become
healthy and prosper.
