Why are we Still Defending Network Marketing/MLM as a Legitimate Business?

After many years of fabulous success by many mlm & network marketing companies (Amway and Avon, anyone?) and the endorsement of the business model by many well respected business owners and investors, Trump and Kiosaki among others, why are we still defending network marketing/mlm as a legitimate business model to our friends and family.

To answer that question and to give all of us involved in this community the answers to the well intended concerns of our friends and family, Gerald Stidham, network marketer extraordinaire, comes through with a great article answering those questions. Read it here and his website here.

Stidham’s short answer is that the mlm/network marketing model is more similar to other business models than the skeptics might think. The pyramid structure often cited as a problem is very similar to the pay/incentive structure in larger sales organizations of more mainstream companies with commissions going to the direct sales person and varying degrees of bonuses to each level of management up that person’s chain of command. The next time you look at an org chart, notice how similar the shape is to a pyramid. Now imagine how compensation flows through that structure.

I’m most grateful for Mr. Stidham’s highlighting of the term micro-franchising. If you have substantial enough resources, go ahead and open a McDonald’s franchise. For the rest of us with more modest start up funds on hand, involvement with a good, well supported mlm/micro franchise organization, selling well respected products and/or services, is the way to go.

Like any other business model in any other industry, mlm and network marketing does have its unique issues, which he addresses honestly.

While working on my elevator speech, I’ve often struggled with describing the network marketing/mlm model to friends, in a way that didn’t make it sound like some type of pyramid scheme run by hyper-happy, excessively positive people.

Gerald Stidham has done a fabulous job of describing the industry positively in terms the most hardened business critic can understand, thus giving all of us the fact based rhetorical ammunition needed to explain this industry and our participation in it to our friends, family, and colleagues.

Many thanks to you Gerald and keep up the good work!

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