The 10 Big Lies of Multi-Level Marketing

By Robert L. Fitzpatrick

The multi-level marketing (MLM) field grows and its member companies multiply.
Solicitations to join the movement seem to be everywhere. The impression accordingly grows
that it is indeed the "wave of the future", a business model that is gaining momentum,
growing in acceptance and legitimacy and, as its promoters claim, will eventually replace
most other forms of marketing and sales. Many are led to believe the assertions that success
can be found by anyone who faithfully believes in the system and steadfastly adheres to its
methods and that, eventually, all of us will become MLM distributors.

My analysis of the MLM business is based upon fourteen years’ experience in corporate
consulting specifically in the distribution field and more than 10 years of research and writing
about the MLM model. This has included serving as expert witness in state and federal court
cases, corresponding directly with more than 1,500 participants, writing a book, being
interviewed for local and national radio, television, newspapers and magazines, and carefully
studying numerous MLM marketing and pay plans.

This research has shown that the MLM business model, as it is practiced by most companies,
is a marketplace hoax. In those cases, the business is primarily a scheme to continuously
enroll distributors and little product is ever retailed to consumers who are not also enrolled as
distributors.

In general, MLM industry claims of distributor income potential, its descriptions of the
'network' business model and its prophecies of a reigning destiny in product distribution have
as much validity in business as UFO sightings do in the realm of science.

Financially, the odds for an individual to achieve financial success under those circumstances
rival the odds of winning at the tables in Las Vegas.

The very legality of the MLM system rests tenuously upon a single 1979 ruling on one
company. The guidelines for legality that are set forth in that ruling are routinely ignored by
the industry. Lack of governing legislation or oversight by any designated authority also
enables the industry to endure despite occasional prosecutions by state Attorneys General or
the FTC.

MLM is not defined and regulated like, for instance, franchises are. MLMs can be established
without federal or state approval. There is no federal law specifically against pyramid
schemes. Many state anti-pyramid statutes are vague or weak. State or federal regulation
usually involves first proving that the company is a pyramid scheme. This process can take
years and by then, the damage to consumers is done. Indeed, even when MLM pyramids are
shut down, often the promoters immediately set up new companies under new names and
resume scamming the public.

MLM's economic score card is characterized by massive failure rates and financial losses for
millions of consumers. Its structure in which positions on an endless sales chain are purchased
by selling or buying goods is mathematically unsustainable and its system of allowing
unlimited numbers of distributors in any market area is inherently unstable.
MLM's espoused core business - personal retailing - is contrary to trends in communication
technology, cost-effective distribution, and consumer buying preferences. The retailing
activity is, in reality, only a pretext for the actual core business - enrolling investors in
pyramid organizations that promise exponential income growth.

As in all pyramid schemes, the incomes of those distributors at the top and the profits to the
sponsoring corporations come from a continuous influx of new investors at the bottom.
Viewed superficially in terms of company profits and the wealth of an elite group at the
pinnacle of the MLM industry, the model can appear viable to the uninformed, just as all
pyramid schemes do before they collapse or are exposed by authorities.

Deceptive marketing that ably plays upon treasured cultural beliefs, social and personal needs,
and some economic trends account for MLM's growth, rather than its ability to meet any
consumer needs. The deceptive marketing is nurtured by a general lack of professional
evaluation or investigation by reputable business media. Consequently, a popular delusion is
supported that MLM is a viable business investment or career choice for nearly everyone and
the odds of financial success in the venture are comparable or better than other trades,
professions, employment or business ventures.

MLM's true constituency is not the consuming public but rather hopeful investors. The market
for these investors grows significantly in times of economic transition, globalization and
employee displacement. Promises of quick and easy financial deliverance and the beguiling
association of wealth with ultimate happiness also play well in this market setting. The
marketing thrust of MLM is accordingly directed to prospective distributors, rather than
product promotions to purchasers. Its true products are not long distance phone services,
vitamin pills, health potions or skin lotions, but rather the investment propositions for
distributorships, which are deceptively portrayed with images of high income, minimal time
requirements, small capital investments and early success.

The word, lie, is provoking and it is used here for provocative purposes. At some level,
everyone who participates in MLM in which little retailing is occurring is unconsciously lying
to himself or herself. Many at the top of these organizations are consciously lying to everyone
else. Deception is inherent in this type of MLM scheme and is pervasive in its marketing.
Here are 10 of the biggest lies I have found to be present in almost every MLM I have
encountered.

Lie #1: MLM is a business offering better opportunities for making large sums of money than
all other conventional business and professional models.

Truth: For almost everyone who invests MLM turns out to be a losing financial proposition.
This is not an opinion, but a historical fact. Consider some notable examples from among the
largest MLMs.

In the largest of all MLMs, Amway, only 1/2 of one percent of all distributors make it to the
basic level of "direct" distributor, and the average income of all Amway distributors is about
$40 a month. That is gross income before taxes and expenses. When costs are factored, it is
obvious that nearly all suffer a loss. Making it to "direct" is not a ticket to profitability, but to
greater losses. When the Wisconsin Attorney General filed charges against Amway, tax
returns from all distributors in the state revealed an average net loss of $918 for that state's
"direct" distributors.
Extraordinary sales and marketing obstacles account for much of this failure, but even if the
business were more feasible, sheer mathematics would severely limit the opportunity. The
MLM type of business structure can support only a small number of financial winners. If a
1,000-person downline is needed to earn a sustainable income, those 1,000 will need one
million more to duplicate the success. How many people can realistically be enrolled? Much
of what appears as growth is in fact only the continuous churning of new enrollees. The
money for the rare winners comes from the constant enrollment of armies of losers.

The vast majority of the losers in MLM drop out within a year. In a 1999 court case brought
against Melaleuca, one of the country's largest MLMs, the company claimed it has the highest
"retention" rate among distributors in the entire MLM industry. Melaleuca boasted a drop-out
rate is 5.5% per month. This equates to about 60% per year, if the dropouts are replaced each
month.

In its annual report to the SEC, Pre-Paid Legal, another large MLM, revealed that more than
1/2 of all its customers and distributors quit each year and are replaced by another group of
hopeful investors.

This pattern of 50-70% of all distributors quitting within one year holds true also for NuSkin,
the industry's second largest MLM. NuSkin also exemplifies the accompanying pattern in
which a tiny percent of the distributors gain the majority of all company rebates. In 1998,
NuSkin paid out 2/3rds of its entire rebates to just 200 upliners out of more than 63,000
"active" distributors. The money they received came directly from the unprofitably
investments of the 99.7% of the others.

In 1995, Excel Communications, another "fast growing" MLM, reported to regulators an 86%
turnover rate of distributors and 48% drop-out rate among all customers.

To obscure their dismal numbers, some MLMs classify their distributors as "active" and
"inactive." The Active group includes only recent participants and those still buying products
or receiving rebates. Payout and retention statistics are then disclosed only on the "active"
group.

If ALL distributors who participate are included the losses and the average incomes are
exposed as much worse. And, if all the distributors who enroll and quit over several years are
included, the odds of success for a new distributor/investor are shown to be absurdly low. Yet,
these companies typically advertise their business as "an opportunity of a life time" with
"unlimited potential."

Lie #2: Network marketing is the most popular and effective new way to bring products to
market. Consumers like to buy products on a one-to-one basis in the MLM model.

Truth: If you strip MLM of its hallmark activity of continuously reselling distributorships and
examine its foundation, the one-to-one retailing of products to customers, you encounter an
unproductive and impractical system of sales upon which the entire structure is supposed to
rest. Personal retailing is a thing of the past, not the wave of the future. Retailing directly to
friends on a one-to-one basis requires people to drastically change their buying habits. They
must restrict their choices, often pay more for goods, buy inconveniently, and awkwardly
engage in business transactions with close friends and relatives. The unfeasibility of door-to-
door retailing is why MLM is, in reality, a business that just keeps reselling the opportunity to
sign up more distributors.

Lie #3: Eventually all products will be sold by MLM, a new form of marketing. Retail
stores, shopping malls, catalogues and most forms of advertising will soon be rendered
obsolete by MLM.

Truth: MLM is not new. It has been around since the late 1960's. Yet, today it still represents
less than one percent of US retail sales. In year 2000, total US retail sales were $3.232 trillion,
according to the Dept. of Commerce. MLM's total sales are about $10 billion. That is about
1/3rd of one percent and most of this sales volume is accounted for by the purchases of
hopeful new distributors who are actually paying the price of admission to a business they
will soon abandon. Not only are MLM sales insignificant in the marketplace, but MLM fails
as a sales model also on the other key factor maintaining customers. Most MLM customers
quit buying the goods as soon as they quit seeking the "business opportunity." There is no
brand loyalty.

These basic facts show that, as a marketing model, MLM is not replacing existing forms of
marketing. It does not legitimately compete with other marketing approaches at all. Rather,
MLM represents a new investment scheme that uses the language of marketing and sales of
products. Its real products are distributorships which are sold with misrepresentation and
exaggerated promises of income. People are buying products in order to secure positions on
the sales pyramid. The possibility is always held out that you may become rich if not from
your own efforts then from some unknown person who might join your 'downline,' the 'big
fish' as they are called.

MLM's growth is a manifestation not of its value to the economy, customers or distributors
but of the recently high levels of economic fear and insecurity and rising expectations of
quick and easy wealth. It is growing in the same way day trading on the stock market,
legalized gambling and lotteries are.

Lie #4: MLM is a new way of life that offers happiness and fulfillment. It is a means to
attain all the good things in life.

Truth: The most prominent motivating appeal of the MLM industry as shown in industry
literature and presented at recruitment meetings is the crassest form of materialism. Fortune
100 companies would blush at the excess of promises of wealth and luxury put forth by MLM
solicitors. These promises are presented as the ticket to personal fulfillment. MLM's
overreaching appeal to wealth and luxury conflicts with most people's true desire for
meaningful and fulfilling work in something in which they have special talent or interest. In
short, the culture of this business side tracks many people from their personal values and
desires to express their unique talents and aspirations.

Lie #5: MLM is a spiritual movement.

Truth: The use of spiritual concepts like prosperity consciousness and creative visualization
to promote MLM enrollment, the use of words like 'communion' to describe a sales
organization, and claims that MLM is a fulfillment of Christian principles or Scriptural
prophecies are great distortions of these spiritual practices. Those who focus their hopes and
dreams upon wealth as the answer to their prayers lose sight of genuine spirituality as taught
by all the great religions and faiths of humankind. The misuse of these spiritual principles
should be a signal that the investment opportunity is deceptive. When a product is wrapped in
the flag or in religion, buyers beware! The 'community' and 'support' offered by MLM
organizations to new recruits are based entirely upon their purchases. If the purchases and
enrollment decline, so does the 'communion.'

Lie #6: Success in MLM is easy. Friends and relatives are the natural prospects. Those
who love and support you will become your lifetime customers.

Truth: The commercialization of family and friendship relations or the use of 'warm leads'
which is required in the MLM marketing program is a destructive element in the community
and very unhealthy for individuals involved. Capitalizing upon family ties and loyalties of
friendships in order to build a business can destroy ones social foundation. It places stress on
relationships that may never return to their original bases of love, loyalty and support. Beyond
its destructive social aspects, experience shows that few people enjoy or appreciate being
solicited by friends and relatives to buy products.

Lie #7: You can do MLM in your spare time. As a business, it offers the greatest flexibility
and personal freedom of time. A few hours a week can earn a significant supplemental
income and may grow to a very large income making other work unnecessary

Truth: decades of experience involving millions of people have proven that making money in
MLM requires extraordinary time commitment as well as considerable personal wiliness,
persistence and deception. Beyond the sheer hard work and special aptitude required, the
business model inherently consumes more areas of one’s life and greater segments of time. In
MLM, everyone is a prospect. Every waking moment is a potential time for marketing. There
are no off-limit places, people or times for selling. Consequently, there is no free space or free
time once a person enrolls in MLM system.

Under the guise of creating money independently and in your free time, the system gains
control and dominance over people's entire lives and requires rigid conformity to the program.
This accounts for why so many people who become deeply involved end up needing and
relying upon MLM desperately. They alienate or abandon other sustaining relationships.

Lie #8. MLM is a positive, supportive new business that affirms the human spirit and
personal freedom.

Truth: MLM marketing materials reveal that much of the message is fear-driven and based
upon deception about income potential. Solicitations frequently include dire predictions about
the impending collapse of other forms of distribution, the disintegration or insensitivity of
corporate America, and the lack of opportunity in other professions or services. Conventional
professions, trades and business are routinely demeaned and ridiculed for not offering
'unlimited income.' Employment is cast as wage enslavement for 'losers.' MLM is presented as
the last best hope for many people. This approach, in addition to being deceptive, frequently
has a discouraging effect on people who otherwise would pursue their own unique visions of
success and happiness. A sound business opportunity does not have to base its worth on
negative predictions and warnings.
Lie #9. MLM is the best option for owning your own business and attaining real economic
independence.

Truth: MLM is not true self-employment. 'Owning' an MLM distributorship is an illusion.

Some MLM companies forbid distributors from carrying additional lines. Most MLM
contracts make termination of the distributorship easy and immediate for the company. Short
of termination, downlines can be taken away with a variety of means. Participation requires
rigid adherence to the 'duplication' model, not independence and individuality. MLM
distributors are not entrepreneurs but joiners in a complex hierarchical system over which
they have little control.

Lie #10: MLM is not a pyramid scheme because products are sold.

Truth: The sale of products is in no way a protection from anti-pyramid scheme statutes or
unfair trade practices set forth in federal and state law. MLMs that sell useful, quality
products have been successfully prosecuted under anti-pyramid scheme laws by state and
federal officials. MLM is a legal form of business only under certain rigid conditions set forth
by the FTC and state Attorneys General. Many MLMs are currently in gross violation of these
guidelines and operate only because they have not been prosecuted. Recent court rulings are
using a 70% rule to determine an MLM's legality. At least 70% of all goods sold by the MLM
company must be purchased by non-distributors. This standard would place most MLM
companies outside the law. The largest of all MLMs acknowledges that only 18% of its sales
are made to non-distributors.

Robert Fitzpatrick is president of Pyramid Scheme Alert and co-author of the book, False
Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-level Marketing and Pyramid
Schemes. He is the publisher of THE EAGLE, a quarterly journal on distribution-related
issues in the printing and digital imaging industries, continuously published since 1981. He is
an author of numerous articles and monographs on distributor marketing in mature
industries and he has provided direct consulting services to major manufacturers and
distributors including DuPont, Fuji Film USA, Polaroid, and many others. He is a featured
speaker at corporate and trade association conferences in the US and abroad. He
occasionally serves as expert witness in cases brought by state Attorneys General or by
distributors against multi-level marketing companies charged with operating as pyramid
schemes. Robert Fitzpatrick can be reached at 1522 Lilac Rd., Charlotte, NC 28209, Tel:
(704) 334-2047, email: RFitzPatrick@pyramidschemealert.org, websites:
http://www.pyramidschemealert.org and http://www.falseprofits.com