What I think of MLM’s

Sweatshirt:  Amazon // Leggings:  Amazon // Sneakers:  Adidas // Bandana:  Amazon

Disclaimer:  This post is not meant to offend or upset anyone, however my opinions are going to be brutally honest.  I have also worked for two MLM’s before so I know the behind the scenes which I wasn’t a fan of either.  If you love working for your MLM, you may want to skip reading this post if you are easily offended.

The dreaded “Hey girl!  I see that you liked my post, and I think you would be a great addition to my team.  Would you like to know more?!”  I get these DM’s ALL the time.  I feel like MLM’s have taken over the world.  I know this, because I got suckered into two of them in my lifetime.  I got suckered into Mary Kay and Beachbody.  Mary Kay in my opinion was your typical MLM, and Beachbody I got really into because I honestly wanted to help people, and if it wasn’t for my coach, I wouldn’t have lost the extra weight and gotten my groove back.  The reason why I didn’t last was because the dreaded message they all send, I just couldn’t do it.  I waited for people to come to me.  I promoted it on my blog and Facebook, and promoted the products, but I just couldn’t flat out inbox everyone on my friend’s list.  The one thing I hate is when they say that they think I’d be a great addition to their team.  Do you know me?  Have you ever talked to me before?  How do you know I have the right skills to be in sales?  Not everyone can be a salesperson.  It’s NOT for everyone.  I always try to be nice in my responses, but lately with how many I get on a daily basis, I NEEDED to write this post.

I feel like MLM’s feed on specific type of person, and their sales pitches are really basic.  They just train you to pressure people into buying products or joining your team.  People naturally feel bad saying no, and the marketing departments at these MLM’s know that.  Here are some of the major issues I have with MLM’s, and keep in mind, I was part of 2, so I know.  I’m going to be brutally honest.

Marketing Tactics remind me of used car salesman.

I was a car salesman so I can say this and mean it.  It’s very sneaky, and the company doesn’t care about you.  They care about that sale, and how many sales you make.  Which, I mean that’s what EVERY company wants out there.  They care more about how the business is doing because that is their job, no matter how many times they will try and tell you they care about their employees.  At the end of the day, those profits are what matter.  No matter what perks you get, at the end of the day they are making a lot of money off of you, and you are the one that is working HARD.

It’s not actually your business, no matter how much they brainwash you into thinking so.

This is one thing that I could not get over.  Take my blog for example.  When I was hosting it on Blogger, Google owned it and they allowed me to blog as long as I abided by their guidelines (which was not restrictive, they are pretty lenient with that, and it’s honestly a great platform).  However, if they really wanted to, they could shut me down at any time.  I chose to become self hosted so that when I say this is my blog, it is in fact my blog.  It used to make me so mad when I was part of the MLM’s and they would say it was your very own business.  It’s not!  Stop brainwashing innocent people who are just trying to make a living!  It’s someone else’s business that is making money off each individual.

Also, on the other hand, don’t take away the hard work from a legitimate business owner.  Someone who started with nothing, and grew their business into something.  Someone who started with an idea, and made it come to life with lots of blood, sweat, and tears, and possible financial hurdles they had to get over in those first few years.  They didn’t have a “starter kit” to get them off the ground.  They weren’t selling someone else’s products.  All they had was a dream, an idea, passion, and a whole lot of hope.  You are still technically working for someone.  Where is your paycheck coming from?  Not yourself right?  It’s coming from the company you are working for?  I rest my case.

Let’s face it, your job is to annoy people.

Ugh, this is the part that I hated!  I did not last because I could not blow up people’s inboxes.  I could tell when people were annoyed.  I noticed that my amount of likes on my posts on my personal Facebook were getting smaller.  I noticed that the amount of people who talked to me was decreasing.  I had to face the music; I annoyed the shit out of my friends.  If someone tells you no, MLM’s tell you to keep bugging them until they say yes, was something I couldn’t handle.  If someone said no to a person 3 or 4 times already, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THEY WILL SAY YES?!  I hated this part of my “training” with these companies.  It legit happens to me on a daily basis since I’m a blogger.  It’s so frustrating because I want quality followers who enjoy my content, and enjoy my blog.  I don’t want followers who are just trying to add me to their team.  I had three people unfollow me the last week because they asked me to join their team, I said no politely, and they clicked the unfollow button.  Good, because I want followers that I can connect with.

They feed off of a certain group of people.

They may not tell you this in your training, but they legit market these MLM’s to stay at home moms, people who want to make a little money on the side, people who are easily scammable, like myself.  With Mary Kay I thought that this would be a fun way for me to make money on the side, but it honestly took up a lot of my time that I already didn’t have because of my full time job and my blog.  The same with Beachbody, except I was genuinely wanting to help people and if I made some cash, that was great too.  I was easily quick to jump on the bandwagon.

“I think you would make a great addition to my team!”

When people say this, it drives me up a wall.  You don’t know me.  You don’t know my strengths and weaknesses.  You legit just found me randomly through Instagram, and now you think I’d make a great addition?  How do you know that I’m not some psycho serial killer?  How do you know if I’m a good salesperson?  Just because I have a blog and Instagram, does not mean I’m good at bugging people until they buy something from me.  I try so hard not to be rude, but when people say this (I know you’re just doing what you were told to in training or your private Facebook groups), I so badly want to ask them, but why?  What’s my favorite color?  Do you even know what my name is?  Do you know how old I am?  How do you know if I’m not already doing another MLM (some MLM’s don’t allow you to do more than one MLM because it’s a conflict of interest even if the product is completely different)?

When you contact a blogger, please know this up front.

• They get paid sponsorships, so telling them you can get them a really good discount isn’t really a perk.  They also put a lot of time and effort behind each post, even on Instagram.
• Bloggers have this stereotype of not giving correct feedback when a post is sponsored, and that they are just doing it for the money, so if they turn you down it’s because it’s not a product they are interested in, or a product they can stand behind.  This in return is a good thing to the blogging community.
• A blog is a business for most of us.  It’s not just posting pictures on Instagram, so trying to get a blogger to join your team and take on another responsibility is a lot.

When they argue.

I’m all for you having your own opinion and defending your MLM, I actually encourage it if it’s something you truly believe in.  However, when you try to say that I’m technically doing the same thing by working for a company as my full time job I want to just laugh.  I have a consistent paycheck.  I know exactly how much I’m going to make every week.  I don’t have to try and make ends meet.  If you really want to compare my full time job to your MLM, well in the end we are both working for someone, so your argument of “it’s my own business” ends up being invalid, and you proved it all on your own.

Do your research.

What ingredients are being put into the products you are selling?  Are they cruelty free?  What if I have an allergy?  What if I’m diabetic?  Do those wrap things really work?  How do they work?  When you are selling anything, even as a salesperson, you HAVE to be knowledgeable.  You may not know everything about the product you’re selling, but you have to be pretty damn close.  When I was doing Beachbody, as soon as someone asked me a question about the shakes because they were diabetic, I told them that if they really wanted to do this to speak with their doctor and I’d give them the ingredient list, and the type of diet we were doing.  I know some people who would just say, oh it’s fine.  You CANNOT do that when it can mean life or death for a person.  Those It Works wraps DON’T WORK!  It has been studied that the only reason why it looks like you’re losing weight is because you are losing water weight.  If you want to actually lose weight, there’s no magic pill/wrap.  You have to put in the hard work and dedication.

There’s nothing wrong with you testing out an MLM.  I mean, I did it.  However, I can count on one hand, how many people I know that have done an MLM who have actually become successful.  It’s not a get rich quick thing.  When I started Mary Kay, I spent over $1000 to automatically start at a certain status, and so that I can have inventory on hand.  When I didn’t sell anymore than $150, and went to return it and back out of the business after a few months, my leader was trying to get me to stay and saying other members could buy the inventory off of me, but then she didn’t respond when I was saying I needed the inventory gone right away.  I got aggravated and sold it back to Mary Kay and unfortunately, they still made money off of me, even on my way out.  When you return things to MK, you only get a certain percentage back.  So even though it was never opened and it wasn’t even 4 months old, I got back only a percentage of what I spent.

The idea behind MLM’s is actually a really great one, if they weren’t scamming innocent people who believe what they say. 

With all of this being said, if you are reading this, no, I do not want to join your team.  Please stop messaging me and asking me.  I’m not trying to be rude, but I really don’t believe in MLM’s.  If it’s a product that I like and want to test out, I WILL come to you.  Be creative and go make up your own introductory message, not the generic one that legit EVERY MLM FOLLOWS.  The “hey girl, I saw that you liked my post, want to learn more?” needs to be rewritten.  Make it your own so you don’t sound like everyone else, because maybe, just maybe you’ll get more people.  Also, for those of you who are successful with your MLM’s, I’m happy for you, but it’s just not for me, and I do greatly apologize if this post upset you.  I may have a bias opinion because I didn’t really have good experiences, or maybe it’s because I was a business major so I know more in depth information.  I know this post might upset some people, and I might even lose followers because of my opinion, but all of this needed to be said.  I’m sick and tired of seeing people getting taken advantage of by these MLM’s and being fed such bullshit.  These are innocent people who really just want to make a living, and because of the type of person they are, they are such a good fit for the MLM lifestyle.  It’s appealing to them, and it’s doable for them, but what they don’t see is how much they are being scammed, and THAT’S one of the major reasons why MLM’s aggravate me.  These people are just wanting to do a job that they love because they can’t do the typical 9-5 and they don’t have the opportunity to start their own business and this is the next best thing.  Like I said, the idea behind MLM’s would be absolutely amazing IF they weren’t scamming their people.

What are your thoughts?  Do you disagree with me?  If you do, I want to hear your comments, because I want to hear the other side too.  I may not agree with you, but I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Also, I received this top and leggings from Amazon to review, and the quality is actually a lot better than I expected for the price that it was.  The top is super cute, and it’s really comfortable sweatshirt material.  I know that sometimes sweatshirt material can feel almost stiff, but this one is comfortable.  The leggings are thinner than I would expect in leggings, BUT they aren’t see through, so they are definitely wearable, if you are worried about something like that.  Please note that even though I was given these items to review, all opinions are mine and have not been altered.

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xoxo Monica

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