Buy The Numbers

"Sign 3 who sign 3 and your products are FREE!"

I can't recall when I first heard that statement, but I'm sure it was at an Opportunity Meeting.

Most companies have an automatic monthly program wherein the distributor signs up to make a minimum required purchase--usually between $100-150--every month. MLMs love the auto-ship program because it takes the buying decision out of the equation. They have your credit card number on file and when the magic day rolls around each month you have another shipment headed your way without your having to lift a finger.

To help reduce any angst about the monthly charge, most MLMers will recognize that if they just recruit a few folks who also sign up for the auto-ship program, their commissions from those purchases will be sufficient to pay for one's own auto-ship purchases. What a deal! The numbers change from company to company, but the principle is pretty much the same. Go find 3,4, or 5 people, who each also go and find 3, 4, or 5 people, and your products are "free."

And if you can actually do it...it works really nicely.

Frequently in MLM presentations this type of example is expanded out several additional levels, with your potential income eventually reaching $10,000 - $400,000 a month, depending on how aggressive the chosen numbers are.

Wow! $400,000 A MONTH! Where do I sign up!!!! Can I make $4 million a month? How about $40 million???

Sure. And you could win the SuperLotto, too.

Odds?

Thanks for asking the question, but time is short so let's move on to the next slide, the one about all of the additional bonus pools that you might get to participate in.

Have you ever watched those infomercials for weight-loss products or real estate strategies that feature folks with amazing results? Over the past few years they have had to include fine print that says in essence "results are not typical." Many industries that seek to get someone to buy their product based on some claim of success or hoped-for-success bump into the same ethical issue. The MLM industry has had its share of "check flashing" and most companies have learned the hard way to instruct their top distributors to NOT wave their big commission check in front of a group of potential distributors, or tell anecdotal stories of huge successes.

Why?

Because the results are not typical.

Most distributors will never win the SuperLotto, er, I mean, earn a commission check as large as that top distributor. If they get caught up in the frenzy and passion of dreaming how their lives would change if they were making an additional $75,000 per month, they might just sign up in the same mode as buying lottery tickets. How long do you think they will stay involved when their numbers don't get called and reality sets in?

So, just how much money do most people need to make to justify when starting off in an MLM business? The number I have heard over the years is $500 a month. $500 a month is enough for many people to say "this is working for me!"

Well, $500 a month isn't as sexy as $50,000 a month and some people might not sign up as a result. And, unfortunately, even $500 a month is not a typical income. On average, most MLMers make less money...mostly because so many drop out after just a few months.

In the end, except for a very rare few people who "win" and are in the right place at the right time and make gobs of money without having to ever sell their product to retail customers or even do much recruiting, an MLM business is a still a business and not a lottery. It takes work to succeed.

Bubble burst? Feeling discouraged? Tearing up that drawing of the house addition and pool that you have been working on?

Don't.

There is still a world of opportunity out there and some MLMers will do a great job of building a business to reap the rewards. My hope is that you will make an informed decision to start an MLM business and do so with the commitment to work hard enough to make the money you desire. Just don't get suckered in by the numbers...because if you want to buy numbers, an Opportunity Meeting is the wrong place.