5 Things to Consider Before Joining an MLM

The 5 Truths To Always Remember about MLMs

1. The people making a lot of money or sitting at the top of an MLM would be at the top of almost any other MLM or endeavor because they possess the necessary skill sets.

2. Just because anyone can make a full-time income from home doesn’t mean YOU can, no matter what anyone tells you.

3. MLMs differ from jobs in that you usually pay them by either purchasing products or paying a membership fee so it will always be a win-win for them even if you fail.

4. No matter how much you try to learn or train in a certain area, although you may gain valuable skills and education, it still may not be enough to close the gap on the talented and passionate.

5. Be very wary of companies that give incentives to their affiliates to push a product/service rather than to their customers to make the product/service easier to sell.

It has been said that if you were to take all of the money in the world and divide it up equally amongst everyone that it would soon be back in the same pockets from which it came.  

Think about that for a moment.

Being rich isn’t a matter of having money, being rich is a matter of keeping money. Being rich is a mindset not an accident. There’s a reason why a lot of lottery winners or superstar athletes often go broke.

Jim Rohn summed it up best when he said “if someone hands you a million dollars, best you become a millionaire, or you won’t get to keep the money.”

If you were handed a large sum of money right now, what would you do with it?

Would you spend it all? What would you buy? Would you pay off debt? Would you purchase any cash generating assets (dividend stocks, rental properties, etc)? Would you start a business? What would you really do?

Therein lies the answers of why the rich get richer and the poor stay poorer. Some of you might go out, take a vacation, buy a big fancy house, buy a ferrari, save a little bit in the bank, and then try to live off of it. But the people with a rich mindset will probably try to find investments or start businesses with it to grow their money even more.

The reason we are discussing this is because I’ve seen time and time again where people have the necessary skill sets to make a ton of money in MLMs, they go out and make a ton of money, and then start upgrading cars, clothing, houses, and more without realizing that MLMs are almost always short lived bursts of cash.

There are many very important skills and philosophical beliefs that will almost solely determine your success, not just in MLMs, but in most business ventures.

If you think of some of the traits and characteristics some of the MLM leaders or your successful upline has you’ll start to notice they might be a really good at selling, or they might be good at recruiting people, maybe they’re really good at marketing, or maybe they’re good at lying and telling people what they want to hear. Very likely they have a mixture of these abilities or all of them at once.

Let’s face it, if you don’t have any of those abilities, you will likely just be another MLM victim that joins with high hopes and expectations, tries to follow some plan to sell or create a downline, and falls flat on their face and fails.

Don’t be shocked, being successful in an MLM is no different than being successful in anything else in life. You have pretty much the same chances as making a profitable online storefront, succeeding in business, or doing well at a job and getting promotions.

If you suck at regular things in life, statistically you will also be awful at MLMs, but every now and then someone breaks through and discovers something about themselves that they didn’t know because they were stuck in a dead end job.

Sometimes they find out they are actually really good at recruiting, marketing, or selling but didn’t know about it because they never tried.

And while we can train into any of those things required to do well in an MLM it’s no different than playing basketball at the gym, no matter how long or hard we practice, most of us won’t end up in the NBA.

An MLM is a business and businesses have pretty standard roles. Most companies have full fledged departments for Human Resources, Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service.

Now you don’t have to have skills in all of these departments but you do have to be able to build your own business inside of an MLM with people who have these skills.

The company you’re signing up for is doing this by using people for their free labor. They don’t even have to try to screen or filter to hire anyone so they save a lot of money in this process. In almost all cases the people who come to work for them actually pay them money (LOL) sounds like a good gig doesn’t it? 

And if they don’t work out and fail, the company doesn’t have to do anything to fire them or get rid of them. As more people come on, they are literally filling out the above departments for the company.

The payout system is also very important. 

If your strengths are in sales you’ll want to find a pay structure in a company that rewards sales and if you’re good at recruiting people you’ll want to find a pay structure in a company that has many levels to earn money off your downline.

Below are some of the core characteristics I’ve discovered in successful MLMers.

The Seller/Closer – really good salesman, they are good at solving customer objections and laying out clear benefits to the customer and ensuring they follow up to close the deal.

The Recruiter – this type has a very strong loyal and direct line. If they switch companies or sell something else the people under them usually move with them. They are very good at finding and keeping people motivated. They may not make many product sales but will motivate people who can sell for them.

The Marketer – does not have much of or has an accidental direct line. Will have lots and lots of customers, prefers to work anonymously and let advertisements and other things draw people in.

The People Pleaser – will do or say anything to make a sale. They over promise and usually under deliver but finding a people pleaser that can over deliver and under promise will make them a success.

There are also industry dependent roles that need to be added to the above roles that can help influence sales. 

For example if you’re in the health industry, finding a personal trainer and a dietician or nutritionist to join your team can result in a net gain. If you’re doing makeup, having a makeup artist join the team would also be a benefit. These are people that already have a “head-start” in the business because they’re in the exact or a related field and there will be people like this in each industry that will be able to almost instantly move up the ranks and make money.

If you’re looking to get serious then you’ll want to find at least one person that’s good at recruiting, you’ll want to find someone that’s good at resolving customer issues, you’ll want to find someone that’s good at marketing, and you’ll want to find someone that’s good at closing sales, etc. 

There’s a reason why 3 way calls work or why people usually bring someone more “knowledgeable” to answer questions.

Using your team you can have these specific people good at these specific roles help your customers and your new affiliates. If a customer has an issue you can say get with Sally she’s good with that or someone needs help selling to a tough customer, get with John he’s really good at sales.

Gary V said something along the lines of every single minute you spend trying to get a yes from someone that’s a “no” is a minute taken away from someone that’s already a “yes.”

Some people will also be able to make a quick buck and get a few people with a personal success story. This happens a lot for weight loss stuff. These stories can go viral but most of them will attract only a few customers and some interest.  Stories can be really beneficial in getting other people to join your team.

Other than that just keep in mind succeeding in an MLM is not free or easy money. If it seems to come easy for you that’s because you either have already acquired or built one or more of the necessary skills needed to succeed from other experiences. 

It may also be easy because you’re in a related industry and already have an established customer base. Joining an MLM and starting from scratch is not easy, so don’t treat it that way, you will end up working harder than you ever have before to succeed.

Remember, whether you succeed or fail, the skills and experience you gain will help expedite your success in the next venture so don’t give up.