I think threre are three distinct kinds of MLMs.....

One is product-driven -- like Watkins, Mary Kay, Avon, etc.

I've tried some and failed miserably -- but that was my fault, not theirs. I can't sell face-to-face, and it took me a few tries to figure that out (hey, y'don't have to hit me upside the head with a cement mixer!).

I may get involved in another -- not because I've decided I want to torture myself trying to sell face-to-face again, but because now I can sell on the internet, and I'm pretty good at that... but I digress.

My point is just that certain companies sell their products to customers who have nothing to do with the company. If you recruit new salespeople, that's dandy -- but you can make decent money if you NEVER recruit a soul, and nobody pressures you to recruit.

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Then there's the MLM that sells "products" to "customers" but, coincidentally, most of the customers are distributors. Sure, the products can be used by the general public, and maybe they even make an occasional sale to the "general public" -- but for the most part, they're going to be used by the distributors aka customers.

They claim they're product-driven, but it's darned iffy, IMHO.

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Then there's the MLM that has a "product" in name only.

It's a round robin where the dealers are the only customers and the people at the top make a bundle and lots of people walk away in digust because they are too ethical to rope other unsuspecting suckers in like they were roped in -- and of course others will stay and recruit recruit recruit and keep right on claiming they're legitimate (with a straight face even).

And don't forget the other kind in this last group --

the MLMs that require their dealers to sign up for a standing monthly order (GAG!!). They go on bleeding their dealer aka customer dry for months or even years until that fateful day when the hapless dealer aka customer opens the garage door and barely escapes with his life. After he's rescued from under the bottles, he decides to cut his losses and escape before he loses his house, his car, and his wife.

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I think it's a little unfair to lump people who earn their living basically RETAILING products -- maybe turning a customer or two into dealers along the way -- into group two or three.

I won't argue whether MLM is a good business model or not because I don't pretend to know squat about that -- but I've never had an unscrupulous Avon Lady try to recruit me... have you??

Luv,