Multilevel Marketing (pyramids) has anyone made this work?
441533
Multi Level Marketing is a good thing.. pyramids are illegal.\n\nIf you think about it ALL companes are set up as multilevel... there are workers then managers then owners....ect. Unless you are a company of one... there will always be someone making more than another and someone making money off of other people's efforts.\n\nPersonally... I work with an Inc 500 company that pays on many levels... but in no way are we a pyramid.  If you are interested in a Legit way to leagally make money from home where no one gets hurt and is completely RISK FREE... contact me through my 360 page.
1184679
Sounds like a pyramid scheme to me. A scam that is.\n\nBut you don´t give enough information to say anything more.\nBe sure to research them thoroughly before putting money into it.\n\nAnd by seriously I don´t mean Yahoo Answers.
954160
Let me guess, now your buddy pops up with a spam ad for exactly the list you are looking for.\n\nAm I close?\n\nDo I win a prize?\n\nMaybe someone can post a referral link to that cashcrack pyramid scheme website as well.
347589
is this a marketing ploy?
650588
It is the best form of self employment, helping yourself and helpint others.  First you have to find out a company who is in the Multi level marketing field.  Study the company.  Try to use the products.  Once you are satisfied with the creditworthiness of the company, enrol yourself.  Enrolment fee will not be much higher.  Then find out your like minded people and enrol them as you did.  There will be lot of people in the hierachy to help you.  Once you make an impressive group of your own, y;ou started earning.  The earning will be in geometrical progression  You will find that your personality improves, lyour communication skill improves and you yourselves will convert to a marketing expert and starts seeing life from a diferent angle.  You become positive.  Even if you fail, you earn a lot of experience  and self confidence.  The mantra in multilevel marketing is "never quit".  Continue to do it tillyou achieve.  Another plus point of multilevel marketing is that you can start it as a side business without affecting your existing profession.  Most of the Multilevel marketing company have their own educational system, road shows.  Attend one or more such programmes and decide.
353917
I have done it. You have to join witch is free. They send you e-mails that say paid e-mail. Then it tells you to claim your earnings to click on the link. When you do it tries sends you to a bunch of advertisements. You have to buy something or join something to get paid. I have not pursued this any further. It's a scam to get people to buy more crap. If it sounds to good to be true then guess what it is!
272254
Yes it's a scam, no you cannot make that type of money, the money comes in from selling their "Ideas", or "programs". If it was that easy, wouldn't everyone you know be rich?
1045729
Because they are Ponzi schemes.  Only those at the top of the pyramid make any money.  People lower on the ladder have to convince their families and (soon to be former) friends to join.  Eventually, it all falls apart.  \n\nAlso, network marketing adds no value to the product.  Why should I pay a bunch of middlemen if I can get a product more directly (and less expensively?)
1022898
tej ~\n\nBefore taking anyone's half-baked advice about which opportunities to accept and which to reject, you must understand that:\n\nA.) The name "multilevel marketing" is merely one of several given to a legitimate business model, not unlike the terms "franchise," or "traditional brick and mortar."\n\nC.) The gritty "facts" given by "psd1941" about working in MLM are NOT universal. Whether or not you'll need 'ample convincing power' or will need to work 'not less than 8 to 12 hours a day', or '85% of your down-line will remain inactive' are not hard-and-fast truths, but are possibilities which are almost exclusively determined by your choice of "opportunity."\n\nB.) I agree: there are few worthwhile opportunities to be found among the thousands of less-than-worthy ones. But they are out there. In order to avoid the numerous “undesirables” and narrow your choice to one of the few worthy ones, you'll need to arm yourself with solid, practical info that will enable you to tune out the "white noise" and use discernment in making a wise choice.\n\nPurpose to do this first ~ equip yourself with the honest, practical information you need ~ and these time and energy wasting experiences need not be a part of your experience.\n\nCarlos Whitfield\nContributing Editor, "MLM The Whole Truth"
616279
How effective this will be depends a great deal on the nature of the product or service. I've been in several "plans" and my dad was in Amway, always having meetings. I've still got a firm belief that there are GREAT benefits to this type of structure and that it is not necessarily a "scheme". For example, isn't it better to reward distributors instead of giving millions of dollars to advertising companies? I'd rather see the "underdog" rewarded for loyalty to a brand or product, than billions going to the next thing about to interrupt my favorite TV program.\n\nThe key, and the greatest potential flaw, is that the distributors/affiliates have proper training, especially in what sales techniques to avoid. For example, a potential downfall to an online business would be your website becoming a well-known source of SPAM as money-hungry affiates start promoting the product in all the most inappropriate, off-topic places.\n\nThis is true in the real world too. How many people have gone to Amway or Tupperware parties just to support their friend, and then avoid future contact because you know it will end in some sort of sales pitch? Word of mouth is great, but not if it turns distributors into some sort of social paria. I've actually seen Amway leaders telling new distributors that if their friend isn't interested in a better life through their business opportunity, then they shouldn't waste time with that friend anymore. Sounds more like a cult than a business to me.\n\nSo on to some actual TIPS...\n\nMake sure that, after all the commissions and multi-level rewards, you still have a product that, at the stated retail price, is something viable that a consumer would buy even if they were not interested in "joining the business". Because this is one area where many MLM plans have a bad reputation.\n\nThen there's the promise of income. People join because they see this neat structure where they tell 5 friends and THEY tell five friends and they tell THEIR five friends, then wow! That's 5 x 5 x 5 or 125 customers already! When THEY tell 5 friends that makes 625. Pretty soon if you go down deep enough in the structure you're getting commissions on millions of sales.\n\nThere is only one problem with that economic model... pretty soon you will run out of people, because (thankfully) we don't breed that fast.\n\nOne solution to this, which I plan on implementing in an affiliate system (I'm a web programmer) is a way to turn the structure on it's head. Have release dates for new products, and when a new product comes out, the LAST people to join are given the FIRST opportunity to sign on to the new product. In effect, each product has it's own unique MLM plan attached. I'm not sure how workable this will be, but the complexity should not be too much to handle when the whole thing is computer-automated.\n\nSo to sum up (for now), it seems that the ideal product for this would be one that had an extremely low production and distribution cost (downloadable online software or web access for example), something that could generate REPEAT as opposed to ONE-TIME sales, and that could still be sold at a competitive, even bargain, price, such that closing a sale would be almost a no-brainer.\n\nI'd love to expand on this already somewhat-lengthy answer with anyone who has an interest. See my Yahoo Group, MLM Strategies...
337867
Yes, in Las Vegas.\n\nCheck out this website:\nhttp://images.google.com/images?q=vegas+pyramid&hl=en
204098
LOL - if you are talking about the home based businesses they try to sell you on TV, ads on the internet, friend referral or a sign posted in your neighborhood? It's all junk; they are just trying to get you to sell their goods. The latest version of a pyramid scheme.\n\nhttp://www.bbb.org/alerts/article.asp?ID=436\n\nFrom my experiance with my own (legitimate) home based business (my own idea/service) the hardest part is staying busy instead of goofing off (like being on Yahoo Answers). Takes allot more discipline than I ever thought it would. You need to find a nitche that needs to be filled, working at home is an added bonus as it helps to keep over head low.\n\nhttp://www.sba.gov/starting_business/
1023070
No. I have not even been able to sell by cold calling even if they need ed it. Best way that has worked for me is advertising, website, brochures, etc. Got this done at a low cost.. from a company O2 Supply.\n\nI guess I suck at cold calling..
294034
from the FBI Fraud files:\nPyramid Scheme\n\nPyramid schemes, also referred to as franchise fraud, or chain referral schemes, are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses. At the heart of each pyramid scheme there is typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment. Promoters fail to tell prospective participants that this is mathematically impossible for everyone to do, since some participants drop out, while others recoup their original investments and then drop out.\n\nSome Tips to Avoid Pyramid Schemes:\n\nBe wary of "opportunities" to invest your money in franchises or investments that require you to bring in subsequent investors to increase your profit or recoup your initial investment.\n\nIndependently verify the legitimacy of any franchise or investment before you invest. \n\nFrom the FTC: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/pyrdalrt.htm\n\nThe Bottom Line About Multilevel Marketing Plans\nMultilevel or "network" marketing plans are a way of selling goods or services through distributors. These plans typically promise that if you sign up as a distributor, you'll receive commissions - for your sales and those of the people you recruit to become distributors. These recruits sometimes are referred to as your "downline." \n\nSome multilevel marketing plans are legitimate. However, others are illegal pyramid schemes. In pyramids, commissions are based on the number of distributors recruited. Most of the product sales are made to these distributors - not to consumers in general. The underlying goods and services, which vary from vitamins to car leases, serve only to make the schemes look legitimate. \n\nJoining a pyramid is risky because the vast majority of participants lose money to pay for the rewards of a lucky few. Most people end up with nothing to show for their money except the expensive products or marketing materials they're pressured to buy. \n\nIf you're thinking about joining what appears to be a legitimate multilevel marketing plan, take time to learn about the plan. What's the company's track record? What products does it sell? Does it sell products to the public-at-large? Does it have the evidence to back up the claims it makes about its product? Is the product competitively priced? Is it likely to appeal to a large customer base? How much is the investment to join the plan? Is there a minimum monthly sales commitment to earn a commission? Will you be required to recruit new distributors to earn your commission?\n\nBe skeptical if a distributor tells you that for the price of a "start-up kit" of inventory and sales literature - and sometimes a commitment to sell a specific amount of the product or service each month - you'll be on the road to riches. Often consumers spend a lot of money to "build their business" by participating in training programs, buying sales leads or purchasing the products themselves. Too often, these purchases are all they ever see for their investments. \n\nYour Responsibilities\nIf you decide to become a distributor, you are legally responsible for the claims you make about the company, its product and the business opportunities it offers. That applies even if you're repeating claims you read in a company brochure or advertising flyer. The Federal Trade Commission advises you to verify the research behind any claims about a product's performance before repeating those claims to a potential customer. \n\nIn addition, if you solicit new distributors, you ar
365046
If you're referring to the multi-level marketing millionaire, the facts are hard to come by. According to one MLM "closed door" event in 2004 for an exclusive few MLM movers and shakers:\n\n"Several years ago Sherman Unkefer owned two banks, but he left banking to go full time in Network Marketing.  In less than one year Sherman's team is doing over $2 million per month in sales and I'm sponsoring over 3,000 distributors per month. Sherman Unkefer is a Million Dollar Earner and Top Distributor with his company..."\n\nAnd according to several sources, including a Federal Observer article:\n\n"Larry McDonald, John Rees, and Sherman Unkefer were members of the John Birch Society... Sherman Unkefer served as an adviser to Chile's regime under Augusto Pinochet. Unkefer reportedly worked closely with Chile's secret police organization, DINA." Is that the same man?\n\nNot much info, I know. Good luck with your query.\nNewarview
305782
Oh dear.  Did you attend one of those seminars advertised on an infomercial?  I hope it works for you.
335413
A "pyramid scheme" is illegal.  The U.S. government agency that regulates all networking-type businesses is the Federal Trade Commission.  Not all businesses with a pyramidal structure, are illegal.  One of the keys to tell whether an MLM or "networking" or pyramid-structured business, is legal or not, is "Does a product or service change hands, in return for the money invested, and is/are the product(s) or service(s) a reasonable, fair-market value for the money?"  Another key question is, "Where are the profits made?  Primarily from the legitimate sale of fair-market-value products or services (legal), or primarily from entry fees (illegal)?"  A Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) business that is very much legal and ethical, and is used by the FTC as an ideal model for all others, the grand-daddy of them all, is the Amway business, since September 1999 known as the Quixtar business. Both Amway and Quixtar are sister companies and both are still growing by leaps and bounds.  Amway started as a soap sales and mfg concern in the basement of two men's homes in 1959.  Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel.  Both are multimillionaires and they and their eight adult children, who now run the corp. HQ, are very respected in their home community of Ann Arbor, MI and around the world, have met with Presidents, kings and queens, etc., and the business is now in over 80 countries.  I'm in Harrisburg, PA and know nothing about Quest International, but I have been in Amway/Quixtar a while and there's not a better place to be than the team I'm on.  The products are the best in their class and are great value.  The convenience is unparalleled.  the sky is the limit with regard to how much you can earn.  E-mail me if int. in further info.  Jack