Image: Andrii Dodonov, iStock
According to the ABC, people in regional Australia, are falling for Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) schemes.
One MLM that's preying on people in regional Australia is one promoting a Japanese machine that "electrolyses tap water" and promises "triple health" to people who drink it. They gain recruits by promising a six - figure salary.
However, this is often far from reality.
Proponents of MLMs promise a dream. However, most people who enter MLMs realise quickly that it's a nightmare.
What is Multi-level Marketing
Before we go any further, what is Multi-level Marketing?
Forbes defines multi-level marketing as:
Multi-level Marketing (MLM), also known as direct marketing or network marketing, is a method of selling products directly to consumers using independent sales representatives
('Understanding Multi-level Marketing' E. Napoletano, Editor: Benjamin Curry, Forbes Advisor, Updated 26 April 2023)
Investapedia argues that there are 'legitimate' MLM businesses. From what I've heard and read over the years, 'legitimate' MLMs must be few and far in between.
The Rural Freedom Movement
According to the ABC, Kate* (name has been changed) is a single mother from remote Queensland. She sees a post of a young woman 8n a cowgirl hat. This woman appears to be living in luxury. This mystery woman is Kylie Stevenson.
She claims to make her income online. How? She claims it's by recruiting people to sell big ticket items.
Stevenson started The Rural Freedom Movement. She advertises it as:
…a community of rural people who are seeking to learn how to create an online income and build a legacy for their future.
In a social media post, Stevenson wrote:
If you're looking for an opportunity to break free from a 9-5 grind and create a life of financial freedom, then you're in the right place.
('4 reasons not to turn to an MLM for an income boost', Kelly Scott, 5 February 2021)
Does it all sound too good to. be true? Well, The Rural Freedom is an MLM. So, it's more likely than not that many people who join The Rural Freedom Movement will not get what they were promised.
Most people lose, not make money in MLMs. And they lose relationships
Image: Gearstd, iStock
There's a reason why MLMs are frequently compared to pyramid schemes.
You are far, far more likely to lose money in an MLM. According to the ABC, less than one per cent make lots of money through MLMs. In fact, many can't make a living from them at all.
When people join an MLM, they are pressured to buy their MLM products using their own money. This is often expensive and it's impossible for most people to break even, let alone make a profit.
Lucy* (not real name), a young stay - at - home mother, claims that MLM recruiters harass and are "relentless". And they're unaffordable.
To hide this reality, recruiters use love - bombing to add to their downline.
I have a very, very strict budget and I can't buy this crap all the time. I hate MLMs so much. The guilting, the relentless posting… and the girls from school in my DMs like, 'Hey babe, how are you?' I don't respond anymore because I already know what they want.
('4 reasons ot to turn to an MLM for an income boost', Kelly Scott, 5 February 2021).
Like cults, some MLMs encourage their recruiters to cut ties to friends and family who are concerned.
This makes people who join MLMs feel isolated. This makes MLM companies to rely solely on other members of the MLM.
Almost all MLMs leave people broke and broken-hearted. They are predatory. They promote a false reality and shame those who don't live up to the image they promote. I think they should be avoided like the plague.
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