Hi! Winston, I love your posts.... Mind if I pick and choose? No? Good... ======================================== A very important aspect which will have to be overcome to gain back the confidence in at least some who had major issues with this area. ======================================== I love analogies. If you've had a bad marriage and decide that you "hate" marriage or you "hate" the other gender, you're going to have serious trouble getting into another marriage. Even one that might be great. When you can say "marriage" isn't the problem, or "men/women" aren't the problem, I just chose one that wasn't right for me... then you're able to leave doors open for your own benefit. Same thing. When people say MLM SUCKS, they are doing the same thing. They need to be able to say "I chose wrong for me" and see that not all MLMs are the same. There are many that don't focus on the cultish building of the downline, and - instead - focus on selling great products. To fail to see that is to walk through life with blinders on. That doesn't mean they "have to" get into MLM. lol. But removing blinders is seldom a bad thing. ========================================= How is the internet impacting this business? ========================================= I mentioned this before. So far, what I see is that most MLMs don't "get" the Internet. They don't understand how people actually sell product online and they don't give their people the tools to do it right. As such, most MLMers focus on "building the downline' online. The only MLM products I've been able to sell online are the ones that allow the member to function like a distributor - build their own site - stock their goods - take orders - ship it out. The whole *www.some-mlm-url.com?id=h44ojg thing - and then send people to a page where they have to wade through the "join the opportunity of a lifetime" just doesn't work worth a hoot. : ) Linda

"Movin' right along, foot-loose and fancy-free, Gettin' there is half the fun, come share it with me..." "Winston, where yo' bin bro?" Your questions (answers as I see them): =========================== Namely, the Motivational Tool Business? =========================== The tools were ALWAYS a bone of contention. Many big pins were earning MORE from the tools than the products. For instance, an audio tape that cost 25 cents to produce was being sold, last I checked, for about $4 or $5. Not a bad mark up huh? Who do you reckon was killing the pig there? I know of some of the biggest pins who were selling so many of these (100's of 1,000's) that they actually built their own recording studios to by-pass production costs. Some had 100's of machines running 24 hours a day spitting them out. Some of the MLMs now have written into their contracts that "tools" are not to be promoted unless express permission is granted to do so. =========================== What does the future look like? =========================== Same as always depending on an individuals perspective. =========================== Will the so called King-pins still be able to capitalize on this market the same way they did in the past? =========================== I don't think so. People are becoming more and more aware of two-tier marketing practices. State and Federal statutes are also putting them into the spotlight with big fines for those who breach legal provisions. ============================ How is the internet impacting this business? ============================ Good question. Negatively, in my opinion. The net allows any disgruntled person or group to put up a site that will expose whatever those people feel aggrieved about. Try this - put the words "Amway complaints" into Google. That should keep you busy for a while. Natural human tendency is to believe the worst. We are conditioned from birth to do that and newspapers, radio talkback and TV re-inforces it at every opportunity. ============================= Will the future of this business come from upline who provide this information to their downline Free of charge through the medium of a website (via articles/audio/video etc)? ============================= Hmm. Another good question. Upline will always find a way to make money. That is their burning desire. Perhaps a paid membership site. One that ALL aspiring leaders HAVE to be a member of. Heh! Maybe that will never be written down anywhere but it will be STRONGLY suggested that NOBODY ever succeeded WITHOUT the tools. Read into that what you will. OK. I'm hoggin' the stage here but, after 10 years I know a fair bit about the issues. In some respects it is almost therapeutic for me to divulge what I know. People can make their own decisions then. As Ripley would say: "Believe it... or not!" Gary Simpson

Hi: ======================================== Natural human tendency is to believe the worst. We are conditioned from birth to do that and newspapers, radio talkback and TV re-inforces it at every opportunity. ======================================== If that's true, then why are so many people sucked into "make money do nothing" programs online? Why don't they believe the worst about those? Are the vast number of people signing up in droves for "click it rich" programs believing the worst? Seems to me they're just as vulnerable as ever. Maybe they decided "MLM" is the problem and they think "the easy way" is online? I don't know, of course. I'm guessing. Thoughts?

I mentioned this before. So far, what I see is that most MLMs don't "get" the Internet. They don't understand how people actually sell product online and they don't give their people the tools to do it right. Linda, I recall you mentioning this before. What kind of tools do you think would be advantageous to help MLM companies help their distributors through this? I understand to some degree what you are saying but . . .

Hi, ======================= "If that's true, then why are so many people sucked into "make money do nothing" programs online? Why don't they believe the worst about those?" ======================= Same reason as the bank robbers, drug dealers and others that you refer to in other posts. Greed. Stupidity. Laziness. Gary Simpson