Allow me to introduce you to a series of posts that highlight the Fake Hustle (FH). What is a fake hustle you ask?
Anything that people do to try to convince themselves (and you) that there is legitimate money to be made in their activity or line of work. Basically, if there is a high sales pitch involved because the average person would see this fake hustle a mile away, it’s more than likely a fake hustle.
Run. Away. Quickly.
One of the biggest forms of the fake hustle is any type of Multi-Level Marketing program. Also called Network Marketing, Access Marketing, etc., these schemes basically necessitate that you get other people to sign up for something, then get them to do the same thing that you are doing — a fake hustle. You may have heard of some of these FH’s before:
- Tahitian Noni
- Melaleuca
- Xango
- YTB
- Amway
- Quixtar
- Mary Kay
- and on and on
A good way to tell if an hustle is really a MLM job in disguise is to closely listen to the people who present it to you. Often, they will be all geeked up to tell you about the “next big thing” or an awesome “opportunity.” These are keywords you should recognize so that you can start planning your exit from the conversation. Here are some traits and actions that you will also notice:
- Your friends — the ones you haven’t talk to in years or do not talk to on a regular basis — will call and ask about what you are doing in your life, and if you want to make more money. (this is always a trap because who doesn’t want to make more money? Except for maybe Bill Gates)
- People you know will be overly eager to get in contact with you so they could show you an “opportunity.”
- You will be invited to see a “demonstration” of something at your friends house, but they won’t tell you what it is
- You will be invited to a “briefing” and are asked to dress business casual, and again, you will not know why you are doing this
- You will be asked to leave your kids at home
- Almost always, the product or opportunity in question will have something to do with your health
- Someone will want “only 5 minutes of your time” for you to listen to a speech that is done on the spot or pre-recorded in a telephone message.
- People will try to preempt your questions or concerns by answering whatever questions they think you might have, or the ones that are most common
- You will be shown a book with check stubs of the person who is presenting the opportunity to you, or of some well-known person in that industry
- You will be shown news reports, magazine articles, and any other publication that makes the “opportunity” seem real and legit
- Virtually any question you ask will have an answer, and if it doesn’t, they will wonder why you are asking that question anyway
- You will be drawn into a room full of people who are abnormally excited and happy about whatever it is that they are selling, almost to the point where it is just plain sickening and you will desperately be looking for the exit
- You will find the representatives adorned with magnets, stickers, pins, hats, shirts, bumper stickers, car magnets, license plate frames and covers, pens, pencils, and even jewelry advertising the product they are promoting
- Basically people will treat their product as an idol, to the point where Jesus himself will be extremely jealous
- The “information sessions” are poorly disguised pep rallies where the audience is in agreement with everything the presenter says and does. Also, there will be “bona fide leaders” strategically placed within the audience to try to add to the realism of the opportunity, and sometimes they will get up and speak to the crowd
To be fair, there have been a lot of people who have made a decent living doing this kind of thing. They followed the system to a ‘T’, and it has worked wonders for their lives. I do applaud their efforts, because they have beat the odds and found something that works for them. Also, the companies that offer these opportunities these days are mostly legitimate entities, they fully comply with all laws and ordinances, and they are usually staffed and operated just like a regular brick-and-mortar business.
However, the major problem with these programs is that most times, only the people at the very top of the compensation plan make any real money worth writing home to momma. Everyone else is doing most of the hustling, and all for the same group of customers. Imagine going to the store on Black Friday, seeing virtually everyone fight over the same items. This is basically what MLM people do — they fight each other for new recruits. It tends to be a never ending cycle that can leave many very fatigued and angry at both the companies involved and themselves. You have to really ask yourself is this the type of thing that you want to do for the long-term?
Well, this serves as just a basic overview of the problem I see with MLM programs. Also, be on the lookout for a follow-up to this post, where I will have video evidence of the behind-the-scenes scheme that the marketers DON’T tell you. It promises to be very juicy.
But in general, a Multi-Level Marketing opportunity is NOT the business.
Please, no MLM’s. Get you a new hustle.
