MLMeo.com MLM forum

[leo]

I found a nice article on site called MLMwatch by John Milton Fogg about Four big lies about MLM. Those lies are:

• The Wall Street Journal said that by 2000, 60-70% of all goods will be sold through MLM.
• Network marketing is taught at Harvard and Stanford business schools and other best universities
• 20% (sometimes the number differs) of all the millionaires were created through network marketing.
• John Naisbitt, in "Megatrends", says network marketing is the wave of the future.

I remeber I personally heard first and second one - in slightly different form.

One more interesting lie I heard: "Microsoft is IN this"... "Would company like Microsoft join .... if it wasn't great company?"

[damoose88]

I found a nice article on site called MLMwatch by John Milton Fogg about Four big lies about MLM. Those lies are:

• The Wall Street Journal said that by 2000, 60-70% of all goods will be sold through MLM.
• Network marketing is taught at Harvard and Stanford business schools and other best universities
• 20% (sometimes the number differs) of all the millionaires were created through network marketing.
• John Naisbitt, in "Megatrends", says network marketing is the wave of the future.

I remeber I personally heard first and second one - in slightly different form.

One more interesting lie I heard: "Microsoft is IN this"... "Would company like Microsoft join .... if it wasn't great company?"

May I ask where you found these statements? The first one appears to be a rather optimistic prediction. The MLM industry tends to provide higher quality products however even 40% seems to be an overly exaggerated prediction. The second and third statements seem quite plausible. MLM is a viable and highly effective business structure and as such it would make sense that Harvard and Stanford would teach their students about it. The third is believable when you take in to account every MLM company in the world and every individual in those companies who have earned at least one million dollars in their career, which is interestingly enough quite a lot of people. The fourth statement is simply an opinion that is, as time goes by, more and more believeable as more and more people enter into the MLM industry. I highly doubt these are lies. At most they are simply overly exaggerated predictions, or in the case of the final statement, innaccurate comments most likely made by an inexperienced and poorly informed distributor or an individual who was trained by a poorly informed distributor.

[leo]

MLM is a viable and highly effective business structure and as such it would make sense that Harvard and Stanford would teach their students about it.

Truly saying, I can also think that MLM as effective business (effective for the company that sells good throug it - they pay for results only) may be taught at universities. But I doubt if it is a course, or just a mention somewhere.

But I found one interesting thing: Professor Charles W. King, Department of Managerial Studies, University of Illinois-Chicago plans to teach MLM.
I checked this information on University of Illinois-Chicago website, and found that there is a College of Business Administration, Department of Managerial Studies, Marketing Faculty, and there is really Charles King, Professor, who on his webpage stares his research Interests: Marketing, Strategic positioning in changing market structures, Network & multilevel marketing. Wow. This doesn't mean he teaches course on MLM, but is important (in my opinion)

On the other hand, neither Stanford nor Harvard, nor even University of Illinois teach MLM course.

The third is believable when you take in to account every MLM company in the world and every individual in those companies who have earned at least one million dollars in their career, which is interestingly enough quite a lot of people.

No way. There are MILLIONS of milionaires (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millionaire ) and we heard about just a few (or at most a few dozens) in every big MLM company.

The fourth statement is simply an opinion that is, as time goes by, more and more believeable as more and more people enter into the MLM industry. I highly doubt these are lies.

Well, if John Naisbitt, in "Megatrends" did not write about MLM, then it is a lie

Perhaps you are right, that those are just innaccurate comments by an inexperienced and poorly informed distributor, but distinction between inaccurate comment and a lie seems to be just semantic

[damoose88]

On the other hand, neither Stanford nor Harvard, nor even University of Illinois teach MLM course.

Well I doubt they would. MLM is difficult to teach outside of directly experiencing it. However, if you were referring to the theory of MLM and it's structure then it would make little sense to develop a course around it as those aspects of the industry are rather quite simple and straightforward.

No way. There are MILLIONS of milionaires (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millionaire ) and we heard about just a few (or at most a few dozens) in every big MLM company.

Well this one I will have to give to you. I was unaware of the vast numbers of individuals who have attained such wealth. However, I am not convinced that the individual who made these statements was lying as most individuals in the MLM industry are, unfortunately, quite uninformed. However, with the growing popularity with MLM and Home-Based Businesses around the world, it is still a possibility that this statement may, in fact, become true one day.

Well, if John Naisbitt, in "Megatrends" did not write about MLM, then it is a lie

Honestly, Leo, I am disappointed by this statement. While I cannot dispute that this man is an exceptional individual and his background is impressive by anyone's standards, his word is not the bible. It is possible for even the smartest and most knowledgable men to be misinformed or mistaken. He may not have written about this industry in his books, however there are many men who are as respected as Mr. Naisbitt who have written about it. Even among those men there are those who speak highly of the industry and there are those who speak poorly of it. On a side note: As of 2007 there were over 62 million individuals in the Direct Selling industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_selling Due to the MLM structure that most of those companies are built on, it is difficult to dispute the inevitable and exponential growth in the popularity of the industry.

(edit) Please ignore this comment. I forgot the fourth statement and assumed it was that MLM was not becoming more popular. I have not read "Megatrends", however if it does not claim that 'MLM is the wave of the future', then yes, Leo, that statement would be false.

Perhaps you are right, that those are just innaccurate comments by an inexperienced and poorly informed distributor, but distinction between inaccurate comment and a lie seems to be just semantic

Actually, Leo, it is far from being semantic. Inaccurate comments made by ignorant individuals are not made to harm or mislead. They are honest opinions of individuals who believe these statements to be truthful. Lies are comments made by informed or experienced individuals with the intent to mislead or misdirect less informed individuals. Unfortunately, most distributors are taught by individuals who are also poorly informed or who intentionally lie and mislead individuals. In my opinion, an honest individual will state that they do not know an answer to a question if they do not know it, however, will most likely try to find the answer for you or direct you to where you would be able to find the answer yourself. It is also my opinion that the information you came across were inaccurate statements made by poorly informed individuals.

[anarchist]

damoose, you just don't get it do you? I want to jump through the computer and slap some sense into your denying SELF. You're probably a holocaust denier too. Here's a great link to anyone wanting to know some serious facts about the MLM industry.
http://www.mlm-thetruth.com/

[Admin]

Please, don't be rude.

[damoose88]

damoose, you just don't get it do you? I want to jump through the computer and slap some sense into your denying SELF. You're probably a holocaust denier too. Here's a great link to anyone wanting to know some serious facts about the MLM industry.
http://www.mlm-thetruth.com/

Edited your post I see. Did you lose control for a second there? You should be more careful next time and you shouldn't let people get to you like that, hahaha.

[anarchist]

[damoose88]

Wow! What an intelligent retort you made. I think I finally see the error of my ways. How can I ever thank you? Good God, Anarchist, raise your IQ a few points before you decide to further this petty and pointless grudge you have against me. You may wish to raise it several points if you expect people to buy into your misconceptions.

[damoose88]

:D

In case you were wondering, we are able to see the number of times you have edited your post.