MLMs-THE NEW AGE SCAM

 Network Marketing also known as MLM(Multi-level marketing) is basically a distribution based  marketing network that includes direct sales and a downline of distributors. Network marketing especially when done organically capitalizes on the fact to create a network of people who will sell the products or services, cutting down the middle men. Avon, Avlon, Herbalife Nutrition, Mary Kay, etc are some examples of this theory. Technically it should work by the above statement but in the recent years the situation of MLM is getting worse day by day. According to MLM statistics, 997 ppeople out of 1000 surveyed said they lost money. I will definitely talk about it in further stage. There are two sides of every thing. First I am gonna talk about the benefits of joining in an MLM.

MINIMIZES THE RISK:

 Whenever we talk about investing or planning to do a business there are several factors involved in it like payroll, overheads,utilities, etc. But if you observe, network marketing needs very low initial capital. You can start initially in some companies with as little as $100.

NO NEED TO HIRE EMPLOYEES:

Why do you think businesses are excited about Artificial Intelligence (AI)? The main reason is because big businesses have to bear labour costs which is 80% of the expenses of a business. 

  In network marketing you don't need to hire employees as your business grows and you want others to do various tasks for you. You just need to outsource that work and need good connections. 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:

Network Marketing companies have great training programmes that you can take advantage of. You can improve as a person by using that material becoming better at it. You are taught about leadership, marketing, sales, communication skills, delegating, etc.

Multi-level marketing occurs when a direct sales company encourages existing distributors to recruit new distributors who are paid a percentage of their recruits' sales. The problem is often the focus is more on recruiting people rather than selling actual products. This leads to a few people actually making money while majority of members making very few or none at all. Although some MLMs do focus on selling products but many are known for pressurizing distributors to aggressively recruit new members. As a result the legitimacy of multi-level marketing companies is very murky.

THE SCENARIO OF MLMs IN COLLEGES IN INDIA:

This is clearly based on the personal experiences of students when they joined these companies. So here we gonna see exactly how it works.This mostly happens in the graduation colleges with the students. They advertise themselves and put up a seminar which is about 1 hour and tell about themselves and the company they work with. They make the students feel insecure about themselves and make you dream big like to own a car, becoming a millionaire, being financially independent, building a bank balance,etc. They claim that by signing up one can be his/her own boss. They mostly target the 1st year degree students definitely because they are new and are not aware that this happens in colleges. I am not writing to make you sceptical but to bring awareness among the students before it happens with anybody else. Secondly they tell you to sell the product/service which in reality it does not exist. It means that you are not exactly selling it but you're told to join more students under the chain and on that basis you get your commission. e.g If I convince 2 students in signing up, these 2 students will convince more 2 students in joining, in return you are paid on how many people you convinced ie more the number of people you convince the more you get paid. Basically it works as a chain.

   They market themselves "as creating your own business out of it "which is completely wrong. How can you create your own business by joining more and more people under it? It is so illogical. When you join initially you get paid regularly but in the mean time you actually realize that your commission starts decreasing day by day because ofcourse for how much time you will do this work of convincing people. As a student, you feel helpless because of the investment you had made thinking that you will get good returns. Many a times in this situation students don't tend to tell their parents because they are guilty of their foolishness and lost the hard earned money of their parents for the greed of earning fast money. These network marketers know how to convince the students easily. All that seminars you see people attend to every month, you would think it is free to attend it but in reality you have to pay for even attending it otherwise your commission will decrease.

      My only intention through this blog is not to show bad side of anything but to make awareness because nobody talks about it. Even if you are considering signing up with one of these companies, do your research first. Don't allow anyone to pressure you into doing something that seems too good to be true. Make your friends aware by telling them about this because the one's who are reading or will read it will enter in degree colleges and you will see it happen in future.