Is there a thing as a Meaningful MLM?
Are you living a fulfilling life? I'm 42 now, and constantly asking myself what more I can do to help others.
In fact, when I started online, I had the noblest ideal. I am a christian and was planning to use my earnings (which I don't really need myself as God has blessed me with quite enough) to help needy people.
What I quickly discovered online was that 90% of the opportunities - required some form of leveraging off other people's finances to benefit your own. Meaning, to get to the top, you often need to screw people over - to put it bluntly.
I hated this.
Then I found WA! This is the first community I'd spontaneously recommend to ANYONE wanting to build an online career.
In addition, I'm starting up a team in a christian company that is precisely in the business off saving lives. If you are all fed up with self-serving MLMs that teach people how to splurge all their commissions on yachts and big houses - this may be a breath of fresh air for you.
If you are keen to support out cause, message me for details. Even if you're not keen, I would love your comments on what you think of MLMs in general? Is there really a meaningful opportunity online?
Note : This may well be the only meaningful opportunity I ever came across online. And a perfect match for WA.
PS. can you make alot of money from this? Yes. do you need to screw people over and make them lose the shirts off their backs? NO. Can you REALLY SAVE LIVES...yes!
- Paul Wiekel
Recent Comments
23
You have God's purpose for you. You know what the MLM do to people. The Lord's guidance will be with you as you use the WA platform to achieve your goal.
God bless you......
Shirley
Interesting discussion! I personally have been exposed to some great products through MLMs but have never known anyone to really achieve success! That is just me though!
The good, bad and ugly is in just about everything. Keep doing good Paul. My take away from your post is to avoid greed. It is easy to get swept up in the fanciful and does not hurt to be reminded.
From The poem called Go Placidly
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Barry
I think there are good and bad MLMs. I've been a part of both and have learned to discern the motivation behind them pretty quickly. But it usually really comes down to the heart of the people distributing, not the MLM itself. Same with how people choose to spend their money, up to each person according to their heart and needs, not the MLM. I love my MLM and I only see how their heart is to help, which helps me to help others. They certainly are helping to heal our daughter and get her completely off of her seizure medication. Nothing but a win-win here! :D
Though WA is not a MLM I do love networking with people here and I do think it's awesome when people are comfortable mixing their beliefs with business. For me, these are my like-minded team of people I want to work with (and yes I prayed for God to flush you out so I could connect). --Daniella
Now here's a great constructive comment. :) Thanks Daniella. You are so right. It's awesome to connect with folks like you. Have a great day.
Hi Paul, congrats for finding what you were looking for that can be meaningful to you and all those you want to help!
However, I find your posting a little bit too generalizing about MLMs.
Multi Level Marketing is only the name of a business method, just like Affiliate Marketing is (where we are here at WA). Like in any other business model, there are really bad MLM companies, there are better ones and there are excellent ones. No need to trash MLM as such!
Your post shows that you would need to understand the concept of MLM a bit more, how is the money distributed and why.
I know several MLMs and people doing them that would be considered meaningful by you, literally SAVING LIVES!
There is a woman doing an MLM with organic supplements and hygiene/cleaning products in a small town of the rather poor country of Hungary, which gives her the means to raise her 9 (nine!) children happy and unlike other kids, almost never sick. Another one in the same company, without work and education also found that opportunity and with that, she is now able to feed her children properly.
And I know their upline, a top manager couple in that same company with a luxury villa and extremely lot of money - they work day and night for that, and because they LOVE to help people!
Would you dare saying that this couple, who are helping these two women in their business, are screwing them over???
And I could go on an on with such stories of people I personally met in MLM.
I am part of another MLM with a unique health product that is the main help for a girlfriend of mine to get well from leukemia without chemotherapy, with terrific results! And many other people (including myself) are experiencing fantastic health benefits of the product. Would you dare calling this screwing people over???
Your post shows Paul that you would need to understand the concept of MLM a bit more, how is the money distributed and why. For example, I have distributors UNDER me in my MLM business who make more money than I do - simply because they work harder in it.
If I may give you a suggestion my friend: trashing any competitors or possible competitors will not help build YOUR business. On the contrary.
And maybe another: mixing religious beliefs with business might not be a good idea. I totally respect your beliefs and find it awesome that you stand by it!
However, implying that just because you are Christian, you are on a higher ethical and moral ground in doing business than all those MLM leaders who got rich from their businesses, is quite off. You would be surprise to find out how many of them are Christians!!!! Including the top manager couple I mentioned above.
Not to mention that it might be also offending others who are not Christians.
Even more, guess what: in many MLM self-improvement trainings they use and teach Christian principles, citations from the Bible, and so on.
Did you know all this?
(I guess I will write a blog post on this :-) )
Andrea, valid comment. :) this post was done based on my own experiences and observations which you can definitely disagree with. And certainly I did not have that intent of implying Christians have a higher level of ethics. In fact, I know a lot of Christians who do not live up to their beliefs.
Long story short, you're entitled to any view. However, none of your implied reasoning was my intent. Cheers.
Cheers Paul, I know that none of those were your intent - it might very easily come across though as such. I have been in your shoes when I was part of a religion and would talk the same way :-)
Good luck to your business!
(Another thought: I am not sure how it is with the WA rules to promote your business here in even such a not-too-direct way. Have you checked that?)
Thanks Andrea. I'm a little busy with something more important offline but appreciate your comments. :)
(Thought : perhaps you're right. I liked how you put a direct link to your blog like you did in your prague post and then promoted your business there. I think I'll do likewise but not sure if that's fine though? Have you checked that?)
Paul, here are the rules: Spam is a NO NO! Since I have come across it, I am careful not to post anything here that would break these. However, whenever I slip accidentally, I will appreciate when somebody points out to me how exactly I broke the rules.
My blog post is not promoting any business, selling anything it is a story and a lesson about attitude, that can be helpful in any areas of life - including all the people here doing THEIR WA business.
It is a generational thing for me I remember MLM's in the fifties and sixties when they were outlawed because they were using a method of pyramid selling. They haven't changed much as you say you have to screw someone over even today. However I have never found in any of the business models that I have used that you have to screw someone over.
There are plenty of business models that don't - though MLM Is not one of them
Pardon the words. :) What I meant was too accrue those massive commissions, you often have to get people who can't replicate your success to buy into a hope that is often not fulfilled - adding to your earnings. Referring more to my experience in "mlms" in particular. Which is why I love WA. It's not that.
Twice your age Paul - at 81.
Most importantly, like you, I am not 'needing'. God has blessed me much throughout my life.
The things I write about in my daily messages to my list are efforts to help people get to where you and I are.
I am definitely interested in finding out about your 'cause'.
James
Hi James, wow - that's a good age! :) Glad to hear you're genuinely interested in helping others. I love networking with like minded associates. Will message you.
I have only found one MLM company worthy of my efforts and that's Forever Living Products, the products are "green" and very helpful for all kind of physical problems.
btw: WA is no MLM
Paul, That is exactly what I found this great
platform to be great for. I think it is a great program.
I love the fact I can use it to train my people. WIN WIN!
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Sounds like a great idea! From what I've heard not all MLM's are bad, but there is a lot misunderstood about them. Take things like Avon, or Tupperware, sometimes people don't think of them as MLM's but they are. They are not scams, and some people make a lot of money from them and some people don't, some people break even. Some people that are trying to get you to join an MLM are going about it the wrong way and scam people and that I think is where most of the problems come from. Then of course there are the ones that are scams, but that's why you have to do your research.