Are MLMs evil?

A colleague of mine here on WA wrote a blog post with the title "MLM is evil". It was a catchy title, and got folks to click on it. It led to his post on his outside blog about the differences between MLM and pyramids. An important distinction, for sure, but it didn't really address the title.

So....is MLM evil, or a scam?

In my mind, it is neither. The MLM or Network Marketing model is a legitimate one, that has been around from the 1950s (think of Amway). And just so we are on the same page, I am talking about true MLMs here, NOT pyramids. There is a difference, which you can find a good summation of on my colleague's post here:

http://retirehealthywealthyandwise.net/why-mlm-is-evil

The problem with most folks who participate in MLM is that they join a company as if it were a lottery. They expect to do no work and succeed. They quit when they hear a few "no's" from family or friends and then say it doesn't work. They fail to learn the skills that will help them to succeed in business. They spend $100 or $500 or whatever it costs to join and then they give up when they don't work, when they get rejected, or whatever reason they quit. If they had spent $50,000 or $500,000 on a franchise, they would take it more seriously and learn the skills to succeed.
Let's face it - most people quit many things in life. My husband coached soccer for many years. Kids would come to the first soccer practice and after being made to run so they could get into shape and last an entire game, they would quit after that first practice. Every sport was the same for some of those kids and their parents never made them see anything through when it got hard.
Others quit college or take easier jobs because they don't want to go back to school. College isn't necessary, but the point is that if you start something you should at least give it a good try.
Bad marriage? Give up and divorce and try again with the hope that the new spouse will be a better spouse without doing anything to ensure that YOU are a better spouse this time around.
Quitting is a fact of life for most people. It's as true in MLM as it is for all the other things I've said here and more.
With that said, there are some things that someone looking to get involved in MLM should consider. That is for another blog post. :-)