What is multi-level marketing? A business model that relies on your social connections

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A gathering of friends … or sources of revenue?

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Multi-level marketing (MLM) is also known as referral marketing, direct marketing, or network marketing. It’s a business model in which sales are funneled through individuals and their social networks instead of through a retail outlet. This diverts the sales responsibility to individual distributors.

The idea behind MLM is that by maximizing and diversifying the participating distributors, a business can increase its sales force and company outreach. Most MLM employers operate on a commission-based salary model. Although MLM can be a legitimate and legal business strategy, controversy over fraudulent MLM models known as pyramid schemes has widely discredited MLM as a practice.

Distributors sell directly to customers without a storefront. They take on the role of sales representatives, brand ambassadors, and suppliers. In order to maximize profits, many MLM businesses employ a flat hierarchy structure, meaning there are relatively few levels between the chief executive officer and the base-level distributor.

Distributors sell directly to customers without a storefront. They take on the role of sales representatives, brand ambassadors, and suppliers. In order to maximize profits, many MLM businesses employ a flat hierarchy structure, meaning there are relatively few levels between the chief executive officer and the base-level distributor.

In a flat-hierarchy MLM, employees are not paid hourly; instead, each earns a part of the distributors’ commissions on individual sales. Employees at all levels of the company may make further income by recruiting participants. In fact, attracting new distributors may be a prerequisite to upward mobility within the company hierarchy.

Most participants in MLM businesses are young mothers and young adults who are looking for alternative employment opportunities. They are often drawn to the MLM market because the working hours are flexible and there is an opportunity to become business “owners.”

But would-be participants: beware. According to the Consumer Awareness Institute, 99% of MLM participants lose money. The MLM model relies heavily on sustained increases in the network; thus, most MLM businesses fail when there aren’t enough new recruits.

Successful MLM participants in companies such as Avon or Herbalife rely on their communities as their consumer and recruitment base. But others report that this leads to psychological distress and frayed community relationships.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends that potential participants in a MLM company consider:

Pyramid schemes are fraudulent, illegal business models, similar in structure to an MLM, that profit primarily from new member recruitment rather than sales. Unlike legitimate MLM businesses, pyramid schemes may or may not distribute products. Their primary revenue comes from an infinitely increasing number of investors who, in turn, recruit more investors.

This structure is described as a pyramid because the small number of initial investors at the top requires a large base of later investors to support the scheme and provide income as new members pay to join. In contrast to a traditional MLM business model, pyramid schemes inevitably fail when recruitment slows, leaving their hapless investor members in debt. The FTC cites this as one of the reasons pyramid schemes are illegal.

The FTC and New York State Attorney General recommend several key strategies to identify a legitimate MLM business versus a pyramid scheme:

Following controversies such as the LuLaRoe scandal, in which a class action lawsuit found that MLM company LuLaRoe had defrauded distributors, the FTC currently maintains a policy to investigate all MLM companies on an individual basis for evidence of pyramid scheme activity.

MLM businesses are banned or heavily restricted in a number of countries worldwide, including China, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia. In the United States, legitimate MLM businesses are legal, but owning or participating in a pyramid scheme on any level is a federal crime.

If you’re looking for a job or a side-hustle that brings together flexible hours, decent pay, and community, it’s possible that a multi-level marketing business could offer the opportunity you are seeking. But do your research and be very, very careful. Many MLM businesses promise far more than they can deliver, and some of them are hiding illegal pyramid schemes behind a veil of legitimacy. You may also want to consider the potential burden on your social networks as you look to convert friends into customers.