Four Reasons Why Not to Embark on an MLM plan

MLM, or multilayer marketing companies, are coming out of the woodwork for every product under the sun. My Facebook newsfeed has been overwhelmed by a floodgate of friends and relatives selling everything from cosmetics and jewelry to weight loss drinks and shakes and now even healthy cleaning supplies and kitchen products. For many of us, especially us moms, the promise of many of these companies, which usually include a better life and greater financial freedom, comes at an incredibly steep price.

Here are several reasons why I suggest you don’t buy into the MLM craze.

1. The only reason you can make a little money selling an MLM product is because you are persuading someone you love and care about to pay a lot of money to a company that writes you a small check in return. You may come out with a small financial victory, but the people you are selling to are, for the most part, sending enormous amounts of money to a large corporation that accomplishes its goals with a mostly free workforce. This little bonus money you earn is not because your company is so wonderful and generous. How generous is it that you do all of the work of selling and distributing their ridiculously over-priced products yet that company doesn’t have any of the hassle, risk, or expense of actually employing you which would entail salaries, benefits, and insurance? Your commissions do not come out of their profit margins, they are simply added to the cost of their products, which are passed down to their clients — those people you love and care about. Do a little research on the earnings of some of these MLM companies. They are making so much money that new “revolutionary nutrition and wellness” companies are popping up daily solely because of the MLM craze. Participating in these MLM plans does not make you a small business owner, it makes you a dealer.

2. To get people you love and care about to buy the products they don’t need, you will need to persuade them they need and could benefit from the products you are selling. To women that message you portray is all too often heard as, “You are not good enough as you are.” As I see my Facebook page fill up with dear friends’ posts about their cosmetics, body wraps, and container parties, I see the message, “You are not pretty enough, skinny enough, or organized enough. These products will help you be better, and happier, and feel fuller and more content.” That is a lie. Moisturizer, jewelry, and diet drinks will not allow any of us to feel anything more than momentary pleasure. By becoming a distributor, you are taking on the wonderful work of making people feel inadequate so you can make a little bit of money. You know just as well as I do, if you want to be healthier, exercise more and eat healthy foods. Don’t spend hundreds of dollars a month on “health” drinks. Water is practically free. You don’t need a thirty-dollar per tube lip gloss. It won’t make you look any better than the five dollar one you can pick up at any supermarket will make you look. A clean kitchen won’t save a distressed marriage any more than looking a little bit skinny tomorrow will heal your insecurity about your body image. What you are buying when you buy these products is clever branding, good advertising, pretty packaging and a salesperson who wants to make a commission. Distributors don’t just try to sell you products, they then try to sign you up to sell products as well, with yet another lie: just a little bit more money will make you happy. Friends, it is all a lie.

3. The amount of money you will persuade loved ones to waste on these MLM products is absurd. If you are a current MLM distributor, I challenge you to look back at the products you sold for the past year. Don’t look at your commissions, but look at the actual cost of sales you have facilitated. It’s easy to look at the increase in your bank account that you may have been a good steward of and say that you have done well with that increase, but at what cost to others? For many people the number of sales they have facilitated will exceed many thousands of dollars. Had that money not been sent to a huge corporation that recruits you to do all of their work and hawks unnecessary stuff, that money could have accomplished so much more than the small percent that ended up in your bank account did. Even if you don’t believe in Kingdom building investment, then let’s keep things simple. That money your friend paid to your “parent company” could have reduced her mortgage, been invested for her child’s future education, or been set aside for future possible medical needs. Don’t persuade people you care about to waste their precious resources on overpriced, unnecessary silliness so you can make a dollar. Here many people will make the argument, “If they don’t spend it on my stuff, they will simply spend it on other stuff.” I get that. As a society we have a problem with excessive consumerism. But, that shouldn’t give you the green light to become a piranha and dive into the carnage. Why not inspire your community away from the traps and dangers of consumerism rather than encourage and lead them right into it?

4. Use your social media presence to point people you care about to the things that should have their attention instead of being just another source of distraction with the silliness of this world. If you do want to encourage friends and family in their health and fitness goals, post healthy recipes and encouraging fitness reminders. Maybe start an accountability chat group. But even more importantly, instead of posting about helping someone reduce her cellulite with some kind of magical cream, share with her that she is precious and so deeply loved by The One who created her. Rather than talk about your skinny drinks, talk about the source of true, living water, the water that gives eternal life, and leaves us never thirsting again. Post pictures of precious children waiting for families for your friends and family to pray for. Share prayer requests from missionaries on the mission field, send invitations to your friends and family members about church functions, and organize Bible studies and prayer meetings rather than plastic ware parties.

I know this might sound mean. But I think the silliness needs to come to an end. I am all for women supporting their families financially in times of need. But, I am not for women hurting other women in order to do that. Persuading your friends to buy overpriced stuff that won’t do anything more for them than a drugstore product, by making them feel inadequate is also kind of mean when you really stop and think about it. While I respect and even admire the motivation, drive, and dedication of my friends who are committed to their MLM goals, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if that energy were directed into cultivating their talents to develop their own business ideas?

Not every MLM company is awful, and not every woman who engages in an MLM plan falls down a rabbit hole. I know some ladies who seem to manage MLM perfectly, only working with a company whose products have genuinely made a positive difference in their own lives, and who don’t let their sales drive become all-consuming, but I do think there are very real dangers and the positive outcomes are fewer than the negative. It’s also so hard to sort out fact from the cleverly dressed up, graphed and charted fiction that MLM companies often present us with.

Happiness doesn’t come from a cleverly packaged diet pill, or a few more dollars in the bank account. Happiness comes from knowing and serving Jesus Christ. Don’t let the MLM craze take your eyes off the cross, and as equally important, don’t let the MLM craze cause you to lead other peoples eyes away from God.

Skincare product sales should not replace Jesus, and if our social media posts indicate the affections of our heart, I am genuinely afraid that MLM sales have become more important than the nails and the cross. Women of The Word, we cannot and must not allow this to happen.