by Amaryllis Holloway-Turman

Created on: August 03, 2009   Last Updated: August 05, 2009

You get commission every time below you make a sale. I don't know how it works, it just does!

Have you heard that before?

If you have it was probably from someone who is a MLM business agent. Some MLM business agents will say anything to make the sell. They want you to believe that the business is relatively easy money. You sign up 10 people and they sign up 10 people. And it goes on and on. Before you know it, you have more money deposited in your bank account from your side business than you do with your full time job. You can quit your job and become your own boss.

Who would not want to be a part of that dream?

So many have bought into the hype, only to find out that there is a lot more to making commissions than previously thought. The only way for them to make the big commissions is to sign up agents under their account. But that is the most challenging part of MLM business. Everyone says they want to be their own boss, but not everyone is committed to making that happen.

Is it the business model that deserves the bad rap? No.

The reality of MLM is that it takes a special type of self-motivated person to become a success. Not everyone is a salesperson. Even though a MLM business agent might tell you that the product or service will sell itself, there is a need for the agents to accustom themselves to rejection and disappointment. Regardless of how good the product or service is, most people will decline the purchase. And even less will sign up to be salespeople.

What can help to improve the image of MLM?

There needs to be less fast talking and more explaining. People need to understand how MLM for the particular industry works. Using charts and graphs, the MLM salesperson needs to explain how the commission is made. They need to remove the mystery.

For example, when I began a MLM business I noticed that my commission was not what I expected it would be. When I asked the corporate office about it, they said that I needed to sell a different product to make the commission I expected to make. I was not told that when I joined. In addition to that, all my potential prospects were less than enthused when I approached them with the chance to purchase what I was selling. If I had not believed in the product, I probably would have cancelled my membership, returned my products and quit my budding small business. In the end, I decided that the extra money I made would go into my savings account. I was not making enough to ever think about quitting my job.

Many MLM marketers are selling the dream of being your own boss and working from home while making 6-figure income. Is it possible? It could be. From personal experience, I know it is difficult to make a MLM business work. It takes determination, perseverance, and a will of steel to be successful.

It is not the business model that deserves the bad rap, but the smooth talking marketers that focus on the end result instead of the hard work it will take to get there.

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