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Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

annehelen.substack.com

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Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#11

Post by Nextgrid »

gruez wrote: post #8
msla wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the politically-correct term for pyramid scheme these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing > MLM salespeople are, therefore, expected to sell products directly to end-user retail consumers by means of relationship referrals and word of mouth marketing, but more importantly they are incentivized to recruit others to join the company's distribution chain as fellow salespeople so that these can…

>politically-correct term I don't get it. Were people getting canceled for saying "pyramid scheme" or something?

The point is that they are not technically pyramid schemes - there is a product to sell. It just so happens that the product is worthless so it makes the system a pyramid scheme in practice, but its peddlers are very quick to point out that it's not a pyramid scheme because of this technicality. It's the same reason why they are still unfortunately legal.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#12

Post by myth_drannon »

HypoCast wrote: post #2

This reminds me of an article where the writer seems to be marketing themselves to sell their marketing skills. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/02/24-year-old-who-makes-8000-a...

Yeah, I saw this article too. Started reading it and then "...started to use my TikTok and Instagram accounts to market wealth-building tools and online programs", basically she is doing sales.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#13

Post by pid-1 »

gruez wrote: post #8
msla wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the politically-correct term for pyramid scheme these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing > MLM salespeople are, therefore, expected to sell products directly to end-user retail consumers by means of relationship referrals and word of mouth marketing, but more importantly they are incentivized to recruit others to join the company's distribution chain as fellow salespeople so that these can…

>politically-correct term I don't get it. Were people getting canceled for saying "pyramid scheme" or something?

No. This term was created by pyramid scheme firms themselves to to categorize their business in a legit sounding way.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#14

Post by ucosty »

gruez wrote: post #8
msla wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the politically-correct term for pyramid scheme these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing > MLM salespeople are, therefore, expected to sell products directly to end-user retail consumers by means of relationship referrals and word of mouth marketing, but more importantly they are incentivized to recruit others to join the company's distribution chain as fellow salespeople so that these can…

>politically-correct term I don't get it. Were people getting canceled for saying "pyramid scheme" or something?

People are more likely to avoid doing business with you if you call yourself a pyramid scheme. Calling youself a "multi-level marketing" business sounds far more benign.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#15

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

gruez wrote: post #8
msla wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the politically-correct term for pyramid scheme these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing > MLM salespeople are, therefore, expected to sell products directly to end-user retail consumers by means of relationship referrals and word of mouth marketing, but more importantly they are incentivized to recruit others to join the company's distribution chain as fellow salespeople so that these can…

>politically-correct term I don't get it. Were people getting canceled for saying "pyramid scheme" or something?

Running a "pyramid scheme" is a crime in many places, so news organizations and such will prefer to use more neutral language that doesn't necessarily imply the groups they're talking about are criminal.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#16

Post by Spivak »

bitwize wrote: post #5

It reminds me of a song I sang to myself to the tune of the Lego Movie theme, surveying the tech job market at the time: Everything is adtech, Everything is marketing, surveillance, and spam...

If that's your view of the world you gotta stop working on B2C products and take some B2B jobs. You might start singing "Everything is enterprise sales" but at least you'll be working in an environment where the people using your software and the people paying you are the same.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#17

Post by monkeybutton »

superb-owl wrote: post #7

There's definitely a trend where large corporations/institutions push risk and liability down onto individuals, who have a hard time quantifying it properly. They make promises about "independence" and "entrepreneurship" and "building wealth", but they're really just taking advantage of an information asymmetry, tricking uninformed individuals into accepting a deal that is much worse than they think. See: Uber, Subwa…

Any kind of sales where you are buying leads or paying for the right sell someone else's product. If it was as good as they say, they'd be doing it themselves not pitching it to you.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#18

Post by javajosh »

gruez wrote: post #8
msla wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the politically-correct term for pyramid scheme these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing > MLM salespeople are, therefore, expected to sell products directly to end-user retail consumers by means of relationship referrals and word of mouth marketing, but more importantly they are incentivized to recruit others to join the company's distribution chain as fellow salespeople so that these can…

>politically-correct term I don't get it. Were people getting canceled for saying "pyramid scheme" or something?

AFAIK there are laws against pyramid schemes, but MLMs are okay. Also, MLMs are pyramid schemes with extra steps, so they are basically the designer drugs of financial hucksterism.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#19

Post by frankbreetz »

superb-owl wrote: post #7

There's definitely a trend where large corporations/institutions push risk and liability down onto individuals, who have a hard time quantifying it properly. They make promises about "independence" and "entrepreneurship" and "building wealth", but they're really just taking advantage of an information asymmetry, tricking uninformed individuals into accepting a deal that is much worse than they think. See: Uber, Subwa…

Aren't Amazon Truck Drivers hourly employees? What risk and liability do they have? I am not sure how this an MLM like your other examples
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