MLM Basics: Why is MLM so... addicting?

Many people who are NOT in MLM wonder WHY MLM seems to be so addicting to its participants, and even as members lose money month after month. After all, an "entrepreneur" is supposed to be making money, right?

MLMSkeptic has studied the issues, and it is clear that the participants are not merely valuing the economic benefits from MLM (for there is minimal evidence of such enrichment except for a few near the top), but actually SOCIAL and MENTAL benefits that came with the MLM participation. It is the social and mental benefits, not the financial, that keeps the members in despite their minimal economic gains.

Those social and mental benefits can be divided roughly into three types:

• Sense of belonging (family and group dynamic)
• Sense of being something greater than oneself
• Sense of accomplishment  (recognition)

Let's discuss each one.

Sense of belonging (family and group dynamic)

Many of the articles that tout the benefits of MLM emphasize the camaraderie of the group and team. There are even articles that tout "come for the opportunity; stay for the relationship".

One such leader asked the question:

Have Your “Why” Established. This is very important. This is your major driving force, your reason WHY you decided to make a move and become a network marketer. It could be family, financial freedom or even time freedom.  

It's not an accident that the author talk about family being a driving force, but have you ever wondered which family did he mean?

He probably doesn't mean YOUR family. Not your wife/husband/partner, not your father/mother, not your children.

He probably means your SALES/NETWORK family: your upline, your downlines, your lateral marketing folks.

But doublespeak is a standard tactic in unethical network marketing.

So how do you know if your specific network marketing is ethical or not? You don't.

There were plenty of examples where families have been torn apart because half of the partnership saw and recognized the hidden dangers, but the other half was already in too deep to see the forest for the trees. It will take a huge jolt for someone to recognize the threat to one's family from cultish-MLMs and some just sank deeper and deeper.

One example was when a wife, who's in MLM was talking with her MLM female friends, and the topic drifted to the husband, who was not in MLM.  One of the so-called female friends suddenly suggested that the husband is such a loser for not joining the MLM and the wife should leave that loser of a husband. Clearly, the husband is what's holding the wife back from true success. Wife was shocked into silence. WHICH does she value more... her family (husband and children)... or her personal success for a few dollars? And what sort of people are around her that would suggest NOT placing her family first?

Scam Psychology: The Pressure to Excel and Conform (and the courage to turn away)

People from all walks of life join MLMs, often without sufficient due diligence. Even if they did, they often convinced themselves (Semmelweiss Reflex) to suppress their own feelings of revulsion and doubt to keep going, even if it involved stepping on the back of other people to success, as well as lie, tell half-truth, and other things that are soul-crushing.

Listen to this former Mary Kay sales director (one rank away from the highest: national sales director, top 2% of all participants) when she walked away... Because she realized her success came at expense of other participants.

You can read the rest at pinktruth.com, or watch the full 20/20 episode here. Skip to half way point to get to the story directly.

The sad truth is some people NEVER wake up from this self-denial, because they crave outside approval so much, they were willing to forgo their ethics for outside approval.

Let this be a warning to all... "success" may come from stepping on other people's backs, even if they were smiling when you do it.

MLM Myth: How Mary Kay Ash incorporated the Bumblebee Myth into company culture

A bit of link surfing on bad arguments brought me to an unexpected link... the Bumble Bee Myth, and its link to Mary Kay Ash of Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Diamond Bumblebee
pin award (photo credit:
Mary Kay Website)

Mary Kay Ash was quoted saying "Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying any way." She told the story in 1970 Seminar, where she started presenting the top sellers with the diamond bumblebee pin. (see right)

The problem is there had been NO physicist, scientists, or aerodynamicist that ever claimed bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly. Folklorists and historians have been trying to track down this myth for decades. It's obviously bull****, since we see bees fly every day.

People have "heard" of this myth, as it was variously attributed to various "leaders" (who repeat the bull****), various scientists (never authenticated), and celebrities / politicians (such as Mitt Romney).  Nobody can find the actual claim, paper, quote, or whatever. The closest historians can get was a single sentence in an old etymologist book Le Vol des Insectes (1934) by Antoine Magnan, where he claimed an assistant told him insect flight is impossible given law of air resistance. Bumble bee was NOT mentioned.

Mary Kay Ash
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In other words, this is another myth, perpetuated by MLM. It is not real.

But it is necessary to create a cult of personality, where myth is built up around the leader of the cult through heroization / idolization of the leader, often by enforcing a dress code and perpetuating ideological myths.

And the bumblebee myth is one of them. It is positive thinking mumbo-jumbo, about how you should IGNORE other people's advice, by citing a myth of something nobody ever said.

There is no denying that Mary Kay Cosmetics is a personality cult that enforces a dress code. You didn't know that? NO PANTS in Mary Kay. Founder hated pants. Everybody must wear skirts. That's right, skirts only. NEVER wear pants to any Mary Kay function, or you're forever be ostracized as troublemaker. In fact, it's #2 of "14 Nevers" on a MK Checklist. Oh, there's even "get a new hairstyle". Really.

Control types of clothing and hairstyle is #4 on "Behavior Control", one of four pillars of cult mind control.

And misquoting statements and/or using them out of context from non-cult sources? #5b of Information Control, another pillar of cult mind control.

BREAKING NEWS: Dawn Wright-Olivares and Dan Olivares to appear in Charlotte NC Federal Court Wednesday Feb 5th 2014

WXII-TV (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to WXII TV Channel 12 report, Dawn Wright-Olivares, former CMO of Zeek Rewards Ponzi, and her stepson Dan Olivares, former CTO of Zeek Rewards will be appearing at the Charlotte North Carolina Federal Court to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit fraud, coming Wednesday, Feb 5th, 2014.

Zeek Rewards is the largest Ponzi scheme in the US in terms of victims involved, with up to 1 million victims all over the world, and current figures puts it at $850 million, primarily middle-class victims.

Both Dawn and Dan had already plead guilty to the civil charges by SEC and agreed to cough up almost 11 million dollars, the amount they got from Zeek during its run, as a part of the plea deal.

US Attorney's office has no comment on the case, citing ongoing investigation.