MLM is a case where it is far too easy to throw away the baby with the bath water...especially if you believe you've been burned.

It is easy and understandable why MLM – despite growing scrutiny and regulation – remains a scandal, in most cases. Overpriced products being bought and flogged to others is not a legitimate business model, though it is alluring (maybe hypnotic) to lazy, something-for-nothing thinkers.

After all, we are taught that MLM is nothing more than the same action as when we share a good movie with a friend and that friend with his friend to infinity. Eventually, we will all see the movie, right? And why not get a piece of the action for the simple and natural act of sharing a good thing, right?

Now some people are bad sorts and they may diss the “opportunity,” thus we better recruit, recruit, recruit until we get that big hitter just waiting to be discovered who will then, logically, through his huge downline of happy worker-ants make a fortune for himself and us, the upline, and ultimately we can all sip daiquiris in a Caribbean concubine and live off the residuals until the sun don’t shine.

The truly affluent buy what they want directly. They don’t need clubs or discount membership organizations as a buffer zone or to save a few quid. They purchase quality or conspicuously consume by need or want alone, regardless of the price sticker. They are not MLMers or are ex-MLMers who have sapped out the opportunity seekers’ pocketbooks and got out while the getting out was good.

MLM is, in reality, a business that just keeps reselling the opportunity to sign up more distributors. Nobody in their right mind would buy a seriously overpriced product line on a regular basis unless it meant that they could in turn sucker other people into the losing cause. One can get pretty winded, however, doing that for a lengthy time, and must also feel a gnawing pang of guilt that they are passing a lie from one human being to the next based on what they have been told is possible rather than what they have experienced personally.

I have read in multiple sources that even in the biggest and oldest MLMs, less than one percent of the distributors ever make more than $50 gross per month. That is gross! And in the process you may lose the trust and respect of friends, colleagues and family.

Ah, but the modern online versions of MLM – using the cover of affiliate programs – tell you that you needn’t go after that warm market anymore – that the world is at your beck and call and ready to buy your aloe gel, healthy chocolate, travel excursions or green computers. The market, they claim, is infinite and you are at the ground-floor level of a debt-free, can’t-miss company that’s exploding like a porno star.

UR UR UR URRR!…the roosters are crowing. Wake up. How insane is it to chase these rabbits. They come and go, and leave a lot of death and destruction in their wake. I can’t recall how many times an addicted MLMer will approach me with Project X MLM one month, Project Y a few months later, and still another scheme a half-dozen months hence.

I can’t tell you how many times distributors are forced to front-load their wares, despite legal regulations against such practice.

I can’t tell you how often I have heard personally or read in forums online about distributors who were stacked with downline because the system rewards the deeper levels exponentially more than the first downline level. I can’t bear to tell you how many distributors initially made some chicken-feed profits with the winking upline’s assistance, invested more in the “can’t lose” MLM, and then watch their company close down with their commissions unpaid /their inventory unsold.

So here’s a funny question: Am I totally against MLMs and the concept behind them? No, the industry is evolving and a few companies are leading the way in transparency and in offering really useful products and services at non-extortionist prices.

Some of the key factors that I use in determining the transparency of MLMs are

1) Is the product comparable or better in price and quality with those available in normal retail channels?

2) Are the leaders accessible?

3) Is the product or service consumable and does it require continued use?

4) Is it necessary to jump through many convoluted hoops in order to get money for the retailing of the product or service?

5) Does the company lead with hype or with training? (The latter is what I’m searching for.)

6) Other than the top echelon of the company, do many of the user/distributors have effusive praise for the founders and are hundreds rather than a few of them long-term fans of the founder, his company and his philosophy?

7) How many members/users have made and are continuing to make more than $50 a month? (If it is more than five percent, it’s a winner!)

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The dizzying speed of change in our world requires us to react quickly or economically drown. In our technological whirlwind, the maestros are on top of change and stay on top of change.

In the great minds of yore you found a trait called a “river of interest.” There was time – lots of it – to discover a machine or a theory which could change the world. Keeping up with the latest events was localized. Machines and the people were as eminent psychologist William James said:
“Habit is the enormous flywheel of society, its most precious conservative agent. It alone is what keeps us all within the bounds of ordinance, and saves the children of fortune from the envious uprisings of the poor.”

We now live in a technological world which has rendered James’ idea of “a subservient specie to a privileged few” as an obsolescent one.

The Internet can be a great equalizer, and the maestros have embraced it without skepticism. They knew (and know) what they didn’t know. And what they didn’t know, they learned.  And once they learned it, they ascended, rapidly in some cases. They broke their habits and formed new ones which embraced change and thrived on it.

Let’s jump in the river of change and discover who we really are. Undoubtedly we are much more than our limiting beliefs.

What do these maestros think and do which sets them apart from the rabble? Is their success a result of luck, good looks, dominating personality and prior success? Interestingly enough, there is no standard answer to those questions. Some are brilliant. Some are ebullient. Some are bubbling with energy and determination. Some are handsome or pretty. Others are grossly overweight, underweight, lightweight or homely. A few seem dull and totally lacking humor.

Success does leave clues and one such clue is that seldom, if ever, is wealth created online or off by blind, total luck. Total luck leading to a pot of gold in business is as unlikely as winning a jumbo lottery.

From my endless study of and interaction with maestros, I have developed some understanding of what most of them hold in common.

In a nutshell: It is application of knowledge, perseverance to the extreme, and an uncanny sense of when and how to retreat and when and how to advance full throttle. They may be initially shy or extroverted, but when it comes to business they are all extroverts.

One final trait they all possess is a clear vision of their goals in life. They know what they want and never surrender to a second best lifestyle. They pay the price, whatever the price may be. They finish what they start…and they are always starting something fresh and challenging.

The term guru is neither acceptable nor appropriate when talking about people who are successful.  They are teachers extraordinaire in some cases and they do have knowledge and skills you need to model in order to reach stardom online.  But they are not gods, nor do many of them refer to themselves in that way.  The ones who do, I either steer clear of or I write to them in a lecturing manner about the semantics of the term guru.

They are special people and you must show respect to them in order to gain their attention and willingness to work with you.  They have ingenuity – not godliness – and their methodology is usually rather simple and straightforward once you decide to pay the high price of joining their inner circle.

From this moment forward in this book, I will refer to these marketing geniuses as “maestros,” which they are.  A maestro, according to the dictionary, is an Italian term for “master.”  It is a title of courtesy and respect, given to conductors, composers and directors…a definition which perfectly matches the qualities of all mega-successful online marketers.

The video which follows is a spiritually-based understanding of choosing the right person/people who will make you shine. This formula does fit into the IM field as well.

Being a persistent person is often a virtue, unless we become a self-serving pest. The best way to sell anything is to first sell yourself. The “cut to the chase” approach may intimidate a potential client to grab your pricey product for fear of loss or just to get rid of you, but remember:

“A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”

Good marketers online take this pithy piece of advice to heart. And heart is what you need. If a customer finds lasting value in you, in your information and in your style – he will not only be a lifetime purchaser and associate, but also a viral referrer to his circle of friends and business associates about you and about all you offer. That’s powerful stuff!

Most gurus completely embrace the idea that giving precedes taking. Learning to give first is part of the character-building process necessary to procure a long-term fortune on the Internet. Sadly, far too many people take the “screw your neighbor” approach to making a quick buck. While they may succeed in the short term, the Internet is the judge and jury for your long-term prosperity. Scamming people online will most certainly lead to being blacklisted and marginalized in due time.

In choosing marketers whom I admire and recommend, my main criteria is that they were truthful, generous and focused on giving you the tools and knowledge to reach your online goals. The super wealthy who love to stage hype campaigns that leave many people disgruntled or disillusioned with all online marketers are hopefully not in my top fifteen mentors.

Hopefully, the best mentors can take Rich Schefren’s complex and overwhelming view of the nuts and bolts of Internet Marketing (see below) and simplify them to a degree that a near simpleton can achieve success.  Many of the also-rans give you a software gadget and no clue how it should fit into the marketing scheme of things.

Be more selective and do your due diligence before buying a product or coaching from a squeaky-clean marketer.