I want to take some time and ask some questions of the MLM fans that read this blog. It is not about YTB but any of them. It is obvious that I do not understand what it is you see in this program. You are not making any money and to be honest, there mare more people that shun you than accept you. So let me pose a few questions and comments to you.
You have invested some money and a good amount of time into your new "business" and this presumably was based on the assumption that with money and time invested, you could be making a respectable amount of money. Why is it that the vast majority of you are not earning that $5000 a month you expected? I venture to say that at this point you would be happy with $5000 a year--right? What about your downline? I Bet you figured you would have a lot more in your downline than your have. Right? I also bet you thought you would have more travel leads than you could handle because of the fabulous website provided for your hard earned money. Right? Of course you did. Remember, it was the perfect opportunity at the right time? Well then why aren't you making any money?
I have heard the pitch and seen the fervor. I am guessing when you signed up, your Upline told you to make a list of 50 or 100 of your friends and family--hand out brochures, CDs, magazines, and business cards. You probably distributed another $1000 worth of collateral. What are you seeing for that $1000?
What about your website? And that fantastic back office that would handle all the financial aspects of your slice of the 7 trillion dollar travel pie? Did you buy some professional looking business cards--after all if you are claiming to be a professional, you ought to at least look the part. Did you figure that your website would be churning out the commissions while you slept? Did you envision walking into the local Mercedes dealership and plopping down $70K in cash for a new car? Maybe buying that dream house for cash? Of course it was all possible when you see the directors making two, three or four million dollars in a year.
How did you drive business to your site? Did you purchase some "guaranteed" leads that were "on sale" for a "limited" time and available only to "you"? How much did they cost? How many $10 admissions did you pay to see a recruitment presentation at a local hotel? How many times did you attend some seminar or other to reinvigorate your business? Did you pay to travel to one of the conventions or a training program or two, three or four?
Do these words make you think? Do they hurt?
I am not looking to negate any dreams of riches you have. I am all for the success of everyone. But, let's face it, if you are anything but a superstar, you are not making any reasonable money. One of the MLM companies freely admits that 80.92% of their participants make no money. And more frightening is that 99.6% of the participants earned less than $1850 for the year. Are you beginning to think something may be amiss here yet?
Here's another question to ponder. If the business of selling travel via a website is so lucrative--after all all you need to do is refer people to it--why wouldn't the company just do it themselves? Hmm, makes one wonder doesn't it? And suppose the website does not perform as promised or expected? Well, maybe that is one of the secrets that management is not telling.
Have you listened to the tales of success from the directors? I have listened to several of them and the story was all the same. They told you what to do. How to work the MLM program and you too could be wealthy selling travel. But do they practice what they preach? Are they out recruiting their family and friends, or are they merely putting pressure on their downline to feather their pockets? With such a small number of people making money in the MLM program, it seems that these people may not be telling you all you need to know to succeed. Do you think? Maybe they are teaching you what to do, but not what they are doing. There is a difference.
So, why do participants of the MLM model just blindly follow the leader? I don't mean to pick on Doug, but here is a guy who presumably got into YTB to make a buck. I remember reading a press release when he "fired his boss". I am sorry, but unless I had every intention of being successful, I am not sure I would have taken that step--unless there was a trust fund or a gravely ill wealthy relative lurking somewhere. So it is reasonable to assume he wanted to be successful. The guys is eloquent. He is intelligent. He does not put up ridiculous YouTube videos. I don't think he drives a Cocaine White Bentley--or if he does he has enough class to no brag about it. He seems genuinely interested in helping his customers plan their travel. He has been doing this for over three years and seems to have been left in the dust. Looking at averages, he should be a Level 3 Director earning an average of $459,000 a year from recruiting alone. But after more than three years, he is a Coaches Corner member earning an average of $20K. I am not knocking $20K..hell it is more than I took home in 2002. But if I had fired my boss and after three years I was making less than $10 per hour, I would have to think long and hard prior to investing more time and energy.
So with 246K people not earning any money, why aren't you asking questions? The facts hurt, I know. But as everyone has said you need to treat it as a business. Isn't it time to be businesspeople and start demanding answers to some very basic questions?
