NOTE: With this article, Towel & Basin continues its celebration of Women’s History Month by serving and supporting, encouraging and empowering women who are making history today.
Many work-at-home moms do so in some multi-level marketing opportunity.
If you have ever heard of Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Mary Kay or Avon, you know what a MLM business is.
In short, a MLM (multi-level marketing) opportunity refers to those businesses that encourage you to find people to work in your “downline.” Your downline then brings more money to you without you doing much more work. Let’s look at this in more detail.
What is a MLM?
When you begin working for a company like Pampered Chef, you become the downline of another consultant. When you sell products, your “upline” makes a small amount of money off your sale, all without lifting a finger.
Of course, there might be some work finding people to be in the downline, but once that’s done all that’s left is the general challenge of managing people and encouraging them to do well in their jobs so the upline does well in theirs.
When you become someone’s downline, you can focus on your own business and building a client base. You might forget all about building your own downline, but most people who work for MLM-based companies will eventually decide to work on building their own downline so they can make additional income.
Once you have a downline, you make money off each sale that your downline makes. And your upline makes money off your sales as well as the sales of your downline. The “depth” and “width” of downlines varies based on compensation plans from company to company.
Pros of MLMs
There are many advantages to working in a MLM structure. Here are three.
1. Support. Starting a business at home can be scary for a mom, or anyone. Knowing that there’s a built-in support network can be reassuring. You will know going in that you have others you can call with your questions, meetings you can attend that give you selling techniques and other support components.
2. Promotion and training. Depending on the MLM you sign up with, you will probably be provided selling materials, information about seminars you can attend, and other resources that will help you build your business.
3. Brand recognition and reputation. Ff the product you are selling has already established itself as a good product that has a good base of customers, you may very likely already have a built-in customer base that comes to you, rather than you trying to court them. Your starter kit will likely have a starter set of sales and order forms.
Cons of MLMs
Joining a MLM isn’t for everyone. It requires selling, and many moms aren’t interested in selling things, especially with house parties.
1. There are minimum requirements to meet. This varies from company to company. These minimum requirements might have to be met each quarter or month. And some companies will put on hiatus, or lapsed status, a consultant or salesperson that doesn’t meet the minimum.
2. Some MLMs sales model is based on in-person marketing. For some MLMs, parties or “belly to belly” selling is the norm. And for some moms, this is a “con.” (But there may be an alternative: marketing and making sales online, if the MLM allows it)
3. People in your life might not look favorably at your decision to sell a product in a MLM structure. They might think that you are always trying to sell them your product. And, even though you spend significant time building your at-home business, some people might not see what you do as a real job.
These are things to consider before you sign up with a MLM. But, note this: #3 is a "faux" con. What others think should not be your primary concern when making a decision about what business you choose. As the saying goes, what other people think of you is none of your business.
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There are advantages and disadvantages of joining a MLM. Many WAHMs have made very good money selling products this way. Research a company’s product and reputation. And review your personal preferences, skills and experiences to see if an MLM is a good fit for you.
Resources
The Top 25 MLMs by Revenue
100 Best & Top MLM Companies in the USA in 2022
Skills Inventory
Image by Markéta Machová from Pixabay