Disclaimer: All thoughts are my own and any negative claims on a given company is alleged. I highly recommend researching multi-level marketing before coming to your own conclusion.
Multi-level marketing, also known as MLMs, is a form of marketing that is frequently seen on social media. Have you ever come across the terms “work from wifi”, “boss babe” and “social selling”? Chances are that it was related to an MLM. MLMs use a pyramid organizational system for their employees (members) that encourage members to actively recruit others into their “downline” in order to make a profit. This may cause financial frustration for its participants, which I will discuss below.
MLMs tend to primarily attract women with 74% of direct sellers identifying as women in the United States. MLM companies such as Monat, Young Living, Younique, and Arbonne incorporate their business model to this fact, frequently advertising health and beauty products to women. This gender gap could reflect the percentage of stay-at-home parents wanting to provide extra income with the flexibility of taking care of children.
As a university student, I have MLM content popping up on my feed daily now, and a lot of it is due to other fellow students wanting that flexibility for income. I understand it can be a huge struggle to fit work shifts into a full course load, but with each shift you are paid for every hour worked – which is not the case for most MLMs. With many team meetings and the potential for cold-texting acquaintances while maintaining a perfect social media life, the work put in can be exhausting with no guaranteed pay. If you want to quit, you may have already bought the starter pack – which can be a large amount of money for a college student. In addition, there are allegations regarding emotional hardships when leaving MLMs, particularly with being shunned by other members.
Lately, I have been noticing lots of toxic positivity on social media, where many posts idealize shoving negative feelings under the rug. We’re literally in a pandemic. It’s okay to have bad days, and it’s okay to not work 24/7. Being pushed to work past the brink of what one can handle would cause burnout and affecting all areas of one’s life. This toxic positivity is frequently seen in the MLM community, with @smallantimlmangel on Instagram curating some examples.
Multi-level marketing is an umbrella term, and each companies’ moral values differ when it comes to recruitment versus selling. Due to having a bias against the MLM business structure, I recommend doing research on specific companies if you or a loved one is considering joining direct sales. Please always track your time and finances as an article from the FTC claims that around 99% lose money.