The ONE Problem with Network Marketing- The Cringe

 There is just one problem with network  marketing and it's the CRINGE!

Let's face it, babes. Network marketing has had a bad rep for as long as direct sales has existed. We all know the reputation of the classic door-to-door salesman: they're unemployed, desperate and will barrage themselves into someone's home to sell them something useless and overpriced. Most will quit within a fortnight and will earn almost nothing. It was never considered an admirable profession, rather they were frowned down upon. A vermin on society. 

It wasn't until the mid-20th Century that Mytinger and Casselberry came up with the perfect business plan. Combining the door-to-door salesman with a business opportunity. It was perfect! They were the true pioneers of the "popular belief gripping America's imagination: a business model actually existed, somewhere, that was capable of producing perpetual and extraordinary income for all participants, delivering to the common man what was once available to only the elites, thus fulfilling of the American Dream."* That business plan was Nutrilite, perhaps the very first network marketing business.

Nutrilite sold leggings or supplements or something, I can't remember, the product is irrelevant to the inspiration of the story. They relied on the unrestrained recruiting of aspiring entrepreneurs into the business without regard for basic demand for the goods themselves, so clearly the product doesn't matter because they sold something even better than products: The Dream™. Each entrepreneur was granted the exact same opportunity as the people who founded the company- to build their own team of other entrepreneurs so they, in turn, could earn a commission. The vision was that if the plan were to come to full fruition, everyone on the planet would be selling for Nutrilite.

And as we know, every single person who joined the opportunity became a multi-millionaire and this is why the baby boomers are so rich, thus proving the business model was perfect. But something happened, which tainted the reputation of the business as a whole.

By the time the 80's came along, several years after the Amway judgement that it was actually a fair and just business, there was a frenzy of people who wanted to get in on the opportunity. The 80's were the beginning of the amazing MLM annual conferences. The founders would hold sermons on stage with stadiums packed to the brim with future millionaires, cheering, applauding and worshiping those who stood before them, salivating for their own eventual share of the pie! This was a time of prosperity, the age of the big city yuppy and those stuck in their home towns found the ticket to financial freedom too through network marketing. "Financial freedom" was on everybody's lips.

Throughout the 90's and 00's, network marketing had never been more popular. Stay at home mothers (where they should belong) found opportunities to build community through the business with selling parties. Young students were making millions selling the opportunity to sell knives. The desperate door-to-door salesmen of the past were now driving luxury sports cars selling the business opportunity of selling life insurance. Finally, direct selling had become a respectable business, the best business, the perfect business. Until 2008, poverty had been completely eradicated in America thanks to network marketing.

But then in 2008, it happened...

The social media boom.

This was a huge turning point and the biggest opportunity yet in network marketing. Suddenly, overnight, people could reach the furthest corners of the world to build their business! People could market the opportunity for absolutely free to a market of former high school peers! People could host parties LIVE like a TV presenter for those who just "didn't have time" to attend their selling parties in person. Social media could have been the golden age of network marketing, but about a decade in (circa 2017) social media caused a massive blow to the business opportunity and it is perhaps the darkest period in the history of network marketing.

Y'all just couldn't stop with the cringe!

Listen, I know that sounds harsh, but I didn't get to the position I am in today by coddling people. I'm not like other network marketing gurus, I'm direct, honest and not afraid to be provocative and I'm definitely not insecure about it!

We get it, you're excited about the business opportunity, but the charisma that you see on stage at the conferences is meant to remain OFF mainstream social media. It's exclusive, secret. You paid a lot of money to hear that wisdom, to see that enthusiasm and excitement. And because you paid for it, you were READY to witness it! Your high school friends are not ready for that level of preaching, not yet. 

So guess what happened? It happened to all of us around this time. Instead of building your business, you got unfriended, unfollowed, blocked and ghosted by the very people you not only wanted to recruit and empower, but impress with your successful boss babe lifestyle, particularly your old high school peers. I'm a massive success now Rebecca! Fuck you! Anyway, you never knew why people were turning you down. This was such a great opportunity! Why did no-one else understand? Why am I being turned down and looked down upon with scorn just like the door-to-door salesman from 100 years ago?

It's because you were being cringe, babes. We all did it. We were all throwing around phrases we SHOULD NOT have been saying. By trying to magnetize ourselves, we were repelling everyone we tried to message. We became copy paste bots, hence the nasty slur the haters call us "hunbots." This cringe led to the growth of hate groups: subreddits, YouTubers, Instagram accounts such as this one. Millions of people online were piling onto the hatred. The negative vibes were starting to take over and our reputation as entrepreneurs was slowly tarnishing.

So what do I mean by cringe? Here are some examples:

• Copy and pasting messages
• FUCKING STARBUCKS POSTS that are not related to money you earned through your hustle
• "Hey hun"
• "Financial freedom"
• "Boss babe" or "Girl boss"
• Health claims that are not vague enough
• Livestreaming from your bath
• Not being original 
• Being bad at make-up
• Posting too much about the product and not building your own unique brand
• Not enough FOMO
• Too much FOMO
• Too much beige and millennial pink
• Begging people to sign-up so YOU can get a promotion
• Negativity disguised as positivity (positive vibes ONLY)
• "Have fun being poor"
• Bragging about your gross income or sales to inflate your figures
• "Here in my garage!"

And so on and so on.

So you may be wondering what makes these thing cringe? You're not going to like the answer, but the main reason why your content is cringe is because it's cliché as frick! Doing exactly what everyone else is doing is what makes your business strategy embarrassing. If we've seen it a million times before, then you're just being lazy, not keeping up with the trends like you think you are. It's the reason the "hey girl" stereotype exists. People KNOW the same old recruitment tricks, which is why we constantly need to switch them up. It's the reason why network marketing has had to change names from pyramid selling and then from multi-level marketing. Even the name of the industry becomes cringe. This is why it is essential for your business to attend the latest trainings and seminars on keeping your content fresh. Don't do what everyone else is doing, do what the best business coaches tell you to do. We have really let ourselves go in the last few years, so let's change the face of the industry for the 20's.

By being cliché and cringe, we had personally handed over the one weapon the haters could use against us. The hate online was becoming intense. Not only were individual CEO small business entrepreneur distributors being personally attacked for being CEO small business entrepreneur distributors, they went after the company founders and network marketing coaches themselves calling them disgusting slurs like "grifters" and "conmen." People are so hateful that the ONE thing we got wrong in this business was hanging over our heads. The ONE problem with an otherwise perfect business model was putting our whole reputation on the line! The cracks were beginning to show. A massive network marketing company that specialized in beautiful leggings became the victim of a mass exodus because of negativity. A whole documentary was even made about them. For a short while, it seemed like the haters were winning. Things were looking so bleak, I even considered getting a corporate job with benefits. I was left with no choice.

I fought back.

While cringe is a lingering problem and, may I remind you, is the only problem within the industry, entrepreneurs are beginning to learn. The reputational damage in the late 2010's was a fantastic business opportunity within the business coach sector. Not only can we teach people the same old tips and tricks on how to become successful like the boomers did with Nutrilite, but now we have a whole new layer of coaching- social media etiquette and how to grow your business without the cringe. I can honestly say that this has been a very fruitful couple of years for me and She Empowers™ is raking in seven figures every single year! I could not have done it without you guys!

Thanks to my resources and courses provided by She Empowers™ and my own tireless work, the network marketing industry is beginning to turn a corner. Slowly we are learning that you've gotta build real meaningful connections with 120 people a day, not just copy and paste. You've gotta lay off the arrogance until you actually do make it (which you will, eventually). You've gotta be genuine and unique to build your brand. Once we stop being so cringe, the less fuel this gives hate groups and the more likely they will be proven wrong and join our business. We already got at least one of 'em to join the shampoo business! So it definitely works!

The future is truly looking brighter than ever before in network marketing. As long as we continue to fight back against the haters by paying for and attending as many courses, seminars and books as possible, we can win by the power of succeeding in their faces. We can win by recruiting them into the business. We can win by taking over the world once again just like the network marketing companies of the boomers! The future is in network marketing forever! We are winning!

If you want to learn more, read your free copy of my best selling book Go Empower Yourself here!

Stop being cringe, babes and see you all on the next She Empowers™ course!

-Amy X

 

* R. L. Fitzpatrick 2020