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Inside Network Marketing
by Leonard W. Clements
Published by Prima Publishing
2000
Reviewed by Leigh Kimmel
Network marketing has been troubled by a stigma that associates it with various fraudulent schemes that have fleeced unsuspecting people. At the same time, many people have found success and economic freedom through network marketing, without harming anyone else. What is the truth about network marketing?
Leonard W. Clements examines the truth behind the stories that have been floating around for the last decade. This book is a compilation of a series of articles he originally published in his MarketWave newsletter. In them, he looks at what is going on in the MLM industry and what needs to change to make it work better.
He looks at government scrutiny of MLM's and accusations of fraud, as well as well-intentioned companies and programs that are doomed to fail, even when they do not break any laws. He penetrates the romantic language used in MLM promotion and shows that a lot of it is empty hype. He also goes after outrageous advertising that often ends up shooting itself in the foot.
He devotes an entire chapter -- six essays -- to things that MLM's keep doing when they shouldn't, including the saturation myth and downline pirates. He also looks at who is really responsible when people fail in network marketing -- and what they often mean by "fail".
Finally, he takes a close look at the numbers game that plagues many MLM's. For instance, many of them have compensation plans so convoluted that it's easy to convince anyone that they can make lots of money without even trying, but in fact very little money is going anywhere. He also looks at outrageous claims about network-building, including systems that allow people to sign up multiple times or to enroll all their family members as distributors.
If you are interested in network marketing, read this book first. It can save you lots of grief by identifying the companies and programs that you want to stay away with, and help you to recognize the signs of a solid company that won't burn you.
Click here to buy Inside Network Marketing in paperback.
Review posted April 20, 2001
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