Top 3 Arguments Against Network Marketing
Written by Jason F. Grissom
These arguments against network marketing are things many people who are new to the industry get hung up on.
MLM or Network Marketing is a pyramid or ponzi scam?nnwelcomeA Ponzi Scheme works like social security does. People put money into it and in order for other people to get paid there has to be more people paying into it, than taking out of it. In a few short years we’ll see how remarkably social security resembles the ultimate Ponzi scheme. (Don’t believe me, see this article in Business Week and make up your own mind.)
In a network marketing company however you control how you do business so can get paid based on multiple streams of income just like any other honest business. This is especially true if you operate online.
As a business owner you have at least these options available to you.
1. You can get paid on your retail sales associated with your opportunities products (If you’re retailing them online, separately from your business building, this can work well).
2. You can get paid on training material you sell (If you’re using a funded proposal to train).
3. You can get paid on affiliate products that help your prospects to accomplish specific tasks in their online business (If you become an affiliate sales person for specific tools. Wordtracker or GoDaddy are good examples.).
4. You can get paid on content you create (If you are monetizing it with tools like “Google Adsense”, “Text Link Brokering”, or any number of monetization tools for traffic you generate).
5. And of course you get paid on your residual earnings from your down-line business builders when you teach them to reproduce your successes (If you generate and train your down-line properly).
As you can see it is pretty clear that Network Marketing simply isn’t a scam. It is a legitimate, viable business model that puts responsibility and control squarely on the distributor. He/She has the choice to succeed or fail depending on the level of commitment demonstrated by them.
Do a lot, succeed a lot. Do a little, see very little success.
People at the top making most or all of the money?
This is 100% true, but before heads explode, it is important to note that this is true for ALL businesses.
Look at that the pay for executives in every major fortune five hundred company and you will see this is true.
It is a simple fact, few people make the most money in any business.
Only a few make make the majority of the money in every company, industry, or country. So anyone who is arguing that MLM is flawed because the people at the top earn most of the money would do well to take a closer look at reality.
The real questions isn’t, “Why are people at the top 5% making all the money?”.
The real question is, “What will you do to become one of the top 5%?”.
If you work and get no results you get little or nothing. This is true in any business or Job.
If you work really hard and get a lot of results you get a lot of pay. This isn’t true of any Job, but it is very true with regard to your business.
Network marketing pays on a performance basis. Meet the performance standard and you enjoy the benefits of that standard.
Anyone who argues against this doesn’t believe its their responsibility to perform, so they’re not likely to if you get them to join your business so if I were you, I would avoid these people like the plague!
Do people who get in during the early stages make most of the money?
This is true for any method of business, and it really isn’t the tragedy that Nay-Sayers make it out to be.
Do you work for a company? Didn’t the owners get in before you did? Don’t the company owners make money on your efforts? Don’t they make more money than you?
So this is pretty clear that this is a pretty widely established practice, another way of looking at it would be this:
If you bought Google stock in September of 2004 for $100.01 and sold it for $714.00 in December of 2007 wouldn’t you make money because you got in earlier than everyone else?
The same holds true if you buy a house for $250,000 and sell it for $500,000 don’t you make money for getting into the house early and selling it to someone later?
This is the reality of business in a capitalist economy. It just works that way so you are faced with yet another sobering question.
What will you do to build up your assets now so you can cash in on them later.
I have an idea! Get out there and build your business online and reap the rewards of your hard work, both now and into the future.
Article author
About the Author
Further reading
Further Reading
Article
What Is a Slug Generator and Why Do I Need One?
Create SEO-friendly URLs effortlessly with our online free slug generator. Perfect Slug Maker for bloggers and webmasters!
September 14, 2026
Article
Unlock a High-Converting Dental Marketing Plan That Wins
Want more patients and revenue? Learn the secrets to creating a dental marketing plan that converts, grows your clinic fast, and beats the competition.
September 13, 2026
Article
What Makes SEOGDK a Leader in Digital Marketing Innovation?
Discover SEOGDK, a leading digital marketing blog started in 2011 to empower digital marketing professionals, bloggers, and entrepreneurs via its SEO guides, blogging tutorials, affiliate marketing resources, digital marketing insights, reviews, and web technologies.
September 13, 2026
Article
How AI SEO Services in India Are Transforming Search Rankings and Organic Growth
SEO looks different than it did even two years ago. Keyword research, content planning, and technical audits now run through AI tools that process in minutes what used to take a research team days.
September 13, 2026