The Truth about MLM: Multi-Level-Marketing

Following are the excerpts from the article How QNet Pulled It Off. I really liked the insights provided.
Do take out time to read, if you have ever found such a scheme lucrative and charming.

Highlights from How QNet Pulled It Off:

• MLM is about using your customers as your agents, instead of a traditional distribution network like agencies and wholesalers. 
• Those you refer can further refer others, and you form a long "downline" which guarantees you future riches. 
• The hardsell eats up good relationships; you find that your friends no longer want to speak with you, and the few that were sold the idea are bitter that the income is next to nothing.
• You can't con an honest man. Most people who buy into the "dream" sold to them are those who want to earn a lot of money without doing any real work. They blindly believe figures.

The best way to avoid being duped by a MLM scheme is to ask yourself (as suggested by the author in How QNet Pulled It Off):

- Are you expected to sell a product to other people? Do you need to pay for the privilege of signing up? If so, it's most likely a scam.

- Is there a refund policy? Can you return products unused to get back your money? If not, it's most likely a scam.

- Does it use the words "in your spare time"? My vast experience of hearing most of these sucker schemes tells me this is the biggest warning bell of them all.

- Can you buy alternative products that do the same thing at a much cheaper price? Then you're just being a sucker if you buy into a much more expensive product just to get a small commission back.

- Are you made to visit a "meeting" where a well-heeled gentleman extols the virtues of this scheme? And you can't ask too many questions? That's a sign of a scam