Just for fun I wanted to see what MLMs are best represented on the Internet. To give you an idea I listed the top 10 MLM companies based on about how many people search for their name. Avon has been along longer than most MLMs and several years ago they focused on improving their internet presence.

10 MLM companies online (number of searches)

1. avon 410,942
2. pampered chef 209,940
3. mary kay 200,016
4. monavie 130,821
5. quixtar 98,766
6. herbalife 79,995
7. primerica 74,853
8. melaleuca 62,965
9. xango 55,189
10. amway 42,233

Later on the list there were MLM companies like (ones listed first have more searches): shaklee, usana, noni, arbonne international, tahitian noni, nuskin, stampin’ up, nature’s sunshine, forever living products, nu skin, pre-paid legal, neways, nouveau riche, tahitian noni international, goyin

These numbers are approximate, but it gives you a rough idea. What I find interesting is that TNI has three variations of their business ranking: noni, Tahitian noni, and Tahitian Noni International.

We found this post about evaluating an MLM business. The blog generally takes a pro-MLM stance - if there is good training. What I found is good information about the MLM industry by a man named Tim Sales (I didn’t make that up and as far as I know that’s his real name).

So I have a question for our readers - from your experience which MLM companies are the best, and why? How do you evaluate an MLM business?

Lennon Ledbetter, a former Amway distributor who trains Amway distributors seems to be doing pretty well. Two years ago he bought a foreclosed mansion in Utah. And as far as I know he still lives there. He bought the sprawling 9 acre palace for the bargain price of $7 million (appraisals came in at over $20 million).

The previous owner was a [in]famous attorney named Keith Barton. According to a news story about the sale: “The new owner says he will be sympathetic to the Barton family and will allow them some time to move out.”

Judging from the size of the house, he probably needed a lot more than “some time” - as well as a fleet of moving trucks. It sounds like there was a bit of drama with the sale, too bad I missed the action (I mean auction)!

There are some great pictures of the house owned by Ledbetter on this blog. And no, I didn’t make up his name, as far as I know, it too is for real.

The moral of this story is there is hope - it might not be from being a distributor - or from selling product -  but offering services to those who do. Those who Believe. Just consider being a distributor on the job training for your next venture!

If you need a little motivation today, something to make you smile, this MLM joke is for you. Get that grin back.

QUESTION: How many MLMers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

ANSWER: No one really knows because they keep trying to recruit a new person to do it!

MLM distributors could make our best affiliates – because you really get the concept of sharing what you find with your friends. Plus you make money doing it! Basically that’s what affiliate marketing is, only the online version.

Believe is a comedy about the MLM business. It’s hilarious and your downline will get all the jokes!

You have a web site for your MLM business but you don’t take yourself too seriously, right? So enjoy some laughs. Post a movie review. Tell people to go to your site. We give you the banner ad and you put it up on your site. If someone clicks on it and then buys the DVD, you make a percentage of the sale. You can log on to the Believe site and get stats on your sales.

Brilliant!

Here’s where to sign up for the Believe the Movie affiliate program: http://www.believethemovie.com/store/partner/register.php

You know what a Ponzi scheme is, right? Named after Charles Ponzi who ran several pyramid schemes during the early 20th century, a Ponzi scheme uses money from one set of “investors” to pay off a later set. This works great for a little while until investors start to run out.

However, to pay off the first investor, Ponzi required payment from three or more other investors in pay himself and the original investor. Now he has four investors. To pay them all off, he needed 12 more for a total of sixteen. To pay them, he needed 48 more, then 180, then 684, and so on, thus the more well-known term of “pyramid scheme.” It’s illegal because there is no product or service being provided in exchange for the “investment.”

BING! Then a light bulb went off in somebody’s head. Provide a product or service, and suddenly your pyramid scheme is legal!

Along comes Amway. Not the first “legitimate” MLM company, and far from being the last, but it is arguably the most well known and successful MLM in the world’s history. Now, Amway created a lot of millionaires. So it’s good, right?

Sure it’s great, if you’re one of the guys smooth-tongued enough to convince hundreds of people to fork over their cash for overpriced products. Have you noticed that an MLM pitch is never about the product, but rather about selling the dream of financial freedom?

Who do you know who is willing to pay $10 for a $2 bar of soap? But they will if it means getting rich quick! There are no hard statistics on the matter, but some estimate the failure rate of MLM distributors to be as high as 99.9 percent.

I’d rather take my chances at the blackjack table. At least there I have a 50/50 chance of winning and, even if I lose, my garage won’t be full of soap.

There’s a lot online about the MLM business, which made me remember something from the past. Remember those money-making chain letters that used to get distributed to your mailbox? All you had to do was send a dollar to the top three people on the list, remove the top name, add your name to the bottom, then redistribute the letter to 10 other people.

The theory was that once your name got up to the top three, thousands of people will have received the letter and will be sending you a dollar. Thousands of dollars just for sending out a letter! It couldn’t possibly be easier, could it?

However, there was a problem with the whole thing. Okay… there are a lot of problems with it. But perhaps the biggest is the fact that it’s illegal!

Then one day a new letter was introduced. Claiming to have consulted a lawyer, the new letter’s author stated that the whole process was legal as long as you gave something in return for the dollar you were asking for. In essence, you were selling a product. So the new author would promise to send you something in the mail, usually a letter of some sort.

So was the new chain letter method no longer a scam (or, more politely, no longer illegal)? Uh… I guess. I personally never bothered to waste a lawyer’s (or my) time about it. However, it’s sort of like multi-level marketing (MLM) companies.

How is MLM like a chain letter - the more sales people you bring into the business the more money you can make – more than by selling the product yourself.

So here’s the chain letter:

Follow these directions EXACTLY, and in 20 to 60 days you will receive
over $50,000.00 cash - all yours! This program has remained successful
because of the HONESTY and INTEGRITY of the participants.

Follow the directions exactly and soon people will start sending you money.
Thousands of them! THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY
to GET RICH NOW, and laugh in your sleeve all the way to the BANK!!

(EtcEtcBlahblah&Blah)

Believe the Movie is a mockumentary about MLM that echoes real life, according to Lisa Steptoe. Our favorite sales diva recently blogged about Believe the Movie and how it reminded her of being an Amway distributor.

“Well, the actual movie is out on DVD and Ron and I got our copy in on Friday. We watched the movie yesterday afternoon and it was absolutely HILARIOUS…just like they said it was going to be. I had goosebumps from how eerily similar it was to our days in Am.wa.y/Qui.xta.r. “

Her MLM story is on our website and it could’ve been a scene from the movie. Let’s just say divas aren’t going to go for sharing a hotel room with 2 other couples and 2 babies.

We want you to spread the word! Believe the Movie - a mockumentary about the MLM business is officially out on DVD.

The movie is written and directed by former Amway distributor Loki Mulholland. For 4 years “I was one of those gung-ho distributors who listened to the tapes and went to the conventions. I did it all… except make money. Little did I know that you have better odds winning in Vegas than you do succeeding in multi-level-marketing,” says Mulholland.

He tapped his own experiences as a basis for the movie. “The film is a reflection of a lot of people’s experiences with MLM,” says Mulholland, “and is a light-hearted comedy about the business in a way that MLMers can get a good laugh as well as those who oppose MLMs. But there’s a lot of truth to the movie as well.”

Believe is set in the anywhere town of Springfield and follows the life of Adam Pendon (played by Larry Bagby, Walk the Line), a laid off steel mill worker who must find a new way to provide for his family, when he is introduced to Believe Industries, a multi-level marketing company, by an overzealous recruiter, Mark Fuller (played by Lincoln Hoppe, Saints and Soldiers).

The movie follows the “unique” lifestyles of several different “Believers” (Believers are distributors who work for Believe Industries), including a couple who can’t seem to make a dime and another couple destined for either the high life or the divorce court. Believe the Movie features an appearance by Graham Russell of Air Supply, who sings an original song by Mulholland.

You might laugh or, depending on how much you’ve lost on MLM ventures, cry. The movie is a very inexpensive form of therapy!

Title: Believe
Running Time: 82 minutes
Rating: PG