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)