Fans of multi-level marketing (MLM) often say that it is just like corporate America! There are levels of employees and managers… Corporate America is a pyramid and MLm is no different. That’s a faulty analysis. When I call MLM a pyramid scheme, I am not calling that because the management structure looks like a pyramid. I am calling it a pyramid scheme because of how it functions.

A pyramid scheme is a pay-to-play scam. People pay to become a part of it, and they pay continually through minimum purchases that are required to remain a qualified member of the scheme. MLM is based on the continuous recruitment of people into the scam using the promise of making money, despite the fact that more than 99% of participants in MLM actually lose money. MLMs sell a fake opportunity. While they appear to be focused on selling products or services, those things are simply a front to make the “opportunity” look like a legitimate business. Sadly, MLM is not a business.

Corporate America is different from MLM because it is not pay to play. People don’t pay to participate. They get paid for their work. In corporate America, everyone makes money (although at different rates of pay), while in MLM almost everyone LOSES money.

Below is a snippet of an interview I did on HuffPost live, talking about this issue: