Multi Level Marketing Snake Oil Salesman

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Sometime when I browse online for new multi level marketing (MLM) information I come across someone that holds themselves out to be proficient in the field. Danny McDaniel is usually my guest of honor.  What makes me different than Danny and my new guest of honor Brian Carruthers? I believe I support my thesis with viable proof, and I do not deflect with unsupported, and off the wall speechifying rhetoric. Saying things like “Donald Trump and Warren Buffett own direct sales and MLM companies” is ridiculous without offering supporting evidence and clarification, especially if you are trying to convince people that the aforementioned stars sell products. Saying “And of course sex will always keep adding more future adults who can grow the potential new base of growth” like Carruthers does is borderline idiotic. I truly do not know where to start with this guy. All the information I will be discussing can be found on this website. I might just as well start with his use of Warren Buffet and Donald Trump.

Brian Caruthers uses the aforementioned famous names as if they participate in direct sales. Do any of you reading this truly believe Donald trump or Warren Buffett go door to door selling products, or do you think they own the company? I am going to take a wild guess and say they own the company. Unfortunately, I cannot, and will not, say something without backing it with viable proof. So what is the answer? Well, I am going to be honest, it is easy to find answers but it is finding the person you can trust with the unbiased answer, that is where the problem resides. But I am going to do my best to find just that.

Donald Trump created The Trump Network. The video I provided does a pretty good job of describing the company. Basically Donald owned the company but has since parted ways. Another company Trump endorsed was ACN. You will notice in that video Donald Trump is seen making appearances at ACN gatherings and ACN makes a guest appearance on the Celebrity Apprentice. That might at first seem like they are doing each other a favor, but I think there is more to it. The Wall Street Journal seems to think he was paid a significant amount of money to speak at ACN gatherings.  I would be willing to bet ACN paid Trump to be on his show. That definitely was an intuitive conjecture. Well it seem apparent to me that Trump bought into multi level marketing companies, but has never been a distributor for any of the companies he owned or endorsed. Somehow I get the feeling Warran buffets story is going to go in the same direction, wouldn’t you think? 

As I figured, Buffett also spends his money on purchasing network marketing companies. If you go to YouTube you will find a bunch of video where he talks about buying some of them and why.  If you read this article you will also be told that Warren Buffett is “in the direct selling and network marketing business”. On one lip the author is giving you the indication that he might be a distributor with a 99% chance of losing money. Then with the other lip we are told he owns the company that owns the network marketing company. 

As you can see, many people like to twist the truth to benefit their own self interest, and it is unfortunate. The truth is, if the person is in direct marketing, and they make money from recruiting, look elsewhere for advice. Our new friend Brian Carruthers is a snake oil salesman. He is going to tell you whatever he can to lure you in. Do not get me wrong, not all companies or distributors utilize snake oil tactics like our friend Brian. He utilized Trump and Buffett because they are famous and he knows people will listen to him if they believe the aforementioned people are involved in the business. People like Brian will also try to deflect truthful information with well crafted illusions. For instance, he paints a picture of network marketing that can survive even if everyone on earth were to join. The following is a quote from Brian Carruthers website:

“So EVEN IF the entire population became reps… then this network of people are still selling the product on an ongoing basis to this downline structure of people. And this perpetually creates value and profits for the business, with no need for another single rep. It started as being about selling product, and recruiting to do so faster. But if 100% of the world population were now all distributors for this company, then it becomes purely about those reps selling product. And of course sex will always keep adding more future adults who can grow the potential new base of growth”.

Yup, I think I am going to join under him, because he sounds really intelligent. Sex will always keep adding more future adults. Are you serious Brian? People that follow my blog know or should know what the math looks like. But just in case you do not, I am going to give you some now.

10 distributors recruit 3 people=30 in a month

30 distributors recruit 3 people=90  month 2

270 distributors 3 people= 810  month 3

810*3=2430 month  4

2430*3=7290 month 5

7290*3=21870 month 6

21870*3=65,610  month 7

65,610*3=196,830 month 8

196,830*3=590,490 month 9

590,490*3=1,771,470 month 10

1,771,470*3=5,314,410 month 11

5,314,410*3=15,943,230 month 12

15,943,230*3=47,829,690 Month 13

47,829,690*3=143,489,070 month 14

143,489,070*3=430,467,210 month 15

Population of United States in 2015=318.9 Million

The total of children under 18 in the United States=74.2 Million

318.9-74.2=244.7 Million

I used a simple number to reach the current population and you will notice that when you reach the end of the population, it will take another 18 years to replenish it through sexual means. Now, if he wanted to say that the population would be replenished by immigration, he would have had a better argument. But I assure you, recruiting would deplete the population much quicker than that because there are many people like me that chose not to be involved in multi level marketing. Now, going back to Brian’s world population theory, the end result would be distributors selling to distributors and not to customers. That is exactly what I have been talking about. You run out of customers something has to give. Even if the United State did have 50 million immigrants come into the country each year, you would have almost 300 thousand distributors trying to recruit them, and from different MLM companies. When they get recruited on the first day who do they sell to? There is nobody left, right? I think the world population theory is debunked. But he does not stop there with his snake oil tactics.

Brian tries to make the argument that 90% fail because they were not looking to get into MLM when they joined and because they invested little, they did not have the incentive to work the business, so they give up. Alright Brian, I will concede that many people are pressured into joining and fail because they do not try. Unfortunately Brian, I know people that gave it a hundred percent, and probably made a much better argument than you. I find it hard to believe anyone bought into your bull poop. I am going to let you in on a little secret Brian, almost 99 percent fail, not 90%. Making comparisons to college athletes that do not get to go pro, or comparisons to marriage is just unbelievable. Students that play sports know that only the best get to play at the professional level, they are not mislead by snake oil using coaches. People that get married do so because they believe they are in love, and if they do get a divorce it does not show indication of a flawed system. On the contrary, I believe it shows the system works. Then he talks about how market saturation is some type of myth and people like me should not be allowed to give advice about which restaurant to eat at.

Brian claims that multi level marketing is sustainable. Why is it? According to Brian:

“The answer is that (in a legitimate MLM business) you are selling a product/service, and it is about customers – not reps. The only reason to recruit more and more reps is to faster grow a network of distribution to help you move more product faster. But when income is tied to the sale of a product and not to recruitment, you have a real business model that works indefinitely and forever."

Now, he might be onto something there. Unfortunately, many business models include, and promote, mass recruiting, and so does he. Brian did say you would have a forever business if you tie the income to the sale of the product and not recruiting, right? On one hand he is saying you can recruit until you have gone through the whole population. He thinks it will still make everyone money, even the last person to join. On the other hand he is saying a legitimate MLM is focused on selling to customers. The people you recruit should not be your customer. As a matter of fact, you should only make commission from sales to customers not holding a distributorship.

How about this Brian, sell to just customers and cut out the recruiting. You said it yourself; if you work hard at your business you will be successful. Why do you need to recruit? Just for the record, this is the area he used Warren Buffett and Trump to justify joining MLM. These guys do it so it must be a good investment. Unfortunately Brian has been bathing in snake oil and is just trying to spread his own venom.

Listen, I have said it before. Many people selling these products are truly trying their best. Maybe some people are not cut out for MLM, and they failed. But when almost 99% fail every year, those numbers do not lie. Read some of my material within my blog. Every article is backed by viable proof, and not just a bunch of deceptive misleading brainwashing. If you do not agree with me, then post something below and explain where I am wrong. Give me your 2015 receipts with the names of all your customers. I bet most of them are distributors. 

Saying that  market saturation does not exist is almost laughable. Please do not trust people that are in the MLM business if you are looking for facts, you will be hard pressed to get any from Brian.

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Unedited and going to bed, thanks for reading!