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Navigating the Wonderful World of 'Work from Home' Opportunities

An Amateur Network Marketer's View on Working from Home

By Ellie BarkerPublished 7 years ago 4 min read
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First off, I would like to say that I realise everyone's experiences, morals, backgrounds, and lifestyles are going to affect what they are looking for in a work from home opportunity, the goal of this is not to criticise, but to encourage thinking.

I am a network marketer. I love my job. It fits wonderfully around my studies, and allows me the time and freedom to see my friends, and visit my long-distance partner. This sounds great, right? And it is, I love the company I work with and the people I have met. But yet, not everyone sees it this way. Many of my friends, family members, and even people who I really don't know that well have an opinion on what I am doing. These are not people who I have even mentioned the business opportunity to, just people who have heard what I am doing, and think that their opinion is the most important. Don't get me wrong, some people are incredibly supportive, but some have called me up to say "What you are doing is stupid, it's a pyramid scheme, I don't want anything to do with it, and don't respect you at all for it." I will admit that I am sure there are pyramid schemes that are posing as legitimate companies, but the one in question that I work for is a highly reputable and long standing Multi Level Marketing, or Network Marketing company. We have members of our company on the board for the Direct Sales Association! I can forgive people not knowing the difference, but the instant, and frankly unasked for response is just rude.

For those who are not familiar, pyramid schemes essentially started in the 1970s, where people paid to sign up to a company, and then recruited others who paid to sign up. The vast majority of the money being made in the companies was through the recruiting of new people, and there was little else to it. A Multi Level Marketing, Network Marketing, or Direct Sales company work by having a team of people, who can recruit others, but focus on selling a high quality product, or products. The incomes are from the product sales (or those of their downline), rather than predominantly from recruiting. While there will be variations, MLMs operate far more like a traditional business, where there is a CEO, a team of franchise owners, a team of managers, each with their own team of sales people. The main difference is that there is no cap on the income, and that there is nothing stopping anyone from getting to the higher positions and income, all while working their own hours and from home. I even know of a few people in my company who are earning more than their uplines, due to how their business is structured.

While pyramid schemes have been illegal in many countries for several years, there are some similar looking "opportunities" that I have seen. I am not trying to tell anyone what to do, or what not to do, but simply make you think. I truly do not understand the reputation that MLMs and related reputable industries have gathered. While there are some people who run around like a headless chicken, trying to push products and recruit everyone they walk past, that is not true for everyone. Why would you judge an entire industry based on a few experiences, or tales? Would you avoid fast food forever, in every form if one employee in one chain was pushing you to upgrade to a combo? Most likely not.

Again, I am sure that there are many differences from one MLM company to another, and I am very proud of the one that I am associated with. The products are lovely, the team are amazing, and I feel very much valued as a person and a team member, rather than someone's pay cheque for recruiting me. I realised that there are many different forms of work from home opportunities, and the only one I have personal experience in is my team, someone in the same company, but a different team may not share my experiences. Just please, if you hear someone is working from home, I ask that you do not jump to conclusions about the integrity of the company they are working with, nor their reasons for doing so. We are people, and those who feel that they are selling their soul to succeed are perhaps in the wrong company.

I would like to reiterate that these opinions and experiences are my own, and do not reflect those of Vocal.media, or my company as a whole.

As this is a "work from home" website, and you would be interested in finding out more about the business opportunity and joining my team, please contact me, or follow this link.

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About the Creator

Ellie Barker

A University student and Business Owner with a love for travel, food, and making the world a better place.

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