Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yor
Speaker 1: the Order KERNI Whoaltbury and a waddery woman. And before
Speaker 1: we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I
Speaker 1: would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
Speaker 1: of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
Speaker 1: acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming
Speaker 1: through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing
Speaker 1: and the storytelling of you to make a difference for
Speaker 1: today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
Speaker 3: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome back to She's on the Money podcast
Speaker 2: that helps you own your own financial future well dodging dodgy,
Speaker 2: get rich quick schemes. My friends, I am your host,
Speaker 2: Victoria Devine, and today we are diving into a world
Speaker 2: that is currently taking over social feeds faster than you
Speaker 2: can say, Hey, han, want to join my team? That
Speaker 2: is right. We are talking today about MLMs, those magical
Speaker 2: businesses that promise abundances of financial freedom, endless hashtag boss
Speaker 2: babe energy and somehow a six pack in thirty days.
Speaker 2: All from a mysterious powder that you pour into your
Speaker 2: morning smoothie. Now, if you've seen my Instagram stories lately,
Speaker 2: you'll know that I have those pesky postpartum hairs, and
Speaker 2: on Instagram I asked for some haircare advice. And this
Speaker 2: is kind of what kicked off a rant from me
Speaker 2: about multi level marketing. But I guess a little bit
Speaker 2: of a deeper conversation because not as many people knew
Speaker 2: about MLMs as I would want them too. But then
Speaker 2: also accidentally, I put myself in the firing line of
Speaker 2: all of the multi level marketing girl is, which is
Speaker 2: not where I wanted to be. So before we go
Speaker 2: any further, I want to be really clear about something.
Speaker 2: If you are currently in a multi level marketing company,
Speaker 2: this is not an attack on you. This is not
Speaker 2: a personal conversation. This is a conversation because the bigger
Speaker 2: organization needs to be held accountable and more people deserve
Speaker 2: to know how this works. So now I've got that
Speaker 2: off my chest, let's dive in. Let's start with the
Speaker 2: basics here. What is an MLM. So an MLM it
Speaker 2: stands for multi level marketing and you might have also
Speaker 2: heard it be called direct marketing or network marketing. It's
Speaker 2: essentially a business model that involves selling products, usually wellness
Speaker 2: or beauty or lifestyle items, directly to consumers. But here's
Speaker 2: where it gets slightly sketchy. In multi level marketing companies,
Speaker 2: the real money doesn't actually come from you individually selling products.
Speaker 2: It comes from recruiting more people to join the business
Speaker 2: under you. So picture a pyramid. Note really, at the top,
Speaker 2: you have the highest earnest, the people who got in
Speaker 2: early and then built a team underneath them. Aka, they
Speaker 2: kind of recruited a small army and they're now living
Speaker 2: their hushtag best lucks life. But down at the very bottom,
Speaker 2: you have thousands, if not more than thousands of people
Speaker 2: who are hustling really hard. They're buying products, they're hosting
Speaker 2: online parties, they are desperately trying to recruit other people
Speaker 2: to do the same thing. And the sales pitch here
Speaker 2: is that you're not just selling a product. You're actually
Speaker 2: selling the dream. You are selling the lifestyle. You're selling
Speaker 2: financial freedom, you're selling the idea of flexible working hours,
Speaker 2: being your own boss, being able to work from home
Speaker 2: with your babies. But in reality, most people in multi
Speaker 2: level marketing companies do not make money. In fact, studies
Speaker 2: show that over ninety nine percent of people who are
Speaker 2: involved in multi level marketing companies lose money. You absolutely
Speaker 2: heard that correctly. If you've ever wondered why your best
Speaker 2: friend has suddenly started trying to get you to buy
Speaker 2: fifty dollars protein shakes, it's because they're trying to climb
Speaker 2: up that pyramid. Now, I do keep referring to the
Speaker 2: structure of this business as a pyramid, because the structure
Speaker 2: of these businesses looks a lot like one. Right, So
Speaker 2: let's talk about the difference here between a pyramid scheme
Speaker 2: and a multi level marketing company, because while they do
Speaker 2: seem incredibly similar, and honestly they are actually quite similar,
Speaker 2: there's actually a sneaky little loophole that MLMs use to
Speaker 2: stay legal, especially here in Australia. So first, let's break
Speaker 2: down what a pyramid scheme is. I love talking about
Speaker 2: this stuff. So these are actually illegal in Australia, and
Speaker 2: rightly so. So a pyramid scheme is a business model
Speaker 2: where participants they make money solely through recruiting other people.
Speaker 2: There's no product, there's no service, it's just recruiting. You
Speaker 2: are literally selling a dream to other people. Everyone is
Speaker 2: focused on getting more people to join because that's the
Speaker 2: only way that more money is made. So what I'm
Speaker 2: going to do is get you to imagine that you're
Speaker 2: on top of the pyramid, and then you're recruiting people
Speaker 2: who are beneath you. So one person recruits two, and
Speaker 2: then those two people recruit others and it literally becomes
Speaker 2: a pyramid shape.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: They pay to join, and then you get a cut
Speaker 2: of that payment for them joining, and then those people
Speaker 2: recruit other people and what happens is that money the
Speaker 2: person that recruited them gets a cut of that. But then,
Speaker 2: because you're the ultimate at the top of this pyramid,
Speaker 2: you get a cut of that as well, and those
Speaker 2: people recruit more people, and then the money it keeps
Speaker 2: trickling up to you. But here's the catch. It's completely unsustainable.
Speaker 2: Eventually you're going to run out of people to recruit
Speaker 2: and the whole thing collapses. We've seen it time and
Speaker 2: time again. The people at the bottom, those are the
Speaker 2: people that are left with absolutely nothing. And that is
Speaker 2: why pyramid schemes are illegal under the Competition and Consumer
Speaker 2: Act of twenty ten. Here in Australia. So the law
Speaker 2: says that any business model where income is based solely
Speaker 2: on recruitment without the cell of an actual product or
Speaker 2: service is straight up fraud. But here is where things
Speaker 2: get a little bit murky. MLMs are like pyramid schemes,
Speaker 2: but with a little bit of a makeover. They operate
Speaker 2: in I guess, the same way, but with one key difference,
Speaker 2: and that is that they sell a product and that
Speaker 2: is how they get away with it. But with multi
Speaker 2: level marketing companies, the pressure to recruit is always there.
Speaker 2: Don't let people let you think otherwise. No person who
Speaker 2: owns a multi level marketing company thought oh great, let's
Speaker 2: go into hair care because I have this fantastic product
Speaker 2: that i'd love to distribute. They actually started with the
Speaker 2: business structure first and then added a product later, because
Speaker 2: their priority was creating a structure that made them incredibly rich,
Speaker 2: not through the product. You might start out thinking, if
Speaker 2: you join one of these, that you're just going to
Speaker 2: sell like a few skincare kits to your friends, but
Speaker 2: then very quickly you're going to be pushed to build
Speaker 2: a tea to recruit others and chase the very elusive
Speaker 2: financial freedom that they keep dangling in front of you
Speaker 2: because genuinely they prey on the vulnerable. The people who
Speaker 2: might want to be able to work from home, who
Speaker 2: have become stay at home mums and are creeping really
Speaker 2: close to the end of their maternity leave and don't
Speaker 2: want to go back to work. They're the ones that
Speaker 2: fall into these traps most readily because they are so
Speaker 2: desperate to find a solution that enables them to have
Speaker 2: the lifestyle that they want. Multi level marketing companies are
Speaker 2: insanely predatory, particularly towards women, and I've done some research.
Speaker 2: According to Direct Selling Australia, seventy five percent of multi
Speaker 2: level marketing participants are women, and this is because obviously,
Speaker 2: multi level marketing companies are strategically targeting single women, stay
Speaker 2: at home mums, single mums, women seeking financial independence, the
Speaker 2: disabled community. These companies play on mum guilt, on selling
Speaker 2: the dream on being able to work from home and
Speaker 2: being your own boss while still caring so much for
Speaker 2: your family. The recruitment pitch promises you financial freedom, flexibility,
Speaker 2: better work life balance, but in reality, most women end
Speaker 2: up trapped in a cycle of financial loss and relentless recruitment.
Speaker 2: And this isn't just me saying that. Over the last
Speaker 2: few weeks, I have had hundreds of DMS from people
Speaker 2: telling me that I was in a multi level marketing
Speaker 2: company and to be able to be paid out my commissions,
Speaker 2: I had to buy my own products to get more money,
Speaker 2: I had to recruit people and lie to them about
Speaker 2: the structure. One person even told me that they made
Speaker 2: fake accounts to purchase product under because they wanted to
Speaker 2: make their quotas. What makes them predatory from my perspective
Speaker 2: is how grossly they exploit women's vulnerabilities. They present their
Speaker 2: multi level marketing situation, I suppose as a solution to
Speaker 2: balancing your family life and being able to earn an income,
Speaker 2: but instead you're faced with an enormous amount of pressure
Speaker 2: to recruit others and to buy unsellable products. So over
Speaker 2: ninety nine percent of people involved in multi level marketing
Speaker 2: companies lose money, making these schemes incredibly harmful to those
Speaker 2: that they claim to empower. They literally say that they
Speaker 2: empower women, but how is empowering women making them lose money?
Speaker 2: Women are drawn in by this appeal of autonomy, but
Speaker 2: most end up financially worse off, which makes me so angry,
Speaker 2: and it's often at the cost of their personal relationships
Speaker 2: since financial stability. If you know someone who has been
Speaker 2: in a multi level marketing company, you have all seen
Speaker 2: those messages that make you want to unfollow them or
Speaker 2: block them. According to a study sided on the American
Speaker 2: Federal Trade Commission website, gambling at a rulette table offers
Speaker 2: better odds than joining an MLM company. The research shows
Speaker 2: that while two point nine percent of gamblers at a
Speaker 2: rulette table in Las Vegas make a profit, only zero
Speaker 2: point four percent of multi level marketing participants earn more
Speaker 2: than they spend. This means that statistically, you are more
Speaker 2: likely to win a game of chance than you are
Speaker 2: to succeed in a multi level marketing company, which praise
Speaker 2: on your ambition while hiding the near guaranteed financial loss.
Speaker 2: Multi level marketing companies are dressed up as business opportunities,
Speaker 2: but the reality is they're going to re exploit your
Speaker 2: financial desperation while stacking the odds against you. I literally
Speaker 2: can't think of anything worse that you could do to
Speaker 2: someone who is trying to start a business and provide
Speaker 2: financial freedom. Multi level marketing companies rely heavily on essentially
Speaker 2: confusing compensation and bonus structures to keep people consistently chasing
Speaker 2: rewards that are nearly impossible to achieve. You're going to
Speaker 2: see them throw around terms like downlines and rank bonuses
Speaker 2: and leadership levels to create this illusion that financial success
Speaker 2: it's just a few recruits away or sale away, and
Speaker 2: don't worry. Maybe next month is your mine, and don't worry,
Speaker 2: you've only recruited five people, but if you get to seven.
Speaker 2: But here's the catch. The structure is intentionally complex, like
Speaker 2: they do this on purpose, which makes it harder for
Speaker 2: people to understand how much they're truly earning, or more accurately,
Speaker 2: how little they're actually making, and in reality, most people
Speaker 2: never get close to the shiny rewards. The multi level
Speaker 2: business model is. It's structured in a way that primarily
Speaker 2: benefits those who are at the top of the pyramid,
Speaker 2: those who have already built large downlines and rely on
Speaker 2: constant recruitment of new participants, which in this day and age,
Speaker 2: is really toxic. Because what we're seeing on social media,
Speaker 2: and I know a lot of you have seen on
Speaker 2: social media, is influencers who are now joining multi level
Speaker 2: marketing companies because they have engaged communities and arguably hundreds
Speaker 2: of thousands of followers, which automatically puts them at the
Speaker 2: top of the pyramid. I'm a girl's girl at my heart.
Speaker 2: I will never name and shame, but we all know
Speaker 2: and have seen how it works. Somebody has been on
Speaker 2: reality TV. They then get a very large Instagram following,
Speaker 2: and then they decide to join a multi level marketing business.
Speaker 2: They then start promoting how their life has absolutely changed
Speaker 2: because they're now selling this product and they've got so
Speaker 2: much financial freedom, and you know, they have these really
Speaker 2: great teams and they have so much beautiful community. But
Speaker 2: the reality is they were able to create that for
Speaker 2: themselves because they had such a significant following and everyone
Speaker 2: was like, oh my gosh, if Victoria's doing that, I
Speaker 2: want to do that. Victoria is somebody that I trust.
Speaker 2: I think that's what makes me the most scared about
Speaker 2: these things is because I know that, you know, just
Speaker 2: as somebody who has influence. I know I have an
Speaker 2: Instagram following, and if I had decided to go down
Speaker 2: a root like this, I know that it wouldn't be
Speaker 2: too much of a side step to say to people
Speaker 2: come along, like you could actually have your own business.
Speaker 2: It's so easy, it's terrifying. But for most people, the
Speaker 2: only way to progress in this and actually create any
Speaker 2: level of income is to recruit other people, not by
Speaker 2: selling the products that they sell. Like literally, if you
Speaker 2: broke it down into how much they are making, these
Speaker 2: people who are at the top of their game, the
Speaker 2: Instagram influencers selling the dream sharing their beautiful hair, sharing
Speaker 2: all of this, I can absolutely guarantee that if I
Speaker 2: broke down their paycheck from their multi level marketing company,
Speaker 2: ninety nine percent of their income would come from the
Speaker 2: income that the people below them are generating, not from
Speaker 2: the product that they are selling. So even if you're
Speaker 2: working tirelessly, you might still find yourself falling short because
Speaker 2: success in a multi level marketing company is far more
Speaker 2: about recruitment than it ever was about product sales. It
Speaker 2: actually blows my mind that this is legal in Australia.
Speaker 2: What's even more troubling is that multi level marketing companies
Speaker 2: they don't care about your skills or experience. Anyone can join,
Speaker 2: and I mean that's great, Like I think anyone should
Speaker 2: have a shot at creating their own business, creating their
Speaker 2: own career, paving their own path right. As long as
Speaker 2: you're willing to buy the starter kit and investing their products,
Speaker 2: you're in. There's absolutely no vetting process, no regard for
Speaker 2: whether you're suited to succeed in this business. They just
Speaker 2: want to bring in as many people as possible. And
Speaker 2: this is because the real money. I don't know how
Speaker 2: many times I can say this, but the real money's
Speaker 2: made when you recruit others and then they buy your
Speaker 2: starter kits and the products, keeping the pyramid scheme alive
Speaker 2: and flowing and well. The system is quite literally designed
Speaker 2: to continuously grow the base of the pyramid, benefiting those
Speaker 2: at the top, while the majority of the people at
Speaker 2: the bottom are struggling. They are losing money, and we
Speaker 2: know what a pyramid looks like most of the people
Speaker 2: who are at the bottom. It's no secret that multi
Speaker 2: level marketing companies have gotten a major upgrade in the
Speaker 2: digital age. Gorner the days of your mum's Tupperware parties
Speaker 2: and those door to door avon sales. Today multi level
Speaker 2: marketing company are thriving on social media, which to me
Speaker 2: is more toxic. Because you had to consent to a
Speaker 2: Tupperware party, you had to accept the avon magazine at
Speaker 2: your front door gorner. Those days you're scrolling on Instagram,
Speaker 2: you're scrolling on Facebook, you're all over TikTok. You didn't
Speaker 2: even know that the product that your favorite influencer was
Speaker 2: promoting was a multi level marketing recruitment strategy. And trust me,
Speaker 2: that's no accident. These platforms are literally perfect for multi
Speaker 2: level marketing girlies to prey on people's insecurities, building a
Speaker 2: really false sense of security and targeting those looking for
Speaker 2: a way to make money from home? Do you know
Speaker 2: how hard it is to show up online as a
Speaker 2: business owner? Like side note completely, but as somebody who
Speaker 2: owns multiple businesses. One of the hardest things that I
Speaker 2: do in my day, and this is going to sound
Speaker 2: very lame, is create content. It's not because the content
Speaker 2: is hard, It's because my confidence plays a lot into it.
Speaker 2: Because I feel like I want to show up as
Speaker 2: my true, authentic self. I want to be able to
Speaker 2: promote my business. I want to be able to get
Speaker 2: in front of a camera. Most people are not comfortable
Speaker 2: to pop a camera in front of them and have
Speaker 2: a chat about their hair, have a chat about their business,
Speaker 2: to promote themselves. You guys know, I am obsessed with business.
Speaker 2: I have a podcast called the Business Bible. I have
Speaker 2: a business book coming out. And the reason I have
Speaker 2: this is because I want to empower people, particularly women,
Speaker 2: to create their own incomes, to take control of their
Speaker 2: own financial destiny. But when these companies prey on people's
Speaker 2: insecurities and build a false sense of security, these women
Speaker 2: are putting in so much time, energy, and effort to
Speaker 2: creating the social media content that it breaks my heart
Speaker 2: because they have so much potential that could be spent
Speaker 2: on a real business that could be putting themselves in
Speaker 2: the best possible position. Ask any genuine small business owner
Speaker 2: what their biggest struggles are and I can almost guarantee
Speaker 2: that social media will come up. But these girls are
Speaker 2: going above and beyond to create beautiful social media content
Speaker 2: for a business that is taking advantage of them, their friends,
Speaker 2: their family, and they don't know that they're doing it.
Speaker 2: I think that's the saddest part. They have been lulled
Speaker 2: into this false sense of security that this is a
Speaker 2: good idea for them, that this is their solution to
Speaker 2: their financial problems, This is the solution to being able
Speaker 2: to spend more time with their babies, This is the
Speaker 2: solution to being able to have a flexible work life
Speaker 2: balance while their partner works regionally. It breaks my heart
Speaker 2: because these women, they genuinely have drunk their own chool aid.
Speaker 2: They believe in everything that they are telling you, and
Speaker 2: that is what breaks my heart. Now. I want to
Speaker 2: talk about particularly Monet very quickly, because I feel like
Speaker 2: I've been focusing on that one the most because I
Speaker 2: feel like that's what came up for me. When I
Speaker 2: asked about my hair issues. I had an influx of
Speaker 2: people being like, Mona, it's fantastic, You're going to love it.
Speaker 2: I can send you a link. I think one thing
Speaker 2: that breaks my heart the most is these women are
Speaker 2: online and they're promoting it. They are so proud of
Speaker 2: the business that they work for. Note that I said
Speaker 2: the business that they work for, because from my perspective,
Speaker 2: they are literally sales reps. They'll tell you that they're entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2: They'll tell you that it's their own business. It is not.
Speaker 2: They are working as a sales representative for a bigger company.
Speaker 2: That company is called in this situation Mona, and that
Speaker 2: company is taking advantage of them. This company has told them,
Speaker 2: if you reach certain targets, if you recruit a certain
Speaker 2: amount of people, if you make a certain amount of
Speaker 2: product sales, you are going to get this. You're going
Speaker 2: to earn a Range Rover, will gift you a Range
Speaker 2: Rover and mate. That sounds sick. That sounds so cool
Speaker 2: to me. I've looked into it. If you are going
Speaker 2: to qualify for the mone Motor Club program, what you
Speaker 2: need to do is maintain a paid as rank of
Speaker 2: marketing mental or higher for six months. Can secure Okay,
Speaker 2: no worries, I'll do that. And then once you qualify
Speaker 2: for the program, they ask you to read the terms
Speaker 2: and conditions to make sure you're happy to take on
Speaker 2: this commitment. All of these Mona girls are going to
Speaker 2: tell you that they got their free car, right, keep
Speaker 2: that in mind. Then you're going to follow your invitation
Speaker 2: to the program. What you're going to do in your
Speaker 2: personal name is then purchase or lease has to be white,
Speaker 2: a white Range Rover, Land Rover or Jaguar. After that purchase,
Speaker 2: So keeping in mind, the girls online, they're going to
Speaker 2: tell you that they got gifted or they earned this
Speaker 2: Range Rover. It's theirs, right, it was a present. It
Speaker 2: was a gift from the company. The company that I
Speaker 2: quote is so generous. After you have personally purchased or
Speaker 2: leased a car, you're going to send in the required
Speaker 2: paperwork to the Mona head office and they will officially
Speaker 2: notify you that you are in the Mona Motor Club program.
Speaker 2: Right what you need to do is make sure that
Speaker 2: you are listed on the contract as as a signer
Speaker 2: or co signer. Money is never a part of this.
Speaker 2: That car loan is in your personal name. And then
Speaker 2: after you've completed all that enrollment money, they're going to
Speaker 2: send you a one time bonus of four thy two
Speaker 2: hundred dollars as part of your monthly commission earnings. Going forward,
Speaker 2: they're going to include what's called a motor club bonus
Speaker 2: based on your paid as rank. If you lose your rank,
Speaker 2: that car loan is on your shoulders. No one else
Speaker 2: is going to pay it because it's actually in your name.
Speaker 2: You didn't earn a car, you didn't win a car,
Speaker 2: you didn't get a free car gifted to you. You
Speaker 2: took out a loan, and as part of your remuneration,
Speaker 2: this company has said, if you continue to recruit people,
Speaker 2: we will continue to pay you to do that because
Speaker 2: you're making them a lot of money and they're sharing
Speaker 2: a small part of that. But if you miss out
Speaker 2: one month, we're going to actually kick you out of
Speaker 2: the program completely. Isn't that insane to think that these
Speaker 2: girls are getting online and telling everybody that they have
Speaker 2: been gifted a car, But the reality of it is
Speaker 2: they have a car loan that Mone's paying for, but
Speaker 2: only if they continue to recruit people under them. Don't
Speaker 2: even get me started on the trips. If you think
Speaker 2: that I'm done here, I'm absolutely not. I am going
Speaker 2: to do a number of other podcasts on this, maybe
Speaker 2: deep diving into particular companies, because I feel like they
Speaker 2: are all predatory, but they are also all built different
Speaker 2: like at the end of the day, from my perspective,
Speaker 2: companies like Thermomix and Tupperware are not nearly as bad
Speaker 2: as companies like money because there are different catches. So,
Speaker 2: for example, Thermomix, while a multi level marketing company does
Speaker 2: not require you to recruit people to maintain a status,
Speaker 2: MONE does. I'll go on about that another day. So
Speaker 2: to dive into the car situation a little bit more,
Speaker 2: I said that you have to maintain a market mentoring rank, right,
Speaker 2: So there are a lot of ranks. It goes from
Speaker 2: a market partner all the way up to senior executive director,
Speaker 2: which makes not a lot of sense to me, because
Speaker 2: what are you directing? You don't require an ABN to
Speaker 2: join this business because it's not actually your business. You're
Speaker 2: a sales representative, But as a marketing mentor, you could
Speaker 2: earn According to Mona's website, show up to three hundred
Speaker 2: and forty five thousand dollars. That's the highest annual gross
Speaker 2: earnings of one of their market mentors. The lowest annual
Speaker 2: gross earnings of a market mentor was four nine hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty three dollars, with the average annual gross earnings
Speaker 2: of forty nine thousand dollars. Right, So what does that
Speaker 2: mean per month? On average, a marketing mentor makes four
Speaker 2: thousand and ninety nine dollars per month. Right, And if
Speaker 2: we do some quick maths, because we know that you
Speaker 2: have to get the car loan in your own name,
Speaker 2: and you have to get a white Land Rover, Range
Speaker 2: Rover or Jaguar of less than five years of age. Right,
Speaker 2: a range Rover evoke on average is going to cost
Speaker 2: you one hundred thousand dollars. That's like mini suv version
Speaker 2: of a range Rover. If you're going to get the
Speaker 2: big range Rover, that's about one hundred and eighty I
Speaker 2: mean they go up to three hundred thousand dollars, but
Speaker 2: we're going to go with one hundred and eighty thousand
Speaker 2: dollars for a range Rover sport, of course in white,
Speaker 2: because it has to match the brand aesthetics. On average,
Speaker 2: your monthly repayments for a range Rover Evoke are going
Speaker 2: to be twelve hundred dollars. For a range Rover Sport,
Speaker 2: you're probably looking at two thousand dollars. That's half your
Speaker 2: average monthly earnings. And if hypothetically, one month you don't
Speaker 2: make the sales targets or your recruitment targets and drop
Speaker 2: back down to the rank below, which is Associate market Mentor,
Speaker 2: the average monthly gross earnings drop to sixteen hundred and
Speaker 2: eighty two dollars. You can't even pay for your range
Speaker 2: Rover that month with the income that you are earning
Speaker 2: as an associate market mentor. I think the most important
Speaker 2: thing here as well, and this is all publicly accessible
Speaker 2: information available on the MONE website. The most common rank
Speaker 2: is market Partner. That's the entry level. One point one
Speaker 2: five percent of people in mone fall into this and
Speaker 2: on average they make per month nine dollars. Ninety one
Speaker 2: percent of people in money on average make nine dollars
Speaker 2: per month. Obviously, the highest level, the senior executive director,
Speaker 2: that is the big dog at the top of the pyramid.
Speaker 2: Wait for this. On average, their monthly gross earnings are
Speaker 2: seventy nine two hundred and six dollars. And these are
Speaker 2: the ones that are going to sell you the dream,
Speaker 2: right their senior executive directors. They are earning up to
Speaker 2: because the highest annual gross earnings of a senior executive
Speaker 2: director is one point six million dollars. That's a lot
Speaker 2: of money. That is a lot a lot of money,
Speaker 2: but that is point one percent of the company that's
Speaker 2: actually unhinged. That is the top of the pyramid. Not
Speaker 2: everyone can be top of the pyramid. In fact, if
Speaker 2: you you wanted to join this and you think that
Speaker 2: you are going to be able to outrank the person
Speaker 2: that has recruited you, I would say good luck, because
Speaker 2: if people are consistently outranking the person that recruited them,
Speaker 2: the sustainability of the business model doesn't work. It doesn't work.
Speaker 2: It falls down, Like the entire business model is built
Speaker 2: to have most people being at that base level because
Speaker 2: that's where the big dogs make the most money. They
Speaker 2: need people below them. So back on track, I feel
Speaker 2: like all of this is really interesting, but I feel
Speaker 2: like the pandemic really supercharged this right with more people
Speaker 2: who were working from home or losing their job. Sadly,
Speaker 2: multi level marketing companies saw a massive spike in recruitment.
Speaker 2: So there was a report done from the DSA and
Speaker 2: it showed that there was a forty percent increase in
Speaker 2: multi level marketing participation in twenty twenty. As people really
Speaker 2: scrambled for flexible income streams or even just income streams
Speaker 2: in general, social media became completely flooded with posts promising
Speaker 2: work from home solutions and extra income during a time
Speaker 2: of uncertainty, But for the vast majority, that extra income
Speaker 2: never actually came. Again, reminding you, ninety one percent of
Speaker 2: people in MONEE earn on average nine dollars a month.
Speaker 2: That is a gross annual earning of one hundred and
Speaker 2: fourteen dollars, and to join the company, it's a minimum
Speaker 2: of three hundred dollars on a pack to join. Ninety
Speaker 2: one percent of people who join money are at of
Speaker 2: financial loss because they did so. Multi level marketing companies
Speaker 2: prey on people's financial insecurities, kind of dangling them as
Speaker 2: a carrot of success in front of them, but offering
Speaker 2: literally nothing but a treadmill of recruitment and personal expenses.
Speaker 2: They're going to tell you that you're running your own
Speaker 2: business and that you're an entrepreneur and that you are
Speaker 2: in control of your own life. But the reality is
Speaker 2: you don't own a business. You are a glorified sales representative.
Speaker 2: If that business goes down, your business in quotation marks
Speaker 2: is done. Multi level marketing companies love to sell you
Speaker 2: on this idea of being a boss babe or being
Speaker 2: on an entrepreneur, but in reality, you don't have any
Speaker 2: control over the product, the pricing, or even your customer base.
Speaker 2: Multi level marketing companies mask this reality by offering titles
Speaker 2: like independent consultant, market builder, marketing mentor, Associate executive director,
Speaker 2: managing market mentor, and senior executive director b For real,
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, you are a commissioned
Speaker 2: salesperson without the security, without the salary, without the benefits
Speaker 2: that come from a traditional sales job. I am getting
Speaker 2: quite worked up. So we're going to take a very
Speaker 2: quick break, and when we come back, I'm going to
Speaker 2: show you how you can tell if an opportunity is
Speaker 2: a real one or if it's a multi level marketing
Speaker 2: company in disguise. So don't go anywhere or at my friends.
Speaker 2: We are back and I am still quite mad about this.
Speaker 2: So the question arises, how do we know if an
Speaker 2: opportunity is a multi level marketing company? We don't want
Speaker 2: to get swept up in that, So what they're going
Speaker 2: to do is most likely refer to them as network
Speaker 2: marketing or direct selling instead of multi level marketing. The
Speaker 2: first thing I want you to be aware of is
Speaker 2: this is it too good to be true? Test? If
Speaker 2: someone is offering new financial freedom, flexible hours, and a
Speaker 2: six figure income for minimal effort, my friend, that is
Speaker 2: a red flag. Please remember that if it sounds too
Speaker 2: good to be true, it probably is. Real businesses don't
Speaker 2: offer quick money for doing almost nothing. Honestly, if it did,
Speaker 2: I'd already be all over that. Let's be honest. As
Speaker 2: a business owner, of course, I would like to do
Speaker 2: less for more. If Jeff bezovs it didn't get rich overnight,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, but the chances are that you will is
Speaker 2: not there. What I want you to do as well is,
Speaker 2: if you're thinking about this, I need you to look
Speaker 2: at the income disclosure statements. Multi level marketing companies are
Speaker 2: legally required to provide income disclosure statements. These are like
Speaker 2: I guess, the company's report card, telling you how much
Speaker 2: participants actually make. If you ever feel tempted, look at
Speaker 2: their income stats. A tiny fraction make any profit and
Speaker 2: the rest are left paying for those business starter kits.
Speaker 2: Back to the income statement that I was very easily
Speaker 2: able to download straight from the Mona website, I would
Speaker 2: like to remind you that ninety one percent of people
Speaker 2: who have joined Monay as a market partner made nine
Speaker 2: dollars this month. That does not cover the cost of
Speaker 2: their business starter kit. The next thing I want you
Speaker 2: to be aware of is the cult vibes. We all
Speaker 2: know them. You've seen them on social media. It's fully
Speaker 2: cult vibes. Multi level marketing companies love to sell a
Speaker 2: sense of belonging. They're gonna call you boss, babe, They're
Speaker 2: gonna call you the team, which makes no sense to
Speaker 2: me because how are you joining a team if you're
Speaker 2: owning your own business, make it make sense. They want
Speaker 2: to make you feel like part of a team, and
Speaker 2: they're gonna shower you with the hashtag girl boss love.
Speaker 2: But behind all the thing Facebook groups and Instagram stories
Speaker 2: and WhatsApp chats, there is relentless pressure to recruit. It's
Speaker 2: not real support, it's them wanting to make money for themselves,
Speaker 2: because if they're nice to you because they recruited you,
Speaker 2: you're going to recruit other people, which ultimately benefits them.
Speaker 2: If a community feels more like a recruitment drive, my friend,
Speaker 2: it is time to run. The Next thing I want
Speaker 2: you to do quick Google search. Before we get involved
Speaker 2: in any business. What I want you to do is
Speaker 2: type in the company name and the word scam, or
Speaker 2: the company name and the word lawsuit. It'd be surprised
Speaker 2: how many multi level marketing companies have been involved in
Speaker 2: lawsuits or regulatory issues. A little detective work is going
Speaker 2: to be able to save you from signing up to
Speaker 2: something that's already sinking. The next thing I want you
Speaker 2: to do is ask questions about the product. If the
Speaker 2: business seems to care more about you recruiting others than
Speaker 2: selling an actual product, it's a massive red flag. A
Speaker 2: legitimate business should be built on product sales, not ongrowing
Speaker 2: a team of people who recruit more people. Have you
Speaker 2: seen all the boss babes online? How many times are
Speaker 2: they posting about their actual shampoo as opposed to Hey,
Speaker 2: join my team?
Speaker 1: Hey?
Speaker 2: Have you ever wanted a community around you?
Speaker 1: Hey?
Speaker 2: Are you a stay at home mum? And don't have
Speaker 2: the support you deserve. All of those recruitment posts clearly
Speaker 2: outweigh the product posts, and it is so toxic. It
Speaker 2: is not funny. If the product is feeling like an afterthought,
Speaker 2: I can almost guarantee it's not a solid opportunity. The
Speaker 2: next thing I want you to do is consider upfront costs.
Speaker 2: I mean, we all know it costs money to start
Speaker 2: a business, and these companies are going to tell you
Speaker 2: that all businesses cost money to start, but multi level
Speaker 2: marketing companies often require you to buy a starter kit
Speaker 2: or a bunch of products up front before you are
Speaker 2: even able to consider joining the business. Real businesses don't
Speaker 2: ask you to fork out hundreds, if not thousands of
Speaker 2: dollars before you've even started earning money. If you're told
Speaker 2: you need to invest in yourself to succeed, there's a translation.
Speaker 2: We want your money, we want it fast. It's not
Speaker 2: going to benefit you. The next thing I want you
Speaker 2: to consider is before diving in, I want you to
Speaker 2: talk to someone who isn't part of that multi level
Speaker 2: marketing company. Often, once you're inside, it's really hard to
Speaker 2: get unbiased information because everyone is trying to recruit you
Speaker 2: or push you to sell more. Look for a mutual
Speaker 2: perspective who can help you see through all of this hype.
Speaker 2: And if your mentor tells you not to talk to
Speaker 2: outsiders yet, my friends, that is a red flag. I
Speaker 2: literally reposted a post from a Monai conference where there
Speaker 2: were men on stage, which made me laugh because it's
Speaker 2: a woman empowering conference, but there were medioca middle aged
Speaker 2: white men sitting on stage, and the question that they
Speaker 2: are answering, because it is on the giant screen behind them,
Speaker 2: is what actions can I take to overcome my husband
Speaker 2: or my partner's skepticism about my new business? My friend,
Speaker 2: if your partner is skeptical about your business, there's a
Speaker 2: few things that we need to address. One, we want
Speaker 2: supportive partners. Only if your partner is super skeptical of
Speaker 2: something that you are starting to me that could be
Speaker 2: a red flag. Absolutely, But if it is a legitimate
Speaker 2: business and they are skeptical, that's where you need to
Speaker 2: educate them and share that with them. But if they
Speaker 2: are skeptical because they are like Victoria, you are investing
Speaker 2: money that you are going to lose. Victoria, this is
Speaker 2: a scam. Those are things that we should be listening to.
Speaker 2: My husband has been nothing but supportive of me and
Speaker 2: my business journey because it's understandable and it makes sense.
Speaker 2: On the flip side, if your partner is calling something
Speaker 2: out as a red flag and you're not listening to them,
Speaker 2: why are you not listening to them? The next thing
Speaker 2: I want you to have a look at is the
Speaker 2: product shelf life. Here is a smart one. I want
Speaker 2: you to consider how often you or anyone would actually
Speaker 2: buy this product. Are people going to keep paying for
Speaker 2: really expensive protein shakes or essential oils every single month?
Speaker 2: If the answer is no, you're probably going to end
Speaker 2: up with boxes of unsigne inventory gathering dust in your garage.
Speaker 2: The next thing that I want to talk about is,
Speaker 2: let's just really understand your financial reality. Multi level marketing
Speaker 2: companies prey on people who need extra cash and then
Speaker 2: promise them the world before diving in. I want you
Speaker 2: to look at your financial situation. Can you actually afford
Speaker 2: to take this risk. What blows my mind the most,
Speaker 2: and this pisces me off so much, is there are
Speaker 2: multi level marketing girl is out there promoting this lifestyle
Speaker 2: when I know that they are married to a male
Speaker 2: with an incredibly high income, so they don't actually need
Speaker 2: to earn an income. So they're promoting all of these things,
Speaker 2: growing their girl boss world when the reality is they
Speaker 2: are not reliant on that income. But they will convince
Speaker 2: you that you need to be. Multi level marketing participants
Speaker 2: lose more money than they gain, So what I would
Speaker 2: be doing is not vetting my grocery money on a
Speaker 2: promise that is more about recruitment than results. I need
Speaker 2: you to also remember that you, my friend, are not
Speaker 2: the product. Level marketings sell your lifestyle. They're going to
Speaker 2: sell you the dream, the freedom, the flexibility being your
Speaker 2: own boss. But what they're really selling is you, or
Speaker 2: rather they're using you to recruit other people, because at
Speaker 2: the end of the day, the person who benefits the
Speaker 2: most is the person at the top of the pyramid.
Speaker 2: If the focus shifts from the product to you being
Speaker 2: the success story for others to follow. It's time to
Speaker 2: walk away. You're worth more than being somebody else's recruitment tool.
Speaker 2: If you're in a multi level marketing company and you're
Speaker 2: feeling like it's time to step away, the process can
Speaker 2: seem daunting and overwhelming, but it is entirely possible to
Speaker 2: leave and reclaim your financial and emotional wellbeing. From my perspective,
Speaker 2: it's crucial that you're going to be able to see
Speaker 2: that wanting to leave isn't a sign of failure. It's
Speaker 2: actually a sign of insight and reflection that you deserve.
Speaker 2: Multi level marketing companies are structured to benefit those only
Speaker 2: at the top, and most participants, through literally no fault
Speaker 2: of their own, end up losing more money than they make.
Speaker 2: It's like getting a credit card. Nobody gets a credit
Speaker 2: card with the intention of going into thousands of dollars
Speaker 2: of crippling debt. The same with multi level marketing companies.
Speaker 2: Nobody joins thinking, oh, I'm just going to remain at
Speaker 2: that market partner level and earn nine dollars a month. Literally,
Speaker 2: people are earning nine dollars a month and slaving away
Speaker 2: over social media. They're making videos every day. They are
Speaker 2: ruining their relationships with their friends and families. What for
Speaker 2: nine dollars a month. Nobody joined because they thought that
Speaker 2: they'd only make nine dollars a month. They joined because
Speaker 2: they saw the senior executive director talking about how there
Speaker 2: are millionaires in this company. That's not going to be
Speaker 2: the reality of most people. And you need to accept
Speaker 2: this reality that maybe you're losing more than just money.
Speaker 2: You need to accept that reality because it can be
Speaker 2: super liberating, and he's honestly the first step to moving forward.
Speaker 2: I would start by taking stock of your financial situation.
Speaker 2: Can you calculate exactly how much you've invested into this
Speaker 2: multi level marketing company, including the starter kit, the products,
Speaker 2: and ongoing fees, so that you can actually understand where
Speaker 2: you're standing. The other thing I would do, and this
Speaker 2: is really hard, because multi level marketing companies they really
Speaker 2: prey on your need for community and connection. I want
Speaker 2: you to disconnect from multi level marketing related social media
Speaker 2: groups that might be pressuring you to stay involved or
Speaker 2: giving yourself emotional space to reflect without influence from your upline.
Speaker 2: It can be really helpful to let your upline or
Speaker 2: a recruit or know that you're stepping away, but honestly,
Speaker 2: they're just going to pressure you. So do not feel
Speaker 2: pressured to justify the decision that you are making. Keep
Speaker 2: the conversation clear and really firm. You do not owe
Speaker 2: anyone an explanation beyond stating that it is no longer
Speaker 2: a good fit for you. If legal contracts or obligations
Speaker 2: feel really complicated, you can seek advice from a legal professional. Finally,
Speaker 2: I want you to reconnect with your friends and your
Speaker 2: family outside of multi level marketing and consider maybe some
Speaker 2: more sustainable opportunities, whether it's freelancing, or taking some courses
Speaker 2: or even starting a traditional business. There are helpless pathways
Speaker 2: to financial independence that do not involve the MLM. Girl
Speaker 2: Boss Grind. I feel like there's honestly so much to
Speaker 2: unpack when it comes to these really predatory business models,
Speaker 2: and this episode was about kind of introducing you talking
Speaker 2: about the concept. And I know that you feel the
Speaker 2: same because the messages that I have received have been
Speaker 2: in the hundreds this week. It's clear that we have
Speaker 2: all been affected or we know someone who's been pulled
Speaker 2: into the web of false promises and lies and the
Speaker 2: misleading recruitment tactics. So we are going to dive a
Speaker 2: lot deeper into how these schemes operate and how you
Speaker 2: can protect yourself and your loved ones from falling into
Speaker 2: the trap. In an upcoming episode. I am so excited.
Speaker 2: I have a woman called Emily Lynn Paulson, who is
Speaker 2: the author of Hayhun The Sales, Sisterhood and Supremacy and
Speaker 2: the Other Lies behind multi level Marketing join us. He's
Speaker 2: the which I think is actually so cool and why
Speaker 2: I reached out to have her on the show. Emily
Speaker 2: made more than a million dollars through her involvement in
Speaker 2: a multi level marketing company and she still believes that
Speaker 2: the model is deeply harmful. If that doesn't tell you
Speaker 2: that they're bad, I don't know what does. I think
Speaker 2: it's going to be super juicy, So I recommend that
Speaker 2: you hit subscribe and don't miss a thing. But I'm
Speaker 2: off two scroll TikTok and probably fall down a rabbit
Speaker 2: hole of watching multi level marketing content and I just
Speaker 2: can't look away. There is so much content I want
Speaker 2: to share because I feel like this space needs to change.
Speaker 2: Heremid schemes here in Australia are illegal and from all
Speaker 2: of the research I'm doing, I genuinely believe that multi
Speaker 2: level marketing companies should be too. So keep an eye
Speaker 2: on this space, keep an eye on the pod, and
Speaker 2: keep an eye on my Instagram stories because they arguably
Speaker 2: more unhinged than the podcasts I pull together, which involve
Speaker 2: a lot of nuance. So see your friends have a
Speaker 2: great weekend. The advice shared on She on the Money
Speaker 2: is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances.
Speaker 2: She's on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and
Speaker 2: should not be relied upon to make an investment or
Speaker 2: financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial.
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Speaker 4: Victoria Divine and She's on the Money are authorized representatives
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