Sham Focus

"Sham Focus" is focusing on the fact that MLM is a sham first, before being distracted by other annoyances (cult overtones, personal health consequences, poor product value, etc.) For those who don't understand why MLM doesn't work, every MLM ever has convincing arguments as to why their specific MLM is not like the others. Thanks to a Trump endorsement, ACN did significant financial and reputation damage to multiple people I know after those same people had already sworn off other MLMs:

Part of why I was able to get out of Herbalife in the 90's as quickly as I did was that I did not recruit downline. A few of my friends warned me I was getting involved in a "Pyramid Scheme," even as other friends were trying to join my downline. However, once I was out of Herbalife I didn't really understand what was wrong with MLM until I ran into an endless-chain-scheme that worked in 3 phases: 

1. I read an advertisement in the paper which read "turnkey mail order business, send self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to [a post office box.]" 
2. I got a convincing letter back in my SASE that said if I send them just $10 they will send me a package that will get me started in the business. 
3. In return for my $10 was the final "package," another letter that read: including the final letter I was now reading, the first letter I received in my SASE, and the advertisement I originally read in the paper, I now had everything I needed to run my own turn key mail order business. 

Obviously there was no way for that business to work because sooner or later if everyone who lost $10 started pulling the same sham, they would eventually run out of people gullible enough to fall for it. Understanding this endless chain scheme helped me see why MLM does not work and thus avoid any further participation in MLM. I challenge you and your friends to openly discuss the following:

1. Why don't you send money or bank account information to a Prince who contacted you randomly by e-mail?
2. What is "Affinity Fraud" and why should you avoid it?
3. What is an Exit Scam?
4. What is a Ponzi Scheme?
5. What is the difference between an Endless Chain Scheme and a Pyramid Scheme?
6. What would you have to do to "legalize" a scam in order to get away with it and avoid prosecution?
7. How would "legalization" of a scam impact that scam's victims?
8. What is the difference in risks between owning stock through an Index Fund, vs investing your time and money in a semi-legalized pyramid scheme (MLM)?
9. How does the risk of participation in MLM compare to the risk of participating in an illicit pyramid scheme or gambling at a casino?
10. Why are people who are interested in real business concerned about "market saturation?"

However most of us are not going to get together to discuss THAT over the weekend. Here are some other strategies I have seen that I like for getting hip to the MLM sham:

• Balls Falls Ostrich Egg Consultants is a spoof MLM that illustrates what is wrong with MLM through humor. Right now I believe it is mostly good for keeping people from joining new MLMs after they got out of previous ones, but their proselytizing of Balls Falls Ostriches is a notable example of reaching out to people caught up in scammery.
• I have a strategy for undermining the MLM mindset by building on the victim's doubts regarding their upline and downline.  My "How to Succeed at Network Marketing" ploy aims to educate the MLM victim regarding market saturation and what a legitimate business model might look like. 
• Encourage anyone considering joining an MLM to make a business plan considering both time and money they will be spending to participate in the MLM. Ask "could you possibly become financially independent doing this direct selling without recruiting others? Considering that others are being recruited to sell the same thing in your social network and community, how much of this stuff do you think you can actually sell month after month?"
• Ask anyone currently in MLM to keep financial records of all time and money spent on the MLM, and have them go over their records with you. Help them include anything they have forgotten in their records, including the cost of training, inventory, travel and how much they value their own time they could have spent not doing the MLM. When they see issues, explain to them the problem is the corrupt business model, not their lack of effort or ability.
• VanDruffs "What's Wrong With Muti-Level Marketing?" is the document that recruited me to the cause of anti-MLM in the 90's, long before Reddit ever existed. It does a great job of putting the problem of MLM being a sham first, before explaining their other annoyances regarding MLM.
• There are a lot of good YouTube videos regarding MLM now that emphasize the fundamental business problems with MLM. I think this one video helps illustrate the problem faster than anything else: