It really angers me that some MLM companies have their entire legal ground covered without giving an inch to you, the hard working distributor who builds the company. There are very few companies that have policies that both protect the company are are fair to the distributor.
If an MLM company says in its policies and procedures that they can terminate you, for any reason, with or without cause, is there anything you can do if they decide to enforce that policy against you? Unfortunately for you, no. There is very little you can do if a company terminates for reasons that are totally unfair to you, because you agreed that they could do it when you signed your contract.
If they terminate you, can you take your downline with you? In most cases, no. The company gets to keep the downline that you worked hard to build with non-compete clauses saying you can’t talk to anybody about another business opportunity for 6 to 12 months. If you do, they can sue you, because again, you agreed to the policy.
So taking them to court for unfair dismissal would be a big waste of time and money. And some companies have themselves well covered there too. They are taking away your right to take them to court. They are just too clever for the unsuspecting distributor. That’s why you absolutely must know your rights before you sign up as distributor. [click to continue…]
It never ceases to amaze me that some network marketing companies distrust their distributors so much that they want to control aspects of a distributor’s life that have nothing to do with the company. They want control that is far beyond reasonable.
They want to control their distributors far more than any employer would control their employees. Controlling your actions is not enough. Some MLM companies even want to control the actions of your family. It’s truly amazing – companies actually want to control people who are not even in the business.
Not only that, some of them want to control your actions after you have left them too! They actually have policies that govern your interactions with other distributors after you leave. They want to suppress your right of free speech. My question is WHY?! Why would you want to work with a company can limit your rights in such a way? [click to continue…]
What’s your responsiblity as a network marketer? Our goal, long term residual income, is our reward for helping other people become financially independent. It’s the result of us developing leaders in our downline organisations who in turn, foster leaders in their own downline organisations.
Network marketing is a leadership driven business. As such, you can only succeed when you lead by example. You cannot make your downline members do anything, as they are not your employees – they are independent entrepreneurs of their own accord. You cannot motivate anybody. That has to come from within others themselves. But you can lead people by teaching other people how to play the game.
Your responsibility is to develop yourself into a leader and lead. Period. However, some MLM companies want you to be the babysitter. They don’t want to take on any responsibility in training their distributors or be accountable for their distributors’ actions so they put all of that responsibility on you. And if you don’t fully engage in your role as a babysitter, they can terminate you or steal your bonus check.
Again, the proof is in the policies and procedures. Many companies have the following clauses in their policies and procedures word verbatim. You’d think they all hired exactly the same lawyers to write their contracts. In fact, they do… [click to continue…]
You know, many network marketing companies, especially the old, large institutions all try to hook you with something like “the freedom of owning your own business.” Is this true? Do you really own your own business?
When you really delve into the opportunity and understand it, you’ll realise that you don’t own your own business at all. It again, comes down to the company’s policies and procedures – the legally binding contract between you, the distributor, and the company. These policies and procedures are living proof that you DO NOT own your own business.
If a network marketing company can terminate your distributorship for any reason, is that owning your own business? Of course not. If a network marketing company can choose not to renew your annual contract, is that owning your own company? Again, absolutely not.
So without further ado, let’s dig right into the “funky” termination and renewal clauses. Some of these are quite unbelievable… and entertaining… but it’s serious stuff! [click to continue…]
The relationship you have with your MLM company should be one of mutual respect and support, right? After all, you can’t be successful without your company and they can’t be successful without you. On that basis you would expect your company to trust you to promote them ethically and you would trust them to provide you with the best products and marketing plan.
Some companies just don’t trust you. You can tell by the length of their policies and procedures that they don’t. The longer it is, the less they trust you and the less freedom you have as a distributor. It’s so ironic that this industry is all about freedom, yet some MLM policies and procedures are way more restrictive than employment contracts – beyond what you can imagine.
A fair network marketing company should have policies and procedures that are up to 10 to 15 pages long, according to Rod Cook of MLM Watchdog. Any longer than that and I would the question the motives of the company. I used to think that all MLM company policies and procedures were the same – just some legal flotsam where you would tick “I accept” when downloading some free software, but they’re not… [click to continue…]
If there’s one thing that we, as professional network marketers, should all do, it is to read is and understand our MLM company’s policies and procedures.
The policies and procedures manual will tell you everything you need to know about the integrity of your company’s management team and just how important YOU really are to them.
Unfortunately, alot of us skip this crucial step when we sign up to become distributors.
We skip it because our sign up was based on the trust and relationship we already have with an existing distributor. Or We skip it because we’re blinded by the excitement of being able to start our own business. Or We skip it because we’re not really expecting to be successful. Whatever the reason, this is a crucial step that has major consequences down the road. [click to continue…]
