Posted by This template comes courtesy of Abigal Devereaux, an anti-MLM activist. She has devised a courteous, diplomatic letter/email/social media message template, perfect for responding to any unsolicited MLM-shilling messages you may receive on social media. We know it is so tempting to tell them to F**K OFF, but a more gentle approach is usually best, especially if it is someone you care for. Over to you, Abigail!
[Abigal:] Thanks! I hope that you will all find this template useful when it comes to letting an MLM rep down gently. Simply change any of the red text to apply to your specific situation.
Dear FRIEND_NAME,
I hope you are doing well. I’m contacting you after being added to your MLM_NAME Facebook page/group [delete as applicable].
I advise you as one intelligent person to another not to get roped into a money-losing MLM if you can avoid it. Take an example from the people desperate to get out of LulaRoe right now, a company with a similar business structure to MLM_NAME. There are plenty of resources available on the Anti-MLM Coalition page, especially the advice from Bot Watch. From an ex-presenter perspective, you might want to check out Elle Beau’s first-hand experience with Younique, which has an indistinguishable model from MLM_NAME: https://ellebeaublog.com/poonique/
Note that though you were instructed by your upline(s) to add your Facebook friends to a page for your “business,” it is generally not cool to add a bunch of people to a page marketing some other company’s stuff. It’s treating friends and family like cash cows. MLMs centre their business model on monetising personal relationships and, whatever your morals might be, I hope you agree that treating friends and family like walking business opportunities is wrong and will likely put a strain on your relationships.
I hope you are able to get out of this scam before losing too much money. 95% of consultants drop out of MLMs after 10 years while only 64% of legitimate small businesses fail in the same time period: https://www.thebalance.com/the-likelihood-of-mlm-success-1794500
99% of people lose money in an MLM: http://www.pinktruth.com/mary-kay-facts/myth-of-mlm-income-opportunity-99-lose-money-in-mlm/
John Oliver‘s exposé on MLMs is also very eye-opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI
Please get out of MLM_NAME while you can. If you’re still in the honeymoon phase of this and think it will really work for you, or if you refuse to look through any of my links, I simply ask that you keep an account (like in Excel) of all your expenses, including hours you spend on your business (pay yourself at least minimum wage) and especially the amount of $$ you spend on stock and samples, and then record your sales and determine whether you’re breaking even. [There is even a ready-made spreadsheet for you to use: https://mlmtruth.org/2019/07/16/tracking-your-mlm-finances/]
Your uplines will likely sell you a story about how “businesses” are investments, that it might take several months to see your sales pick up, and that you need to keep purchasing new stock. Don’t buy their story. Remember that they make commission on your sales including your purchases of stock. They make money on you spending money. This is the heart of the MLM scam. You can’t trust your uplines to have your best interests at heart. They have monetised you, and the only way you can survive in an MLM is to monetise other people.
Real small businesses do not work this way. I advise you to get in touch with people who run small craft, sewing, and candle businesses not associated with another company and ask them how they operate. Small business may still be the right path for you! Unfortunately, MLMs are not small businesses but very large businesses who convince “consultants” to buy and resell their products. MLMs largely make their money from consultant purchases of stock. Please get out of this scam, while you can.
Even though we haven’t seen each other in a long time, I don’t want to see someone I used to know pulled into this kind of thing.
Best wishes,
YOUR_NAME
Would you like to be a part of the Anti-MLM movement? Get involved.
You are a much better, more patient person than me, I swear 😀 I straght up tell people why they are being blocked and block them. If I haven’t seen you in forever and this is the first way you choose to interact with me, all bets are off and you gotz to go.
Wish I had this information before my mother joined one like 10 years ago and still in it. But going forward if solicited by someone I will definitely be sending this message to them or at least something similar to it. Thank You.