How can some one regain their credibility after being in MLM?

Question

Also how can they repair their relationships with their friends and family that are avoiding them? And anybody have any tips on how to repair a credit rating?

Answer 1

Relationships are meanded by apologising to your friends, sincerely. Then don't try to sell them anything again, just be there for them and make it about them, not you.

Credit is best repaired by doing the same things you do to build it in the first place:

(1) Scrimp and save if you need to, to get a secured credit card (secured by money held in the bank). These are very easy to get through your regular bank. The limit will probably be only $250 or $500, the point is to start small and build up.

(2) Buy some stuff on the CC one month, and pay half of it off. Then pay the other half the next month. Then put another purchase on, pay it off in halves, etc. This does two things, it makes money for the CC company (which is all they really care about at the end of the day), and it established your ability to live within your means and pay back your debts. DO NOT miss or be late on any payments, make sure you pay the bills the day you get them (so basically, when you buy the thing on the credit card, set the cash aside for it immediately).

(3) After a year or so with the secured card, you will get offers for regular cards. Fill these out and send them in ONE AT A TIME, waiting for each one to be rejected (if it is rejected) before sending in the next one. DO NOT do them all at once nor try to get a second one approved after the first one is -- the computers will flag this as you trying to take out too much credit all at once. If you DON'T get any offers for non-secured cards, talk to your bank (which issued the secured card) and try to get them to upgrade your card -- they usually will to keep a happy customer.

(4) When the regular card gets approved, use it and pay it off just as you did with the secured card. You can get rid of the secured card once you have the regular card.

(5) As you get more established, put more and more on the cards each month but MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CASH TO PAY IT ALL OFF IMMEDIATELY. It is OK to let some balance ride from month to month (the CC company likes to see this in fact) as long as you always make more than the minimum payments, at least 3x more is good. Again, you are showing them that you can pay your debts and live within your means (= makes monet for them and no bankruptcy likely).

Answer 2

First off, you must denounce every part of MLM. You must come to the realization that any positive feelings you had about MLM were because you were naive. As long as you harbor positive feelings such as "it was your own fault for failing" and "i could have made it if I worked the business harder" and "maybe I could have succeeded if I found the right company" then you are truly are not finished with MLM and people will see that in you. The fact is it was your own fault for getting into a business without doing your homework.

Understand that the lack of credibility that comes from being in MLM is very deep rooted...its not just one cause. Its not just because you tried to drag your friends and family into a business giving outrageous claims despite having zero success yourself, its not just that you needed to spam every living creature you could find in the hopes of finding a diamond, its not just that you got so emotionally attached to it that you refused to look at logic and common sense and instead chose to defend MLM at every step because it bothered you so much that anyone could possibly dislike the "business". There are literally hundreds of reasons why MLMers lose all credibility (except of course with other MLMers who champion them as though they have made millions and saved the world despite having a garage of products they were duped into buying).

How do you repair the credibility? Time. Perhaps you can start a respectable business that doesn't require you to hook your friends and family with tag lines. Perhaps you can align yourself with business people that are making money they can actually justify. Perhaps you can learn basic business concepts (that elude nearly all MLMers) such as business cycles, supply/demand cost factors, and revenue projections based on market research (as oppose to MLMers who look at any positive sign in an industry and assume that translates into easy sales). Over time, even if you fail in a a respectable business that is driven by hard work and not by false claims and signing up people into a dream you have no proof of, then, and only then, will that respect begin to come back. Of course, if you expect to get respect back and eventually go back to those people with another MLM down the road, than you will blow it instantly (and truthfully, if you are naive enough to still consider MLM viable at that point then maybe you do not deserve credibility in the business world).

As far as repairing the credit rating, visit www.creditboards.com and you will find a wealth of free information (that may take days to go through) and you will no doubt have all the resources you need to repair your credit. It is not uncommon for people in all business ventures (not just MLM shams) to use their credit to take financial risks when starting a business. No one is right 100% of the time in business and sometimes even with the best research you still fail...so having credit issues is nothing to be ashamed of and most issues are easily repaired over time with the proper knowlege...again, see the website for those details.

Lastly, to be completely rid of your MLM stigma, you must join the part of society with common sense that is amused at the MLMers...some of whom you will inevitably see posting answers in here either pitching their business, claiming MLM is the greatest thing ever and everyone is making big money, calling the vast majority of society that sees MLM for the joke that it is as biased and negative people, or all of the above. Just wait, they will be here, and they won't even see the ridiculousness of their mentality. Cant wait ! :)

Answer 3

I don't know how you regain it, but I can tell you why in my view people in MLM have no credibility. I suppose you can just do the opposite.

Not all people in MLM are bad people or unintelligent people, but they lose my respect by associating themselves with people such as:

The MLM person who has no business experience whatsoever such as a lifelong cashier or waitress who suddenly signs up with an MLM and then has the gall to come into my business and totally disrespect me by implying that they now have all this business intelligence.

The MLM person who somehow by signing up for health/wellness company (yet had no prior health/medical experience whatsoever) now suddenly seems to know more than my doctor about what is good for my health.

The MLM person who couldn't sell their way out of a paper bag nor has ever made a single phone sales call, yet comes to me telling me that their business is product driven. This person seems to think that because I do sales successfully for a living that by signing me up will be their meal ticket despite the fact they are their only customer.

The person in MLM who will tell me I am a bad person for spending 10 minutes explaining why I don't want to have anything to do with the industry, yet will waste hours posting replies to yahoo questions spamming people they have never met about their business.

The person in MLM who will tell me about all the money I could be making, yet when I ask about how to possibly achieve the volume it would take to make that money on the tiny commission percentages they tell me not to get mixed up in the numbers and worry about building the business instead.

The person in MLM who will tell me how much money they are making yet is unable to afford a car, or a home of their own, or rides public transportation to my office to present their business opportunity.

The person in MLM who will tell me I merely need to do a 3-way call with their successful upline who has already built th business, and finding out this person, although having sponsored many people, is actually in fact less successful than people whom I employ at base salaries.

The person in MLM who constantly tries to contact me in every manner possible because I run a successful business, yet is someone with so little education and/or experience that I would not even hire for an entry level position in my company.

The person in MLM who is promoting a product that they claim has amazing benefits and tells me about all the customer revelations about their product, but when pressed for referrals the only people who swear by the product are those trying to profit from its sales (essentially other people in their MLM company).

The list could go on and on and on. If you want to regain credibility, don't be like these people and don't go into business with people with these practices. In others words, DO something RESPECTABLE, and you will have my respect.