If You’re Tempted to Join a Multi-Level Marketing Company, Try One of These Online Business Ideas Instead

Are you a human on the internet? If so, and especially if you’re a female human on the internet, you’ve probably been contacted by someone – perhaps someone you went to high school with – about a “really great business opportunity!” Or worse, “to catch up.” You take one glance at their profile and see that they’re a “boss babe” or “independent consultant” for one of many multi-level marketing direct sales companies. BeachBody. Advocare. LuLaRoe. Lipsense. Younique. J Elizabeth. Doterra. The list goes on.

Maybe they want to sell you some leggings that look like someone took LSD and vomited across your butt. Maybe they want to sell you essential oils they claim will cure anything from dandruff to male-patterned baldness. And maybe – well, likely – they want you to start selling these products as part of their “downline.” Whatever it is, they want you to join what’s known as a multi-level marketing (MLM) company, or network marketing company, or direct sales, or legal pyramid scheme – whichever terms they choose to describe the business model, the problems are the same and you should avoid them at all costs. 

Trust me, I totally get the allure of these companies. They tell you that for a low entry fee you can start a business, make money on your own schedule, be your own boss, stay home with your kids, and enjoy the financial freedom you deserve, all while selling products you love and encouraging others to join you on your journey. Who doesn’t want that? We all want more money, and a lot of us would prefer if we could acquire said money while sitting on the couch watching daytime talk shows. When someone on your Facebook friends list comes at you with an opportunity to do exactly this, especially when you’re feeling vulnerable or financially unstable, it almost feels irresponsible to say no.

But you should. 

Whether you’re actually trying to sell the products this MLM is shilling or not, it’s important to remember that you, the distributor, are their customer. If you are required to buy a minimum of $200 worth of products each month whether you sold last month’s supply or not, the company doesn’t care because they already made the sale. Your upline already made their 10% commission. If you have a downline, you’re getting your commission every time your recruits buy their monthly requirement of products. The difference between this and traditional sales is that the majority of sales are happening within the company as opposed to unaffiliated customers outside the company. That’s when it starts to hover on the line of what constitutes a pyramid scheme. A pyramid that will eventually collapse.

So when Madison from 11th grade English asks if you’d like to join her company and start selling oils, it’s not because she wants to help you become an entrepreneur. It’s because she wants you to sign that contract and drop another 10% monthly commission into her lap. 

Is it possible to make good money with an MLM? Sure, but it’s mainly for one reason: because you have a personal brand and influence that’s bigger than the product itself. Go on Instagram and check out the hashtag #thehousethatwrapsbuilt. It’s filled with McMansions that ItWorks! Distributors claim they built or bought thanks to selling weight loss saran wrap online. Many have thousands of followers, so when they share photos of their handsome husband and sons Brayden and Cayden and Aiden in front of a Live Laugh Love mantlepiece with a caption about how grateful they are to be debt-free and have this incredible life, they’re selling the dream of “if you join me, you can have this too.” They’re selling the benefits of joining the company rather than buying the product itself, because it’s easier to make 10% commission off your downline’s required monthly autoship than it is to convince new and return customers they need more glorified cling wrap every month. It’s easy to sell hope to women who are struggling to make ends meet, who can’t do a traditional job, or who want to do something fun and lucrative with their time. It’s especially easy when you’re doing it from an 8-bedroom home.

If you want to read more about why MLMs are bad, here’s an article about how they prey on women and immigrants. Here’s an FTC summary about how most distributors/consultants lose money. Here’s an article about Trump’s family’s involvement in an MLM and the pending lawsuit against them. And here’s a subreddit filled with people who are sick and tired of others trying to rope them into their latest pyramid scheme.    

(This post contains affiliate links, because a girl’s gotta eat.)

What to do Instead of multi-level marketing

If you’ve been tempted to join one of these companies, one of the first things you need to know is that with the internet, you don’t need a network marketing company’s template to start your own home-based business. You don’t need them to tell you what to buy every month or how much to spend or how much to price your products. They want it to look like an easy and affordable pathway to entrepreneurship, but you don’t need them. All you need is an internet connection and a desire to create something yourself.

If you’re trying to make money online/at home, this list has some of the best ways for newbies to get started, regardless of your skills. You can do all of these at your own pace and tailor them to suit your business, income, and lifestyle goals. No upline/downline necessary, and you can start them with far less money than a LuLaRoe starter pack. 

Affiliate Marketing / Blogging

Affiliate marketing is similar to multi-level marketing and the easiest to get started, so that’s why it’s the first one on this list. 

With affiliate marketing, you sign up as an affiliate for a company, they give you a unique URL to share on your blog, social media pages, wherever – and when someone makes a purchase, you get a commission. It’s remarkably similar to what MLMers are doing, but you don’t have to refer people to a downline and you don’t have an upline pressuring you to meet a sales goal. You don’t have to buy the product or spend a minimum on inventory each month. You don’t even work for the company. You just sign up, get your links, and share them wherever you want. 

If that sounds simple, it is! You’d be surprised how many companies have affiliate programs. Some require you to have a blog in order to join, but the majority will accept anyone and everyone who’s willing to share links to their products. It’s advertising that only costs money if it converts into sales. What company wouldn’t want that? 

Example: Jennifer is a health and fitness enthusiast who posts her workouts, healthy meals, and gym outfits on Instagram. Perfect target for a hun selling fitness shakes or supplements. Instead of joining Beachbody or ItWorks!, Jennifer decides to look into affiliate marketing as a way to monetize her hobby. She loves showing off her Fabletics leggings and so does her audience, so she signs up for the Fabletics affiliate program. She also loves her FitBit, so she joins their affiliate program as well. Jennifer doesn’t have a blog or website, so she creates a free LinkTree account and posts her affiliate links with titles like “shop my favorite leggings” and “get 10% off your FitBit” (many affiliate programs are more than happy to give you a discount code to share, you just have to ask!). She adds this link to her Instagram bio. Whenever she posts a picture wearing her Fabletics leggings, she adds something to the caption like “grab a pair for yourself through my affiliate link in my bio”. 

It’s definitely possible to make money with affiliate marketing without a website, but you’ll seriously increase your earnings potential with a website, blog, or vlog where you can post content and include your links naturally. It works well for Jennifer because she’s in one specific niche (health and fitness) so she could easily start a blog with posts like “My Favorite Running Outfits for Every Season” and “How My FitBit Helped Me Lose 45 Pounds”.

You can sign up for as many affiliate programs as you want. To see if a brand or product you love has an affiliate program, just google the brand name + affiliate and see if anything comes up. Also be sure to check out my post on affiliate marketing for beginners, which gets into more detail and includes the best affiliate websites on the web.

Start a Print-On-Demand Store

If you want to sell physical products, you can learn how to make your own and start a brand with a method called print-on-demand (POD). With POD you create designs to print on products like t-shirts, mugs, bags, leggings, and posters, which you list for sale in your Etsy, Shopify, Amazon, or another e-commerce store. The printing and shipping are outsourced and you only pay for the base price once you make a sale. You can start a POD business without investing in any money in inventory or ever going to the post office. 

I always say that POD is the perfect starter business for anyone who wants to work for themselves but thinks they lack the skills to do it. This is because it’s low-cost and low-risk, but you’ll learn a ton of skills that are essential to online business. Create your own designs, come up with a brand, create the weird t-shirts you’ve always wanted to sell, learn about marketing and SEO, etc. 

Unlike one popular MLM t-shirt company I see all over Instagram, there is no monthly fee and no referral or commission structure when you do it yourself (seriously, look at this horrifically convoluted comp plan. It’s awful!). My print-on-demand stores are actually my largest source of income right now. Go here to read all my posts on POD, how to get started, my recommended production partners, and more.  

Start a Dropshipping Store

Dropshipping is when a third-party stores and ships your products instead of you, the seller. That’s how the shipping is done for POD, but if you don’t want to make designs and sell the printed products, you can also start a dropshipping store by selling already-made products. Lots of people do this by listing AliExpress products on a Shopify storefront, then when somebody makes a purchase, they order the product from AE and have it shipped to the customer. Shopify has an app called Oberlo that connects your store with products that can be dropshipped, making it super easy to add them to your storefront. You can even have a store that sells both POD products you made and products from Oberlo that are relevant to your niche. It’s your business, do what you want!

If you start a dropshipping store with AliExpress type of products, you can’t sell them on Etsy because they are not handmade, so you’ll want to go with Shopify, which has a free 14-day trial so you can see if it’s right for you.

Related posts:

How to start a leggings boutique without joining LuLaRoe

How to start an essential oils business

Sell Digital Products

Digital products are even easier to get started than print-on-demand. I started selling printable wall art on Etsy in 2017, then once some designs started to take off, I added those designs to some POD products and my shop really started to grow. Digital products are my favorite thing to sell because I don’t have to spend any money or do anything when somebody buys one – it’s automatically delivered to the customer and all the profits go to me. 

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be a prolific artist or designer to create digital products, and there are dozens of different kinds you can create. These posts will help you get started if you’re interested in learning more: 

20 Types of Digital Products You Can Sell for Passive Income

How to Make and Sell Digital Products

My Step-by-Step Workflow for Making, Organizing, and Selling Printables on Etsy

Sell Freelance / Consulting Services

You can start a business by selling your skills as a freelance contractor/gig worker as well. This is how I first got started working online/for myself (you can read all about my freelance journey, how to get started, and what I wish I knew 10 years ago in this post). There are so many skills people are looking to pay someone for, and I’m pretty confident you have some that would be of use to other people/companies. Here’s a list of 27 websites where you can find full-time, part-time, and contract-based remote work.

I hope this helps steer you away from MLMs and into a successful side hustle or business. If you have questions or an online business tip you’d like to share, you can leave it in the comments.