Are MLM network marketers lazy?

This is double post night. I was originally going to just do one subject, but recent happenings had me wanting to write this.

I believe MLM can work if people work it. A good MLM program providing real value to people, and solid training is great. However, I believe that some MLMers have a bit of a lazy streak to them. Let me give you some of the mentality I have seen:
1. The belief that all you have to do is find a few heavy hitters for your downline, and you are all set. Believe you get two in a binary (one on each side of course), or as many others wide in a matrix and you are set. In other words, hit the lottery.
2. The belief that you don't want to learn, work or grow. You believe that you don't need to know anything and the product will sell itself. Just believing people will actually word of mouth it for you.
3. The belief that you should find the easiest possible program that people with no skill can become rich if they sign up, so that these people can see how easy it is. Read my no rich caveman blog entry. You sell them that, you are selling people a bill of goods. Now, I am NOT saying that a program should be hard to work, just shooting for the easiest program so you can seduce the unable to get educated in, is playing with fool's gold. People won't get qualifed in Ups and will drop out in MLMs.
4. Believing a matrix will magically provide all the spillover you need. Companies now put in minimum sign up requirements in matrix programs because people tend to get lazy when they sign up.
5. Believing all you need to do is telling your warm market of your wonderful opportunity and you will get rich because they will magically sign up.
6. Believing you don't need to learn how to market at all, and all you need to do is practice one elevator pitch you deliver to everyone you bump into and they will sign up.
7. Believing all you need to do to be successful in an MLM is to get in early enough that people will just jump on the opportunity because it is new. All these startups are just great at signing program jumpers. By the way, guess who gets the invites to these early opportunities? The skilled list builders and heavy hitters. Organizations want to trust their growth to people who can build downlines. Lazy people and unskilled almost never get these (well, if they have a heavy hitter who has pity on them they might).
8. Believing that if you keep jumping from one opportunity to the next, you eventually will find a winning program because you got lucky (and the breaks described above will fall your way).

If you treat your network marketing opportunity as a business, and set out to become competent and skilled and able to get others trained who then can train others, you can do well and become a big earner. If you think your business will work itself, you are deluding yourself. Maybe you hit the downline lottery, but most won't (the downline lottery winner usually goes to people who are known to be able to recruit well, by the way). I would say most people who fail in network marketing, fail because they believe what I wrote above is the truth. It is the mindset of the lazy and unlearned. Oh yes, and if you are part of a one time sale Aussie Up system and you believe this, you will do even worse than in an MLM, because in the Up system, you are rewarded for your skill to a greater degree. The Up system gets you new business, but it is your job to get your people qualified and market and sell yourself.

Want to know the failure rate in network marketing? Try around over 90%. Direct selling is marginally better. But still, the unskilled fail and most people don't even get profitable. The reasons are because they don't know how to run their business and have the mindset I described above.

If the failure rate is over 90% why do it? Well, because network marketing companies usually provide you some form of training and some people you can emulate for success. The cost of entry is far less than in franchise model. About the only other thing open is affiliate marketing over the Internet, which usually is no cost, but doesn't provide you any sort of leadership and training on how to sell or list build. This is why network marketing works. The trick is to learn how to run it as a business (not having lazy, lottery ticket buyer mentality) and find something you believe in that people want to buy. Of course, you could always get a job in insurance sales or real estate. But then, guess what, you are back to the business of selling, and skill.

In the case of myself, I once I got some knowledge on the art of marketing over the Internet and list building, I have been able to get into profit relatively quickly in about every program I have joined. Of course I look to join only programs I believe in that have value at this point and am picky.