"There is a huge difference between starting your own company and abusing your friends and family by trying to sell them [INSERT ITEM HERE], and then trying to get them to sell [INSERT ITEM HERE] and taking [INSERT % HERE]."??

Of course, as a network marketer, you do start your own company, don't you? But his point is that unlike other start ups, like those I mentioned in my post, they don't grow by "abusing your friends and family..."??

His belief is that even though top people like Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup

series) do MLM, that ??

"an author who starts an MLM is not low rent, but the folks who join the MLM probably are."??

This perception is out there. And I'd bet that more people drop out of our business because of that perception, which most people do not hesitate to share, than even not making money. Who wants to be seen as an abuser of their friends and family, and then spreading it???

What's your take???

Are we guilty? Have we done this? Of course. Does everyone who does the business abuse their friends? Of course NOT.??

So you might ask, why am I even bringing this up? Why not just call the guy ignorant, or opinionated, or wrong, and be done with it? As in "That's his world view and we have ours." (Think Lakoff's seminal "Don't Think of An Elephant" book - a treatise on how people with strong views about an issue seek whatever it is that amplifies their existing world view, the facts notwithstanding.) But I think that for us to shrug off this attitude which Jason expresses so well is a mistake.??

The perception out there of the mlm industry and those in it is not good. And while I don't expect to change the minds of those who've already made them up, perhaps we can at least slow down the numbers of new people who come to share this negative view of our business. After all, even the massage industry has gone up a few notches in the world of public opinion.??

Step one in making any kind of change is to recognize there is a problem. And this perception of folks in our business - of being low rent and generally not of quality is a very very big one. How often have you lost a good customer or potential sales rep after they found out it was mlm? How often do we see ads for home based businesses that trumpet "Not mlm!"??

What would you suggest we do to change this image? How can we change the way we practice network marketing so fewer and fewer people get this impression???

Who will be involved to lead the much overdue "change the perception of mlm" charge???

What do you suggest must happen so that our network marketing practices do not confirm or even amplify this perception?