As you can tell from the title, this is going to be a little harsh on Kiyosaki, but keep in mind that Rich Dad, Poor Dad was major motivation for me to begin this blog.
They hear him say that he has millions of dollars from various complex business ventures and it makes him sound credible. This letter relates the story in detail. In fact, Kiyosaki had trouble getting published. It was Bill Gavin of Amway who was able to pull the strings and use the MLM culture to get the book its best seller rating. In addition to the above, Kiyosaki joined Amway under Bill Gavin , but it appears he was a failure at it.
It seems to be that Kiyosaki and MLM have a symbiotic relationship. The MLM industry provides Kiyosaki with a steady set of customers for his products; Kiyosaki provides the MLM companies his support that it is a good business venture. Instead they have just watched a video from Kiyosaki talking about his Cash Flow Quadrant. A lot of people are apt to believe Kiyosaki. The promise of passive income is appealing to just about everyone.
You might want to jump to in the video where he draws it out and follow along:. These are the four types of ways people earn income. E is for employees. S is for small business owners or specialists doctors for example. B is for big businesses. I is for investors. It is not. Let me dig a little deeper and explain why. In most MLMs, the company can fire the distributor by terminating their business at any time, for any reason… just like any employee.
Employees have that same risk, but the other quadrants do not. With MLM, distributors get all the disadvantages of being able to be fired at the drop of the hat without the benefits of a steady income and or benefits such as health care and disability. In addition, the distributors are required to pay for their own training by buying various tools and going to conferences. MLM has some of the characteristics of being a small business.
Distributors work their own hours doing as much or as little as they want. The MLM may even prevent you from having your own website to promote your business — instead forcing you to use a cookie-cutter website. This prevents the distributor from differentiating their business from their competitors — other distributors of the same product.
One of the reasons why people choose a small business is because they want to call the shots and be in control of their destiny. Maybe a few of the ones at the top of the pyramid have a couple of employees, but that is the exception and mathematically this is limited to something like.
The MLM company itself could be considered a B. Some have gone public. Instead they pay a very small number at the top well and use that as a carrot stick to lead the ass to motivate the distributor.
You can pay money to get started in an MLM business, but it is paying an application fee to start from scratch with no customers and no sales.
That is not an investment in businesses. The network marketing company will charge you money for the tools and training to sell its products. During this time you are also paying them by spending hundreds of dollars on overpriced products. Where do you think the MLM companies make their money? Kiyosaki coached them personally. It was a resounding failure with all contestants saying, Kiyosaki never gave concrete advice.
When it comes to his businesses it seems that Kiyosaki is scamming people himself. Part of that training included asking people to raise their credit card limits, which Kiyosaki admitted was poor advice.
He admits that it is short on practical advice and that it more about motivating someone to take control of their financial future.
Man I would have gone bankrupt if I followed his advice. Great in-depth article! It is true that he mentioned that network marketing is a great way to become rich, but he never asked anyone to join amway. It is sad that people think that way!! Well it appears he was a failed Amway distributor, so if he never asked anyone to join Amway as you claim, we know why he failed.
He uses Bill Gates as an example of a good business. Sounds like a sound business plan to me, I think the drug dealers use the same one. Come on. Think about it people. In addition, a lot of them have the nerve to come off as nutritional experts and even doctors when they barely graduated from high school.
Not smart. Finally, I love the comment that he makes about your goal being to build more businesses and paying less taxes. I have to say, this man truly belongs in the world of MLM as he is too sleazy to be taken seriously anywhere else. Well doen — this guy deserves to be repeatedly exposed, because he most definitely is a fraud. So Lazy Man, are you throwing out the baby with the bathwater? I agree about the issues with MLM, the story itself, and other issues.
I think you might be reading more into the article than I wrote. The point of this article was more to explain to those who have been lied to by MLM organizations that MLM is a good idea because Kiyosaki supports it.
There are plenty of them out there. Guess what I recently got in the mail? The cover of the invite has a cute picture of a toaster with burnt pieces of toast cut to the shapes of a family popping out the top.
He then goes on to advise against the following bullet points in some detail -Get a job -Work hard -Save money -Live below your means -Get out of debt. He talks about how debt can make you rich. Is this perhaps so he may encourage you to go into debt to take part in his FREE learn to be rich workshop?
So, go into debt to learn potentially harmful financial advice? In the mean time, I was searching around the internet and found an article pointing out many of the issues you bring up. I was reading through a few comments and ran across a defense of Kiyosaki from Lazy Man and Money comment Now, I know you have mentioned in the past, most likely before you were aware of MLM scams, that you had read and been influenced by Rich Dad.
I can only imagine how angry and humiliated I would be if I were one of those decieved by MLM only to later find out the truth that what I had so enthusiastically dedicated so much time toward was in reality a scam.
Yep, that was me commenting on The Simple Dollar. I now know that affiliate marketing is much different than MLM no recruiting is involved. Before reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I was more content to just make my salary, do a good job, and repeat the next day.
It should also be noted that I also wrote this article, Three things I learned from he worst personal finance book. I recently finished The Millionaire Fastlane and it does a similar motivating job, while actually giving real practical examples. There are around ten pages scattered throughout the book where he explains why MLM is not a way to become a millionaire.
I really appreciate this article about Robert Kiyosaki. Thank you! I worked for two years, trying to get rich in MLM. I only made a few hundred dollars compared to MANY more dollars that I spent on all the get rich quick products, advertising and everything else. The MLM model of a company cannot remain sustainable otherwise.
I did not want to scam anyone else so I stopped immediately. And I was setting up an Online sales funnel that had the potential for me to bring a lot of people into my company which has a very high start up price.
It makes me sick to think about how many people could have been scammed. I was NOT involved in trying to recruit family and friends. Those holding that belief are either not intelligent enough to see what Robert Kiyosaki is saying or are intentionally invoking his name in an attempt to trick others.
Great article! I actually love the cashflow quadrant… but understanding it should drive people away from MLM. MLM is even worse! Thanks for the article! Guys,I donnt kw how u guys are looking these issues,1 Kiyosaki says in his book business of the 21st century that u should investigate the MlM company b4 joining, 2 investigate their compensation plan, 3 Building a network marketing business is not a get rich quick scheme, 4 It is a cash buildig platform.
Macoy, I lost track of what you are saying towards the middle of your comment. You put together a lot of unrelated phrases there. Note that Kiyosaki is in the business of selling books to participants in MLM. Robert sure does a figure-8 trail of talks around the world.
Stay away, he foghorned. That sure pissed a few hundred people who were agents of that industry — they promptly left the hall. Every form of business is viable, and has its cycles and timings. A business is only as bad as its implementor. There are extremely small nuggets of wisdom mixed, but it is left to the listener to extract them from the mounds of completely wrong and terrible advice that he gives.
I believe that MLM is a business as much as a franchise owner is a business owner. If the Burger King Corporation closes, so does your franchise. What Robert Kiyosaki says is that in an MLM company you pay a lot less than if you did own a franchise. I mean, you actually save hundreds of thousands of start-up costs. I would ask if any of the naysayers have ever ventured into the network marketing business opportunities MLM? In our everyday lives, we are all salespeople. Yes, there are the E, S, B, and I.
If you stopped paying your royalties, your business would close. If you had horrible customer service or cleanliness issues, you are in breach of contract. If you stopped marketing your products and services, eventually your business would close.
If the corporation closes, so does your business. An employee is fired, however, if he is late to work unless he is an independent contractor , argues with a co-worker or management, etc. My education to many is to seek the financial advice of those who practice what they preach.
The writer of this article does not seem to have ever been affiliated with a network marketing company. Only seek the advice from those who practice what they preach! If commissions were paid at a single level and not a multiple-level, you might have a comparison. The low start-up costs are a great disadvantage. This is a very bad business to be in. MLMs have a much greater risk of being shut down. If someone were say that the ramifications of jumping off a bridge generally involve serious injury or death, would you ask that person if they have real life experience of jumping off a bridge?
No, you would use common sense from an external perspective and evaluate the ramifications before being a part of it. MLM distributors dismiss those with external perspective to limit any opposing views to people who have real life experience in MLM. This leaves only one set of people that the MLM proponents deem as having the right experience to listen to… the very few people who happened to make money in MLM because they were in early and at the top of the structure.
Of course, these people are going to say great things about MLM, especially because they stand to benefit if more people are recruited into MLM. They are the ones who are not biased. It is the MLM proponent that wants you to join — they stand to make money if you do. External Perspective. Your article proves that you have not MLM itself business model, business law nor the practical reality of the MLM industry understood nor the approach of Kiyosaki.
Only the completely false statement that contractors are employees of MLM businesses is absolutely wrong and absurd.
And so there are many more with misrepresentations. A poorly researched, journalistic miserable article without value. I never said that distributors are employees of MLM businesses. Before you criticize journalism, you might want to educate yourself on how to construct a grammatical sentence. Very interesting article. I hear a lot of negitive comment from probably I would call a bunch of losers. James R Henry was probably the best comment here, and that is including the article.
I have had a construction business, a fabricating business, been in the mortgage business and the realestate business and I might add an MLM business. Made and lost money in all of them but that goes with the territory of being in business.
Sounds to me like you people would be a big babysitting job. You probably need to go get a job with the post office. If you want to be in business, dry your eyes quit sniveling, roll up your sleeves and go to work. Thanks Rand, I run a business. None of your commentary is related to Kiyosaki who was the focus of the article. They provide no value. Most of the time the product is shipped to people just like Amazon does. You know that the MLM companies actually have employees, right? Without employees no MLM products would get made.
None would be shipped. Well then I guess MLM is perfect for you! All you need to do is lie to a few people and hope they do the same.
Simple business for simple minds. Anyone here are making more money than Robert? The problem is that lazy people will never earn a lot of money in MLM or anywere. Think outside the box. Kiyosaki is a great story teller, which is why he sells books. Rowling selling a lot of Harry Potter books.
I do quite well for being Lazy. Being smart can often trump working hard. Ok, interesting article, actually nice article in a sense. Anybody else say different is just exercising the right to use up byte space. Ps [email protected] claudo: Pretty gud English.
You said he never mentioned mlm in his book? Funny that because he gave it a big mention on page He says to invest in education. Reminds me of all those late night infomercials in the s aka Tom Vu that were too good to be true. Interestingly Kiyosaki uses these seminars to scam people out of thousands now see the news story that I cited in the article.
No mention of MLM. Network Marketing is a 29 billion dollar industry just in the US alone, that creates the most millionaires than any other industry, hands down!! Networking marketing allows you OWN your life, most people work a job now past the age of 65 and still end up broke with nothing, then get a job as Wal-Mart greeter. That 29 billion dollar industry is largely people overpaying a huge amount for a business opportunity that only exists for 1 person in a thousand.
You might as well just quote some kind of statistic as to how big the loan shark industry is or the tobacco industry. There are really no tax savings with MLM. We could make a small dent in the national debt if we put this 29 billion to good use. Studies have shown that many, many people have become wealthy working a job. Take a look around at your local doctor, lawyer, even plumber.
What studies are you citing, specifically? If you look at the income disclosure statements for companies like MonaVie, the average person makes less than minimum wage. Kiyosaki should be telling people to write books to sell to other MLMers. I am often asked if Network Marketing is a Pyramid Scheme. My reply is that corporations really are pyramid schemes. A corporation has only one person at the top, genrally the CEO, and everyone else below. People who are uninformed or simply trying to scam others are why MLMs get bad names.
Corporate America is Not a Pyramid Scheme. I have always used the logic that this mans greatest source of wealth is selling advice promising it will bring you wealth. The latter being the most likely. To those attacking this mans article, get over it. It is a SCAM!!!! Why not just sell products on your own without having to pay someone above you?!
I have heard such horror stories related to these scams such as people ruining relationships with their friends and family because of it. The fact that Robert kiyosaki supports these lets me know he is a fraud. The responses from its supporters are always so similar it makes me think there is some type of brainwashing going on at these meetings. Once again great article and keep on exposing these scam artists for what they are. I grew up with cons and dope dealers with more integrity than these slime bags!
There is a lot of brainwashing going on at the meetings. For example, there is classic Groupthink. MLM is just simple marketing. They just tell you that you are an investor where infact you are a customer. The people who make money in mlm are the top most and the supplier. Because every member recruit is a customer. I read rich dad poor dad also and I believe its quite a good book.
Its not really a formula. It is a merger of an commission-based sales program those selling product to others and an illegal pyramid scheme those recruiting others. Here is what I get from MLM: Distribution of products, marketing, sales, flexibility, hard work and the zeal to work on my own business outside of MLM.
I see it as another way to do business if individuals in the industry are just upfront with how these businesses operate. Many MLM companies state that we are business owners.
However, I believe that consultants buy in to companies where the one to the top makes money off the ones to the bottom just like all other organizations out there. Independent consultants are marketers, distributors, sales people, customers and recruiters all in one.
The individuals in the industry are not upfront with how MLM businesses operate. It is, but it also like saying beating Labron James one-on-one is hard work. I enjoyed the book, because I like freedom in working for myself and not being caught up in the rat race. My 18 year old son said to me that not everyone who goes to school and work hard on is in the rat race.
We actually know people who work hard and live really well. I just wanted to say, having checked it out, that Simon is actually right about this. This fits in with his constant reminders in the book that financial intelligence is a combination of the following skills: accounting, investing, marketing, and law.
As this article points out, Kiyosaki made his money by selling this book to Amway distributors. It should be noted that there seems to be evidence that Kiyosaki himself tried Amway and quit it. This would seem to further expose his dishonesty. Pretty cool kid. Kiyosaki can be motivational, which is great. Rich Dad, Poor Dad was even partially responsible for me starting this blog. However, once you learn a little more, you realize that he simply gives terrible advice as it has been well-covered in the media.
They could tell the story about all the people the money has helped. You simply have to ignore all the damage of getting everyone hooked on cracked. Obviously it is a little harsh to say the same about Kiyosaki, but to some degree it is a similar situation. Ha ha… deary me. Cheers for the article, found it very eye opening and saved me reading the book!
Unfortunately, it is simply a financial fraud pyramid scheme disguised as a direct sales business. It does not even belong in a discussion about business. Hilarious that he got his popularity via Amway. I was trying my best to give it the best possible treatment, because if you go out and just say it is financial fraud, people stop listening.
Hi Lazy Man: First of all I want to congratulate you for your article. I can see that you took the time to investigate a couple of things, but you missed the most important. Rich Dad Poor Dad is the Genesis of any entrepreneur.
It is not the only book about how to become financially free, but it explains it so simple. In the book, when Kiyosaky was 12 years old, he asked rich dad how to become rich, and rich dad that says: Well Robert, what you must have to do is to spend your live investing in assets, because assets put money in your pocket, and liabilities take money from your pocket.
In MLM people are assets, in your organization they put money in your pocket, and this is called leverage, leverage in MLM is you enrolling a few people that enroll a few people than enroll a few people that each has a few customers and the combined volume creates your residual income. MLM gave me the opportunity to create a residual income without the drama of a traditional business. MLM is not perfect, it is simply better!
Now I have free time, and when you have free time you can initiate other projects. MLM is not my only source of incomes, but it was the beginning to become financially free. The beauty of MLM is that you can start part-time, and eventually that income will replace your current income. Kiyosaki has admitted that he made up Rich Dad and Poor Dad. Kiyosaki uses them as a literary device. If people are your assets in MLM, you are running an illegal pyramid scheme.
If the money you make is based on your sales to the public, it may be a legitimate multilevel marketing plan. Pyramid schemes are illegal, and the vast majority of participants lose money.
The people in your downline are not assets or leverage… if you making significant money from them it is a pyramid scheme… and you have to make legitimate sales. There are many mlm companies out there, and to say in general that mlm is bad is a matter of opinion. It actually improved my life incredibly. And the new positive outlook on life is also a great plus. From my side I see a 6, but for your side you see a 9.
We both have different views. You look at mlm from the outside you see one thing, while I look at it from the inside and I see the other. Oh and P. I never had to be pay much for my training in this business.
Weekly seminars are free and the monthly one only cost 5 dollars to get in. Sure it is an opinion, but it is backed by facts and everyone, except the pickpockets seem to agree. So yes, the pickpockets are going to think that laws are bad. You make a point about joining MLM and reporting from there. Thanks, I know how that works. This is particularly true when it comes to recruiting cults such as MLM. GREAT article.
Thank you. In short I do believe the right MLM and by right I mean, legal and ethical can open a few doors for you, but it is not by any means THE way to get rich and or financially independent, but done right, it can be really helpful both for you and anyone you recruit. It would simply go to commission scales and elimate recruiting.
Thousands of companies have these affiliate sales programs. Prostitution is a kind of selling. Snake oil is a kind of selling. Drugs is a kind of selling. Usually the product is a lotion or potion choosen purposely because it is of subjective quality.
The pricing is 5, 10, even 20 times MORE than something else of similiar quality. With no true distributors selling product, you are left with a recruiting, illegal pyramid scheme. This puts people on the track in starting a real business. Not saying that different people is bad, but you are surrounding yourself with the wrong types.
He should not even be the starting point anymore. I pointed out some problems with it. It looks like you are finding different faults with it. Robert Kiyosaki is one of those influential people. Many people know Robert Kiyosaki from his best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad , which ranks 8 on our list of top books for personal development. Robert is a long time supporter of the network marketing industry. In the video below he gives his interpretation of what network marketing has to offer and why he endorses the profession.
However, it is about helping people to help other people make money so they can become financially free. Check out the video below! If you found value in this video feel free to share it around. We read all of your comments!
0コメント