Author: Ugo

The Problem With Network Marketing Isn’t Recruitment — It’s the Hype

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The Problem With Network Marketing Isn’t Recruitment — It’s the Hype

Here’s an opinion that will probably annoy quite a few people in network marketing.

Recruitment isn’t the problem.

There. I said it.

The word “recruitment” has become almost a dirty word whenever people criticise network marketing.

You’ll hear:

“It’s all about recruiting.”

“You only make money by recruiting.”

“It’s just a pyramid scheme.”

But I think that misses the real issue.

The biggest problem with network marketing isn’t that companies recruit people. It’s that some people sell the opportunity with ridiculous expectations attached to it.

And that distinction matters.

Recruitment is a normal part of the model

Let’s take the emotion out of it for a moment.

A network marketing business uses people to sell products or services and, depending on the compensation plan, may also reward participants for introducing additional people into the sales organisation.

That’s the model.

Recruitment is not some accidental feature that mysteriously appeared.

It’s fundamental to network marketing.

The real question is whether the business provides genuine products or services, whether the compensation structure is lawful, and what participants are actually told about the opportunity.

The FTC itself distinguishes between legitimate MLM structures and illegal pyramid schemes, focusing on how the compensation structure operates in practice, including whether incentives primarily encourage recruitment rather than sales to genuine end users.

So simply saying “they recruit people” doesn’t prove anything.

Of course they recruit people.

That’s how network marketing works.

Here’s where I think the industry gets itself into trouble

The problem starts when recruitment becomes wrapped in fantasy.

You know the sort of thing.

“Quit your job.”

“Financial freedom.”

“Build passive income.”

“Make six figures.”

“Work from your phone.”

“Create generational wealth.”

“You can do this part-time and replace your salary.”

And then someone posts a photograph of themselves beside a car, on a beach or at some expensive-looking event.

That’s where I think the industry deserves criticism.

Not because someone recruited another person.

But because the person being recruited may have been given a completely unrealistic picture of what success looks like.

The numbers are uncomfortable

This isn’t just an anti-MLM talking point.

In 2024, FTC staff reviewed publicly available income disclosure statements from 70 MLMs.

Their analysis found that most participants in the MLMs reviewed received $1,000 or less per year, and in at least 17 of the MLMs, most participants received no payments at all.

The FTC also found that many disclosures failed to make low or zero earnings sufficiently prominent and often didn’t account for participant expenses.

That’s a serious issue.

But here’s where I disagree with some of the conclusions you see online.

Those numbers don’t automatically prove that network marketing itself is fraudulent.

They do tell us something much more useful:

Joining a network marketing company is not the same thing as building a successful network marketing business.

And those are two completely different things.

Joining is easy. Building is not.

This is something that rarely gets said loudly enough.

Someone can join an MLM in ten minutes.

That doesn’t mean they know how to sell.

It doesn’t mean they know how to generate leads.

It doesn’t mean they know how to create content.

It doesn’t mean they understand advertising.

It doesn’t mean they know how to follow up.

It doesn’t mean they understand conversion rates.

It doesn’t mean they can build a customer base.

And it certainly doesn’t mean they’re going to make money.

The same is true of almost every other business.

Buying a website doesn’t make you a successful e-commerce business owner.

Opening an Etsy shop doesn’t guarantee sales.

Buying a trading course doesn’t make you a profitable trader.

Registering a company doesn’t make you an entrepreneur.

Joining is the easy part.

And this is where the industry needs more honesty

If you’re going to promote network marketing, tell people what they’re actually getting into.

Don’t tell them it’s easy.

Don’t tell them everyone can make a fortune.

Don’t show the exceptional performer and quietly imply that they’re representative.

Don’t pretend the business requires no selling.

Don’t hide the costs.

Don’t pretend that recruiting ten people automatically creates passive income.

And don’t tell someone who’s never sold anything before that they’re about to become financially free.

The FTC has specifically raised concerns about misleading or unsubstantiated earnings claims and, in 2025, proposed an MLM-specific earnings rule addressing such claims.

And in 2026, the FTC has continued taking action against high-level MLM participants over alleged deceptive earnings claims.

So this isn’t a theoretical argument.

It’s an issue regulators are actively examining.

But here’s the controversial bit

I still think network marketing can be a legitimate business model.

Yes.

Even after everything I’ve just written.

Because I don’t believe a business model should automatically be dismissed because many people fail at it.

Lots of businesses have high failure rates.

The question should be:

What are you selling?

Who is buying it?

Why are they buying it?

What does it cost to operate?

How does the compensation plan work?

Where does the money actually come from?

And what does the typical participant actually earn after expenses?

Those are much better questions than simply shouting:

“It’s a pyramid scheme!”

Here’s my position

I’m actually more comfortable with someone saying:

“This is a sales business. You’ll have to learn how to generate leads, make offers, follow up and sell. Most people won’t make much money, but here’s exactly how the compensation works.”

than someone saying:

“Join my team and I’ll show you how to achieve financial freedom.”

The first person might struggle to recruit.

But at least the prospect knows what they’re buying into.

The second person might recruit much more effectively.

But if the claims aren’t supported by evidence, they’re selling an expectation rather than a business.

I’d rather see fewer recruits who know exactly what they’re getting into than thousands of people joining because they were sold a dream.

And here’s why I think this could actually help network marketing

Ironically, more honesty could make the industry stronger.

Stop trying to convince everyone.

Stop pretending everyone is an entrepreneur.

Stop pretending everyone will become a top earner.

Stop using the lifestyle of the top 0.1% as though it’s the expected outcome.

Instead, find people who actually want to learn sales and marketing.

People who are prepared to generate traffic.

People who are prepared to follow up.

People who understand that building a customer base takes time.

People who want a business rather than a lottery ticket.

Those people might be harder to recruit.

But they’re probably a lot more interesting to work with.

So I’ll take the unpopular side

I’m not anti-network marketing.

I’m anti-hype.

I’m anti-unsubstantiated income claims.

I’m anti-making the exceptional look normal.

I’m anti-telling people that success is easy when you know it isn’t.

But I’m not anti-recruitment.

Recruitment is part of the model.

The real test is whether you’re recruiting someone into a business opportunity with their eyes open.

If someone understands the model, understands the work involved, understands the costs and still wants to have a go?

I don’t see a problem with that.

And perhaps that’s the conversation network marketing should be having.

Not:

“Is network marketing a scam?”

But:

“Are we telling people the truth about what it actually takes to succeed?”

That question is a lot harder to dismiss.

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Did Network Marketing Boom During COVID — And Is It Declining Now?

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Did Network Marketing Boom During COVID — And Is It Declining Now?

I’ve been thinking about something that doesn’t get discussed very much when people talk about network marketing.

What actually happened to the industry after COVID?

Because if you’ve been around online business for a while, it certainly felt like there was an explosion of opportunities during the pandemic.

People were stuck at home.

Businesses were disrupted.

Millions of people were looking for ways to make additional income.

And, perhaps more importantly, people who had never seriously considered working online suddenly found themselves spending much more of their lives online.

Network marketing was part of that shift.

COVID created a very unusual environment

During the pandemic, people had more time at home and fewer opportunities to socialise normally.

At the same time, online communication became completely normal.

People were using:

  • Zoom
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • Email
  • Online training
  • Webinars
  • Digital communities

That made it much easier for someone to discover an online business opportunity without ever meeting the person promoting it face-to-face.

The global direct-selling industry actually grew during 2020.

According to the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), global direct-selling revenue reached $179.3 billion in 2020, representing growth of 2.3% compared with 2019. The number of independent representatives also increased.

The momentum continued into 2021.

So there really was a COVID-era boost.

But what happened afterwards?

This is where it gets interesting.

As lockdowns ended and life returned to something closer to normal, some of that growth went into reverse.

In the United States, direct-selling sales subsequently declined from their pandemic-era highs. The US Direct Selling Association describes the period as a correction following the unusually strong growth experienced during the pandemic.

By 2024, US direct-selling sales were around $34.7 billion, while the number of direct sellers had fallen to approximately 5.4 million, down 12% from the previous year.

Globally, WFDSA reported approximately $163.9 billion in direct-selling sales in 2024.

So compared with the extraordinary pandemic period, the industry is smaller.

But that’s not the same thing as saying network marketing has disappeared.

It hasn’t.

We’re still talking about an enormous global industry.

So is network marketing dying?

I don’t think the data supports such a simple conclusion.

What seems to have happened is:

COVID boom → post-COVID correction → much more normal market

That’s quite different from:

COVID boom → industry collapse

The industry still generates substantial sales and has millions of participants around the world.

The UK, for example, was among the markets reporting growth in 2024 according to WFDSA.

So perhaps the more interesting question is not:

“Is network marketing dying?”

It’s:

“Who is still interested in it?”

The audience may have changed

During COVID, there were huge numbers of people suddenly looking for something they could do from home.

Today, people have considerably more choice.

Someone interested in making money online can find:

  • Affiliate marketing
  • Freelancing
  • E-commerce
  • Digital products
  • Content creation
  • Trading
  • Remote work
  • Online services
  • Network marketing
  • Thousands of other opportunities

And they can research all of them before committing to anything.

That creates a much more competitive environment.

People are also more experienced

This is another interesting change.

Someone entering the online-business world today may already have:

  • Bought an online course
  • Tried affiliate marketing
  • Joined an MLM
  • Used traffic exchanges
  • Bought solo ads
  • Built a social media account
  • Created a website
  • Joined an email list
  • Tried several different programmes

They’re not necessarily looking for their first opportunity.

They may be looking for something that solves the problems they encountered with the previous ones.

That is a very different prospect.

And that changes how we should promote

If someone has already tried three or four online opportunities, telling them:

“Here’s another amazing opportunity!”

probably isn’t going to get much attention.

But asking:

“What are you actually doing with all the traffic you’re buying?”

might.

Or:

“You’ve got visitors. But what are you sending them to?”

Or:

“What if you didn’t have to build the entire online business yourself?”

Those questions are addressing problems rather than simply presenting another opportunity.

This is why traffic interests me

I’ve been thinking increasingly about paid traffic.

If the market is more competitive, perhaps the answer isn’t to shout louder.

Perhaps it’s to become better at finding the people who are still actively looking.

That’s a much smaller audience than “everyone who wants to make money”.

But it may be a much more useful audience.

People already reading business emails.

People buying solo ads.

People using traffic exchanges.

People looking for affiliate opportunities.

People searching for ways to generate leads.

People who are already spending time or money trying to make online business work.

Those people have demonstrated something important:

They are still looking.

This is where Plug-In Profit Site becomes interesting

This is one of the reasons I’m still interested in Plug-In Profit Site.

I’m not looking at it as simply another network marketing opportunity.

I’m interested in the fact that it provides an online business framework containing a range of products, tools, services and training.

That creates an interesting proposition for someone who is already trying to generate traffic.

Instead of sending every visitor to one individual product, you’re potentially introducing them to a broader online-business ecosystem.

Someone might be interested in one part of it and not another.

And that’s potentially important when you’re paying to acquire visitors.

The market may be smaller — but that doesn’t necessarily make it irrelevant

This is probably the biggest lesson I’m taking from looking at the numbers.

I wouldn’t assume that network marketing in 2026 is experiencing the same explosive growth it experienced during COVID.

The data suggests there was a significant pandemic-era expansion followed by a correction.

But there’s still a huge market.

The opportunity may simply be different.

Rather than trying to convince millions of people who have never considered online business to become network marketers, perhaps the more sensible approach is to find the people who are already interested in building something online.

And then give them something worth investigating.

My takeaway

COVID created an unusual environment for network marketing.

People were at home.

The internet became even more central to everyday life.

Online communication exploded.

And the industry benefited.

Then the world reopened, and some of that growth disappeared.

But network marketing didn’t disappear with it.

The industry is still substantial.

The audience has simply become more competitive, more experienced and potentially more difficult to impress.

For me, that makes the marketing question much more interesting.

It’s no longer simply:

“How do I recruit more people?”

It’s:

“How do I find the people who are still actively looking for an online business — and give them a reason to click?”

That’s the question I’m interested in testing.

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How to Promote Network Marketing Opportunities in 2026

Plug-In Profit Site

How to Promote Network Marketing Opportunities in 2026

Network marketing has changed.

The basic business model may still involve selling products or services and, in some cases, building a sales organisation, but the way people discover and evaluate opportunities has changed dramatically.

In 2026, someone considering a network marketing opportunity can research the company, watch videos, read reviews, compare alternatives and follow existing distributors before ever speaking to the person who introduced them.

That changes the job of the promoter.

You are no longer simply trying to find people and persuade them to join.

You are trying to put the right opportunity in front of the right person, give them enough useful information to become interested, and make it easy for them to investigate further.

Here is how I would approach it.

Stop thinking “recruiting” and start thinking “traffic”

One of the biggest changes in online marketing is the importance of traffic.

Before you can generate customers, leads or business partners, you need people to see what you’re offering.

That traffic can come from:

  • Search engines
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Email lists
  • Solo ads
  • Traffic exchanges
  • Paid advertising
  • Blogs
  • Online communities
  • Referrals

The source matters, but the fundamental process is the same:

Traffic → attention → interest → investigation → action

Your job is to improve each stage.

Don’t try to sell the opportunity immediately

One of the easiest mistakes to make is jumping straight into:

“Join my business!”

Someone who has never heard of you has very little reason to do that.

Instead, start with something they actually care about.

For example:

  • How to generate online leads
  • How to get more website visitors
  • How to start affiliate marketing
  • How to create an additional income stream
  • How to promote products online
  • How to build an email list
  • How to use paid traffic
  • How to get started without technical skills

These subjects attract people who are already interested in the broader problem you’re solving.

Your opportunity can then become the next step, rather than the entire conversation.

Content is your introduction

In 2026, content can do much of the initial introduction for you.

A useful article, video or social media post can answer a question and introduce someone to your approach without requiring a personal message.

For example, instead of posting:

“Join my network marketing business!”

you could create content around:

“How much does it actually cost to start an online business?”

or:

“Free traffic vs paid traffic: which is better?”

or:

“What should you promote if you’re already buying traffic?”

Someone interested in those subjects is potentially much more relevant than someone who simply sees a generic recruitment advert.

The content earns the initial attention.

The opportunity comes afterwards.

Short-form video is useful for attention

Short videos are particularly useful for reaching people who don’t know you yet.

You don’t necessarily need elaborate production.

A simple video answering one specific question can be enough.

For example:

“You’ve got 500 visitors coming to your website. What happens next?”

Then explain one useful principle.

The objective isn’t necessarily to explain your entire business in 30 seconds.

It is to make someone think:

“That’s something I need to understand.”

Then give them a logical next step.

Don’t rely entirely on social media

There is a temptation to believe that everyone promoting an online business needs to become a social-media creator.

I don’t think that’s necessary.

There are other ways to buy or generate attention.

If you have limited time, paid traffic can be particularly interesting.

You can purchase:

  • Search advertising
  • Social advertising
  • Solo ads
  • Sponsored placements
  • Lead generation
  • Other forms of targeted traffic

The advantage is speed.

Instead of spending months building an audience, you can potentially put your message in front of people immediately.

The disadvantage is obvious:

you are paying for the traffic.

So the numbers matter.

You need to know what you’re paying for a visitor, lead and customer.

Solo ads can be particularly interesting

Solo ads are an interesting option for people promoting online business opportunities.

Instead of building an email list yourself, you pay someone who already has a relevant list to send an email promoting your offer.

The important word is relevant.

If you’re promoting an online business opportunity, you don’t necessarily want 1,000 random visitors.

You want people who are already interested in subjects such as:

  • Making money online
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Home business
  • Online entrepreneurship
  • Additional income
  • Digital marketing

The click is only the beginning, though.

The real question is:

What happens after they click?

Give your traffic somewhere worthwhile to go

This is something I think many people overlook.

You can spend money generating traffic, but if you send that traffic directly to a weak or poorly matched offer, you’ve potentially wasted the most expensive part of the process.

You need a logical journey.

For example:

Advert → useful landing page → free information/setup → follow-up → opportunity

Or:

Article → relevant resource → email list → offer

The person should understand what they are looking at and what they should do next.

Consider the difference between one product and an ecosystem

This is one reason I find the Plug-In Profit Site model interesting.

If you send traffic to a single product, the visitor has essentially one opportunity to find something they want.

They either like it or they don’t.

An ecosystem is different.

The visitor may encounter several related products, services, tools and opportunities.

That potentially gives you more chances to find something that matches their particular interests.

It doesn’t guarantee that the visitor will buy anything.

But it changes the equation from:

One visitor → one offer

to:

One visitor → multiple relevant opportunities

For someone paying for traffic, that is worth thinking about.

Build an email list

If someone visits your website but doesn’t buy or join, the relationship doesn’t necessarily have to end.

An email list gives you the opportunity to continue providing useful information.

This is particularly valuable because people rarely make a decision simply because they saw one advertisement.

They may need to:

  • understand the opportunity
  • compare it with alternatives
  • see how it works
  • overcome objections
  • become familiar with you
  • decide whether it fits their circumstances

Email allows that process to happen over time.

But the emails need to provide value.

If every message simply says:

“Join my business!”

people will stop paying attention.

Stop trying to convince everyone

A good marketing system doesn’t need everybody.

You want people who are already interested in the problem you’re solving.

If someone doesn’t want to run a business, doesn’t want to sell anything and has no interest in the products or services involved, repeatedly trying to persuade them is usually a poor use of time.

Find people who are already looking.

Then make it easy for them to investigate.

Your message matters

The traditional network marketing message often focuses heavily on the opportunity:

“Be your own boss.”

“Financial freedom.”

“Build your team.”

“Residual income.”

Those messages have been used so often that many people immediately recognise them as promotional language.

A more useful approach is to talk about the actual problem.

For example:

“You’ve got traffic, but what are you sending it to?”

Or:

“How do you start an online business when you don’t have a website or technical skills?”

Or:

“How do you turn visitors into leads?”

These questions are more concrete.

They start a conversation rather than simply announcing an opportunity.

Be particularly careful with income claims

This is an area where promoters need to be extremely careful.

The FTC’s current guidance states that earnings claims for MLM/business opportunities need to be truthful, substantiated and representative of what the typical person being addressed is likely to achieve. It also notes that expenses need to be considered when discussing profits.

Similarly, if you have a financial relationship with a company or product you’re promoting, that relationship should be disclosed clearly when you’re making an endorsement.

In practical terms, I would avoid building your marketing around:

  • Huge income screenshots
  • “Quit your job” claims
  • Guaranteed income
  • Lifestyle promises
  • “Anyone can make £10,000 a month”
  • Exceptional personal results presented as though they are normal

Instead, explain what the opportunity actually is, what someone has to do, what it costs and how the business model works.

That creates a much more credible foundation.

Paid traffic changes the equation

If you have plenty of time but little money, free traffic may make sense.

If you have money available but very little time, paid traffic becomes much more interesting.

You are essentially choosing what resource you want to spend:

Time or money.

Neither is genuinely free.

Free traffic normally requires an investment of time.

Paid traffic requires an investment of money.

The advantage of paid traffic is that you can test much faster.

You can spend £50, £100 or £200, track what happens and decide whether the numbers justify doing more.

That’s a very different approach from spending six months creating content and hoping it eventually produces results.

The 2026 network marketing formula

If I were starting from scratch today, I would think about the process like this:

1. Find a specific audience

Don’t market to “everyone”.

2. Identify their problem

What are they actually trying to accomplish?

3. Create something useful around that problem

Article, video, guide, advert or other content.

4. Generate traffic

Use free traffic, paid traffic or a combination.

5. Capture the interested people

Don’t allow every visitor to disappear.

6. Educate rather than pressure

Give people enough information to make an informed decision.

7. Present the opportunity

Now the business makes sense in the context of the problem you’ve already discussed.

8. Follow up

Most people won’t act immediately.

9. Measure everything

Track traffic, leads, conversions and costs.

10. Scale what produces results

Don’t simply do more marketing.

Do more of what the numbers demonstrate is working.

The biggest change

I think the biggest change in promoting network marketing opportunities in 2026 is that the internet has made information abundant.

Your prospect can find dozens of opportunities in minutes.

They can search the company.

They can watch reviews.

They can compare products.

They can look at competitors.

They can ask AI questions.

They don’t necessarily need another person telling them that an opportunity is “amazing”.

They need clarity.

What is it?

How does it work?

Who is it for?

What does it cost?

What would I actually have to do?

What are the potential benefits?

What are the limitations?

Give people useful answers to those questions and you have a much stronger foundation for marketing.

Final thought

Promoting a network marketing opportunity in 2026 doesn’t have to mean chasing people, sending endless cold messages or trying to convince friends and family.

There are other ways to build the business.

Create useful content.

Buy targeted traffic.

Build an email list.

Give people something worth investigating.

Follow up consistently.

And most importantly, stop thinking of marketing as simply getting someone to join.

Think of it as building a system that takes a person from:

“I’ve never heard of you.”

to:

“That’s a problem I have.”

to:

“That looks interesting.”

to:

“I want to find out more.”

That is the journey modern network marketing needs to accommodate.

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