MLM companies love to announce their top earners - $500K, $1 million per year! But what do these people actually take home? Consider: Self-employment tax is 15.3% on top of regular income tax. Many top earners maintain large autoship orders of $500-1000/month. They attend 5-10 company events per year at $500-1500 each plus travel. They buy samples, tools, and maintain a professional image. They may have assistants and business expenses. A $500K top earner might actually take home $250K-300K. Still great money, but not as impressive as the headline number suggests.
MLM companies love to announce their top earners - $500K, $1 million per year! But what do these people actually take home? Consider: Self-employment tax is 15.3% on top of regular income tax. Many top earners maintain large autoship orders of $500-1000/month. They attend 5-10 company events per year at $500-1500 each plus travel. They buy samples, tools, and maintain a professional image. They may have assistants and business expenses. A $500K top earner might actually take home $250K-300K. Still great money, but not as impressive as the headline number suggests.
The best advice I ever got was to spend 80% of my time on customer acquisition and 20% on recruiting. Most new distributors do the opposite because recruiting has bigger potential payoffs. But without customers, you are just building a house of cards.
Thank you for your vulnerability in sharing this. The shame and embarrassment after leaving an MLM is real and not talked about enough. You are not stupid for joining - these companies spend millions on making their opportunity look irresistible. You were targeted by professional marketers.
Can you share which company you are with? I am researching several options and would love to compare notes. Also, what does your monthly autoship actually cost and what products do you get?
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