Hopefully this read will be as interesting to you as it was for me as I experienced it. Soooo… A handful of odd events have occurred since I posted my last article on the Risk Assessment of Network Marketing, so I decided to blog about it. At the end of that article I brought up the fact that I was never taught about MLM in my formal schooling up to this point in my life. So I set out to find a University that was teaching it, and look into what type of information they provide. If it was not for Alex and YOR Health I don’t know how much I would have ever been exposed to in this industry. As I started down this path, a series of bizarre and somewhat upsetting situations began to unfold.

It all started out just a few days after I had posted my last article. While on campus, I decided to stop into the College of Business and ask the one man whose opinion I truly TRUST and VALUE above all others, Prof. P, a question about Multi Level Marketing being taught at the University level. Unfortunately he was not in his office, but a colleague of his noticed me in the hall and asked if I had a question. I figured the question was harmless enough and figured I would go ahead and ask Prof. Rivera if he knew of any.

I didn’t preface the question much and primarily inquired, “Do you know of any universities that currently teach courses on Network Marketing or MLM?” Prof. Rivera’s facial expressions instantly went from a smile to a cold look of disgust or disappointment. At first I thought I was maybe reading into his expressions wrong, but when he started to speak I could tell his tone had changed for the worse. He said to me, “Why the hell would a University teach people how rip people off.” He followed that statement with, “I had a good friend that tried to sucker my wife and I into selling some sort of tropical juice, and later I read a posting about it being a scam online and told him to never call us again.” I quickly ended the conversation by telling him I was just curious if he knew, because I was thinking about writing a paper on it. He ended the conversation with, “Good luck with that…”

As I was leaving the building I was not only shocked as to the response from a teacher of “higher learning”, but more with the lack of research and the skewed conclusions of an industry based on what?!? “A posting” he read online?!? If my early online experiences about YOR Health and MLM is any testament to how you can be misled if you believe people’s online opinions as facts, then Professor Rivera’s comments are a blazing example of how someone who doesn’t do the right research and is quick to jump to conclusions, even if it means passing up a potentially amazing opportunity. By the way, I looked up the company he was referring to, and they do roughly half a billion dollars in product sales annually.

So now I wanted to talk with Prof. P about this more than ever. I was curious to hear his take on how ridiculous Prof. Rivera acted despite having no facts to back up his statements. Unfortunately I was unable to find him, so I went to the computer lab to do more in-depth research about the topic at hand. What I found next was astounding!

Network Marketing is being taught in Universities around the country. IN FACT, Professor Charles King who got his Doctorate and MBA from Harvard University teaches classes on Direct Sales & Multi Level Marketing at the University of Illinois. I found a couple videos of Prof. King online where he states that at first he was skeptical of the industry and then a STUDENT CALLED HIM OUT ON IT!! I felt that is was EXACTLY what just occurred with Prof. Rivera and me not but a few hours earlier. Here is the video:

Around 1 minute and 40 seconds (1:40) in he starts talking about how he was cynical and skeptical, but did due diligence on MLM and now is such a strong believer he is now teaching Network Marketing at the University level.

After seeing the video I wanted to head back up to Professor Rivera’s office and show it to him, and explain how I felt his statements were without merit. I also wanted to express my concern about his level of conviction behind the statements he was making, despite it being based on little research and information he had about MLM.

BUT, I quickly realized that I didn’t need to cause any issues, or prove anyone wrong by what I had uncovered with Prof. Charles King’s video. Instead, I decided to continue looking for more information that backed up how Network Marketing should be considered as a viable business model. The next video I came across was a bit older, but again to my surprise, another high profile endorsement.

President Bill Clinton’s Take on Network Marketing:

As I continue seeing mind blowing numbers referring to the Direct Sales and Network Marketing Industry, I can’t help but feel that there is an injustice in this country when it comes to Network Marketing NOT being taught in Universities, especially regarding students graduating with Business Administration degrees.

I want to continue down this path for a bit longer while researching MLM. I will try to find the most credible sources of information provided by highly credible individuals. I will let you know any new or exciting things I find online.

Side note: Another interesting person I found was a woman by the name of Ellie Drake. She seems to be a strong supporter of the network marketing industry, but also a very truthful and empowered woman.

The moral of today’s posting… Find credible resources for topics you are researching before making statements of conviction to inquiring minds.

Thanks for reading,

Shawn