MLM Blog – Network Marketing Blog

Len Clements on the FTC Business Opportunity Rule – New Information

Posted on 13. Sep, 2006 by Ty Tribble in Network Marketing - MLM

It's good to see you again. You can get the MLM Blog delivered to your email by subscribing here.

Special thanks to Len Clements for the permission to post his MarketWave Alert Newsletter...

If you are involved enough in your MLM business to subscribe to MarketWave Alerts you are probably already aware of the FTC's proposed new Business Opportunity Rule that could seriously effect your ability to do business. If you are new to MLM, check out the details here:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/04/newbizopprule.htm

The FTC accepted public comment about this proposed new rule up until July 17, 2006. Almost 13,000 unique comments were submitted along with over 5,000 form letters. They can be viewed at:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/comments/businessopprule/index.htm

Among these approximately 18,000 total comments there was, of course, a few from members of the MLM Haters Club (what I refer to as "Anti-MLM Zealots"). The vast majority of responders submitted one comment. Robert FitzPatrick, founder of Pyramid Scheme Alert (PSA), felt the need to submit five (three as "PSA", two personally). Doug Brooks (anti-MLM attorney) submitted three, two of which were legal documents pertaining to a settled class action suit against Herbalife and completely unrelated to the FTC's proposed new rule. Dr. Stephen Barrett from QuackWatch and ex-Assistant AG Bruce Craig (PSA's go-to guy when it needs to create the illusion of credibility) both submitted, appropriately, one albeit lengthy comment. MLM "Survivor" Ruth Carter and "What's Wrong With MLM" author Dean Van Druff are surprisingly absent from the comment list. But the always verbose Jon Taylor more than made up for them by submitting a record eight comments (all under the official sounding name "Consumer Awareness Institute"). As is his MO, most of it is the same tired, baseless arguments repeated over and over, and virtually none of it directly related to the FTC's proposed new business opportunity rule. Taylor has been trying to get the attention of the FTC for years and has been utterly ignored, so the FTC's comment facility related to this proposed rule was a great way for him to draw their attention to his anti-MLM manifesto. Being, for the most part, irrelevant to the specific rule the FTC is seeking comment on (which applies to all forms of business opportunities, not just MLM), his anti-MLM propaganda will likely be ignored yet again.

All of the Anti-MLM Zealots named above are, directly or indirectly, connected to each other. Their comments in support of the new rule are, not surprisingly, very similar to one another, in some cases almost verbatim. I chose exactly 100 other comments at random from the remaining comments (closed by eyes and just clicked on random spots on the list) and 99% of them were pro-MLM and against the proposed rule (one was from an ex-MLMers who used the comment form to vent about her failure, but made no comment specific to the proposed new rule). I read all 35 representative samples of the 5,000+ form letters that were submitted and 100% were pro-MLM, and against the rule.

Now comes the fun part!

We have until September 29th to submit comments in response to the comments previously submitted. That means the other 17,995 of us get to submit a rebuttal to what the five Anti-MLM Zealots had to say. Why should you? Well, because they've actually made a pretty good case to back up their criticisms! The challenge is that their case only applies to a single, but very large, MLM company, and they're doing a masterful job of painting us all with the same brush! I won't go into a rebuttal of their arguments or specific expos�s of each of them now (you can find that HERE), but suffice it to say the primary, and in many cases the entire, case made against MLM by these anti-MLMers pertains to factions within Quixtar (aka Amway), and occasionally past (long since resolved) legal actions against Equinox, Herbalife and/or Nu Skin. That's it. They rarely, if ever, relate any of their attacks to the many hundreds of other MLM programs that don't do business even remotely the way that those few they attack do business. For example, the backbone of their anti-Amway crusade is the multimillion dollar tapes, tools and seminars business that have made a select few Amway Diamonds mega-rich. The obvious, easily verifiable fact that 99% of all other MLM companies sell their tools at or below cost - and offer training seminars for free - makes no impression on them at all. It doesn't matter to them. Their belief is that some organizations within Quixtar do it this way (not even all of Quixtar), so all MLM companies do it this way and thus should be shut down.

So this is what we (you) need to focus on in your rebuttal comments:

1)  Be clear on the specific comment and commenter you are responding to (reference the Comment Number at the top of the comment you are rebutting).

2)  Make it clear that those experiences described by the anti-MLM zealot are an aberration and not typical of your personal experiences (that is, what happened to them in Amway is not indicative of what happens to everyone in every other MLM opportunity).

3)  Don't insult the FTC by calling them names or suggesting they, or their proposed rule, is foolish or stupid. Remember, the FTC isn't a thing, it's a group of human beings!

4)  Don't be insulting to the person you are rebutting (leave that up to me Try to be professional in your response.

5) Try not to just dismiss the whole anti-MLM commentary with generic statements like "He's just wrong" or "That's not true". Pick specific points and counter them with logic, facts and opinions based on your own personal experiences.

Here's where you can go to submit your rebuttal comments:

https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-bizopNPR/

Thanks for your help in supporting our great industry!

Len Clements
MarketWave, Inc.

Related posts:

1. FTC Update: Business Opportunity Rule
2. USANA News: Len Clements Responds to the FDI Rebuttal of his Rebuttal
3. If your whole downline quits what happens to your “business” income?
4. MLM Expert, Len Clements On The Amway Global Compensation Plan
5. Ascential Bioscience Business Opportunity