AMBIT ENERGY |
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Multi-level marketing (MLM) (also called network marketing or NM) is a business model that combines direct marketing with franchising. In a typical multi-level marketing or network marketing arrangement, individuals associate with a parent company as an independent contractor and are compensated based on their sales of products or service (as well as the sales achieved by those they bring into the business).
In a legitimate MLM company, commissions are earned only on sales to the end-user, who is often also a distributor. No money may be earned from recruiting alone ("sign-up fees"). Some companies produce revenues primarily by attracting new participants or selling them marketing services, as opposed to selling actual products. One must analyze the compensation plan to determine whether participants are paid from actual sales to customers and not from new-recruit bonuses or business support sales.
Multi-level marketing has a recognized image problem due to the fact that it is often difficult to distinguish legitimate MLMs from such illegal scams as pyramid or Ponzi schemes. NM/MLM businesses do operate legitimately in all 50 U.S. states and more than 100 other countries, and new businesses may use terms like "affiliate marketing" or "home-based business franchising."
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FRAUD |
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Experts in detecting and handling deception deliberately practiced to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
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FRAUD - GENERAL |
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Experts in detecting and handling deception deliberately practiced to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
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MULTILEVEL MARKETING |
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Multi-level marketing (MLM) (also called network marketing or NM) is a business model that combines direct marketing with franchising. In a typical multi-level marketing or network marketing arrangement, individuals associate with a parent company as an independent contractor and are compensated based on their sales of products or service (as well as the sales achieved by those they bring into the business).
In a legitimate MLM company, commissions are earned only on sales to the end-user, who is often also a distributor. No money may be earned from recruiting alone ("sign-up fees"). Some companies produce revenues primarily by attracting new participants or selling them marketing services, as opposed to selling actual products. One must analyze the compensation plan to determine whether participants are paid from actual sales to customers and not from new-recruit bonuses or business support sales.
Multi-level marketing has a recognized image problem due to the fact that it is often difficult to distinguish legitimate MLMs from such illegal scams as pyramid or Ponzi schemes. NM/MLM businesses do operate legitimately in all 50 U.S. states and more than 100 other countries, and new businesses may use terms like "affiliate marketing" or "home-based business franchising."
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NETWORK MARKETING |
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The term network marketing is used in two ways. In popular usage it is a synonym for multi-level marketing and often mistakenly considered the same as a pyramid scheme.
The concept of "network marketing" is often used to describe a marketing paradigm that stresses the interconnectedness of market actors and transactions and can be viewed as the application of systems thinking to marketing. According to network marketing theory other marketing paradigms see the discipline as consisting primarily of dyadic relationships (ie., one buyer and one seller). Network marketing wishes to overcome this limitation by looking at transactions and relationships from the viewpoint of all those involved.
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