How many ideas have succeeded on their own merits - without promotion, marketing and sales? What products have taken world by storm when no one knew about them? Why do authors go on book-signing tours, actors make rounds of talk show circuit, and major companies spend millions on trade shows? They launch monstrous public relations campaigns and give away tchotchke's with their logo emblazoned on them.

Public awareness does not come cheap or easy. The sales process is a necessary evil that many small business people abhor (and then they die) or embrace (and then they prosper.) Innovators and inventors must seek venture capital and sell their concept to investors. Why do we recoil from sales process if task falls to us as independent business owners? We look to gurus of marketing, P.R. and promotion to rescue us from this task and throw money at advertising to avoid doing sales ourselves.

MLM companies that are well run offer a ready-made, repeatable business plan that, when followed correctly, can generate substantial incomes.

These same plans can also lead to dissillusion and dissapointment. How come? Surely if it works for one, it should work for everyone.

The truth is that no matter how good parent company, how ethically they run their business or how generous their remuneration plan, MLM'ers are still human beings. And human beings are just about as variable as you can get.

For some, network marketing is answer to a prayer. These people will excel. They will earn large commissions and regular bonuses.

For others it will never be 'that simple.'

Just as some folk love mustard and others love ketchup, so it is with MLM. Some folk will just never get it.

At various points in our lives, my wife and I have jumped into MLM to 'help pay bills'.

Let me tell you, for us, effort always far outweighed reward.

Sure, I personally know of several people who are genuinely making seriously big money. One couple made a £150,000 bonus check a couple of years ago. Nice bonus!

So, MLM isn't necessarily ogre that it is sometimes made out to be. Get right company, with a good reward scheme and a great product that people want to buy - and keep buying - and you potentially have a winner.

But ... MLM isn't a magic wand.

The people who do make good money would probably make great money at anything they did. They work all hours that God sends (and more).