The most exciting moment at the start of almost every MLM journey is after you’ve just signed up. You’re motivated, very optimistic and you’ve convinced yourself this might actually be your big break. Maybe this is the start of your super successful career and future. You can’t wait to earn enough to pay for that luxury holiday. You start dreaming that maybe, you’ll become the kind of woman who casually says things like, “I’ve just hit another bonus!”

Then a large, company branded parcel arrives, you have been waiting eagerly for this delivery all week. You just momentarily forget it cost €50 plus delivery! 😳

And honestly?

Peak MLM experience!

Apart from the welcome kit fee, you forget the business, the compensation plan or trying to explain to your aunt why you’ve suddenly become passionate about collagen, coconut scented candles or moisturiser.

The welcome kit is excellent, it’s beautifully packaged and everything smells fragrant and expensive. There are glossy catalogues, motivational cards, perfectly branded notebooks, pens, samples arranged like they’re about to be photographed and enough branded bags and order forms so you won’t run out in a hurry when your business takes off!

For about twenty minutes, you’re convinced by receiving this parcel, your life is about to change. 🙌

It’s incredibly satisfying opening a fresh box full of matching products, it’s like adult party bags. The marketing departments certainly know exactly what they’re doing. The beautiful packaging and scented tissue paper create excitement and hope.

It’s really clever because before you’ve sold a single thing, you’ve already started making memories. You remember receiving and opening that box. As you lay everything out neatly on your dining table, you remember taking photos and thinking, “This feels so professional, I can’t wait to get started“

For many people unfortunately, that’s actually the happiest they’ll ever be in the business because after that comes the reality. The group chats and pressure starts even though you still have no clue what you are doing.

“Who’s reaching out to five people today?”

“Cold Message 10 Strangers!”

“Postive Mindset = Success!”

Someone you’ve never met is calling you “AMAZING” before asking how many people you’ve recruited this week.

You begin discovering that owning £100 worth of products and inventory isn’t quite the same as having customers. Your friends stop replying and family suddenly become experts in changing the subject or ignoring all your online sales posts.

Every conversation somehow ends with you wondering if you’ve accidentally tried to recruit your gardener! 🫣 Every conversation turns into a potential recruit or sales opportunity after a while.

But that welcome kit? Still one of the more fun memories in my experience.

Ask almost anyone who’s left an MLM, and there’s a surprising amount of affection for that first parcel.

“The products were actually nice.”

“I still use the bag.”

“The notebook was lovely.”

It’s funny how often the best memory in an MLM has nothing to do with making money.

That’s probably why so many companies invest so heavily in those starter packs. First impressions matter and If your first experience feels premium, exciting and exclusive, you’re naturally more motivated to continue. For a brief moment, you’re not someone who’s joined another network marketing company, you’re a business owner or entrepreneur. The only evidence you have is because you were sent you a box of products, catalogues and a branded notebook.

Millennials are especially vulnerable to this kind of marketing because we’ve grown up in the era of unboxing videos online. We love opening parcels and romanticising fresh starts.

To be honest, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a nice parcel. We’ve all been excited by a delivery but it’s just unfortunate when the excitement peaks before the actual business begins.

The welcome kit becomes a snapshot of what you hoped the experience would be. It was exciting, supportive and full of possibility.

Instead, for many people in MLMs it’s then followed by pressure to recruit, pressure to post online, pressure to stay positive and pressure to keep buying products yourself.

The shiny box stays but the excitement quietly disappears. Years later, plenty of former MLM sellers can laugh about it.

“The free tote bag got more use than my business.”

It’s such a millennial thing to keep a branded notebook from a business you desperately want to forget. I actually still have my branded mug in my kitchen cupboard from a travel MLM.

That might be the lasting legacy of many MLMs. It won’t be the ‘income’, promotions or motivational team video calls. Instead it will be one surprisingly decent tote bag, a nice mug… and the memory of briefly believing you’d finally figured adulthood out.

Related to ‘Make Memories, Not Downlines’ by Siân Alison Out Now!

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