I personally know what an MLM feels like. I was involved in one – successfully I might add – until I woke up to the system of how it pays off for the few while the many do the lion’s share of the work. It was a structure I couldn’t stomach.

Everything felt like hype. One punctuated with lots of enthusiastic energy and a bit of deceptive selling. Like the time I was waiting for an elevator. I struck up a conversation with a guy waiting for his guest to arrive for a meeting. After I identified his affiliation with Amway, he quickly remarked, “just don’t let my guest know.” Yikes!

Business today feels like it’s moving in that direction. It’s the rise of the faux business.

Linkedin is peppered with ‘Linkedin lead generation specialists.’ Others speak emphatically about how they can help you earn 7 figures within 6 months.

Clickbait clamors for our attention. Disinformation leads us down a dark and winding path. Wild and loudly exclaimed headlines crowd our feeds.

Invest time to get to know you and build trust? Heck no – the world is in a hurry and you’ve got 15 minutes. Sales questions are locked and loaded. It’s speed selling on steroids. There’s little time or effort invested into an honest, relationship-building conversation.  

Let’s take a collective breath and slow our pace.

Can we turn down the volume of our headlines and social media? And, return to truth in advertising?

Most importantly, can we give potential business clients the respect of time they deserve to state their dreams, hopes, and challenges? And, then pause to listen — to really hear what they say as well as what they don’t say.

What a wonderful world this would be…to quote the incomparable Sam Cooke.