Moms and MLMs

A Brief History MLMs 

Before we begin, it’s important to establish what an MLM is. Multilevel marketing is its standard name, though the practice goes by several pseudonyms: networking marketing, direct sales, and relationship marketing, to name a few.

Namesake aside, MLMs are pay-and-recruit organizations that aren’t run by salaried employees but rather by “affiliates.” This business model operates by first acquiring affiliates and entrusting them with peddling the company’s products and services to their friends and followers, and then convincing some of those individuals to become affiliates themselves.

You might notice that MLMs are marginally female. This is because the company's structure is reliant upon a sense of collaboration, one that the “girl boss” and “sisterhood” archetypes typically play into quite well. 

Katie Anderson explains this phenomenon quite well in an article, “The undertones of MLMs are incredibly sexist, with a bombardment of female empowerment posts from “boss babes.” In reality, the uplines will tell their downlines to lose weight, to get clearer skin, improve their hair, and work from home to be a better mother. By playing on these biggest insecurities, upheld by a patriarchal society, they are able to trap innocent women into their scheme.”

MLMs vs. Pyramid Schemes

While there is a discussion to be had about the ethics of MLMs generally, it’s important to distinguish your typical MLM from its more sinister counterpart: The pyramid scheme.

Unlike MLMs, pyramid schemes don’t pay based on the number of sales you make or customers you bring to the company. Instead, they pay you based on the number of additional affiliates you can get to join your “downline” of sellers.

The trouble is that although their structures are quite similar, their potential consequences differ in grave ways.

In essence, the two outcomes experienced when joining an MLM are:

• Making a substantial amount of money by producing several sales (highly unlikely)

• Buying into a company in order to post advertisements that make you negligible amounts of money (much more common)

While the second outcome isn’t ideal, it certainly isn’t as bad as the standard outcome of joining a pyramid scheme, which is:

• Not only do you not produce any income, but you also invest your own money to an extent that leaves you in debt and unable to meet your basic needs.

Your Favorite Mommy Influencer Might Be An MLM Affiliate

As we discussed, MLMs are particularly appealing to women. This makes the “mommy influencer,” or stay-at-home mother who creates content for additional income, the perfect target. 

If a product or service that’s being advertised happens to be flawed or faulty in some way, it can be argued that some of the resulting blame should be placed on the influencer advertising it. However, it’s worth noting that these business structures are often intentionally framed as “too good to be true,” and there are times when affiliates of questionable brands are simply too misinformed to know what they’re doing.

While this doesn’t absolve them from the guilt that comes along with, say, fraudulent medical claims (we’ll get into that in a moment), these schemes are typically presented in a fairly innocent way. 

After all, who is truly guilty: The mother who is trying to support her family in a way that fits into her insane schedule or the company that was formed specifically to exploit her?

The Birth of The Cannabis MLM

There are several industries that are saturated with MLMs. But cannabis is the newest, hottest prey for this questionable business model. When you break down the appeal, it’s actually quite simple to understand why hemp is being targeted as the newest MLM conquest:

• Hemp is a product that is health-centric, which means that it’s quite easy to put powerful marketing behind it.

• These are products that can be marked up tremendously without much complaint from the consumer.

• The cannabis industry is, at its core, designed to help those who are less advantaged thrive and become more content in their lives. This is something that MLMs often boast about.

• Due to laws and regulations, the cannabis industry is still in its infancy. There’s plenty of opportunity to swoop in and try to become big players.

This is also an industry that content creators, especially female content creators, understandably want to become figures in. This leaves them quite susceptible to the recruitment tactics of these companies.

Why Cannabis & Hemp MLMs Are Uniquely Dangerous

The most glaring issue regarding cannabis MLMs is that, unlike companies that distribute makeup or leggings, these companies are dealing in the world of controlled substances. This means that safety and quality control aren’t just recommended—they’re non-negotiable.

The OTC (over-the-counter) hemp market in the United States is notoriously poorly regulated, as the government has favored prohibitive legislation over proper regulation. While there are countless benefits to safe, responsible hemp use, there is no way to “safely” use a product with untested strength and purity. 

For instance, because delta-9 THC is not federally legal*, many companies opt to sell delta-8 THC instead. Delta-8 is not naturally occurring but rather the result of chemically treated CBD. If the conversion process is poorly conducted, heavy metals, pesticides, and chemical solvents can be left in the product. 

So, a question remains: How do we know if a product containing Delta-8 was made from a verified source with consumer safety in mind? The unfortunate answer is that currently, there is no way to truly confirm.

That said, we do have one way to help position ourselves for the safest results possible—consistent education from reliable resources. Resources far more reliable than, say, your favorite Instagram influencer or that one girl from high school who is suddenly claiming her POTS is cured.

There are countless good players in the hemp industry dedicated to in-house and third-party testing alike. But unfortunately, many of the commonly-promoted MLM cannabis companies do not have the same dedication to safety. The more we educate ourselves, the more we can push safety-first products to be approved by our legislators. And, of course, the quicker we can get risky MLM products off of the market.

*Note: While delta-9 THC is not federally legal, the 2018 Farm Bill made delta-9 THC derived from hemp by dry weight legal.

The Omission of Education

This leads into what makes the MLM-ification of a controlled substance so jarring—people are (knowingly or otherwise) pushing products that they have zero in-depth insight into. They have no further stake in the company other than that of a digital salesperson, so what would be the reward for taking the time to ensure that the product is legitimate?

For those who wish to remain affiliates in these MLMs but have had little headway in making a profit through conventional means, they may turn to hyperbolic statements to get sales moving. 

Just as an innocent MaryKay pusher can claim that their concealer makes them ‘look twenty years younger,’ the more sinister hemp-oriented affiliate may state that their product ‘completely alleviates them’ of their chronic condition. Naturally, the latter is a far more dangerous claim.

Stay Protected: How to Spot a Shady Cannabis MLM

It’s one thing to hear the warnings about these businesses, but it’s another to actually be able to identify them. There’s a reason that they’re so popular despite their questionable practices—they make themselves sound incredibly appealing.

Here are a few of the most identifiable attributes of these less-savory MLM campaigns so that you know exactly what to look out for:

Spontaneous Health Claims

If nothing else, remember that any company operating under an MLM structure can and should not be trusted when making claims about a product’s impact on an individual’s health. 

When looking at hemp and cannabis MLMs specifically, watch out for this phrasing:

• Any reference to the product as “medicine”

• Any mention of specific medical conditions (medical or physical) that the product has “cured” or is “treating”

• Any results that seem over-the-top; statements like “life-changing,” for instance.

Sole Reliance on Affiliate Marketing

In the world of influencer culture, affiliate marketing isn’t inherently a bad or untrustworthy practice. In fact, over 80% of marketers are considering or have already implemented some form of affiliate program into their strategy.

However, when affiliates are the strategy, things get a bit more dubious. Companies are obsessed not only with building their own ‘team’ of affiliates but also with encouraging those affiliates to recruit more affiliates. 

When this is all reduced to its bare bones, you find that the majority of the company’s profit comes from the (often required) purchases of the affiliates themselves. This is done in hopes that by buying and displaying an increased amount of products, they can boost their chances of rising through the ranks. 

Promises of Grandiose Rewards

An untrustworthy MLM often makes incredibly big promises to tempt more affiliates to join its ladder. It’s not uncommon to see higher-ranking members of the company’s team flaunting designer clothing items, attending all-expenses-paid “elite retreats,” or any other reward that makes you think: “Wow! They’re making that much money just by posting about this product?”

Connection Doesn’t Need to be Bought: Finding Your People as a Cannabis-Friendly Mom

Before we wrap this up, it’s important to mention this: Joining an MLM or similar affiliate marketing group is not the only way to build community and create meaningful connections as a cannabis-friendly mother.

Many MLM victims across industries stayed with their companies past their comfort level because they were genuinely nervous about losing the bonds and friendships they had cultivated.

There are so many ways that you can build community online as a cannabis-friendly mom:

• Joining social media groups on Facebook or Instagram that are specifically dedicated to the topics you care about.

• Creating content about your experiences and advice, regardless of whether it’s backed by a product.

• Creating, sharing, or just consuming educational resources involving the industry.

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At CaliSoberMom, we’re all about finding healthy ways to cope with the stresses of motherhood, womanhood, and personhood. It’s by collaborating with one another, and sharing each other’s unique stories, that we can begin to heal and grow.