Work / Money
I Backtracked 4 People Who Chased Success in Network Marketing
Here is what happened to people I know
I know a bunch of people who have sought financial success in network marketing — primarily young men.
None of the people I know are older than 22, yet they put so much on the line.
Here is the story of 4 young men I know who have worked, or still do, in network marketing.
This article is a trip into the world of superficial success, arrogance, selling personal stuff & quiet failure.
I noticed what they were doing months ago. Now I look where they are now.
To protect the people, I have changed their names. Charles, Justin, Nick & Jack are not the actual names of the young men.
Charles — the flagship
He was and is the figurehead—several people like him exist in a good network marketing system — whether it’s forex or nutritional supplements.
People like Charles are leaders— and they like to call themselves so.
Charles has many followers on Instagram, high-quality photos, and openly shows his lifestyle. If he ever doesn’t have an active Instagram Story, you have to assume he’s no longer alive.
The purpose of his role is to attract attention. He serves as an advertisement for the system, showing what it’s like to be one of the successful ones.
For being only 20 years old, he shares a lot of his wisdom with us. He talks about goals, psychology, motivation, and money.
He travels a lot, meets many people, and likes to show himself with good food and expensive clothes. For not being very modest, something stands out — he lacks any actual signs of financial success.
No profits, no turnover, not a single dollar — he shows nothing.
Justin — the minion
Justin went to a class together with a friend of mine. He and Charles know each other very well. How exactly, I don’t know. But something is clear: Charles took on Justin as part of his team.
So Charles is a level above Justin — and above many others.
Just like his leader, Justin is also very active on Instagram.
He shows pictures of how he trades. Everything is done professionally, with motivational captions. But the devil is in the details. I’ve noticed that the oh-so-successful traders post pictures showing profits of an astonishing 80 cents.
Of course, the poor people, stuck in the rat race, don’t notice — that’s precisely the kind of thing Justin pulls on the “normal” people. Although it doesn’t seem like he has anything to show financially, the young man is highly motivated.
The pandemic seems to push him. While others fear for their jobs, he is making money at home— at least according to his statement.
On his Instagram, there’s a complete lack of evidence that he’s that successful. Success is presented everywhere, but whether it exists is questionable.
At the moment he is still active in the network just like Charles. Let’s move on to two cases that have quit.
Nick — putting all eggs in one basket.
I know Nick from school. I always liked him, but we hardly had anything to do with each other. Then, a year ago, Nick joined a group of traders who trade cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
That’s not all they do — the main focus of their project is to recruit new members.
A clear case of network marketing and no one denies that. But how did I hear about Nick’s new career? It’s a funny story because he made no secret of it at all. On Instagram, he immediately started posting about his work.
The Corona crisis seemed to give him a notable boost, too. Without any successes to show for it, it was always against the people working in the 9–5. Such people would sell their time for money and have no financial freedom.
I always find this funny to see. The network marketing projects insinuate themselves in two ways:
- As idealistic anti-capitalists who want to help people who get exploited, they are about inner values, freedom, satisfaction, and not being a slave to the system.
- At the same time, they are about luxury, which nobody needs: Rolex watches, Bentleys, expensive houses, and lots of air travel.
Everyone even knew about Nick that he sold a lot of personal things. He did it because getting into network marketing is expensive— quite a bit, in my opinion. You have to buy the product yourself, sometimes licenses and demonstration material for selling it to others.
So Nick put all his eggs in one basket. And the fact that everyone was aware of the risks he took should become part of his hero story.
Now, more than one year later, you don’t hear anything about his dailiness anymore. Although there are still Instagram highlights about Hustle and Forex, they have not been filled for ten months.
Nick was also in personal contact with Justin and Charles — this is revealed by his Instagram Stories, where both can be seen. However, they no longer follow each other on Instagram — among young people, this is a sign of breaking contact.
I know from good sources that Nick’s investment didn’t pay off.
Jack — the enthusiastic
Jack was a friend of mine for many years. For about three years, we had almost no contact. After school, many ways separate.
The last time I heard from him was two years ago when he called me out of the blue. Rushed, and as if we were talking every day, he got straight to the point. “Ey Louis, there is a cool event tomorrow.”
Jack talked about there being an event in a hotel in our city — about self-employment and business. Of course, this was not very detailed information. I asked him if he could tell me something more specific — but he refused. Jack just told me to come by, and I would see what it was all about.
So dubious can only be an invitation to a network marketing, I thought to myself. After thinking about it for a short time, it was clear to me what it was all about. I had already heard about this event from other friends. A Google search gave me more information.
The event was held by a network marketing company doing trading. It was about recruiting new distributors.
I did not go there. I don’t know whether Jack was there at all. There is no sign that he had ever been involved with those people after the event.
Today he is working a “normal” 9–5 job.
Conclusion
Many of the people who start in dubious network marketing projects lose money. But not only do they lose money but also time, trust, and friends.
Despite this, the companies present themselves to the outside world as very successful. With this article, I would like to convey a little reality.
No, I did not intentionally overweight the unsuccessful ones among the people — the choice is based on chance, on which ones I know.
We should not trust the pictures. To repeat once again: There is no evidence of financial success in any of the young men. Not a single one shows actual results.
In social media, it’s easy to create a false image.
But even in non-digital life, many people are sheep in wolf’s clothing. We shouldn’t confuse successful, wealthy people with those who can’t handle money.
All of the above people are involved in the same project. In my opinion, it looks like a cult — very much even a pyramid scheme. We talk about such a system when the profits of the company come mainly by recruiting new members. It is not an actual product that is worth the money. This is precisely why these companies stage themselves like cults.
It’s not about the product. It’s about mindset, beliefs, goals, and motivation. It’s about driving each other.
It’s precisely this energy that should be carried outward and help attract new members — who want to become part of an exclusive, successful social circle.
Thanks for reading!