There is quite a lively debate these days within the Home Business community about which business model, GPT or MLM, offers the best chance of success and profitability. GPT stands for Get Paid Today or Get Paid To, depending on who you listen to. MLM, of course, stands for Multi-Level Marketing, also known as Network Marketing. Disciples in each of these fields swear and declare, often with lots of graphs and charts, income disclaimers, and of course a lot of “expert” opinion, that their business model is superior. GPT practitioners even go so far as to proclaim the demise of MLM, with full obituaries. So what is the truth in all this rhetoric, which business model is superior? In my opinion, neither. But the debate is fun nonetheless.
Entrepreneurs, people in general, are as different as night and day. Personality traits like likes, dislikes, emotional and psychological makeup, strengths, weaknesses, interpersonal skills differ from person to person. Therefore, the business model that is suitable for one entrepreneur is not necessarily suitable for another. There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to business opportunities. That would be like saying that everyone is cut out to be a doctor, a lawyer, a professional athlete. The personality traits and skills that make one likely to be successful in MLM do not necessarily lead to success in a GPT business and vice versa. To borrow an analogy from the sports world, MLM is more of a team sport, like baseball or basketball. GPT is more like Golf. You don’t have to have a team mentality to play golf, but you certainly do if you want to play baseball.
MLM requires networking, team building, mentoring, growth, and downline work. GPT, on the other hand, is more of a “fee-for-service” business; read a survey, fill out some kind of form, mail an envelope, and get paid for doing it. Even if you have a GPT website where other people do the work and pay you, then you share a percentage with the workers, it’s still a fee for service. You don’t need to build a team or interact with people at all. You really don’t need good people skills. In MLM you absolutely must possess good interpersonal skills and good communication skills. You must also have a tough skin and be able to manage because not everyone you show your business opportunity or product rejection to will buy. With GPT you don’t have to depend on other people to be successful. In MLM, your success is completely dependent on the success of others, the success of your team.
So to insist that one or the other, MLM or GPT, is superior is, in a word, absurd. As I said before, one size doesn’t necessarily fit all. One business model is potentially as successful and profitable as the other in the hands of the right professional. The right professional is one who is properly equipped, properly trained, and possesses the appropriate personality traits and skills necessary to be successful in your particular business. On the contrary, one is potentially as disastrous as the other in the hands of the wrong practitioner, one who does not possess the necessary skills, personality, and training. In my opinion, therefore, neither business model is superior to the other and it is about time we put all of GPT vs. MLM discussion to rest.