MLM Policy

A lot of business networking groups offer membership to just about anybody willing to pay their hefty annual fee. Biznik is not one of them. First of all, basic Biznik membership is free. Secondly, we bar membership to anyone actively promoting an MLM (multi-level marketing company, also known as network marketing). We define MLMs broadly as any business that recruits members, resellers or distributors for products or services that do not originate with the person seeking membership in Biznik.

Here's why: Biznik is a social network for indie business people, and we want to keep it that way. Everyone who joins Biznik does so as a professional representative of their own specific business, in their own particular field, and participates in Biznik to promote his or her own products or services.

The success of any multi-level marketing (MLM) industry is founded upon developing an ever expanding network of people who join in the MLM business itself, as opposed to simply promoting a product or service. We are not in favor of having a member suggest to other members that they change fields or add a new field to their business.

As members, we refer our friends, families and clients to specific products and services from fellow members. However, we are not comfortable with the possibility that they would ever be put in a position of being pitched on a business opportunity such as the type provided by MLMs.

Though it is possible for a representative from a MLM to only promote their products inside a network and not recruit new members/resellers to their industry, we are not interested in trying to enforce such a policy, and therefore have made the decision to exclude MLMs from membership to Biznik.