ocean-avenue-logo

Undeservedly or not, MLM has a “reputation”. You know what I’m talking about…

Pyramid schemes, money shuffling from new recruits to the top, MLM company reps effectively stealing from unsuspecting victims, “locked door” hotel room seminars, annoying flyers, being pitched something you’ve got absolutely no interest in by a desperate sounding person, stories of people paying way too much for things they wouldn’t normally buy, garage fulls of inventory etc. etc.

Mention MLM to the general populace and chances are you’re going to get a negative reaction, regardless of the opportunity in question.

Here at BehindMLM we’re no stranger to this and hope that in our own way, via information, analysis and an open constructive dialogue, we put a dent in the efforts of those who seek to trash the legitimacy of the MLM industry.

Sometimes however, the industry itself is its own worst enemy.

Recorded footage shot on March 2nd, 2013 features Ken Dunn (co-founder of Ocean Avenue) giving a presentation at what appears to be a company event;

There really are five steps to building this business and you can see them on the board.

But the business is simple so I don’t need to go over this in detail. Instead I can tell you the biggest secret, as to how I made all this money.

Would you like to know the secret? People love to know secrets.

Here’s the secret: I’m a professional thief. I steal from people and I’m giving you permission to steal from people too.

Taken out of context (as the footage above clearly demonstrates), Dunn’s choice of words naturally sets off alarm bells.

Quick to respond to the publishing of the footage on YouTube, Dunn writes in the video comments,

This video is a scam. I did a compelling 1 hour speach in Jakarta Indonesia where first I was talking about my policing career, then I mentioned duplication and then i made a playful analogy about how stealing was like duplicating success. You can do what other people do.

Putting aside the question of how a video can be a “scam”, I’m punting that Dunn’s marketing strategy was to draw a (playful) comparison between using a succesful person’s MLM marketing and sales strategy as your own via duplication and “stealing”.

The problem?

Well that should be self-evident in the publishing of the footage above. A point definitely not lost on Dunn himself:

The creator of this account is trying to hurt my business and this is called tourturous interference and slander. I demand that youtube shut it down immediately.

I have now made an official complaint to YouTube and will be launching an entire investigation to determine who created this site.

I promise you that whoever username “Ben Dover” is will be determine and we will be launching legal actions. As well, we will include any companies or individuals that this user is associated with.

A somewhat heavy-handed approach in my opinion, given that the footage only shows Dunn’s own words.

Inherently obvious is the lack of context of Dunn’s statements which the footage alone fails to provide. Based entirely on my review of Ocean Avenue I don’t for a second believe Ken Dunn is a thief, professional or not. Nor do I believe that the affiliates of Ocean Avenue are engaging in any type of thievery (at least not in direct relation to their involvement in the company).

As I mentioned earlier, MLM has a “reputation” to consider and there are certain sales pitches which are just inevitably going to backfire. Any comparison with an MLM business (whether it be duplication of success, how to market the opportunity, products or anything in direct relation to the company) and thievery is not the smartest of ideas.

Looking forward what’s said is said and now what would be far more constructive than making legal threats on YouTube to the owner of the “Ben Dover” account, would be a review of how management are marketing Ocean Avenue in public.

Perhaps focusing on those “five steps” to building a succesful Ocean Avenue business would be a good place to start.

Chalk it up to lesson learnt Ken and rewrite your business presentation to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Ditto anyone else thinking of drawing analogies between being succesful in an MLM business and thievery.