Network Marketing is NOT a pyramid. Otherwise, you wouldn't have many of the most successful Fortune 500 companies working with the Network Marketing industry.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recognizes Network Marketing as a proven, legitimate method of distributing products and services directly to end-users, whereby individuals are compensated for developing "distribution channels," through which their products and services flow. Instead of a company allocating money towards traditional advertising, their representatives become their word-of-mouth advertisers and get paid for bringing business to their company.

Also, in a "pyramid," the person at the top always makes the most money, and money is only created when individuals sign up. In a legitimate Network Marketing company, it's the people who are most productive who earn the most, no matter where they're positioned or when they join. Anyone can advance to the top levels and earn more money than those above them in the network, if they put in the appropriate work.

On another level, one could say that structurally, all successful businesses are pyramids. The difference between a "corporate pyramid" and Network Marketing is that corporations use the principal of leverage to increase profits, with the goal of making the people at the top of their "corporate pyramid" rich.

Network Marketing puts the power of leverage into the hands of individuals, with the goal of pulling them up to the top.