Multi Level Morons
Saturday, 4. October 2008, 07:13:06
Psst.... Wanna know a secret? Jayson Shawver has been reading my blog and he's not happy about it either! He wants me to remove all references to his name. Oh golly gee willakers. Jayson, if you're reading this, and I know you are, you can go jump in a volcano. You don't like what's here? Do a Jamie and file a cease and desist letter so I can get a good laugh. I've got better things to do than worry about offending some coward. Think you got a PR problem now? Keep pushing buddy. I guarantee you won't believe how far I'm willing to go.
Now, with Cyndi and Jayson out of the way, I suppose I should talk more about GeneWize and things related to Multi-Level Marketing. If a company wants to sell a high quality product or service they need to find people willing to buy from them. There are a few ways to do this. They can advertise the business via the media to attract customers. They could hire sales people who will go out and sell directly to customers. Or, they can employ a method known as Multi-level marketing.
Multi-Level Marketing, or MLM as it is known, is a sales method that uses independent people to sell a product or service. A key point to remember is that these people are NOT employed by the company itself. These people are self-employed. They either make a commission for each sale, or they directly purchase merchandise they later resell to make a profit. Being this distant from the parent company is attractive to some businesses because more of the risk and expense are absorbed by these individuals rather than the company itself. Some non-MLM businesses use this type of self-employed worker, such as Little Ceaser's where I worked as a delivery driver. The delivery driver's supply their own car and pay the expense of fuel. Drivers are paid directly by the customer for their delivery service, not Little Ceaser's. This saves the pizza company the added expense and liability of adding drivers as part of the company itself.
Many MLM based businesses do not have a very good reputation, Amway being a primary example. This is in part because the MLM method provides an easy way for a malicious business or individual to defraud people by getting them to pay a fee before they can join an MLM sales team and begin working with the company. This is why MLM opportunities like the Reverse Funnel System and GeneWize don't go into detail about the product or service you would be selling. Those people you see on YouTube talking about a particular MLM are only going to make money when you join up and send in your application fee or buy things like training materials. All the time and attention is focused on getting you excited about making money with the opportunity they have for you.
Another problem with illegitimate MLM based businesses is that it doesn't matter if the product or service being marketed is good or bad, because the real profit comes from the money collected when the marketing members join up. Many people choose to join a MLM business venture after being exposed to false advertising of the product by the parent company. The product itself could be a complete failure, but that's OK for the company, because they have already made a profit once you agreed to their terms. Remember, before deciding to sell anything, the company that provides it to you has to market it to YOU first. Can you really be sure you're getting the facts?
Before you EVER decide to take a job selling a product, you need to learn as much as you can about the product itself. Is it any good? Does it work? Would you use it yourself? Do you trust it? One thing you will notice in many of these MLM videos designed to recruit you is that little detail is given about the product itself other that being told how much money it will make you. Therein lies the problem.
If you are thinking about joining an MLM sales team, you need to be me like this guy. Few people seem to ask the right questions, but he does. He wants to know how these genetically tailored supplements actually work. He genuinely wants to know if the product he's selling is going to really work for people, so naturally he wants to know the details about the product. Details he won't get.
Yet, this man also shows us that illegitimate MLM marketing isn't for everyone. He talks about doing Multi-Level Marketing jobs before but not being able to sell a product he doesn't believe in. You can't really blame him because in many of these businesses the products are crap (Expensive resort packages with the Reverse Funnel System) or unproven (DNA customized nutritional supplements with GeneWize). Good salespeople, like my mom who works for Yellowbook, wholeheartedly believe in what they are selling. Sales jobs require such dedication to be successful or you simply won't make it. With a pyramid scheme or MLM scam, only those who are morally bankrupt and don't care if the product is real, fake, or a complete waste are able to really do well with the program. All they care about is getting more people into the game so they get a larger cut.
From and observational standpoint, the fascinating thing for me is watching how the people involved in MLM programs exercise slight of tongue. Like a shady lawyer, crooked politician, or sleazy used car salesman, they have a way of using crafty language to avoid answering direct questions or sugar coating their answers. Part of this slight of tongue involves asking the question, but never really giving the answer. Take this girl who talks about a few people asking about the GeneWize product itslef and whether or not it actually works. Though she mentions two people who she claims are qualified to answer this, she never actually gives us any hard data. She simply tells us that her "experts" speak highly of the product. The real details are hidden from us.
So, how do you best avoid scams, rip offs, and schemes? You need to find the sweet spot for skepticism. This graph will help you:
See? It's right there in the middle. You should try to stay in the sweet spot at all times. Sometimes you won't be smack dab in the middle, but as long as you stay out of the extreme edges of the blue you will avoid things like GeneWize. Don't stay in the red too long either or you'll end up starving to death because you think the government has put mind control chemicals in your food. As with most things in life, balance is the key.
(Please excuse the quality of the graph. Was using my mom's laptop, so I had to use Paint.net.)
Now, with Cyndi and Jayson out of the way, I suppose I should talk more about GeneWize and things related to Multi-Level Marketing. If a company wants to sell a high quality product or service they need to find people willing to buy from them. There are a few ways to do this. They can advertise the business via the media to attract customers. They could hire sales people who will go out and sell directly to customers. Or, they can employ a method known as Multi-level marketing.
Multi-Level Marketing, or MLM as it is known, is a sales method that uses independent people to sell a product or service. A key point to remember is that these people are NOT employed by the company itself. These people are self-employed. They either make a commission for each sale, or they directly purchase merchandise they later resell to make a profit. Being this distant from the parent company is attractive to some businesses because more of the risk and expense are absorbed by these individuals rather than the company itself. Some non-MLM businesses use this type of self-employed worker, such as Little Ceaser's where I worked as a delivery driver. The delivery driver's supply their own car and pay the expense of fuel. Drivers are paid directly by the customer for their delivery service, not Little Ceaser's. This saves the pizza company the added expense and liability of adding drivers as part of the company itself.
Many MLM based businesses do not have a very good reputation, Amway being a primary example. This is in part because the MLM method provides an easy way for a malicious business or individual to defraud people by getting them to pay a fee before they can join an MLM sales team and begin working with the company. This is why MLM opportunities like the Reverse Funnel System and GeneWize don't go into detail about the product or service you would be selling. Those people you see on YouTube talking about a particular MLM are only going to make money when you join up and send in your application fee or buy things like training materials. All the time and attention is focused on getting you excited about making money with the opportunity they have for you.
Another problem with illegitimate MLM based businesses is that it doesn't matter if the product or service being marketed is good or bad, because the real profit comes from the money collected when the marketing members join up. Many people choose to join a MLM business venture after being exposed to false advertising of the product by the parent company. The product itself could be a complete failure, but that's OK for the company, because they have already made a profit once you agreed to their terms. Remember, before deciding to sell anything, the company that provides it to you has to market it to YOU first. Can you really be sure you're getting the facts?
Before you EVER decide to take a job selling a product, you need to learn as much as you can about the product itself. Is it any good? Does it work? Would you use it yourself? Do you trust it? One thing you will notice in many of these MLM videos designed to recruit you is that little detail is given about the product itself other that being told how much money it will make you. Therein lies the problem.
If you are thinking about joining an MLM sales team, you need to be me like this guy. Few people seem to ask the right questions, but he does. He wants to know how these genetically tailored supplements actually work. He genuinely wants to know if the product he's selling is going to really work for people, so naturally he wants to know the details about the product. Details he won't get.
Yet, this man also shows us that illegitimate MLM marketing isn't for everyone. He talks about doing Multi-Level Marketing jobs before but not being able to sell a product he doesn't believe in. You can't really blame him because in many of these businesses the products are crap (Expensive resort packages with the Reverse Funnel System) or unproven (DNA customized nutritional supplements with GeneWize). Good salespeople, like my mom who works for Yellowbook, wholeheartedly believe in what they are selling. Sales jobs require such dedication to be successful or you simply won't make it. With a pyramid scheme or MLM scam, only those who are morally bankrupt and don't care if the product is real, fake, or a complete waste are able to really do well with the program. All they care about is getting more people into the game so they get a larger cut.
From and observational standpoint, the fascinating thing for me is watching how the people involved in MLM programs exercise slight of tongue. Like a shady lawyer, crooked politician, or sleazy used car salesman, they have a way of using crafty language to avoid answering direct questions or sugar coating their answers. Part of this slight of tongue involves asking the question, but never really giving the answer. Take this girl who talks about a few people asking about the GeneWize product itslef and whether or not it actually works. Though she mentions two people who she claims are qualified to answer this, she never actually gives us any hard data. She simply tells us that her "experts" speak highly of the product. The real details are hidden from us.
So, how do you best avoid scams, rip offs, and schemes? You need to find the sweet spot for skepticism. This graph will help you:
See? It's right there in the middle. You should try to stay in the sweet spot at all times. Sometimes you won't be smack dab in the middle, but as long as you stay out of the extreme edges of the blue you will avoid things like GeneWize. Don't stay in the red too long either or you'll end up starving to death because you think the government has put mind control chemicals in your food. As with most things in life, balance is the key.
(Please excuse the quality of the graph. Was using my mom's laptop, so I had to use Paint.net.)
I'd toss her ass right out of bed to make me a sandwich then tell her to get the fuck out of my house and take her MLM garbage with her. It's not that some men make women into sex objects, it's that some women are only good as a sex object. Katie is a marvelous example of such.
This shit belongs on Star Trek. Look at the parent company offering the product. 
......
Huh.... Oh god, I'm sorry. That was very unprofessional. 
Forgive me, I was just so bored after reading this 
You poor child. Yes, Lisa, I do get the picture. It's a picture of an obese sloth who dreads even the slightest inconvenience, even if it's for her own mother who pays for the roof over her head. Forced to make multiple trips in one day? Thank goodness you don't work a job where you'd have to drive a company vehicle or do any amount of travel. You'd probably break down and start sobbing in the middle of an intersection. Your job consists of playing with a telephone and stapling papers at a desk for 8 hours and maybe getting up to grab a Milky Way from the fridge when you feel the urge. You didn't stick to your diet, then complain about having to move your own chunky ass around. Good job.
I was thinking about how to start this post the other night, when a contact of mine in Israel gave me a personal insight:
WIDGETIZE