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In Reply to: You mean like a pyramid scheme? posted by Acheick on August 09, 2002 at 19:17:12:
Once in a while, a friend will come to me and tell me that they are getting into something like that. The most recent thing I remember was Excel, which was some kind of multi-level long distance phone sales thing.
I know the sales pitch, because I used to make it. You tell people that they can make some unrealistic amount of money, like $100,000 per year working only 12 hours a week.
Back when I was doing Amway, I was probably working an extra 30 hours a week, and I was lucky to get $100 a week.
If I had put in 30 hours of extra overtime at my job (which I was turning down to do my Amway BS) I would have been making guaranteed money, and as a union member at the time, my pension was on all hours worked. So, that stupid escapade will continue to cost me money years from now when I retire!
Then, get this... your sponsor would tell you that you needed to be on training programs like "Book of the month" and "Tape of the week". They also had monthly sales seminars with some kind of supposedly successful Amway guy at a hotel, and you were supposed to bring all your friends. That usually cost $5.00 per head, and you were told that as a "professional", you should pay for your friends.
The stupidest thing we did was get talked into going to this big Amway convention in Salt Lake City. Our sponsor told us "EVERYONE is going to be there, YOU have to go too!". So, I got out my credit card, which I think had about a $500 limit on it since I was only about 22 years old, bought two plane tickets and paid for the event registration.
We got there, and NOBODY we knew came! Including our sponsor! It didn't help that when we figured out we were had, that we were in a huge crowd of middle aged guys and their wives looking like they were going square dancing, and actually performing the "Hokey Pokey". It was the shits. I just can't think of a better word to describe it.
I remember getting my dry marker board and easle (which I also had to buy from the organization at an inflated price). I went over to my parents to practice it on my Brother who was probably 16 at the time. I drew the circles on the board, and said, "This is you". "These are six of your friends, relatives or associates"... blah, blah, blah.
After I finished, he walked up and took my pen. Erased the board, and drew something that looked like the letter "U". Then he drew something under it that looked like the letter "W". He said, "This is you" (pointing at the "U"), "and these are your two associates" (Pointing at the "W"). You might have to draw this out on paper for yourself to get the joke. I didn't think it was funny at the time, but now I wish I had listened to him. He was 100% right.
Anyway, when friends come to me for advice on this stuff, I tell them to just get a second job at minumum wage and they will make a lot more money than they ever will in MLM. The whole thing is designed for the little guys at the bottom to ship large amounts of cash to the big guys at the top. Sound familiar?
