Let's talk MLM, pyramid, direct selling.

[ImJustKCClone]

And as a parent of kids in band, chorus, on various sports teams, and wanna be church campers, I have bought my fair share of stuff from kids. We used to carefully divide our GS cookie purchases between several little girls at church. Then one year, we had a population explosion of girl scouts that we didn't know about before we bought 3 boxes each from the two we DID know about. In our efforts to be fair to everyone, we ended up with 27 boxes of those damned cookies that year.

 

[IcSyU]

And as a parent of kids in band, chorus, on various sports teams, and wanna be church campers, I have bought my fair share of stuff from kids. We used to carefully divide our GS cookie purchases between several little girls at church. Then one year, we had a population explosion of girl scouts that we didn't know about before we bought 3 boxes each from the two we DID know about. In our efforts to be fair to everyone, we ended up with 27 boxes of those damned cookies that year.

Looks like about a week of meals of Thin Mints...I think I could handle that.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Looks like about a week of meals of Thin Mints...I think I could handle that.

They freeze pretty well.
I like the peanut butter things, he likes the Samoas, and we both like the thin mints. 9 of each. Oy!

 

[JP4CY]

Updating the title due to @Beernuts

We were discussing herbalife. It seems like that product specifically is everywhere right now.

 

[CapnCy]

I laugh when i see the posts...thankfully i think based on gender, i don't get the invites. Nothing like getting an out of the blue facebook message from a high school friend you never really talked to with a "hope you are doing great.....what have you been up to?" and then the next message "Would you like to make extra income AND have great skin products?" LOL

I always kind of laugh/am sad for people that truly think this is their shot at being an "independent business" and make enough to sustain...but also not recognizing they will piss off all their friends trying.

 

[drmwevr08]

I laugh when i see the posts...thankfully i think based on gender, i don't get the invites. Nothing like getting an out of the blue facebook message from a high school friend you never really talked to with a "hope you are doing great.....what have you been up to?" and then the next message "Would you like to make extra income AND have great skin products?" LOL

I always kind of laugh/am sad for people that truly think this is their shot at being an "independent business" and make enough to sustain...but also not recognizing they will piss off all their friends trying.

To be fair, you can make money and have some success on it. You do have to be willing to drive people a little nutty too.
I've found car dealers and real estate agents only slightly better.

 

[jsb]

The older you get the less you are invited to these things.

I’ll attend a party but I’ll never host one.

I actually use Beautycounter but buy through the website so I don’t have a consultant.

 

[ISpyCy]

1. Find an MLM.
2. Research and get excited.
3. Get signed up.
4. Sell to your friends and family.
5. Realize that's all the further you'll ever get because you have no people/sales skills.
6. Get frustrated and quit.
7. Find another MLM.

Seriously though, I attended a few Quixtar/Amway meetings at the Ramada on Army Post Road with my wife and some other family a number of years ago. The whole function was very cult-like.

 

[BryceC]

I've found car dealers and real estate agents only slightly better.

I can never get enough magnets to put on my fridge.

Anybody in sales who needs to get their own leads are inherently annoying to me. I just don't like somebody trying to sell me on something.

 

[ISUcyclones11]

Don't do FB anymore but every time i go to Kohls or Nordstrom Rack I get some dude coming up to me with the same garbage. "How would you like to be your own boss and have more free time while making money etc?"

Can see it coming from a mile away and just ignore them now instead of engaging.

Started bringing it up to one of the staff members and they usually ask them to leave lol

 

[Gunnerclone]

SIAP but check out the Lulu Roe documentary on Netflix if you haven’t yet. ******* crazy people.

 

[Marcelason78]

Y'all are YOUNG!!! It started with Tupperware, Amway & Avon......

And the worst of the bunch was Amway.
My old college roommate alienated a whole group of friends when pressuring us with Amway propaganda. Basically- 'you are miserable and you need Amway'. But my favorite was- 'Amway can help your marriage'.

 

[Drew0311]

My favorite is when they post something about the company on facebook. Then the people who work under them jump on the post and tell everyone how that product changed their life. It's like clockwork. Like we all don't understand that everyone on that post is trying to get dumb people to buy the product and join their team. Also, you do not own a business. You are a sales person for a business. Just like every other sales person that sales a product. Quit telling everyone you own your own business.

 

[Scruff]

I know many that sell just to get a discount, they typically leave you alone if you aren't interested. I know many that tried to do well at it and failed miserably, they get annoying but then fizzle out so no big deal.

Thought I'd share two success stories that I know personally as a change of pace from the other posts:

• Beach Body: Stay-at-home mom just wanted a hobby and sanity. Started as just a few posts. She learned she can make money doing it and got a bit pushy. Saw a big increase in pay. Learned how to grow through social media without annoying friends and now make a fair amount. The side benefits of working out every day she looks great, and she got her sanity back through having "work friends", those work friends are constantly going on work trips to beaches and mountains.
• Amway: Young motivated hairstylist who wants to get ahead in life. She doesn't have a lot of capital for investing quickly. She did have time after work and on weekends. She picked Amway because some of the products complimented her stylist business. She works long hours in the salon and charges a fortune, but she still makes more money with Amway, and it's quickly accelerating.

 

[jcisuclones]

Don't do FB anymore but every time i go to Kohls or Nordstrom Rack I get some dude coming up to me with the same garbage. "How would you like to be your own boss and have more free time while making money etc?"

Can see it coming from a mile away and just ignore them now instead of engaging.

Started bringing it up to one of the staff members and they usually ask them to leave lol

When my ex-girlfriend and I were dating, she had some girl awkwardly come up to her and compliment her shoes and then practically followed her around the store. She called me about being freaked out thinking it was a human trafficking thing, so I drove over there to walk her to her car. Did some research on it and apparently going up to someone in a store randomly and complimenting their shoes is a technique Amway teaches their people to approach people in public.

 

[Scruff]

I'd love to hear what are the worst types of cold sales outreach:

1. Door-to-door
2. Cold calls
3. Texts
4. Spam email
5. Facebook/Instagram Messaging
6. LinkedIn Messaging

 

[Beernuts]

When my ex-girlfriend and I were dating, she had some girl awkwardly come up to her and compliment her shoes and then practically followed her around the store. She called me about being freaked out thinking it was a human trafficking thing, so I drove over there to walk her to her car. Did some research on it and apparently going up to someone in a store randomly and complimenting their shoes is a technique Amway teaches their people to approach people in public.

Had a young co worker take his family to the mall of america and do some rides in their theme park. Stranger (and his family) came up to them in line and started visiting, and led to how their life had changed since his family started being coached by a mentor. Co worker was just being nice and listened. Next week the stranger started calling the co worker ( who lived 2 hours from Minneapolis ) and wanted to schedule a time to visit together with the mentor. Turns out the "mentor" was with Amway.

True story.

 

[jcisuclones]

Had a young co worker take his family to the mall of america and do some rides in their theme park. Stranger (and his family) came up to them in line and started visiting, and led to how their life had changed since his family started being coached by a mentor. Co worker was just being nice and listened. Next week the stranger started calling the co worker ( who lived 2 hours from Minneapolis ) and wanted to schedule a time to visit together with the mentor. Turns out the "mentor" was with Amway.

True story.

Oh yeah forgot to mention that the girl who commented on her shoes also said that she had an older couple as mentors who have changed her life. You'd think in the days where human trafficking is a serious thing where people are on edge about strangers approaching them in public, they'd change their approach to something less creepy.

 

[jmb]

There was one it was called Man Cave if I remember. It was grilling stuff and meats. The host and the sales dude grilled, offered beer etc. I bought several items. It went away for some reason because they had great product.

 

[JP4CY]

Had a young co worker take his family to the mall of america and do some rides in their theme park. Stranger (and his family) came up to them in line and started visiting, and led to how their life had changed since his family started being coached by a mentor. Co worker was just being nice and listened. Next week the stranger started calling the co worker ( who lived 2 hours from Minneapolis ) and wanted to schedule a time to visit together with the mentor. Turns out the "mentor" was with Amway.

True story.

Creepy