One of the Many Reasons Why I Despise People Recruiting for MLMs
Recently, I got an email from someone who tried to register for Pink Truth, but hadn’t received a confirmation email. I saw the login he used, and immediately had a bad feeling. I just *knew* he was in an MLM and was here to promote it.
I emailed him back and told him that we didn’t allow any promotion of MLMs on Pink Truth, and that I asked if he was just here to promote his MLM. I got this response:
well to answer your question…partly yes and partly no. I have a couple of reasons for joining and most are simply out of entrepreneurial curiosity. I know some stuff about Mary Kay, but I wanted to find out a lot more. I wanted to find out how Mary Kay is doing after multiple years and 800,000 reps later. If it is still thriving and I thought I could make some money then yes I would probably join. I am not going to post messages and try to promote my business I am not as rude or pathetic as that. I also have no intention of stealing reps away, but if I talk to someone who is unhappy and having little to no success with Mary Kay I Will tell them about another opportunity. I do not think it would be fair to me or the Mary Kay people to deny them that right, but it is up to you and I guess it would take some trust on your part.
I have a couple lawyer friends from Harvard and the difference between NM and MLM is the compensation plan. NM would follow a matrix or binary plan and are not illegal. MLM is very different in the importance and effect it has when you start above someone else. NM and MLM are in no way the same thing so be careful when you advertise it that way
Thats just my lawyer friends though.
I WILL NOT POST ANYTHING ON THE FORUM BOARDS (and had no plans to ever do it).
is that what you needed?
I wrote back and told him that he was not allowed to promote his MLM on the boards, in any comments, or in any private messages. He was also not to do the “email me if you want more information” routine either. With that caveat, I was willing to approve his membership to PT.
And today he officially started his solicitation by PMing anyone who had posted on the discussion board:
Hey hows it going?
Real fast here, my name is Alex and I am looking at talking to you about Mary Kay. Your success, hows the business doing now, and things of that nature. I am interested in MK and just need someone to talk to.
Just comment back here or send me an email at xxxxxxxx.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Now I’m not silly. I know darn well that he wasn’t looking for information on Mary Kay. He was looking for a chance to tell you why his MLM was so much better than Mary Kay.
Too bad he couldn’t keep his word and not troll our forum for his own purposes. And that is one of the many reasons why I despise people recruiting for MLMs.
Similar Posts:
Trackback from your site.
Comments (14)
MLM Radar Detector
| #
“I have a couple lawyer friends from Harvard [OOH! SCARY! The same Harvard that teaches Mary Kay?] and the difference between NM and MLM is the compensation plan. NM would follow a matrix or binary plan and are not illegal. MLM is very different in the importance and effect it has when you start above someone else. NM and MLM are in no way the same thing so be careful when you advertise it that way.”
Say what??? Just what “importance and effect” would that be? The explanation is a little, well, absent.
Wikipeida – Binary Compensation Plan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_plan
“The Binary plan is an organizational plan used by multi-level marketing (MLM) organizations…” [So I guess wikipedia also doesn't understand the difference between Network Marketing and MLM.]
To paraphrase Wikipedia, the two sides of a Binary plan structure are your “profit leg” (your personal recruits) and your “power leg” (where your Director matches your recruiting efforts by assigning her new recruits under you). Have you ever heard of a Mary Kay director doing that?
In the end it doesn’t matter how the recruits are assigned. A pyramid is still a pyramid, requiring exponential recruiting growth at the lower levels for the upper levels to profit, and non-stop recruiting to keep the attrition from causing the pyramid to collapse under its own weight.
Reply
Kinzie
| #
Way to debunk his junk, MLMRD! I’m sure Harvard is just pleased as punch to have their name slung around by MBA wanna-bes such as this kook. They should just shut down their MBA program and refer everyone to MK, etc. since the MLMs give the same level programs free of charge anyways! I bet Gloria regrets spending all of that $$ on a worthless degree from what-its-name.
Reply
Keyta
| #
If his MLM or NM is working so well for him, why is he trolling the internet for victims? It is kind of slimy. Really slimy when you consider that most of the people on this site have already been victimized once.
Reply
Lazy Gardens
| #
The truly disturbing part of this is that it’s business as usual for Alex … hovering like a vulture wherever he thinks he can swoop down and make a recruit for his “opportunity”.
And I apologize to the decent hard-working vultures everywhere for making that comparison, because without them we’d be up to our armpits in roadkilled bunnies around here.
Reply
Kinzie
| #
* but if I talk to someone who is unhappy and having little to no success with Mary Kay I Will tell them about another opportunity. I do not think it would be fair to me or the Mary Kay people to deny them that right, but it is up to you and I guess it would take some trust on your part.*
So……Tracy told you not to promote your MLM, and you said you won’t unless you absolutely HAVE to, but Tracy will have to trust you that you won’t. Because it would be rude and pathetic of you to do that. K.
Reply
advertisingchick
| #
and then he does which makes him rude and pathetic!
Reply
workedpink
| #
I once had a young woman approach me, telling me she was having a really hard time in life and asking if she could attend church with me. I told her sure, come on down, we’d love to see her there and to let me know if I could help her in any way. She showed up for church that Sunday , sat through service and then she asked me to gather all the adults, so she could “share an opportunity”. I was dumfounded and asked what she wanted to share with the people and she said it had to be shared in her presentation. I refused to gather people and walked away. This woman stood in the front of the church yelling and waving her arms, calling all adults down to where she was standing so she could “present an opportunity”. People were laughing and talking and making lunch plans and ignored her request. She was angry with me for not “truly” helping her–she felt the answer to her issues was to “grow the business” and I’d told her to just let her know if I could help her. I hate MLMs and I don’t much like many of the people involved–always promoting “businesses” that have no chance of success.
Reply
Dazzling Diva Dana
| #
Guess this particular young woman had never quite acquainted herself with the well-known Bible passages that discuss Jesus violent action of over-turning the money-changer tables at the Temple?!? What a wack-a-doo woman… Man, I just HATE when MLM’s exploit women such as her who are needy or mentally unstable and then arm them with such outstanding and useful advice such as: Psst… go befriend someone new to go to church with, use her to meet her friends, then immediately, ‘share the opportunity’ with them – since you couldn’t bear to go another day without letting them in on a huge technically legal, ‘millionaire-money-making scheme!’
Reply
notapartyfan
| #
What an idiot… and a liar. Don’t get his whole M.O. though. He’s PM’ing women on PT, “How’s your Mary Kay business going?” Did he not take any time to read? Looks like he’s trolling on any site connected to MK and preying on unhappy consultants. And yes, Alex, you are THAT rude and pathetic!
Reply
Dazzling Diva Dana
| #
Men who come here do not EVER seem to take the time to READ what women are saying here. They make BIG assumptions and think that women in MLM or like men in MLM. And boy, are they mistaken!
These trolling dudes assume that Pink Truth women are just upset that they didn’t financially make Mary Kay work.
I mean, think about it, If there was a Pink Truth equivalent for men, they would all be sharing notes and discussing merely the financial downfall of this MLM or that one… attempting to find the PERFECT one of the moment. In my years of looking into this, the majority of men involved in MLM are dudes who are unable to hold down a full-time job due to them wanting to work less hours and make full-time pay. In other words… lazy losers!
The other category of men who fall prey to MLM are those who are mental unbalanced… I am diagnosed bi-polar and I can spot mania in a heart-beat in others…
So, back to their lack of research into just WHO is on Pink Truth…
By the time women wind up at Pink Truth, 99% of them would never in a million freekin’ YEARS do another MLM/Duel Marking/Network Marketing position ever, EVER again.
In my opinion, the most HORRENDOUS outcome of having “done” Mary Kay for the majority here is NOT the financial failure of it. (This coming from a woman who went through bankruptcy DUE to Mary Kay.)
No, no… Mary Kay is truly in a class all it’s OWN. Women are mentally, emotionally, and spiritually wiped out…
And all the NSDs and higher-up women at Mary Kay do is… step over these women they leave as road-kill and say, “NEXT!”
Do these Dudes who come on here a few times a year to just, ‘see what’s going on in the Mary Kay world’ think Tracey is an idiot?
He was SO freekin’ condescending!
Glad he’s been shown the door… may it hit him DAMN HARD right in the A$$.
Freak!
~ Dazzling Diva Dana
Reply
Flaming Go
| #
“entrepreneurial curiosity”
Network marketing or MLM, NEITHER have anything to do with the real, true spirit of being a legitimate entrepreneur. The key word is legitimate.
“I have a couple lawyer friends from Harvard and the difference between NM and MLM is the compensation plan.”
Whoop de f***ing doo. I have friends that attended all kinds of ivy league schools. I don’t use them to fluff my own feathers or try to sound legitimate. Skeeze.
“NM would follow a matrix or binary plan and are not illegal.”
You can toss out words that sound cool, intimidating, and hip but you obviously does not understand what they mean nor the fact that they’re used out of context. There is absolutely nothing binary about networking via an infinite number of uplines (see pyramid scam). The word matrix can be tossed out to mean any type of inter-connected system. Again: skeeze.
“MLM is very different in the importance and effect it has when you start above someone else.”
In MLM, you *never* start above someone else. You start at the ground floor for the brainwashing and then claw your way on the backs of the finances of others as you pathetically ascend to the top of nothing. Call it Network marketing, direct marketing, multi-level marketing, or independent annoying rep suckered into the next big thing, it is all the same thing: a pyramid scheme.
“NM and MLM are in no way the same thing so be careful when you advertise it that way Thats just my lawyer friends though.”
Choice time: Either your “Harvard” friends are idiots or you are a liar. If you really have friends that attended Harvard, then I’m going to have to vote for both options.
Reply
stinkinpinkthinkin
| #
I’m so hoping this bozo has been given the boot! Yes, Tracy?
Reply
lily
| #
Slimey. I think I need a shower.
Reply
Judii
| #
I used to be annoyed at MLMs and their counter parts,, now that i am older and a true entrepreneur with businesses ( with buildings and everything! lol) I truly HATE MLM,,,,it robs people of their money and their dream and prays upon them. They because willing participants to their own fall. Reminds me of a slick pimp coming on to a 13 yr old innocent girl. And telling her how great everything is going to be if she is “with” him. I have watched so many people put what little ,one they have into a scheme only to loose that too. I am a prime target now because my businesses have actual walk in customers with is seen by MLM ers and a gold mine, I would rather just give the MLMers a dollar directly then “buy a product” so they get a dollar and their “upline”( I would like to use another word here) gets the other $12. ANd how is that a product that would retail for $10 in stores costs $25 in MLM??? I wonder????I hate that they teach you to target family and friends,,,what they dont teach you is if you keep doing that and your friends arent into MLM you will loose your friends. Because i am bombarbed with MLM “opportunities” I have become very blunt and when I get the intial pitch of ” I would like to discuss a :business opportunity: with you, my response is ” I would love to do that as long as it does NOT involve MLM or NM” 95% of people say “oh” and walk away. I dont know a single person who as “made” it in MLM except the owner of the MLM companies. The best thing people considering joining an MLM could do is spend that same amount of time working a minimum wage job and they will be WAY ahead of the curve! SOrry to be so strong but thats my opinion
Reply