I have always been a big Dave Ramsey fan, and believed that his financial advice for consumers is first rate. But today Dave Ramsey got it wrong in a big way. On his blog, he published an article about making money in multi-level marketing.

The article failed to acknowledge the fact that over and over again, it has been proven that 99% of people involved in MLMs lose money. Front and center in the article was this lie:

Truthfully, if you have a go-getter personality, and you can follow some basic business and personal etiquette, you can make a lot of money in an MLM. The trick is to avoid all the potential pitfalls along the way.

Truthfully? No, there is no truth in what was said.

Written by Raisinberry

I’ll have to admit I bought into this hook line and sinker. Anybody with a Sales Training background is conditioned to believe that sales is a numbers game and so it requires more calls, more leads, more effort to make the numbers work. Striving is success. Never quitting. Press on. It’s all about being that one who goes forward with laser like focus on the goal. Who wouldn’t want to be this person? Aren’t we part of a greater society that rewards the champions? Don’t we love the “beat all odds” stories that supposedly show our greatness?

In Mary Kay, we are bathed in “if it is to be it’s up to me.” Teachings like these are part of a very dark environment that I really did not realize until years after I got out. At first blush you might think I am exaggerating.

Each of us are influenced by those around us, and sometimes we take in and trust people who have limited knowledge or depth. Many times people just grab an idea and take it in without even processing its ramifications, and then pass it along…particularly in this arena of sales, sales trainers and motivational speakers. It’s a world of quippy sayings and feel good platitudes that can really camouflage what’s irrational and downright wrong about the actual environment of Mary Kay.

One of the common “defenses” of multi-level marketing and the fact that 99% of people lose money in it… is that people just joined to HAVE FUN! They didn’t really want to make any money. They just wanted to meet people and have fun.

In this clip from my appearance on HuffPost live, I debunk the myth of joining to “have fun” with the help of Robert FitzPatrick, founder of Pyramid Scheme Alert.

One of the common statements made by people in favor of multi-level marketing is that it is just like corporate America. We call MLM a pyramid scheme, and corporate America is a pyramid too! That’s simply not true.

While the SHAPE of the hierarchy of people looks like a pyramid in MLM and in corporate Amercia (one person at the head of the company, a few below, managing several below them, and so on)… that is where the similarities end.

Thursday night HuffPost Live had a segment on multi-level marketing companies that cater to women. Included on the panel were an Avon representative, Robert FitzPatrick of Pyramid Scheme Alert, and me. I tried to represent Pink Truth well. Although the bulk of the airtime went to the Avon rep (and she even got the last word!), Robert and I got a chance to talk about some of the important truths about multi-level marketing and why women should stay away from it. Watch the segment below!

It is common for multi-level marketing companies to publicize  that  “direct selling” (the code name for multi-level marketing or legalized pyramid schemes) picks up during a recession. The whole industry is portrayed a massive opportunity for consumers to make money when their lives are otherwise in financial disarray.

This is sad, especially when the research clearly shows that 99% of people lose money in MLMs. People are looking to make money, are told that MLM is the answer and they will make money if they’re willing to work hard, yet they are almost guaranteed to lose money.

Sure, people might be able to make a little extra spending money from hawking MLM wares. But think about it…. If the economy is in such dire shape, who would really be buying these goods? That’s the part of the equation the recruiters leave out.

Ick. Another propaganda piece to assure Mary Kay consultants that if they just pray enough and want it enough, they can be successful in Mary Kay. If they are not successful, they must not have had a high enough “deserve level” or they’re lazy losers (like us – LOL).

Please respond to this ONLY if you want more for your life from Mary Kay!  I know that the women who respond to this – want more of my time and attention – and you will get it!!!  When you decide you will be accountable to someone else – major changes happen!

When 99% of your “sales force” loses money with your business venture, you’ve got to believe that there’s something wrong with the system. If less than 1% of people are able to turn a profit, that suggests to me that the system is terribly messed up. Of course, I don’t expect that everyone who tries a job or a business venture will succeed. But you’d think it would be more than 1%???

Written by A Mary Kay Husband

I found Pink Truth searching for a support for Mary Kay husbands. Until I found Pink Truth last November, I thought I was alone. Ironically, while I’m happy I found the site, I wish I never had the need to search for it.

As a husband of a former Mary Kay sales director, for the past four years, my home has been turned into a Pink Hell and, while it is not quite over (I still have $12k worth of credit-card debt to pay off due to the Cult of Mary Kay), my spouse is finally out. [That was the stupidity of the deal I made--I would pay off the debt if she got out.]

Probably the most frequent challenge I hear to our real-life experiences with Mary Kay Cosmetics is, “Oh, there’s always one bad apple in the bunch. Don’t judge the entire company by that one person!”

Yet in maintaining this site, I hear similar stories daily. Stories of lying and deception in an effort to get to the top of Mary Kay Inc. I don’t care what anyone says. These incidents are not isolated. I have heard literally thousands of similar stories. Women in MK compromise their morals to move to the next level, get a few extra recruits, or win a prize.