You Didn’t Work Hard Enough

Have any of you “thoroughly investigated” MLMs? Did you work hard (enough) while you were in Mary Kay? Are you just a loser in general who couldn’t make it in any business setting like this guy suggests?

Hello Pink Truth:

I stumbled on your site by accident. I read on just to see if you had uncovered some things about MLM businesses that might be new and different and, of course, accurate. To my disappointment, I found many generalized short statements not supported by sufficient detail to help any objective person to learn anything about the businesses.

The IRS does make a distinction between a pyramid and a multilevel marketing business. Your web sit confuses and jumbles the two.

People who are successful in all kinds of businesses have habits and leadership capabilities that account for their success. They work very hard! They could produce excellent results in a sole proprietorship, partnership or a corporation. You will always find some people trying to cheat every system possible. They victimize others because they are not willing to pay the price of success. If you ask the real questions you could perform a valuable service. For example, “What amount of activities did you do in the business?” “What amount was recommended to be successful?”

“What kind of due diligence did you do before entering the business?”

To condemn a whole class of businesses without thoroughly studying it seems a little irresponsible to me!

19 COMMENTS

  1. ““What amount of activities did you do in the business?” “What amount was recommended to be successful?””

    Having accidentally stumbled across this site (is it me, or are there an awful lot of accidental stumbles around here? Those high heels will get you every time, girls!) why not read a few articles by the former Red Jackets, Cadillac drivers, almost NSDs and directors who worked their business for decades? They did everything they were supposed to do and went above and beyond and still ended up broke, isolated, and unhappy with who they’d become.

    Contrary to what you’ve been taught, doubt and introspection are good things. They’re your conscience trying to tell you something is wrong, so maybe stop and have a think about why you’re having those feelings.

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    • “If you ask the real questions you could perform a valuable service.”—

      Can I climb the MLM ladder of success without recruiting?
      How does upline make most of their commission money?
      How does Corporate expand its reach and profits?

      “For example, “What amount of activities did you do in the business?””—

      Pertaining to what? Growing your team? Or retailing to non-affiliates?

      “What amount was recommended to be successful?”—

      Are we defining successful as “building a team”?

      “To my disappointment, I found many generalized short statements not supported by sufficient detail….”—

      You used “work, business, and success” many times in your brief letter, yet not once did you explain exactly WHAT one needs to do to achieve success in MLM.

      “The IRS does make a distinction between a pyramid and a multilevel marketing business. Your web sit confuses and jumbles the two.”—

      That’s correct re the IRS: “The IRS said individuals who earned a profit from illegal activities, such as drug dealing or bribes, must include it in their 2021 filings. It is to be included in Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z, or on Schedule C (Form 1040) if from a self-employment activity. Dec 29, 2021”

      Now if we’re talking about the FTC, there is a distinction; and that has to do with selling product to non-affiliates vs. recruiting. So, I’ll ask you again since you didn’t go into “sufficient detail”: Exactly how do you become successful in MLM, and how do you climb the ladder?

      ********************************

      Another Friday fathead when it comes to MLM. Here’s some study material for this ignorant person:

      https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/public_comments/trade-regulation-rule-disclosure-requirements-and-prohibitions-concerning-business-opportunities-ftc.r511993-00017%C2%A0/00017-57317.pdf

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        • Grrr, another correction “that’s NOT correct re the IRS:” I.e., the IRS wants you to pay money on ALL your profits even if illegal, unethical, and scummy.

  2. When commissions are paid on what the downline ORDERS and not sells, it is, in fact, a pyramid scheme.

    Mary Kay is factually a pyramid scheme.

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  3. Hello Pink Truth:

    Hello

    I stumbled on your site by accident.

    Sure, Jan. My unsync-ed tablet doesn’t show Pink truth in the top ten of anti-MLM content since it is a specifically targeted at one of these businesses and not the model as a whole. it does show up as the first result as being anti MK. Finding here isn’t by accident, you are deliberately looking for anti MLM content.

    I read on just to see if you had uncovered some things about MLM businesses that might be new and different and, of course, accurate.

    What could be more accurate than a person’s lived experiences? Oh right, your biases.
    I feel the other anti MLM content you found just backs up what you found here and you don’t like that.

    To my disappointment, I found many generalized short statements not supported by sufficient detail to help any objective person to learn anything about the businesses.

    There are plenty of details here often supported by MK’s own data found on their own website. Or if we talk about another MLM we use their data found in the same way as well.

    The IRS does make a distinction between a pyramid and a multilevel marketing business. Your web sit (sic) confuses and jumbles the two.

    Yes, it does and no, we don’t. I feel that if you are unable to discern the difference here, it is a “your problem” as my children say.

    People who are successful in all kinds of businesses have habits and leadership capabilities that account for their success.

    Yes they do.

    They work very hard!

    Or they are born into a wealthy family which gives them the ability of form networks of contacts that by-pass the years or decades of hard grind that the average person requires to become successful, see the Kardashians for example.

    They could produce excellent results in a sole proprietorship, partnership or a corporation.

    They could and probably do. They just don’t post an exceedingly stupid number of Instagram, FB, tik tok reels trying to prove the point to other people they are trying to influence into joining them.

    You will always find some people trying to cheat every system possible.

    True.

    They victimize others because they are not willing to pay the price of success.

    This is why we are trying to protect the victims.

    If you ask the real questions you could perform a valuable service.

    We don’t need to ask questions because we are here to support the victims. We need to show those people there is a life after MK and how to get back the most amount of money that was conned out of them. Our valuable service is SUPPORT not questioning or blaming.

    For example, “What amount of activities did you do in the business?” “What amount was recommended to be successful?”

    Again, we are here to support not blame and certainly not to judge if the person was “working hard enough” . These are meaningless questions offered up solely to cast doubt and shame on some-one already floundering.

    “What kind of due diligence did you do before entering the business?”

    Again victim blaming. MK reps do a constant Gish Gallop trying to avoid answering pointed questions and actively discourage their targets from doing any research. So that is on MK.

    To condemn a whole class of businesses without thoroughly studying it seems a little irresponsible to me!

    We do study. We have the stories, real lived lives of women and men whose lives have been destroyed by a system stacked against them. Who were preyed on by the less scrupulous wanting to make a quick buck or Cadillac.

    It is very responsible to show that. We back our claims by MK’s own data. As well as data from government agencies. We are not pulling figures or anecdotes from the ether.

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    • “The IRS does make a distinction between a pyramid and a multilevel marketing business. Your web sit (sic) confuses and jumbles the two.”

      Another point on this: MLMs are “product-based pyramid schemes”, by definition. It is the pay-to-pay, endless-chain recruiting aspect that defines a pyramid scheme, with or without a product. Ironically, naked pyramid schemes (which are illegal) have a lower loss-rate than MLM, since there is no product putting a drag on up-line cash flow. In MLM, the corporation takes their cut in product cost. In naked schemes, 100% of buy-in goes to the up-line players. In both, the losses at the bottom are required to provide the funds for the tiny sliver of winners at the top.

      You literally have better odds of success in an illegal pyramid scheme than you do in product-based pyramid schemes like MLM (which includes Mary Kay). In both, the percentage of “losers” is built into the scheme. Even if everyone works as hard as the most successful, the loss rates cannot change.

      11
    • Those signs from Gothic horror movies..

      Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here

      I noticed my local Dollar store putting out Halloween decorations so it should be a good time to buy them in bulk.

  4. ““What kind of due diligence did you do before entering the business?”” Well, when the person trying to get you to sign up in the business is lying by omission, the company hides how much competition you will have, and they don’t make the usual business financial statements available … it’s hard to be diligent.

    BTW, if you have verifiable facts that contradict any article on Pink Truth, let us know and we’ll make a correction. Believe it or not, it HAS happened.

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    • I honestly think that statement/question is the cringyest most victim blaming statement I’ve read here in a very long time.

  5. “What amount of activities did you do in the business?” “What amount was recommended to be successful?”

    If everyone did the exact same thing, the failure rates would be exactly the same. This is the reality with all pay-to-play endless-chain recruiting schemes. The outcome is a mathematical certainty that cannot be avoided. 99% must lose money to fund the profits of the 1%.

    Need proof? After decades of this, we have yet to see a single MLM transend this mathematical certainty. While the MLMs try very hard to hide this unavoidable reality, research confirms there is very little difference in loss rates between MLMs. I challenge this PT critic to identify just one pay-to-play MLM that has proven to provide a better chance of success than even Vegas roulette.

    Spoiler alert: There are none.

  6. “I found many generalized short statements not supported by sufficient detail to help any objective person to learn anything about the businesses”…

    I don’t think we’re reading the same website…..

    “What amount of activities did you do in the business?” “What amount was recommended to be successful?”

    Now I wasn’t in MK, I was in a now out of business jewelry pyramid scheme/MLM , but let me answer your question – I was told I could make an executive income working part time hours and the products sells itself. Everyone loves jewelry so it’s easy to book parties and 1 party a week can bring in on average $800-$1,100. I was even shown commission checks by various other women who sold it that “proved” people were earning that much.

    “What amount of activities did you do in the business?” “What amount was recommended to be successful?”.

    You’re not seriously saying these 2 questions are relevant in today’s work environment… My goodness I worked for 15 years as the assistant for local radio & tv stations I have seen salespeople hustle daily to get people to buy advertising and fail miserably whole others just slowly and surely sell the advertising time and make goals, and get the company incentives…. I now work at an insurance agency , there’s an agent 2 blocks down that reps the same company our office does, there’s about 25 agents actually in our small Midwestern town and another 15 in a community about 45 minutes away that all rep the same company. Not to mention there’s 2 other different insurance companies in the same building directly across the street from our office.

    The agent 2 blocks away is successful because she focuses on the college, 20ish population for renters and auto coverage, the agent who is literally 10 minutes away across town is successful because he focuses on the Spanish speaking population in our community (and his office is the best at it), the one about 15 minutes away focuses on covering farms, there’s one who caters to covering hemp farms & is licensed in all 50 states so he can cover any hemp farm location, out office the oldest in town focuses on life, auto and home coverages. We are successful because the owner is well known and he took the agency over from his dad and has been running it for the last 40ish years…. He has trained and sent out other agents to go start their own offices. As you can see even in the same business using the same business brand it’s different fur everyone to be successful and as to what activities they use, what works for the agent across town for marketing actually does not work for our office. There’s no way in sales that same formula works for everyone, these questions are outdated, and definitely don’t work in a business model that is based on ordering inventory or adding salespeople over actually selling products.

  7. Can Tracy require these critics to sign that they’ve read the “Mary Kay Facts” before they can complain? Because we might actually get someone who comes up with something new. I know, dream on, right?

  8. I think, at this point, even guardrails won’t prevent MK Huns from “stumbling” onto this site. I think we might need motion-activated floodlights that say:

    SCHEDULE C OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN

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  9. What is with all of the “I stumbled upon your site by accident”. No you didn’t. You were intrigued by a link so you clicked on it. It’s not like you were hiking in the wilderness and the ground gave way beneath you and you fell into an abandoned mineshaft. You were clearly searching the internet for something and Pink Truth was somewhere in the results. That’s not an accident, sir, that is how the internet works. Do I need to womansplain it to you?

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  10. Good gravy…. can all of you critics come up with another argument besides “you didn’t work hard enough?” It’s old and has been proven untrue NUMEROUS times. And you didn’t “stumble upon” this site. You found it while doing a Google search and clicked on the link. That’s not stumbling; that is intentionally going to this site.

    Now go away…. you’re bothering me.

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  11. *note*

    I typed up this reply before reading all of your comments so if I’m reiterating something you guys have already said above, my apologies and please be easy on me ;). I just get so worked up by some of these clueless and delusional Friday Funday critics that I immediately put together my retort without reading your comments. But I always read through your entries right after that and I’m reminded of how smart and knowledgeable you guys are. Thanks for your patience. Below begins my comment:

    “I stumbled on your site by accident.”

    First of all, we have warned you about this hazard repeatedly Tracy! Find a yellow tape a la police crime scene tape to put around the edges of the site and perhaps a few “watch your step” signs or emojis to help with this (but unfortunately the least bright of the bunch will always stumble this way; they just don’t know better.)

    (*I challenge any of you who are graphic designers…it would be so cool to see a prototype of this website with yellow caution tape/orange safety cones/“signs” warning of danger around the border of this site, and I’ll pitch in for the services if Tracy ever approves to do this lol.*)

    Next, back to our Friday Critic post, we have this little bit:

    “People who are successful in all kinds of businesses have habits and leadership capabilities that account for their success. They work very hard! They could produce excellent results in a sole proprietorship, partnership or a corporation.”

    You do realize that, while you seem to THINK that you own a Mary Kay business, you really do not, right? To start your Mary Kay “business”, did you need to set up a “sole proprietorship, partnership or a corporation?” Or LLC or whatever type of business you want yours to be set up as? For years I worked for a legit wholesaler (giftware, home decor, etc) and for anyone to open an account with us, they HAD to have a federal tax ID or LLC or sole proprietorship or the like.

    You seem to have a decent grip on grammar and know more small business words than most other MK Independent Contractors…yet you don’t get it.

    Regardless of your current status in Mary Kay, you still are and WILL ALWAYS BE an independent contractor who owns NOTHING except the abundance of MK product you’ve got stacked up in your basement. You are NOT a small business owner; you are NOT an entrepreneur; you are NOT a #bossbabe.

    You can’t sell your “business”, you can’t bequeath it to anyone (except maybe if you’re an older nearly retired National Sales Director Emeritus or whatever they’re called today), you can’t sell your unit or area name, you can’t even sell your leads lists. The ONLY thing you can sell if you choose to end your “business” is whatever inventory you have.

    If you have nothing to sell, then what exactly do you OWN?

    I don’t know where you are in your “Mary Kay career”, but hopefully you’re a newbie who hasn’t spent too much money. Even if you have, maybe you can send some back. But if you’re a Ride or Die type of Kaybot, and are actually IN Mary Kay (as in active status), then our arguments here are falling on deaf ears. But still, if you ever figure things out (like how MK is NOT going to make you rich but instead will bleed you dry), we are here. Always. We welcome you.

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