So, I had a student at UVSC who was a great student. Did well in my class, worked hard, and was bright. This week, I got an invitation (sent to many people) to be part of a multi-level marketing scheme from him by e-mail. This is not a post about MLMs, so bear with me. I knew that he, having taken my class, knew that I was a very opinionated person, and so I did not feel bad at all telling him exactly what I thought of his invitation.
Part of my reply to his invitation:
As you can expect, I have an opinion. Anything where you get paid to sign people up so they can get paid to sign people up is, in my opinion, not business.
He replied with:
I appreciate you at least taking the time to respond but you don't actually get paid to sign people up so they can get paid. You get paid when you sell the service offered by the company. Yes, it's MLM so you get paid when other people sell the service but there is no money in simply recruiting someone. The money only comes when you train someone well enough to sell. It's essentially an insurance company but structured as an MLM. I, unlike most people, think MLM is a great way to do business. It allows people to get started in a business (assuming the business and service are legitimate) for a minimal investment. All the while they get trained on how to run a business and the difficulties of living a salesman life (again, assuming you're with a legitimate business). Those are two things I think everyone needs to learn.
I replied with:
I agree. Assuming a legitimate business with some real product, MLMs are great. The only problem is, once you are far enough into the business to know if it is legitimate, it is too late. Most MLMs operate on "product" that has an incredible markup, such that there is no real growth potential for sale (unless, of course, you convince people that your cheaply produced product is a cure for cancer or something - ie Noni juice.) In a competitive market such as insurance, the further one gets away from actuarially fair insurance, the more difficult it will be to sell, and growth potential is difficult. This is increasingly becoming the case as comparable insurance rates are readily available online. Obviously, at first glance, they all look legitimate.
Good luck with the MLM.
One might also consider this: Regardless of the legitimacy of a MLM, since, as you stated, most serious people consider them illegitimate, announcing your association with one does not improve your status in most people's eyes. While "status" is a very worldly term and thing to worry about, the market is in the world, and one must worry about status if one intends to operate in the market.
Good luck with everything. I am excited to see how your insurance sales go.
So he replied by saying:
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. That's why I'm happy to be with the company that I am and that I took the time to check things out well before moving forward. Unfortunately, most people won't do so and that's why they either get swindled into a crappy deal that makes them hate all MLM companies or they pass up amazing opportunities.
Thanks for your thoughts. I like hearing what others have to say. It makes me keep my mind open and helps me understand other points of view. I appreciate you being willing to write back even though you are, obviously, not interested. Thanks again.
So, in the end, we completely disagreed, but, I think we both felt very good coming out of the back and forth. I like conversations like this. When two people can tell each other what they really think, and not get all mad or hot and heavy, then true learning takes place and it is evident people actually care.
I replied the way I do because I really do care about this guy—I don’t want him to lose his shirt on something I think is illegitimate (and have his amazing accounting education go to waste J). It may make him feel bad to tell him this (as I am basically saying “the thing you are doing is stupid”), but, I am doing it to try to help him.
He invited me, perhaps at least, because he thought it would be a great opportunity for me to make money (and, obviously, for him to share some of that money). He was looking out for me.
What really hurts people is when we stand idly by and do nothing. Caring means providing your opinion, the person can then take that opinion, factor it into all the information they have, and move on. To say nothing or to just be “supportive” is to not care, and to allow people to get hurt.
I took this picture using the little tripod that Stacey got me for Christmas. Notice Jacob's mouth.
Stacey and Erin made dinner on Sunday night. Here the are, showing off their creation.
Another picture I took with the tripod Stacey got me. Again, notice Jacob's mouth. The deal is, when I use the timer on my camera, a couple seconds before it takes the picture, it makes this sound and blinks a light. For some reason, this always surprises little Jacob, and so in most of the pictures I took with the timer, Jacob looks surprised. He is a cute little boy.
We went downtown on Friday, and here is a picture of the girls and Jacob in front of the Washington Monument.
While downtown we visited the National Museum of American History. It was very interesting, and we saw a lot of interesting things.
At this museum, we saw lots of interesting things, including this propaganda poster from World War II. I plan on printing it out and putting it above our food storage.
Here is a nice little picture taken on Christmas day, after the presents were opened.
Jacob took his first steps a couple weeks ago. However, with more space at his Grandparents' house, and as a result of lots of observation during his visit to the nursery, he is getting better and better. Here are a couple steps. He was on track to go longer, but, the stairs got in the way. Apparently, while at nursery, he walked half way across the cultural hall. He is an amazing little boy.
Jacob was convinced by his cousins that he needed to dress up as a cow the day after Thanksgiving. Luckily this didn't keep him from getting into things like Aunt Megan's nice book collection; so even for Jacob the Cow it was business/mischief as usual.
