Hi Folks!
I am reflecting on how people pretending to be “Positive Thinkers” took me for a ride. This week, one company comes to mind. They are basically a type of selling organization that sells overpriced “Motivational Packs” and get’s you to hook your friends in and rip them off.
Well, let me tell you about my bad experience there. But before, let me give you some context. I have just moved to Sydney and after a contract ending on me early (due to a very bad experience with the GFC).
Anyway, out of work – 4 months passed and I was honestly quite desperate. So, I came up with this “Great Idea” of a great “Work From Home Business”.
Wow! This was the start of all my problems. After looking at many things, I found this so called “Amazing Business”. It works like this:
– You pay lots of money to buy a motivational pack (and you give it to your upline).
– They train you and stuff.
– You then sell the motivational pack to other people.
Although this sounds very Multi-Level Marketing, they claim it actually isn’t (because after a few sales you don’t have to pay you upline). It’s not far off Pyramid Selling I think!
Anyway, so I pay my money and join. Oh no, once I join they give me this online audio program. It talks about “Being Positive”, “Visualization”, “Focus” and that good old film “The Secret”.
Okay great. Let’s do this thing.
Well during the training, they have this “Seminar” that costs like $6000 and “if your serious” you will do it.
Wow, they EVEN ENCOURAGED you to just “take the plunge” and even go into Debt to buy all of their Premium Products! Also, the upline (who sold me the product) just wasn’t having any luck (besides me) and she claimed that her mentors wouldn’t even help her (i.e. their advice for selling the packs was to “Just get out there” – What does that mean in realistic terms?).
It was very scary and irresponsible I though and thank god there as a cooling off period (so I got out). I though this was very wrong in that these people used “Positive Thinking” and “Visualization” as a way of preying on people who are either desperate or in a desperate mood.
What’s more, is that they just said “You create your website and all your leads come through that way”. Well, I saw at least 30 similar websites selling the same products.
Now I got a few questions for you:
– If my upline can barley make sales, how will I stand a chance?
– When another 200 join, if people are stepping on each others toes now, what will happen then?
– How come they wouldn’t help my upline besides just saying “You have to get out there?”
I really think that businesses like this aren’t just sustainable. You can’t build a business on a house of sticks or set up situations where people try and prey on each other. Not because they are bad people, but because they are desperate and are convinced by a charismatic positive thinker “They are helping others”.
Anyway, as a good trader Chris Lori once told me “Be Careful, it’s a Jungle Out there!”
Thank you to “lululemon athletica” from Flickr for the great Human Pyramid Pic.
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