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	The following posts have been reprinted in their entirety from posts e-mailed by readers of this website, except that headers, names and locations have been removed. These posts express the opinions and experiences of their authors, and this site publisher makes no representations about them in any way whatsoever. Re: Kevin Trudeau Hi, I ran across your site while searching MLM online. I belong to Nutrition for Life, since April 1999, and Kevin Trudeu was eliminated from the company shortly after I joined. Just curious, is Nutrition for Life in your opinion a viable MLM company? I am sincere in my question, not trying to cause trouble. I just want to be involved with a company with good principles. Hi, I am trying to locate a law for refunding mlm initial fees in the state of Texas. Are you aware of the law and where I can find it. Thank you,
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Re: Equinox

To whom it may concern, I am a 25 year old successful web executive and do not wish to publish my name or email in protection of my career and privacy. For anybody who would like to correspond with me you can do so at eddied1@tiac.net <mailto:eddied1@tiac.net> . Although this is but one aspect of my life, for the record (and for those people who think that I am a broke failure who has nothing better to do with his time) I conservatively make over a six figure income through my profession and have been very successful investing in web startups over the past few years to the point where I am beginning to accumulate a significant net worth (well over my pre-tax income) . The views I am about to express are candid and personal and must be taken as such. My ideas and experience reflect my personality. They are purely subjective and are not meant as a direct criticism to anybody's views or lifestyle.

Being born and raised in Italy, I moved to the states on my own at the age of nineteen to attend a prominent university in Boston. Around my second year, I ran out of money, was unable to obtain financing, and was forced to drop out. However, I did not want to go back to Italy in defeat and chose to "stick it out" in the States. Despite the fact that I spoke 4 languages fluently, had been a national athlete in Italy, and had been studying at one of the most prestigious schools in the world, I was forced to take a job at a Store 24 to get by. After a year of working low paying jobs with side stints as a corporate translator I started to get frustrated with my experience in the States.

My best prospect seemed to be to go into major debt to finish school, be forced into getting another low paying job after college, and avoid taking any risks so that over time I would be able to get out of debt. There was NO WAY I was going to go into debt for school or start from the bottom of a corporation where it would take me years to get anywhere. Frankly, I was disgusted with the system. University in the US is such a scam for so many people. So many parents are sold on the idea that an education is worth any price. That is fine if you have expendable income or if you do bot mind giving away all your savings to an educational corporatio.....OOOPS...I meant "institution". Rich families are usually well connected and can open doors to high paying careers if their children went to the same schools their colleagues' children went to. However, any family who lets their child go into major debt (50K+) expecting them to spend the first 10-20 years of their working life to pay off debts incurred while "figuring out what to do" is very irresponsible. I saw many kids and big kids (35+) leading meager lives despite their wonderful degrees and that scared the hell out of me.

I was determined not to be another "victim" of the American system (every country has its different "traps") and soon after my 21st birthday set out to find something I could excel at and build a professional life upon. I was not sure what industry that would be or how I would do it but was convinced I would find a way. My thinking was that I could always get the "piece of paper" later to please my family and so that I could have a credential to toss around at cocktail parties later on in life (I am now enrolled at a Master's program at Harvard). I had already excelled in sports, languages, and music in my life so I figured that I had good chances to succeed in anything just on my persistence alone.

This is where I have mixed feelings: Shortly hereafter I met the "Equinox International opportunity" via an ad in a paper advertising "athletic minded". It is an experience I continue to reevaluate to this day. I have mixed feelings. Although my career in Equinox was a failure I was able to transmute the lessons learned into the web industry and do very well. On the other hand if I ran into a web start-up right away maybe I could of hit the market a few years earlier and.......... who knows?

I saw the opportunity in the now defunct Braintree office in Massachusetts close to Boston. I must say that the people who got me in the business were genuine for the most part. Actually my sponsor Elisa Waskiewicz was a very nice not to mention beautiful lady who did her best to help even though I was a hopeless case form a financial perspective. The people I have reserved feelings for now were the big money earners that I was trying to model myself after: David Isaac's, Rich Vonn, Sherri Sharmin, Beatta Mhazen, Mike Heyle, Serena Schwartz, Joey Proia, Kale Flagg, Ernie Pirotta, and Bill Gouldd. In Equinox there was a saying "Find someone who has what you want, do what they do, and you will get what they got". Although that technique did not bring me much success financially in Equinox it has helped in the computer industry as I have developed an almost part-time hobby of trying to understand the thought processes of past and contemporary successful people. However while Steve Jobbs, Bill Gates, John Rockefeller, and others have attained a business success which is an inspiration to myself, I cringe when I think at just the pure thought of emulating my ex-Equinox colleagues now. Not only were those people broke but they were trying to get ahead by financially raping a young and somewhat naive kid while having no reservations about it. A lot of these so called "big hitters" like Kale Flagg and Serena Schwartz just happened to come from well endowed families who could initially support their Equinox "caprice" thereby helping them look successful towards building the image that the opportunity is based upon. I have no compassion for the people on top because they know the illusion is fake. Sure they can say, "Well, I am on the top of it now so I might as well take advantage of it". However, I will never be able to stomach a rich deceiving daddy's boy/girl trying to screw over a poor well intentioned self-starter. F__k you for that!. I would knock you guys on your ass if you tried that today. You will probably end up squandering your families' fortunes. Thank god there is as much downward mobility as there is upward mobility in this country. :-)

I am sure that there are some bright young kids who are put out of commission from an ambition standpoint for 5-10 years after they resolve to give up attempting an exciting career partly thanks to their failure at Equinox. One of the nicer things of beginning to achieve a small success is the way you can help and inspire others. I cannot believe I was actually setting people up for the opposite.

I got into the Equinox business and had a blast. It was a dream: unlimited potential, great people, young atmosphere, excitement, working for/with a company that seemed to have a a cutting edge business strategy, etc. I earned my way to manager after the first month with an investment of $500 and was avidly studying books by Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie (great books - life changing although the authors themselves were in the success selling business). When I ran out of warm market I would bring people in from the subway everyday (I had no car) or through other cold calling methods. I actually got to be pretty smooth, a few times I dialed wrong numbers by accident and managed to get those people to check out a meeting on the fly. I BELIEVED in the system as a way to deliver better products and leverage WOM advertising. I figured that there was nothing wrong with exposing people to the opportunity much in the same way that I had been exposed. Unfortunately, what I did not realize at the time that I had already been HAD and was trying to put other people in the same boat. Although I actually got something out of all those seminars and was certainly motivated, I was going nowhere. I still have my contact list somewhere at home and I believe I shared the opportunity with over 250 people (seminars or watching a video tape with them) and eventually had 5 people in my group (a few dropped out) with most of them just playing around and not really serious about the business. I was sold on the decision of dedicating 15 years of my life amidst poverty and social insecurity in order to be successful someday. I know that makes most people cringe but my personality is one that wants all or nothing in the sense I did not want to settle for less than what my parents had (an upper middle class lifestyle). However, after 9 months of feverish drive, seminars, and financial sacrifices I could not afford to do the business any longer and was forced to get job working at a restaurant thus taking "a leave of absence". There was no way I could afford a desk at the Braintree office and could have not gone back less than what I was portraying before given that image is everything (even amongst Equinox distributors). Since I needed to save money to someday re-enter the business and start over again I stayed out for various months and got involved in a web start-up (a computer, fax, and credit card machine in a living room basically) where I did not need to make any financial investment. I figured, what do I really have to lose this time? After a few months I was making money and soon thereafter once enough money was being made I left the restaurant business to "work where deserved, not where needed" forever abandoning the idea of going back to Equinox.

Even after all that I chose to ignore all the negative TV attention Equinox International began to receive and looked upon my recent failure at Equinox as the foundation of my success in the web business. Anyway, I have always practiced a positive philosophy of looking for all the potential seed of success into any failure. At Equinox I learned how to take chances but also learned that I was very gullible and credulous. I also understood that anticipation via proper critical research on all fronts is essential towards avoiding failure. Although I started to become a good public speaker, I learned how to humiliate myself by going into major debt. I lost $8,000 which back then would have taken me 5-10 years to save for on my previous odd job salary which for me was devastating. I dodged creditors and proceeded to ruin my credit history as I refined my marketing presentations and sucked in motivation tapes to increase my ability to influence people. However, more than anything else I had begun losing credibility with my family as I lied and "faked" success hoping that it would arrive soon enough to equalize the backlog of marketing "bullshit" deficit I was accumulating. That was probably the most difficult period in my life since, for the first time, I felt alone and disconnected from the people who had always championed me in all my endeavors. It was not until I began to demonstrate a certain level of success as a web entrepreneur that I gained back my family's serenity in my regards (poor things they must have been worried sick).

Although things eventually went well for me I started to discern over time what success was attributable to myself rather than the Equinox experience. As I started to become fairly successful with the web I wrote a letter to Equinews (rep magazine) in an attempt to get my story published. I thought that although I had not been successful in Equinox, my current successes inspired by the latter would have been a great selling point for Bill Gouldd's AMS training company. I found to my disbelief that my story was trashed to make room for some Joe Blow who sold (or at least claimed he did) 3 water filters to his son's school (tacky). I even went to a Basic Building Block to see if the seminar could have helped me further my business at the time.

I dropped that altogether as I realized the whole thing to be a sham. Bill Gouldd supposedly became successful building salesforces and hold seminars teaching you to do the same. BULLSHIT! It eventually occurred to me that Bill Gouldd joined NSA and started making money only after he put together AMS selling seminars starting at $50 a person while he was already lying about his income ($50*500 to start, you do the math). This capital was used to buy most things on credit (cars and homes) to further enhance this lie. The product has always been just a front. In fact they needed just a water filter to start while they were raking in millions through AMS already in their first year. Getting the people to commit keeps them in (like me, 15 years?) thus creating a "Perpetually devastating money robbing Money Machine". Fuck you Bill. You lied to me big-time. May you rot in jail/hell, whichever first.

At least Bill Gouldd and the rest of the Equinox people were "very good" con artists. You have to give them credit to be able to create the "quick-wealth" perception so effectively. The office technique coupled with effective closing is as deadly effective as can be hoped for. Thank god they robbed too much too quickly. Amway culture, (I attended a meeting while at Equinox) propagates the myth of getting rich over 10-30 year period. At least Equinox takes only a few years to burn out its supporters whereas Amway (much more dangerous) basically turns a greater portion of your life into a major joke. It is funny, because every now and then I get these "nice people" sharing the Amway opportunity who think they have one up on me after all I have been through. :-) What a waste.......

Wake up! Although it can be fun and seemingly constructive, MLM is a ponzi scheme (look it up). Direct marketing is not. If Amway and Equinox really created more millionaires than any other company in the world they would be public by now. Learn from an ex-idiot (me) how not to become one and always do your homework. As for the Equinox opportunity which jump started my career: Rest in peace. :-)

I hope this is useful...........

Best wishes in all your endeavors,

I've been approached to join the team.they say that I can become a 'Regional VP' within 18 months and be maiking $100K. Sounds too good to be true to me--is it MLM?

Dear Sirs,

I am a teacher at a Japanese school. Just tonight one of my students came to my house to ask me for advice. He was approached by his friend and given a sales instruction video from a company called Neways. He was asked if he would be interested in making money by selling skincare and health products. He was told the company is different from Amway and other AMO's. But he isn't sure. So he came to seek my advice. We checked the Internet togehter, but the name Neways, did not appear in any of the cult related sites. As I found your offer on your homepage I would like to ask you for advice. Have you heard of this company Neways and do you know if it is an AMO or not. Where can I find further advice in this matter. My students friend is already involved in seminars and sales meetings. I would apprechiate any kind of help and advice you could give me. Thank you very much for your time

Hi, My name is *. I have a problem that I hope you can help me with. How would you suggest to someone that they are involved in a pyramid, without alienating them? She has already been told to keep away from "negative" people. I went through this a few years back with Collectibles International, so I have first hand knowledge. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you..........

I am halfway through your book so far and wish I had read it before I got involved with INA. First of all, let me say that I am not a distributor but my girlfriend is. My story is similar in many ways to others who have sent emails to your site and other sites (I have read extensively on this subject).

I have always questioned parts of the business along all the lines you mention such as deception. I always wanted to know more but was told that I could not know it all but would learn it from other people and tapes.

I am compiling my story and will email it to you and other sites in the near future. I am so glad that people like yourself are making this information available to others. Believe me, it does help. I applaud your time and effort and courage.

My problem is how to de-program my girlfriend. I have been to functions and one summer conference and always felt uncomfortable around these people. I always have to go with my gut feeling as they can't brainwash your gut can they!!

Unfortunately, my girlfriends family (not all I may add) are involved at various levels from non-active disrtributor to Emerald. Having relatives who are "succesful" makes it difficult not to believe (amongst all the hype) that you can't make it if you only plug in and work hard. I have even shown a mutual friend the new Quixtar presentation and berated those who slag off Amway without knowing the "facts". So right now I am torn. I doubt a relationship can stand having one person in the "business" and one not (I am sure you'll testify to that). So it makes me sad that relationships are put under so much stress. This is where the cult aspect comes into play for me, as nothing is more important than your partner and family. I am moving from the UK to the US to be with my girlfriend and have been considering building an Amway business solely because she wants to. Sure I have dreams but I also have a life to lead in the meantime.

I particularly liked the chapter about the Diamonds cash flow and real profit for the year. It is so difficult to explain to people about the tools aspect without having proof of money being made, although my girlfriends Uncle (The Emerald in INA) did say once to me that 40-50% of his income fromt the business was due to "tools". When I told my girlfriend this she seemed a little shocked (I think she thought it would be less than that). Regardless of the actual profit, the deception when you first see the plan is a fundamentally unethical business practice that makes a mockery of the Christian beliefs that they portray.

It is easy to be drawn in and lose the critical thinking especially at the big functions where there is plenty of hooplah to pump you up.

The more I find out, the more angry I get that people are being duped. There are plenty of unethical business practices by many large corporations and Amway itself should not be singled out, especially as the "plan" itself is not unethical but the tools and functions etc by the AMO's so obviously is.

I apologise for going on so long, as I say my story will be compiled in a more logical fashion very soon.

I am just about to begin chapter 14 to see what happened to you after leaving the AMO you were involved with. I am trying to get information relating particularly to INA as the excuse I often hear when presenting negative comments is that INA are different. How convenient!

Awmay is a lifestyle choice and not just a business opportunity. I hope that in future people do not lose money, time and their relationships or families due to being involved in AMO's. I feel truly sorry for those who are involved and are good people who are somewhat blinded or misguided. Why do the FTC not clamp down on the AMO's practices like they did to pull Amway into line?

I hope your book is succesful Ruth and I am glad you have your life back.

Any advice on approaching my girlfriend with your book or other material is most welcome.

Kind Regards,

Ms., Your personal experience with MLM appears to be unfortunate. I can not speak to your own experience but you obviously are not alone. I'd like to share one thought. If MLM was some sort of cult, the people who are involved would be much more obedient to the counsel received by their 'upline'. You're own experience would suggest you understand that people didn't always do what they were counselled to do.

The business reality is still that those who succeed in any business(MLM, Contentional, Franchise, or otherwise) are those that pay the price required of them, NOT some generic price to be paid by Mr or Mrs or Ms average. If you think the price to succeed at Amway, Quixtar, NuSkin, or any other MLM business is too high, have you tried to succeed at a conventional business? Your story suggests NOT. Success within MLM requires two things: Business Savvy & Discipline to do what you know you need to be doing. You were unwilling to pay the price to acquire these two attributes.

As with all businesses in a free enterprise system, you are personally responsible for the choices you make. If you ever expect to succeed at any business, you need to learn this first lesson: YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for your choices. Don't blame a system, upline, circumstance, or anything else. Until you are willing to be accountable for your own choices, you will always be a VICTIM of CIRCUMSTANCES. If you are still blaming others, I pity your future. If you can have the guts to accept the consequences of your own choices, MOVE ON. Your website reads like a false haven for irresponsible derelicts. I wonder if the critics who claimed the Wright Brothers were up in the night would have commiserated with you on your website.

Signed

I see you have a strong opinion on this. I must point out that all IBO's sign a form that acknowledges the fact that upline is making a profit on BSM's. This is clearly understood and acknowledged when someone gets started on the BSMAA form. Lastly, your comment "He doesn't give a flip about your success, only about whether you are attending functions and buying books and tapes" is quite untrue. Your attitude and angle on this is unfortunate and a bit offensive. The use of and encouragement to buy BSM's has resulted in hundreds of positive changes in peoples lives that I've seen personally. In the past, your're correct, the profit was kept secret, but over the past couple of years this has changed. Can you accept this change and incorporate it into your current view? It sounds like you are very bitter about this.

Hi there, My name is *, I am 28, married and have three children. I currently work full time and my wife has a part time job.

The reason for writing is because I have just been reading your web page concerning Amway. Now I have been approached by someone trying of recruit me into Amway. Now I have been thinking of it as like everyone, we can all do with some extra money on our pockets.

I am not over keen on marketing companies like this and after reading your information I feel that I may decline the offer of joining them, all a long I have had a funny feeling about them, the guy who I have seen I know outside of Amway and I don't blame him at all, it is just that I have had this strange feeling from day one.

I would like, if you have a spare moment, your comments on this and is it really as bad as it sounds?

I look forward to hearing from you

I was taken in too before their launch by all their glorious promises. Here is their latest email bulletin to all IBO's which I just got today. STILL problems. In case you want to forward or put on your web for others to read, I have deleted references to me personally ...thanks

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

Subj: On-Line Ordering Date: 11/9/99 6:24:06 PM Central Standard Time From: communications@network21.com (Corporate Communications) To: XXXXXXXXX (Quixtar IBO's)

Dear XXXXXXXXXXXX:

During the last few days, you may have experienced some challenges when trying to authorize payment for your product purchases from the n21.com online store. You may have seen a busy message appear on the screen when trying to authorize payment, which prevented your order from going through. Our vendor responsible for authorizing payment is investigating the issue and anticipates resolution soon. In the meantime, our technical staff implemented a solution so that your future online orders will be processed successfully. We appreciate your patience and thank you for your understanding.

Please DO NOT REPLY to this email. Instead you may want to use these contact addresses for n21.com

RECOGNITION@network21.com MEETINGS@network21.com Email@network21.com LOSChanges@network21.com CEP@network21.com Tools@Network21.com HomePage@Network21.com ProductReturns@Network21.com Genie@Network21.com

I think I offended you, and let me start by apologizing.I had no right to do that.

The Yager group does have a bad reputation and I'm not surprised about your experience, though I am truly sorry for that.

You see you proved my point about this business. If it's not built on integrity and honesty it will not last, people will find out.Every business , this or any other has to have a win win situation or it will not survive. That's why the integrity of the line of sponsorship is so important. Sadly there are a number of groups that are similar to Yager's.

You said , we'll see who will laugh at the end.I was never planning to laugh at you Ruth and I'm sorry if I gave you that impression.

Your experience was bad enough you don't need somebody's smart advise. I recognize that.

My experience has been the total opposite, the best time in my life and it makes me sad and angry when I see people who were taken advantage of for two reasons.One,for the person and two for the reputation of the company.Every person's bad experience can be traced back to an individual or a line of sponsorship and has nothing to do with the company.I wish they got tougher with these people.They're dream stealers.

Your reasons are perfectly valid to be critical but in my opinion it only reflects on Yager not the company or the opportunity.

I don't question your computer knowledge, as a matter of fact you're probably more knowledgeable then me.The quixtar site will get better day by day and I'm sure it's not perfect yet.

If I may say something before I leave : I haven't read your book but in the title you talk about organizations. Your experience is from one organization only, which is the Yager's not many of them if I'm not mistaken.

Ruth, I whish you good luck in the future and the best of holiday season.

Part II

I'm in Network 21. Network 21 was formed by our upline crown ambassadors the Dornans in 1989. Both graduated with honors from Indiana's Purdue University,Jim Dornan as a aeronautical engineer and Nancy Dornan as a speech pathologist.

Network 21 is a separate company from Amway/ Quixtar and its a sophisticated training organization to provide a training program to build a successful Amway / Quixtar business. It's recognized for its achievements outside of Amway. The reason why Network 21 was very successful because it had built a foundation on honesty and integrity believing that it's the only way to succeed on the long run. You can't cheat people into something and hope that they never find out. Jim Dornan brought together a 150 diamonds from different countries to find out what they had in common to succeed.(Yager refused to participate,he did not want to share what he was doing.)From this knowledge and his own experience he designed a training program that separated our organization from most of the Amway groups in many ways.It's even recognized by Amway for that. Network 21 is responsible for a big portion of Amway's volume outside of North America in 26 countries where there is Network 21 training. In North America there are a few more groups that are similarly good to ours and our leaders are in good contact,they go to each-other's seminars to teach.However sadly many groups are similar to Yager's and over time the company's reputation suffered. It's human nature to judge the company based on the people who represented it. What people fail to realize is that it's a unique business, anybody can sign up unlike in other businesses.Usually in other businesses you have the proper background for that field so you're much more professional.Here almost nobody has the background to do this so as far as training and knowledge,you need to get it from upline.

Network 21 for it's professionalism attracted a lot of professionals and highly successful people.It even involves people like Doug Wead, who had been the advisor of President Reagan and Bush.He spent 10 years in the White House. Not every diamond in Network 21 is downline from the Dornans but they share the values and they participate.

As far as training Network 21 also has outside experts like John Maxwell on leadership and some others. These people are not in the business they just teach us.

I respect the fact that you have inside information but that only applies to the the Yager group not every group. I hope I was able to show you that.

Yours truly:

You may be interested to know the following announcement now appears on the "winner's circle" site:

October 27, 1999 NOTICE TO ALL WINNERS' CIRCLE DISTRIBUTORS

On Monday, October 25, 1999, The Winners' Circle, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The case is In re: The Winners' Circle, Inc., United States Bankruptcy for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, Case Number 99-8830-6B1. The Bankruptcy Court will be sending you notice of the commencement of this bankruptcy case.

At this time, the Company has ceased doing business. It is the Company's intent, however, to pay at least a portion of the monies it owes its creditors, including distributors. In the next few weeks, the Company will be seeking the Bankruptcy Court's approval of its plan to pay these debts on a pro rata basis.

The Company has identified each active distributor as a creditor or potential creditor of the Company. If you believe the Company owes you money, you will be entitled to file a claim pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Court will provide you with a form for you to file your claim. All claims must be filed with the Bankruptcy Court and should not be sent to the Company or its attorneys.

Hi,

My wife here in Canada has been receiving the Amagram and now the Achieve Magazine due to her old affiliations with Amdorks. It was interesting to note some of the corporations who would "support" Amway's effort in free enterprise. I started a while back writing to the companies concerned, to find out why their CEOs and Chairmen would say such glowing statements about Amway, and how Amway resembled the mentioned companies. The last letter (email) I sent was to AVIS Rent-a-car. My letter was in regards to statements in the Achieve Magazine (Amway IBO magazine) in which the CEO and Chairman A Craig Hoenshell stated that Amway and Avis were alike.

I quoted some of the phrases from the text by the "CEO". Avis quickly responded to me, and stated that A Craig Hoenshell was no longer CEO and Chairman of Avis, and they were unaware of when such statements were made.

A previous letter I wrote, was to Macleans Magazine, a Canadian Current affairs and business magazine, and the reply I received stated that the "president" had not been with the company for the past year.

Is Amway taking some advantage of this information and putting quotes into their magazines, not telling the readership that the comments are perhaps personal, and not in anyway an indication of the mentioned companies these Gents work/worked for? It is my belief that they use false credibility by not supplying all the facts.

First of all, let me say, that I think your website is excellent. I wish more people would have the courage to stand up and tell their stories. Sadly, most people go into MLM full of pride like a lion and come out like a sad little puppy with their tail between their legs. MLM has a way of doing that to people, making them feel like failures and worthless.

Secondly, let me point out that I know some of what you are about to read might come across as being harsh, even hateful at times. Let me assure you that I hold no hate in my heart for people who succumbed to MLM. I use strong verbiage because it holds people's attention and makes them think. Whether people agree or disagree with my views, the way I communicate will at least make them think about it.

I had my first encounter with MLM about 4 or 5 years ago. My brother, the man with all the big dreams, somehow managed to get hooked into Network21. For those of you unfamiliar with N21, it is an offspring of Amway. Long story short, he suckered our mother into joining. She bought all the expensive training materials, flew across the country to attend a week long seminar, etc. Initially I think she bought in because she felt sorry for her son, but when she came back from the seminar (which just happened to be in the 90210 zip code) she was convinced that N21 was her retirement plan. The problem was, she couldn't get anyone to buy into it with her. Oh sure, a few people wanted Amway products but no one was interested in being part of any downline and as far as the high ticket items went, you could buy better and cheaper at local stores like Circut City.

Then I got the phone call. "Help, I can't do this on my own." Like a dutiful daughter I went... STUPID ME! The next man up in the food chain flew all the way out to give her some personal attention. I was like a lamb to the slaughter, I didn't want to see the thousands of dollars she had spent wasted. So, I took all the training materials and they sent more tapes... I managed to salvage the mess and set her up with a few clients. she made part of her money back but will never recover the rest. She wasn't a recruiter, she wasn't a go getter, she isn't a sales person, she is just an aging Mom whose son fed her to the wolves... it was all I could do to recoup some lost funds.

My next contact with the wonderful world of MLM was Mary Kaye cosmetics. Now many of you will say that Mary Kaye is not an MLM, I am here to testify that you are wrong! One of my clients gave me a gift certificate to come for a massage and makeover. I went and fell in love with the products, they are good products as far as I am concerned. The problem was that I couldn't afford my growing Mary Kaye habit. So I struck a deal with my Mary Kaye lady, I would bring her clients and she would discount my product. I brought her tons of clients, each and every one of them more than satisfied with the product. The problem then came that the Mary Kaye lady was no longer satisfied with our arrangement and she wanted me to be a Mary Kaye lady. Their recruitment practices are horrible and don't even get me going about the front loading. I didn't care for the way that Mary Kaye recruitment preyed on women's self esteem. After she figured out that I was not going to join her as a sales lady, she cut me off. I no longer use Mary Kaye products. The moral here is that she could have been satisfied with all the new clients I brought her but she got greedy. When I explained to her that I just couldn't afford to buy all the things that I would need for training she even suggested that I write a bad check for them and then hurry and go sell a skin care kit and some glamour items to pay for it.

My next encounter was when we moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. We were looking for jobs and both answered separate and totally different ads in the local help wanted section. Those "ads" turned out not to be interviews for jobs, they were recruitments for Equinox. Over 3 months we answered over 75 distinctly different help wanted ads that lead us back to Equinox. When my fiance' went to his "interview" it turned out to be a 3 hour recruitment seminar, boy was he pissed! Not only was he lied to about the supposed job interview over the phone, when he showed up and politely sat through the seminar they were nasty to him when he wouldn't sign up on the spot. He told them that he wanted to come home and talk over with me, he asked for literature to bring home. He asked for literature on their nutritional supplements and water filters. They refused to give him ANY type of literature until he brought back his $500.00 check and became an Equinox representative. They even called him a looser when he wouldn't sign up.

It became our personal mission to unmask these people. We researched and made phone calls, watched the 20/20 expose, called the BBB, the mayor, the local reporter who covered the story in Vegas... Then the day came, I was going to confront them where they lived. I answered an ad and went one of their local recruitment offices. I really feel sorry for the poor kid who got my call, and kid is the right word, he was only about 20 or so. I went in and acted like I had no idea who or what Equinox was all about. I let him give his little speeches, show me his video tapes, then BAM... I hit him (not literally) with a 12 inch thick file of lawsuits, newspaper articles, affidavits and other references about Bill Gouldd or Billy Ghoul as I like to call him. I watched as the color drained from his face. He didn't know what to say... Then came the rescue from his upline. They knocked on the door and claimed he had an "important phone call you really need to take", in came the next attacker. I hit that person with the same file, they tried side stepping and back peddling. Then they walked me around the office to show me how busy everyone was, out of 13 or so reps 12 of them were sitting around doing nothing. So, I hit them with what had happened to my fiance' when he came in. The stumbled and stuttered and still no one could/would give me any information in writing to take home nor could/would they produce ingredients lists for their nutritional products other than to say that they came from the Orient and had "secret" recipes from Asian herbal masters.

In the middle of the Equinox saga (which was very entertaining for us to say the least) we came across an ad in the local paper that said "FREE COMPUTER call xxx-xxx-xxxx". Who wouldn't want a free computer? So we called the ad and a young man in his 20s came over and told us how if we sold 7 computers ours would be free. We would have to order our computer now and they would approve us for an installment loan on it. Once we sold our 7 we would have all the money we needed to pay off the loan. He could tell we weren't going to take the bait. So, he went into his own personal tragedy of having a young wife who didn't work and 3 kids at home to feed. He even said that he had already sold his 7 and was waiting for his computer to come in and was now making straight commission. It seemed ok, so we decided to try it. There was nothing to buy (other than the computer which we needed anyway) the only cost would be whatever advertising we wanted to and the long distance "training calls" that he would go to if he could be he had no more long distance service. We sold 5 computer packages and guess what?! The FTC came in and shut them down, no computers had been shipped and no checks had been cut.

We had made "friends" with several other people in the program. All of them dedicated to make it work. When it was evident that it was time to move on, they found another MLM this one was for cell phones. Guess what? That one folded too. Like lemmings they all followed each other over the cliff. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee SPLAT!

We were heavily persecuted for not being lemmings. We decided early on that IF we ever decided to do MLM it would have to be with a company that has been around for ages and proved themselves to be reputable. Myself, I sell Avon now but I set the rules from day one. I was here to sell Avon and make my commission, I would not front load with tons of demo items, I would not pay for meetings and I don't want to recruit. My "sponsor" seems okay with it for now.

My opinion on all of this is...... Don't be a lemming! Don't follow the crowd! RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH any company before you get involved. Don't believe what some fast talking slicker than sh*t rep tells you, they don't care about you they just care about making their downline grow. It's all about the money and people on the low end of the food chain rarely see big bucks, they rarely see any at all. People at the top of the food chain don't care about you, they prey on your self esteem. They tell you things like if your business fails it's because you did something wrong, you didn't buy all the training packages, you didn't attend the seminars. DON'T BELIEVE IT FOR A SECOND! If the business fails it's probably because the products are over priced and in most cases garbage.

With all the readily available research out there today one would think that before someone invested their hard earned cash in something that they would take the time to look into what they are investing their money into. When a rep tells you how successful they are make them prove it! Make them show you copies of checks, not only theirs but more importantly their downline's checks too. Make them give you ways to contact people in their downline so you can see just how successful they are. Under federal guidelines any investor (that means reps too) has the right of full disclosure. That means that these companies are legally bound to have in writing information about all the principle players in the company. Who are the key players? What are their backgrounds? Have they ever been involved in legal action against them for fraudulent business activities? These are things you need to know to be able to make an informed decision.

Above all safeguard your self esteem. That is the first place they attack. You know who you are make sure that they know you know that from day one. Go in with your head held high, look them in the eye and DEMAND information. If they can't or won't produce it, don't be afraid to walk away. Save yourself early on. Don't wait until you are broke to demand information. Before any money leaves your hand or bank account know the business inside and out, refund policies, everything.

I wish all of you good luck in your future endeavors. Peace

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