The pyramid scheme: relationship killer
Now here's where things get personal and I take some real social risks, because many of my friends are involved in the type of things I'm about to rant about, but for those who are not, I feel it's a necessary public service to warn against a destructive but tempting influence which everyone will encounter at some point.
For simplicity's sake I'm going to use the term "pyramid scheme". I know people love to argue about this term, mostly because they want you to join up with their pyramid scheme and the term "pyramid scheme" has negative connotations (for good reason). So, when I say this I am talking about any endevour that requires you to sell things to your friends and put pressure on them to do the same, regardless of any other factors.
So, it seems harmless enough, a friend invites you over for an event. Maybe it's a spa party or a chocolate tasting or a jewelry party, or some equally tempting social event. Of course when you spend all day cooped up with dependent, pre-verbal creatures, any interaction with adults is hard to pass up. Maybe you get an inkling from the invitation what it is you're in store for at this "party", but you want to support your friend because thats the type of person you are. They say "it's ok if you can't spend any money, I'd love to have you anyway!". So you don't buy anything, or you buy something cheap that you can't really afford so you don't feel like you're being rude, and when the product demo and sales pitch is over they start putting the pressure on you to join the sales team. "Be your own boss!" "set your own hours!" "get free crap!" "make six figures working two hours a week!". Right. And so you politely decline and they ask your reasons and argue and pressure you, and you can't say the one thing that is really holding you back, because it would be insulting their choices and would hurt their feelings. Which is: "I don't want my livelihood to depend on putting the people I care about in the kind of awkward position you're putting me in."
I personally lost a budding friendship with someone I was really starting to like to Mary Kay. She quit her job or lost her job, I can't remember which, but I know her family was in a somewhat precarious situation financially when she started up. So when she had her first party, I invited everyone I knew, practically begged them to come. Three or four of my friends showed up and none of the other people she had invited. I bought some makeup, which was not easy in our financial situation either and politely listened to the whole "join our team" pitch, because she wanted to practice on me. Well, gradually our non Mary Kay related interactions became less and less frequent until there was nothing but spam in my inbox with her name on it. When she called on the phone one day I was excited to catch up and find out how her family was doing, but the third time she steered the conversation back to makeup sales, I got the picture. There was no friendship, maybe she never wanted one with me, I don't know. All I am to her now is dollar signs. She's doing quite well now I hear, and I'm happy for her, but I no longer feel obligated to buy makeup from her. To me clinique is a better value and more convenient to purchase, a friendship with the sales rep tipped the scales before, but I don't have to worry about that now.
So, I would urge everyone to avoid these types of endeavors. For this reason and because aside from a few exceptions, it is extremely unlikely for most people to be successful at this type of sales. Not to mention I find it somewhat unethical that these companies are unwilling to compensate people for their time, talents and efforts on their behalf. They usually require an initial pay in, and I think they must make most of their money from people paying the start up cost and then giving up when they find out how impossible it is to do whats required. I have a major beef with this type of scam that's replayed over again in all kinds of clever disguises. This current job market is infested with it and it prays on people's desperation. Don't support that.
For those of you who already have committed yourself to this, if you are happy with it, good for you. I hope you don't take this too personally. Now you know why people are avoiding you.
For simplicity's sake I'm going to use the term "pyramid scheme". I know people love to argue about this term, mostly because they want you to join up with their pyramid scheme and the term "pyramid scheme" has negative connotations (for good reason). So, when I say this I am talking about any endevour that requires you to sell things to your friends and put pressure on them to do the same, regardless of any other factors.
So, it seems harmless enough, a friend invites you over for an event. Maybe it's a spa party or a chocolate tasting or a jewelry party, or some equally tempting social event. Of course when you spend all day cooped up with dependent, pre-verbal creatures, any interaction with adults is hard to pass up. Maybe you get an inkling from the invitation what it is you're in store for at this "party", but you want to support your friend because thats the type of person you are. They say "it's ok if you can't spend any money, I'd love to have you anyway!". So you don't buy anything, or you buy something cheap that you can't really afford so you don't feel like you're being rude, and when the product demo and sales pitch is over they start putting the pressure on you to join the sales team. "Be your own boss!" "set your own hours!" "get free crap!" "make six figures working two hours a week!". Right. And so you politely decline and they ask your reasons and argue and pressure you, and you can't say the one thing that is really holding you back, because it would be insulting their choices and would hurt their feelings. Which is: "I don't want my livelihood to depend on putting the people I care about in the kind of awkward position you're putting me in."
I personally lost a budding friendship with someone I was really starting to like to Mary Kay. She quit her job or lost her job, I can't remember which, but I know her family was in a somewhat precarious situation financially when she started up. So when she had her first party, I invited everyone I knew, practically begged them to come. Three or four of my friends showed up and none of the other people she had invited. I bought some makeup, which was not easy in our financial situation either and politely listened to the whole "join our team" pitch, because she wanted to practice on me. Well, gradually our non Mary Kay related interactions became less and less frequent until there was nothing but spam in my inbox with her name on it. When she called on the phone one day I was excited to catch up and find out how her family was doing, but the third time she steered the conversation back to makeup sales, I got the picture. There was no friendship, maybe she never wanted one with me, I don't know. All I am to her now is dollar signs. She's doing quite well now I hear, and I'm happy for her, but I no longer feel obligated to buy makeup from her. To me clinique is a better value and more convenient to purchase, a friendship with the sales rep tipped the scales before, but I don't have to worry about that now.
So, I would urge everyone to avoid these types of endeavors. For this reason and because aside from a few exceptions, it is extremely unlikely for most people to be successful at this type of sales. Not to mention I find it somewhat unethical that these companies are unwilling to compensate people for their time, talents and efforts on their behalf. They usually require an initial pay in, and I think they must make most of their money from people paying the start up cost and then giving up when they find out how impossible it is to do whats required. I have a major beef with this type of scam that's replayed over again in all kinds of clever disguises. This current job market is infested with it and it prays on people's desperation. Don't support that.
For those of you who already have committed yourself to this, if you are happy with it, good for you. I hope you don't take this too personally. Now you know why people are avoiding you.
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