3 Reasons To Avoid Multi-Level Companies
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of Investopedia
The “Great Recession” of 2008 put a dent in the U.S. economy that took a while to recover.
Many were laid off from their positions at places where they believed they would work at until retirement.
After the initial shock, they went into job hunting mode, looking for that same position at a different company, hoping to feed their families and reclaim the American dream.
Thankfully, people are now starting to find jobs whether in their fields or in a place unrelated to their expertise.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate has dropped to 5.6 % in December of last year.
Prior to the month, unemployment was at 5.8 %.
Though that is good news, many others are still trying to find the job of their dreams.
Unfortunately, the desperation of these folks allows many multi-level companies to prey on them because they see an opportunity to take advantage to profit for themselves.
You might wonder what is multi-level marketing?
According to Investopedia, multi-level marketing is a strategy that some direct sales companies use to encourage their existing distributors to recruit new distributors by paying the existing distributors a percentage of their recruits sales.
So for a person who is new to a multi-level company, the only way for them to make money is to meet a sales quota so that they can gain a commission.
They will have to pay for a fee to receive some products or training first before they go out and gain new customers for their products.
People who continue to engage with multi-level companies runs the risk of losing everything because they were at the bottom of the pyramid in the multi-level marketing company.
That is why they will go out and make as many sales as possible so that they will not be caught in that predicament.
An example that will hopefully make you think twice of joining a multi-level company is the Bernie Madoff scandal.
Mr. Madoff ran a pyramid scheme for decades and many people invested in his company hoping to make a return on their investment.
However, his scheme fell apart thanks to the “Great Recession” and as a result, people lost their investment.
In turn, Mr. Madoff was prosecuted for his crimes and is now spending the rest of his life in jail.
If you’re still not convinced, here are three more reasons why you should avoid multi-level companies:
1. You Will Be Deceiving Your Customers
These companies will normally tell their workers not to reveal who they are working for because they understand that people have their suspicions of multi-level companies.
They will try and teach you to be very deceptive when they are selling one of their products or try to recruit them into a scam.
Once you get your prospective client on board with the multi-level company and they end up failing, you will be responsible for their failures.
2. It Ruins The Lives of Families.
People will put their life savings into a multi-level marketing company hoping to make money.
What they end up doing is sacrifice time with their families working everyday trying to gain new prospective clients.
When they finally go broke after dipping into their money for products, they will end up on the street because they failed to make a sale.
As a result, their families suffer.
3. You Will Ruin Your Reputation
When you try to make a sale for a multi-level company by using deception, people will realize that you are not trustworthy and will not want to be associated with you.
They will see you as a thief and will warn their friends about you.
Even if you end up leaving the multi-level marketing company and work for a reputable company, it will be very hard for you to build trust again with your friends and their network because of your deceptive practices when you were associated with a multi-level company.
So if you are struggling to find a job, do whatever you can to avoid multi-level companies because you will avoid all the stress and pressure that is associated with a multi-level company.
Did someone try to recruit you for a multi-level company? You can leave your comments below.
Building A Strong Community Takes Time
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.blog.getsatifaction.com.
Amy Robinette started her company, “The Gold Buying Girl” with only $500 dollars in 2008 and has made it into a $21 million dollar business.
Sensing a need to also help women entrepreneurs, Mrs. Robinette created the Women Helping Women To Network group last year in August and has grown the community to 3,000 people.
She shared her expertise at the Houston Social Media Breakfast earlier on Friday that was really great for anyone who are looking to build their own community online.
Here are some takeaways from the event:
Members want to know that the administrator is there. If you are not responding to questions that they posted, then you have already lost your community.
It is always important to meet each other in person because it deepens the relationship that you built with your community online.
Establish some guidelines when you start your community because it can get chaotic if you don’t have rules in place.
Always be professional. If you say that you are going to be at an event, make sure that you honor your word because if you do not show up, then you have tarnished your reputation.
AVOID DRAMA AT ALL COST
Allow others in your community to help you run your group because it is really a lot of work for one person to make it successful.
Build an e-mail list because social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. is only “rented space” and they can change the rules anytime that can affect your community. An e-mail list is your “real estate.”
Buiding a community online is not for the faint of heart.
It takes time and you must have lots of patience to make it work.
Even if you do succeed, you have to be willing to learn from others who doing well with their communities.
Have you ever thought about starting your online community? You can leave your comments below.
Learning Life Lessons In Unexpected Places
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.craigmotor.wordpress.com
Sometimes life lessons can come in unexpected places.
Like if you missed your bus to go to a sporting event or you have a flat tire.
The only thing you have control over is how you react to circumstances that is out of your control.
You can choose whether to have a pity party and rain on the parade of people who are having great days or see it as a life lesson.
I had decided to go to downtown Houston to put up a blog post and participate on Twitter chats.
When I missed the bus at a “particular time,” at first, I was mad at myself.
It was freezing cold outside and had to wait about an hour before the next bus arrived.
I could have continued to wallow in self pity.
However, I decided to just enjoyed the scenery and wait patiently.
After the next bus arrived and arrived at a local coffee shop where I normally do some blogging and participate in Twitter chats, a person was at the table where they was only one place where you can plug your computer.
With the batteries running out, I decide to make the most of it and in the process, I ended up chatting with college students and later, some business people who were on their breaks.
If I had arrived earlier, I would have missed out on the opportunity to have a conversation with the people about meaningful topics.
So the next time something does not go your way, take a deep breath and relax.
That could turn out to be a lesson in disguise.
Have you ever experienced a time when things did not go your way and it ended up being a blessing in disguise? You can leave your comments below.
Biggio Earned The Right To Be In The Baseball Hall of Fame
By Cheval John
The city of Houston has a lot to be proud of today.
Craig Biggio, who spent his entire 20-year career with the Houston Astros, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today on his third try.
“I got a phone call at noon time that will forever change my life and my family’s life,” Biggio said to the Houston Chronicle. “This is a very overwhelming and humbling experience.”
Biggio will join this year’s class with former pitchers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz on July 26th in Cooperstown, New York.
Biggio was a seven time All-Star and had 3,060 career hits, joining 27 other players in Major League Baseball (MLB) history with 3,000 or more career hits.
He was part of “The Killer Bs” during the majority of the 90s and early 2000s that featured Jeff Bagwell, Derek Bell and Sean Berry.
“Craig deserves it,” said Bagwell to the Houston Chronicle. “It’s about time. I’m ready for July. I’m ready to be sitting there in Cooperstown sweating my butt off and listening to him. It’ll be really, really cool because Randy will be there too.”
Biggio also made his only World Series appearance with the Astros in 2005 which they lost to the Chicago White Sox.
One thing is for certain, Biggio deserved this honor because he played the game of baseball the right way amidst the steroid scandal that plagued the sport for about two decades.
Do you believe that Biggio deserved to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame? You can leave your comments below.
Video courtesy of MLB
Daily Habits To A Productive Day
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.livingtowin.com
This post will be a response to Natalie Sisson’s first of her 15 day blog challenge on “Detail Your Daily Success Plan.”
The way you start your morning determines the outcome for the rest of the day.
I will be honest, I have not remain consistent in waking up early and getting some work done because I have allowed myself to sleep in until at times 10 a.m.
I understand the benefits of waking up early as they have been pointed in many articles.
Articles like Dayna Steele’s “The Daily Success Tips” on how waking up early puts anyone ahead of their competition.
Another thing I try to do on a consistent basis is take a 30 minute walk and do some meditation because it always allow me to think clearly of ideas for blog posts and planning out the day.
One habit that I want to get back to is writing a gratitude journal because it is a huge reminder to remain grateful for everything that is happening.
My main goal is to fulfill the plans I laid out earlier this year and to continue to lift people up to make their lives better.
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