Jumping in here without reading the thread fully (the shame)...
My entire FB feed right now is people pimping out their MLMs. Some people are really good at selling/promoting their product. (I don't mind when people share their own good results with a product, and invite people to come check out their business page). Some people are awful. One girl I know is doing some diet/shake MLM..unsure of the product name because she spends most of her time saying things "People get annoyed with me and say this is expensive, but it really isn't that expensive, it is worth it for your health!" WHAT IS "THIS"?? HOW DO I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PROMOTING??? I had one lady that I used to work with do a group message of ALL of her contacts, no lead in, no product info just "I'm having a fb party for X, let me know if you want in!" I tried to google X and couldn't find anything...pretty sure she misspelled her own product name!
My other MLM story is for a brief moment in time I was a Mary Kay Consultant. I had just finished my engineering degree, was having trouble finding work and was bored out of my tree. I got sucked into a party, then ordered enough product that they convinced me it was a better "deal" to become a consultant. I was a sucker for people telling me I would do a good job at it...and got totally roped in. (Important to note, I'm not a very "girly" person. I barely wear make-up, I'm an engineer who has spent a good chuck of my career wearing coveralls and respirators and steel toe boots.) I spent (as a unemployed new grad) $800 on the starter kit and a basic stock pile and was told I would sell out SO QUICKLY. I started going to the weekly regional meetings, and learned how to be a proper consultant. Very quickly I realized this was not for me, but kept going because I was enthralled with seeing this cult like organization take advantage of women.
Some highlights:
-We got points at each meeting depending on how much we were representing the brand. Criteria included: Wearing a dress or skirt (pants are a STILL a NO-NO in MK world), having hair/nails/makeup perfect. Having a clean car. (I failed then, I would 100% fail now.) I get that this is an image/makeup company, but the level of "being a lady" was insane. We were taught how to sit properly, and shake hands "like a lady"...it was finishing school disguised as career advice.
-Senior consultants get % of stock purchases of their jrs (woo pyramid scheme). They really give two flying fs about your own sales, and push buying more stock. They "reward" people who have big purchases with quarterly prizes, like diamond rings. I overheard one woman say she was so excited to get her ring that quarter, but now had to figure out what to do with the $4000 worth of stock, and the debt on her credit card.
- The level of effort for a jr consultant is insane. You spend HOURS making your own promotional material, finding clients, setting up parties etc. An amazing party would maybe make $300. If you dollar cost average it you are looking at minimum wage MAX. But hey "I'm my own boss!!" ..blech.
- The rhetoric is that Mary Kay was built by a woman who was sick and tired of gender biases in the 1960s. She wanted a company to empower women. The meetings are all about girl power, and PINK power, and being a lady..and taking charge of your own life. When I was a consultant in 2011, the board of directors and executive team were mostly men. No one brought that up at the weekly meetings! (It has changed now, a little more diverse, but the president, CEO and 4/5 of the key executives are still men).
I also had a really hard time selling products to people who really couldn't afford the products. I did two parties in my time, one for other new grads like myself who had student debt and NO MONEY...how am I suppose to promote a $35 lipstick! Next party was in a rural area with a bunch of high school students and their moms. Not to judge, but for sure these families should not have been buying expensive makeup and skin care. Between gas money and travel costs to get to that party, I think my "net" was $3.25. So not worth it!!
Luckily I moved away from the city I hand been doing this in and used the move as an excuse to break free! I'm laughing now if I had stuck with it for a little while longer, and ran into a meeting after a day of site work, sweaty, hair in a messy ponytail, wearing work coveralls...I would have been kicked out.
I 100% gifted away or used the starter kit products myself. So really over the past 7 years I've spent $800 on makeup and skin care...could have been a worse loss :P.
TL;DR, was a MLM consultant. Don't do it..its a trap.