{"id":9650,"date":"2010-07-11T23:11:51","date_gmt":"2010-07-12T04:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/?p=9650"},"modified":"2010-07-11T23:11:51","modified_gmt":"2010-07-12T04:11:51","slug":"penn-teller-on-easy-money-and-network-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/penn-teller-on-easy-money-and-network-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn & Teller on Easy Money and Network Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Easy<\/a>

Easy Money<\/p><\/div>\n

I watched Penn and Teller <\/a>on Showtime the other night, the 8th season of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!<\/a> Penn and Teller are notoriously outspoken comedians who crusade to expose the inherent hypocrisy of many popular beliefs and cultural institutions.\u00a0 In Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Season 8 Episode 5:<\/a> Everyone wants to get rich quick, but are multi-level marketing schemes really the answer? Penn & Teller reveal the truth about direct-sales companies that market everything from sausages to sex toys.<\/em><\/p>\n

I learned about network marketing in 1971 when a friend became a recruiter and distributor with Glenn Turner, his Koscot mink oil cosmetic line and his success-motivation course called Dare to Be Great<\/a>.\u00a0 I knew 5 co-workers who were selling the same thing, so I figured out that the real product wasn’t skin softener, it was recruitment.\u00a0 While I agree the Dare to be Great<\/a> motivation course was inspiring, the ones I knew selling Koscot only listened to the tapes and went to the meetings and paid for workshops in the hopes of networking to sell at the event.\u00a0 All trying to sell to each other.\u00a0 But they couldn’t see that.\u00a0 They’d been mesmerized by the pitch.\u00a0 It seemed like the whole “motivation course” was just to psych them up about selling the product. They didn’t see that. Ultimately, none of them recouped their investment and most spent a lot of their own money.\u00a0 I’m glad I got that lesson early.<\/p>\n

I have some friends caught on the network marketing hamster wheel.\u00a0 They all have the face of optimism as they run themselves all around the state to the pep rally sessions. They exaggerate their profits to each other and they each pretend to believe the other; it gives them hope for themselves.\u00a0 They aren’t making money, it’s costing them time and money.\u00a0 They have the illusion of a big social network, but they are all just running from venue to venue, purposely being kept busy so they don’t have a moment to realize that nothing is really happening.\u00a0 And it won’t as long as they are all wrapped up in the hype and running around and trying to sell to each other.\u00a0 And they don’t see it.<\/p>\n

I used to think it was sad to see them wasting their time and effort on something I knew would not pay off for them. \u00a0 A friend asked questions like “Have you broken even yet?<\/em>” and they always look kind of dejected but try to fake optimism like “No, not yet, but it’s looking really good about 3 months from now. And from there the sky’s the limit!<\/em>”\u00a0 Most don’t have the personality required to successfully sell, period.\u00a0 This type of business is not for them and their friends were not being their friends when they recruited them; they just saw them as a downline.<\/p>\n

I don’t feel sad when I see that anymore.\u00a0 Now I realize that no matter what I say or don’t say, everyone has to learn for themselves. If they find some kind of fulfillment running from meeting to meeting, if that gives them hope for a better tomorrow, then it’s not for me to burst their happy bubble.<\/p>\n

Now, when they come to me asking why things are not working out for them, that’s the time to let them know my thoughts.\u00a0 We’re all just looking for our niche.\u00a0 We want to be involved in something – anything – that holds our interest and lets us feel a sense of connection with like minded friends.\u00a0 There are so many ways to being doing that.<\/p>\n

But for most, network marketing is not one of them, and all it does is become a funnel for your money as you alienate the friends and family you keep soliciting.<\/p>\n

Click Here To Watch Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Season 8 Episode 5 Easy Money<\/a><\/p>\n

FREE:\u00a0 The Secret to Dollars<\/a><\/p>\n

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