Today's blog post is about a person I met while on a trip to Vegas for a trade show this week. Vegas is the ultimate hot spot for gambling and has been known for its thrilling attractions, risque entertainment, and lax rules on alcohol. This hasn't stopped MLM from finding a way to get a piece of the action, and a person I met went into detail about the different MLMs in which he was involved.
I couldn't help but envy the guy. He is a thirty-five year old business owner that hasn't had a "J-O-B" since the early 2000's. He has been consistently conned and has not let that hold him back. He talked about starting his business out of his parents house and had lost 99% of his assets in one bad deal but still managed to make it all back and become successful. There is no stopper on people that have this level of determination. He has an open-mind and an innovative business spirit, which is a perfect target for MLM hucksters.
He brought up his experience with ACN, the MLM Donald Trump has endorsed, and how it used very similar tactics to the father of MLM, Amway. He was initially introduced to ACN at the gym, and the person who introduced him utilized their mutual interest in healthy dieting to foster a discussion about other topics, then he brought up his MLM. This guy was a prototypical MLM robot and even had a copy of Kiyosaki's, Rich Dad Poor Dad at the ready. Not knowing what ACN was about, he went to a meeting and got to see the scheme drawn out on a board. Luckily, he had seen MLM before and never signed up, but he described exactly what a typical MLM meeting is about.
He talked about Kiyosaki and how the book seemed to have good advice. I quickly disarmed that situation and went through Kiyosaki's checkered past. Let me be frank, Kiyosaki is a conman and should be charged as a criminal for his terrible advice and rip-off real-estate seminars. This man has never had any financial success in any of the businesses he espouses knowledge about and is a shill for MLM. He is a failed wallet manufacturer, a failed Amwayer, a deserter of his platoon in Vietnam, a liar about his book being non-fiction, and an evil credit card menace that has taught people to raise their limits and plunge themselves in debt for his seminars. This man is the ultimate fraud and should be consistently written about as such. His wealth and success has come from his kindergarten level books that have been sold as MLM propaganda.
The most important thing he mentioned about the meeting is the way these MLMers are always prepared with a comeback for any questions you may have. He mentioned it was difficult to refute a lot of their claims because they seemed to make sense. He even mentioned the wonderful MLM isn't a pyramid because Corporate America is a pyramid line (amazing how that analogy seems to float through every MLM), and how MLM has a product whereas pyramids don't. I meticulously debunked those myths by talking about two products that have the same shape may not have anything else in common therefore pyramid schemes and "Corporate America" should be treated as separate ideas, and the FTC has specifically stated that products do not make MLMs legitimate. Unfortunately, it is still apparent that most people are relatively uninformed in dispelling these terrible analogies and lies, and even someone that is a true entrepreneur was susceptible to the nonsense.
Whether it is Vegas or any other town, MLM will not stop being pervasive. Whether you are adept at business or completely uninformed, MLM will not stop being pervasive. This is not a business opportunity. but rather a very powerful and well organized swindle. It has infiltrated the highest levels of government and has grown to monstrous sizes. MLM continues to be a plague on modern day society, and the people that think they can't be tricked, are the people that are most likely to be tricked.
If you have a story involving abuses from your upline and would like me to share it on this blog as a guest post, then please e-mail me and I will be more than happy to post it! Your stories are not as unique as you may think, and your stories are some of the most impactful resources we have to fight MLMs. I will keep your anonymity upon request.
I couldn't help but envy the guy. He is a thirty-five year old business owner that hasn't had a "J-O-B" since the early 2000's. He has been consistently conned and has not let that hold him back. He talked about starting his business out of his parents house and had lost 99% of his assets in one bad deal but still managed to make it all back and become successful. There is no stopper on people that have this level of determination. He has an open-mind and an innovative business spirit, which is a perfect target for MLM hucksters.
He brought up his experience with ACN, the MLM Donald Trump has endorsed, and how it used very similar tactics to the father of MLM, Amway. He was initially introduced to ACN at the gym, and the person who introduced him utilized their mutual interest in healthy dieting to foster a discussion about other topics, then he brought up his MLM. This guy was a prototypical MLM robot and even had a copy of Kiyosaki's, Rich Dad Poor Dad at the ready. Not knowing what ACN was about, he went to a meeting and got to see the scheme drawn out on a board. Luckily, he had seen MLM before and never signed up, but he described exactly what a typical MLM meeting is about.
He talked about Kiyosaki and how the book seemed to have good advice. I quickly disarmed that situation and went through Kiyosaki's checkered past. Let me be frank, Kiyosaki is a conman and should be charged as a criminal for his terrible advice and rip-off real-estate seminars. This man has never had any financial success in any of the businesses he espouses knowledge about and is a shill for MLM. He is a failed wallet manufacturer, a failed Amwayer, a deserter of his platoon in Vietnam, a liar about his book being non-fiction, and an evil credit card menace that has taught people to raise their limits and plunge themselves in debt for his seminars. This man is the ultimate fraud and should be consistently written about as such. His wealth and success has come from his kindergarten level books that have been sold as MLM propaganda.
The most important thing he mentioned about the meeting is the way these MLMers are always prepared with a comeback for any questions you may have. He mentioned it was difficult to refute a lot of their claims because they seemed to make sense. He even mentioned the wonderful MLM isn't a pyramid because Corporate America is a pyramid line (amazing how that analogy seems to float through every MLM), and how MLM has a product whereas pyramids don't. I meticulously debunked those myths by talking about two products that have the same shape may not have anything else in common therefore pyramid schemes and "Corporate America" should be treated as separate ideas, and the FTC has specifically stated that products do not make MLMs legitimate. Unfortunately, it is still apparent that most people are relatively uninformed in dispelling these terrible analogies and lies, and even someone that is a true entrepreneur was susceptible to the nonsense.
Whether it is Vegas or any other town, MLM will not stop being pervasive. Whether you are adept at business or completely uninformed, MLM will not stop being pervasive. This is not a business opportunity. but rather a very powerful and well organized swindle. It has infiltrated the highest levels of government and has grown to monstrous sizes. MLM continues to be a plague on modern day society, and the people that think they can't be tricked, are the people that are most likely to be tricked.
If you have a story involving abuses from your upline and would like me to share it on this blog as a guest post, then please e-mail me and I will be more than happy to post it! Your stories are not as unique as you may think, and your stories are some of the most impactful resources we have to fight MLMs. I will keep your anonymity upon request.
Kiyosaki is a huckster and you're right, his real estate seminars are a scam. I posted an article about on my blog recently.
ReplyDeleteMLMers can scam people because they generally make small talk and come up with small agreements, such as "taxes are too high" or that a job isn't so great. The prospect starts to let his guard down and starts to believe the speaker. The speaker has all kinds of canned answers to questions but they will never answer "how much do you make and to prove it".
Maybe since Amwayers worship Kiyosaki, I will post a few articles exposing his inconsistencies and scams also.
Joe --
DeleteI'm always afraid of mentioning Kiyosaki without explaining how truly vile he is. He wasn't meant to be a bulk of the topic, but I had to make sure there was another paragraph in the internet files about his garbage.
If you are ever looking to write about Kiyosaki in extensive detail, then I suggest reading John T. Reed's analyses. They are both enlightening and devastating.
Joe & John - Even though the odds are stacked in favour of the house, with luck, you can temporarily win in a casino. However, as any Vegas insider will tell you, the secret of making money in the casino business is to keep the winning punter playing, because eventually, it's a mathematical certainty that he/she will give back what he/she has won + lots more.
DeleteAll 'MLM mindset' training material has been designed to keep losing adherents playing in a rigged-game which they can never win, but which they are convinced they will eventually win, if only they never quit.
Via the peddling of effectively-valueless materials (bearing his name and that of Robert Kiyosaki), Donald Trump has been lining his pockets at the expense of countless addicts of many kitsch variations of the American-spawned Utopian game-of-make-believe entitled, 'MLM.'
As far as I'm aware, neither Donald Trump nor anyone in his entourage, has made any statement to explain the President's conflict interest regarding this particularly dodgy channel of income.
Furthermore, to date, no journalist has bothered to ask Donald Trump about his ongoing revenues from book-sales to vulnerable 'MLM' adherents.
Personally, I'd like to know if Trump is still getting this 'MLM' windfall, exactly how much is he getting and how much has he already had?
This is a Canadian television exposé of Robert Kiyosaki, and his criminal associate Russ Whitney, from several years back
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE6nT0oyPt8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv6feHB0AE4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iimvyVCEGA&t=2s
David --
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post and response. I tried to write a comment on your blog, but it had an error for some reason. I really don't understand how this guy Kiyosaki continues to exist, let alone thrive, after all the excrement he has put out in the universe.
The John T. Reed analysis of Kiyosaki is incredible and a must read for anyone being duped by this ass. His history and research pertaining to Kiyosaki and real-estate is perfect, and anyone walking around a gym with "Rich Dad Poor Dad" is someone that has very limited abilities involving business or real-estate. The fact that the book was being used to hype a fraudulent insurance "business opportunity" shows the ineptitude in Kiyosaki's research and intellect. His vague and often incorrect jargon is a truly fascinating anomaly as it continues to penetrate the lower echelons of society.
John - Please try to comment again on my Blog. I'm interested to know what's the problem, because you are not the only person who has had difficulty posting comments (lately).
DeleteBy a strange coincidence, for a while, a correspondent has been sending me links to John T. Reed's published analysis of Robert Kiyosaki and asking me to post an article on Kiyosaki on my Blog. Thus, your own post persuaded me that it was high time that I did just that.
Interestingly (as far as I'm aware), Reed's rigorous analysis of Kiyosaki has not been disputed.
Kiyosaki is a classic narcissistic charlatan. The more his victims believe in his ego-inflating bullshit: the more he has believed in it himself.
David --
DeleteI will definitely try to comment again, and I also looked for people to refute John T. Reed, and it would seem Kiyosaki didn't even bother. In fact, he similarly to Trump seems to have turned a blind eye to the whole thing. I would love to see what kind of a correspondence would have developed between the two of them on the subject of Kiyosaki's history and kindergarten knowledge on real-estate.
John - There seems to be no end to the puerile drivel which Robert Kiyosaki has spouted over the years.
DeleteIn 2011, Kiyosaki was filmed (apparently under the influence of alcohol) pretending to have made a fortune in the early years of the 21st century out of investing in precious metals whilst, in almost the same breath, he bragged that his latest 10 year investment strategy was based on the total economic collapse of the USA and EU, in the year 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI3Bx-zzeqw
Perhaps, once the camera stopped running, Kiyosaki sang a couple of songs from Walt Disney's Pinochio, before falling down in a heap
Amway has 2 major problems, and most MLMs have at least one of these issues:
ReplyDelete1. The products are overpriced, which makes them almost impossible to sell to customers and results in Amway being an illegal pyramid, according to the FTC and SEC websites and previous court decisions; and
2. The Tool Scam is hidden profit for the top level distributors only, and the vast majority of distributors operate at a net loss as a result. This is RICO fraud.
For recent examples, google “FTC” along with the following companies, one at a time: FHTM, BurnLounge, Zeek, TelexFree, Vemma, and Herbalife. Read about these and much more at www.StopTheAmwayToolScam.wordpress.com and www.AllMLMFacts.org, and email stoptheamwaytoolscam@yahoo.com if you want to help shut down Amway and other MLM scams.
Watch this video about Amway and other MLM scams, then forward it to every non-Amway person you know, and encourage them to do the same. When enough people know, these scams will collapse:
English version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI
Spanish version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy-O4myeUzg