MLM and Words

Today’s blog post is going to explore the words MLMers use to deceive potential recruits as they pitch their MLM “business opportunity”. Words, at face value, are codes designed to transfer a thought from one person’s brain to another. They are an agreed upon set of characters in a specific order which translates into a concept. Words do not have emotions, they do not have thoughts, they do not have tone, but rather they are a vessel in which people can convey the aforementioned from their head to another’s. By putting words in a specific order, and using a voice inflection, you can make a particular word(s) have a variety of different meanings, which is the reason language is considered an art. 

Even the simplest of phrases can be interpreted in a variety of different ways, and a sentence can only make sense if both people agree upon the meaning. A basic example could be the phrase, “How are you doing today?”. Depending on the person that comes from, the voice inflection they use, and what part of the world they are from, this phrase can be interpreted many ways. If you have an intimate relationship with the other person, then you may respond in kind and tell them how you are doing that day. If you do not have an intimate relationship with the person, then you may respond with a short answer, such as, “Good”, and then move into the next subject. If the person says the phrase sarcastically, then they may not actually care to know how you are and would rather have you ask them what is wrong. Again, it is all about context with words, not the actual words themselves.
            

This brings me to the words MLMers use to manipulate their downlines and potential recruits. Because MLMers use words to obfuscate reality when they are pitching the “business opportunity”, the obfuscation must continue throughout the duration of a person’s involvement within the MLM. This leads to an alternate reality in which a core MLM believer cannot relate to the reality of others and causes them to break away from the rest of their community. A professional MLM wordsmith will be able to spin anything to suit their narrative and will work diligently to dispel any potential outside interference that could result in an MLMer having doubt. MLMers use their words as a form of unrelenting control over their members; this type of control is necessary to keep MLMers involved in the “business”.

            

So, let’s review some of the ways in which MLMers use their words to deceive people into believing their “business opportunity” is good:

1. You can make money working MLM part-time, and it can be a great source to subsidize your monthly income.

Answer: MLM has historically been a terrible investment of time and money. Whether you work part-time or full-time at MLM, there is an over 99% chance you will not make a return on investment. For every one person that was able to accomplish this, close to a thousand were not. Therefore, it is not accurate to suggest a person can make money at MLM part-time, when, according to the statistics, it is a mathematical certainty a person will fail.

2. “Corporate America” is a pyramid. There is a CEO, then there are general managers, then there are supervisors, and finally employees.

Answer: The pyramid shape of a business does not equate to it being a pyramid scheme. The structure of the business model is not the same as the structure of a compensation plan. It is an unfortunate coincidence that the two share the same shape, but fundamentally, there is nothing else they have in common. If the money is earned through the sales of goods or services to people outside of the business, then that is a legitimate business model. If the money is earned through a series of recruiting and purchases from members within the business, then that is a pyramid scheme.

3. Running an MLM business is easy. You will have a mentor that will teach you the process of duplication.

Answer: This is coded language for saying you will have a member that came before you, commonly referred to as an upline, teach you the “business opportunity” pitch, then release you to the world and have you “duplicate” by finding new people to be pitched the “business opportunity”. This process will repeat ad infinitum until there are no people left, the business collapses, or the business is shut down by the law. If someone ever approaches you about a “duplication” opportunity, then they are trying to recruit you into an endless chain program (commonly referred to as a pyramid scheme).

These examples are just a small portion of the many ways in which MLMers use their words to create mental gymnastics for their recruits. MLMers will also use “buzz words” designed to create imagery within a person’s head. Some examples include, dreams, freedom, wealth, religion, marriage, and friendship. These words are used as a specific tool to transport someone from the “business opportunity” to a ideological utopian world . The relationship between these "buzz words"and MLM are antithetical, and yet, MLMers will use language to manipulate the "buzz words" into suiting their narrative.

Here are some examples in which MLMers use "buzz words" incorrectly to create imagery of MLM that doesn't exist:

1. MLM will bring you closer to the dreams, freedom, and lifestyle you deserve. MLMs will give you opportunities a "traditional job" cannot.

Answer: MLMs have the highest failure rates of any business. MLMs have almost never given people their dreams, this excludes the creators and "master distributors", and the freedom MLMs give comes at a heavy cost. MLMers may be able to wake up whenever they want, but they better have a great income, or they will find that their MLM freedom will lead them to destitution. 

2. MLMs hold Christian values and are able to bring more than money to members. They will have a "business" by helping others, which is both profitable and good for the community.

Answer: MLMs violate multiple commandments, and they do not help people become closer with God. MLMers will worship their uplines and MLM creators, they will not remember the Sabbath, but rather force you to attend a seminar, they will make you choose uplines over your mother and father, they will lie to you about the "business opportunity", they are covetous of others. MLM leaders are not only bad religious actors, but bad people as well.

3. MLMs help keep marriages together, unlike "traditional jobs" that force spouses to be separated for many hours a day.

Answer: MLMs force marriages to go through a large number of problems. First, if only one spouse is interested in the MLM, the MLMer may suggest it is important to put the MLM before the spouse. Second, MLM is a money sink, since between 95-99% of all MLMers do not make money, and therefore can put a financial strain on a marriage. Third, MLMs require participation at odd hours and in strange places. Sure, you may both be in attendance, but you aren't focusing on your marriage, but rather recruitment of new members to the MLM. Most MLMers don't want to be spending their free time away from children to go show people the "plan", and they are not recruited based on the "opportunity" to present the "business" together.

4. MLM will introduce you to a group of people that will be your friends, family, neighbors, lovers, and anything else they need you to be.

Answer: This is the strangest part of MLM. It is supposed to be a "business opportunity" about making money, but they are heavily involved with the personal lives of their members. This is where the obfuscation between business and pleasure becomes an issue, and it is part of the reason people refer to MLMs as cults.

To reiterate, MLMers are expert wordsmiths that use language as a weapon to convert unsuspecting and uninformed people to their programs. They will approach people inappropriately, such as at a shopping mart with their family, at a restaurant or coffee shop, or at a "traditional job", and they will prey on people in vulnerable positions. They will use their words to distort the "business opportunity" and use reality-inverting jargon to create a narrative that doesn't exist. They are psychological black-belts that have been trained in the dark arts of the confidence game.

The best way to defend oneself against the linguistic weaponry of MLMers is to question them at every point. Hold them accountable for the words they use, and make sure you are understanding everything they are saying. Don't let them make claims without a form of evidence, and don't let them use rhetoric as a means of efficacy. Most MLMers will fall apart once they realize their prospect isn't going to be an unquestioning pawn for recruitment.

MLM and Identity Politics (Argumentum Ad Hominem)

Today's blog post is about the use of group identity to determine the efficacy of a claim. All too often people are being discredited because they have not experienced being in a particular group, and therefore can not speak about the group's trials and tribulations. In America, identity politics is at a fevered pitch and is being used as a weapon to defend ludicrous assertions. An example would be the current movement to abolish the Second Amendment because of a school shooting that happened in Florida. The group's premise is to solely blame guns for the shooting and ignore the other facts, such as the failure of the cops to stop this person at the scene, the failure of the cops to stop this person after more than forty visits to the person's house, and the failure of the FBI after they were informed about this person over a month in advance. Then the group will use their identity, as school shooting survivors, to defend their position against the Second Amendment and assert that their identity is what gives their position credibility. This logic is not only wrong, but dangerous as the group can attempt to discredit experts and statistics by simply stating they aren't part of the group.

Now, this isn't meant to suggest groups cannot have a correct assertion based on their identity, but rather they need to substantiate that assertion with something other than identity. If a small group of people from a particular ethnic background suggest that someone is racist, then they must provide evidence to support this claim. If the group's only argument for the claim is, they are all of a particular ethnic background, then that is not sufficient for determining whether or not the person is racist. However, if the group is able to provide evidence, such as all of them were denied service because of their background, then they can make the claim that the person is racist.

MLMs use a form of this tactic regularly to undermine the critical arguments of others about their "business". This type of red herring is referred to as an ad hominem attack, because they are choosing to attack the source rather than the claim. An example of an MLMer using their identity as a way to defend their position would be, "That person has never been in an MLM". This suggests that no amount of research or logic can validate a particular position against MLM because the critic hasn't been a part of the group. This type of reasoning is flawed because the person may hold that position based on research and information they have gathered from former MLMers, and experience with MLM does not solely determine the ability to understand MLM.

MLMers use these types of tactics because the research reflects very poorly on their "business opportunity". Any opportunity to distract from the statistics and analyses of MLM will be taken, because there is no honest way to defend the outrageous losses of MLM victims. Simply stating a person's position or claim is invalid because they aren't part of a group is not sufficient. Yet, MLMers successfully use this tactic because there is a lack of skepticism.

Here are some of the other ways in which MLMs use their identity to defend their position:

"That person has never owned their own business before." Funny, because an MLMer also doesn't own their business.

"That person has never invested in anything before." Also funny, because "investing" in MLM means buying products at retail.

"That person doesn't have the same mindset as a business owner". Interesting, an MLMer still has to listen to a boss, they just call them "upline".

MLM and Webinars

Today's blog post was inspired by a recent comment about "webinars" and their peddlers. A "webinar" is a lecture held on an internet platform, and unlike seminars, which are usually held in forums or halls, "webinars" require very little to host. This means the barrier to entry for hosting a "webinar" is very low, and people do not need to prove the veracity of their claims. To clarify, the "webinars" I'm referring to aren't real webinars, but rather sales scams and "MLMs" disguised as educational videos. There are plenty of actual webinars hosted by accredited professors and other experts, and they have designed their teachings to spread authentic information. Also, there are seminars that are held by fiction peddlers, such as Kiyosaki's real-estate seminars, but the cost of these seminars is substantially higher than that of a webinar. The cost of hosting a seminar prohibits amateur charlatans from entry into the seminar scams, but the internet allows people to enter the "webinar" scam field. This means people need to be more critical than ever about the information they are receiving online.

The internet and its proliferation of information comes with great opportunities for people to learn and to be swindled. Facebook is particularly dangerous since they decide what content is good for each individual and what is not. Their algorithms are designed to show a person what they think that person wants to see, and this includes which news sources they deem relevant, as well as which advertisements are most likely to be appealing to the person and their needs. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn't care about the authenticity of these advertisements and the bad actors, which can result in charlatans being given access to an unprecedented number of people for a few dollars. This also lends credibility to the bad actor's claims since, according to Facebook, they are allegedly trying to crack down on "Fake news" and other phony advertising.

YouTube has also given people an unprecedented amount of access to information and scams. The ability to load content on YouTube, with virtually no expense, has allowed lots of bad actors to come out and create "webinars". This gets compounded by the fact that YouTube also has algorithms that tries to find similar content to other videos and works handily with other platforms, such as Facebook, to further target people with specific videos. The bad actors are keen to these algorithms and regularly manipulate their videos and titles to fool the algorithms into thinking their content is something it isn't.

An example of this may be, a mother looks for part-time work-from-home on Google. Google then tells YouTube (their subsidiary) this person specifically searched for this type of opportunity and YouTube populates their recommended videos with free MLM "webinars". The "webinar" addresses specific concerns the mother has and how they can fix those problems by paying for another "webinar". Then that "webinar" says the key to the hidden knowledge is in a different "webinar" and focuses on selling their most expensive "webinar". This ultimately leads to a lot of wasted time and money, since these "webinars" hosted by "gurus" don't actually have the answers the mother is seeking.

Some examples of these bad actors are, Tyson Zahner, Eric Worre, John C. Maxwell, Robert Kiyosaki, Tai Lopez, and Tony Robbins. Please make note the last two are not specifically connected to MLM, but they still pull the same nonsense. These "webinars" are not exclusive to MLM chicanery.

I want to really emphasize these "webinars" are scams, and the people that host these "webinars" are looking to enrich themselves by taking money from their consumers. If they had the answers they claim, then they wouldn't be wasting their time making "webinars", but rather would be spending their time doing the very things they claim makes them rich. As Mark Cuban says, "If a deal is a great deal, they aren't going to share it with you."

The most important way to avoid these schemes involves the same way in which we critically investigate large purchases. The more research people can do about a "webinar" with a "guru" before paying for their services, the better that person will be equipped to deal with the deception. These bad actors don't want people to look for information about them on the web, just like Jimmy Kimmel wants you to forget he made his career from exploiting women.

MLM and Marriage

Today's blog post is about MLM and its consistent abuse of boundaries, especially when it comes to marriage. MLM, unlike most other businesses, does not stray away from people's personal lives, but rather attempts to merge with it. MLM is often pitched as a "side income opportunity" with the potential to become "a retirement opportunity". It is supposed to be flexible and allow people to "grow" at their own pace. However, the more a prospect becomes involved with the "training", the more time and energy the "business" requires. Also, because of the unorthodox hours in which MLM holds its "meetings" and "seminars", it directly conflicts with the personal lives of the prospects and members. Ideally, in the MLM "business", a member would look for prospects during the day, then spend their evenings and weekends trying to convert potential recruits into members, and even if a member doesn't have new recruits, they are still supposed to attend every meeting.

Marriages become the target of MLM scrutiny, because marriages can directly interfere with the MLM "business". Assuming both partners are not engaged in the MLM, the MLM leaders will create scenarios in which both the marriage and the MLM "business" cannot survive in harmony. MLM leaders will force spouses to choose meetings over important events, such as weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, or anything else that may conflict with their agendas. MLM leaders show no remorse as they become more demanding of a prospect or member's time, and they will use a combination of "love-bombing" and passive-aggressive threats to make a spouse choose MLM over the other option. Eventually, the MLM will create a scenario, commonly referred to as an ultimatum, in which a spouse will have to choose between their marriage and the MLM "business". This is usually one of the final steps before complete indoctrination and the slow destruction of everything an MLM prospect or member had.

MLMs are also financially draining as they require a consistent monthly fee to continue to participate. Note, the FTC specifically says pay-to-play schemes are illegal, which is why MLMs have carefully disguised this fee as products, tools, services, meetings, seminars, and occasionally a membership. The MLMs require a minimum monthly purchase of some or all of these categories, or a MLM member may not continue to qualify for bonuses and their "businesses" could be dismantled assuming they have "downline" members. These categories can be expensive, and as many as 99% of MLM members may not generate enough revenue from their "businesses" to cover these monthly fees. This causes a tremendous strain on marriages as one of the two spouses could sink thousands of dollars into this "business" while forcing the other spouse to cover the losses, or worse, could force both spouses into debt and ruin their finances and credit. This process will continue until there is no money left or the MLM participant voluntarily leaves.

MLM and marriage is a particularly special topic because it effects one of our most sacred pillars of society. There are very few relatable subjects across all borders, but marriage is something everyone can relate to and understand. This is why MLMs, being responsible for the destruction of relationships and marriage, continues to be written about regularly.

The first blog I ever read, "Married to an Ambot", is designed around the misery of being committed to a person that chooses "Amway" over their marriage. Luckily, they have a happy ending. "Joe Cool", the author of "Amway - The Dream or the Scheme?", was engaged when he was in "Amway", and he too walked away from the "business" after they challenged him to choose between the two.  I also was presented with the ultimatum from an "Amway" Emerald, and he told me, "The business works better when you are with someone that is also in the business, you may want to reconsider your relationship", I chose my relationship. Even though these three examples all reflect good decision making, they should not be treated as a regular outcome, and even though these three examples are about "Amway" (because apparently the "American Way" is to promote separation and divorce), there can be examples found across all MLMs.

Here are some tips to help prevent MLM from destroying your relationship or marriage:

1. Listen to your spouse. This person agreed, usually in front of a large group, to be there for you no matter what. Ask why they think MLM is the answer, and then suggest an alternative in a positive or uplifting fashion. Do not ridicule them, they aren't your puppy.

2. Treat your spouse kindly. Usually, MLM is appealing because the spouse is receiving "love-bombing". You can provide this as well, in a constructive way, and then encourage your spouse to do more research about the "business".

3. Have your spouse talk to someone with business acumen about the "opportunity". This won't be effective unless the spouse is actually willing to listen, and could backfire if they are already indoctrinated. They have to be ready to listen to what a business person has to say, and not be defensive with their programmed rebuttals.

4. Do not send an ultimatum. Ultimatums almost never have the anticipated result, and usually cause the person to vehemently reject your option. Nobody wants to be forced into a corner, especially someone that thinks they are doing what is best for the family.

5. Remove your spouse from the routine. Often, people find themselves in a rut, and life just seems strangely more difficult and frustrating. Take some time away from everything, then come back and approach the situation with a clear head and fresh eyes. You will be amazed at how much less dreary things seem you step away for a short period.

MLM and Echo Chambers

Today's blog post is about the echo chambers in MLMs and how they fuel the core principles and beliefs held by fanatical MLMers. These echo chambers are designed to reinforce thought-stopping jargon created by MLM leaders for the sole purpose of retaining membership. Echo chambers strive to silence dissenting opinions while creating a euphoria for their "businesses". Echo chambers are one of the strongest foundations of MLM, and they continue to perpetuate cognitive dissonance for the MLM members. This cognitive dissonance refers to the inability to reconcile the damage people are doing to themselves and others under the guise of helping others to achieve wealth and happiness.

Echo chambers can be regularly found in a multitude of categories. In recent news, James Damore, a former Google senior software engineer, wrote about the ideological echo chamber created in the Google work environment involving the sexes. We have echo chambers at American universities, in which opposing viewpoints to the left's agenda have been met with protests and violence. We have echo chambers in the American main stream media, in which certain media outlets choose to report on the issues they feel are important. And most importantly, with the proliferation of the internet, we have created our own echo chambers and surrounded ourselves with the information we want supported by the people we like. We have created a world which has become polarized, and we have strayed very far from the original principles of healthy dialogue.

These echo chambers impede progress and the ability to think freely. It is important to listen to people with opposing viewpoints, understand why they have those viewpoints, and then proceed to engage in dialogue. If a person cannot remove themselves from their echo chamber, then they can become victims of control. The development of this control over our thoughts and feelings is seamless and can happen very quickly. The echo chamber allows a person or group to dictate all information their followers receive, and can create a potentially damaging situation without the followers realizing they are being controlled. This also creates an inherent laziness to try and understand why a person is giving certain information, which gives more power to the leaders because the followers will not question anything.

Echo chambers are MLM leader's most powerful weapons. By creating an environment in which unquestioning obedience is mandatory, they can say and do anything without consequence. I previously attended a MLM seminar, called "Freedom Enterprise Days", in which only MLM members and recruits were allowed, and each MLM leader came out on stage with the same message. This seminar did not have a question and answer portion and the MLM leaders did not engage with the potential recruits. Instead, they showed a video that was carefully choreographed, followed by a story or monologue, and ended with thunderous applause. Each leader that approached the stage had nearly identical formulas, and they repeated this process for two and a half days. There was no ability to fact check their statistics, there was no proof their stories were truthful or relevant, and yet people listened to them with undying faith. This lack of skepticism is extremely dangerous, and it costs people billions of dollars annually.

Arguably the greatest gifts people have are free will and free thought, yet people instinctively give up these gifts regularly in the pursuit of satisfying their needs. Confidence people understand how to control others by taking the former assets away. They offer love, security, answers, and anything else a person may need due to vulnerability. It is up to each individual to be accountable for their actions. The ability to ask why, as Socrates did, is our greatest weapon to protect ourselves from intellectual predators.

MLM and The Emotional Thermometer

Today's blog post is about the separation of emotions from business. Too often, people utilize emotions to make important decisions, and business is one of the worst areas in which this occurs. Business should involve a calm and collected mind, but MLM is different as they tend to focus on the high-energy and fast-paced illogical hard-sell. MLMs specifically focus on the emotions and irrational side of the brain, because the numbers are particularly horrific. In a cursory Google search, one can find income disclosure sheets for a number of MLMs, and they show MLMs have extremely high failure rates and below minimum wage earnings across the vast majority of their population. Therefore, it is important for MLMs to go out of their way to distract from, or ignore these numbers, if they intend to continue to grow.

Emotions can be synonymous with temperature, hence the term emotional thermometer. It is important to regularly check our emotions, and analyze why certain situations evoke a larger or more intense emotional response than others. For example, if there is a particular situation in which I get angry, then I often reflect on that experience and try to understand why I got so "hot headed". This is important because the higher the emotional level, the less likely rational thought will be implemented. It is important to have emotions but they must be balanced. Any emotional extreme can lead to poor decision making, and ultimately can cause a lot of harm.

MLMs utilize psychological techniques to make people as emotional and non-rational as possible. They hold seminars, sometimes as long as an entire weekend, designed to eliminate critical thought by means of high-intensity content. Instead of pitching the "opportunity" as accurately as possible, they utilize "love-bombing", music, lights, anecdotal commentary, and dreams. These mechanisms are designed to obfuscate reality and invert the damning statistics. They do nothing to prepare a potential prospect with training, and they do not reveal the costs of the "business" until a person has been primed by hours of meaningless content. Their ultimate goal is to get a person as "pumped" as possible, because the higher the "pump" the less likely people are to question the motives and information.

Again, if MLMs were as accurate and direct as possible then they would fail, which is why they spend tons of money holding "seminars", "meetings", "trainings", and other unnecessary "functions" to subvert a person's critical faculties. They want someone's emotional thermometer to be as high as possible, because that will lead to a person's inability to dissociate fantasy from reality. Salespersons often focus on building relationships over the quality or content of their goods and services, because that can be more effective when closing the sale. It is important to remember this, because the "opportunity" is actually a big hard-sell to get a prospect to spend their hard earned dollars (or other currency) on the MLM.

One of my favorite expressions is: "If you're playing a poker game and you look around the table and and can't tell who the sucker is, it's you." (Paul Newman) The same can be said for MLM. If you can't tell why the MLMers care about you so much, especially compared to the way an average person treats you, then you are the perfect sucker they target.

MLM and "Team Phoenix" the Halloween Special, with a Scary Character Known as Brandon Odom

Today's blog post is about Brandon Odom, the creator of "Team Phoenix", and how he decided to join a MLM called "Enagic" and create a "new" way to recruit. His technique isn't actually new, but it is cleverly modified, and it does seem to be working. He is using the technique of providing a "system" in which "90%" of the work is already "completed", and all you have to do is post advertisements. Once you have posted an advertisement, simply lead the prospect to his videos and let him take care of the rest. The problem is, the way in which you make money is directly correlated to the dollars a new member spends on an Enagic machine, and you will not make any money if the prospects do not purchase this machine. There are no retail sales to outside consumers, there is no formal training about the product, aside from some goofy home made YouTube videos by current members with no formal experience in this field, and there is no control over how you want to run the "business". This, much like organizations such as "WWDB" for Amway, is another cheesy rendition of a "fool-proof system" that is designed to profit off of, rather than enrich the adherents.

Here is a link to his, "The Dream Life Blueprint":

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fteamphoenixmarketing.com%2Fthe-dream-life-blueprint&h=ATN90PejeyMxqJ010PxWQO_UcEmBNVDXaCixt8i5frfZ3UeDA1Zw-PEq5JeDUyyZJFm7hHI_q0Ftn-vY9693T-uMO30n1j-Q_QgIbodx4a8kCnFwuKWzyKCW-TISvDhX6woZjWAHhg&s=1&enc=AZNhYIdEzgA-gN2QtKbWkgb7iEIYr_2NWZM-wGciLzk-UHb1zbZR-IXQxRTLpLE4NzeKIxqWdzM3vEU98tOxkHfR.

Some key visual techniques he uses are, bigger than usual font,

lots of spacing to make the text easier to read,

bold text in random places, bold and yellow text for really "important" stuff or bold italicized words, emoji's, and pictures. All of these devices are used to create a personal connection to the reader. Because he can't personally use his voice and character, he uses these techniques to create the person he thinks you want him to be, and this is his way of manipulating the targets into trusting him.

He also chooses to use language that targets a younger age group, particularly those that have just gotten out of the military or college and are looking for their next step in life. He uses testimonials, with pictures of young folks, to help make the targeting more effective, as well as emojis and a very informal writing style. He knows, probably from many years of practice, that his target market, is going to be between the ages of 25-40, and predominantly people that are in a transition period in life.

Here is a  synopsis of this 24-page "blueprint":

Pages 1-4: This is the "introduction" (I use quotes because he doesn't actually tell you anything about the "business"), which is designed to create a persona in which a prospect can relate. He tells you a story about his life, which could be true or could be embellished. He talks about the "struggle" that every MLMer loves to mention and he doesn't hold back on trigger phrases such as, "Imagine waking up without an alarm clock", "in your brand new life", "a few thousand bucks", "you only started this venture 5 months ago but are already earning enough money to replace you're [sic] full-time income", "you're spending more time with family", "you're getting out of debt", "you've got piece [sic] of mind for retirement security", and many more. 

He also uses hyperbole to emphasize his success and dedication to creating his "system". He mentions his income is "over 6-figures", he claims he "lost over $100,000" originally, and he says he has helped people earn "millions of dollars" in commissions. This should be taken very lightly since the average MLMer makes around $2,400.00 a year, which includes the top .1% that make hudreds of thousands or millions, and most wouldn't have, or be willing to risk, "$100,000" on any investment. Also, "millions of dollars" in commissions is incredibly vague, especially since he doesn't say how many people it took to get to that number, and means virtually nothing. If it took a million people to get to two million in commissions, that would be a very bad opportunity. It is important to consider the potential spin created by statements like these.

Pages 5-9: This section is a bunch of testimonials from average looking young couples (oddly they are all white) and their success. The success they describe in these testimonials is NOT normal, and this section violates the FTC's rules about using misleading testimonials. Again, the average MLMer doesn't make anything close to the claims these people are making. On a side note, the person that originally tried to get me to join is one of the people giving a testimonial, Ashley Krooks (fitting name), and you can read about that experience in my previous "Team Phoenix" post (http://themlmsyndrome.blogspot.com/2017/05/mlm-and-team-phoenixa-new-con.html). Again, he bolds all of the monies that were claimed to be made by these people, as well as a few trigger phrases, yet he still hasn't told us what the "business" is, how we make money, or anything else that would be relevant to this subject.

Pages 10-15: This section finally begins his "blueprint" meaning the first 9 pages were completely irrelevant drivel. This particular section focuses on his first step, "Find the perfect 'high ticket' [sic] offer to promote". He emphasizes "high-ticket" (I don't understand why he puts that in quotes), because Enagic water machines are extremely expensive, and he is trying to create a logical reason for why people should spend thousands of dollars. He suggests that high-ticket items are better to sell because you don't need to sell to as many customers. His example about why high-ticket items are better is hilariously faulty, he suggests it is better to make $1,000 dollar commission on machines that cost over $4,000 (25%), than it is to sell something for $27.00 and make a $12.00 commission (44%). Percentages are what matter, and it is much more practical to sell something for $27.00 than over $4,000.00 to the public.

He then uses an Alinsky tactic by suggesting this isn't MLM. He says, "...you've probably looked into various ways of earning extra money from home before. Maybe you even got involved with a multi-level marketing (MLM) program." It isn't a coincidence that he only mentions MLM as a way of making money from home, because Enagic is a MLM, and his "Team Phoenix Marketing" is just a propaganda machine to help recruit people into the MLM. This lie, aside from being bizarre, is the ultimate betrayal of trust. He suggests this is something different from any other MLM, and yet it is exactly the same. He even brings up the "60% to 75% attrition rate for distributors in the first year", which he cleverly uses as a lie to act as though his "business" is something different. He actually takes a damning statistic and spins it to meet his need.

Finally, he goes into another bizarre example involving price and value. Here is his logic, "the price doesn't matter as long as the customer believes deep down they are getting more value than the money they're paying. In other words, as long as you can deceive the person into believing they are getting something of tremendous value, then you can charge them whatever you want. This is one of his most honest lines, and it shows his delusional thought process. Value determines price, period. If something has more value, then the price will get higher. Because the Enagic machine has no value, because it doesn't work, you have to make the person "believe" they are getting a great value. This the logic every snake-oil salesperson uses.

He still hasn't told us the product is Enagic, but he has tried to get us to enroll in his "webinar", which will hopefully be more informational.

Pages 15-17: This section focuses on "Step #2: Create an 'Automatic' Sales Process" (again I'm not sure why he puts automatic in quotes)

First he says, "Your customers need to know, like and trust you in order for them to buy from you." This is the heart of the deceit. The product isn't relevant, and instead it is all about creating the relationship. This is important, because the product he is trying to sell doesn't actually have any value. Therefore, the only way to sell this product is to get "customers" to "know, like and trust" the snake-oil salesman. 

Next he talks about his "sales funnel". Once a person signs up for his webinar, or enters an e-mail address, it is game on. You will be subjected to repeat e-mails, daily, and invitations to continuously join his "webinar". This can be automated, meaning you can have an e-mail saved to a program, and then it will shoot it out to anyone that gives their information, and it won't stop until they unsubscribe. I previously signed up for his e-mail, and received at least 3 e-mails a day, every day, and didn't get any repeat e-mails for a week. He has put a lot of time into these automated e-mails, and the e-mails, much like this "blueprint", contain nothing about the product and focus solely on trigger phrases and emotional garbage.

At the end of this section he says, "**Special Bonus: When you work with me and my team we close sales on your behalf! Watch until the end to learn more**". Again, all he wants you to do is create advertisements for him, and he never wants you to mention his product "Enagic".

He also inserts another link to watch his "Webinar".

Pages 17-21: This section focuses on, "Step #3: Find People That Will Become Customers AKA 'Targeted Traffic'".

This section will focus on creating Facebook advertisements. This is niche version of creating a "system" that will help generate "sales" to "customers". The problem is, the "system" is already saturated with the people from the testimonials section, the sales are simply disguised pay-to-play fees, and the customers are only members of the organization.

His opening paragraph has this line, "Products and services don't sell themselves. People are the ones that give value to other people in exchange for money." This is some seriously spun nonsense. Products sell themselves all the time with catchy labels, nice looking bottles, preferred shelf space, and most importantly, the ability to work. People are necessary to promote a product, and create attention toward the product, but all of that is irrelevant if the product is garbage. I don't care how good a sales person is, if they are selling bovine excrement, then they will not get sales (supposing they aren't using deceit).

He then says, "I can show you not only how to profitably get offers in front of a lot of people on social media but how to get them in front of right people that will buy!"

This, much like the rest of this, is incredibly spun to sound significant. He is only offering to help create targeted ads on Facebook, and this is something Facebook and its development team has painstakingly worked on to make as easy as possible. He doesn't have some special hidden knowledge, much like a cult leader, and this doesn't guarantee any of the successes listed in the above testimonials. In fact, since those others have already saturated the market with their advertisements, chances are strong your advertisements will not be nearly as successful.

He then uses his other "business", "Batchata Addiction", as an advertisement sample, but it is really just an extra promotion for himself. He doesn't actually talk about the process of creating a Facebook advertisement. The advertisement he posted was also a resounding failure, from a business perspective, as he spent over double on advertising compared to the typical marketing budget.

Finally, he uses more trigger phrases such as, "I've spent tens of thousands of dollars just on Facebook ads alone (and made hundreds of thousands of dollars from them)." I'll call BS on that one, and you have now created a way to get people to pay you to spend money on Facebook advertisements instead of yourself AND they are paying you to do it. Another trigger phrase, "earn over $4,000 a month in commissions from my own high-ticket sales, how I'm earning residual (passive) income at the same time." Again, I'll call BS, and it isn't "passive" or "residual" if you have to keep promoting it constantly, spend lots of money, and constantly host "webinars". That is the opposite of passive.

He wraps this section by adding another link to his webinar, and still hasn't talked about "Enagic".

Pages 21-24: This section, commonly referred to in sales as "the offer".

This section also never refers to the actual "business opportunity" (Enagic), and is only designed as a sales pitch for his own "teaching".

He starts with a meaningless recapitulation of the three steps, and then talks about the cost of his program. He says, "We planned on pricing our community membership at $499 initially. That's a killer deal for everything you get with it (more on that in a sec) but we wanted to help as many people as possible get started with their own online business so we tossed that out the window."

Lots of stuff going on in this section. First, that "$499" is a ridiculous number and should be laughed at. Second, anyone that follows up a ridiculous number with "that's a killer deal", should really be laughed at. Third, why bold "help as many people as possible"? That's not the most important part of this statement, and this language is code for extract as much money from people as possible (obviously people aren't willing to pay $499 for some random guy's "training).

Brandon then says, "It's only $99 dollars to get started and its 100% Risk-Free." 

Again, lots to unpack here. First, how many different attention grabbing devices does he need for this sentence? There might as well have been a loud siren coming out of the speakers at the same time. This looks like someone just hit the lottery. Second, how did he just chop the price down 75%? This sales tactic is known as "price anchoring", and it has become a rampant problem in most retail settings. Anything can be marked down 75% as long as the starting price is high enough, and the idea of that large savings is enticing enough to fool lots of people into paying the real retail cost. Third, and most importantly, any time someone says, "guarantee", "risk-free", "fool-proof", or any of these other disarming phrases, you must be MORE armed. These phrases are not needed if something is legitimate, and are only used to manipulate people when things aren't legitimate. Again, if someone uses a term like "100% Risk-Free" (which is redundant), you should be running in the other direction.

As if this doesn't get worse, he then says,

"Pretty sweet deal huh?"

"So...what's the catch?"

"There is NO catch."

This is as bad as it gets. The visual attention grabbing devices are over utilized. The self-contained conversation is bizarre. The the reiteration of a non-risk "opportunity" screams the opposite. This is the cheesiest and most awful sales tactics a person could use.

He gets into his return policy, which he very generously cuts in half from the usual 30 days. He says, "We're going to give you complete access to our entire training suite, marketing system and community for a FULL 14 days to decide if our program is for you. That is your 'due diligence' period." The fact that he is calling this a "due diligence" period is ridiculous. 14 days (not sure why he chose that number) is not enough time to verify whether this program is effective, unless you already know its junk.

Finally, he talks again about the price only this time it has become a monthly subscription. He says, "we only charge $99 (USD) per month for you to maintain an active subscription and get full access to everything we provide." Wait, a second. Didn't he just say this was a $499.00 program that became a $99.00 program, yet now it could be as high as $1,188.00 a year and continue to charge? This is beyond ridiculous. The idea that you would have to maintain a subscription for a one-time teaching about Facebook ads is criminal, and he is preying on people that are extremely vulnerable.

Brandon Odom, if you are reading this, I have reported you and your garbage to the FTC, and I want you to know that your days are numbered. This type of exploitative and manipulative garbage is not acceptable and should not be ignored. You are a burden and a parasite on society.

***UPDATE***

I will be adding comments from Brandon Odom's apologists to this post. These people are important to acknowledge because they reflect cult-like manipulation Brandon has used on them.

Here is the a comment from "Michael Caldwell" on 10/31/17:

Wow, that was quite the read. And absolutely missed the mark entirely. So much time and effort spent to try and tear down something that has helped so many. You can report Brandon Odom and Team Phoenix all you want. You can scream from the highest mountain that we are all scammers and this is all bullshit. And you will still be wrong. 

The system literally is only $99/month to start up. Should you like the business opportunity Enagic presents then you make a purchase of YOUR CHOICE and get started. There is ZERO catch. Dont like it? Cancel for a refund. It couldnt be any simpler than that. 

This community is full of some of the most incredible people ive ever had the pleasure of meeting. Enagics products are INCREDIBLE, and Enagic itself is beyond reproach. Go ahead, report them to. Im sure that will affect their A+ standing with the BBB. 

If you focused this energy into self improvement and working towards a future of your design you would be absolutely blown away with the results. 

Thanks for the flame on my post, ill use push myself even harder to prove every single piece of hatred and doubt in that post wrong. 

Thank you Brandon for all youve done.

Important points to focus on in this comment,

The $99.00 a month has nothing to do with Enagic. That fee is for the "Team Phoenix Marketing" program. There is no requirement to be in "Team Phoenix Marketing" if you want to be an Enagic distributor. This is the same type of scam program World Wide Dream Builders is to Amway. Michael Caldwell has attempted to conflate the two.

Enagic's products are not "INCREDIBLE", in fact they don't work at all. Lazy Man does an excellent job investigating Enagic here, http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/kangen-water-scam/

The BBB is not a credible reference for MLM legitimacy. You should look to the FTC for this.

Here is a comment from "Derk Hagglund" on 10/31/17




Shit works bro, have fun at your 9-5 Why post a picture of someone else, and since when did some goofy giant check mean anything? As many of us have learned, it isn't impossible to be successful in MLM, but the success comes from the losses of many. Another person that presumes I am in a "9-5" because I don't do MLM. Interesting trend.

MLM and Affirming a Disjunct Fallacy

Today's blog post is about a fallacy, which is very similar to the "Us vs. Them" mentality, called affirming a disjunct. The fallacy is predicated on the idea that there are two options to determine an outcome and as long as one of the options is true, then the other option must be false. The idea that an outcome can be determined by only two options, and that those options can't both be true or false, makes this logic inherently flawed for any complex situation. It would be similar to approaching every decision in life as a true or false examination.

Description: Making the false assumption that when presented with an either/or possibility, that if one of the options is true that the other one must be false.  This is when the “or” is not explicitly defined as being exclusive.

Here is a basic example of this fallacy:

Is it going to be sunny or rainy today? It rained between 7-9 am. Therefore it must not be sunny today.

This example illustrates the inability to determine the answer based on the two options given. The day could be rainy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon, or if you are in Hawaii, it could be sunny while it rains. These two options cannot clearly and concisely determine the outcome. While the example listed above is very basic, there are many complex situations in which we use this fallacy regularly to determine an outcome, and often it goes unnoticed, or worse, creates anger and violence.

A more prominent example would be, is abortion right or wrong?

The idea that abortion could be labeled as "right" or "wrong" is inherently flawed because the question involves subjectivity, where as "right" and "wrong" would involve objectivity. People commonly make this mistake when trying to define a moral argument, and often have difficulty accepting the outside influences which determine the answer. Abortion can be both "right" and "wrong", and usually is determined by a long list of variables such as, a person's religious beliefs, a particular society's beliefs, or a person's moral beliefs. This is why topics, such as abortion, are continuously discussed, and often mishandled, because people want to arbitrarily label them as "right" or "wrong" and pretend they aren't complex.

MLMs utilize this fallacy for their self-gain as well. They create false dichotomies to evoke an emotional, non-critical response, in their targets. These false dichotomies are designed to lead a prospective MLMer in a desired direction, and are also designed to shut down their cognitive faculties.

An example of MLMs using this fallacy is: There are only two ways to get through life, "Work a 9-5 J-O-B", or be an "entrepreneur" (this isn't really entrepreneurial) and join "MLM".

They will take it a step further and load the desired answer by suggesting working the "9-5 J-O-B" is going to take many years before retiring, will make someone else fabulously rich while you work for less, will require you to take minimum amounts of vacation, and many other fear mongering lines. After hearing all of this, they will basically make a prospect choose between MLM or doom.

The logic in this example is inherently flawed as there are many ways to make money aside from "MLM" and a "9-5 J-O-B", such as investing, or actually owning a business, or buying and renting real-estate. The idea that you have only these two options in life, and that MLM is going to be better than a "9-5 J-O-B" is false, and according to the MLM income disclosure statements 99% of people working "9-5 J-O-B's" actually make more money.

Another example of MLM using this fallacy is: If you want to be happy and make your dreams come true, then you must either join MLM or become a "traditional" entrepreneur.

They will then load the desired answer again by talking about all of the risks involved in the "traditional" method, as well as the barriers to entry. A MLMer will suggest "traditional" entrepreneurs must invest large sums of money, potentially be unprofitable for years, and have a huge risk of failure, and all of this is accurate. However, they leave out the part where MLM can also require large amounts of money, will be potentially unprofitable for years (and for over 95% never profitable), and has a huge risk of failure. They also leave out the fact that most of the people living the "happy" lives and have the "dreams" that came true are business owners, not MLMers.

The example leaves out the many options in which someone can be happy and make their dreams come true outside of MLM and entrepreneurship. Many skilled laborers such as, physicians, lawyers, engineers, software developers, and many others, make large sums of money and live very successful lives. Far more of these people with advanced degrees make large sums of money than MLMers and many of them make more money than entrepreneurs. Again, the idea that you have to be a MLMer or a "traditional" entrepreneur to live a happy life is far too general.

Always be wary of people suggesting there are only two options for any given choice, especially if one of the options is clearly flawed. Human beings are complex individuals and it is extremely rare that any decisions can only have two options. This is one of the best parts of being a person, we don't have to limit ourselves to a particular set of standards, and often what works for one person will not work for the next.

MLM and Affirming The Consequent Fallacy

Today's blog post is about a trickier fallacy to identify known as affirming the consequent. This fallacy is effective because it starts with a valid or true statement and then spins that into an erroneous one. Therefore, we have to identify the error in the bridge from the original statement to the conclusion, which is difficult because most people will focus on this part the least. It is also difficult because the abuser of the fallacy may skip the bridge entirely and simply start with a correct statement and then leap to the erred conclusion. If you are unprepared to identify why the conclusion is wrong, then you may be more easily convinced by other faulty logic.

Here is the definition of affirming the consequent fallacy: "It is categorical in nature and, essentially, means reversing an argument, or putting the cart before the horse, meaning reversing or confusing the general category with the specific/sub-category.  Note that in this fallacy the premises/reasons are actually correct or valid; the error is found between the premises and conclusion.  Usually, the error occurs because we incorrectly assume that the Premise was a sufficient condition, when in fact it was only a necessary condition (one of many conditions) necessary to prove the conclusion."

In case that was confusing, let's first understand the difference between a "sufficient condition" and a "necessary condition". A sufficient condition or conditions is made up of necessary conditions which are used to predict the outcome of an event. The necessary conditions, alone, cannot be utilized to predict the outcome of an event because there are other necessary conditions that can affect the outcome. In other words, a necessary condition is a piece of a pie, whereas a sufficient condition is the entire pie.

An example of a sufficient condition: If I score an average of 95% on all of my assessments, then I will receive an A in my class.

An example of a necessary condition: If I don't get a 95% on my final exam, then I won't receive an A in my class.

The main difference between the two examples is the way they are implicated. The first condition assumes every score will add up to 95%, whereas the second example ignores all previous necessary conditions which brought us to the need for a 95% on the final exam.

The difference between the two examples is significant because people will try to use a necessary condition to prove a conclusion, even though the conclusion is created by a much more complex set of conditions. To assume you didn't receive an A in a class because you didn't get a 95% on a final exam could be erroneous because there were other grades that also affected the outcome.

Here is another example of how a necessary condition can be used incorrectly:

My car requires gas to move, therefore any time my car isn't moving it is out of gas. Obviously this is flawed as there are many reasons for why a car stops moving.

MLMs utilize this fallacy as a means to transfer fault from the MLM to the user. An MLM will try to use a necessary condition, such as "hard-work" to indicate whether or not a MLMer is successful. Even though "hard-work" or "effort" may have some correlation to success in MLM, it is far from the only variable to determine the outcome. In fact, most people would argue it has very little do with success in MLM because the actual opportunity for success is extremely low (often less than 1%). The opportunity is also an important necessary condition, again arguably more important than "hard-work", and yet a MLMer may completely leave that out when casting judgment on people that have failed in MLM. To an untrained victim of this faulty logic it may be very persuasive.

A popular example of affirming the consequent used by MLMers is, "In 2-5 years, you can earn residual income", or "In 2-5 years, you can retire from your J-O-B". Unfortunately, much like the "hard-work" example, time is not a sufficient condition for determining success in MLM. Many people have been in MLM for decades and have not retired or earned residual income, and an overwhelming majority of MLMers do not succeed in 2-5 years. Yet, MLMers will continue to repeat this line as though it is an inevitability, an infallible truth, or even a commandment.

It is important to remember that MLMers have a financial bias when it comes to recruitment and will often utilize fallacies, such as affirming the consequent, to achieve their goals and earn an extra dollar. That should be a sufficient condition for understanding why a MLMer says things that you want to hear and can be designed to mislead you into making a poor decision for your financial future.



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Source: https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/eng207-td/Logic%20and%20Analysis/most_common_logical_fallacies.htm

MLM and "Adam Ruins Everything"

Today's blog post is about a show called, "Adam Ruins Everything", and in particular his episode titled, "Nutrition". I want to mainly focus on the beginning part of the episode as it pertains to vitamins and in particular "vitamin supplements". "Vitamin supplements" have been hawked for over 100 years as a cure-all for many different sicknesses, such as, various types of cancer, the common cold, various mental illnesses, and more. However, every clinical test, that has been conducted using proper scientific techniques, has proven these claims to be false. There are no cures for cancer or the common cold at this time, and if there were vitamins that could do it, then everyone would know about it. The two biggest problems with these "vitamin supplements" are, "experts" are regularly paid to say they work, and the media regularly uses bad scientific studies to advertise new products. Because the industry is consistently deregulated due to massive amounts of donations, hiring current and former FDA members to work for supplement companies, and getting senators, such as Orrin Hatch of Utah, to lobby on their behalf, there is no proper group to monitor and punish these fraudulent people.

Here is the episode:
Adam does a great job satirizing Dr. Oz while giving a healthy dose of entertainment and information. He also does a great job neutralizing an angry crowd and demonstrating that people can get very angry, and sometimes violent, when confronted with the truth. He understands he has a responsibility with his show, and he wants to make sure that people are informed rather than radicalized. This is one of the things I like most about his show, he gives very important and well-researched information and he tries to make sure people don't get "triggered".

This is something completely opposite from the current media and political landscape. Their goal is to be as divisive and provocative as possible, which is why we have groups like "Antifa". They have lost sight of their responsibility to the people, and they have gone out of their way to make people as hostile as possible because of wedge issues. The media wants to stir the pot and get people angry at each other, because it stops people from thinking about important topics and also keeps people from rallying together against the media and political figures.

MLMs utilize the same tactics and create an "us vs. them" mentality. By creating such a vicious division between themselves and everyone else, it makes MLM adherents isolate themselves from the outside world. This allows MLMs to have more control over their members and their information. By doing this, they can keep MLMers in their "businesses" longer and extract more cash.

MLMs purposely target the "vitamin supplement" market because of two very important benefits for their scheme. First, the "vitamin supplement" market is heavily deregulated, which allows them to put anything in a bottle and call it a miracle cure. This industry is perfect for creating a cheap and useless product while not having to answer to an agency or governing body. Which leads me to the second, and arguably biggest advantage, they have magically bottled hope. This is extremely powerful because most, if not all, long time MLMers, excluding the narcissistic sociopaths at the top, have very low self-esteem. This allows MLMs to provide the answers to their physical and mental issues and helps to ensnare their members for longer durations. By giving them a lotion, potion, or pill, and calling it an answer to everything, they are giving the MLMer what they truly desire, hope.

The FDA and the "vitamin supplement" industry need a serious overhaul. It is time for the government to step up to the plate and create meaningful laws against the "vitamin supplements", "nutritional shakes", "body wraps", "skin patches", and any other ridiculous product that has not gone through rigorous clinical trials with real scientific methods applied. The FDA is an organization founded on the principle of keeping consumers safe, and at this point, they are doing the exact opposite.

MLM and 12 Classic Propaganda Techniques Pt. 2

Today's blog post is going to go through more of the propaganda techniques utilized by MLMers to condition their prospects and lower-ranking members. These techniques are not exclusive to MLM and should be treated as potential threats to our critical faculties. Some other common places in which these propaganda techniques can be regularly seen are, the news, advertisements, major sporting events (yesterday had a lot of football games focusing on the 9/11/2001 events), and especially the internet. It is up to each individual to be cognizant of these techniques and understand their effects, otherwise, they will not be able to identify what is fact and what is fiction.

Without further ado, we go back to our list and start with "exaggerating".

5. "Exaggerating:  Stretching the truth to extremes to get credit, eliminate doubt, or coerce someone.

Narcissists have grandiose personas. Exaggerating is second nature to them.

Example:  Reaction from a narcissist when a friend suggests theirs is a one-sided relationship:  'I’m the best and most generous friend you’ve ever had. I’ve done more for you than anybody in history has done for another.'"

This propaganda technique can be a bit vague, therefore we need to put this in specific context. This isn't the same as "the big lie", and often "exaggerating" can be a combination of lying, "intentional vagueness", and "glittering generalities". In MLM, "exaggerating" is used at every level, therefore, I would like to focus on what the "exaggerating" will look like at each position. Again, some of this may look like "the big lie", and some of this may look like "glittering generalities", but it is based on an original truth that has been morphed into a lie.

Entry-level MLMers (equivalent to MLMers that have limited or no downline) "exaggerating" example: An entry level MLMer may say, "MLM doesn't require a lot of money to start". First of all, "A lot of money" can be subjective, which goes along the lines of "intentional vagueness", and second of all, some MLMs can cost thousands to start, which goes along the lines of "the big lie". The MLMer may try to combat this by saying, "but 'traditional' businesses cost hundreds of thousands or even millions", which is not necessarily true and is an exaggeration in itself, but that also doesn't mean that MLM is inexpensive. This type of "exaggerating" can be extremely misleading.

Mid-level MLMers (equivalent to members with substantial downlines, but not top ranking members) example: A mid level MLMer may say, "MLM has freed me from my job and I am now working the 'business' full time". Again, this has two exaggerations in this statement. First, it hasn't freed them from anything, but rather replaced one job with another. The idea of them being "freed" is a fallacy. Second, this inherently implies they are making a stable income through MLM, which according to the income disclosure charts, would suggest they are not. Only the top 1%, or less, are making any substantial monies from MLM, therefore, any money the mid level MLMers are making is not going to be adequate as a lone income stream.

Top-level MLMers (equivalent to "Amway" diamonds and crowns) example: A top-level MLMer utilizes exaggerations the most. One of their most frequent examples is the lifestyle videos. They will show videos of mansions, cars, boats, and vacations. These videos resemble the celebrity lifestyle and the idea that their money stream is infinite, but that is not accurate. Many top-level MLMers make a modest living, according to the income disclosures, and almost none make enough to have the lifestyles they portray. Instead, they rent fancy cars, fancy mansions, or even plunge themselves into huge amounts of debt to create the facade. A previous "triple diamond" from "Amway", Greg Duncan, bankrupted himself after claiming he paid for everything in cash. Also, at my first "Amway" meeting, Mike Carroll, an Amway diamond, claimed to pay for everything in cash but brought out an "Amway" credit card at the end of the meeting. These top-level MLMers utilize the "exaggeration" technique extremely effectively.

6. "Minimizing:  The opposite of exaggeration, minimizing denies or downplays anything that doesn’t fit with a propagandist’s goals.

Narcissists are desperately image conscious so they frequently minimize the negative consequences of their actions. They also discount others’ feelings and needs, which narcissists tend to see as nuisances.

Example:  A narcissistic parent’s response to adult child who wants to discuss the parent’s past neglect or abuse:  'What are you talking about, you had a great childhood. Yes I was strict but all parents were in those days. You have nothing to complain about.'" 

"Minimizing" is one of the most underappreciated techniques used by a MLMer in my opinion. MLMers have the uncanny ability to completely minimize the nearly 100% failure rate while simultaneously exaggerate their income claims. They also regularly minimize the results of lawsuits and act as though settlements are victories. One of the most notable moments was when "Herbalife's" CEO, Michael Johnson, came out and said the FTC and "Herbalife" had finally reached an "agreement", and it "comes at a time when our business is growing bigger and better than ever before". That was his description of having to pay a $200 million dollar settlement and completely restructure in North America because, as Edith Ramirez stated, "We did not determine 'Herbalife' not to be a pyramid". This brazen disregard for the accuracy of the situation is not unique, and most major MLMs have had to go to court and settle, yet they act as though nothing ever happened or it isn't significant.

One of the other ways MLMers utilize "minimizing" is in the prospecting or recruiting process. They act as though it is an easy "duplication" process, but in actuality, the process is nearly impossible and extremely lengthy. In fact, when I was being propositioned for "Amway", I had to go to three "meetings", read a book, and attend an "FED" before they felt I was ready to join. Not only did that require a lot of my time and effort, but it required an immense amount of theirs as well as money for my tickets. The process in which I was subjected was anything but simple.

Even though these two techniques are technically opposite, their design has the same intention. They want to deceive the person into believing something other than the reality of the situation. They have cleverly designed their words and ideas to disguise their intentions while shutting down any room for rebuttal. They are instrumentally utilizing thought-stopping techniques to better themselves and take consumer's hard earned dollars.

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Source: https://blogs.psychcentral.com/narcissism-decoded/2017/09/12-classic-propaganda-techniques-narcissists-use-to-manipulate-you/

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI&t=68s

MLM and 12 Classic Propaganda Techniques Pt. 1

Today's blog post is inspired by an article on Psychcentral.com called, "12 Classic Propaganda Techniques Narcissists Use to Manipulate You". If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you probably realize why I chose this article, and for the sake of staying on topic, we will transpose narcissists with MLMers (one could argue they are the same thing anyways). I have written about issues with propaganda in the mainstream media, but I haven't specifically focused on techniques used by propagandists. Hopefully, after we go through these techniques, we will be better armed to defend ourselves against MLM proponents.

1. "Ad Hominem: From the Latin meaning “towards the man,” an attempt to shift the conversation by getting personal.

If you bring up a topic that threatens a narcissist’s ego, he may resort to name-calling, questioning your intelligence or attacking your character. This technique is designed to distract from the topic at hand and make you feel you have to defend yourself.

Example:  When you voice an opinion opposite of what a narcissist believes, the narcissist may say, 'You’re delusional. You’re clueless, as usual.'"




MLM adherents don't typically utilize ad hominem attacks in person, because they are taught it is important to remove negative from their lives. This means no negative thoughts, therefore no negative speech. However, the internet is an entirely different story and a breeding ground for pent-up anger. MLMers often go to anti-MLM blogs and anti-MLM YouTube videos to pour out their vitriolic rhetoric. They will attack an author's credentials, their intelligence, or their modus operandi, instead of focusing on the content. This type of distraction can be extremely effective at derailing the purpose of discussions and videos.

2. "Glittering Generalities:  Using glowing words and statements to describe ones self, ideas, or behaviors without providing evidence.

Narcissists are in love with their words just as they are in love with everything about themselves. They think superlatives make them look good.

Example:  A narcissistic husband tells his spouse:  'I’m the most amazing husband ever. I’m super-thoughtful, smart and always available. I provide a world-class lifestyle for you.'"



MLMers love to rant and rave about their success, and they try to utilize their success as well as their upline's success as proof that the "business opportunity" is viable. Both online and offline MLM prospects and members have been subjected to grandiloquent videos and rhetoric designed to appeal to a person's sense of desire. These "glittering generalities" do not directly correlate with the MLM "business opportunity", and are often half-truths or outright lies about their success. Anyone, especially MLMers, trying to suggest MLM is legitimate because someone, somewhere, has had some form of success should immediately be rejected as a form of evidence.

3.  "The Big Lie:  Spinning a lie so outrageous that others are at a loss where to even begin to refute it.

Narcissists are convinced that whatever they say in the moment is 100 percent true just because they are saying it. Lying often comes naturally. They know that the bigger the lie, the more it may overwhelm others’ critical faculties.

Example:  A narcissist when confronted with a credit-card bill evidence of an extra-marital affair:  'I’ve never been to that hotel in my life. That hotel is notorious for making up fake check-in records and then blackmailing innocent people like me. There was a big article online about that a while back. You probably saw it. I might even have an email from the hotel trying to blackmail me in my inbox right now. I will fight this slander all the way to the Supreme Court. They will be sorry they ever made up this lie about me.'"



MLMers utilize this technique constantly! Some regularly used MLMisms are, "2-5 year plan", "10,000 hour rule", "10-15 hours a week", "residual income", and one of my personal favorites, "a fool-proof system". These lies are utilized constantly, and no MLMer has ever supplied any evidence to support any of these claims. These MLMisms are repeated tirelessly to shut down the prospect or MLM adherents cognitive faculties and lull them into a false sense of confidence in the "business opportunity".

4. "Intentional Vagueness:  Saying something so vague as to be meaningless or open to multiple interpretations.

This can leave others stymied, trying to figure out what was meant. In so doing, the vagueness distracts attention from legitimate concerns or questions.

Example:  A narcissist when asked why he did something:  'I did what had to be done. I always do what needs to be done. It’s obvious.'"

Everything around MLM is designed to be vague. Most MLMers won't reveal what the "business opportunity" is during the initial contact. Instead, MLMers will present an exciting, "part-time income opportunity", "side hustle", "extra revenue stream", or some other nonsense to lure unsuspecting prospects into a meeting or second contact. From there, they still may not give pertinent details about how money is earned, but rather will go back to "glittering generalities" or start parroting "the big lies". MLMers will also go out of their way to not explain how much work is required, how often you need to be involved in MLM related activities, and how much money a MLMer has to spend each month. The less information they have to give, the less likely someone will question the MLM and the MLM adherent's "opportunity".

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Source: https://blogs.psychcentral.com/narcissism-decoded/2017/09/12-classic-propaganda-techniques-narcissists-use-to-manipulate-you/

MLM and Life Coaches

Today's blog post was inspired by an article on Psychcentral.com, "Should the Life Coaching Industry Be Regulated?". I have found that life coaches are very similar to the vitamin industry in the lack of regulation, but with "life coaches" it may be worse because of the inherent subjectivity. It isn't possible to be subjective when it comes to results on whether vitamins and supplements actually work, and there have been many clinical trials and prolific institutions that have proven most vitamins don't do what their labels claim. Could life coaches and their results be as quantifiable, or is the placebo effect from life coaches too hard to calculate? Should we completely stay away from life coaches, or is there a way to effectively determine if a person is providing a useful service? These are the questions that need to be asked and answered in order to determine if this is a real industry or a make-believe scheme.

First, is it possible to actually quantify the effectiveness of each life coach and whether they are meeting the objectives of their teachings? According to the article, and my own experience, it is not. There is no way to objectively give credit to the coaches for the success or failures of their students because there are too many other variables that effect the outcome. Also, there is a disclaimer at the bottom of every life coach's page explaining they are not responsible for any results, good or bad, and all testimonials are not to be considered typical. That kind of preemptive warning can lead to the conclusion that this industry is inherently flawed, and the user of these life coaches is completely at risk. The only industries that are able to operate in this manner are other deregulated groups (such as vitamins, oils, shakes), which are prime MLM "businesses". This amount of subjectivity allows charlatans to pose as authorities and take advantage.

Can life coaches actually be certified? This question can be mostly answered above, but there could be some very basic prerequisites which could help to certify the person. The life coach could at least go through a course or degree program designed to give basic information on psychology, business, and life skills, then be held accountable to a certain standard. This would eliminate a lot of the people claiming to have answers without any proof, and it would give consumers the opportunity for recourse in case a life coach did not perform to a certain standard. Life coaches would also need continuing education as the field and society evolves. Nobody wants a medical doctor that stopped learning in 1984 to be operating today, and the same should be applied to life coaches.

If life coaches could be certified, would that cut down on the unethical practices? In short, yes, because they could be held accountable for their teachings, but the field would still be largely subjective making lawsuits extremely difficult to litigate. At least the fear of being sued would prevent a percentage of life coaches from taking advantage of their clients, but there will always be some that have a reckless disregard for the rules. Certifications and licenses are not perfect, especially when it comes to ethics, which is why we have malpractice law firms.

After examining certain life coaches, in particular those that speak at MLM functions, I believe the industry needs an overhaul or it needs to be eliminated. I believe the "industry" needs to be eliminated. I do believe that there is a potential industry out there, similar to personal trainers, but the current life coaching industry is completely warped. I do not believe there is a potential industry out there, and my previous notion was inherently flawed as I thought more about it. There isn't any original concept in "life" coaching. It is a vague and unregulated way to suggest you can do the same very specific jobs as other certified professionals. It is essentially a legal loophole for college dropouts. It is too easy to call yourself a "life" coach, "guru", "leader", or even "teacher", and there are not enough regulations to protect the consumers. I'm also not completely convinced that certifying life coaches will be the remedy the field needs, but at least it is a start. There is no one certificate that can encompass everything a "life" coach claims to be.

If a "life" coach existed, then MLMs, in particular, should never be a market a life coach would speak at, let alone endorse. A life coach should be someone that helps steer a person away from scams, and anyone claiming to be a life coach that associates themselves with MLM should be disregarded entirely. It doesn't matter if they spend most of their time in ministry (Maxwell), personal development (Robbins), or "Real-Estate" (Kiyosaki). These people are taking advantage of a "Criminogenic Syndicate" (Brear), to make a quick buck, which is a complete conflict of interest as a life coach.

Source: https://blogs.psychcentral.com/nlp/2017/08/should-the-life-coaching-industry-be-regulated/