You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

If it hasn't happened already, the time will come when you are approached by an aquaintance promising a fantastic money-making opportunity. When you ask what this is about, the response will be a secretive and nebulous "Just wait and see." Whether a motel multi-function room or your home, you will then be regailed for an hour or so about the fantastic opportunity to run your own low-labor, high-profit business. The secret, recruit others, your "down-line," to sell products and give you a portion of their commissions. Of course, the pitch you are hearing is from someone who wants you to be part of his/her downline.

These days, the structure of your recruited workforce is often described with spokes radiating from a central structure (i.e., you) to other structures (your recruited workforce), with spokes leading from each of these workers to their respective downlines. Just rearrange the spokes and circles and what you have is a pyramid structure. Yes, you are being pitched a pyramid marketing scheme such as Amway. These are just barely legal (and in fact are illegal in many places) in that they technically have products to sell. You will be told of the high quality of the products- they are not. You will hear that the prices are low- they are not. You will learn that the reason for these low prices is the low overhead- in fact, you are the major overhead, as the commissions are typically high, 35% or so. The discussion of these mediocre products at fairly high prices will be brief, however, as the objective is not to sell product, but to sell people, to have you become part of someone else's downline. Whether called multi-level marketing, network marketing, or whatever, beware these pyramid schemes. A very, very few are legitimate and concentrate on selling product. The vast majority, such as Amway and Shaklee, are barely legal pyramid schemes that prey on the greedy and the stupid. Sure, a few particularly ambitious and unctious charlatans make tons of money, but the vast majority of the marks- I've read 95%- will make virtually no money and turn over within the year.

Do not be fooled by the get rich and be at the beach by noon claims; be wary of any ad or individual that will not disclose in full the nature of the business prior to your meeting; and most of all do not be one of the greedy or stupid looking for the easy money. As W.C. said, "You can't cheat an honest man."