From: abulloch@garnet.berkeley.edu (Anthony Bulloch)
Newsgroups: alt.business.multi-level
Subject: Re: Nuskin
Date: 2 Oct 92 09:20:12 GMT
Followup-To: alt.business.multi-level
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.berkeley.edu

Bill -

I don't think any of the more experienced of us here is going to disagree
with you that many of the more vulnerable (emotionally as well as economically)
are often drawn to MLMs, and that they are often misled, by being invited
to fantasise that their own success is just a stone's throw away. And there
are many others that are not so vulnerable, but end up deluding themselves:
they are always _about_ to go out and start working their row, but never
quite do so.  And both types often join one MLM after another, searching
for the perfect opportunity that will generate wealth like the golden
goose. I know quite a few individuals who fall into these categories.

Yes, there are lots of companies ready to exploit these vulnerabilities
and make money out of fantasy and fad; there are quite a lot of company
founders (and most people in the business know who the worst offenders
are) who start a new concern with lots of rah, rah, rah, sign up a few
'big hitters' to get things well established, and then pull up their
tents after a few years, when several million have been turned over into
their own pockets, ready to move on to the next pitch. These are the
guys that need to be identified clearly for what they are, and avoided
if they are just sharp operators, and run out of town if they are anything
worse. The trouble is, of course, that most of those attracted into MLMs
either don't know that there are lots of these companies and types out there,
or, if they do, don't necessarily know how to spot them. I was introduced
to the field of MLM by Kent Ponder, who runs a whole business whose
purpose is to analyse and assess MLM (and other) 'opportunities'. He
is renowned for calling a spade a spade (and a crook a crook), explicitly,
clearly and in print, and anyone who wants to know what's going on in
the field, whether to select a company to work with or just to keep up,
should consider subscribing to his monthly newsletter ('Netword Hotline') -
$10 per month, but well worth it if you are serious.

But that said, there's another side to all this.  Gary asked What's wrong
with having some aspirations ('dreams', if you like). For most of us a
good MLM offers a unique possibility: the chance to go into business
for yourself, with tried and tested products and with the support of a
big, and hopefully experienced organisation, with *no start-up capital*,
and with really minimal initial outlay. (Most MLMs have a sign-up fee of
$25-$40, and you can get going seriously with purchase of only $100-200
in sales aids, and you can start with less than, or none of, that, even,
if you have to.) There's just no other area of business that offers such
possibilities: to be able to get started for about what it costs if you
take your family out for an afternoon or evening at the ball-game!  So
you do have to bear this in mind when assessing the field: because it
costs so little to try out working with an MLM, there are going to be
plenty of people who will try it and then decide that it's not for them.
They try it and drop out not because they were misled, but because
it was easy to do so. [The drop-out rate is not 90%, though; it's
around 60%, which is the same as the drop-out rate for insurance
agents and realtors.]

Of course there are also those who sign up and wouldn't drop out if
they could see just how you do the business: they drop out because
no-one bothered to show them what to do. This leads to another significant
point: it can make a big difference who your sponsor, or upline, is. If
your sponsor is just counting scalps (foolish and pointless, but there
are those who do this), or maybe just doesn't know any better,
they won't be any use; but find a sponsor, or a sponsor with a group,
or an upline that's serious about training and helping, and they can be
the instrument of your success.

I have news for you about Nu Skin these days.  I went to a West Coast
convention last week, and there were many speakers who talked about
how to do the business. Not one of them promoted false dreams or empty
talk, and not one of them suggested, or implied, you could sign up and sit
back for an easy time. They all spoke of having to work harder at this than
at anything else they had done, and they all emphasised selling products
and supporting the people you bring into the business. So why be
in the business? Yes, the money is good, but for many it is even
more important to have independence, and above all *this is fun*!
Last year the company decided to take a very firm line with its distributors
(the thing about MLM is that, since distributors are independent agents, they
are structurally quite difficult to regulate); as a result there's been a
shake-out of the people who promoted hype, and a firm emphasis on work and
commitment. Nu Skin is to be admired for this: as both Gary and Douglas have
pointed out, the owners could have sat back, or taken out their profit long
ago - instead they have committed themselves to a long-term company vision,
and have built something really stable and reliable. This is what led the
Florida AG to remark that Nu Skin is now the criterion by which they will
now look at all other MLM companies. 

And let me tell you something about Espial. This company has senior
distributors who offer more support to their downline, and more honest
commitment than you'll find in almost any other company. And the founder/
owner went out of his way to build a business plan that would be as
healthy for the company's distributors to use as the environmental
products are good for the company's customers.

You ask for proof, and you make cynical remarks about the new nutritional
line that Nu Skin has introduced via IDN, and by implication Espial.
("Time to move on to the environment and personal health.  Yep, that's
in this decade. That'll snooker 'em!").  I'll offer you proof. Give me your
address and I'll send you an audio tape of the senior heart surgeon at one
of Detroit's major hospitals describing why he regards the IDN vitamin/mineral
supplements as "the finest selection of nutritional products you are
ever going to see", and describing what he calls "the overwhelming
science" that has gone into them. And I'll provide you with other
striking testimonials along the same lines. I'll also send you a video
tape of the founder/owner of Espial in his shirt-sleeves conducting a
private business session with a group of Espial distributors - not a
promotional tape, but an informal record of what LeRoy Cox says in
private session about his company and its products and his rationale
for the business.

Anthony Bulloch

PS At the end of one of your posts you add students to your list of
people to be looked down on (along with people from Utah and other assorted
fools): I realise you were trying to rile me by casting a few ritual insults,
but this is rather tedious as well as childishly obnoxious, and it makes
it seem that you're not interested in conducting a mature discussion.