Today's Adventure in the Biz Opp Jungle:
In which Charlie tells a joke... critiques Mannatech and Agel
MLMs... finds some free betting information... and moves house.
Hi,
A joke for you...
The head honcho of a multi-level marketing company is driving to a
conference in his BMW.
He whistles along to his Phil Collins CD, and daydreams about all the money he collects from all the other suckers... or "independent business
owners", as he likes to call them.Suddenly, a truck veers across the
road and hits his car.
He goes skidding into the hard shoulder where he comes to a halt, the bonnet popping open, steam gushing out.
Within minutes, a police car arrives on the scene. He finds the head
honcho sitting in the car wailing: "My BMW! My BMW!"
The police officer looks at where the side of the car has been torn away,
and says, "Don't worry about your car. Your arm has been ripped off".
"Aarrgghh!", screams the Head Honcho. "My Rolex! My Rolex!".
A bad, bad joke
Yes, I know, a bad joke. And as I said recently, multi-level marketing
is fine when there's a solid product line to sell, as well as getting new members.
So I have nothing against it... as such.
But I still don't like it. I think it's far better to buy or start your own business selling a desirable product or service... buy a decent franchise... or find a part time skill that makes you money on the side.
The people who get rich are the head honchos. So why not become one from a solid biz opp idea?
Anyway, that's my advice. And that goes for well-known MLMs like Mannatech, too.
Why I don't go for Mannatech
Mannatech is a controversial company that manufactures nutritional supplements using Multi- Level-Marketing. You may well have
been asked by someone to get involved in this as a business opportunity.
While their sales have surged in recent years, all is not rosy.
Some scientists claim the dietary products have little benefit and that Mannatech's chief product, Ambrotose, is ineffective and hasn't been subjected to clinical trials.
"They literally have a sugar pill," sneers Ronald Schnaar, a professor of pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University's medical school.
So if you get involved with Mannatech, prepare for your product to be under regular attack.
But no matter what you're selling, I think that these companies work like
pyramid schemes. The only people who get rich are those at the top.
For the people near the bottom, it's no better than a job without a salary.
Agel is another MLM I'd avoid
Agel is another nutrition and "wonder vitamin" MLM that does the
rounds.
This one is newer, so there may be a benefit from getting in early. But I
doubt any of us could be early enough.
Yes, the sales presentations are slick, but the likelihood is that you'll
end up throwing vitamin parties for friends.
And be poor.
If it's a fantastic product, why not get an agreement to be the sole
importer of it? Then you can deal directly with the manufacturer and sell it onto to vitamin and health food shops.
Or it would make a great retailing website.
All of these are better and easier than having to recruit 100s of people, and pass most of your leads to the Head Honcho in his BMW.
Is Betterware better than kleenese?
Remember my recent email on Kleeneze?
Soon after, I got this interesting email from a Biz Opp Jungler, who says:
"Thought I'd drop you a line following your Kleeneze mention in the e-mail today. It is perhaps worth pointing out to readers that the preferable option has got to be Betterware."
He continues:
"You are given an exclusive territory, which other distributors are prohibited from entering. The operation is supervised by an area manager who sees the distributors every week to deliver goods and collect money.
"The Betterware commission is 20% - which compares very favourably when you consider there is no initial, or rather, any, outlay.
"I know all this 'cos my wife was a distributor for six months - before becoming an area manager 14 years ago!"
A risk warning for betting hopefuls
After my recommendation for Pegasus last week (www.bizoppjungle.com/review/2006069.html) I got a few emails pointing out that I didn't mention the risk element.
Well, for the record, here's my advice on EVERY betting system.
No matter whether it's fixed odds, spread betting, horse tipsters, sports betting... whatever...
*** Never risk dosh you can't afford to lose.
*** ALWAYS test a system out first by betting on paper.
*** Begin betting with small amounts to test the system even further before you go charging in. Bets WILL go down as well as up.
*** Never jam a fork in a toaster!
Oh, and when I next mention a betting system, imagine me like Obi Wan Kanobi in your ear, saying:
"Use the risk warning, Luke, the risk is strong in this one!"
A bit of free advice for you
By the way, for a bit of free education about racing tipsters, staking plans, risks and the latest news, here's a site built by one of your fellow Biz Opp Jungle readers:
http://www.tipsterinfo.co.uk
There's loads of info there and he says he hasn't had many visitors yet. It's early days, but it's worth looking at.
And a free warning too
If you've come across a tipster called Racefortune recently, then please heed the following a warning from a biz opp jungle reader.
He writes:
'Racefortune .com is to be avoided, tried it, no good, asked for refund as promised, reply was "Shut the f*** up".'
Short and sweet, but another one for the scam-busting bin, right?
If you have a similar experience with people who refuse the refunds they've promised, please let me know.
IMPORTANT! You may miss me on
Sunday
I normally send you an email on Sunday, but not this weekend, I'm
afraid. I'm moving house and won't have a minute to spare from Friday 'til Monday.
This also means I may be a bit delayed in replying to your emails, as I won't have the internet for a few days.
But I'll be back on Wednesday.
Promise.
Meanwhile you can check out all my reviews, scam busts and recommendations on this site.
Cheers,
Charlie