The comments about me personally don’t bother me as much as the accusation that the facts in my previous post were not true. Not wanting to be called I liar I have agreed to post an “addendum” to my previous post by clarifying my position and restating the facts that were not true.

So, first of all I just want to be clear that I do not believe that the business practices of Team Everest are fraudulent. I have therefore moved the previous entry from ‘Fraud’ to ‘Multi-Level Marketing’ at the threat of a lawsuit. What I do want to make clear are the potential dangers of joining a MLM organization such as Team Everest - and I’m not the only one shouting about these dangers. For more information on determining whether or not you should join a MLM company you can visit the following sites:

• The 10 Big Lies of Multi-Level Marketing
• Pyramid Scheme Alert
• Inc Magazine Online
• Luke Setzer Essay - including another dozen links to MLM-related sites
• The SEC and Multilevel Marketing
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

These sites do a great job of listing the potential dangers of MLM companies as well as statistics regarding their success and failure rates and reports on MLM companies that have been found to be fraudulent. However, like everything in life, only you can make the decision whether or not an MLM is a fit for you. My personal opinion is that MLM companies do not have a great track record and should be avoided, which was the intent of my last post. In fact, a telephone survey of over 200 tax preparers in Idaho and Utah conducted by www.mlm-thethruth.com as well as an “extensive analysis of available public documents” revealed that “about 99.9% of total participants (those beneath the TOPP’s [top of the pyramid promoters] in the overall pyramid of participants) lose money.” I didn’t conduct the survey, so take it as you will, but it sounds like their own first-hand research has revealed some interesting information regarding MLMs.

As for the errors in my “reporting” I received a very long email outlining the errors of my ways. Fortunately, most of the email contained points related to my opinions and not any facts, but there were a few errors in the facts that I did report. For clarification they are:

• The Ferox pills are not “literally” magic pills. I thought that most people knew that “magic pills” went out of style with Jack and the Beanstalk but apparently I was wrong.
• The office I visited did have furniture. (It also had empty cubicles.)
• The new CEO’s previous companies were Utah-based, not from the South. I would love to see a list of these companies by the way, but the new CEO’s profile is not yet online. Oh, and apparently she has lived in Utah for 20 years - my bad. She’s originally from the South.
• Apparently the goal for the end of July was 1,000 not 5,000 members. According to the comments to the last post, however, the goal of 50,000 members by Christmas was accurate.
• The founder of the company is not the president of the Hair Club For Men. Again, I thought this was obvious. I suppose humor is a lost art form. But who can forget Sy Sperling’s catchy phrase, “I’m not just the president, I’m also a client.” I loved those commercials…

The rest of my “incorrect facts” were related to my own opinions about Team Everest and the situation that led me there. However, while I am in a “confessing” mood I thought I would also set the record straight by stating that the first time I had ever heard of a job opportunity with Team Everest - accounting or design related - was from the comments on my last post. Apparently they knew more about my potential future in the company than I did.

The Bottom Line:
The bottom line is that I was a person who was deceived into coming to that initial MLM meeting. Regardless of what anyone else there might think, I was the one on the other line when the phone call invitation came and the name of the company or the nature of the company never came up. (Ty Tribble has a great post about honesty in MLM organizations here by the way) In response to that deceit I did what I do best - I wrote about it.

My former post was written to be humorous and to warn people about the dangers of MLM companies in general - which are real. Many of the members of Team Everest even agreed that my post was humorous and one even said, “well congratulations I was entertained.” Thanks for the compliment - I thought it was humorous myself.

One more thing regarding blogging and what I say on this site in general… if you have a problem with something I have said, please let me know. If you want to whine and complain - you know where to contact me. However, to bring other people into your witch hunt is just not cool. Dr. Zimbelman, one of the commenters on the previous post, was a great professor of mine and is an honorable and outstanding guy who also has a passion for exposing things that could potentially be dangerous for consumers - including pyramid schemes - the forefather to the multi-level marketing company. To attack him personally and/or professionally just shows a level of immaturity that I would expect from my own children (they’re 2). He was never asked to comment on this blog in any way, shape, or form and has no control over what I write. I am no longer a student at BYU and therefore no matter how upset you may become over what I say, contacting my mom won’t do anything - I moved out a long time ago.

Instead of wasting your time fighting my right to express my opinion about multi-level marketing I encourage anyone involved with a MLM company to prove me wrong. Not with your comments telling me that I “missed out” on your “great opportunity” or telling me how many people have signed up. But in 6 months or a year, shoot me an email and let me know how the company is doing. Spend your efforts signing up more people instead of trying to discredit my opinions. Spend your time building the largest MLM empire the world has ever seen! Build a NuSkin or an Amway - but do it through your actions instead of trying to discredit your opponents. NuSkin has a long list of opposers - there’s even a MLM-Survivor webpage! People deserve both sides of the story as much supporters of MLM companies hate to admit. After all, the truth shall set you free, right?

Just check out my posts and comments about 12 Daily Pro. Even though Charis Johnson is facing some serious crimial charges for stealing millions, there are still loyal supporters that claim that she is innocent and quite literally their “financial savior” for making them so much money. On the other hand is the majority of former 12 Daily Pro members who aggresively defended the company until the FBI and SEC got involved; it was only then that they realized how stupid they were to invest money in the scheme. It is often difficult for people within a company or situation they feel strongly about to take a step back and see it from another perspective. That it what this blog is all about - to provide my perspective on money and personal finance matters so that those who read it can gain an additional perspective. If everyone who didn’t know much about personal finance didn’t have advocates like me, shouting warnings from the rooftops, they might believe every junk fax or email claiming to know the “secrets of making millions!” or wire $5,000 to those Nigerian money scams. Information is power and I love to give people more power by providing them with as much information as I can. That’s what the web is all about…

Two days ago I received a call from a woman who I had helped out with some web design services asking me if I would be able to help her friend, who was also looking for some web design help. Never one to pass up an opportunity for a few extra bucks I told her I was interested. “Oh,” she said. “I also wanted to tell you about a side business I have that’s really taken off and that I think I could use your web skills for.” She proceeded to use very vague descriptions of this “side business” but after about 10 seconds I knew I was being invited to a MLM recruiting meeting. These types of businesses aren’t very hard to spot especially if the person telling you about them is

• Very vague about details
• Can’t really explain the business fully over the phone
• Has “someone else” who can give you more details in a presentation
• Fairly new to the business themself

I really didn’t want to go to the “presentation” but since the new potential client was going to be at this meeting I decided I would go - for part of it. Boy am I glad I did! Not because I was convinced to throw away my hard-earned money for some magic pills (literally) but because I realized what a great blog entry that presentation would make!

The Arrival:
The office of this new MLM company, Team Everest, was located in an office building suite on the outskirts of town that felt like they had moved in 10 minutes before I got there - no furniture, empty cubicles, etc. The only room that had anything in it was the “presentation room” that was filled with 35 other suckers people who had been asked to come by their “friends”. As I walked in I was introduced to a number of people including the founder of the company who looked more like the founder of the hair club for men. You can probably picture the type of person I’m talking about - the type that looks more comfortable in a leisure suit than a business suit. Throughout the night each presenter commented on this man’s “genius” in coming up with Team Everest’s unique business model. However, I had a tough time believing that the same man who had graduated in philosophy and had “traveled extensively sharing his ideas on such topics as truth, goodness and beauty; friendship, love and marriage; as well as such practical topics as family budgeting, self-reliance and the morality of helping others” could start a one-of-a-kind MLM company. (quote via their website)

The Introductions
The presentation quickly began by introducing the new CEO that had been brought in as a “firecracker” to jump-start the company into success. The woman, easily in her late 50’s, had apparently made several MLM companies successful in the south (she was from South Carolina herself). And apparently only after a short time in this state she already knew everyone at every newspaper and TV station and had thousands of ideas to get the company’s name out. Her goal, she told us, was that by the end of July team Everest would have 5,000 members. Based upon the fact that only 35 people were in the room with me I kind of chuckled to myself, but the room was filled with applause and cheering after her announcement. But I laughed even harder when she announced that she firmly believed that by the end of August the company would have 10,000 members - and that by Christmas the company would have 50,000 members! Now this would be a lofty goal by any measure, but when she asked how many people were bringing 5 friends to the meeting on Saturday… not one person raised their hand. At that rate it’ll be Christmas 2017 before 50,000 join.

The Recruitment Guilt Trip
Now any “good” MLM company depends upon new recruits for steady cash flow. Why? Because after a month or so each team member realizes his mistake and bails - leaving the company constantly desperate for new blood. Team Everest was no different. The CEO proceeded plead with everyone to invite everyone they knew (which according to her statistics was 500 people) to join Team Everest - including your gardener, your mailman, and that guy that came to fix your plumbing once. It was then that it hit me: I was that guy that “came to fix the plumbing once!” The enticement of a design job was just a ploy to get me there. Sure I was hurt, who wouldn’t be? Being played like that… it’s just not nice. But I stayed because the best part was just beginning…

The Presentation
The meat of the presentation was given by a younger and much more engaging woman who began by asking everyone to raise their hands if they had participated in a MLM company before - everyone except me raised their hands. She then asked how many had made money from their MLM company - not one hand was raised. It was at this point that I began to look around the room and the people seated with me. I just had to know what type of person, after having failed at three previous MLM companies, suddenly believed that the 4th time was the charm. What type of person tries again and again to make money from home without doing any work? The answer, suprisingly enough, was everyone! There were retired couples there, stay-at-home moms, and even legitimate businessmen that were trying to earn some money on the side. I slowly realized that the MLM companies had infiltrated every group of people available - and I soon learned that the key was finding the people within each group that really loved money and were easily convinced.

The presentation continued into an explanation as to why previous MLM companies had failed. Apparently, previous MLM companies had failed because they had:

1. Expensive products that couldn’t be retailed for any higher
2. High priced autoships (this is where the company sends you product automatically each month whether or not you want it or can sell it)
3. Tough and complicated recruiting policies

But “Team Everest is different,” they claimed. Their “innovative” business model doesn’t only sell products in one booming industry but incorporates 3 “phenomenal industries.”

1. Internet & Online Retail Industry (a little late to be entering this arena if you ask me)
2. Personal Growth & Development Industry (i.e. self help books)
3. Lucrative Network Marketing Industry (i.e. this is a Mutli-Level Marketing Company!)

At first, the fact that the company is trying to shy away from other MLMs that have stuck to one product (personal care, tupperware, kitchen tools, etc) sounds like an interesting concept. But in reality, their online store is nothing but a hodge-podge (yes, I said hodge-podge) of random products - similar to a drop-shipping site. So point #1 turns out to be not too interesting or unique.

Even the woman giving the presentation admitted that the products in #2 “weren’t as popular” as the others - meaning that when you take the MLM spin off her statement it translates to “nobody buys this crap!” And #3 isn’t really an industry that they’re leveraging - it’s simply a statement of what they are.

The best part of this presentation though was the explanation of what made Team Everest different. Instead of explaining each point, however, I think I can sum it up for you like this:

Team Everest is different from other MLMs because they renamed everything.

Yup, that’s it. You know those “autoships” that everyone supposedly hates so much? Well at Team Everest they’ve eliminated autoships - but included something called MBAs which are exactly the same thing with a new name and a $99/mo price tag.

Now at this point you’re probably thinking to yourself, “how did this guy stand to sit through all of this?” Well, it took a lot of self-restraint on my part not to walk out - but only because I was waiting for the next section of the presentation.

The Money
This is why everyone joins a MLM company, right? To get rich quick without hardly working? This is the part of the presentation that I really wanted to see - how much were these 35 people going to pay to get ripped off? Well, in keeping with the “Mt. Everest” theme the different levels of members included:

• Mountaineer - for only $199 (plus $99/mo autoships)
• Tour Guide - for only $599 (plus $99/mo autoships)
• Mountain Guide - for only $1200 (I can’t remember the exact price for this but it was at least $1200)

The only real difference between the different levels was the discount you could get from the wholesale price of the products. For example, by signing up for the $599 program you could save 5% off the wholesale price - but in order to justify that from the $199 price you’d have to at least sell $8,000 of product!

In Conclusion
After hearing about the outrageous price the members were going to have to pay for the benefit of having a “genius” take their money, I couldn’t take it anymore and left. But I hope that through my experiences you might become more aware of MLM schemes, tactics, and methods.

Most of all, I hope that you at least walk away with some sort of MLM radar in your mind so that when you friend or neighbor comes up to you with a “great and profitable business opportunity” that you will politely turn around and run away as fast as you can. If you’d like to learn more about MLMs including news and court rulings please visit http://www.mlmwatch.org/ which has some great MLM educational content.

** Update: An update to this post has been posted here **