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Absurd Alhazred
Mar 27, 2010

by Athanatos

Midjack posted:

Someone still reads sluggy freelance.

You know I've peeped at it recently and it's not changed a bit.

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BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
On faith healers, psychics and what not, I stumbled on this Amazing Randi documentary I've never seen before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MFAvH8m8aI

Sk8ers4Christ
Mar 10, 2008

Lord, I ask you to watch over me as I pop an ollie off this 50-foot ramp. If I fail, I'll be seeing you.
My coworker started talking to me about her side business the other day. I knew she owned some kind of retail store, but I never asked her about it in detail. Then she started talking about the "vacation" she recently took, which was actually a business conference, where other "business owners" around the US selling the same products she's selling from this one company gathered to receive awards, accolades, show off and buy new products, etc.

I got strong MLM vibes, confirmed when she started talking about all the people she had recruited under her, and all of the people recruited under her recruits. While she was explaining this, she was drawing a triangle in the air with her finger. Then she pointed to the top to indicate her place in the triangle. :psyduck:

I tried to gently ask her if she gets any kind of a bonus for "recruiting" people. The only thing I got out of that was that she gets a percentage of their sales, and she gets a smaller percentage from her recruits' recruits. So everyone profits off each other...

Happy Thread
Jul 10, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
Plaster Town Cop
Except for the ones at the bottom of this.... pointed three-dimensional shape?

SEKCobra
Feb 28, 2011

Hi
:saddowns: Don't look at my site :saddowns:
Three pronged shape with 3 angles. Not a trident. 3 guesses.

Xlorp
Jan 23, 2008


Slice of open-topped and oven-baked pineapple sandwich?

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
I can't believe someone would still draw a triangle to demonstrate an MLM.

The preferred method changed a long time ago to more of a "solar system" style chart with you as the center. Specifically so it won't look like a loving pyramid. Then again, I can't imagine why anyone would still join an MLM in this day and age but they do.

I have a real hard on for MLM's and loathe everything they do.

Inceltown
Aug 6, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVh36vQkSI

Zereth
Jul 9, 2003



Absurd Alhazred posted:

You know I've peeped at it recently and it's not changed a bit.
... it's still loving going???

Absurd Alhazred
Mar 27, 2010

by Athanatos

Zereth posted:

... it's still loving going???

Yep!

Tubgoat
Jun 30, 2013

by sebmojo
We've been over this, it's a reverse-funnel system. Now please let Danny Devito out of the playground equipment.

Sk8ers4Christ
Mar 10, 2008

Lord, I ask you to watch over me as I pop an ollie off this 50-foot ramp. If I fail, I'll be seeing you.

BiggerBoat posted:

I can't believe someone would still draw a triangle to demonstrate an MLM.

The preferred method changed a long time ago to more of a "solar system" style chart with you as the center. Specifically so it won't look like a loving pyramid. Then again, I can't imagine why anyone would still join an MLM in this day and age but they do.

I have a real hard on for MLM's and loathe everything they do.

That very well could be how they described the method to her, but she definitely went reverse-funnel system when she explained it to me.

The company is Paparazzi Accessories if anyone is wondering. It looks like they sell costume jewelry for $5 a piece, and they claim you'll make 45% commission. I know they offer different packages, but their website is having issues right now, and I can't remember how much those packages cost. I tried to checking their social media, but they're just full of convention montages and vaguely inspirational quotes.

Wrex Ruckus
Aug 24, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxxGNtRG-_o

Tubgoat
Jun 30, 2013

by sebmojo

Sk8ers4Christ posted:

That very well could be how they described the method to her, but she definitely went reverse-funnel system when she explained it to me.

The company is Paparazzi Accessories if anyone is wondering. It looks like they sell costume jewelry for $5 a piece, and they claim you'll make 45% commission. I know they offer different packages, but their website is having issues right now, and I can't remember how much those packages cost. I tried to checking their social media, but they're just full of convention montages and vaguely inspirational quotes.

LMAO WTF, just go to loving Goodwill and/or Salvation Army or something, Christ-amighty.

GoutPatrol
Oct 17, 2009

*Stupid Babby*

Sk8ers4Christ posted:

My coworker started talking to me about her side business the other day. I knew she owned some kind of retail store, but I never asked her about it in detail. Then she started talking about the "vacation" she recently took, which was actually a business conference, where other "business owners" around the US selling the same products she's selling from this one company gathered to receive awards, accolades, show off and buy new products, etc.

I got strong MLM vibes, confirmed when she started talking about all the people she had recruited under her, and all of the people recruited under her recruits. While she was explaining this, she was drawing a triangle in the air with her finger. Then she pointed to the top to indicate her place in the triangle. :psyduck:

I tried to gently ask her if she gets any kind of a bonus for "recruiting" people. The only thing I got out of that was that she gets a percentage of their sales, and she gets a smaller percentage from her recruits' recruits. So everyone profits off each other...

Well if she really is at the top of the triangle as she claims she would be a really good salesperson. And probably a sociopath.

ponzicar
Mar 17, 2008

GoutPatrol posted:

Well if she really is at the top of the triangle as she claims she would be a really good salesperson. And probably a sociopath.

They all claim to be at the top though. "I am a loser who can't sell things" doesn't give a potential sucker a good first impression. Especially since it implies that selling mlm bullshit is hard.

Happy Thread
Jul 10, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
Plaster Town Cop
She probably had no recruits and OP was probably the first potential mark she tried talking to

normal-ass vampire
Feb 14, 2011

Tubgoat posted:

LMAO WTF, just go to loving Goodwill and/or Salvation Army or something, Christ-amighty.

This is one of the things that baffles me about MLMs. They're always peddling makeup or kitchen gadgets or other stuff you can easily buy for cheap at, oh I don't know, loving anywhere. I get that selling the products to consumers is not where the money actually comes from, but still.

Qu Appelle
Nov 3, 2005

"If a COVID-19 pandemic occurs, public health officials may have additional instructions, such as avoiding close contact with others as much as possible, and staying home if someone in your household is sick." - Official insights from Public Health: Seattle & King County staff

Someone tried to sell me on an MLM via LinkedIn.

I told them that my rates were $100 an hour + full benefits, 40+ hours a week, and I don't work on commission. Amazingly, I haven't heard anything back.

Wonder if there's a way to report their account.

Sk8ers4Christ
Mar 10, 2008

Lord, I ask you to watch over me as I pop an ollie off this 50-foot ramp. If I fail, I'll be seeing you.

Tubgoat posted:

LMAO WTF, just go to loving Goodwill and/or Salvation Army or something, Christ-amighty.

I think it's the convenience of the company shipping the product directly to you that appeals to people. You don't have to spend hours at Goodwill looking for something you might be able to sell.

Maybe I should introduce her to the magic of Aliexpress...

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

Sk8ers4Christ posted:

That very well could be how they described the method to her, but she definitely went reverse-funnel system when she explained it to me.

The company is Paparazzi Accessories if anyone is wondering. It looks like they sell costume jewelry for $5 a piece, and they claim you'll make 45% commission. I know they offer different packages, but their website is having issues right now, and I can't remember how much those packages cost. I tried to checking their social media, but they're just full of convention montages and vaguely inspirational quotes.

Dude, you better jump on that.

Also, the drawing I was talking about looks more like this now only the one I saw had you in the center and all these other molecules and planets and poo poo circling around you.

https://assets.epixelmlmsoftware.com/sites/default/files/blogs/top-solid-100-mlm-companies-for-2019.jpg

I always wanted for someone to go undercover with one of these things and just expose the poo poo out of them and wreck their poo poo, non disclosures be damned, but these companies have a SHITLOAD of money and that Simpsons clip implies that cops actually investigate and prosecute these creeps. They don't. Quite the opposite really. They get away a lot and have armies of lawyers and lobbyists. Betsy DeVos is the secretary of education.

EDIT: Also, anyone who every gets approached by these parasites, ask them how much they made. Then ask for their tax returns. They don't make poo poo. They'll show you a check for $2000 or something but left unsaid is that they spent $10,000 buying products for themselves that they'll never sell. The whole scam is designed to lure into a cult of product/brand loyalty where the only thing being sold is by Amway/Herbalife/Mary Kay themselves.

All these independent business owners are buying products from the corporation at a SMALL discount and earning meager points on the dollar. Almost like "making money" with a cash back credit card.

Actually, exactly like that.

BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Aug 22, 2019

Sk8ers4Christ
Mar 10, 2008

Lord, I ask you to watch over me as I pop an ollie off this 50-foot ramp. If I fail, I'll be seeing you.

BiggerBoat posted:

Dude, you better jump on that.

Also, the drawing I was talking about looks more like this now only the one I saw had you in the center and all these other molecules and planets and poo poo circling around you.

https://assets.epixelmlmsoftware.com/sites/default/files/blogs/top-solid-100-mlm-companies-for-2019.jpg

Good god. I feel like I saw something like this back when web 2.0 was a thing.

quote:

I always wanted for someone to go undercover with one of these things and just expose the poo poo out of them and wreck their poo poo, non disclosures be damned, but these companies have a SHITLOAD of money and that Simpsons clip implies that cops actually investigate and prosecute these creeps. They don't. Quite the opposite really. They get away a lot and have armies of lawyers and lobbyists. Betsy DeVos is the secretary of education.

There's a pretty good documentary where people talk about their time in LuLaRoe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6eujSJ0-RU

AlbieQuirky
Oct 9, 2012

Just me and my 🌊dragon🐉 hanging out
The Reddit r/antimlm sub has a pretty comprehensive list of what the average participant earnings are for each MLM (compiled from the annual releases that are required in the US by I think the FTC?)

It is pretty sad.

doctorfrog
Mar 14, 2007

Great.

Commercial cults are like any other cult, using an enticing exterior to draw vulnerable people in, extract labor and money from them while programming them in techniques to entice further victims, and ensure their further compliance through ecstasy, threats, legal action, and wrapping itself in layers and layers of monetary protection they've managed to vacuum out of poor, hopeful, or desperate people. The really successful cults have retarded the laws that would otherwise send them to jail. As the post a few up say, "Betsy DeVos is the Secretary of Education." IMO her efforts to further undermine public schools further helps supply more desperate poor people for her kind to surf atop of.

Stitcher had a podcast on this that'll send your blood pressure through the roof: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/stitcher/the-dream

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



doctorfrog posted:

Commercial cults are like any other cult, using an enticing exterior to draw vulnerable people in, extract labor and money from them while programming them in techniques to entice further victims, and ensure their further compliance through ecstasy, threats, legal action, and wrapping itself in layers and layers of monetary protection they've managed to vacuum out of poor, hopeful, or desperate people. The really successful cults have retarded the laws that would otherwise send them to jail. As the post a few up say, "Betsy DeVos is the Secretary of Education." IMO her efforts to further undermine public schools further helps supply more desperate poor people for her kind to surf atop of.

Stitcher had a podcast on this that'll send your blood pressure through the roof: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/stitcher/the-dream

The Dream season 1 was a good cast and I look forward to the next season in a couple of weeks.

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


Should I even consider making a LinkdIn profile to make my translation business more visible, or is it all MLM and manager-level poaching?
I do NOT have a network of associates that I can/would vouch for, lol.

Happy Thread
Jul 10, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
Plaster Town Cop
Responding to recruiters and their cold calls/postings over LinkedIn actually works out sometimes. For engineering jobs anyway, according to recent stories in the programming interviews thread.

greazeball
Feb 4, 2003



peanut posted:

Should I even consider making a LinkdIn profile to make my translation business more visible, or is it all MLM and manager-level poaching?
I do NOT have a network of associates that I can/would vouch for, lol.

It's never going to be the primary source of a job but it will serve as a kind of social-meida-lite page where people can look you up. There's probably a more niche site depending on your language(s) or a marketplace for translations where you would have better results per view.

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


I'm already on the pro translation pages, now I need to increase visibility to basic bitches who would usually ask an obscure acquaintance or outsource everything to China.
Profile made, lol.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
A James Randi lecture from shortly before he died

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2izaEqs0pE

Guy didn't gently caress around

RJWaters2
Dec 16, 2011

It was not not not so great
James Randi is not dead! What a scam of a post.
Don't scare me like that

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



BiggerBoat posted:

A James Randi lecture from shortly before he died

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2izaEqs0pE

Guy didn't gently caress around

Lmao he’s still alive. So is Uri Geller.

PostNouveau
Sep 3, 2011

VY till I die
Grimey Drawer

peanut posted:

Should I even consider making a LinkdIn profile to make my translation business more visible, or is it all MLM and manager-level poaching?
I do NOT have a network of associates that I can/would vouch for, lol.

It's pretty good for hiring. If you can see yourself hiring in the future, it's probably good to have your account set up now so it ages and boosts credibility.

Proteus Jones
Feb 28, 2013



Midjack posted:

Lmao he’s still alive. So is Uri Geller.

Those two will live endless lifetimes until their final decisive conflict. As has been foretold.

Sydin
Oct 29, 2011

Another spring commute
One of the managers on the hiring committee I interviewed with flat out admitted to me that he searched for all my social media accounts (Facebook/Twitter/etc) but could only find my Linkedin, because that's honestly all I have :v:

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

RJWaters2 posted:

James Randi is not dead! What a scam of a post.
Don't scare me like that


Midjack posted:

Lmao he’s still alive. So is Uri Geller.

OK, poo poo, my bad. WTF did I think Randi had died?

Anyway, very cool lecture anyway. Wondering if there's anyone else out there that sort of do what he does. I love seeing these creeps get exposed.

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



BiggerBoat posted:

OK, poo poo, my bad. WTF did I think Randi had died?

Anyway, very cool lecture anyway. Wondering if there's anyone else out there that sort of do what he does. I love seeing these creeps get exposed.

James Randi did retire from the JREF, which had folded up the Challenge, and Amazing-Con is over, which was kind of the end of an era but he’s still going. :cheerdoge:

There are a number of other skeptics doing similar work still but none so prominent as Randi yet.

Organza Quiz
Nov 7, 2009


Derren Brown's pretty close! Not all of his stuff is about debunking bullshit but a lot of it is or at least has elements of it, given that his entire thing is he does things people claim to use magic powers to do but is honest about it not being magic. He's especially interesting on the topic of religious faith, since he used to be an evangelical Christian himself and now has apparently worked out how to manipulate people to temporarily experience faith when they haven't ever before.

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

Midjack posted:

James Randi did retire from the JREF, which had folded up the Challenge, and Amazing-Con is over, which was kind of the end of an era but he’s still going. :cheerdoge:

There are a number of other skeptics doing similar work still but none so prominent as Randi yet.

You should read his book on Nostradamus.

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cakesmith handyman
Jul 22, 2007

Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

Well you're not wrong, the video is definite from before he died.

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