Carson Sevices Inc. Six Figure Income Marketing Group SCAM

Just this morning I became an affiliate of SFI(Carson Services)and now you jolt my confidence in SFI.What should I know about this group? How do you prove your claim? If you're on the level I do not want to be part of a scam. Please let me know soon!

This group has been on the fraud radar for some time now.

Save your money for rent and go to www.worldwidescam.com for the scoop. They've started a whole bb on the scoundrels.

Good Luck

Well, I have been with SFI for over three years now, and since I was poor (dirt poor) when I started I am not exactly rich or making truck loads of money from it, but it is an extra stream of income. Enough to make a house and car payment, even if I do nothing with it for months on end because I am busy with other stuff.
I do not think SFI states anywhere that you will make $100,000 in residual income only that it is possible.

Every company is going to have people who support it and people who do not. Pete (the poster of this scam notice) obviously doesn't support it and I obviously do. Give it a chance and make you own decisions. You WILL NOT be scammed by SFI, you may fail, but that would only be because you let yourself fail. Not becaue SFI fails you.

The consumer comment by "the fraud chick" suggests that the site listed has labeled Six Figure Income as a "scam". Fact is, the site has 2 complaints, both containing incorrect information, and numerous rebuttals by satisfied SFI users.

I am not an "employee" but SFI is a large part of my home business. I have found SFI to be a solid company and am beginning to see a significant income from SFI.

What has amazed me is the number of people who sign up for an SFI home business...and then expect a check to be sent to them. Who do they think is doing the work for them?

Seems these are also the same ones who make a career out of complaining. They can't read, can't spell and can't type...but they feel they should be paid just for signing up!

BRENDA: YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A FILTHY CORPORATE SHILL SENT IN TO LIE ABOUT THIS SCAM. FRAUD CHICK IS RIGHT: SFI IS A SCAM AND FILTHY LIARS LIKE YOU PERPETRATE IT. SHUT YOUR FILTHY SHILL MOUTH!!!

Brenda,

You read much into my response, but your rebuttal did not dispel concerns. May I suggest you got to the worldwide scam network and respond to the complaints there.

TFC

IN Response To Brenda

What diffrence does it make if these people, cannot read,write or type They still do not diserve to be riped off, by MLM SCAMS!

Besides, thats the People SFI is apealing to ones who wont ask to many questions, and will send thier money in faithfully. this is why sites such as Ripoffreport.com and Worldwidescam.com are so needed and i pray they continue to be a thorn in the side of every lousy scam artist company that preys on the dreams of others!!

Youre letter Reads exactly like every response directed to me from SFI i ever recived!
I tried the sfi program its true you can make money with sfi they will send you a check for $6.00 if you send then $35.00 every month for one of there worthless products! it cost me $139.80 to make $24.00 and i worked there programs even built my own web site to promote it plus the six they set me up with. how ever there are three of us that have been trying MLM Programs Togther and we all had the same results. Sfi Boosts a chat board but all messages are censored and must go to a sfi officer no direct posting is allowed.
according to my SFI commision Reports over the last 5 months if i were even getting 1% of sales i should have earned $8413.74 ive recived $24.00.
i now get phone calls from some of the companies im supposed to be representing.

merchantsystems.com was my latest contact for further confrimation call merchant system (authorize.net) at 1 800-655-8767 tell them you are a SFI affilate and listen to the great deal they will make you. SFI Is a huge scam!
the company name i used to open my sfi account now is spamed unmercifully.

I have been affiliated with SFI for several years now and have never felt ripped-off. When I joined the program, I filled-out a quick form and had immediate access to dozens of ready-made websites that could be used to market countless products... most of them well-known.

I was never required to spend any money whatsoever. Additionally, I have developed some very useful and rewarding business relationships as a result of my affiliation.

There are two really important facts to consider here:

1. SFI (or any MLM-type company for that matter) is not a job! It's a business... your business if you choose to become involved. There is no paycheck - there is a commission check. Commissions are earned when you sell something. If you sell nothing, you make nothing... just like in any business. If your local grocery store never sold any groceries, its owners would never make any money.

2. Since SFI is a business, there are rules for how one will be compensated for sales (again, just like any business); and these rules are plainly stated. But you have to read them! If you don't read the rules before jumping-in, then what right do you have to complain?

It never ceases to amaze me how many people will become involved with direct sales (in any of its many forms) and cry "scam" because they didn't make any money, when in fact, they never did any business.

They are told that they are self employed, and their self-employment extends so far as to cover the parent company from liability, but not so far as to grant the agent actual autonomy. An MLM man is no different from a car salesman, who sells a company's product and is paid only in commission. Each may be responsible for earning his own money, but the product supplier controls their behavior, and as such they are not self employed.
Neel raises a good point, though, and regardless of whether or not an MLM job is in fact a business, you need to treat it as such if you want to be successful at it. Here's a list of a few major problems with MLMs:

(Please note that these comments pertain to MLMs in general. I have had no experiences with SFI and have no knowledge of its practices.)

1) MLMs market themselves to potential recruits as though they are offering a regular job. Look at any newspaper ad recruiting for MLMs. What do they say? They say things like "Rapidly expanding company needs to fill 15 production positions, 450$ a week to start, no experience necessary." This is, verbatim, an ad that I was once naive enough to fall for. The "production position" was selling 2500$ vacuum cleaners, and the 450$ a week to start, which didn't actually include the first week, was only attainable if you made 15 presentations, which was impossible because there weren't that many people to make these presentations to. This "job" translated into three weeks of wasted time and absolutely no money, not only for me, but for several other people who probably could afford to waste this much time less than I could. Sound familiar to anyone?

2) MLMs are deceptive to their new recruits as to their potential incomes. If you were to ask a group of new recruits in any MLM how much money they planned on making, and then compared the results to how much money the average recruit in their company actually makes, you would find a huge discrepancy. Regardless of whether or not an upline tells the recruits that they will have to work hard to make money, they still make six figure incomes seem very attainable, often by fraudulent means such as grossly exaggerating their own incomes. The truth of the matter is that people who lose money on MLMs outnumber the winners by a staggering 99 to 1 ratio (from "Where's the Greatest Harm," 1998, by Jon Taylor, Consumer Awareness Institute).

3) MLMs do not pay people for training periods, even if the recruit makes sales. The rationale behind this is that colleges don't pay you to go there, and all you do at college is learn how to do a job, so why should we pay you for learning how to make money? The fallacy of this logic is that colleges do not "train" people, they "educate" people. Training is learning the motions of a particular job, and any reputable employer will pay his new employees for their training period, because he expects the new employee will be successful. The reason MLMs don't pay trainess is that they recognize that only one out of every hundred or so will be successful, which brings me to my next point...

4) MLMs hire indiscriminately. If you read through reports on here about different MLMs you will find that the only way an MLM will turn down your employment is if you ask too many questions. This is the reason so many people fail, MLMs don't care if you have any kind of experience or natural ability, they focus on bringing in masses of people, many of whom end up facing severe financial hardship because of their involvement.

5) One reason for bringing so many people in, when so few will succeed, is that virtually all MLMs require new employees to make practice sales pitches on friends and relatives, knowing that a few sales will be made on symapthy, and a few more due to the trusting relationship. These acquaintance sales made by trainees represent a huge portion of the sales made in most MLMs, but usually the trainee is not compensated for them.

6) MLMs seek to exploit, and end up harming, personal relationships. The focus on selling to(and recruting of) friends and relatives makes social interactions awkward, and when people bring their MLM business into their personal relationships, they often find themselves avoided and lonely.

The list goes on, but the time to write it (and probably the patience of the editor) does not. Just one last note: it is a common MLM tactic to make people think that the people who have failed did so because they didn't put the work into it. This is not true. People drop out of MLMs for several reasons, of course some of them are just too lazy to do it, but more often it's because they see the scam involved, or they are rightfully intimidated by the idea of doing a job they are completely unqualified for.

A while back I submitted a rebuttal to charges against Six Figure Marketing. I was accused of being a "shill" by "screaming Brad"...not so.
I am an affiliate (not am employee) of SFI. Yes
I buy items monthly, yes I recruit people to join.
No, I don't tell them they will make money...I tell them they CAN make money if they WORK on building their own business using SFI.

I'm still an affiliate...and I still make money monthly. Not a lot...but I cover my business expenses with some left over and it is larger each month.

I am disturbed by the thoughtful...but wrong... view of multi-level marketing offered by another person.

I am NOT am employee...I work for MYSELF. As such I LEARN (not train). I have hundreds of affiliates in my "line" and I tell them clearly that the only way to make money is to WORK.

I continue to be amazed at people who sign up for SFI and then within 2 days start asking "where is my check". They "signed up"...and they "want to be paid".

MLM is not for everyone. You must be self-motivated, self-sufficient, patient and persistent. If you need to be led by the hand in every new venture you try, better not quit your day job.

I joined SFI only one month ago. So far, I am receiving more quality educational material than I expected (via their home business association membership). It seems that the training and educational materials are the main product. They do offer other products or services but they don't interest me so I can't comment on their value. I've read a ton of educational and training materials on Internet marketing and network marketing (mlm) and I would read SFI's material as above average or maybe higher (they send a lot on a CD, which I haven't reviewed yet). SFI does send out a lot of emails to its members. I read the first few and now just delete them or filter them out. There are definitely "flash in the pan" and "exploit the little guys" MLM's out there. But I don't think SFI is one of them.

Why would you be amazed at the people who signed up for a job and expected to be paid? I would be amazed if my employees didn't demand checks at the end of the week! And by the way, the above list does not represent my "views" of MLM. It represents years of research by independent and non-biased research institutions that have concluded that MLMs are usually on the fringes of legality and always on the fringes of morality. Instead of blaming the people who sign up and then fail, why not apply a more discriminatory selection process that would ensure only self-motivated people sign on? Here's why: the majority of money made by most MLMs is brought in by people who are so low on the pyramid that they don't reap the benefits of their sales. The constant flow of incomers turned failures represents a huge chunk of MLM revenues. This is not my opinion... this is a statistically proven fact. Another huge source of income for MLMs is the sales of "educational" (yeah, right) and promotional materials to agents. Here's why I comment when all I know about your company is that it's an MLM: all MLMs adhere to fundamental strategies that have been proven to be mathematically flawed, deceptive and exploitive. Rather than having me explain why they are mathematically flawed, why don't you request some "educational" materials on the mathematics of exponential growth and find out for yourself. They deceive people into thinking they own their own business when, in fact, this independence only goes far enough to shield the company from liability for false claims made by agents. The exploitation is evidenced in the fact (again, not my opinion) that, in the average MLM, more than 98 percent of hire-ins lose money. Do we really know about anything Osama Bin Laden has personally done? No, but we know what type of organization he is a part of, which gives us liscence to be, at least, very apprehensive about him. Do I know what they serve at the Dragon Express down the street? No. But I do know that I don't like Chinese food, so I will probably never eat there. Do I know the ins and outs of SFI? No. But I do know that it is an MLM, and I know alot about MLMs. And what I know about MLMs didn't come from promotional materials or anecdote, nor did I recieve my information from some sort of anti-MLM hate group. My information comes from unbiased, academic sources that have concluded that MLM is a terrible business model that will, hopefully, one day be declared illegal. If you don't understand the importance of independent research and unbiased sources, consider this. If you were in the market to buy a vehicle and wanted to find your best value, would you limit your research to talking to salespeople and reading promotional materials? No. You'd look in consumer reports, you'd check Kelly for the resale value, ask some mechanics, etc. Why should it be any different when examining a business model or employment opportunity? Do you tell your new recruits to go out and do some independent research so they can make an informed decision? Do you tell them to check out the Rip Off Report to get some alternative viewpoints and see how others have fared? If you're offering them the possibility of big incomes, which you haven't even made for yourself yet, a solid ethical foundation would require you to make damn sure they were as well informed as possible. If you want to prove me wrong per your particular company, you'll have to explain why SFI is different from the standard MLM model. If you want to prove me wrong per MLM, I suggest not trying because it will be a fruitless venture. If you do want to try, keep in mind that books on MLM, your company's promotional literature, and the anecdotes of uplines are not, by any means, credible and unbiased sources.

Carson Mktg., SFI (6 Figure Income) and all the other gorillas in the bunch have been sending me spam ever since I sent a complaint via email to their home office in Nebraska. In the beginning I found out that my "home" email address had been spoofed and I was receiving a ton of spam from specific addresses including SFI etc., and I tracked down that the spoof originated in Florida. I also tracked the ISP of most of the SPAM and it led to Carson Mktg. I attempted to REMOVE the email reference to their SPAM letter, but it only encouraged Carson et al to SPAM more. Then I sent above email to Carson directly and got the response that I should use the REMOVE feature. No person, etc. was referenced and after that message I started receiving TONS of SPAM from all over the USA. The complaint email was sent via a Hotmail account that had not previously been used for anything but newsletter subscriptions. Carson Mktg. was the ONLY company to get it and none of the other subscriptions knew my first name..... only Carson, and all the SPAM sent to the Hotmail account is addressed to my first name.

When someone signs up for SFI they must also then
confirm by e-mail that they want to join. That is the only way to join.

However, it could be that a name appeared on a mailing list that was sold to an SFI affiliate.
First names are not hard to acquire...and newsletters sometimes sell names to mailing lists.

Every e-mail sent by SFI has an "opt out" link and using the "remove" site sent by Carson will totally remove your info from the SFI database.
If the e-mails came FROM SFI, you (or someone) are a confirmed member. If they came from a person representing himself as an SFI affiliate,
it may have been from a mailing list. I don't use lists myself.

As for the rest of this...I am an independent contractor, I guess. I think of this as MY business -- and I do get paid every month by SFI.
But, then, I work at this business.

I could say I hate all car dealers -- but that wouldn't be right. Why hate all MLM's? As with
any legitimate opportunity, what you earn depends on how hard and how smart you work. If you do nothing, you earn nothing. It's quite simple.

I am a former "employee" of Sfi. I actually came here to post a compliant to find they have already posted several here. Looking at other companies on this website that put forward similar money swindling schemes, I noticed that there are always one or two rebuttals from ppl that dont mind spending hundreds of dollars to receive a scarce 1% profit ( 1%?? meaning if I spend one hundred dollars or I spent hours and hours I can expect $1 in profit or a return in 1% of my time?????)or a person that is not into the business yet but still thinks its a good idea (oh and dont forget the few that are suppect to being cold hearted swindlers looking on these boards to trick ppl into doubts these ppl who were ripped off in order to make money off of these corrupt corporations themsleves). I not only suggest that you look into consumer reports on these business but pick up a book on these types of situations and find out what they are really about. SFI, obviously if you read the emails they send, makes money not off of their products but off of you bringing in other "affiliates". What can you say about any company like that? If they are really making big bucks because of the service
the organizatins gives you to sell to others why do you have to bring other "suckers" to really make a killing? They advertise a free sign up (because I dont sign up unless its free hehehe) but afterwards they constantly ask for 30 or 40 dollar "investments" if you really want to make money. ( and if you dont you wont or even if you do . . ) Follow these rules of thumb when looking at these organizations:

1) you should NEVER have to pay to work for someone else. If you apply for a job do they charge you 50$ or if you were to start your own business you would get something for the hundreds you'd have to spend ( i.e,. 500$ youd spend would provide you rent, !!!$ products for your place etc.) not 500$ you pay upfront then buy something from us and then you make money.

2) as I indicated earlier what type of cold hearted person would make money scaming ppl to come into a business, when they know they will probably lose money, just to make money especially if affiliates is NOT what you are supposed to be getting money from primarily. Its supposed to be sales from products.

3) READ! READ! READ! go to every report every disgruntled employee. Instead of asking them who makes it in the business, ask them the turn over rate. How many ppl give their money then end up broke or in debt.

After you read these youll probably never join any of these scams. It is in most instances cheaper to start your own little business out of home on the side of a regular job then to pay someone esle hundreds to say you are part of their little corporation.

If the "ex-employee" of SFI had read the agreement he made when he joined, he would realize he was not an "employee".

SFI tells its affiliates that the "best" way to
get started is to "upgrade" at a cost of $30.

It also clearly says this is not a requirement of
starting your own business with SFI. It even has
tons of "how-tos" to work for free with the company...how to place free ads, where to place
free ads...etc.

Of course sales are made...it is a business, not a
charity. It takes time and a lot of work to get
started and be successful...which is why there are
many "x's". It makes no promise of income....no
guarantee of success.

It is sad that people who obviously didn't read
the rules and weren't able to be successful are
so willing to put a business down.

It is true that no everyone is good at internet
marketing...and that many confuse MLM with pyramid schemes. If you don't like it, don't do
it!

There ARE many who have improved their lives by
working HARD and with patience and persistence to
build a business with SFI. They are NOT employees. Independent Contractor is LEGAL term,
not imaginative.

I am one of those people. I did not expect something for doing nothing and I did not expect
someone to send me check when I signed up.

It took months and many hours to get my business
moving, but it is profitable each and every month.

It is always easy to believe the worst. It is much
harder to believe in your own abilities and to ignore the put-downs of others.

I have never pushed SFI to a friend or family member. My family did not even know I was involved until I showed them my second check.
(I thought the first one was a fluke!)

The trouble many people have with internet marketing is that no one takes you by the hand
and leads you down the path ... you have to find
your own way. It is a self-motivated, independent
type of work that many are uncomfortable with.

So far I see the score going to the negatives of SFI, I tried it, I paid for it, and all I got in return "Spend more Money"

No one has replied with any substantiated positive comments. The only thing I've seen substantiated has been the cons of the program.

Hi! what's up, just a new sfi guy. However I am almost as intelligent as the rest of use guys...

Mike's rules---VERY FEW MLM companies qualify.

1. no initial cost.
2. get training materials for free
3. have at least someone willing to help you , for real.
4.have a potemtial to make some money initally. like within the first week or 2.
5. No required perchases every month
6. no body telling me I am going to make alot of money real fast.( with SFI they are telling me 2 to 3 years down the road.)

OK, I'm guilty maybee I lied. You guys are smarter than me , ok///BUT.- I have found a company that will play by my rules.......haha

Also- as an man who has worked for hisself for the last 25 years.. let me say some stuff that matbee some of you do not know.

yea, yea, it is the truth that very few people will succeed...in anything, read the odds, BUT when you can light the light in someone to want more and to strive for better when before they knew you they really really had nothing is worth the trouble to go through a few who can't don't and won't.

The miracle of seeing a person learn the difference between words like hope and faith and the real truth - KNOWLEDGE is swift. far and few between so what, am I cold hearted a few spent a couple of hundred dollars buying some products and did not build a million dollar business, come on.......
When you find the ones that want to do, and are willing to do great things, it is sweet.

I've been in various types of sales and marketing programs over the last 5 years (including SFI) and I'll give them credit, the educational materials will give you the knowledge you need to be successful - but WHAT YOU DO with that knowledge will determine success or failure in ANY MLM program!

The truth of the matter is, you only get out of it what you put into it, but you have to really learn and understand how it works, but here's the bottom line:
Either USE the systems (or what you're supposed to learn from it)to earn your money, or BE USED by it!

Most people who join SFI will not succeed with because they won't put the effort into LEARNING FIRST - then doing. It never happens overnight, and if you don't put the effort into really LEARNING, you can't help but fall on your face.

The more you learn and understand, the more you'll profit if you're willing to work for it for as long as it takes. Most of those at the top of the money ladder got there from the bottom.

Nevermind the products, most of them are overhyped crap anyway GAIN THE KNOWLEDGE FIRST!
Use it for anything, don't just limit it to SFI!

This is a MLM scam (not saying all MLMs are scams, but this one deffinately is). SFI claims it's an affiliate program, but real legit affiliate programs do not ask you to buy into their plan to make more money. If you have doubts about this, see Commission Junction: http://www.cj.com (yes I'm an affiliate with CJ, but that is not my affiliate link).

Aside from false claims, the only ones making any real money are those on top. Those that got in early. Check around and chances are you won't find any affiliate that's been there for 1-2 years. No, what you will find is numerous people who have been there for YEARS and those that just started (and don't know any better yet).

I was with this company for nearly a year before I realised that what I was doing was wrong wrong wrong. My "downline" dissapeared within 2 or 3 months because the drop out rate is so horrible with this company (and I'm glad they all left - I would hated for them to waste as much time as I did).

I've now been working with SFI for almost 3 years and I am sold on this company.

My check this year has doubled again.

I do not work FOR SFI
I do not have a "job" with SFI

I have gone from internet newbie to knowledgable internet marketer since joining SFI in 2002.

SFI does not "hire" anyone....they offer an opportunity and the support to build your own internet business. For self-motivated, hard working people, especially those new to working online, it's an excellent choice.

It is not easy....a lot of learning and work are required...but nothing about it is very hard either.

SFI promises you ONLY an opportunity...what you do with it is up to you.

What is the difference between MLM and the Corporate Structure?

In MLM, there are people above you, and people under you. You may be in the middle of that structure and may be earning more in commissions than the one over you. And no one tells you how to "run" your business. You are your own boss.

In a typical Corporate structure, the CEO earns more than anybody down his line while delegating all his "supposed to be" duties to people under him. The people at the lowest part of the corporate structure are the ones who get most of the jobs while being paid for less. Shouldn't the case be: if you worked harder than the one above you, you should be paid more? In a corporate structure, you have a lot of "boses" who dictate to you what you have to do.

If you see both structures, MLM and corporate, they are both "pyramid" in shape, the only difference is, you are your "own boss" in MLM with "time freedom". You get paid over and over again for a work you did once. In corporate, you don't get paid when you are out of work, especially when you are just a "new employee". You trade hours for money.

I don't like when people say that I'm involved in a pyramid scheme if I'm in MLM. Everybody is involved in a pyramid scheme whether you are in MLM or corporate (traditional job). And you are both doing marketing in MLM and corporate. Marketing is a means of communication, not necessarily selling an item or business opportunity.

I am a dietitian by profession and I did "marketing" when I spoke and explained to patients about their diets. I was "marketing" my expertise.

I had worked as a dietitian for 10 years and was laid off twice. I am currently an SFI "affiliate" but NOT an employee of SFI.

After reading every rebuttals in this section, my thoughts and feelings for SFI have not changed. I will continue to be an affiliate and I will continue to learn what I need to be successful in this business. I believe that I will reap the benefits of this business "in time". I could only prosper and succeed if I work the system. And the LEARNING I get from this business is AWESOME! My experiences with SFI may not be the same as others who have worked in SFI and "didn't like it" or others who are NOT in SFI, and still say something against it. But for someone to succeed in SFI and other MLMs or other home-based Internet business, they have to work it. "We reap what we sow, but the harvest is never in the same season as the planting!" SFI is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme. You cannot expect to be paid in SFI overnight! You have to be involved in it and demand learning. IT TAKES TIME, and it is WHAT you do with your time that will make a difference in working the SFI system. If someone is not willing to give a business (SFI and others) at least a year, don't even bother getting onvolved. Go back to corporate.

I'm a former SFI Affiliate and am now in another MLM company.

I just want to make a few comments about MLM in general. I came into MLM wanting to generate another income stream to supplement my regular income. I worked with SFI for a while and then eventually switched to a different MLM which will remain nameless because this forum is about SFI and not my current MLM.

I had a mixed experience in SFI: the positive side of it was some good publications they put out, some good educational materials about how to market your business through advertising cooperatives, etc. I learned quite a bit from their materials. I also really liked their Veriuni Health Drink. It tasted good and it had good things in it for my body. Yes, MLM products are too expensive, I'll say. But think about this: they are about the only kind of products available by which "the average Joe" can make a living.

The part about SFI that I didn't like was I seem to remember SFI affiliates saying that the company changed their compensation plan too much. And after I left SFI, I seem to remember checking back, and seeing that the Comp. Plan was changed and the new one was being hyped. The only way a comp. plan should be changed is if it is changed to increase distributor commissions. Otherwise, comp. plans need to be stable or distributors can't trust the company too much.

The last thing I would like to touch on is this: In my new MLM company, I have a group of about 35 people "under me" that I have built up from scratch. I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD DO ANYTHING in MLM. I AM NOT A GOOD SALES TYPE! I USED TO SELL MEN'S SHOES AT A DEPARTMENT STORE AND I ALWAYS HAD SAGGING SALES NUMBERS COMPARED TO THE OTHER SALESPEOPLE. I AM EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE TRYING TO "SELL" SOMEBODY.

But what I did do in my new network marketing company was to GET ON THE PHONES calling interested people who had responded to RADIO ADVERTISING that I participated in via buying SHARES(a co-op). And I had to pay for an 800 number that my prospects would call and leave a message for me. Then I called them back, played them a product and opportunity message and then followed up with them via mail, sending them an informative CD about our company and/or product.

I did this over several months' time, in addition to my normal day job. A little bit of time here, a little time there, with some three-way calls with my "upline" and my group got off the ground. Yeah, it was a lot of work...I had to make some financial sacrifices and some time sacrifices, but now I get a monthly residual check that usually pays for the one box of product I get each month and gives me a little bit of extra money on top of that.

No, I'm not a big earner yet, but for the last four months or so, I have basically done ZERO on my MLM business but I am still getting my monthly check. So, for me, MLM is starting to work. So, to the people that think MLM is just one big rip off, that is not completely true. I think the bottom line is this: if YOU CAN MOVE product or you can recruit people WHO CAN MOVE product, you can make money in this industry.

But if you sit on the sidelines and don't think a creative way around your inhibitions to market/sell a product or service, you're dead in the water. As I mentioned before, I'm not a SALES TYPE. Period. But I got around that "problem" and started to use an advertising system that maximizes my personability skills instead of MY LACK of "selling" skills.

You can't expect to sign up with a company and have them send you money. In MLM, you ARE the company. You have to work at getting your message out--yes, that's scary...yes, that takes risk...yes, that costs money.

I'll close with this. In an important scene in As Good as it Gets, Melvin Udall is contemplating taking a risk and going late at night to declare his affections for Carol the waitress. However, he's afraid and starts chickening out. His new roommate and unlikely friend, Simon the artist, says, "Then get in your 'jammies and I'll read you a story!" to rattle Melvin's cage enough to get him to go talk to Carol. Well, Melvin gets the message, visits Carol, and, 'lo and behold, winds up with a girlfriend! Well, folks, I've spent too much time curled up in my 'jammies in the bed of life. I finally took a risk and got out of that mattress of self-doubt and TOOK A RISK, and went to work. And now it has started to pay off. And if I work at it some more, it will pay off some more. And my 'jammies are now in the closet where they belong.

Best wishes,

Hello Sfi is not a scam at all am a member and have benefited much from it i have a friend who is earning much with it that he is investing about $36,000 to build a great network of affiliate network with his sfi team members,i advise anyone to try it out,also join through my link here and i will give you all helps to succeed with it also send me a message with your emails for helps about sfi join my link and you will get free EA Membership its for real people who don't succeed are does who are lazy to put their efforts in it simple.

Employee junkees your time is over mlm/privateering is here as god/and the founding fathers intended.
The fact of the matter is that assigning virtue to the standard corporate model of business is as mindless as believing you can sleep soundly among a pack of famished wolves. Maybe even less so considering the pioneers of modern corporations were the bastards of the 19th century who built colonies for there employees in a cycle of poverty and compulsory work in HORRID conditions.(I at least remember that lesson in school they probably just gloss over that nowadays..employees were not even paid in real money they were paid in company notes.)
so they could not leave. nor could they find their own destiny. Get out of line Pinkertons would be hired to shoot you dead for raising your head above the pack.This was how unions came to exist...becasue emplyees fought with blood sweat and tears to resist, the government stepped in before it could teurn into a full scale workers revolt and garauntee global communism.
Don't kid yourself..the business world is only better now because governments (who are quickly being outclassed by the companies that suck their resources dry and the government despots who profit with them.) still try to enforce the will of the societies we live in.Luckily our society tries to value the general welfare and rights of the common individual.
In all this I'm sure there are such runaway companies behind the mlm business model as well, but there is a difference.I'll explain this difference now.
In the "traditional" model noone gets ahead without the approval of someone whos job it is to decide that only the right person gets ahead. And the big bad CEO is only concerned about one thing..his or her largest investors, and what they think if not hes/she is out of the picture.The company itself has a life of its own and will devour any person or resource it can to push a profit, or secure it's customer base.
In the MLM structure generally the person who gets ahead is the person who knows how to utilize their personal and professional network to leverage their own or that of their downline/teammates or advertising coop's position in the company's structural marketing network. Usually they are not employees per se but outside marketing contractors. The beautiful thing about the concept of MLM isthat these companies have opened their marketing network to the segment of society that normally would just be their consumer base..some marketing genius must've realized that "who best to spread the word about their products/services than the people who know it best the people who USE it."
People who speak out against MLM as a concept because of specific corruption or worse personal failure are being the worst kind of loser.The kind've loser that decry's against democracy because a few election polls were rigged or because their candidate didn't win the election. SO..does that mean we should just all hail Ceaser or better yet all hail a "N-RON!"
They pinpoint a few bad cases Yet fail to see that BIG Capital is just as if not worse in their corruptions than any Pyramid scheme ever was
I suspect the average MLM company is a proud start-up company with a superior product or service struggling to survive(in a desperate and hostile world controlled by "BIG CAPITAL"and the Corporate Media ie mental feeding trough for the mind controlled masses.)
I beg to differ about the whole thing! The question isn't is it "right"(beyond Human rights/ecological concerns) or how much does it cost. The real question is...DOES/CAN IT WORK?!
I think there may be many reason MLMs or the people who subscribe to them fail, such as misleading portrayal or execution of the business by network marketing filabusters leading to breach of contract or government crackdown,libelous claims made by sheeplike follwers who get taken for their money because they don't like to figure things out(BEFORE they invest.)
and well if they just plain suck(poor product poor comp plan poor timing or any combination of these.)
I don't fully understand the definition of a pyramid scheme beyond the chain letter thing. I know one thing that kills me is the fact that, with todays technology and If everyone or even most people followed the instructions a chain letter "scheme" would work like magic.
I blame the education system for brainwashing (at the behest of BIG CAPITAL) people into following a certain agenda/thought form and shrieking painfully at anything unusual. So the bloodhounds can sniff it out and declare it right or wrong based on the whims of BIG CAPITAL all that said...
I am an SFI Affiliate, I have only recently joined, I read the Comp plan and have a good idea of what I must do to earn. If the company bicles out from under me due to poor management then so be it I lost a measly $32 dollars I spent on an AWESOME CD that might help me come up with some ideas about promoting my other MLM business, that I only paid $39 to join. MY rule of thumb don;t get involved with anything that requires a monthly fee to keep your contract valid unless your ready set go with a full clientel and logistical plan b, with a profit margin that will render your sustained investment meaningless. OR if you have a day job that makes your investment a reasonable speculative project to test your network(you find out a lot about people in network marketing and you find out who respects your opinion/referral...Most people who don't join me haven't even read materials or watched my promotions, they could not even form a valid opinion.) They probably went online instead of reading, watching or talking me and read some of "your"(someone like you) libelous comments thinking they were getting the REAL scoop.) or remembered hearing something about "pyramid schemes" a few years ago and figured I was an idiot or think they know me well enough to decide that yes indeed I am an idiot. ALL of which cases lets me know that I need to expand my network. I like SFI for the simple fact it was free to join and try out, it was cheaper to out of pocket upgrade than I thought it would be when my "powerline" position deadline became imminent. btw First I didn't like the fact that I could lose the mlm aspect of my affiliation, if I didn't upgrade (which can be done at no expense to yourself if you have the networking or sales skill/resources.) but then I figured wait a minute thats probably why the powerline idea WOULD work, because its a pressure sale! How many other people like myself would wind up making the same choice i did. I bet hundreds. I already knew/believed (based on reports) that thousands of people had joined the powerline since I had joined..out of those thousands dozens if not hundreds will upgrade. thats simple people math..so yes I'm pretty much guaranteed a check next month..it could be $.20 for all I know there could be some fine print I missed, but hey If I don't like the check...or the reason it is what it is, maybe I don't keep investing...thats not rocket science. I bought a cd about things I may not have known about if it weren't for joining a free internet business..NO loss here. Business is not always gonna be a pleasure..You gotta do your math and study your proposals It's just like any other walk of life: touch and go most of the day and risky when you go to sleep at night...anyways noone is promised to make it out of this life alive so why bother with promises.MAKE YOUR WORLD HAPPEN!