Marketing Concepts Cydor, DS-Max, Raf Diaz, Panni, Universal Online Promotions, Polaris, Com Quest Marketing (MLM, direct selling, door-to-door, Quill.com) West Palm Beach, Florida

This is my experience with Marketing Concepts.

I've been unemployed for a while and am in need of a job, so I decided to look on craigslist. I found an ad from Marketing Concepts stating that they were looking to fill some entry level marketing positions and had great opportunities for people to go into management. So, I sent in my resume and got a call back to setup an appointment for an interview the following day.

I arrived at the office and noticed that they had 5 other people waiting to be interviewed, so I waited and waited. My interview was at 11 and I didn't get out of there until after 1. And when my turn was up I met with Panni and he gave me a speech about how they are an international company and run campaigns for ATT and Staples. I was told that I would be called for a second interview and told that it would be 3 hours if I was selected.

I got the call for the second interview and arrived on time. There were 5 people there (3 from the first round I was in). I was called to the back and met with a trainer that was going to show me the job and then decide if I should be hired.

So we get into the car and drive down south. The whole car ride he's telling me how e-mail, print, and tv commercials are terrible forms of marketing and how you can just delete, throw away, or change the channel and the best marketing is in person. This is when i realize that this is a door-to-door sales job.

On a personal note, I have no problem doing door-to-door sales. I just wish they were a little clearer on exactly what the job was. Maybe I should've asked more questions beforehand, and I understand that putting up an ad for door-to-door sales will not get you replies.

We proceeded to walk around for 8 hours going business to business trying to sell office supplies for Quill.com. He made 2 sales and earned about $80 in commission for a 12 our day. Afterwords I was called and told I would start the following Monday at 8 am.

I show up at 8am and we go into a conference room for a morning meeting. I have never in my life seen such a strange meeting. They practiced their pitches, concepts, talked about how great the company was, how much money they made, how they want to be promoted and we played games. Yes. Games...

After that 2 hour spectacle we went into the field for 8 hours. My trainer made two more sales for a $110 commission for a 12 hour day, only to come back to the office for yet another meeting. This one consisted of people ringing bells in relation to the amount of money they made and running around the room high fiving everyone. And then we went home.

I heard a few names mentioned while I was there, so I decided to do some research. Marketing Concepts is owned by Cydor which is owned by Raf Diaz. Raf Diaz owns Universal Online Promotions, Polaris, Granton Marketing and DS-Max. A simple google search of any of the above shows a lot of negative results. For a slightly neutral look, and a look at exactly what they do I would go here: (((link redacted)))

I quit the next day. It wasn't the door-to-door sales, odd meetings or the long hours. It was the money. If I make $1000 for 2 weeks of work that is $500 a week. The guy I shadowed worked about 60 hours a week. That's $8.34/hr before taxes/gas/food and cell phone bill.

In closing, I will say that yes you can make a lot of money, but the odds are low and the deck is stacked against you. It is worth going through this just to see those meetings and you do gain a little sales knowledge and confidence. But in my opinion, it was a waste of time.

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