| I would like to tell you a story about a | | | | stockpile on products, so her vitamins filled |
| woman named Ginny Gemmel. She wanted to earn | | | | three shelves in her basement. Any money she |
| some extra cash to pay for art classes to | | | | made went into next months inventory. |
| improve her business of hand-painting | | | | "Sometimes I thought this is crazy, but I'm |
| clothes. Excited about selling products for | | | | also near the 18% level. Why am I not content |
| Shaklee, the Emmaus, Pa. housewife signed on | | | | selling fewer products, for a 5% bonus?" She |
| as a distributor. Seven months later she quit | | | | started spending a lot of time on the phone, |
| in disgust. Ginny says "she and her husband | | | | and the bills ran between $100 and $150 a |
| Tim, 41, a computer salesman, spent so much | | | | month. She would leave her kids and husband |
| with Shaklee that they lost their $12,000 | | | | at home, working 60 hours a week. It did a |
| college fund for their three children, now 6, | | | | number on her marriage, and her kids were |
| 11 and 16. If someone had told me in advance | | | | ignored. She then stated, "The sales leaders |
| what I'd end up doing, I never would have | | | | started laying on the guilt at the Shaklee |
| started selling". Her experience began by | | | | meetings, making us feel we were lagging in |
| answering an ad in her local newspaper. The | | | | our sales volume. They said, 'We've got the |
| person on the other end of that ad, was a | | | | literature. We've got the products. We've got |
| Shaklee distributor. Ginny started by | | | | the trips. What's wrong?'" She tried a lot of |
| purchasing an $18 sales kit. However, this is | | | | different ways to sell for Shaklee like, but |
| where is gets ugly. | | | | nothing seemed to work. |
| | | | |
| Her sponsor said, he would "see if she was | | | | So what's wrong with this picture? It's the |
| good enough at sales" (now, I'm thinking, | | | | SPONSORSHIP. And it's also the TRAINING. |
| what kind of sponsor would ever say that to a | | | | Shaklee, obviously failed miserably in these |
| person in their downline). She told him she | | | | two key areas. Ginny should have NEVER gone |
| wouldn't go door-to-door selling. He said | | | | through what she did with Shaklee. Where was |
| that "you don't sell Shaklee, you share it". | | | | her support? Instead, all she got was a guilt |
| When she went to her first Shaklee meeting, | | | | trip. Please be careful when signing up for |
| (you got to love those hotel meetings) they | | | | ANY MLM. Not just Shaklee. Ask yourself these |
| all applauded to show support for her. That | | | | important questions: |
| made her feel great. They promised her trips | | | | |
| and cars. So, she decided to try for the | | | | *Who is my mentor/trainer? |
| bonus of 18% of sales of distributors below | | | | |
| her level in the company. That required | | | | *How long have they been with the company? |
| ordering a total of $1,500 a month of | | | | |
| vitamins and skin-care products for her and | | | | *Will I have to go door to door selling |
| 36 distributors that she would sign up. She | | | | products? |
| would say to her husband, "Just give me $500 | | | | |
| from your checking account to help bring in | | | | *Can I physically even go door to door |
| business, and next year we'll be in | | | | selling products? |
| California on a trip with Shaklee"! It was | | | | |
| like an addiction, she stated. Her husband | | | | *Will this company take me away from my |
| even spent $4,000 on a computer to set up a | | | | spouse/children? |
| program keeping track of sales for Shaklee | | | | |
| distributors. NONE (NOT even her SPONSOR) of | | | | *Will I be led on a guilt trip every time I |
| the successful salespeople told her NOT to | | | | have to attend a company meeting? |