Direct Sales - Money-Making Scam or Can Dreams Come True?
| Money-Making-Scam or Can Dreams Come True? | Kaitlyn Kerven | | ENG 122-006 | 5/3/2012 |
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Kaitlyn Kerven
Research Paper Rough Draft
ENG 122-006
24 April 2012
Money-Making-Scam or Can Dreams Come True? Direct Selling is known by many names; Network Marketing; Multi-Level Marketing; Dual Marketing, etc., but most people are still unfamiliar with this industry. A Direct Sales business allows you to connect with customers one-on-one, in groups, through online sales, catalog sales, and also by phone. People within the direct selling industry are often referred to as Independent Consultants, Distributors or Representatives (Mary Kay Inc., 2012). Direct Selling has been around since the mid to late 1800’s, but because of the recent appearance of so many new direct sales companies, people have had mixed opinions about their legitimacy; how can the average American determine the difference between a trustworthy company and a money-making-scam? There are scams and completely legal companies; the difference between the two can occasionally be hard to find. Today’s most thrown around phrase, in the business ethics world—“pyramid scheme”—tends to scare consumers away from deciding to join, or even purchasing product from a direct sales company, while other testimonials claim that this industry can change people’s lives (Albaum, 2008). Prior to Mary Kay I was managing a clothing store, at which I worked 60 hours a week, and was, at that same time, a full time college student enrolled in summer classes. My opinion of the direct selling industry was not a good one. I thought there was little money in it, and assumed the people who actually did succeed were few and far between. I believed that the only people who would choose to do something like Mary Kay were either old woman, with blue hair, who had nothing better to do with their time, or women who had failed at nearly everything else in life, and decided to give this a try. It was certainly not a
|
Kaitlyn Kerven
Research Paper Rough Draft
ENG 122-006
24 April 2012
Money-Making-Scam or Can Dreams Come True? Direct Selling is known by many names; Network Marketing; Multi-Level Marketing; Dual Marketing, etc., but most people are still unfamiliar with this industry. A Direct Sales business allows you to connect with customers one-on-one, in groups, through online sales, catalog sales, and also by phone. People within the direct selling industry are often referred to as Independent Consultants, Distributors or Representatives (Mary Kay Inc., 2012). Direct Selling has been around since the mid to late 1800’s, but because of the recent appearance of so many new direct sales companies, people have had mixed opinions about their legitimacy; how can the average American determine the difference between a trustworthy company and a money-making-scam? There are scams and completely legal companies; the difference between the two can occasionally be hard to find. Today’s most thrown around phrase, in the business ethics world—“pyramid scheme”—tends to scare consumers away from deciding to join, or even purchasing product from a direct sales company, while other testimonials claim that this industry can change people’s lives (Albaum, 2008). Prior to Mary Kay I was managing a clothing store, at which I worked 60 hours a week, and was, at that same time, a full time college student enrolled in summer classes. My opinion of the direct selling industry was not a good one. I thought there was little money in it, and assumed the people who actually did succeed were few and far between. I believed that the only people who would choose to do something like Mary Kay were either old woman, with blue hair, who had nothing better to do with their time, or women who had failed at nearly everything else in life, and decided to give this a try. It was certainly not a
References: Albaum, G. (2008). Multi-level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes: Myths vs. Reality. AMS Quarterly, 9(2), 1-16. doi: Business Source Premier. Direct Selling Association. (2012).Code of ethics: Summary version of the DSA code of ethics. Retrieved March 31, 2012, from http://www.dsa.org/ethics/shortcode/ Direct Selling Association. (2011). Industry statistics: Direct Selling by the numbers calendar Year 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from http://www.dsa.org/research/industry-statistics/ Harris, W. (2004). Network marketing or pyramid scheme? Black Enterprise, 35(4), 102-110. doi: Business Source Premier. Krantz, M. & Gogoi, P. (2009, January 9). Feds uncover two more investor Ponzi schemes. Retrieved from USAToday.com website: http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2009-01-08-investor-ponzi-schemes_N.htm Mary Kay Inc.. (2012). About the direct selling industry. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://www.marykay.com/sellmarykay/aboutdirectselling/default.aspx Roos, D. (n.d.). How pyramid schemes work. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://money.howstuffworks.com/pyramid-scheme.htm