Work for free
New PeddlersJan Art, Career
Network marketing first knocked on our doors in the mid-90s.
Massive staff reductions of numerous Soviet research institutes and defense enterprises gave him the first "recruits". Now history can repeat itself. If more recently the lion's share in advertising spam was made up of offers to "help with a loan", now – a tribute to time – the palm belongs to online casinos and projects of earnings at home. The author of these lines has just recently encountered one of these projects. Among the numerous letters from friends asking if there is any work, I suddenly found a letter in which they offer me a job.
A letter to you
A certain Andrey Puzin writes to me: "If you are not satisfied with your current earnings or it does not match your abilities, if you constantly lack money, if you want to improve your financial situation or are just looking for an opportunity to earn extra money on the job, carefully consider our offer."
Show me a person who would not like to improve his financial situation? Read on:
"This is a job where everything will depend only on you. No special knowledge and skills are required. Place of residence, education and age do not matter. The main thing here is honesty, accuracy and efficiency. Work at home is offered. The work is extremely simple. You can get more detailed information by opening the file attached to this letter."
And then the classic scheme of the money pyramid is proposed. You create a wallet for yourself in one of the Internet systems (WEB Money WMZ, WEB Money WMR or Yandex Money), take the list of numbers of other people's wallets attached to the letter, send the top two 20 rubles, enter your wallet number in the vacant line in the list and send a similar letter to anyone. For example, friends and acquaintances, if you don't value their reputation too much. Or just at random addresses that you know (after all, it's not necessary to put your real name, you never know in Brazil Pedro). In addition, "Mr. Puzin" offers to place various job ads on all kinds of "work" sites and forums and so lure potential "clients".
"What am I missing? – the author of the letter asks rhetorically. – 20 rubles!.. After just two months, I received $2,500, and the money goes every day. Every 10 minutes, 10 rubles are credited to my account. And all this is only for the amount of 20 rubles! My job now is two hours on the Internet every day, and THAT's IT!!! And the earnings are such that no bosses and managers even dreamed of." This is followed by a rant on how this scheme helps to find a job in conditions of mass layoffs, pay all loans, etc...
Similar schemes have been walking around Russia since the pre-computer era. Then they were served as homegrown "mutual aid funds" and "American investment systems" (American was very fashionable then). Then the Internet appeared, and the same schemes (only addresses for transfers were replaced by electronic wallets) began to be called "working on the Internet". Now it has been adjusted to an "anti-crisis remedy". Fashions and problems change, but the scheme is eternal.
Do you have any complaints about buttons?
Another option of "work", which is now being actively offered to confused and jobless Russians, is a job at the start of which you need to learn a little. For example, one "firm" offers to take up the manufacture of buttons at home and is ready to buy your products. One small "but": before you start, you need to buy a textbook for 330 rubles. The money for the benefit, of course, must be sent to the address indicated to you. After that, you will not see any money or benefits. Another option is to take part in online surveys, for each of which you will be paid money. Sit at home, open the Internet and just poke the cursor at the answer you like. "A unique job!" – the site offering this scheme goes into ecstasy www.swoedelo.narod.ru . All the same "but": before you start, you need to purchase a manual. Apparently, on the topic of how to answer questions correctly.
The crown of such proposals was the announcement of the company "Informix": "You will be able to earn several thousand US dollars every month." The company listed on its website 10 thousand (!) job vacancies at home with earnings of $ 2000 or more. "You pay for our services only after you get a job," the advertisement says. And for added importance adds: "We give a 100 percent guarantee: if you are not employed, the money will be returned to you."
Allow me, what kind of money? We pay for services only after we get a job. Ah, here it is, the main detail: for only $15 you need to purchase a "package for employment at home". Now the same scheme is replicated by dozens of other "informixes". One of these companies gave out a masterpiece in general: "Every year our company opens a set of employees who want to master a new highly paid profession – a freelancer." Apparently, having soberly assessed the education of Russians and hoping that most of them are firmly convinced that freelancing is a profession, not a format of work.
Experts predict that this winter such proposals will multiply like mushrooms after a radioactive rain. The crisis is in the yard, people are losing their jobs, and they need to pay off loans, feed their families. Someone will buy it. "Moreover, it is possible to do this in Russia almost without risk," notes Artur Lukashenko, an independent expert on Internet development. – Same site www.swoedelo . narod.ru it has been in existence for several years. And despite the creation of the notorious "K" department, law enforcement officers are not particularly interested in the activities of such sites."
Ghostly Millions
Of course, not all network marketing schemes, which are increasingly being offered to Russians who are confused in the crisis, are "pirated". The vast majority are quite legitimate and traditional: the sale of any goods in the format of the work of peddlers. However, the sale of goods in network marketing is not a goal, but a means. A means to earn money without doing anything at all. The fundamental principle of this business is a pyramid scheme.
That is why the mottos of network companies are characterized by pathos and globality, promises of "a unique opportunity for growth and self-development" and appeals: "Earn money without much difficulty in a team of millionaires." Inviting newcomers, representatives of MLM companies claim that you are given not just a job, but a chance to start your own business. And business requires start-up capital. Therefore, it is almost impossible to join the ranks of distributors for free. The average "entry threshold" is $100.
Advanced employees promise to share their experience "how, by teaching and helping others, I started earning from $ 1,000 a month", "spending only 2,400 rubles, in a year to reach the level of commissions of $ 10-100 thousand per month." In fact, only the top receives serious income, in professional jargon – "sponsors", behind which there is an extensive network of lower sellers. To climb "up" and live happily on the income from MLM sales is possible for units, mainly those who stood at the origins of the company's development. Firstly, this requires extraordinary abilities, and secondly, the further it goes, the more difficult it is to find new consumers and distributors. For example, leading positions in the Russian division of the Mary Kay cosmetics company are occupied by ladies who started their way in this business ten years ago.
Most distributors do not have to count on a more serious return on their activities than a discount when purchasing goods. According to experts, one out of seventy people involved in the network marketing system receives more or less serious income. "They, of course, give people jobs, but it's hard to reach the level of normal income, it's almost impossible," Anna Mukhina, head of the career counseling department at the Testing and Development Center at the Moscow State University "Humanitarian Technologies", is sure. – For most candidates, the experience in network marketing ends at the training stage. Not only do they not get a normal job, they also spend their last money."
A cult idea
However, in network marketing, they promise you not only a source of income, but also almost a new family. "All the work is organized for the benefit of the distributor and is imbued with concern for him," the sales organizers write. However, the promises of "embracing the whole world with the power of our love", peculiar to MLM companies, evoke associations with Christian sects. And the techniques used by both are the same – aggressive onslaught, elements of neuro-linguistic programming.
"People who are engaged in network marketing receive a special type of communication that they are deprived of in other places," explains Elmira Davydova, director of the ProfGid portal. "An employee acquires a lot of acquaintances, he feels protected, patronized. Once in this environment, a person begins to consider himself outstanding, even very serious arguments are not able to sober him up."
It is not surprising that network marketing is more than a job, it is, in fact, a way of life. If a person finds himself on this path, he turns into a devout preacher of the idea of MLM.
"Trading companies that have decided to structure themselves in this way do not spend money on advertising, warehouse, office, employee salaries, taxes on their salaries," explains Davydova. – Due to this, huge funds are saved, but these costs fall on the shoulders of employees. They advertise the product for free, transport it, select and train staff. At the same time, employees pay for their own training and consume the goods with the whole family. Why are people willing to bear this cross? The ideological, educational, and "educational" components are strongly developed in network companies. Employees are psychologically processed. They believe that they have "their own business", although they cannot change anything in this "their business".
Who feels good in MLM?
According to experts, in Russia, network marketing is used by one and a half hundred companies, which involve more than 4 million people. "According to my observations, an increasing number of people are somehow working or trying to make money in network marketing," Davydova notes. – In any case, compared to 1998, there are 10-15 times more people involved in network marketing."
"There are two attractive aspects of working in the field of network marketing: these are low requirements and a free regime," Mukhina adds. – Now, during the crisis, competition in the labor market is increasing even more, and in the field of network marketing, the past and experience of employees do not play any role, and there are always vacancies."
The latest fashion trend in network marketing is the transition from "live" contacts to electronic ones. A number of companies offer those who wish to become their agents by opening their online store. It is no longer necessary to run around familiar and unfamiliar, the distributor gets at his disposal a theoretically unlimited audience of the world Wide web and an immense field of activity for advertising his products on forums, chat rooms, social networks, blogs, etc. A wide range of products allows you to find a niche in accordance with the characteristics of the social circle. Young mothers can sell goods for children, toys, cosmetics, household appliances. It is not difficult for the regulars of car sites to get involved in the distribution of oils, cosmetics, spare parts for cars. The sale of books is suitable for intellectuals, and computer trading is suitable for advanced users.
Unlike the "real sector", MLM virtual costs little blood. You can become the owner of your own online store for free. There is no need to buy goods either, they come from the central database, and the store owner receives 10-20% commission. The principle of the financial pyramid remains: remuneration and a percentage of their sales turnover are paid for attracting new participants to the system.
Don't offer network marketing?
The main ideologists of network sales in Russia, as before, are manufacturers of cosmetics, biologically active additives (dietary supplements) and household goods. The most famous of them are Avon, Oriflame, Mary Kay, "Doctor Nona", Faberlic, "Zepter", "White Cat". Unnoticed, one of the pioneers of domestic network marketing, the American company Herbalife, left the scene. Although the company's website reports that Russia is among the 15 largest markets of the company from 70 countries that make up the geography of its sales, and the network of distributors exceeds 20 thousand people. But it's been a while since I've met distributors of multi-colored cocktails for weight loss, who saw their task as "eating a product, wearing a badge and talking to people."
Zealots of the purity of direct sales do not accept the use of other methods of selling goods. But today there are more and more companies that use traditional methods of advertising and selling in combination with network marketing. Anna Mukhina explains the commitment of companies to network marketing as follows: "Most often these are either companies whose products are very common, as in the field of cosmetic products, where it is difficult to stand out from the general background, or the product is significantly overpriced or the quality is questionable. Where it is difficult to get interested in the quality of the goods, it remains to rely only on the strength of the seller's persuasion, in fact – imposition, manipulation."
The guy who once tried to captivate the author of this text with the virtues of the miracle vacuum cleaner "Kirby" repeatedly mentioned that he dreams of winning a trip to Athens for some corporate gathering and to help him, it's enough to pay some unfortunate thousand dollars. At the same time, he so artistically demonstrated hope and confidence in my disposition with his eyes that any excellent student of the theater school would envy him. Admittedly, it was possible to get rid of the persistent seller only by shamelessly pawning the phones of a dozen acquaintances to him.
"Despite the spread of such a phenomenon as network marketing, it is hardly advisable to talk about any brands in this market," says Vladimir Komotsky, editor-in–chief of the <url> website. – In Russia, this segment is still poorly developed compared, for example, with the United States."
However, despite the steadily ironic attitude of society to the methods of network marketing, in Russia it is already perceived as a rather serious economic phenomenon. There is an opinion that the growing financial crisis will be the impetus for the next round of development of network marketing in Russia. People are being cut, it's getting harder to find a new job, the incomes of the population are falling, many are not averse to working part–time, network marketing in such a situation is a nice thing. "Now, in a time of crisis, the effectiveness of vacancies in the field of network marketing has increased," confirms Komotsky. "However, this is due to the overall increase in the number of applicants."
But there is another side to the coin. Network sales, by definition, are used to sell goods that are very far from basic necessities. And in a period of economic turmoil, people are not inclined to spend money on fintiflyushki. So the influx of workers may increase, but the demand for goods is unlikely. And new employees can very quickly become disillusioned with their occupation.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru29.01.2009