AIBU- fucking forever living aloe shite.

[YUDOTHIS]

UGHHH.
recently set up as self employed so have been networking throughout my area. I'm a tattoo artist renting a chair as well as working full time (Looking to go fully self employed once i've built up a good enough rep) since I set up for some reason I've ended up with a gazillion and one forever living reps on my business page, at least 4 a day message my business and or/personal page (deliberately connected to business page) and even one got hold of my number somehow (not online) still baffled about that. I deal with messages like this (actual copy and paste but names omitted)
Aloe shite rep.
Hi YUDO, i hope you don't mind me messaging you.
You popped up on my newsfeed & I noticed you are self employed like me. I started a business recently through a brill company named forever living (which fits in with the industry you are currently in) working from home for an extra income which fits in perfectly with my 3 children, work & all of my other commitments.
From what I can see on your profile you seem to be the type of person that does really well in this type of business, I thought I could pop you a 5 minute link to see if it's maybe for you or not.
I may be wrong, it might not be for you but only you know that. Let me know if you've got 5 & I'll send you the short link to have a nosey at!
26 minutes ago · Sent from Mobile
YUDO
Happy where I am- Thanks though.
21 minutes ago · Sent from Mobile
Aloe shite rep
But you're still working full time at *studio?!
20 minutes ago · Sent from Mobile
YUDO
Yes.. Sorry did you have a point??
18 minutes ago · Sent from Mobile
Aloe shite rep
yes! you could be spending those 30 hours or more a week at home with your husband and children
16 minutes ago · Sent from Mobile
YUDO
Or...... I could build up my own business with hard graft and not purchase a hundred pound kit of shitty aloe that I can get from pound stretchers? Logistically, If I sold 1000 of products a month (Would need to be glued to a laptop or phone!) I'd earn 200 pounds in commission. 50 quid a week. for being glued to my laptop... I suppose I could make false claims and guilt trip hormonal new mams into joining though.. that'd get me a bonus... mmm. how about no?
12 minutes ago · Sent from mobile
I then quickly blocked her and 5 minutes later got another message (which i just blocked right off the bat, engaging makes me too angry but sometimes I just can't resist!) also no bloody idea how sticking needles in someone over and over is anything similar to flogging forever living but there we go. AIBU to not have attempts to recruit me all the blooming time? I've had similar off yonique but after a few thanks but no thanks messages they've buggered off, had it off actiderm once and promptly said i use their products already and enjoy them (true) but would never join, got left alone since then (probably don't want to upset a happy customer...might be an idea for future?) but forever living just WON'T let up. I honestly am considering making a complaint but don't know if I can.. Its bad enough seeing their shit everywhere...
PS if you're a forever living rep, only comment about your 50k a year and company car if you want to get ripped to shreds. I just started my period.

My own cousin hassled me about Aloe living forever shite. I was like, no thanks I have an established career, been in my current job 8 years, have share save plan I won't break etc etc and she wouldn't leave me alone!

We ended up falling out and I didn't get an invite to her brothers wedding party!!

Does anyone actually earn £50k doing it?

I reckon one person, once, with a massive family and loads of friends, spent 18 hours a day for a week doing FL and made £4000 in a month. Then, they extrapolated that to an annual rate, rounded it up and called it £50k. That's not to say they could make that much every month for 12 months though.

However much the most successful people make when they first start, once they've saturated their friends and family, they can't sell any more, it's not sustainable.

The nasty thing is that FL doesn't care whether 100,000 people make them £10 profit each, or if 20 people make £50k each - they make their money either way. And doing it the first way means they don't have to have a product that actually stands up against the competition, they use people's personal networks instead.

Is it wrong that I'm a bit jealous I know of no- one doing forever living or any of these other schemes. Maybe because my DCs are older? I did go through a phase of being invited to lots of pampered chef parties but this FL lot sound much more amusing

I can see why people get sucked into these sort of schemes. Shame.

People can actively harm their primary businesses by getting involved in this nonsense, as people dealing with them who know what rubbish it is aren't going to be impressed with their lack of judgment.

I know someone who has worked hard to build up a reasonable reputation in her sphere of expertise, for which she also had to work hard to get the necessary qualifications and experience. She organises an annual conference about it and has been given free use of the premises of a very reputable organisation in a connected field for that purpose. However, for reasons best known to herself she has become involved with JuicePlus, and organised for them to have a stall at this conference and for one of their representatives to be one of the main speakers, even though apart from the alleged health aspect it has little to do with what the conference was about. No-one at the conference was very impressed, and the people who gave her the use of the premises were particularly unhappy about their premises being used to promote this business. It's looking highly unlikely that they'll offer them again, and I suspect a number of the delegates won't bother again either.

Oh I do love a good forever living thread. I don't have any FLbot friends on bookface so I enjoy reading about their nonsense sales pitches on here. Although I do feel sorry for these folk who are busy guilting friends to buy the shite, they don't seem to realise that they are the consumer. The company makes money from them buying the starter kit. The rest is such obvious nonsense, but as others have said, if you're at a vulnerable stage in life, flogging this shit and setting up a down line could seem like the answer to your problems.

If you don't have your own bot then the bot-watch thread in Money Matters will fulfil your MLM bot related needs!

I had a good one the other day from someone I haven't spoken to in 8 years where she had clearly forgotten to delete part of the template email:

"I had to message you I have just left a business planning meeting and I am soooo excited! I have recently started working from home for an extra income, during the meeting you kept popping into my head as I know you would be amazing at this to. I think you would be great because......... say why they would be great .

I maybe wrong and it might not be your cuppa tea, but I think we could smash this together! Let me know when you have five mins and I can send you a short link that you can have a nosey at xx

Errr how about delete

A girl I met at antenatal classes has just started doing this. If she invites me to one more "party" "product launch" "5 day cleanse" or anything else I may actually shoot her.
I've told her repeatedly that I'm not interested and that its all a scam and if she wants to be taken in that's fine but I wont be so please leave me out of it.
If I didn't have to see her on a regular basis (a few of us meet up every other week or so) I would just cut all ties.

FL, Yonique, etc etc are all massive scams and I'm usually allergic to them all. Bloody awful stuff.

Good on you OP! Good Luck with the tattoo business!

I work from home as a professional freelancer and often get mums asking me how they can do it. However, my answers about slowly building up a business, networking, and working until 3am several times a month don't seen to impress them. A couple of them have since set up these crap businesses selling candles etc. One of them even posted a pic of a pile of fivers boasting of her 'profits', but when I counted it there was about 35 quid. Not exactly a living wage.

I wonder how many of these women are paying taxes or have even registered as self employed?

I don't feel comfortable giving medical advice when I'm not medically trained has worked for me

choccy that email is fucking hilarious!! I love it

To quote myself from another FLBot thread: I HATE Forever Living. It's whole business model is vile and exploitative of women. My FLBot is someone I did NCT classes with. She's very nice but young (21 maybe?) and (I genuinely don't mean this in a nasty way) not very well educated. Baby's dad isn't on the scene and she became desperate for a way to earn money whilst not having to pay out money for childcare. She has been sucked in by a Forever Living rep and now genuinely seems to believe that she will soon be earning fantastic money whilst working from home and that her and her baby's financial future is sound. So she is now a FLBot and is recruiting other (often vulnerable women) to also be Forever Living reps. Plus of course makes her money by convincing women with body hangups with some pseudo-science that by buying some ridiculously expensive lotion or potion they can cure weight gain, or wrinkles, or some other product that plays on women's anxieties. The whole business model just seems to work by preying on vulnerable, poorly-educated, body-anxious women. And the real icing on the shit cake is that in all the Forever Living propaganda it has the nerve to state that it is a business model about 'empowering women'.

agreed FL is ebil.

whoever said the Bodyshop Hemp cream is great for eczema - another vote here. I also really like Shikai Borage Therapy for hands, but the Body shop one is the best I've ever found.

Also, we have a MLM bot watch thread here if anyone wants to join in:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2437667-MLM-bot-watch-FL-Juice-Plus-Younique-etc?pg=9

there's also this more serious one about the culty aspects of FL etc www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2446930-FL-MLM-Thread-3

but they really are cynical bastardfaces the way they deliberately target new mums.

Ok i know no one that sells this stuff on fb and if i didnt read mn i wouldnt know about it. I have a lovely aloe vera plant on my window ledge if that helps (feels left out)

don't feel bad londonrach. I had to go out and stalk an FLbot to get one to watch. It's fun, lots of entertainment.

I cant stand forever living, sick of seeing it and being ambushed all the time.
I find it laughable that people think its their business.
" oh I run my own business.. It's called forever living"

I had a spat with one on a MN FB page the other week. I can't even remember which post it was that MN had linked to but it didn't take a drone long to type out her spiel and then get uber defensive when people called her on it. It's targeting the vulnerable (harassed mums desperate for an easy way to make money) in much the same way dubious sales people persuade the elderly to part with hard saved cash for crap windows etc.

Ark: Lush's Dream Cream works a treat on DS's eczema. If you can steel yourself to go in the shop with a peg on your nose.

Last user..i can offer my aleo vera plant to forever nuts. Cost me less than £2. You can cut a leaf off if you need....(why are my fb friends so sensible and normal)

One of my friends has started with this. Thanks for the warning. Ark: Aveeno is amazing for baby eczema. You can get it on prescription.

I didn't realise how bad the FL reps were until I advertised for stall holders for a Xmas fair I'm organising for a good cause.

First response was from a FLBot, and I've since had a few more. I'm being ruthless and accepted the first request, but have blown off the rest, by highlighting that I've already got one.

We wouldn't be raising much money for our cause if all the stalls are FL.