MLM Bot Watch 38 - Large cheques are not forever

[Whiterangey]

I think the members of the Anti-MLM Coalition in the UK deserves to be recognised for the reduced cheques that have been received by the Forever Living bots in the UK.

They have worked tirelessly to spread the Anti-MLM message which seemed like a pointless battle when they started.

Yet here we are, the message is getting out there, and people are beginning to get the message.

People are listening. Ex-bots are telling their stories and encouraging others to leave or not to join MLM's.

You are all awesome and have worked so hard, you deserve so much respect for helping so many people.

A bit unnecessarily unkind to talk about male hair issues
This is about MLMs

Well I think it is applicable - Mr Mindset and FL is sold on image and people buying into that image. Just scrolled down his photos and 'likes' and the number is directly proportional to the cycle of FL business so if the bottom is falling out of FL business then sure as heck he has seen a decrease as well. My OH has had a hair transplant and I would be mortified if it looked like that. Actually he has had two, five years apart and to be fair they look great.

There is nothing wrong with talking about someone trying to cover up their bald patch.

It's not an illness, it's not a disability, there is nothing wrong with being bald.

My Husband started shaving his head at 26 as what little hair he had at that point was looking ridiculous, he was obviously going bald so no point in hiding it and out came the clippers. His only problem with being bald has been sunburn.

It is a cosmetic issue that can deeply affect a man's confidence and how he views himself. My dad is bald and he hates it. My DP is thinning on top and he hates it but he won't shave it off because he thinks he'll look really unattractive, and he can't afford a transplant. I guess I'm very aware of how it can affect men.

Anyway, it's by the by, I'm loving this thread and have been following it avidly over the last week!

Anyway back on thread - what I trying to portray is how MLM is so based on image and selling a dream. So when I commented about the aforementioned 'hair' it was in the context that it now looks frankly ridiculous so hopefully less people will take his coaching seriously and not buy into his 'amazing' coaching.

I used to be on these around 2 years ago on my old MN account. I've just caught up on this thread.

I had two friends who became bots.
One was more of an acquaintance, she saw sense and packed it in about a year ago. The other, who was my very close friend,and had been for 20+ years, is still selling it.
I haven't seen her for more than 2 years - since when she became a bot. Every time we spoke she was trying to recruit me even though I said I wasn't remotely interested.

Anyway, I see that their boss bot was in Dallas and awarded a cheque. It was for $115000 less than the first cheque I saw boss bot get, in Singapore IIRC, in 2016. Last year they were in SA and received a bit less than 2016. But this year that's a massive hit.

I remember my friend posting images of brand new cars, fabulous holidays and big houses, with comments alongside suggesting that these things were actually happening for her. Or just about to. That was a couple of years ago and from looking at her FB, none of it has happened. I'm sad for her as she gave up a good job.

Not sure why I'm posting really, but have found the thread, especially the posts during the Global Rally, interesting.

I guess that your friend simply couldn't allow herself to think where the money to pay for all these things was really coming from?

Exactly, cozie. It was so hard to watch - I'm sure many here have experienced/are still experiencing it - she just fell for everything she was told and believed it would be easy.

What made me especially sad, and angry too, was how often she was led to believe that she'd have much more time with her children. It didn't happen. She worked evenings and weekends, her DC are school age so there was no benefit. This was at the time when they were doing all the bossbabe hashtags and taking pics in Costa in the early afternoon. After having been in their pjs all morning. Less time with both her DC and her husband.

I do wonder at what point realisation that they won’t be a #sixfigureearner hits - and how hard it then becomes to keep going and keep up appearances? There must be plenty of bots who lie awake at night wondering how they’ll make the rent/mortgage/school fees. It must be really awful.

They're probably too tired to lie awake all night, Arbunne. There's method in the various aspects of the cult. By the time they might realise, they're deep in it.

There is a good reason why all MLM's are the same, apart from the products. The formula works, the cultlike mentality works. It keeps people paying into the scheme long after a normal person would have walked away.

Convincing people to post all over facebook how well they are doing when they are dealing with crippling debt due to what they have spent out.

Making the MLM more important than long term friendships and even family members.

It's a nice feeling when you get talking to someone new and the indications are a new friendship is brewing, to then have that person try and sign you up for their MLM and the realisation that they only did the friendship talk to try and get you in their downline is devastating.

The bot doing that would likely never have dreamed of doing anything of the sort or upsetting someone else like that before they joined the MLM, but the cultlike mentality of MLM's changes their thinking.

Then you have those who get out who are ashamed at how they behaved because it wasn't behaviour that they would usually do. They had been totally brainwashed.

What I would really love to see happening is one of those undercover documentaries where someone goes undercover complete with a hidden camera. Showing everything, the first emails, the first meeting, business meetings, success days, all of it.

Can't see it ever happening, too complicated and the person would need to be splashing all the MLM shite all over social media which would raise questions from their friends and family. Not doable.

It would be great though.

In my opinion the fact that Yawn has changed her Facebook settings suggests that she is on the defensive. She knows that business is on a sharp decline, we know that she has been blocking anyone linked to anti MLM sites, and she has had to keep reviewing her posts and delete any comments that don’t fit her flimsy, transparent law of attraction look-at-my-amazing-life image.

It seems truly exhausting. Really, why not just get a real business or job?

Question for ex-bots,how do you feel looking back at your facebook page and seeing all these posts about fl and posting about aloe 3 times (or any other mlm) a day and posting inspirational mems all the time. And especially posts which you know you werent telling the truth on,like making 1000 a week/month or whatever and you know you weren't ,you knew it was a lie when you put it up on FB. Did you go back and delete every MLM post? Were you ashamed ,embrassed,wonder how the hell you posted these,wondered how you believed this dripple?

Can't see it ever happening, too complicated and the person would need to be splashing all the MLM shite all over social media which would raise questions from their friends and family. Not doable.

I think it's possible. It's all smoke and mirrors. It's easy enough (although not strictly necessary) for an undercover journalist to change their name by deed poll, set up bank accounts and Paypal accounts in their new name, live somewhere else for a little while and have a whole load of other folk who are in on the sting set up fake social media accounts months in advance so as not to arouse suspicion. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a journalist doing just that right now.

It'd be a fascinating exercise and would make disturbing viewing.

@Sean I never put anything on Facebook actually. I got to supervisor level then left...because I felt like I would have to not be myself in order to progress. So I had nothing to delete.
I expect the sort of people who would be posting that sort of stuff on Facebook are the ones who are so far involved that they're probably still in it, or probably wouldn't come on one of these threads and comment

....(Although not strictly necessary).....

Indeed.

(You would have to be strong-minded, though.)

Sorry.

....(although not strictly necessary)....

The bot doing that would likely never have dreamed of doing anything of the sort or upsetting someone else like that before they joined the MLM, but the cultlike mentality of MLM's changes their thinking.

100%, this. My friend changed so much. All she ever seemed to think about was how she could recruit more, sell more and she didn't seem to care who she was upsetting. Or how pushy she had become. Constantly pestering friends to either sign up or buy the stuff.

How many bots are going to research the ins and outs of their latest victims? They'll be too busy love bombing the poor bastards and driving all the way to Norfolk and back to be instructing tracing agents to delve into their backgrounds just in case they're undercover journalists.

How did she interact with her DC, though, Clos? Could she not 'switch off ' when she was with them?

Interesting...

I was working with an independent production company last year who were planning to do just that: infiltrate an MLM, get to the bottom of how it works, capture the recruitment process, the income claims, health claims, love-bombing, screechy rallies, the income reality etc etc.

I won’t say which MLM it was - hi, bots who are reading this! - or what stage it’s at. It is legally difficult to go undercover and film/record without release forms, so I helped to make the case to the lawyers as to why it is in the public interest to investigate.

Anyway... all I can say is... I can’t really say any more.

@ArbunneHun just went straight to the top of my list of my favourite people