No More D&D for awhile... [slightly OT]

[Ravellion]

Yeah, I don't get why he needs to quit either.

And I hope the whole network marketing doesn't blow up in your face. They promise golden landscapes, but you aren't sure it will deliver, unless you get lots of other people in it. At least one or two will get in it half heartedly and lose on the deal. Take into account that they want you tot target your friends mostly, and you might put a strain on a friendship.

And friendships are definitely worth more than money.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

To climb back up on BV210's box:
Anywho, here's a quick and dirty look at the 'pyramid' scheme:

Level 1 - Apply to be an analyst - 0% commission
Level 2 - Get lisenced - 25% commission
Level 3 - Recruit 3 of your friends and get THEM lisenced - 35% commission, plus 10% of THEIR commissions on each sale
Level 4 - Get one of your friends up to level 3 - 50% + about 15% of their sales
Level 5 - Get one of your friends up to level 4 - 60% + about 20% of their stuff
Level 6 - Get 2 more friends up to level 4 70% + about 20% of their stuff
Level 7 - 3 more friends at level 4, plus 1 level 6 or 3 additional level 4's that go to SOMEONE ELSE'S POCKET! Now you're making about 90% on a sale, plus all the bonus xx% from under you.

All the + xx% means you're getting money on their sales, plus the percentage of someone ELSE below them, PLUS someone below THEM, etc, etc.

You know, there's another organization out there with a similar commission structure. It's called La Cosa Nostra.

My girlfriend's brother gets suckered into all these things, and he rattles off that $100,000/year figure every time. Long distance, debt consolidation, term life, mortgages, you name it, he's tried his hand at it. He's a great salesman and could sell iceboxes to Eskimos. So why isn't he rich yet? Because he's always paying someone else above him. Even with my measly temp job, I could buy and sell him a dozen times over.

Ulrick, I know you aren't looking for a warning, and it's great that you have such noble ambitions and resolve. But this Primerica thing sets off a lot of warning bells. Just remember the Consumer's Golden Rule: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS.

 

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Ulrick, my friend, I have to agree with all of the observations given by others. I have been to seminars, I've seen books and tapes, and I have known friends who have gotten into Amway and other such schemes and companies, very similar to Primerica.

I have to say, don't do it. If you want a good job, do one or more of four things:

(1) Join the Military.

(2) Get into a Trade Union, like the Painters Union, IBEW, Carpenter's Union, etc. Trying out to be a policeman is fine work as well, and they have a union, too.

(3) Attend a trade school, or a technical school, and learn about some kind of technical computer skills, technology, or finance. These skills and training packages can upgrade your resume and your own knowledge, and serve to open new doors of opportunities for you, in many directions.

(4) Attend a college or university; here you can work for a bachelor's degree, and even more. Such excellent formal schooling provides perhaps the greatest diversity of opportunity and the best range in salaries and income potential over the long term.

Get-rich quick schemes and all of these pyramid/uplink/diamond people companies all promise the moon, and the argue against the "40/40 plan" all the time, but I have to tell you, they're wrong. By the way, the "40/40 plan" is the everyday work 40 hours a week for 40 years plan, that many Americans get into.

It's hard work. But you know what? The only people I know that have really anything in life, and indeed, all the good things in life, are people that have done just that--the 40/40 plan, or something close to it.

Also, Primerica as someone stated, is keyed not on you selling anything per se--for that isn't where you make any real money. Where the money is, is in you getting "X" number of people to sign up, and they in turn have to sign up, too, and so on and so on. Unless you personally know at least 12 people that are dead-on to get into this too, then I would certainly say forget it. This kind of operation requires too many intangibles for *you* to actually earn any money--meanwhile, your not going anywhere, and your not paying any bills, because you are spending all of your time trying to sell people into buying into signing up for Primerica with you. I also have to say that these people become almost cult-like. It's like a religion to them, where they have to talk about it with everyone they meet, and in fact, all of their social contacts become merely a means to an end--are they interested in joining? How can you find ways to get your friends/relatives/coworkers/fellow church members to all sign up into your business? It becomes an endless quest for new recruits, and I have to tell you, the market is so saturated with these kinds of get-rich quick schemes and companies, that most people are gonna run the other way before you even get started. It is a frustrating, and depressing way to try and make a living, Ulrick, and I hope you can be persuaded to get hooked up with something else.

I wish you the best Ulrick. I really do.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[Ace]

This is tangental but all this cool info on Primerica is one of things that makes this board really cool.

Ulrick do be carefull out there!

I hate to see anyone, expecially a fellow gamer, get burned.

Just keep an open mind to the ideas that folks here have articulated. FREX SHARK suggested some really great alternates for your consideration.

However it goes Good Luck and saee ya in time for 4.5

 

[Pbartender]

I have to say, don't do it. If you want a good job, do one or more of four things:

(1) Join the Military.

(2) Get into a Trade Union, like the Painters Union, IBEW, Carpenter's Union, etc. Trying out to be a policeman is fine work as well, and they have a union, too.

(3) Attend a trade school, or a technical school, and learn about some kind of technical computer skills, technology, or finance. These skills and training packages can upgrade your resume and your own knowledge, and serve to open new doors of opportunities for you, in many directions.

(4) Attend a college or university; here you can work for a bachelor's degree, and even more. Such excellent formal schooling provides perhaps the greatest diversity of opportunity and the best range in salaries and income potential over the long term.

Get-rich quick schemes and all of these pyramid/uplink/diamond people companies all promise the moon, and the argue against the "40/40 plan" all the time, but I have to tell you, they're wrong. By the way, the "40/40 plan" is the everyday work 40 hours a week for 40 years plan, that many Americans get into.

It's hard work. But you know what? The only people I know that have really anything in life, and indeed, all the good things in life, are people that have done just that--the 40/40 plan, or something close to it.

I have to say, I cannot agree with you guys more.

I too work for the government. I'm not particularly wealthy. I make just enough to cover bills, and little bit extra besides. For a while, we were not doing too well, financially speaking. Lucky, we've turned it around before it got too bad. As BV210 said, it is simply a matter of discipline. We didn't even need to see a seminar. My wife and I just sat down and took a look at our expenses. We cut out a lot of unecessary things...

• No cable TV... ~$500/year
• Dial up internet instead of highspeed... ~$250/year
• Wife stays at home with kids, instead of sending them to daycare... ~$10,000/year
• Owning only one car (instead of two)... ~$3000/year
• Eating out one less time per week (~$20/week)... ~$1000/year
• Not drinking two cans of soda at work every day... ~$350/year (and 200 less Calories every day )

Do you see? A lot of small savings can really start to add up. And there are a lot of things that we take for granted that we can really do without.

Only use Air Conditioning or Heating when you must, otherwise, open windows or put on a sweater. Switch to florescent lightbulbs. Turn off lights when you aren't using them. Buy $15 generic blue jeans, instead of $60 designer blue jeans. Don't buy every WotC splat book that comes down the pike... .

Don't own more than two credit cards. Leave one at home, and put the other in the glove compartment of your car to be used only in the direst emergencies.

Pay all of your bills first. Then buy groceries. For everything else, save up and buy it with cash.

I hope you see what I mean.

 

[SemperJase]

In a former life, I was a registered stock broker (in laymen's terms).

Stay away from Primerica. Completely fly by night IMO.

You can earn money selling financial services. It is guaranteed to take more than a year to do it though. It will take a good 5 years to build up a client base that makes decent money.

If they are promising less time, they are lying.

 

[John Crichton]

Ulrick: Okay, after doing a little looking around and actually reading this full thread I have to say that you may want to look into this company further before taking the job. I do not have the experiences of all the wonderful folks making the above warnings but just from looking at what I've seen on the web it looks kinda shaky, especially when looking at your long-term goals. I was a saleman in the past and it was a terrible thing. It felt like I was selling out and burning a little part of my soul every day. The day I quit that job was honestly one of the happiest of my life.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is don't look at the dollars, but look at what you'll be doing. Ask around. Email a few of the folks that posted here who seem to have some knowledge of that organization.

Take care.

 

[jezter6]

I have to say that you may want to look into this company further before taking the job.

Realize, that this is not a 'job.' You do not earn a paycheck, and they are not your 'employer.' You must go get your OWN license to sell TERM LIFE insurance.

You must do all the work yourself. You can PAY to get leads, but it's more money you have to keep putting in up front.

You have to recruit your friends and family...or look at other means. Sheesh, look at any job search board. People are so hard up to recruit other people that they're posting these great ads online.

You are your employer. You only make what you can sell. That's it. Which means by my calculations....to do this full time...you have to sell probably 20 term life contracts a month PLUS getting your 'recruits.' At 175$ per sale, you're not going to make a full time living out of it at ALL until you start getting others under you, then you start making....$245 + 70 for each of your recruit's sales.

So basically, everyone in your group has to sell at LEAST 20 a month, plus recruit others to get residual income. I don't know about you, but having to find your own 20 sales (which equates to probably 30 or 40 meetings with people who say no to you) per month and keeping that rate constant has got to be impossible...ESPECIALLY in a current market where people don't have the money up front right not to invest in these 'insurance' contracts.

And I put the term 'insurance' in quotes because (as I state all the time) it's not really insurance. It's buying a lottery ticket guaranteeing 500,000$ if you DIE.

What's the point in spending 10,000$ on a BET that you will die? Sure, you do want your family to be taken care of and such, but do you want to take that gamble? Because if you don't die during that time, all the premiums you put in are...you guessed it...INVESTED TO MAKE PRIMERICA MONEY! Not you...you lost out because you LIVED too long.

Sounds ominous, don't ya think?

 

[Ulrick]

Yeah, I decided to check up on this thread.

I THANK EVERYBODY FOR THEIR INPUT. I'm still going with Primerica.

And, honestly, I don't want to quit D&D. I don't want to get isolated from my friends. I shouldn't drop what I love.

I'm an entreprenuer. One of the main reasons I joined is to increase my people and sales skills--two skills that are vital if I want to run a business someday.

If I start finding out things that are shady, I'll quit. Plain and simple.


I understand that in order to make good money you got to recruit. Build that pipeline. I understand that the people I work with aren't necessarily my friends--because if I quit I'll probably never see them again. That doesn't bother me. Business is business.

And I understand that I won't get rich quick. Sure, there are a few people in the company that just exploded into weath--but that ain't the norm. I might. But I don't bet on it.

But it is a real postive environment that I'm in. And isn't all "ra ra you're gonna be rich" as it is with Scamway/Quixtar. There's workshops and classes where you learn about life insurance, loans, and other financial info that I'll probably need anyway as an entrepreneuer. Those classes are free.

Yes, there are motivational CDs you can listen to. But they're either a $1 each or free.

Yes, Primerica is out to make money. So am I. That's business. Profit isn't a sin as long as its make ethically.

I'm just gonna need to use discipline to balance Primerica with my life. That's all there's to it.

If it doesn't work out. Oh well, that's another experience under my belt that I can learn from.

I look forward to this because I'm testing myself. What we do is simple. But it ain't easy. I want to see how much I got. I want to test my limits--live outside my comfort zone. Keep pushing myself.

Sitting around and playing D&D is great, but life is such an adventure in itself. I don't want to miss out on it just because I was afraid to take risks. Yeah, this is a risk. But if you risk nothing, you gain nothing.


Well, that's my speech. It looks like I'll be around.

 

[Numion]

And I understand that I won't get rich quick. Sure, there are a few people in the company that just exploded into weath--but that ain't the norm. I might. But I don't bet on it.

Judging by your story, yes you do