This guest-post came to us as a response to our first post on ACN. If you would like to put together a whole post instead of just commenting below, please send us your post to firstsearchblue@gmail.com. We are open to any and all points of view.
I would like to begin this post by first refuting some of the statements made in the first ACN post on this site and some that have been made in the comments. Then I would like to shed more light on some of the reasons why ACN is viewed as a scam and how we might go about fixing this.
I have been with ACN for the past four years and am currently in the position of Team Coordinator. I still have my day job, but the extra income from ACN has provided me and my down-line with greatly expanded lifestyle and a far more secure retirement plan.
If you want to make ACN work for you, you should treat it like a real business, that is really all it comes down to.
Refuting the Comments and Content of the Previous Post
Firstly, a pyramid scheme requires that all the income be generated from people putting money into a pot and having it float to the surface. In ACN there is legitimately a ton of money made from the actual sale of services. Take the video phone for example. This is nothing more than an IP phone with a webcam attached and some basic software that can detect when it is connected to another video phone. If you do a little googling you will find that you can get a Forwarding (or virtual) phone number for about $8 a month. I would assume that ACN can get them even cheaper by buying in bulk. Even if it is primarily the reps who use ACN video phones, there is a phenomenal amount of revenue being generated here that absolutely finds it’s way back into the pockets of the reps who have sold this service.
The recruiting process does not have to be a “strange” as it is made to sound in the last post. In my experience it only becomes this way when people are recruited who really don’t belong in ACN. When I show friends the business I make sure that they honestly want to have a look at a network marketing business. In the beginning I tried to use the method of not telling anyone what the business was until they could hear it from my up-line, but I can honestly say this did not result in a single successful enrollment. If you are going to sign people up under you, you really have to be able to show them the reasons for yourself – If you are not willing or ready to do this, then spend some time getting to this point. If you resort to keeping secrets and having your up-line present a network marketing opportunity that most of your audience was hoping not to hear.. you will often be met with resentment. How can you blame them? If you want to enter into a business partnership with someone you need to start with a basis of honesty and integrity, not secrecy and off-loaded responsibility. Like I said above, if you want to be successful in ACN, then treat it like a real business, nothing else. (Please Note: I am not saying that it is impossible to make money by just sitting back and having your up-line present the opportunity – I’m just saying that it is not the best way, and that it is one of the primary reasons why so many people see this and other network marketing companies as scams.) In the beginning it can be quite difficult to present the opportunity on your own, but I strongly believe that by presenting to your friends on your own, anything you lack in experience you will more than make up for in sincerity. Explain the business yourself and show your reps your personal reasons for doing the business. This means you will probably not be able to start recruiting on your second day in the business. Who Cares? This isn’t a get rich sprint. Put in the time, do it right and you will be rewarded accordingly.
Many of the comments on the previous post state that because reps are unwilling to show their prospects their checks, that we must be lying when we say we make good money. Where I live it is against to law to show prospects your checks. Simple as that! I’m not sure this is the best law… It seems these days that showing others that I truly do make good money could stop a lot of the negative feelings toward ACN. So many people seem to feel that it is impossible to make money in ACN, I assure you this is not the case – it’s just a lot easier to take someone seriously when they say “I hate ACN, I made no money” than when they say “I love ACN, I make lots of money… I just can’t tell or show you exactly how much…” I think we all need to explain this law to reps up front and stop the rumor that because we don’t show off our checks, we must not make any money.
Why ACN Is Seen by so Many as a Scam
There are a few reasons why many people think ACN is a scam. It is my hope that we can start to shift this opinion by adopting a few new philosophies and changing our mindset. To all my fellow reps who include the portion of the pitch on Mindset – please read the below statements and see if you incorporate them into your presentations. I have started to make some changes to my powerpoint and hope to post it here for you within the next few weeks.
Donald Trump: The fact that we have Donald trump endorsing us does feel pretty satisfyinh. But for new recruits it has been my overwhelming experience that they are not sold by this. I will admit that when the first ACN DVD featuring Trump came out I was flying. I tried to sell everyone and anyone using the statement that if a billionaire like Donald Trump was supporting our business, then how could anyone say it wasn’t a great opportunity. My team and I got carried away saying that if people didn’t see the light after trump’s message, then these people weren’t worth recruiting anyway. I have since realized that this is a very immature attitude. I have now recruited many very successful reps who were boarder-line disgusted by the Trump endorsement. At the end of the day, trump was paid to advertise our business – simple as that. The type of people who will be convinced by that are not serious business people. Like I said earlier, it doesn’t mean you can’t make money by recruiting this type of person, but largely speaking they will not do well and they will quickly come to resent the business and spread negative rumors about it. Look at the comments in the previous post – I think it’s safe to say that the number of people who resent this business is becoming a legitimate problem, we should seriously consider changing our recruiting techniques in order to curb this opinion. One way of doing this is by acknowledging Trump is our paid endorser. We can have fun with our teams and enjoy the exceptional training that Trump has given us, but telling prospects that they should sign up because trump endorses ACN has brought far more hostility to me than it has success.
The over-emotionalizing of the training sessions. In my city we have had Saturday morning sessions for the past 4 years. I have watched them go from about 30 people a week to 300 people a week. In the beginning these sessions really focused on how to succeed at the business. We spent time talking about how to find a good team and how to build a strategy to move up through the ranks. Nowadays they focus almost entirely on appealing to people’s emotions in order to get them to sign up. RVPs in my city tell story after story about how ACN lifted them from abject poverty into a world of riches. For many this is actually the exact truth, and I do not hold it against them that they enjoying telling their personal experiences. From a profitability perspective it is almost impossible to refute this tactic. We have never had so many new people signing up as we do today. I have watched some of my own prospects see these emotional demonstrations and be stirred enough to sign up later that day. The reason I am suggesting we get off the emotional kick for a while is that it is giving us a reputation that is seriously affecting the way non-reps view our business. The emotional sell largely does not convince the type of people who are going to prosper in this business. This isn’t because they aren’t capable of succeeding; it is simply because they signed up without considering the full requirements for being successful in the business. They see the emotional spectacle and are swept away into signing the forms. When they snap out of it and realize what it takes to make money, they feel like they were ripped off and lied to about the business (invariably it is too late for them to get their money back…) Selling ACN on an emotional basis breeds resentment among those who sign up for purely emotion-driven reasons. If we want to stop all the “scam slander” that we are dealing with these days, I think it’s important to be honest about what it takes to be successful. This is a business, it should not be sold by telling stories and promising riches. Let’s get back to the facts – this is a highly profitable opportunity if you are willing to work! Let’s show our prospects what it takes, and teach our recruits how to execute.
That’s it for now – I plan to do a follow up post in the coming weeks. Please leave your feedback in the comments section below and I will try to respond or incorporate your advice into my next post. Let’s put in some effort and get this “Scam” title off of our perfectly legitimate and highly profitable businesses!
Sincerely,
Curtis
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View Comments (44)
Great Post Curtis!
My friends and I signed up for ACN a few months ago and are starting to recognize a lot of the things you mention. We probably signed up for emotional reasons. not rags to riches stories but definitely enticed by the idea of getting totally loaded in acn. after sitting through 14 saturdays in a row at the 'rah rah ralleys' It makes me very happy to hear that an experienced and successful rep is thinking about changing the way these meetings are run. I'm also tired of hearing that I got sucked into a scam...
Great thing...since when there is a law to not show the checks.....:-)......can you post the link and which state you belong to....and also put in your acnrep website....how many hours you worked for it each day and how much of your own money, gas, resources, you put it....before you call it no scam, also tell why you have sex offenders, rapists selling ACN, it shows ACN is desperate to get money where ever they can get....even if it sending these disgusts in people homes as ACN salesman.
ACN is a scam who you are lying, at least it is good you are half awake or just trying to act good cop bad cop shit.
You have criminals and sex offenders in your rank and file, who you are kidding to......so you admit ACN reps were lying about Donald Trump, when he is paid by ACN to tell lies about ACN...
Beware of Tracey taft, a ACN sales lady, she is a con artist and will play games with you to sell ACN........and on top of it, she has a sex offender brother Randy taft at her disposal and she finds a lay for him....all the time...along for herself....you can invest 500 just in her...if you know what you want from her ...
currently, i have 2 friends that are really wrapped up in this and ive told them i dont want to join. i havent been to a single one of their 'seminars' that they like to hold in their 2 bed room apartment while smoking weed that one of them sells on the side. they say they are going to take over cities and they always show me pictures of "representatives" on facebook posing infront of expensive luxurious cars.
they have all sort of characters in their group, one such is a rapist convicted sex offender Randy Taft and then his sister Tracey Taft, who sleeps with every guy in the town.....
If an ACN rep is behaving in an unethical manner in the way they conduct business, you have the ability to report them to ACN. ACN is not tolerant of people who are not willing to behave ethically. ACN reps do not work for the company per se - they are independent business owners, but ACN has the right to terminate their position if they don't follow the rules.
This ACN is a bad company, no business with them....they just fool people.
Who so ever this curtis is, do not believe him, they talk and talk and shout, do good nothing, will make you buy lot of thing from ACN and your 499, gobble up all the money with their point system.
If you have a real job, just do it peacefully, you are much and far better at walmart or mcdonald, their return rate is penny an hour, their residual income propaganda is total scam, they cannot stand the mathematics...
Granted having a job that pays you is nice, but how does walmart work? Do they not earn from their sales? Now you may argue over the fact that is is a one time sale, and has nothing to do with residual...
But wait a minute, what is over at the electronics counter? Are those cell phones? Yes, walmart is earning residual from cell phone contracts. They are partnered with multiple carriers, including a prepaid service along with contract based carriers. You are just working for them and earning pennies on the dollar. I know, I worked the electronics sales floor in walmart. I did phone contracts, I sold tvs and computers. I Knew what I was doing in that department as I fix computers and design home theaters on the side. I was the "go-to" guy in the electronics for all customer questions. Though I never felt a need for them, I sold many protection plans to customers as well. But did walmart care? Did they give me a raise? Did they pay me residual on all the contracts I acquired for them? Nope. Management changed, and I was part of the half of the store that was laid off.
I started my own businesses. I run computer support. I created an online system with a dedicated staff that manages our clients on a national level. We also service locally, both business and residential.
I also run a car group, and help fund our events, and do vehicle modifications as a side business.
And guess what, I do ACN as well. I don't care what you think of me. I'm happy where I am. My ACn business is growing fast.
ACN may be considered pyramid on some peoples eyes. But guess what? You don't have to get other people to join! While having business partners to acquire more customers is the smartest and fastest way of increasing your income, it's not required.
You can treat ACN as a standard business. Just think about it, its all customer based. No customers, no money. Simple business. You get an income from your customers. So? Go out and get all the customers you want and forget about growing your team. Granted, you will not get the growth others have discovered, but you will still earn an income. When you think about it this way, it's just like owning your own kiosk at the mall for cell phones (without the $50,000 in rent, thousands in franchise fees, investment for having to keep stock, etc.).
But that's the whole point of MLM. You can do the business how you want to. You will need to get customers. If you can't do that, then why do you think about business? If business is not for you, get a job like 95% of the world's population. To get customers, you either do the work yourself, or split the workload through business partners. That is why you have a job at your time for money workplace. The owners are not going to come in to do the work when they can just pay you pennies on the dollar to do the work for them. That's the real scam, you are working the business for your boss at your hourly paid job.
Life is what you make it. If you buy into others beliefs you buy into their lifestyle. So, do you want to listen to the guy who works minimum wage living paycheck to paycheck about how to handle your finances, or would you listen to the successful business owners (from cell phone stores, car dealerships, and others) who have sold their businesses to do ACN full time?
I recently joined ACN. I am very excited about this opportunity and feel really blessed to be a part of ACN.
The real scam are all the businesses who are stealing, playing games with peoples lives. I work for a non-profit company. No one would believe the way employees are treated at this company. It's sad, I was supposed to get a raise this year but my hours were cut, so that's not going to happen. I will get a raise by working hard with ACN. With hard work I will be successful. While you all are watching TV and getting fat, I'm working at my business. By the way, I'll be making money on your watching TV.
The higher the horse the harder the fall...
This sex offender sister Tracey taft is also not behind either, check her at traceytaft dot acnrep dot com
She is very deep into several several thousands of debt,
She is always a pure 100% parasite, expert in playing games,
and living on charity and alms,
that's the way her whole family grew up, on charity and WELFARE.
Where she works at wcsqr dot com, she claims that her boss Alan and Evelyn Smith are swingers.
Many men on her facebook are her 'friends with benefits' and then a long list, and
whichever party she goes, she ends up in bed at their houses or hotel.
With her screwed credit history, she managed to get into "Events and Adventures" club,
which she claims is a hookup place. Apparently she could not trap a man
over there, they could see through her shameless skin.
She has no place to live on her own, live in a weird arrangement with her friend Mary Ostroot
boyfriend Nigel Ryder. Her own family had kicked her out of their homes.
Well written Curtis!
Curtis is a liar and cold be very surely a convict, convicted of rape, drugs, felony or something.....
so can you.....
anybody on the internet could be anything if you havent noticed. so, maybe thats why everyone who has negative thoughts about acn should really find out about it. oh it didnt work for my friend, my neighbor, my so and so. its ok for all you non believers out there. we will still need people to serve us food at a restaurant, wash our cars, etc. this business isnt for everyone. but for those of us it is for, congrats to us
I have no doubt that motivated people with natural sales ability can make money doing multi-level marketing, but they need lots of fish to get there. I had a friend who called me back five times pressuring me into joining Amway ("products you use every day") until I decided he was no longer my friend.
Everyone has a complaint about their cable or telecom company, but I don't know anyone who would jump into a new cable service without some idea of the servicing infrastructure.
It also may not help that I'm not a fan of Donald Trump.
I have a pension and a health plan and it's not thanks to being "in business for myself". I've been on the receiving end of too many "exciting opportunities I can't really explain to you over the phone" to get caught up in this stuff.