eLifespaces

Enjoying the company of some old friends, last night was my first introduction terms such as “personal residual income,” “overriding residuals,” “balanced compensation,” and more. A notable celebrity (on the pre-recorded DVD program that led off the meeting) said to act now, professing the importance of “personal marketing.” According to the executive team trainer (the leader of our meeting), the time is right to get your piece of the revenues of the electronic age.
Sign up and you can receive commissions from the cell phones, telephone, Internet access, security, video conferencing – even power bills of those whom you sign up! And if they sign up folks, you get a commission from those! It is all a part of the overriding residual and balanced compensation that enable early retirement.

Before the “gathering,” a friend offered an informal “litmus” test to judge whether I was in the midst of cult bearing ‘pyramiders’:

• The endorsement of a wealthy investor
• Unshakeable faith and irrefutable evidence
• The "associate" who makes thousands per week in his spare time
• All training and promotional materials provided for free
• No up front large investment
• No inventory to carry
• Weekly “shindigs” for support
• Easy to use web site
• Does your spouse desire the ‘good life’
• Don't you want to retire early and live the life you have always dreamed about?

Sure enough – the introduction of our successful real estate celebrity, magazine articles aplenty, spotlights on television, involvement of local CPAs & surgeons, weekly meetings at an area hotel, investment of less than $500, sold out regional, national and international meetings for the several months, good life within reach with monthly income upwards of $3K/$7K/or even $25K! And to top it all off – our executive team leader retired only a few months ago to pursue this full time.

According to the Security & Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov/answers/pyramid.htm), a pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment primarily for enrolling other people into the organization, rather than from any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Sure does skirt on the edge.

My bottom line, too many variables not addressed. They couldn’t address internet speed or bandwidth because it currently wasn’t available in our area. They suggested keeping your current ISP (Internet Service Provider) but sign up for other services and when available you could get this, too. Lastly, if there is so much money available for everyone to get a cut of everyone else’s bills, at some point the cards will fall. I think I’ll stick with the organizations who actually provide the service rather than those who are reselling them.