So my brother-in-law got into this 'Mila' stuff because a student in the 
class my sister teaches brought in a sample bag.  Skeptic that I am, I'd 
tried some of it and was all 'fine, I'll have a go at a longer-term 
trial' and bought a pound-bag and started consuming 1 serving per day.

One pound (456.6 g) is $55, and a serving is 2 tbsp (13 g).  For myself, 
that one serving gives me all the energy I need to be clearheaded and 
awake for a standard day-period (had been having major problems with 
that for a long time).  Also has a fair amount of nutrients, Omega-3s, 
proteins, etc.  It has a lot of fiber, both soluble and insoluble, the 
upshot being that it makes me feel full, but has the stuff to compensate 
nutritionally, so I've been needing to eat a lot less (and am likely 
quite a lot healthier, now).  This, in turn, has saved me...noticeably 
more on groceries than the $55 it cost in the first place.  (And the 
pound bag I bought on the 7th of January isn't empty yet, when it should 
be just about getting that way.  Not sure if I'm skimping on my serving 
sizes or what.)

It has a shelf-life of 2-3 years, so that's not a concern...(could be 
used as a viable emergency-shelter food, since you can put it in water 
and drink that).

Signing up with the company that sells this lets me buy it for cheaper 
than that, so...ok.  Saving myself even more money.

I desperately need an income source, and signing up with the company 
makes me a distributor (classified as an independent contractor, which 
lets the company wash their hands of having to do silly things like 
provide employee benefits and such).  The website my membership fee pays 
for ( http://www.lifemax.net/TimCook ) handles all the stuff so that 
people can buy from it, I get paid $10 per pound sold, and I don't have 
to muck about with figuring out all the details of a retail web site.

Well and good.

Here's the punchline, though:  the company selling this stuff has 
decided to go with network marketing as their sales approach.  While 
distributors are not /required/ to sign up other people to become 
distributors and so on, it /is/ *strongly encouraged*.  Their practices 
and policies document *does* strictly prohibit unethical or illegal 
business practices on the part of distributors, but the tendency of the 
cynical people that populate the wilds of the internet is to look at 
this, say 'aha!  that's just a pyramid scheme, after my wallet any up to 
no good!'.  Except...as far as I can tell, they're completely legit, 
utterly lacking in some of the distinguishing properties that define a 
pyramid scheme.  For instance, I don't have to sign anybody up as a 
distributor.  At all.  I don't have to actually sell any of the product, 
let alone an absurd quota (though I do kind of /need/ to, from a 
financial standpoint).  Their membership fee?  $50 or $60 for a year, 
$30 of that being for running and maintaining the web site that people 
can use to buy the product in a way that I get paid.  Last I checked, 
that was reasonable for any sort of 'real' web serverness, or 
memberships in general.

My dilemma is:  overcoming the perception people have of MLM, to get 
across the idea that the Mila itself, as a product, is really quite 
great, and to find people on the internet that actually have any kind of 
money at all in this day and age because hardly anybody I communicate 
with has a stable job.

--
Tim Cook
http://empyrean.sjcook.com
http://www.lifemax.net/TimCook

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Le 13/02/2012 20:56, Tim Cook nous fit lire :
> 
> My dilemma is:  overcoming the perception people have of MLM, to get
> across the idea that the Mila itself, as a product, is really quite
> great, and to find people on the internet that actually have any kind of
> money at all in this day and age because hardly anybody I communicate
> with has a stable job.

That's not your dilemma, but your problem.

BTW, one meal a day in western society is about enough for most
sedentary adults, as long as you can keep the stomach calms with
something to digest all day long. Also, same food everyday is just a
maddening diet: a month or two might be ok, but a few years is just loony.


A dilemma is having an alternative between two possible bad choice.

Such as Prisoner’s dilemma: two people are arrested and asked for
confession. If neither confess, the evidence alone would lead to a 2
year jail sentence for each. If one confess and not the other, the
confessing gets free, the other one gets 10 year of jail. If both
confess, the 10 years are shared: 5 years for each.

Would you confess or not while still possible ? That's a dilemma.

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On 2012-02-13 14:39, Le_Forgeron wrote:
> BTW, one meal a day in western society is about enough for most
> sedentary adults, as long as you can keep the stomach calms with
> something to digest all day long. Also, same food everyday is just a
> maddening diet: a month or two might be ok, but a few years is just loony.

Yeah, that's why I throw in a different flavour into the bottle of water 
I mix this into (alternately, you can put it in basically any food).

> That's not your dilemma, but your problem.
> A dilemma is having an alternative between two possible bad choice.

Picky picky.

I'm sure it could be reworded /into/ a dilemma...

--
Tim Cook
http://empyrean.sjcook.com
http://www.lifemax.net/TimCook

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Tim Cook <z99### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

Give it a try if you're willing to go door-to-door and you can be a
"closer", but don't expect much if you're not willing to recruit others. You
can make a modest living at it if you're willing to give it as much time as
you'd give any other job.

I can help you with closing if you want to give it a try, but my work
schedule can make me hard to reach sometimes. Don't remember where you're from,
but my number in Texas is 832 2eightseven 133--6.

 -Shay

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On 2012-02-23 08:53, Shay wrote:
> Give it a try if you're willing to go door-to-door and you can be a
> "closer", but don't expect much if you're not willing to recruit others.

There's my problem; I'm a bit of a shut-in.  Further, I'm *not* exactly 
willing to recruit others.  If the person wants to sign up, on their 
own, sure, I'll help them do that, but I'm not going to push it.  I 
think it's a great product; it has saved me money, personally, and it 
helps me be awake.  But I'm a dreadful salesperson.  I tell someone 
about it, dish out what I know, then expect them to make their own 
choice.  If they don't seem interested, I stop bothering them about it. 
  (Unless I forget I've already told them about it, in which case I give 
my spiel again and they get irritated.)  That's the internet for you...

> I can help you with closing if you want to give it a try

What all does this 'closing' entail?

> Don't remember where you're from,

Middle-of-nowhere, Iowa.  T_T

--
Tim Cook
http://empyrean.sjcook.com
http://www.lifemax.net/TimCook

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Tim Cook <z99### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>
> > I can help you with closing if you want to give it a try
>
> What all does this 'closing' entail?
>

Turning a conversation into a sale.

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On 2012-02-24 15:43, Shay wrote:
> Tim Cook<z99### [at] gmailcom>  wrote:
>>> I can help you with closing if you want to give it a try
>> What all does this 'closing' entail?
> Turning a conversation into a sale.

My problem is that I'm pretty firmly in the mindset of 'I present the 
information about the product, just the facts (as I see them, at least), 
and let the person decide on their own'.  I could do and provide a 
sample to the person so they can try it first, but other than that...I'm 
not inclined to be a pushy salesman.

--
Tim Cook
http://empyrean.sjcook.com
http://www.lifemax.net/TimCook

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Tim Cook <z99### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>
> My problem is that I'm pretty firmly in the mindset of 'I present the
> information about the product, just the facts (as I see them, at least),
> and let the person decide on their own'.  I could do and provide a
> sample to the person so they can try it first, but other than that...I'm
> not inclined to be a pushy salesman.

Don't do it then. People have all the facts they need about nutrition; Almost
all of them make terrible choices. Don't bet on common sense unless you're ready
to force it down their throats.

If you believe in a product, there's nothing wrong with being pushy. You'd push
health on your family, wouldn't you?

Alcohol, cigarettes, and lottery tickets sell themselves.

 -Shay

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