Why is it so expensive to live in a major city? There are many variables; escalating rents, excessive licensing and permitting for small businesses, ever-escalating property taxes, and much more. What follows is NOT journalism. It is OPINION. And that’s a bit of transparency badly needed in today’s 24-hour news cycle reporting. But these are opinions made by observing conditions in a single major city for well over a 10-year period. I’m … [Read more...]
Dangers Of Multilevel Marketing
This is a personal article, and as such the opinions contained in it are mine alone. Names have been changed, details altered, but what follows is a true story and a cautionary one. I got a phone call from an old schoolmate asking if I had time to “talk about a business venture opportunity”. That opportunity turned out to be a multi-level marketing program of some kind. I am a freelance writer and artist, and I don’t have time for such … [Read more...]
How To Tell You’re Getting Scammed
Do you know how to tell if you are being scammed? It doesn’t matter if you are investing money in a multi-level marketing program, applying for a line of credit, or taking the advice of Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey in the investment market; there are tell-tale signs you could be subject to a scam. Do your internal alarm bells start ringing when someone asks you to pay via wire transfer or Bitcoin? If not, keep reading. You may want to revise some … [Read more...]
Common Complaints LuLaRoe Received In 2019
According to the LuLaRoe official site, Mark and DeAnne Stidham founded the company in 2013, “with a dream to teach and share their entrepreneurial business success”. The company got popular with consumers and consultants alike, but over time, the company has fielded its’ share of LuLaRoe complaints. LuLaRoe has received a variety of them in 2019. Complaints about the company’s business model, transparency with its’ consultants, privacy, … [Read more...]
The FTC Goes After Neora
I have spent a lot of time writing about MLMs, multi-level marketing companies, often called pyramid schemes. While all of these companies have an element of making money both through the sales of product and the recruiting of new members, the worst of the worst require their distributors to buy a set amount of product from them in order to be eligible for their paychecks. And those paychecks are based on both the amount of product you sell, … [Read more...]