PREPAID LEGAL AS A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Dear Uncle Jim,

I'm interested in what you think about PrePaid legal not so much as a service but more as a business opportunity.

I have some material here I've been looking at it and I'm thinking about signing on as a sales associate. I really think it's a valuable service but what I don't like is that it kind of reminds me of Herbalife and etc. You have to buy into it and they don't give you a protected territory.

What is your opinion?

I love your show! I haven't called in yet, I just enjoy sitting back and listening.

Very truly yours,

Gary Gambardella


P.S. I was surprised when I heard you comment on the incestual marriage practices of the Tibetans. Not many people know about this! It's kind of a dirty little secret among the lower castes. It's origins I do not know but I can tell you for sure it is NOT a positive institution in my opinion, that is it does not add to the stability of the family. Polygamy on the contrary, at least how the Mormons practice it, IS a positive institution.

Gary,

Thanks for calling my radio show and discussing this topic on the air.

[Multilevel marketing is a well-established formula for selling many quality products. Uncle Jim's opinion refers to no specific company or product - just words of caution.]

You mentioned that the company wanted $240 for what amounted to a training course book.

Many companies solicit associates but require specific training that they JUST HAPPEN to offer. It is a win-win situation for the company. Either they sell you the course, acquire an associate, or both. Keep that in mind before forking over money for a training manual.

What do you get besides a book?

Not even an exclusive area? That means that the guy next door could be your competitor in the morning - destructive competition. No Thanks!

Get rich quick schemes hawked on TV are essentially book-selling rackets. Subscribers to these programs should realize that if these mechanisms worked, the industry professionals would be using them. Real Estate, Stock Market, Insurance, whatever -- there are no secrets!

Fortuitous factors can combine to make fishy mechanisms technically possible. Some "students" do get lucky, but the vast majority -- show me the stats!

Testimonials are sometimes out and out phonies. Promoters make millions but wind up in jail. Some people work their tails off, prosper because of their own ambition, but give testimony to the promoter anyway.

A popular variation is the prospect of hitting it big in the insurance game. They wow you with a whirlwind of "great" products, management possibilities, and megabucks. You pay for training and drag your family into high commissioned products. You and your family were the targets all along. They win.

Some stay on and become part of a cult-like, ruthless, sales and recruiting force -- always selling, always recruiting.

Some lose families when relatives realize that their "whole life" policies have more holes than life because premiums went to commissions. Their once favorite niece or nephew ripped them off.

The bookstores are full of get-rich-quick books, as well as texts that debunk those rascally schemes. Do some research before paying dead-end tolls on the road to riches.

Everybody's Uncle