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Weavers
This is my own term for a skilled Networker. These are the "Products of The System" AKA "the intensive sales and manipulation training courses" offered by most Upline Organizations or MLM companies. The terms for the Phases of an encounter with a Dream Weaver are not the official terms from the trainings. I have opted to instead use the inner circle terminology. It is more direct and to the point.
Not that you know HOW the Dream Weaver operates lets go over a few of the all time favorite stories from the Dream Weavers bag of tricks. I Was Just Like You Before..... The story sounds like this: "Oh I understand exactly what you are saying. I was a housepainter before I got started with XYZ. I was having trouble making ends meet, fitting in the kids activities and vacations were totally out of the question." What ever the Dream Weaver can associate with what he or she perceives to be your current state of affairs he or she will take on. If you are Blue collar the Dream Weaver was a worker, If you are white collar, the Dream Weaver was either also white collar or grew up in that kind of a household. It is all PHASE I tactics. If it is a group setting where you encounter the Dream Weaver he or she will generally appeal to the lowest common denominator. This way no one is left feeling that they could not be successful because they didn't possess the Dream Weavers skills. I never told a room full of prospects that I had 24 sales jobs in a 6 year period when I was a young adult. I also didn't mention my extensive computer skills and how easy it was for me to whip out some marketing materials. The dream Weavers goal is to appear non-threatening. The Truth is that even a moderately successful MLMer ($2K+ per month) has generally been well indoctrinated into the System and has read many books and attended intensive training sessions. I used to teach people how to use the skills without sounding like you were working a formula. We would literally break out into small groups and practice on one another in the trainings. I would have new recruits call me to pitch me until they sounded "natural". There is nothing natural about the professional sales approach. Every move is planed well in advance and executed in sequence to move the prospect to action. The difference between a professional product sales person and a Dream Weaver is that a salesperson is going to give you something tangible for your money. A Dream Weaver deals in either.
Be Your Own Boss... The Story goes like this: "If you look around the community who are the people with the money? The business owners or the workers? The sad fact is that you are never going to become one of the wealthy people at your J.O.B. which stands for just over broke. Your boss is making money off your efforts. If you are going to get wealthy (or insert something you are after here) you need a plan. You have to plan your work, and then work your plan. With our company you have the opportunity to go into business for yourself. And not just any old business. No you will be running your own High Tech Global Distribution Empire from right here in your home office. No overhead, no employees, no inventory, and we provide you with all of the tools you need to become successful" Well first off this is not a friend sitting with you over a few beers saying "You know what Bob, that little gizmo you made for my bass boat is great. Bet you could make a killin' gettin' them in all the bait shops. In fact I talked about it with the the ol' ball and chain and we would like to invest in your success." No the Dream Weaver has identified that you are willing to make someone else money and it just frustrates the hell out of him or her that he or she isn't getting her fair share. If they have such a fantastic opportunity that can make anyone successful why don't they go get a bunch of folks down at the soup lines and get them started? Because they have no money. They don't really have a revolutionary business plan, they are selling ether. The goal is plan and simple Phase III smoke blowing.
Ground Floor Opportunity... The Story Goes Like This: "How would you like to have been in on the beginning of Microhard, or Scamway? Do you know where you would be right now if you had bought $1,000 of stock in Microhard back in 1776? Why you would be worth more than God! Or how about Scamway? There are now umpteen million Scamway distributors worldwide. People are going to be getting in on the action with our company. It is just a question of whether or not you are going to sit on the sidelines again, content to watch everyone else eat your lunch again" Actually it is easy to understand why so many people fall for this one. It is magical by nature. Ever watch a magician? You know what he is doing can't be done so you watch like a hawk & then Ta-Dah you were faked out anyway. What the magician does is called redirection. All they need is timing and the ability to get you to look away for a brief second while they do the old switch-a-roo. This tactic is classic in that it incorporates so many elements of the con that you should need a special license to use it. Lets tear it apart, shall we? First off The Dream Weaver tells you this is a Ground Floor Opportunity. Now maybe you are not an expert but as soon as you hear this you are thinking "Ya know, lots of business fall on their face when they are just starting out." If this were any other traditional brick and mortar business that you were considering buying you would start your research and develop a business plan etc. You would quickly find out that a start up MLM has a snowball's chance in hell of even making it to their second birthday. Since WWII 40,000 MLM companies born in America. 130 made it to their 5th birthday and $10 million in yearly sales. The Dream Weaver can't have you thinking like that if we want you to thin out your bank account before the evening is over. Now if the Dream Weaver told you the truth the trick would be over so the Dream Weaver does the next best thing, he or she lies. Now if you are going to lie there are several things key factors to making it work. The best is to lie BIG, no sense getting caught in a petty little lie. Then You want it to be so big that no one would ever stop to consider that you are spinning a yarn. So for our example we have taken a business opportunity that in fact has less than a 1 in 300 chance of making it and we have associated with one of the all time greatest success stories in business. Very cleverly the amount of $1,000 was used to demonstrate how much these people profited because almost every Dream Weaver is going to sting you for $1,000 or less. Then just to get all of your emotions entangled lets throw in the grand daddy of all MLMs in such a way as to get the bad taste of MLM out of your mouth. They ask if you would like to have been in on the beginning of a large MLM, if you would like to have all of those distributors in your organization making you money right now. They don't ask you if you want to pester your friends or even join MLM. So after the Dream Weaver has usurped two of the biggest success stories in the business world they simply proclaim that everyone will be joining this sleeping giant and then they start the take away game. Instead of asking you what you think about what he or she said the Dream Weaver frightens you with teh fear of loss telling you that someone else could be getting what should rightfully be yours. All you have to do is get in now. BTW- There have always been scores of people who got in big MLMs in the very beginning and who never made $100 at it. The MLM companies don't pay you to join, you pay them. Then you have to get others to join too. But alas this is what make a Dream Weaver a Dream Weaver. The ability to stand in front of a room full of people and make absolutely no sense at all WITH CONVICTION!
Retire in 3-5 Years... They all say this. There are a few problems with this too. Mainly the chances of the company still being there in 3-5 years is very slim. The other problem is that even if the company is still there the business plan hardly works for anyone. If this were not true you would know many successful people from some of the big MLM companies. I mean do the math, if a company has been around 5-20 years and they have over half a million to 3 million distributors and the 3-5 year plan is so hot we should all know of a few of the success stories the MLM industry should be pumping out year after year once they mature. Right? Yeah, Right! The problem with these 3-5 year plans is that over 90% of the people in MLM never even make $100 a year. It costs way more than $100 a year to chase the dream, er.. I mean follow the business plan, and most folks haven't figured out how to retire on negative cash flow.
MLM Is The Poor Mans Franchise... The Story Goes Like This: " Ya know Harry, if you are going to get ahead statistics show us that you are going to need some form of leveraging your time or your money. You need to have your resources work for you, not just the other way around. Now lots of people play the stock market, and some do OK. Now we are not knocking that, it is just that you need money to make money with that plan. You also need to be able to loose your money because you have no control over what the companies do with the investment money you loan them. The next biggest option most folks consider is business ownership. At least here you can more directly effect control over how your investment money is used. Now the two paths to take with this are starting your own business from scratch with your own money and ideas or choosing the more reliable franchise business model. Many folks choose the franchise model because it is a turn key approach to business. Someone else figured out how to make the business successful and you pay a fee to use their system. The best part about this business model is that franchises have over and 80% success rate. The down side is a dependable franchise will cost you $80-250K to get started. It can be years before you make your money back. Now the beauty of our MLM is that we have a proven system like the franchise model but you are not going to have to shell out thousands. In fact you have a whole organization of people collectively known as your upline who are invested in your success. These people work for you and you never have to pay them a dime. If fact they don't get paid untill you make money." There is a word I'm looking for, oh what was it. Oh Yes. BULLSHIT! If this were true there would be at least 32,000 successful MLM companies who were over 5 years old and doing at least $10 million in yearly sales. Just like the ground floor opportunity story there simply isn't any merit here. Zip. Zero. Nada. Anyway if the upline don't get paid until you make money how come they are so hot to get you to buy in at the top level? Wouldn't it stand to reason that they would want you to save your money for marketing or some other legitimate business expense? Why do they brag that this business doesn't requite any overhead or inventory and then sock you with a start up inventory bill? Or are you buying "THE SYSTEM?"
We Have A Proven "SYSTEM"... All of the Dream Weavers talk about their proven system. If their system is so how why aren't people lined up at the door of the opportunity meetings. I mean if there was a job fair in town you had better get there early to find parking. Those people have a system that is proven and everybody knows it. You show up for work, do your task and get paid. Well I will reveal what "The System" really is. But first let me tell you what it is billed as. You are told that to be successful at the business you need to do certain things, take certain actions. Lets assume you buy into this business plan and you in fact did what was asked. Most likely the first thing you will realize is that you are not getting the same results that your mentor is. But that is OK. You are still new and excited and you commit to plug in harder. Nothing really changes for you and it now about 6-9 months out. You talk with your upline leader and you get the ".Shame Pitch". Basically you are told that the fault rests clearly on your shoulders. You are somehow not fully committed, you didn't go to every function, you didn't go to the National convention, you are not on the book or tape of the minute program and if you don't get with the program you are giving up on yourself. As a final word of encouragement you are told that the only way for The System to fail you is if you quit. The people the Dream Weaver gets with this approach are as good as money in the bank. You see the Shadow MLM is the book tape and function circuit. I know of professional MLMers who make over 70% of their money from the Shadow MLM. The people who are desperate to make it in MLM will either spend money chasing after the dream until the money runs out or will keep at it until they actually make it and become one of the rare success stories that can get up on stage and perpetuate the illusion. Sad part is most folks never know they are being used in this way by the Master Dream Weavers who are putting on the functions and selling the books and tapes. The Shadow MLM is very profitable for the Master Dream Weavers. The rank and file distributors pound the streets and spend lots of money gathering the hopeful masses and then deliver them up the the high priests and priestesses of MLM for an intensive brain washing. Any MLM Pros out there like to challenge me on this point? If your opportunity really was a sleeping giant and you really were providing a proven system that truly delivered franchise like results for the price of an average computer system you wouldn't be able to keep people away from your opportunity meetings with the National Guard.
Now The Other Shoe... You may be thinking, "What?? Do these Dream Weavers think we are all Stupid?" No far from it. I have gone to the homes of doctors with original Picasso and Dali paintings on the wall to train them and their friends how to make an "extra few hundred dollars a month". I would assert that the dumber you are the less likely it is that a Dream Weaver can totally snow you. If your stupid and you know it and a Dream Weaver starts to tell you how smart you are and how you are just the kind of "key person" the company is looking for to expand their multi million dollar business in your area you are going to know they are full of it because you already know you're stupid. No at the end of the day the sound the other shoe makes when it hits the floor after the Dream Weaver and the prospect (now future Spell Caster) crawl into bed, is the needy whine of our greed. The Dream Weaver gains a foot hold into your bank account through your greed. He or she knows that you really want to believe. This is why they do the dream building sessions. Just incase you are out of touch with your over consumptive nature a Dream Weaver will sing the praises of materialism as loud and as proud as any Rap Singer would (listen to the lyrics of a few Rap songs and you will hear what I am talking about). The most interesting dynamic related to our greedy nature being exploited in MLM is the dichotomy I see when I realize that every major religion in the world denounces materialism in no uncertain terms yet go to a few national conventions and you would probably come away thinking that Jesus himself invented MLM (unless you owned a copy of the "good book" yourself and actually read it). Now I know I am going to piss of allot of "Good Christen MLMers" with my last comment. And actually I hope I do. It is one thing for the Dream Weavers to manipulate greedy and lost souls with deceptive stories of franchises, early retirement and the hype of The Next Big Thing. However, it is an entirely different playing field when a Dream Weaver corrupts our sacred teachings to support the hedonistic materialism MLM holds up as a glorified Deity.
I know this is long and I am sorry about that. But just like the magician will practice for years and years just to divert your attention for a fraction of a second so too have the Dream Weavers been sharpening their ax. It is my hope that by knowing the underlying foundation of their trickery you can help yourself and others realize that "The MLM Emperor Has No Clothes."
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