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Abstract

181b">He wanted me to hang out —but only because he got paid if I did.I didn’t even respond. I wished I’d just muted his notifications rather than said anything.A few weeks after that, his account got banned from Facebook — presumably because he’d driven too many people nuts.About a year or two after that incident, I was looking for a job and got duped into this scammy job interview.I didn’t have a degree yet and was looking for something simple. The job descriptions read, “Marketing/Customer Service/Public Relations”, so I thought that might be a good experience for my resume.I got to the office for the interview and red flags started popping up immediately. There were 20 people in the lobby waiting room. It turned out it was a “group interview” (which I didn’t even know was possible).When I went to use the restroom — the hallway leading to the bathroom was lined with a dozen phones on a long, poorly assembled table.There were also these cliches: “Become your best self”, “Overcome adversity” posters on the wall above those phones. I presume these posters were meant to cheer up the sullen telemarketers who were being hung up on that day.This job opportunity turned out to be selling knives door-to-door, via phone, or on cold calls.I walked out of the group interview and left shortly after they began talking about using your “natural network” first.Natural Network means selling to your friends and family. This is very common with MLM (Multi-level Marketing).This is just me giving you well-intended advice: don’t treat friends and family as customers.It’s a recipe to burn relationships.<p

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id="283d">I’ve seen people juke their buddies and lose friends over scam products.<h1 id="da9c">When It’s OK to Market to Friends</h1><h2 id="cdf8">1. It’s a special occasion</h2><ul><li>You’ve published a book.</li><li>You’ve started a new company or service.</li><li>You’re opening your new store.</li></ul>Or maybe you are doing a fundraiser for medical costs or some terrible thing that you need help with.Don’t pressure friends.Be gracious. Don’t call people out. Educate them and raise awareness. Full stop after that.<h2 id="99a0">2. It’s a product they are already buying</h2>It’s common for people to buy insurance, cars, real estate, from friends and family. Often, they’d rather give you that business anyways.Remember: always place your relationships above the job.Don’t sell to them if you think the product isn’t right. Don’t sell if you don’t trust the rates or the performance of what you’re selling.Money is a very sensitive subject. Friends will feel obligated to buy if you go to them directly. If a friend feels they wasted their money because of what you’ve sold them, it will damage their trust in you.They’ll add that bad deal to the small list of things they think about when they hear your name: “Oh, that’s my friend John. He’s cool. He also sold me that P.O.S. leaky sailboat.”Unless you’ve found the actual Fountain of Youth and you’ve got cheap access to it, my advice — don’t sell to loved ones.We are scheduled for a very short time on this Earth. The longer it goes, the more you’ll realize that the most important thing you’ll ever have is your relationships. Protect them with great care.</article></body>

Don’t Hawk Your Junk to Friends and Family

Except on two occasions, don’t market to people you know

A longtime friend of mine was promoting bar crawls in my area.

It was a new gig. He’d been working a soul-crushing job in retail.

His new job paid him by the number of people who showed up for each bar crawl. To attend the crawl, you prepaid, got a wrist band, and then got to drink as much as you wanted.

I understood his desire to move to greener pastures. But I disagreed with his methods.

As soon as he took this job, he pushed the gas pedal all the way down. He went full used-car salesman on Facebook.

He was privately messaging everyone. Posting spam several times a day, “Bar crawl this Friday! C’mon out!”

In DMs, he was pinging me twice a week, inviting me out to these events.

While he and I used to party quite a bit, I’d grown out of that phase of my life. The constant messages were too much. I wasn’t interested.

It continued on for more than a month. I finally sent a message along the lines of, “Hey bud — can you stop sending me this stuff, please? These events aren’t really my thing.”

It was like I’d set a bomb off.

He reacted and blew up on me, “You keep bitching that we never hang out. And every time I invite you you never show up” It was a full angry paragraph.

He wanted me to hang out —but only because he got paid if I did.

I didn’t even respond. I wished I’d just muted his notifications rather than said anything.

A few weeks after that, his account got banned from Facebook — presumably because he’d driven too many people nuts.

About a year or two after that incident, I was looking for a job and got duped into this scammy job interview.

I didn’t have a degree yet and was looking for something simple. The job descriptions read, “Marketing/Customer Service/Public Relations”, so I thought that might be a good experience for my resume.

I got to the office for the interview and red flags started popping up immediately. There were 20 people in the lobby waiting room. It turned out it was a “group interview” (which I didn’t even know was possible).

When I went to use the restroom — the hallway leading to the bathroom was lined with a dozen phones on a long, poorly assembled table.

There were also these cliches: “Become your best self”, “Overcome adversity” posters on the wall above those phones. I presume these posters were meant to cheer up the sullen telemarketers who were being hung up on that day.

This job opportunity turned out to be selling knives door-to-door, via phone, or on cold calls.

I walked out of the group interview and left shortly after they began talking about using your “natural network” first.

Natural Network means selling to your friends and family. This is very common with MLM (Multi-level Marketing).

This is just me giving you well-intended advice: don’t treat friends and family as customers.

It’s a recipe to burn relationships.

I’ve seen people juke their buddies and lose friends over scam products.

When It’s OK to Market to Friends

1. It’s a special occasion

You’ve published a book.
You’ve started a new company or service.
You’re opening your new store.

Or maybe you are doing a fundraiser for medical costs or some terrible thing that you need help with.

Don’t pressure friends.

Be gracious. Don’t call people out. Educate them and raise awareness. Full stop after that.

2. It’s a product they are already buying

It’s common for people to buy insurance, cars, real estate, from friends and family. Often, they’d rather give you that business anyways.

Remember: always place your relationships above the job.

Don’t sell to them if you think the product isn’t right. Don’t sell if you don’t trust the rates or the performance of what you’re selling.

Money is a very sensitive subject. Friends will feel obligated to buy if you go to them directly. If a friend feels they wasted their money because of what you’ve sold them, it will damage their trust in you.

They’ll add that bad deal to the small list of things they think about when they hear your name: “Oh, that’s my friend John. He’s cool. He also sold me that P.O.S. leaky sailboat.”

Unless you’ve found the actual Fountain of Youth and you’ve got cheap access to it, my advice — don’t sell to loved ones.

We are scheduled for a very short time on this Earth. The longer it goes, the more you’ll realize that the most important thing you’ll ever have is your relationships. Protect them with great care.