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Raffle Winner Gets Basket of Expired Mary Kay Products!

L J — Sat, 08 May 2010 14:12:00 +0000

Here’s a novel way for Mary Kay consultants to get rid of those old, expired products: put them all in a basket and raffle them off at a home show!

Here’s a story I received from one of our visitors:

On 4/18/10 I attended a Home & Garden Trade Show. There was a Mary Kay Booth set up by an Mk Rep, where she was raffling away a Mary Kay Basket. One of the team members of this Rep called me on 4/21/10 and turns out I was the winner of that
basket. I picked up my basket and When I got home I did that first thing a girl that just won make up would do start playing with it,well when I inspected the products I noticed one of the lotions was rancind, seperated and smelled really bad. I then got suspicious that these products are old and I called the the Mary Kay corporate head quarters 1-800 – Mary- Kay and explained my suspicion Emma the Customer Service Rep asked me for the 4 digit product code on each item and what we found was that half of the products were indeed expired. She explained to me that these products only had a shelf life of three years from the manufacture date and then they go bad. These are the results.

Mary Kay Affection LotionKF31 – 2006 MAY (expired 2009)
Shower GelKH05 – 2006 JUNE (expired 2009)

Private Spa Collection Embrace Harmony
Mist KM31 – 2006 August (expired 2009)
Lotion DC27 – 2003 March (expired 2006)

Creamy Cheek Color FT27 – 2004 October (expired 2007)

Downtown Dazzle Color Collection – HC10 – 2005 March (expired 2008)

The customer rep then told me that their Demonstrators are not supposed to give away or sell old products that are old that they need to be claimed as a lost and that MK rep needs to exchange them for fresh product for me. She asked me
for the information of the lady that raffled the basket away and found that she is a Director for the company. The customer service rep takes my information down and tells me she is going to call MK rep and have Mk Rep contact me. I get
a call back from the Mary Kay HQ and tells me they talked to the MK Rep who denies knowing me. The Mary Kay HQ Customer service tells me there is nothing they can do for me since they don’t control the Directors or any of their
consultants.

I do feel that they should be held accountable and replace the products for me since their Director is representing and using the Mary Kay name and knowingly gave products that are old and expired and could be potential health risk.

And what about this whole god first, family second career third. She sure as heck wasn’t acting godly by giving away old products. And then to top it all of her Rep is still calling me to have a facial done.
That is funny! Dude you just left the most horrible impression on me and you still want me to give you the time of day.

So now all I have is a basket because the products were useless and had to be thrown away. LOL

Baltimore Principal Recruited Teachers to Sell Mary Kay

L J — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:55:46 +0000

This is a doozie!

Principal Janice Williams of the Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship high school in West Baltimore allegedly went into teachers’ classrooms to ask them for their credit card numbers so she could order Mary Kay inventory for them.

Principal Williams is a sales director for Mary Kay, and, of course, stood to gain financially from each transaction. She was the subject of an internal investigation, but it’s not clear whether any disciplinary action was taken against her. She is still currently in her position with the school. Williams has denied the allegations.

You can read the account here: Principal signed Filipino Teachers to Buy, Sell Makeup

Mary Kay Successful in China

L J — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:27:17 +0000

According to a recent article in the New York Times, Mary Kay Cosmetics is seeing great success in China. There are now approximately 200,000 Mary Kay Consultants in China, and direct sales is sweeping the country. AVON and Amway have large sales forces in China as well, with AVON signing up some 50,000 representatives a month.

In 1998, China banned direct sales companies, claiming they were covers for various evil activities and intentions. But in 2006, China lifted this ban and the direct sales companies came flooding in.

Many of the Chinese Mary Kay recruits are already discovering many of the negatives that U.S. current and former Mary Kay consultants discovered: claims of great income are realized by very few, and many Chinese consultants who are making money are making not much more than they are or were in their “real” jobs.

As usual, a Mary Kay spokesperson is quick to defend the “business opportunity”:

“Mary Kay is extremely careful in communicating to members of the independent sales force that their success is up to them,” he wrote in an e-mail message. “There are no guarantees and that they should invest in their business carefully.”

Of course everyone should do their best to research any potential money-making venture before signing on the dotted line. But the hype and rah-rah environment and tactics used by Mary Kay and other MLMs and direct sales companies is, some say, designed specifically to get the potential recruit to override any internal doubt they may feel and to dismiss any objections or questions they may have.

It seems the Mary Kay invasion of China will only expand. There are just too many things that make it attractive to Chinese women. And when you read the quote from the Chinese woman saying she loves Mary Kay because of the “professional training” they give her, you realize they’ve already made great inroads.

How to Earn a Mary Kay Car and Become a Director: The Mary Kay Career Path

L J — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:34:50 +0000

A huge thank you to “Denise,” a wonderful member here who was gracious enough to send me the current Mary Kay Advance brochure.

This 31 page document tells you everything you need to know about the Mary Kay career path. For instance,

How much inventory do you need to purchase in a Mary Kay contest quarter to earn your Emerald star for your ladder of success pin? (Answer: $3600)
How do you earn a Mary Kay car? (Answer: The details start on page 21)
Once you’re a Pink Cadillac driving director, how much production does your team need to order in a quarter so that you don’t have a car lease payment? (Answer: $45,000)

Download the Mary Kay Advance Brochure

It’s Ho-Ho-Holiday Open House Time!

L J — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:45:23 +0000

It’s Holiday Open House season for Mary Kay Consultants.

Mary Kay meetings right now are filled with Directors showing Consultants how to make pretty gift baskets filled with Mary Kay products and how to set up hundreds of dollars of inventory in pretty displays all over the house.

When I was a consultant, I too was convinced that Holiday Open Houses were the thing to do. I spent hours cleaning the house, getting a few food goodies set out for guests, making all my Mary Kay special edition items looking grand…and yet, I really didn’t sell a whole bunch. Open houses took a great deal of time and didn’t really deliver.

Sure, there were always one or two consultants who sold 500 or 1000 or 2000 dollars worth of Mary Kay to dozens of guests.

But for the most part, consultants just didn’t have enough customers to even justify such a holiday event, let alone to get many sales.

Did you ever do an open house? If so, was it a success?

Donald Trump Starts His Own MLM

L J — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:48:27 +0000

Donald Trump has jumped on the MLM bandwagon with the debut of his Trump Network.

Great. Just what we need. Another celebrity lending their face to an MLM scheme.

After all, if Donald Trump has gotten into MLM that must mean that MLM is a valid business structure as all the MLMers tout, right? If Donald Trump is in MLM it must be great, right?

Wrong and wrong.

Obviously associating Donald Trump’s face with a “business opportunity” is an attempt to add legitimacy to not only his little MLM venture but the industry as well.

I can just hear all the MLMers now, in their recruitment schpeels: “MLM must be great. After all, Donald Trump apparently thinks so.”

The Trump Network products are a strange lot: There’s an in-home test to assess whether you’re getting the proper level of nutrients; The Silhouette Solution, a meal plan that looks similar to things like Jenny Craig, to help you shed that unwanted weight; and QuikStik, described as a “Mood Infusion beverage.”

Oh brother…another supplement and nutrition MLM. Why? Because you can make up anything you want and market it as effective. The FDA doesn’t regulate these types of supplements, so you can basically claim what you want without fear of having to prove it. Then charge a pretty price.

And like a good businessman, Donald makes sure that if you sign up to sell his products, you must accept a monthly auto-ship of the products, which will cost you $129.20 per month.

All the typical trappings of an MLM are there, including a “fast start bonus” for recruiting others quickly and your own website, which you can have for $19.95 a month.

Donald Trump is a businessman who’s counting on his name recognition to add credibility to his MLM business and thus make him a fortune. With this venture, however, he’s completely lost any credibility in my eyes. His MLM is just the same old hype in a new package.

No related posts.

Maybelline New York Holding Big Beauty Event July 30th at Grand Central

L J — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:35:35 +0000

Received this press release in email yesterday and thought you might be interested.

MAYBELLINE NEW YORK TO HOLD SENSATIONAL EVENT JULY 30 AT GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL RITE AID AND OUTSIDE GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL

Professional Makeup Artists to Offer On-The-Spot Mini Sensational Lipcolor Makeovers Inside Rite Aid
and Under Grand Central Taxi Stand at 43rd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue

Live Musical Performances by the Cast of Broadway’s CHICAGO the Musical Under the Grand Central Taxi Stand

Camp Hill, PA (July 27, 2009) – Maybelline New York will be center stage Thursday, July 30, with the cast of Broadway’s CHICAGO the Musical to launch Maybelline New York’s new Color Sensational Lipcolor. The fun starts with free on-the-spot mini sensational lipcolor makeovers at the Rite Aid in Grand Central Terminal and outside under the Grand Central Taxi Stand at 43rd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue. Highlighting the event will be live musical performances by the cast of Broadway’s CHICAGO the Musical under the Grand Central Taxi Stand at 3:30 and 4:30 p.m.

Professional makeup artists will provide lip-scriptions and help women identify their perfect lip shades and offer first come, first served mini sensational lipcolor makeovers at Rite Aid, 26 Grand Central Terminal, July 30, 8-10 a.m., 12-2 p.m. and 3-7 p.m. Makeup artists also will be outside under the Taxi Stand at Grand Central Terminal 3-7 p.m.

Visitors can enter to win free tickets to Broadway’s CHICAGO the Musical, with Maybelline New York giving away a free pair of tickets every hour between 3 and 7 p.m. Coupons for Maybelline New York’s Color Sensational Lipcolor, gift bags filled with sample size products and 50 percent off discounts for CHICAGO the Musical will be available on a first come, first served basis.

“We’re thrilled to support the national debut of Maybelline New York’s Color Sensational Lipcolor with the lipcolor makeovers at our Grand Central Station Rite Aid store,” said Judy Wray, Rite Aid Category Manager, Cosmetics/ Fragrances. “From the CHICAGO Dance Mob street team dressed in costume promoting the event inside and outside Grand Central Station to the street performances of the cast of Broadway’s CHICAGO the Musical, this is a tremendously creative promotion that is sure to get some attention.”

The promotion also gives Rite Aid customers a sensational deal on tickets to the hottest show on Broadway, CHICAGO the Musical. Tickets are available for as low as $64 now through Oct. 6 and can be obtained by visiting BroadwayOffers.com or calling 212-947-8844 and using the code CHMBRO625.

With any purchase of Maybelline New York Color Sensational lipcolor, New York customers also can enter to win a CHICAGO prize package with a grand prize of two free show tickets, a post-show backstage tour and a CHICAGO gift basket including a CD/DVD package, stockings, t-shirts and souvenir books. Ten runners-up prizes include two free show tickets. Details are available in Rite Aid stores.

Maybelline New York is available in over 90 countries worldwide. Offering more than 200 products, Maybelline New York combines technologically advanced formulations with on-trend expertise to create accessible cosmetics with a spirited style. For more information, log onto www.maybelline.com for the latest news and product introductions, seasonal trends and advice. Also available in Spanish.

Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) is one of the nation’s leading drugstore chains with more than 4,800 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia with fiscal 2009 annual sales of more than $26.3 billion. Information about Rite Aid, including corporate background and press releases, is available through the company’s Web site at www.riteaid.com.

Even If Most People Are Lazy, It Doesn’t Make MK Great

L J — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:16:07 +0000

So often we get comments from Mary Kay consultants pointing out that you have to work to make Mary Kay, or any venture, successful. They argue frequently that most people are lazy or give up.

It does seem true that most people do the bare minimums to get by. They are content to put in their hours at their job and go home. There is a small percentage of the population that excels. They don’t give up. They persist where others would throw in the towel.

And this is true in sales positions like Mary Kay, even more than regular positions. No one ever said sales was the easiest thing to do. It takes a special personality, I think, to plug ahead and shrug off the rejection, to do the actions necessary to make connections and make the sale.

But from all the information I’ve gleaned over the years, MLM still seems to be a losing proposition for the majority of people. I’ve seen people work their tails off in various MLM companies with very little success. Yet I’ve seen this same effort put forth by others in what I would call “real” sales positions and do very well, thank you. And they don’t necessarily have to believe whole-heartedly in their product either. Lots of people in sales work for companies whose product they don’t necessarily think is the best out there, but they are doing their job to promote it.

So while most people may be lazy, it doesn’t follow that MK, or other MLMs, are necessarily a good idea.

Making money through Garage Sales and Flea Markets

L J — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:01:31 +0000

Here’s another article written exclusively for pinklighthouse.com by bizymoms.com

There are many of us who have a keen knack for trading, and we simply know a good bargain when we see one. This natural skill can be turned into one of the most successful home business ideas by engaging in buying and selling activities at garage sales and flea markets. Most of us do not have the financial capacity or the risk appetite to indulge in a large volume trading business. So garage sales and flea markets offer an attractive opportunity to conduct the same business at a small scale, with very low investment and risk, and such a business can be run from the home itself.

In fact, you can start your home business in this field with absolutely no investment. You can simply clean out your closets, attics and garage for old stuff that you do not need. Simply load all the stuff in your vehicle and sell it at a garage sale, a flea market or a swap meet. You will be able to earn an amount of cash from this sale that you can use as capital for your flea market home business.

If you have a sharp knack to judge good products that are available at throwaway prices, you can start buying a few such items that you are sure have a strong demand in the market. Therefore, apart from good buying sense, you also need to have a pulse of the market and be aware of what the trends are as well as the hot selling items that are in demand. Accordingly, you can buy a few surefire items from the flea market and refurbish and clean them up for sale at another place.

With your initial buying and selling efforts and your experience in flea markets, you may then consider starting your own garage sale or a flea market out of your home. All of the items that you have purchased from a variety of places can now be put up for sale at your home. Sometimes a flea market may also specialize in a particular product such as furniture, while some other flea markets may deal in all kinds of merchandise under a single roof.

In fact, it is not necessary to deal only in used merchandise for your flea market or garage sale business. You could even make a tie-up with a wholesaler, a general merchandise liquidator or a surplus trader who keeps a large stock of items that are production overruns, order cancellations, or leftover items from stores. All these are basically A-grade quality products but available at much lower prices due to odd lots. You could create a successful business if you can buy the right products at the right price, which will always have assured demand from customers.

BIO: Bizymoms has been helping women work at home for over a decade and now helps those who are looking to start a home business with a variety of home business ideas to choose from. Visit today to get your business started!

Viral Followers: Pyramid Schemes on Twitter!

L J — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:22:01 +0000

PinkLighthouse.com is now on Twitter, like so many other sites and people.

As far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out on Twitter. While I use it for several other sites and can see its usefulness in many applications, I also see the ridiculousness of it.

But I thought PinkLighthouse being on Twitter could engage some interesting discussions. When this site is experiencing glitches (which, thank goodness, doesn’t happen often) you can check in on our Twitter feed and get the status of things.

And in the less than 24 hours since PinkLighthouse.com joined Twitter, I’ve already discovered pyramid schemes on Twitter!

It’s called “Viral Followers” and there are several sites online where you can sign up to be part of this scheme.

It works like this:

You go to one of these websites and enter your Twitter username and password and it “retweets” a message to six or eight other Twitter users
As a result, you will automatically start “following” the 6 or 8 people in front of you “in the system.”
Your “retweet” contains a link to the viral follower site and when others follow this link and sign up to do the same thing, they will have to automatically follow you
You get more and more followers as a result.

Isn’t that exciting?! It’s a pyramid scheme to get you more Twitter followers! Yea!

And it continues on and on, up to 7 levels deep until you have ten of thousands of followers! As one of these viral follower sites says, you could get over 87,000 followers “if the scenario…happens exactly as I described it.”

Where have we heard this before? Oh…that’s right! MLM! You recruit a bunch of people and they recruit people and if everything happens just the way their little diagrams show, you end up making a bunch of money!

So you can collect thousands and thousands of Twitter followers, and if you’re lucky, maybe one or two of those people will give a hoot about you or your business or website (since this is what most of these people are trying to promote.)

I know that the people participating in these types of pyramid schemes think that more followers are going to translate into more money or visibility for them. But have they stopped to think how ridiculous it is to blast their “tweets” to anyone and everyone who signs up for this thing?

You can market your brains out, but if you message isn’t going to the right people, the people who are interested in and might need your service or product, you are COMPLETELY wasting your time.

But hey…if you get bored collecting “friends” on Facebook, at least you now know you can head over to Twitter and collect “followers” as well.