MLM or multi level marketing as it is also known has over recent years received some bad press. The main reason for it's somewhat tarnished reputation has more to do with miseducation than hard facts. People hear the term MLM and immediately their guard is up expecting all kinds of double dealings and get rich quick schemes. Then they switch off to whatever you have to say about your latest hot opportunity after which point everything goes straight in one ear and out of the other. This is a little sad because real MLM is a legitimate business opportunity designed to sell real products or services and reward everyone involved. The best way to explain what makes a real MLM business is perhaps to exclude those things that are no such thing.
An legitimate MLM business is not one that has no real products or services to sell. Companies spring up all the time especially on the internet that are to say the least a little vague about what they are actually selling. These types of business are only interested in recruiting members into a "downline" for a monthly fee in exchange for some flimsy marketing system that is designed purely to recruit more of the same. Nothing is ever sold to anyone but fees are taken and commissions are paid to those who bring other folks into the system. The end result is that when the supply of folks coming in at the bottom is no longer sufficient to finance the commission payments up the line the whole thing collapses in on itself. This is called a pyramid scheme and most governments have outlawed such programs as totally illegal. So always check that any company you are considering joining sells real products or services and not just online marketing system.
Not so long ago there was a proliferation of pay to surf programs that operated under the guise of internet marketing companies. The way they worked was that you invested money with them and they then paid you a huge return on that investment if you clicked on other peoples adds whilst surfing the internet. The only problem was that the adds you surfed were placed by other folks also surfing for money with the same program just as you. What was more these programs were offering to pay you comission on the money folks you signed up paid into the program. You don't need to be Einstein to work out that with no product or service being sold and money going out in interest/commissions the system was unsustainable. Once the supply of new people coming in dried up the whole thing went belly up and most folks lost whatever they had invested at the time. This was a classic "ponzi" scheme named after a guy called Charles Ponzi a criminal who in the 1920s defrauded thousands of dollars from investors in similar pyramid type schemes.
A genuine MLM business is one that offers real products or services at sensible prices and does not charge fees just to partake. There are plenty of them out there and folks are making a real living out of MLM selling a huge range of products from soap to credit cards. Multi level marketing does exactly what it says on the tin. It markets at multi levels with everyone sharing the work load and being rewarded for their efforts. You are encouraged to recruit people into the business and yes you do also leverage your commissions through their efforts. The difference is however that everyone earns directly from their own sales and is rewarded accordingly.
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Crystal Radio Sets are Alive and Kicking
Author: Ned Norris
I was brought up under strict conditions. Bedtime was at a certain rigid time every night. Lights out meant no reading; it meant sleep. It certainly did not include listening to radio broadcasts.
But as a child of thirteen, I discovered the delights of the crystal set. It was a frustrating affair. The workings of it have remained a complete mystery. How, I wondered then, could a lump of gray mineral possibly capture radio waves and do so without a battery?
Now, several decades later, the answers are easy to find on the Internet – here I quickly discover that crystal sets, and the parts to make them, are readily available today – even though they look vastly different from the crude thing I had. In comparison, today’s look…well…positively modern.
To my amazement, according to Google there are 81,200 pages that contain the phrase “crystal set".
There is even The Xtal Set Society http://www.midnightscience.com which says it is "dedicated to once again building and experimenting with radio electronics." It advertises books, parts and kits. One kit is called the Quaker Oat Box Radio Pack. It contains one roll of 24-gauge hook-up wire (100 feet), one germanium diode, one 47,000-ohm resistor, one alligator clip, and one crystal earplug. Sounds just about as basic as my old set…but I don’t remember the other instructions that come with this kit: “You will need to provide your own antenna wire and oatmeal box."
The advertised price is $8.95. Do some reverse inflation calculations and you will know better than I now remember roughly how much I paid for my set back in 1947. Any money I had in those days was ‘earned’ by not spending my lunch money at school, so I know the set I had was dirt-cheap.
Radio Shack sells starter kits too. Describing a project for “beginning experimenters" at http://www.thebest.net/wuggy/rs99fun.htm one reviewer said “the Radio Shack crystal radio kit Cat. No. 28-178 is a pretty fair starter set. It does work, and some simple modifications will enhance its performance." When he wrote four years ago, the price was $9.99. After some modifications, which he describes, he was able to listen to New York, Netherlands Antilles, Cuba, Charlotte NC, Chicago, “and a few others". What a difference a coil of wire for an antenna makes!
For some fascinating photographs, you might want to take a look at http://www.schmarder.com/radios/crystal With their knobs and dials for tuning in a favorite station they make me positively envious!
There was no simple method for tuning my set. I remember there was a contact of some sort, and that by moving this minuscule distances across the crystal you could, with much patience, tune in a radio station. Usually, it was faint. Fiddle with the contact and the signal would be lost and found again many times before a signal strong enough to enjoy came in. And it would often disappear in the middle of a show for no obvious reason.
“He aims and fires, but he misses…and that was his last bullet. The killer reaches for him, the axe raised in his other hand, and …" fizzle, crackle, silence. Mutter, mutter (the latter being me)!
Now I understand I needed to pay much more attention to installing a good antenna – a 50-foot piece of wire outside the house and as high as possible – and that I needed a good ground. But as a 13-year-old, I simply wanted to listen under the bed covers in the dark to my favorite radio thriller.
It almost didn’t matter what the program was. Each had the compelling signature music, sometimes just single musical notes, the voices with their sense of urgency, the suspense, the climax, the scripting formula. I also remember the screech of car tires in chase scenes. It was pretty gripping stuff for a small boy.
Remember how shoes were always soled in hard leather? Rubber didn’t make enough noise. Doors always squeaked; silent ones would not have been much use on radio. And do I remember correctly that detectives were always men and that secretaries were always women?
Today, when I recall those days long ago, I remember the crystal radio set with its finicky connection that would fade to almost nothing at the crucial point in the story. Then it would come back just as the announcer was saying something like: “So long! See you next week."
This article is also available as a .pdf file at the following url: http://www.rusc.com/misc/crystal-radio.pdf
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(c) Ned Norris. This article can be reprinted, used in newsletters or on web pages as long as it is credited to Ned Norris of RUSC.com, it appears in its entirety and the resource box below is included.
Travel back in time to a land where classic old time radio shows live-on to be enjoyed once more by young and old. RUSC is an Aladdin's Cave of classic radio broadcasts for you to download and listen to at your leisure.
Both Kevinor & Ned Norris are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Kevinor has sinced written about articles on various topics from Real Estate, Computers and The Internet and Travel and Leisure. Kevin Moore owns the YourTurn2Earn website a great resource for internet marketers of all levels. Everything you need to know in one place including the amazing MLM Online Business Builder. Check it out at. Kevinor's top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.
Ned Norris has sinced written about articles on various topics from Entertainment Guide, Leadership and Multi Level Marketing. Ned Norris is webmaster of a site specializing in downloadable old time radio where you can have instant access to thousands of classic old time radio shows. Ned Norris's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.