Investors from Kuching, Sibu and Bintulu lodge reports against firm

Investors from Kuching, Sibu and Bintulu lodge reports against firm

When I read this article in the paper today, it reminds me of a meeting my hubby and I had with his niece. She was trying to get us to join into a scheme similar like this. The scheme sounded unbelievably easy, except that I'm a total paranoid when it comes to MLMs and such. Before we went to meet her, my hubby and I discussed and decided that it's not a good time for us to invest our money in such things, as we were expecting the birth of our first child, and basically, me being the pessimist.

So, when we got to know of the scheme and the products involved, I just couldn't comprehend the benefit I would get for charging downlines a fee of RM2K++ to join it. To me, if I want to sell an honest. transparent business selling aromatherapic lamps, oils, etc, I could just do a business proposal, get a loan from the bank, rent a shoplot and run my business!! (By now you would know which I am referring to). Yes, it's hard work, but what isn't? Cheating money out of people's pocket, that is! It's just a marketing strategy when you try to approach your ex-schoolmate whom you haven't met in light years to come and do business with you. But for some, it is out of desperation trying to make the money works for you in a quick, simplest way you thought possible.

Some MLMs do have trustworthy products to go by... To know which, you can simply identify what products stand the test of time in the market without having to commercialise them in super/hypermarkets. I particularly like AVON, Tupperware (to name a few) that actually serve their clients well. Trusted brands need no promotion nor bulky capital. They have a proper marketing strategy, step-by-step guide to selling their products, AND they don't base the business on recruitments.

MLMs aside, affiliate marketing is a different marketing practise, which actually mushroomed in surge of the digital age, and still going strong. According to wikipedia, "The concept of revenue sharing—paying commission for referred business—predates affiliate marketing and the Internet. The translation of the revenue share principles to mainstream e-commerce happened almost four years after the origination of the World Wide Web in November 1994." Affiliate allows people to gain commission by ensuring hits, clicks and allowing promo in their blogs, webpages, and now their spaces (facebook, MySpace, etc) It's like getting paid for allowing a banner to be placed in your home la, basically. Comprendo? (Oh, at last I make good use of the Spanish lessons) At the moment I'm trying an affiliate program which have a 'main kutu' element to it, which I think could work really well if I have a specific, regularly-maintained blog. So if you have lotsa time at hand, go for it!


So, friends, be aware of what you're joining, as there are always fine prints that you need to look into. Business opportunities are vast, it's just a matter of finding our niche and knowing what we love to do the most. Taking a 10 mins time off in the midst of office tasks to write this is unacceptable. But I really need to pass the message.


Cheers to a sunny day!

How to Spot A Bad Leader (Courtesy of PsychologyToday)

1. Use of Threats and Punishment
Punishment is simply a bad and generally ineffective leadership tactic. The goal of punishment is to STOP undesired behaviors. It does nothing to encourage positive, productive behaviors in employees. People who are punished, or threatened with punishment, feel resentment and want to get back at the source of the punishment.
From the leader's perspective, punishment is ineffective because it turns you into a "police officer," constantly on guard to catch any and all offenders (punishment is only effective if it occurs immediately and consistently after each violation).
Threats can only be effective if a boss is willing to follow through with the threatened punishment ("do that again and I'll fire you"). If unwilling or unable to follow through, then it will be seen as an "empty" threat, and the leader will lose control.

2. Use of Fear Tactics
Leaders sometimes use fear to try to get followers to toe the line, or as a motivational strategy ("if production doesn't pick up around here, people are going to lose their jobs"). Similar to threats, this strategy can often backfire. Fear can cause stress, and in extremes, reductions in performance and efficiency.
A common use of fear occurs when leaders create an "us versus them" mentality. We have seen this used by political leaders when they create an atmosphere of fear from threats outside of the group or nation (e.g., fear of unnamed terrorists; statements like "they are out to get us"). Fear can cause groups and organizations to "hunker down" and go into a self-protective mode that can stifle creativity and innovation.

3. Self-Serving Use of Power
How often have we heard the phrase "power corrupts"? Actually, power only corrupts when it is used for self-serving ends. Often leaders become "intoxicated" by the increased power that their position gives them. Bad leaders let that power go to their heads and do things that are in their own best interests without considering the interests of the collective.
Corporate leaders who ensure that their salaries and bonuses are secure, while freezing employees' pay or using layoffs to decrease expenses are recent examples of the self-serving use of power.

4. Creating Factions: Ingroups vs. Outgroups
Although there is nothing wrong with creating "A team" of top performers, or favoring your best employees, there is a delicate balance between creating healthy internal competition and blatantly playing favorites. Bad leaders, however, reward ingroup members not because they are top performers, but because they show loyalty or "kiss up" to the leader.
Bad leaders cultivate their ingroups with favors, and that makes it difficult for outsiders to identify bad leaders, or for followers to dislodge the leader from the position of power. The ingroup followers defend the leader and work to keep him or her in power. Bad leaders often exist because their followers allow them to remain.