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What Have We Learned from Zeek Rewards?

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The year was 1932. The Great Depression had most American’s diving nose-down into a financial abyss so deep, it took a World War II economy to dig Americans out. It was also the year the musical New Americana debuted on Broadway. It’s most famous song—”Buddy Can You Spare a Dime?”—went to Number One on the Hit Parade twice: once sung by Bing Crosby, once by Rudy Vallee.

They used to tell me I was building a dream
And so I followed the mob
When there was earth to plow or guns to bear
I was always there, right on the job.

Why so much enthusiasm for a world-weary song that celebrated the lemming-like parade of Wall Street swindlers and the “mob” of everyday citizens who trusted in the promise of unending prosperity? Because the song was truer than the promise!

They used to tell me I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead
Why should I be standing in line
Just waiting for bread?

There are more than a million Zeek Rewards Independent Affiliates now humming the tune written by Jay Gorney to accompany those lyrics of Yip Harburg. Because even in 1932 the world-weariness of that tune was an old and familiar song, suggested to Gorney by a Russian folksong his mother sang to him in a Siberian Shtetyl after one of many Jewish Pogroms. No matter where you live, no matter who you are, the lies and disappointments can get to you.

Once I built a railroad, I made it run
Made it race against time
Once I built a railroad, now it’s done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
 
Everything about Zeek Rewards seemed opportune. Whether you accept without challenge the government’s charges or believe Zeek is another lost opportunity, there is no arguing over the popular enthusiasm it inspired, making Zeek potentially the fastest growing direct selling campaign in history.
 
Once I built a tower up to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime
Once I built a tower, now it’s done
Brother, can you spare a dime?

Zeek was a tower now “done” in every sense of the word: More than 25-million-dollars-a-month in paid commissions; more than a million Affiliates in more than 40 countries around the world; and now “done” doing business anywhere in the world, now described by the SEC as a violation of securities registration law and a Ponzi scheme, now described by Forbes Magazine the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. All accomplished with very little in terms of distributor marketing materials, infrastructure, or the kind of corporate glamour you would expect to be associated with a billion-dollar company. (The Laundromat that shared the small Zeek building was technologically more impressive than the corporate offices.)

Say, don’t you remember? They called me ‘Al’
It was ‘Al’ all the time
Why don’t you remember? I’m your pal
Say buddy, can you spare a dime?

It’s hard now to find folks too who admit their early enthusiasm for Zeek. Lots of prognosticators (mostly those who didn’t make money with Zeek) will tell you they “knew all along.” The Internet nay-sayers are pounding their chests for having gotten one right. But the only people making money anymore are the lawyers, many of whom will make a living picking at the bones of Zeek for the next decade or so.

(One distributor group I’m aware of have paid more than $100,000.00 to attorneys instructed to get the judge who permitted the SEC action to set aside its ruling. How likely is it to succeed? Watch the video above to find out.)

But what have we learned? Really? And what can we do about it next time? Because in MLM, there is ALWAYS a “next time.” Another exciting opportunity. Another “revolutionary” product or service. One more chance to ride the merry-go-round and reach for the brass ring.

We may not have learned much. But we have been reminded of a lot. Among those remembered lessons we will perhaps not this time too soon forget:

  1. Just because people are making money doesn’t make it legal.
  2. It’s not enough to have good legal advice. You have to act on it.
  3. When the regulators come a-knocking…it’s usually already too late.
  4. Don’t believe what you hear. (“It’s been approved by the FTC” or “the attorney’s have said it’s all OK” or “My brother-in-law really knows this stuff….”)
  5. There are rules, regulations, and MLM wisdom that comes only from experience. If you don’t have it yourself, buy some! (Many of the bloggers for MLM.com consult to companies like yours.)
  6. “Nice people” don’t always make the best “businessmen.”
  7. No matter how good your compensation plan or how glossy your sales literature or how “revolutionary” your product or how cool your video or how “robust” your website…nothing can replace the MAGIC some MLMs have and most don’t…anymore than the MAGIC can turn a scheme into a legitimate business.
Once in khaki suits, ah, gee, we looked swell
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum.
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don’t you remember? They called me ‘Al.’
It was ‘Al’ all the time.
Why don’t you remember? I’m your pal
Say buddy, can you spare a dime?
 
 

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