X-Message-Number: 4808
Date:  Tue, 22 Aug 95 17::36 
From: Steve Bridge <>
Subject: Network selling

To CryoNet
>From Steve Bridge
August 22, 1995

In reply to:    Message #4799
                From: Peter Merel <>
                Subject: CRYONICS "Cheat Death Now, Ask Me How"
                Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 12:03:11 +1000 (EST)

>There are similarities between cryonics and network marketing. Both of
>them encounter high resistance at first - lots of people have seen the
>"Make Money Fast" spam, or seen the "Send $10 to discover my secret" ads,
>or been approached by Amway bots. People are dubious about these schemes,
>but plenty of them try them anyway - and some of them even make a little 
>money. A very few of them make a lot - I know a couple of people who were
>the first to introduce Amway to Hungary, and they're squillionaires now.

     A couple of thoughts here: As someone who tried selling Amway for a 
while, it's better than many of the other schemes.  Amway is a bit ahead 
of the crowd in integrity, since it at least has consumable *products* to 
sell, and most of the products are of decent or better quality, although 
often over-priced.  Of course, what is sold to potential new distributors 
IS much more the sizzle than the bacon (gets lots of other people to sell 
for you so you make lots of money), so that drops Amway back a notch.  

>So it occurs to me that perhaps cryonics could be sold this way. The
>spiel is that we're not just selling cryonic suspension, we're giving
>you a commission on the memberships that you "and your organisation"
>sell. You don't even have to sign up if you don't want to - so long as
>you build a network of people beneath you to do the selling (to whom
>you give the same spiel I give you) you can just Make Money Fast.

     Maybe it's self-defeating to feel this way; but if Alcor went to such 
a sales method I would quietly retire from cryonics and just be a 
customer.  I could never feel enthusiastic about an organization that used 
these methods to build growth.  Especially, I could not believe a cryonics 
organization that included sales people who didn't believe in their 
"product" enough to sign up themselves.  In fact, such a lack of personal 
commitment has been a weakness of some cryonics organizations in the past 
(not of Alcor).  Americans, at least, have had so many bad experiences 
with sales people using network methods, that the entire field of cryonics 
could shortly appear to be -- or even turn into -- the fraudulent 
enterprise that many of its critics have claimed it always was.

     Perhaps treating cryonics like any other fast-selling, profit-making 
idea is a way to make both companies and individuals a lot of money.  If 
the income was applied properly, it might fund research and professional 
paid staff improvements that would really lead to something worthwhile.

     However, the usual results of network selling methods is an almost 
total emphasis on SELLING something, not on RESULTS for the product 
itself.  I want to live.  I want results.

Steve Bridge, Alcor


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