Pink Truth: Look Before You Leap: Getting a Head Start on Your Mary Kay Business (Part 2)

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Look Before You Leap: Getting a Head Start on Your Mary Kay Business (Part 2) Feb 29th 2012, 12:00 Written by DupedByPinkFriend We frequently discuss some of the falsehoods and partial truths in the Mary Kay recruiting spiels that tend to hook women who are only looking to get their products at a discount, or just want to earn a few extra bucks per month, and have loads of fun while they’re at it.  [...]

This is part 2 of yesterday's article.  I thought yesterday's article was long.  Apparently it was only part 1.  This is more of the same from yesterday.  Pink Truth loves to combine all the "yeah, but..." statements into one. The one that jumped out to me here was the "Executive income with part time work".  Pink Truth knows (because they have posted articles where directors talk about how much work they put into their business that no one actually claims this.  Well, maybe some do, but if Pink Truth can say that everyone does, I should be able to say that no one does, right?  Anyway, you will here that you can work your Mary Kay part time.  You will here that you can make an executive income.  That does not mean that you can make an executive income by working part time. Just another example of Pink Truth hearing what they want to hear so that they can rant and rave about how terrible Mary Kay is.

Pink Truth: Look Before You Leap: Getting a Head Start on Your Mary Kay Business (Part 1)

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Look Before You Leap: Getting a Head Start on Your Mary Kay Business (Part 1) Feb 28th 2012, 12:00 Written by DupedByPinkFriend If you are here at Pink Truth today for the first time, and you are reading this because you want to know all the facts before you sign up, you are already ahead of the game!  You are doing exactly what an astute businessperson must do before beginning a new venture:  you [...]

This article from Pink Truth is as unbalanced as the misleading Mary Kay information they claim to be challenging.  Filled with opinions and assumptions, this is no better a resource in making a decision than an overzealous Mary Kay recruiter. There are plenty of good reasons to not get involved in Mary Kay.  There are also plenty of good reasons to get involved. You definitely should do due diligence on the opportunity before you invest.  That should include researching other sources besides Mary Kay.  However, I do not recommend using Pink Truth as a source. Getting advice from Pink Truth about Mary Kay would be like asking a vegan for advice on what steak to order from a new restaurant.  Pink Truth can't stand Mary Kay.  They have no ability to look at the situation objectively.

Pink Truth: How to Legitimately Steal Recruits From Your Unit Members

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

How to Legitimately Steal Recruits From Your Unit Members Feb 27th 2012, 12:00 You have a hotshot in your unit who is getting ready to go into DIQ (Director-In-Qualification). Here’s how to get some recruits from her team that she won’t be able to keep when she becomes a director. And it is allowable under the Mary Kay rules. This is one of my favorite sneaky tactics promoted [...]

Unless I am missing something, this really is as sneaky and underhanded as Pink Truth makes it sound.  Unless the DIQ continues to earn commission on these "left behind" recruits, this is just bad business. For one, these recruit's recruits would have been hers if they waited until she became a director. For another, this would "motivate" the would be DIQ to hurry and try to rush into directorship so that she would stop losing those recruits.  Rushing is bad. This looks like a recipe for crashing and burning your would be director before she even gets started.

Pink Truth: My Wife Makes Over $5,000 Per Month With Mary Kay!

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

My Wife Makes Over $5,000 Per Month With Mary Kay! Feb 24th 2012, 14:32 Since Pink Truth came on the scene in 2006, we have had a number of “Mary Kay Husbands” visit the site and tell us how wrong we are.  Their wives are “successful” in Mary Kay, and we are liars, losers, bitter, spiteful, and more. Last week, we were paid a visit by Eric Conklin, the [...]

Well this is the kind of thing that gets Pink Truth all kinds of excited isn't it?  Finally, an actual person that is genuinely persecuting us! See, here is the proof of the kind of abuse we deal with all the time.  Don't ask us about why we have so few examples of this, or why the only examples we can produce are outrageous characters that don't accurately reflect normal society. Anyway, clearly this guy is delusional.  Or intentionally exaggerating (grossly) his wife's actual income. And hostile. But he calls a spade a spade and I am kind of surprised that Pink Truth splashed what he had to say about them all over their page. Oh wait, they are not interested in getting at the truth - they just want to fuel their little "drama" so they get readers.  And by they, I mean Tracy. And by readers, I mean people to click her ads.

Pink Truth: Getting Mo’ Money: Why Recruiting Mary Kay Customers Is Good (Well, Not Really.)

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Getting Mo' Money: Why Recruiting Mary Kay Customers Is Good (Well, Not Really.) Feb 23rd 2012, 12:00 Written by Lazy Gardens Did Mary Kay Ash say, "Nothing happens until someone sells something"? Or did she say, "Nothing happens until someone recruits someone."? Here’s a slick explanation of why it’s a good idea to turn your customers into your competitors. This is on several UnitNet sites as “training material”. Misconceptions of Team Building [...]

This whole thing makes my head spin.  The Mary Kay training material.  Pink Truth's response to it.  It brings to mind the phrase "flash in the pan". I will only comment on one thing that the Mary Kay document says that I feel bears examination.  Item number 3 says, "You are not too new".  Clearly, you don't need to know anything about Mary Kay to bring someone in.  But if you want to 'pitch' them Mary Kay with any level of integrity, isn't it a good idea to have been in long enough to know for yourself that it is what you are saying it it? Once again, the Mary Kay document is pretty ridiculous, but Pink Truth elects to throw themselves against 'ridiculous' with their own brand of ridiculous, making this article utterly useless.

Pink Truth: A Comment on Critical Thinking in Mary Kay

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

A Comment on Critical Thinking in Mary Kay Feb 22nd 2012, 12:00 This comment was left yesterday by a Pink Truth visitor. I thought it needed its own post! MARY KAY IS A SCAM which drives women into debt with their trinkets and labels them 'failures' when the real issues are an unworkable, unprofitable business model and manipulative corporate culture set up for failure with unethical behavior, [...]

Supposedly this was a comment left on the blog yesterday.  It may be from a visitor, or it may be from Tracy.  Either way, it falls perfectly in line with what Pink Truth has been saying all along. After rambling on and on in typical Pink Truth fashion, the reader/writer concludes... " Run far away from any organization that doesn’t permit critical thought or thinking. " Which is interesting to me, because that means this reader should be running from Pink Truth more than Mary Kay.  I wonder, if she/he did a little critical thinking and question asking that exposed some of Pink Truth's "dirty little secrets", would that critical thinking be permitted? Spoiler alert. No, critical thinking is NOT permitted on Pink Truth.  So, sorry to say, but this post is what we call hypocritical.

Pink Truth: Should I Order Mary Kay Inventory?

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Should I Order Mary Kay Inventory? Feb 21st 2012, 12:00 Well what a silly question! If you’ve just joined Mary Kay, of course you should order inventory. In case you didn’t know, your recruiter doesn’t make any money unless you order inventory! You don’t actually need to sell anything. If you order, the recruiter profits, period. Get ready for the “inventory talk.” Most importantly, you’ll [...]

As usual, I don't think Tracy even read the Mary Kay document she posted before she did so.  She says Mary Kay is going to pressure you into ordering a huge initial inventory order and offers as proof a document that says over and over again, "this is YOUR choice". Setting that aside, at the end of the document, it recommends using all $500 that you make (in retail sales) to buy more inventory, assuming that you first bought $600 wholesale.  I may be off in my thinking about this, but I want to recoup my initial investment before I spend more.  So, I would (personally) spend $250 on inventory and $250 on replenishing whatever account my initial $600 came from. Once I have paid myself (or husband or credit card or friend or aunt or niece) back the initial investment, than my business can truly stand (or fall) on it's own merits.  After that, and assuming that I don't need to pay myself right away, building inventory with all incoming dollars makes sense. This may just be the way my brain works, but I thought I would throw that out there.

Pink Truth: How to Recruit the Customers of Other Mary Kay Consultants

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

How to Recruit the Customers of Other Mary Kay Consultants Feb 20th 2012, 12:00 Anita Garrett-Roe, national sales director with Mary Kay Cosmetics, calls this "Golden Rule Thinking Regarding Recruiting". I think it is more appropriately titled "Do It Before I Steal Her From You". Once again, Anita shows us how you can technically follow the company's rules, but be really slimy about it. Here's her methodology for stealing [...]

I love it when Pink Truth posts stuff like this because it reinforces my belief (and I think exposes the same to anyone reading their site) that Pink Truth is so tainted by their personal hate for all things Mary Kay, that they see everything as bad, evil or slimy. Here again, the piece posted is suggesting being as charitable as possible in your attempt to recruit if the women in question has ever had any contact with someone else from Mary Kay. Essentially, this is saying that the only time you should recruit someone that has had contact with someone else in Mary Kay is if they have no intention of doing it themselves. Two objections that could be construed from this, but should not be: 1. The two week situation.  Granted, two weeks is not an extremely long time.  However, when you consider that all that is being asked of said consultant is to make a phone call, two weeks is almost ridiculously too long. 2. Pink Truth's only point. The consultant wants to keep this person as a customer and you are stealing her customer.  This objection is only credible if the customer in question is not interested in being a consultant.  This is clearly NOT the case in the situation being addressed.  It appears that Pink Truth would prefer the would be recruiter to get back in touch with the customer and say, "I'm sorry, you are not allowed to work for Mary Kay because the first person that told you about Mary Kay wants to keep you as a customer and does not want you to be competition." Way to go Pink Truth, you really thought this one through.

Pink Truth: The Real Truth About Mary Kay

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

The Real Truth About Mary Kay Feb 17th 2012, 12:00 Written by Raisinberry When women come through the doors of Mary Kay, they remark how "positive" it all is. If they sign on, they are immediately bathed in an environment of support and praise, and they are taught to value it as a precious jewel, because certainly, it is not like that outside the Pink [...]

I'm not really sure what to say about this article.  That the things raisinberry is talking about actually happen in Mary Kay is undeniable.  How rampant they are is questionable. Certainly evaluating whether or not they are happening in your experience is valuable. However, the assumption that the reader IS as raisinberry and her pals were is quite alienating and disturbing.  "I screwed up and so you must have also"  And worse, the assumption that her way of doing it is "The Mary Kay Way" is simply unproven. So, if some of the things that raisinberry brings up resonate with you (afraid to ask hard questions, surrounded by people that are apparently succeeding - getting recognition, but not making any money) then ask the hard questions.  Ask them here or on Balanced Mary Kay.  Or ask Pink Truth.  If you ask Pink Truth, plan on being pressured VERY heavily to leave Mary Kay for good and join their merry (not negative) band of Mary Kay haters.  You will not be welcome there if you don't despise Mary Kay with every bit of your being.  If you ask here or on Balanced, you will get a variety of opinions from people who also don't benefit directly from the outcome of your decisions. Eventually you will have to deal with the Mary Kay people you are involved with and if they are neck deep in the stuff raisinberry is talking about, that will not be a fun day for you.

Pink Truth: Mary Kay Versus Real Entrepreneurs

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Mary Kay Versus Real Entrepreneurs Feb 16th 2012, 12:00 I love it when Mary Kay sales directors and national sales directors admit that the scam they’re running has nothing to do with the real business world! They just prove my point for me! What???? I’m saying that being a Mary Kay consultant isn’t a real business? No kidding! Of course that’s what I’m saying. [...]

As usual, Pink Truth is fighting fire with fire.  What this means is that they are disparaging Mary Kay's alleged misrepresentations in recruiting literature with their own literary misrepresentations. Reading the training literature provided here, I definitely see some red flags being presented by Mary Kay here.  Starting with the generic classification of entrepreneurs and carrying through all the points of the article.  This is a frightening way to present Mary Kay as there really is nothing backing up the claims being made.  What kind of entrepreneurs are we talking about here? What trainings typically cost that much money? The assumptions used and drawn are vague and tenuous and the responding "Mary Kay is different because..." is also questionable. Pink Truth would have done well here to just point out these inconsistencies and leave it at that. Instead, Tracy chooses to use this opportunity to flaunt all of her personal misrepresentations about Mary Kay to make them look like a stupid yet genius evil empire. In Mary Kay's defense, there are certainly some benefits to starting a Mary Kay opportunity compared to other start-up ideas.  Many of these are obvious to anyone giving it even just a cursory glance.  However, this particular article takes liberties that are unnecessary and counterproductive. In Pink Truth's defense, the practices that are highlighted by this article need to be called out.  Mary Kay is making the prospect of entrepreneurship out to be insurmountable and contrasting it with a unrealistically inexpensive and easy path to success in Mary Kay.  Pink Truth just adds to the problem by contrasting this with the opposite.  They would have you believe that being a go-it-alone entrepreneur is easy and a nearly guaranteed success while Mary Kay is a guaranteed failure.  Neither of these assertions are any more true that the ones that Mary Kay makes. We'll call this Fail(x2)  Mary Kay fail, Pink Truth fail.

Pink Truth: I Hand You the Keys to the Mary Kay Castle

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

I Hand You the Keys to the Mary Kay Castle Feb 15th 2012, 12:00 I can’t help myself. I’m going to give you the punchline up front. Why make you wait until the end? This is being passed around and touted as the secret to making it big in Mary Kay. Here’s the “right” way to do it! Step-by-step instructions from a “Queen.” Except there’s a bit of irony [...]

Typical Pink Truth nonsense. 1. Tracy tells us that this woman is moving backward in Mary Kay.  Aside from the lack of evidence to this claim, I fail to understand how being a Senior director in a Cadillac is a bad thing.  Instead of piling on debt to impress the masses with a title (as Pink Truth CLAIMS everyone is doing), she is staying at the level that she is actually at. 2. Here is an article that spells it out clearly.  It practically screams, "This is going to be a lot of work".  It does not promise instant riches with a part time schedule.  Yet, instead of applauding the honesty, she quips that this is obviously designed to make a consultant feel like she is not working hard enough. What I don't understand about Pink Truth's method is that it is the same deceptive method they claim Mary Kay used on them.  Instead of presenting the facts and truth as they claim to, they trump up this exaggerated evil empire that they perceive Mary Kay. It seems counterproductive to their (alleged) mission.

Pink Truth: Just Been to a Mary Kay Recruiting Event? Check in Here.

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

The Truth Behind What You Heard at a Mary Kay Recruiting Event Feb 12th 2012, 12:00 Written by Raisinberry One of the real beefs we have here is that when we were introduced to Mary Kay the information we were told was grossly overstated. Mary Kay Corp has attempted to clean up some of the outrageous statements, designed to sell you on the opportunity, but not with too much fervor. If [...]

One of the real beefs I have with Pink Truth is that they make NO attempt to clean up their outrageous statements. Here, yet again, Traisinberry rants and rails about how awful Mary Kay is with no reasonable explanation as to how she(they) KNOW that these awful deceptions are systemic and not merely isolated experiences and no reasonable explanation as to why she(they) feel that things like "not disclosing that directors pay for the prizes they give out" is so awful in the first place. So in an ideal world, someone recruiting a new recruit should tell said recruit every possible thing they will ever encounter in Mary Kay?  Aside from the fact that this is not even realistic, where else in life do you see such an expectation?  What job EVER discloses every possible downside of working there? Hey, I know you are really enthusiastic about working here, but I need to let you know that in about 2 months the coffee pot is probably going to break and with the way things work around here, you will probably need to buy your own coffee on your way into work costing you an extra $3/day (make sure you calculate gas money and your personal time in that figure).  And if you are thinking about getting into management, there is SOOOO much stuff they make them do that their not even telling you right now! To put it the way that Raisinberry put it - This is fiction. Well said.  If you were talking about your article.  Let's just say a bunch of mean stuff about Mary Kay and call it truth.  If I only had the time and motivation, I should post a fictional article (daily) about how terrible Pink Truth is.

Pink Truth: There’s No Such Thing as 50% Profit in Mary Kay

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

There's No Such Thing as 50% Profit in Mary Kay Feb 14th 2012, 12:00 Those of us who have been hanging around Pink Truth for a while know that the idea of 50% profit in Mary Kay is a total lie. If a consultant sells all of her product at full retail, with no discounts and no giveaways, she has a 50% gross profit… out of which all other [...]

Mary Kay and Pink Truth are guilty of not understanding, or clearly communicating percentages.  Mary Kay offers a 50% gross MARGIN.  This means the COST of the product to the consultant is 50% of the PRICE to the consumer. Mary Kay does a better job of communicating the essence of this.  They (typically) say that you buy the products at 50% of the retail value.  THIS is true.  They do not say that you make a 50% profit.  This is not true. Pink Truth is way off.  Assuming that they meant gross profit MARGIN, you don't account for discounts or other expenses, it is simply an equation of how much the product cost vs. what the retail price of the product is. As far as this example goes, if you can get 8 purchasing girlfriends from someone, why not give them $80 of free product?  Cost to you, $40.  Amount of money you made (operative word "made" --- don't give her the $80 until you get the money from the orders) should easily cover that and then some... plus you stand to make more money on reorders --- if you take care of your customers and follow up with them. What had me RollingOnTheFloorLaughing was " I realize that retailers all run sales and special offers that cut into their profits. It’s a gimmick used to get people in the door and get them buying. I’m not opposed to that basic marketing tactic. ..." Essentially, Tracy realizes that she is making a mountain (or mountains) out of a mole hill, but "oh well, I hate Mary Kay and this is the internet, so I can say whatever I want. Expect the lemmings to jump in and agree wholeheartedly with the "we hate Mary Kay" chant.

Pink Truth: “Good” Mary Kay Sales Directors

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

"Good" Mary Kay Sales Directors Feb 12th 2012, 12:00 One of the frequent arguments we hear on Pink Truth is “my director is a good one” or “I’m sorry you had a bad director, but mine is different!” I believe there are many sales directors who believe they are doing the right thing. They believe they’re helping other women when they involve them in [...]

Sometimes Pink Truth is really confusing.  This is one of those times. First, I am not sure if this woman is saying that she was 'only in it for the money' but had tricked herself into thinking that she was there to help other women, or if she was actually there to help other women and then "realized" thanks to Pink Truth that she was actually just in it for the money.  Either way, if you are incapable of knowing what your motives are, Mary Kay is not the problem. Second, if you think that Mary Kay is "... the only way to “promote yourself” and earn a paycheck is by conning other women into selling crap and snaring other suckers  ..." you should not be selling Mary Kay.  If you LIKE Mary Kay enough to want to sell it, you (might) should get involved with Mary Kay.  If you think it is crap, don't try selling it.  You won't be successful. And once again, one person (or a handful of people) that think Mary Kay products are 'crap' that (shockingly) don't end up successful at it does NOT prove that Mary Kay consists of a bunch of duped people duping people. In fact, ANYONE that claims they don't like Mary Kay products should just SHUT UP already.  You had no business getting involved in the first place.  Just like I would not listen to a BMW salesman that thought BMWs were inferior to Mercedes.  Go sell Mercedes then.  You have no business representing something you dislike. If you LOVE Mary Kay, you will not feel like you are peddling crap to people that are not interested.  You will not feel like you are begging other people to peddle your crap for you.  You will passionately try to convince people to try (or retry) something that you LOVE because you LOVE it.  You will persuasively try to convince friends that also love the product to help you reach more people.  Rejection won't hurt (as much) because you know that you still love the product and that other people have other preferences.

Pink Truth: Caption This Mary Kay Photo

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Caption This Mary Kay Photo Feb 11th 2012, 12:00

What's the old adage?  If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.  Pink Truth's version is, if you can't say anything worth saying, post a picture and make fun of others.  Don't criticize though, it is their 'therapy'.

Pink Truth: One Reason to Not Trade Mary Kay Products

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

One Reason to Not Trade Mary Kay Products Feb 10th 2012, 12:00 The number one reason to not trade Mary Kay products? Answer: Mary Kay Inc. makes less money and your director gets a smaller commission check! Of course the company and the sales directors are going to “discourage” trading Mary Kay products amongst consultants. It is far better for their wallets if you have to place [...]

Pink Truth is, yet again, trying to make Mary Kay look bad because of their policies.  If this rule was not in place, they would be complaining about how Mary Kay doesn't do anything to stop the "thieves" in Mary Kay that "borrow" product but never return the favor, or trade old, poorly stored product for new, properly stored product. Quite simply, if Mary Kay makes a rule to protect their investment, they are overbearing, if they don't make a rule, they are "looking the other way".  Sometimes, in Pink Truth's fantasy world, it is both. This piece that Tracy posted to prove that Mary Kay just wants you to order more product CLEARLY says that if you don't have the product and need to get it for your customer fast, give the sale to another consultant that does have the product. This is a simple, genius way of handling the situation.  The other consultant doesn't get taken advantage of, your customer gets her product and you (hopefully) order more of that product the next time you place an order.

Pink Truth: Husbands, Stand Up Against Mary Kay

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Husbands, Stand Up Against Mary Kay Feb 9th 2012, 12:00 The Mary Kaybots will say you’re unsupportive. They’ll tell your wife that you’re just “trying to hold her back,” or that you “don’t want her to have something just for herself.” You’ll be called negative. They’ll say you just don’t “get it.” The real truth is that you understand all too well what a losing [...]

I wonder what some husbands would have to say about Pink Truth.

Pink Truth: Mary Kay does NOT offer job security

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Mary Kay does NOT offer job security Feb 8th 2012, 12:00 Anyone who’s ever made it to sales director in Mary Kay can tell you that there is no “job security” in Mary Kay. For all but a few hundred sales directors (out of more than 14,000 directors and 600,000 to 700,000 consultants in the U.s.), the earnings are dismal and very unsteady. And even if [...]

If you approach Mary Kay the way Pink Truth did (and seems to think everyone does) then I could see where Tracy is right, you would be better putting your money in a savings account. But, if you read this article, it doesn't say anything about doing Mary Kay the way Pink Truth advocates.  In fact, it speaks very little to "making it big" and more talks about the peripheral benefits of networking and learning how to present yourself professionally... something else that Pink Truth often derides Mary Kay for.  In fact, I hadn't thought of this before, but Pink Truth is kind of like a whiny private school kid.  They complain about the rules, the teachers, the work, the discipline, the consequences and then when they don't succeed, they blame the school for not being strict enough. Mary Kay offers what it has to offer.  The end of this article "... it could save your life..." is definitely a little over the top, but in the context it is presented, I see nothing wrong with this use of creative writing.

Pink Truth: A Sneaky Way to Get Production

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

A Sneaky Way to Get Production Feb 7th 2012, 12:00 Here are a couple of tactics that are used to help make production goals. There’s always a push at the end of the month for new recruits toward the goals, but a recruit without a wholesale order is useless. So here’s how to game the system. The key is to place an order for the [...]

The things coming out of Pink Truth keep getting more and more absurd and less and less grounded in reality.  This post reads like it is Tracy's personal recommendation on how to be sneaky at the end of the month. She offers two pieces of "evidence" to help us believe her: You see this practice with the credit card going on a lot, especially if a director is struggling to meet production or finish a car. Corporate is aware of the practice, but looks the other way. (As with many of the other practices that are not on the up-and-up, but corporate ignores them because they generate wholesale orders.) And don’t think this type of thing doesn’t go on with those in “national in qualification” (niq). Do it fast, baby, the Mary Kay way! This is the equivalent of me, in an effort to tell you to not believe Pink Truth, telling you that they commit click fraud on the advertising on that site. (Tracy having members of that site click her ads and offering them something in exchange -- or just manipulating and pressuring them into doing it for free).  And then "proving" that they are doing it by telling you that: "You see this practice a lot when we are getting to the end of the month and Tracy realizes that she needs some more cash for her business.  Google knows about this practice, but looks the other way.  (Ironically, this IS a practice among website owners and Google DOES know about it, but like Mary Kay, they are probably working VERY hard at coming up with as many safeguards as possible)" "And don't think this type of thing doesn't go on with her other websites -- it is the Tracy way, cheat at any cost." PLEASE NOTE: I am not saying that Tracy does this.  I have no way of knowing if she does or not.  I simply needed an example that "could be" true to illustrate how ridiculous "proving" things can be when you do it the way Tracy does.  Also note that she does not have a similar disclaimer about her absurd, ridiculous, unproven statements.

Pink Truth: How to Recruit Another Mary Kay Consultant’s Customer

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

How to Recruit Another Mary Kay Consultant's Customer Feb 6th 2012, 12:00 We’ve heard these things before. A million and one ways to justify recruiting another Mary Kay consultant’s customer. Is it technically stealing? Probably not. After all, the nsd’s will teach you how to bend the rules far enough that you can still say you played by the rules. This one comes from an nsd who [...]

Are you kidding me? Does Tracy even read these before she writes them off? This piece, that Tracy typically posted verbatim, is the opposite of what she claims it is.  Tracy says, in her pathetically short 'intro' that this is all about justifying, stealing and "slimy" tactics. As I started reading, and the further in I got, the more worried I became. This retired NSD was talking very heavily about taking the high road and the importance of integrity and ethics.  So if this piece turned out to be about being sneaky it was going to be a double whammy. But it's not.  It never goes there.  Unless I am missing something, her conclusion is that there is almost no situation where it is okay to "steal" a customer or recruit from someone else and even when there is a gray area, it ought to be left up to the recruit to pursue the different option.

Pink Truth: Welcome to our Peer to Peer Interactive Vertically Aligned Retail Cooperative

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Welcome to our Peer to Peer Interactive Vertically Aligned Retail Cooperative Feb 3rd 2012, 12:00 Written by Raisinberry One of the reasons you are kicking yourself for joining Mary Kay is, you knew it was suspect from the beginning. You felt it in your gut but you swept that idea aside because you fell for the charisma and sincerity of your "presenter." One of reasons you successfully got guests to [...]

In typical Pink Truth form, Raisinberry assumes, and loudly proclaims, that everyone in Mary Kay MUST be doing the same $#!7 she was doing. And yes, Raisinberry, some of the things you list as "unethical" ARE simply useful sales techniques.  Some of them are questionable. Some are just dumb.  But it makes you look pretty silly when you don't differentiate between them and instead call all of them evil. For instance, I don't like the fishbowl thing.  If I put my name in a fishbowl and you call me to tell me that I "won" but I didn't really "win" anything, you pretty much lost me already.  That may be true for some while others could care less. Many of the techniques that you list though are meant to be tools to help you achieve what you suggest - honest dialog and helping your client get what they need.  They can be used as tools of manipulation or they can be used as tools to help.  How YOU use them is up to YOU.  The people teaching you can only show you how they work.  They cannot control how you use them.  That piece is up to you and you alone.  So, in my opinion, you are wrong.  It is not 50% your fault and 50% "their" fault.  It is 100% your fault.  Not that I blame you.  I believe we are all susceptible to doing wrong.  Just move on and don't repeat the mistake. I also don't mind AT ALL that Pink Truth wants to shine a light on mistakes they made so that others don't do the same thing(s). What I do mind, and why I keep this blog, is when they assume that everyone involved in Mary Kay is doing the same thing they did. When they insist that Mary Kay corporate are intentionally allowing unethical behavior when they could easily stop it.  The UN Truth about "Pink Truth" is what keeps me here.  THEIR bold face lies and manipulations are what I intend to call out every day. My message?  If you want to give Mary Kay a shot, do it.  If you don't, don't.  Hold YOUR integrity, your family, your faith tightly, make good decisions and if it works out for you, great!  If it doesn't, move on to the next chapter of your life.  Not everyone in Mary Kay is crazy, not everyone is sane.  Find someone that is sane (according to your definition of sanity!) and have some fun!

Pink Truth: Mary Kay Opinions: The Mary Kay Way is to Cheat and Justify

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Mary Kay Opinions: The Mary Kay Way is to Cheat and Justify Feb 2nd 2012, 12:00 Written by “Stephanie” I was a Sales Director in Mary Kay a few years ago. If I knew then what I know now I would have never became a sales director… especially not doing it the way I was taught to do it. Being in MK you learn the lingo, the language and the look. [...]

While this story is heartbreaking and brought me to the point of tears, it still disgusts me.  Why?  Allow me to explain. 1."Stephanie" claims that her experience is the "Mary Kay way".  She says "...everyone in Mary Kay is doing it... " and "... every sales director has signed up family and friends and paid the money for them to finish DIQ - has topped off production to meet minimums - has ordered in someone else's name to make them active..."  First, there is no way that anyone could "know" this as a fact even if it were true, and there is just no way that this is true.  Considering all the directors, senior directors, etc, etc, NSD's, there is simply no way that every single one of them has done this.  In point of fact, seeing how her story ends, there is no way that anyone could be a successful director if they did do these things. 2. "Stephanie" says that her director's Senior Director reached out to her (Stephanie) and told her to focus on her marriage while her director essentially ignored her.  This would seem to indicate to me that the 'corruption' started and ended with the director.  Or (and I hate to kick a gal when she's down) perhaps even the director's words were twisted and she never encouraged any of this in the first place.  Regardless, for "Stephanie" to take this admittedly heart wrenching story and use it as proof that the "Mary Kay Way" is to cheat and justify tells me that either she has very little common sense, or she is still allowing women (in this case Pink Truth) take her to extremes.  Her director "talked her into" spending stupid amounts of money to achieve (on paper) something she had not yet achieved in reality, and now Pink Truth is "talking her into" taking aim at "the big bad Mary Kay" instead of recognizing that she got bad advice and made bad decisions. This pieced would be SO much more helpful if it was left at "these are the mistakes I made, don't make them yourself".  In fact, the end of the article seems to indicate that she knows the director is still up to the same nonsense and that she hopes Mary Kay "catches" her and that people will read her mistakes and not make the same ones.  This makes me wonder if Pink Truth (*ahem, Tracy) made some small "edits" to what was originally written to make it so "Mary Kay is evil" sounding.

Pink Truth: Milking the Cash Cows: NSD Linda Toupin’s Take on Money Management

Pink Truth Facts, opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Milking the Cash Cows: NSD Linda Toupin's Take on Money Management Feb 1st 2012, 12:00 Written by The Scribbler It’s always fun to browse through Mary Kay NSD websites and see what constitutes "money management" training.  Naturally, when I came across the “Fall Retreat Money Management Slides” on NSD Linda Toupin’s website, I was interested.  “Wow, an NSD that's actually teaching her National Area how to avoid debt?  How nifty [...]

Scribbler makes some good points here and is entertaining as always.  Maybe.  I can't really understand her point through all her rhetoric.  It seems to me (for example) that she compares the $5500 benchmark for DIRECTORS to the stats for first 30 day consultant sales.  This should impress me that no one in her entire area is making $5500?  Because that is what I first thought. Again, here is where I think Pink Truth (generically speaking) falls short on logic.  They seem to assume (or have assumed) that they would just sign up and instantly be selling $5500/month and taking home all that profit from month one.  It simply doesn't work like that. I know there are people out there making it sound like you can expect these results - either intentionally or unintentionally - but c'mon people use a little common sense.