Friends Don’t Guilt Friends Into Buying Momtrepreneur Crap On Facebook

It used to be the biggest things we had to complain about on Facebook were too many baby pictures and inspirational memes. Those were the days. Now, how many of you have “friends” who use Facebook to push their home businesses, i.e. pyramid schemes, i.e. Momtrepreneur crap? Repeat after me, friends do not try to trick friends into pyramid schemes on Facebook.

They don’t call them pyramid schemes anymore, the new label is “multi-level marketing,” or MLM. The difference is, MLMs have a product, pyramid schemes do not. But there are some similarities because it’s still incredibly hard to make money off of selling these products, and there is always an investment required and the recruiting of people to buy. If an old “friend” you haven’t heard from in years all of a sudden starts sending you private messages and acting like she cares about your life — don’t be fooled. There’s probably a pitch coming. Or an invitation to a “Facebook party.” Or a constant stream of pictures of her working out.

If you spot any of these items in your news feed, your old friend might be trying to sell you something. Which is fine — but I’ll just warn you that if you bite, you may be in for months of annoying emails and messages.

No, I don’t want your super-expensive protein shake.

I got suckered into this one once. It’s actually not bad, if you don’t mind spending $150 a month on protein shakes. The price isn’t the worst part; The purchase comes with someone emailing you constantly and nagging you about buying other products and working out. Shut up. I started using my juicer again and eating some nuts. Problem solved.

No, I don’t want to see endless videos of you working out.

This is from Beachbody, the MLM site that sells the above mentioned Shakeology. This is a combination of working out and tupperware. I’m not kidding.

 You actually still look 40, and I’m not buying that face cream.

These sellers use good lighting to pretend that this face cream that has never had any clinical trials actually makes you look younger. Not sure about that. But it will make you poorer.

I’m a grown woman, I don’t want leopard-print nail art.

Adult women actually put this stuff on their nails. Then they try to get you to attend “Facebook parties,” which is a party trying to sell you stuff without even the benefit of food and drinks.

How many scented things can one person own?

It’s not a candle, it’s a scented bar that melts over a burner. I’m convinced my child would try to eat these immediately, but who knows? Almost a million people like them on Facebook, so maybe they are on to something.

There is nothing wrong with liking these products, it’s the constantly trying to sell them to your friends and family that’s annoying. Multi-level-marketing relies on tricking convincing others that there is money to be made by joining your ranks and also becoming a seller. Since going door-to-door isn’t really how things work anymore, people naturally hit up their friends and connections on Facebook.

If you do this, you may see less and less engagement on the social network, because everyone has started unfollowing your annoying ass. Proceed with caution.