Free Republic

Jill Drehmer claims to have cracked the code to financial freedom. The year was 2015, the place an upstate New York grocery store, where the 36-year-old mom of two discovered that federal assistance no longer covered her kids’ favorite cereal. A revelation ensued: “I thought, ‘There’s got to be a better way to make some extra income — something.’” As fate would have it, Drehmer found that something in LuLaRoe, a multilevel marketing company that today is riddled with controversy. The California-based brand peddles women’s clothing to a loyal fan base. Its pièce de résistance are buttery soft leggings covered...

My grandmother's death is not an opportunity to deliver your sales pitch.In case you didn't know, a multilevel marketing company (aka an MLM) is a company that emphasizes both direct sales and recruiting other people to join the company and work under you, so you can receive a percentage of profit from the inventory they buy and sell. MLM's have been around for decades. One of the most well-known MLM's is LulaRoe, a leggings company that has had a ton of scandals in recent years and ultimately had to pay over $4 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed it...

The social media posts started in May: photos and videos of smiling people, mostly women, drinking Mason jars of black liquid, slathering black paste on their faces and feet, or dipping babies and dogs in tubs of the black water. They tagged the posts #BOO and linked to a website that sold a product called Black Oxygen Organics. Black Oxygen Organics, or “BOO” for short, is difficult to classify. It was marketed as fulvic acid, a compound derived from decayed plants, that was dug up from an Ontario peat bog. The website of the Canadian company that sold it billed...

Bill Ackman has spent the last five years trying to drive the supplement company Herbalife out of business.He took a $1 billion short position in the company in December 2012, after which its stock dropped 10 percent in six seconds, which led to a temporary trading halt.He informed investors at a 3 ½-hour slide show presentation in Manhattan that same month in which he plodded through a 342-slide presentation that characterized the company not as a multilevel firm that marketing energy and diet drinks, vitamins and skin products but as “the best-managed pyramid scheme in the history of the world.”He...

MANCHESTER -- Donald Trump doesn't make his 2016 presidential announcement until Tuesday, but things are already up and running at his New Hampshire headquarters. (not exactly, a huge operation yet)

Has anyone ever tried those work from home opportunities that was being hawked on Hannity radio program?

When it comes to gaining true freedom, the words and actions of our most revered Black authentic leaders emphasized economic empowerment. Unfortunately, many of those who spoke the truth and tried to establish an economic foundation for Black people were ostracized, caricatured, vilified, and even assassinated. Despite their sacrifices and refusals to back down from fighting for the most important collective aspect of true freedom, economic empowerment, the vast majority of Black folks either ignored them or chose to follow Black “misleaders” who took our people down the wrong road. Now in 2014, Black folks are still suffering from and...

No on in the media is talking about Trump's involvement in multi-level marketing. But it should not be a secret. Since there is no article, here is the web site for one of them. I wonder how many people he is getting to sign up, because of his recent media attention.

One of the movement’s leaders, Mark Meckler, was once a top operator in a company accused of conning consumers. Is he applying the same tactics to the tea party? There's a book Mark Meckler likes to recommend to reporters and others seeking insight into the tea party juggernaut. Called The Starfish and the Spider, it explores the "unstoppable power" of decentralized and leaderless organizations. "We're like the starfish," Meckler, a national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, said earlier this year. "There is no head, there is no leader of the organization. There are thousands of starfish out there and...

Dear friends... Yes, our wounded and disabled veterans need help, our help. In fact, families of veterans who have been killed in action need help as well, as do families of veterans still serving. But what most people don't realize is the growing needs of our returning veterans. The unemployment rate for our returning veterans is at 25%, the highest rate of any group in America and that's a travesty of monumental proportion. Many people are aware of this and are willing to help but don't know where to start and this is the reason for this letter. Two companies...

Amway sues to ID bloggers Saturday, October 13, 2007 By Chris Knape The Grand Rapids Press GRAND HAVEN -- The case could be called Amway versus the Internet, or some might argue, Amway versus free speech. The Ada Township-based multi-level marketing giant this week filed a sweeping suit in Ottawa County Circuit Court against 30 people classified as John Does for disparaging the company in blogs, online forums and YouTube videos. The suit, filed by Quixtar, the online version of Alticor Inc.'s Amway business, asks the court for an injunction and damages of more than $25,000 against the anonymous posters....

Within hours of the Cory Lidle plane crash today in NYC, an Alex Jones "Truther" was on line making snotty comments. The AJTs are more than simple loudmouth boors:they are MLM entrepreneurs, who take the gullible for every possible dollar-while proclaiming their "high purpose".

Before he struck gold with slick infomercials and the best-selling "Natural Cures" self-help book, Kevin Trudeau was your basic money-hungry convicted felon, a guy whose rap sheet included credit card fraud and grand larceny convictions. On the plus side, Kev once served as president of Junior Clowns of America. For more on the ex-fraudster du jour, go here: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0826051trudeau1.html

Sorry for the vanity here, but I am going to the best source for information that I can find.... My wife has received information for a company called Herbalife. It seems that by selling this stuff, she could make money. Do any of my fellow FReepers have any opinions of this company, what they sell, and how their process works?

An experimental wonder drug, Rimonabant, helps you lose weight, quit smoking and it also helps protect your heart. Trials have shown that 33% of people on Rimonabant lost 10% of body weight and kept their weight down for two years - this is a record, no other diet drug has managed to keep a person's weight down for so long. The second 33% lost 5% of body weight and kept it down. As well as keeping you lean, the drug also helps you quit the smoking habit. This will be of great interest for many smokers who are afraid to...