It’s Backkkk!

Every 7 or 8 years the massage and holistic community is swept with multilevel or network marketed products. It seems to take that long for people to forget or to have a sufficient number of new people in the industry who are at a point where they are looking for additional income streams. Every time it happens, it tends to first be enthusiastically marketed to other practitioners first and then the attempt is made to market to clients. Every time, it’s a disaster that destroys relationships and businesses. It never changes. The script is always the same.

One of the biggest warning signs is when someone shows you how much someone is making already. They have pictures of checks showing pretty impressive pay outs. And the method of hooking you in always works the same way. At its core it uses a fear based tactic. It shows you the advantage you have by getting in early. Implied is that you are going to miss the opportunity and someone else is going to collect what you have missed out on. That’s as fear based as it comes. There will be a lot of pressure to sign up and get started and frequently you have to pay some upfront money. As a practitioner this is a spiritual crisis. If you are dedicated to doing your healing work, your focus should only be on doing that work or expanding your knowledge in related fields. Supplements and other products, whether it’s phone service, buying clubs or insurance are all just the vehicle to market a marketing plan that is based on new people entering the system. If you are truly dedicated to your clients, you will only carry products that are truly within the scope of your practice. If you have fully studied aromatherapy and essential oils, understand the collection, manufacture and potential toxic issues associated with what you are using, then you have a reason to carry the products. If they are network marketed, there is a very good chance the marketing plan is better than the product. If you are a nutritionist and are well versed in diet and supplements, you may also be in a position to carry products for your clients. But if you are carrying them based on the company information and what you have read, you are putting your credibility and livelihood at risk. If you attempt to sign up a single client as an “associate” or whatever euphemism that the company uses, even if it’s under the pretext that they will be saving money by buying at a discount, you have lost track of your ethics. The shocking thing is to see how otherwise sane people turn a blind eye to the products they are selling and the ethical violation of their trust bond with their clients when they present the marketing plan. I have seen this cycle go through the industry at least 5 times since 1985 and every time the language, rationalization and excuses are the same. And the outcomes are almost the same. The outcomes range from alienating clients and having a thriving business shrink to people actually being prosecuted for participating in a Ponzi scheme, which basically means that it is a model based on new money coming in rather than a sustainable flow. In 1987, during the Harmonic Convergence, there were a lot of schemes that came along. I knew people who got into it because they tried to recruit me. In the end, most of them lost their business and more than one ended up spending a lot on legal fees to try and keep from losing everything. The bottom line is this: If you want to have a thriving practice, don’t get pulled off by the lure of adding easy additional income streams. If you want to manifest more of anything, then learn to connect with your source and let your creativity create your abundance. Resist the temptation and avoid the fear based tactics. Treat your clients like gold because they are. Trying to sell them products to extract more resources from your existing clients is the fast road to ruining your practice that I know. Good luck. Stay focused on your goals and your mission and everything will work out fine. Sincerely. Kris Stecker, President Spa Tech Institute Schools of Massage, Polarity, Cosmetology and Aesthetics http://Spa Tech.edu

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