MARY KAY: Hot or NOT? (Part 4 of 4)

(FranchisePick.Com) This is the fourth of a series of guest posts on the Mary Kay cosmetics business opportunity by David Shepherd, publisher of the Balanced Mary Kay blog. Thanks to David for taking me up on the invite to guest post.

Are you a Mary Kay consultant? Ex-consultant? Customer? Ex-customer? Please share you experience and opinion with a comment at the bottom of this post.

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MARY KAY: Hot or NOT? (Part 1 of 4)

MARY KAY: Hot or NOT? (Part 2 of 4)

MARY KAY: Hot or NOT? (Part 3 of 4)

MARY KAY: Hot or NOT? (Part 4 of 4)

Mary Kay Cosmetics: Hot or Not? (Part 4) by David Shepherd

Pink Truth “sample.”

For instance on July 10, some evidence was presented that implicated that Mary Kay had hired a private investigator to keep tabs on one of their directors. A few of the reasons for this are listed and then the comments start.

“macuser” says:

“Gayle wanted to be on a talk show as a host and Mary Kay Corporate said no way you have a contact with us and if you want your NSD retirement you can’t do it. Gayle is a drug addict and an alcoholic hence her extreme behavior over the years.”

“magenta” says:

“gayle is a friends national…. we saw her dragging on cigarettes in wrinkled linen and looking rather unprofessional..at seminar…….that is what i was asking…why hasn’t she retired yet?? isnt she old enuff?? or is something in those formerly pink jars keeping her young?”

Then they post a picture of her and start speculating about how many plastic surgeries she has had while simultaneously describing how unattractive they feel she looks.

In the first place, posting information about an investigation that a corporation conducted (without having all the details) is fairly pointless. Unless you consider stirring up needless controversy to be a point. This is the kind of brash, trite drivel that one must sort through in order to find advice about what to avoid (and why).

Pink Truth (for the most part) asserts that you should avoid Mary Kay completely. And if we are too take this July 10 post as the rationale, it is because they may spy on you and (at best) you can look forward to being an overly airbrushed woman that they all feel is ugly anyway (despite having wasted your hard earned money on plastic surgery). Seems asinine to me.

There are other sites, Pink Lighthouse and The Pinking Shears (to name a few) that abstain from the absurd and ridiculous while accurately laying out the problems and frustrations they have had with Mary Kay. If you want to find out what the pitfalls of Mary Kay are but don’t feel like wading through the (fecal matter of a bull), I recommend finding an alternative to Pink Truth.

The Truth.
The truth is, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

If you are being offered the Mary Kay opportunity and it sounds too good to be true, you should run away… it is probably not the “real” Mary Kay. If someone is telling you that once you sign up, buy inventory or reach a certain level, you will be “set for life” don’t even ask them questions, just say, “no thank you.”

If someone is telling you that the answer to your problems is to spend more money, raise your eyebrows (if you have glasses or sunglasses on look at them over those) look them right in the eyes, pause for a good 30 seconds to allow them to feel a little more self-conscious, and then say, “are you serious.” Try to keep a straight face. When they start trying to redirect the conversation, cut them off and say something along the lines of you would be better off investing your money in the lottery and politely dismiss yourself from the conversation.

But if you are being given the truth straight up, you will probably recognize it because there is no suggestion of you getting something for nothing. Free handouts don’t really exist in abundance in this world. If there are all pros and no cons, someone is not telling you all the truth.

With any opportunity that someone presents to you, they will tell you what is good about it and why you should consider it. It is then up to you to find out what the potential pitfalls may be. If they are being intentionally vague, you may need to come right out and say, “What is the catch?” If they tell you there is no catch, you should be very suspicious (at best).

Another good question is, “What is in it for you?” followed by, “If this is so lucrative, why are you offering it to me?” A genuine opportunity (i.e. not a hoax or scam) will have good answers to these questions and should reveal any potential downsides. If you can’t see anything “bad” or potentially negative about the opportunity, it probably is too good to be true and should be left alone. If, by contrast, you can plainly see what is good and bad and are willing to deal with the bad (in this case, “bad” could mean lots of phone work, finding and following up on leads) to get the good, than give it a shot. If someone is not willing to be truthful enough with you to let you know the “cons” of the situation, you should not trust them to be the ones to lead you through the process!

Let me break it down for you.

Scam artists and conmen (and women) exist in every walk of life. Mary Kay is not exempt from the trouble they cause. Much discussion has taken place (and is taking place) over the best way to deal with these leeches of society. Some advocate tighter restrictions while others recommend better consumer education. But to the ones reading this article, the best advice I can give you is to arm yourself with common sense and don’t let yourself get greedy when you see something that looks too good to be true. After all, “they” also say, “You can’t con an honest man”.

Is Mary Kay hot or not? That is yet to be determined because it has to be asked in the context of YOU. Is Mary Kay hot or not – for YOU. For some people reading this, the answer will be “HOT!!!” while others will definitively choose “NOT!!!!” And some of you reading this will just have to try it and find out.

Are the denizens of Pink Truth “lazy losers”? Not necessarily.

Is there a grain of truth to some of the things they say? Perhaps. After all, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Are there better places to “arm yourself” with information about Mary Kay? Absolutely.

If you like one-sided, tabloid-esque, vitriolic, gossip about how terrible Mary Kay is, visit Pink Truth. It has all the entertainment value and journalistic integrity of The National Enquirer. (The Sun if you happen to live in Britain.)

If you want diverse discussion about the many issues I have brought up here (and many more that I simply did not have the space to discuss), come visit us at Balanced Mary Kay. I make it an aim to allow all perspectives and points of view. We are looking for people that have had bad experiences, good experiences and everything in between to share, so that everyone can genuinely benefit from a more detailed picture of what Mary Kay is really like. If you would like to help us do that, or just want to read along and get a front row seat to all the action, come on by. We would love to see you over there.

Conclusion – You want the truth? Think you can handle the truth? Here it is:

Mary Kay is just a company. Get involved at your own risk.

What do you think? Share a comment below.

David Shepherd is an account executive at a multicultural marketing and advertising agency in LA. His wife sells Mary Kay and he blogs about it at Balanced Mary Kay.
Read David Shepard’s series Mary Kay: Hot or NOT? (Or, as I lovingly call it, The Kaybot Manifesto)