THE BEGINNING….
They said it wouldn't cost much nor take a lot of time….
Introducing: Emerald Directs, Norm & Marie Hall
(1988 to 1994)
I got "prospected" in October 1988 at my job site… I was a front desk clerk at a bowling center in San Jose CA. The guy, DR, asked me "Are you open to new ways of making money?" Sure, what idiot wouldn't be? (So, he gives me this tape with some guy on it talking about having financial freedom and time to do what he and his wife want to do whenever they wanted. The tape never mentioned the name of the company by name but I was too excited by the content to care. )
DR called me the next night and asked if I had listened. No.
Well, he said he would have to get the tape back on Monday (he was good at taking things away, like I would be missing out on something... I just HAD to listen to it)
Well, DR and I get together a couple of days later so he can show me how this works--- it was at a restaurant, of course. He draws all these circles and tends to make sense--- The Job Chart—Advancing up the ladder, "topping out" (a favorite term of Amway or AMO people), then watching the income stagnate and then decline as you near the end of the line at the company you've been at for 25 years (hypothetical) as you retire It is claimed that the company can hire two for the price of one--- fire you and replace you with 2 people at the same salary. Then he went on to investing and didn't spend much time on it cause not many people beat the experts, right? (how would I know??). Then, Social Security, on how it wouldn't be there when I was eligible for it. Out of all the things DR covered in the "plan", this is the one that would stick with me the longest--- in fact, it still does today.
Armed with this new information, I just HAD to do something about it.
Well, I was *excited" but he had to take me to this "meeting" where a successful Amway person would speak from stage (Beverly Johnson). So, she does, more eloquently, shows the same thing that DR did. I was sold. She was rich, I wasn't.
I signed up two days later and was ready to go--- but wait I had to meet the upline Emeralds, the classiest people I ever met (NOT) Norm & Marie Hall. P They lived a few miles away and I had no car, so I bussed up there to talk with Norm. Norm was an enigma, even then I was able to read him a bit. He was very businesslike and said all the things that I wanted to hear and convinced me to sign up in the AMO/Amway. I don't remember the specifics of the meeting anymore.--- it was too long ago. Knowing what I know now, I would've kept a diary on it. He more sold me on the AMO—about having to buy into the "program" (tapes and functions and books and opens and whatever else there was that cost money)
Since, I didn't have much money (I wasn't the most prime specimen for this business—maybe qualified 2/6, maybe), I really couldn't "invest" much in my "business' to start with… So, I bought a number of "prospecting tapes" and started handing them out to people I knew and didn't know.
Through my prospecing trevails, I met, and (sometimes with help), signed up the following people
Back to Main