Harper's Magazine (August 2012) ... Mary Kay’s Pink Pyramid Scheme (July 24, 2012) ...item 2.. Cocoa man nabbed in connection to massive counterfeit check scheme (1:06 PM, Nov 16, 2012) ...

A few nice business contact manager images I found:

Harper's Magazine (August 2012) ... Mary Kay’s Pink Pyramid Scheme (July 24, 2012) ...item 2.. Cocoa man nabbed in connection to massive counterfeit check scheme (1:06 PM, Nov 16, 2012) ...
business contact manager
Image by marsmet511
Virginia Sole-Smith went undercover to dig into the world of Mary Kay, finding out the dirty truth about recruiting and inventory frontloading. She found out the sad truth: Mary Kay uses the public image of “enriching women’s lives” as the basis for misleading recruits in a “business opportunity” that almost guarantees they will lose money.

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.....item 1).... Pink Truth ... www.pinktruth.com ... Facts, Opinions, and the real story behind Mary Kay Cosmetics

Harper’s Magazine: Mary Kay’s Pink Pyramid Scheme
Written by TRACY. Posted in Business Basics, Pink Truth Press

July 24, 2012

www.pinktruth.com/2012/07/harpers-magazine-mary-kays-pink...

Today the August issue of Harper’s Magazine officially went on sale, and the cover story features the pink pyramid scheme known as Mary Kay. The internet has been abuzz with this story, The Pink Pyramid Scheme: How Mary Kay Cosmetics Preys on Desperate Housewives, and it has been featured on sites like Jezebel and Andrew Sullivan’s The Dish.
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img code photo ... Harper's Magazine cover ... August 2012

www.pinktruth.com/wp-content/uploads/harpers-pink-pyramid...

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Virginia Sole-Smith went undercover to dig into the world of Mary Kay, finding out the dirty truth about recruiting and inventory frontloading. She found out the sad truth: Mary Kay uses the public image of “enriching women’s lives” as the basis for misleading recruits in a “business opportunity” that almost guarantees they will lose money.

Recruits are told that purchasing inventory is optional, but their arms are twisted until they “opt” into purchasing it. Virginia writes:

The first step on my Mary Kay to-do list was making my initial inventory investment. Of course, Antonella was quick to work in the standard caveat, necessary because it’s the technicality that separates Mary Kay from a pyramid scheme: “Buying inventory is always optional with Mary Kay, and if anyone has told you otherwise, they were lying to you. You do not have to buy products in order to be a Mary Kay consultant.”

There was a slight pause. “But there are some advantages.”

It was true, Antonella acknowledged, that some consultants preferred to wait to order products until after they had made some sales using the catalogues and samples in the starter kit. But she didn’t think it was the best course of action for me, because she could tell I was so serious about my Mary Kay career. “I was just like you, Virginia—terrified to place my first inventory order.”

After telling her recruiter that she didn’t have ,800 lying around waiting to be used to purchase Mary Kay inventory, it was suggested that she use a credit card to purchase inventory, because it was an investment and NOT debt:

When I delicately conveyed that I didn’t have ,800 on hand, Antonella was unconcerned. “I actually don’t suggest that my consultants use personal funding to buy their inventory, even if they do have the money,” she said. “I find that unless someone holds you accountable, consultants forget to pay themselves.” Instead, I could apply for a Chase Mary Kay Rewards Visa card, which offers instant approval, 0 percent interest for six months, and two points for every dollar spent on Mary Kay merchandise. “What you need to understand is that this is not a debt,” Antonella said firmly. “If you spend eighteen hundred dollars on a new couch, sure, that is a debt sitting in your living room. But this eighteen hundred dollars is an investment in your business.” This eighteen hundred dollars would also be almost half of Antonella’s December wholesale goal.

The truth is that inventory is not necessary in Mary Kay. Recruits are told they need it to be successful, because no one wants to wait for their cosmetic purchases to arrive. While having inventory on hand may help consultants sell a little more, the bulk of their customers would be willing to wait for a few days to receive their items. (After all, millions of people order products off the internet every day, and wait anywhere from a couple of days to a week to receive them.)

Any additional sales that a consultant will generate because she has inventory on hand will be more than wiped out by the high cost of having the inventory on hand. Those costs include interest on the debt, the cost of expired products, the cost of obsolete products (Mary Kay is constantly rolling out changes to their products), and the cost of any inventory that just can’t be sold because of market conditions.

And if you doubt the truth behind my statement that Mary Kay products are incredibly difficult to sell, run on over to eBay and search for Mary Kay. At any given time you will find 40,000 to 50,000 auctions of products that women could not sell through the face-to-face means that Mary Kay encourages. Many of those products are sold for less than wholesale pricing, which is 1/2 of the suggested retail price.

Virginia gave a nice shout out to Pink Truth:

For the half dozen Mary Kay consultants I interviewed, the “corporate income” Daria talked about, to say nothing of Antonella’s Mary Kay dream house, never seemed to materialize. These anecdotal accounts reflect the findings of Tracy Coenen, a financial-fraud investigator and former Mary Kay lady who founded Pink Truth, an online community that describes its mission as giving “a voice to the millions of women who have had negative experiences with Mary Kay.”

Extrapolating from data published in the company’s Applause magazine, Coenen estimated that fewer than 300 U.S. Mary Kay ladies are earning a six-figure income after business expenses—roughly 0.05 percent of the 600,000 American consultants.

Coenen also estimated that the highest-earning sales consultants generally order only about ,000 worth of products per year, meaning the most they’re making annually from direct sales is ,000. But hostess gifts, official Mary Kay skirt suits, travel, and other expenses—not to mention the challenge of moving so much inventory—eat into their profits. “Almost everyone loses money,” said Coenen. “Most of those who do profit are making about minimum wage.”

A business in which only a select few earn real money while everyone else pays to play sounds a lot like a pyramid scheme. The Federal Trade Commission distinguishes between recruiting salespeople to sell a product, which is perfectly legal, and making money through “fees for participation,” which isn’t. What constitutes a fee is, of course, vague, but the FTC has charged some multilevel-marketing companies with employing pyramid schemes. In those cases, the majority of sales occurred between company and salespeople; the retail products were essentially decoys. The FTC has never taken action against Mary Kay, and an agency spokesperson told me that he was “unable to confirm or deny” whether the company had ever been investigated.

When I contacted a public-relations manager at Mary Kay headquarters, she was quick to emphasize the same technicality that Antonella had: buying inventory is “a personal choice.” On top of that, she said, the commissions that sales directors earn on purchases by their team members are paid by Mary Kay corporate itself; they’re never taken out of the pockets of lower-level consultants.

The company’s website is equally emphatic: “Is Mary Kay a pyramid scheme? Absolutely not,” reads one FAQ. “The entire marketing structure is based on and intended to foster retail sales to ultimate consumers.”

Despite this supposed focus on the ultimate consumer, however, Mary Kay has little real idea where its products end up. When I asked the press officer to comment on Coenen’s income estimates, I was told that the company tracks only wholesale figures. After a saleswoman places her order, Mary Kay disassociates itself from its carefully cultivated girlfriends’ club; every consultant is her own business, independent from (and yet completely dependent on) the mother ship.

Mary Kay supporters are coming forth to decry this story and claim it only reflects the experience of a few “disgruntled former consultants.” Sadly, we at Pink Truth know that is not the case. We know that almost everyone loses money in Mary Kay, and that there are millions of women who have had bad experiences at the hands of this pink pre**tor.
Similar Posts:

Forbes Calls Multi-Level Marketing a “Pyramid Selling Scheme”
Mary Kay Says They’re Not a Pyramid
Is Avon Just Another Pyramid Scheme?
Who’s Making a Living From Selling Mary Kay’s Products? No one here.
Fraud Investigator Joins Pyramid Scheme Alert Board

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.....item 2).... Florida Today ... www.floridatoday.com ...

Cocoa man nabbed in connection to massive counterfeit check scheme
1:06 PM, Nov 16, 2012 |

Written by
Lee Nessel
FLORIDA TODAY

FILED UNDER
News
Local News

www.floridatoday.com/article/20121116/NEWS01/121116014/Co...|newswell|text|Home|s

A Cocoa man is one of nine people charged in an organized counterfeit check cashing scheme in Central Florida.

Kristopher Harris, 36, has been charged by Florida Department of Law Enforcement for one count of grand theft in excess of ,000.

The FDLE Orlando Regional Operations Center says Harris and eight others, all from Orlando, targeted Publix Supermarkets throughout Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, estimating that more than 1,000 counterfeit check were cashed. The losses to Publix total about 0,000.

The eight-month investigation conducted by FDLE and Publix alleges that the suspects worked together to manufacture and then distribute counterfeit payroll checks at Publix stores.

Also charged: Leon Stovall, 34, of Orlando, for one count of grand theft in excess of 0,000 and one count of conspiracy to commit grand theft; Jeffrey Hodge, 59, of Orlando, for one count of grand theft in excess of ,000; Michael Shechtman, 21, of Orlando, for one count of grand theft in excess of ,000; Maitland Sparrow, 35, of Orlando, for one count of grand theft in excess of ,000; Khiree Price, 23, of Orlando, for one count of grand theft in excess of ,000.

Three suspects are not in custody: John Kennedy, 21, wanted for one count of grand theft in excess of ,000; April Bursey, 35, wanted for one count of grand theft in excess of ,000; Andrew Leeman, 20, for one count of grand theft in excess of ,000.
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Essentials of Business Analysis Course on September 15th to 16th, 2011 at Singapore
business contact manager
Image by 350.org
Essentials of Business Analysis

Course Instructor | Course Overview | Course Features | Participant Benefits
Who Should Attend | Course Agenda | Registration Details | Contact Details

Phil Robinson has worked with information technology, in a variety of roles since 1975. He has been involved in the planning, analysis and implementation of a diverse range of business, scientific and technical information systems.
Phil is an experienced workshop facilitator and has led numerous workshops in the course of his consulting assignments. He has extensive training experience, earning a reputation as a lucid and knowledgeable presenter. Phil has presented training courses for organizations in Australia, Thailand, Philippines, India,
Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia.
Phil teaches courses on Software Testing, Requirements Analysis, Introduction to UML, SDLC Process Design Course, Enterprise Architecture,UML Modeling with Enterprise Architect and Requirement Analysis using Enterprise Architect.
Phil is a regular presenter at conferences and has authored numerous industry training courses in addition to three University units. He has also had two books published on programming Apple computers. The books were published in a number of countries including the USA, UK and as translations in Germany and France. More recently, he co-authored a number of articles that describe an original framework for the analysis of enterprise architectures.
Phil is a resident of Perth, Australia and frequently travels to South East Asia to perform assignments.

According to the International Institute of Business Analysis:

Business analysis is concerned with investigating business needs and proposing solutions to business problems. Solutions often include some form of software system, but may also include improvements to business processes, development of staff skills or changes to the organisation structure.
The people that perform business analysis have a variety of job titles. These include business analysts, systems analyst, functional analyst, business consultant and often, simply BA.

No matter what your job title is, this course is designed to develop the knowledge and skills that are essential to succeed at business analysis.
The course is based on the real-world experience and lessons learnt by practicing business analysts working on actual projects. At the same time it presents an up to date perspective on business analysis that includes use cases.

Participants leave the course with a clear understanding of what is expected from a business analyst and the skills necessary to fulfil those expectations.

Adopts a
systems perspective of business analysis.
Covers material required for the Information Systems Examinations Board (ISEB) and International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)
certification exams.
Suitable for graduates, developers and others moving into a BA role for the first time as well as experienced business analysts who need to update their skills, attend a refresher course or simply get some new ideas.

Gain a better understanding of the role of a business analyst.
Develops the essentials knowledge and skills required to investigate business systems; identify business needs and specify the requirements of a software solution.
Understand how to better align IT with business needs.

Those acting (or planning to act) in the role of Business Analyst, Business Systems Analyst, Systems Analyst, Functional Analyst or Business Consultant.
Software Development Managers, Project Managers, Program Managers, Developers and Testers who need to understand what business analysts do.
Project Sponsors, Project Stakeholders and End-User Representatives who participate in business analysis projects.

Introduction to Business Analysis

The roles and responsibilities of a business analyst
Skills required by business analysts
Business analysis projects

Other roles
Project deliverables

A systems engineering perspective of business analysis

What is a system?
Types of system
The traditional hierarchical view of systems
Systems and the contemporary business environment
Viewing systems as independent and overlapping

Business Analysis Process Model

Investigate the situation
Consider perspectives
Analyse needs
Evaluate options
Define requirements

Understanding Business Strategy

Value chain analysis
Competitive analysis
Environmental scanning
SWOT analysis

Analysing Stakeholders

Stakeholder categories
Identifying stakeholders
Analysing stakeholders
Strategies for managing stakeholders

Investigating Business Systems

The Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)

Rich pictures

Mind mapping the system context

Investigating stakeholder perspectives

Mapping stakeholder perspectives
CATWOE Analysis

Modelling Business Processes

Business process concepts

Definition of a business process
A model of human activity

Activity diagrams

Representing activities
Showing activity sequence
Decomposing activities
Showing parallel activities

Modelling decisions
Modelling workflow

Using swimlanes to represent actors
Representing information flows
Representing the flow of physical objects

Modelling business processes

Modelling logical workflows
Modelling the current as is workflow
Representing activity breakdowns using activity diagrams
Representing activity breakdowns with mind maps
The role of business process reference models

Identifying Business Needs

Business needs

Solving problems
Exploiting an opportunities
Avoiding threats

Identifying business needs

Brainstorming business needs
Identifying internal weaknesses
Identifying external threats advantage
Investigating the root cause of problems
Describing business needs

Documenting Software Requirements

Software requirements

Interface requirements
Functional requirements
Non-functional requirements

Quality attributes
Constraints

Storage requirements

Use cases

Use case concepts
Use case diagrams
Naming use cases
The importance of a glossary
Use case steps

The subject...verb...object template
Use case scenarios

Interface requirements

Data dictionaries
The role of prototypes

Use cases and business processes

Documenting to be workflows
Activity diagrams
Sequence diagrams

Use case templates

Levels of use case description
Use case narrative

Registration Fees

S$ 980 per participant

10% group discount for four or more
registrations from the same company.

15% group discount for nine or more registrations
from the same company.

One discount scheme applicable at a time.

Fees is inclusive of refreshments, lunch & workshop
kit.

Course Venue

Parkroyal on Beach Road
7500 Breach Road,
Singapore 199591

Course Timings

0900 to 1700 hrs

Course Registrations

To register, please email at

vishal@processworks group.com name of the participants and the
billing instructions. Alternately,
please request for a registration form via email.

More Information

Vishal Manghani

Processworks Pte. Ltd.
100, Jalan Sultan,
#09-05, Sultan Plaza
Singapore 199001
Phone: 65-6299 5023
Mobile: 65- 9237 7351
Fax: 65-6234 4357
Email:
vishal@processworksgroup.com

Web:
www.processworksgroup.com

Registration Terms

All payments to be made in favor of Processworks
Pte. Ltd.

Any cancellations received within the last ten
calendar days would be liable for 50% of the course
fees.

No-shows shall be fully charged.

Singapore
Processworks Pte. Ltd
100, Jalan Sultan
#09-05, Sultan Plaza
Singapore 199001

Fax: +65-6234 4357
info@processworksgroup.com
Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)
Processworks Sdn. Bhd.
Level 26, Menara IMC
No.8, Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250, Kuala Lumpur

Fax: 603â€“ 2031 8359
malaysia@processworksgroup.com
India (Bangalore)
Processworks Information Technology Pvt. Ltd.
82/83 Borewell Rd, Whitefields
Bangalore 560055, India

Fax: +91-80 28456467
india@processworksgroup.com

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