Make Friends - Not Enemies!

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It's great that people publish information on mail order companies that "rip people off" and get the word out about them. Unfortunately, some of this negative publicity is having a negative effect on many beginners that was not originally intended.

After 8 years in the business, I've noticed an increasing number of beginners who jump to conclusions and "think" any business they send an order or inquiry to is trying to "rip them off." This line of thinking closes the gap of communication for people who are really trying to provide their customers with good quality products and services.

When I used to live in a large metropolitan city, there were so many con artists that when you met anybody new, they were automatically labeled a "con." In order to gain our trust, they had to prove they were not a "con." Everyone automatically placed them in that category through shear fright.

But when I moved to a smaller town in the south, people automatically labeled me as a "human being" in the beginning. They looked at me as someone they could trust. I would have to prove I was a "con" before they labeled me as such.

It's kind of like hating everything in life until it proves itself otherwise. You might be protecting yourself, but this negative attitude will cause you to lose out on a lot! Positive thinking is when you look at everything in life as good. It has to be proven bad before you hate it.

The people in the smaller town where I live have a low crime rate. People say "hello" on the street. They take the time to ask you how you're doing and you have a general positive feeling all day long - whereas the city where I used to live was dangerous to drive in, especially after the sun went down. Where did negative feelings and attitudes get them? They might have been protected but look at the cost they had to pay!

Reporting a "rip-off artist" is also risky business. I remember when several people sent a particular mail order dealer orders but never received their merchandise. Instead of complaining to the actual dealer, several people who had sent him orders wrote to several publishers and reported this guy as a "rip-off artist." Without questioning these people, many publishers took them for their word and printed the negative information.

Three months later it was discovered that the mail order dealer had been injured in a head-on collision and was in a coma for 6 weeks. When he finally was released from the hospital and able to start back in his mail order business he found he had a bad name and was really "out-of-business". Through no fault of his own, the mail order industry had quickly turned their backs on this honest guy and driven him and his business out of commission.

While not everyone experiences problems like this - you should never automatically label someone as a scam artist until you prove them otherwise. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Don't be too quick to judge. We ALL have made mistakes and none of us are "without sin."

And if you do uncover a legitimate scam artist and want to report it to others to save them money - that's fine. But also try and balance your reporting and get the word out about people who DO run an honest business. How about the printer you sent an order to that run an extra 100 copies for you because the order was late? Do you just accept the free copies and go on with life? Why not take a moment to send a "Thank You" card? It increases morale and makes the dealer work even harder at providing customers with more. Remember when we worked for other people? If the boss walked over and said, "John, you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work!" didn't that make you work harder to do a better job? Didn't you feel a little better about your boss and forget some of the unkind thoughts you might have had about him before? Didn't those few words give you hope and make the day go a little easier? Of course it did. And you can do the same for mail order dealers you do business with.

And if you're a beginner and don't know "who" to trust and "who" not to trust, try calling some of the dealers who advertise their phone numbers. Pick up the phone and invest a couple of bucks in a telephone conversation. Beginners are afraid to do this. They think they will ask stupid questions and appear naive and dumb. Nothing could be further from the truth. If a mail order dealer publishes their phone number, they WANT to hear from you! It's as simple as that!

So, if you're a beginner - have some understanding and compassion for fellow dealers. Most of the time they are not crooks and you'll live a long, happy and healthy mail order life. Make friends - not enemies!