MLMs should be quite straightforward. The salespeople are recruited to sell large quantities of merchandise to people outside the company. Pyramid schemes rely on exciting promises and buzzwords to cover up the fact that they don't have a legitimate business model. Their actual model would not entice nearly as many people to buy in.  Business models of MLMs should be easy to understand. For instance, they might have a successful line of hygienic products. Since products like shampoo are inexpensive to produce in mass amounts, there is often a considerable markup for the consumer. Use this method to walk yourself through how the business makes money. Business models for pyramid schemes are confusing. They often include fantastical promises about revolutionizing their industry or introducing a 'miracle product.' More importantly, they emphasize the process of recruitment and promotion over the actual product. Don't get lured into the job until you understand how the company makes its money. This is the biggest giveaway with pyramid schemes. They often don't even mention what product you'd be selling, but only talk about recruitment and making money off the downline. The products they do sell are often ridiculous and unsellable, picked for the allure of getting rich selling them rather than actually using them. MLMs have useful everyday products that have been sold door-to-door and on the internet for decades. Some examples of phony pyramid scheme products are 'miracle cures,' unfamiliar health products at seemingly high prices, or low-cost, high-yield investment opportunities. Often, pyramid schemes offer products with a low profit margin. The real money is to be made from recruiting new members. Since these details may not be apparent to someone outside the company, you will need to use these other criteria to make a decision. The product may not be a dead giveaway.  Let's say, for instance, there was a pyramid scheme that sold inexpensive DVDs. This seems like a legitimate product. But how much profit can you hope to make off each unit? It may be hard to tell. If there is high reward for recruiting members in addition, look for other signs of a pyramid scheme. Is the company sustainable? Stable businesses depend on a cycle of production, marketing, and sales. Money goes out and comes in. If money only seems to be coming from people inside rather than outside the business, it is not self-sustainable. If you get a briefcase of popular cosmetics, it may be a safe investment. If you merely get the opportunity to sign other people to work for you, it is probably a pyramid scheme. It has to be a viable business opportunity for everyone from the downline to the executives.
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One-sentence summary -- Look at the business model. Do research into what products they sell. Find out how employees make their money. Look at the cash flow. Find out what your contribution gets you.


Use your comment as an icebreaker to start the conversation. Look around and observe what is going on around you. Is there anything funny or interesting that you notice? For example, if it is lunch and the food truck hasn’t arrived yet, you can say “Are they going to get us water for this wait, or do they want us to die?” If you are going to remark on something simple, try to make it playful. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a funny person, you can still be playful. And playfulness is found to be very attractive to both guys and girls.  This playfulness will make the conversation fun and will help keep the mood light. Don’t worry, the first few comments you make to your crush are not going to make or break the conversation. Getting the conversation started is more important. So don’t worry too much about being smooth, and focus instead on continuing conversation. Once you have broken in with an opening line, move on into something you can talk about more. Asking for an update is a good question to ask if you do already know the person a little bit or you are taking a class together, for example. It is a good idea to acknowledge your familiarity with one another by talking about the thing you have in common. This will make the conversation less awkward, and you will also get a better understanding of what is going on with the other person in your shared thing. For example, if you are taking a class together you can say, “So how is your midterm paper coming together?” You don’t have to mention the fact that you are in a class together unless you aren’t sure that he or she knows. If you want to remind him or her, do it without making a big deal out of it. Say “So in English class, how is your midterm paper coming together?” It is not weird that you know that you share a class. If he or she doesn’t know, you mentioning the class first will tip him or her off and he or she will probably apologize for not recognizing you. Topics of conversation can go by pretty quickly, and so it can be good to have a couple of open ended and easy to answer questions lined up to ask your crush. You can start by telling him or her something that you do or know and then ask his or her opinion on it. This question can also be related to the context of where you are or what you are doing. For example, if you are eating an apple at lunch you could say “I personally know that Granny Smith apples are the best apples in the world, but out of curiosity, what kind of apple is your favorite?”  Once again, being playful is a good way to make your conversation less awkward and more fun, especially when you are talking about simple topics and just getting your conversation going. You don’t want to ask him or her something too controversial. Stay away from any hot button topics like politics or religion. You should try to make a unique connection based on your conversation and the particular person you are talking to. You can ask your crush something unusual but fun. For example, you could ask him or her something like “Is there a celebrity that people say, or you think, that you look like?”. This kind of question could make him or her laugh. Once he or she tells you his or her celebrity look alike, you can say whether you agree or disagree, and you can tell him or her who your celebrity look alike is (and you can lie as a joke).  Avoid small talk or getting to know you questions. You don’t want to ask questions like “So where are you from?” because you will get an answer he or she has already used many times before. This kind of playful conversation helps you get more comfortable with one another. If you don’t have many opportunities to talk to your crush and you see a good one, even if you don’t have everything mapped out, you may want to seize the opportunity to talk to him or her by just going for it.  Part of having a crush will always involve some amount of awkwardness and that can be part of the fun. So you don’t have to overthink it- go for it.  Going for it is good because it will help you get over the barrier of initial contact. And remember, it isn’t very important how you start talking to him or her- the important part is continuing the conversation. Sometimes just going with your gut can bring out your most confident self.
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One-sentence summary --
Make a funny or playful comment about the place you are at or thing you are doing. Get the update on something he or she has been doing, especially if you share something in common. Ask for his or her opinion on something easy to talk about. Ask him or her something unexpected but easy to answer. Go with an opening line that pops in your head.