by Sue Chen
While some students tutor, wait on tables, and ring up purchases as their first step toward financial independence, an increasing number of university students are turning towards a more controversial kind of work direct marketing. The three largest direct marketing corporations in Taiwan Nu-skin, Forever and Amway are keenly recruiting new blood on university campuses. A wide variety of merchandise is marketed through these companies, ranging from cosmetics to health food to kitchen utensils. Most university students are introduced to these businesses by friends or family members, while others read about it on the popular BBSs (bulletin board services). Each company has a similar operational structure: in order to become a legal retailer, the interested party must be recommended by one of the existing members. That person is called, in Chinese, one’s shang4 hsien4, sort of like a “mentor”, and a specific amount of the new member’s net monthly profit is counted in the ‘mentor’s’. This means that the more new salespeople one can bring into the firm, the larger their profits will be. New members are usually offered a thirty percent discount on the products, and student marketers normally sell them at full price or at ten percent off. After one has sold a certain quota, or reached a certain position in the firm, everything is sold to them for half price. There are several ways to sell by direct marketing. Telephone marketing is one of the most convenient and frequently used methods. Networking therefore is a fundamental part of the job, because every acquaintance is a potential customer! A large proportion of Taiwan University’s student marketers are business and law school students. According to one student in the Economics Department, this is a job that trains a person’s eloquence, salesmanship, and public relations skills. In other words, it gives participants a taste of life in the real world before graduation. The companies often hold big training seminars for members who wish to enhance their sales ability. Massive crowds gather to hear successful entrepreneurs share their experiences and offer tips and advice. Each of these seminars is marked by an atmosphere of excitement that fills the room; and people leave with the confidence that they, too, can fulfill their dream of becoming a multimillionaire. Lots of students are lured into this job by the prospect of high profits, but one must not forget that direct marketing is a twenty four hour job! Those who don’t devote lots of time and effort to it usually quit after a few months, because it isn’t “easy money”, as some hopefuls may have initially anticipated. They may even end up with negative profits if they initially stocked up on too much merchandise which may eventually end up collecting dust on the shelf! On the other hand, some put all their energy into selling their wares and forget about everything else in their life. In some extreme cases, not only do grades plummet, but friends gradually disappear too, because they have now been degraded to “customers”. For students mainly interested in cosmetics at a lower price, though, direct marketing offers a good deal. This kind of direct marketer typically rationalizes: “If business comes my way, then I’ll gladly accept it; if not, no harm done!” Whether one decides to go into direct marketing or any other job, the most important thing is to be able to strike a balance between one’s full-time occupation and part-time job. There are two sides to every story, and I conclude with the aphorism, “One man’s meat is another one’s poison.” a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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