Why I write about Liberty League International
In early July I saw an ad on television. The ad was for the company ‘Six Figure Chicks’ and despite watching the ad from start to finish, at the end of it I knew nothing about the company.
A few more random viewings later I decided to hit the internet for answers. Australia is a pretty local country and we notice stuff, somebody must have written something about this company by now.
My search for information led me over a variety of information sources. There were endless sales pitch pages that explained nothing beyond a ’3 step system’ begging me for my email address, sites that labelled the business an outright scam and still others that seemed to offer a constructive analysis but at the end hit you with a sales pitch for some other get-rich-quick scheme.
I didn’t like what I was reading, the sales model screamed scam to me and I couldn’t believe Australian’s were being exposed to Liberty League on national television on a daily basis.
What I realised was that as far as I could see nobody had done a solid analysis of Liberty League in Australia. From what they sold, how they sold it, who were the big players, how they made their fortunes and how they went about recruiting new associates.
Realising I had enough information for a few blog posts after a few days research I began to write about this company.
At the time I had no idea the sheer amount of feedback these articles would create.
In my writings on Liberty League one thing I’ve noticed is the tactic to draw question on the credibility of the information I have presented via character assassination.
Do I belong to a rival company?
What did Liberty League do to me to earn so much attention?
Am I a bitter burnt out ex-associate?
Is OzSoapbox just a clever front for some other home-based business?
On my about page I share a little bit about myself:
OzSoapbox is the product of one Australian and a computer.
I started OzSoapbox earlier this year after leaving my previous job to take a break last November. I’ve always had a passion for writing and inbetween looking for work in late January I decided to try and start a blog.
I’d blogged previously for a few years back in the late 90s but not since then. The idea was to focus on Australian current events and inject some of my own personal experiences and hobbies into the blog to give it some variety.
Eventually I found work again but decided to continue with OzSoapbox. I watched from month to month as the site gained in traffic and user interaction. As a writer part of the enjoyment for me is interacting with you the reader and observing how people digest and react to what I write.
I wrote about many topics prior to Liberty League as you can see in the OzSoapbox archives located on the sidebar. Today I still blog about different topics as did when I started the site. Infact out of the thus published 260 articles on this website, just 14 are on Liberty League.
This is roughly 5% of the total content on OzSoapbox.
My previous employment and my current employment are both not internet based. I have never and do not plan to ever work in the personal development industry, nor have I ever run a home-based business of any kind.
Further to that I am not trying to sell you anything here. Yes, OzSoapbox is supported by advertising but so is half the internet. The ads served on OzSoapbox are contextual, meaning they are targeted to the content I write.
If you are looking at one of the articles on home based buisiness on this site then you will see advertising related to home based businesses.
When I started OzSoapbox the goal I had in mind was to potentially one day live off the revenue generated by the site. This is a journey I started six months ago and may take years to accomplish and hell, I might not even accomplish it at all. The only way I’m ever going to find out is to start the journey and see where it takes me.
One day if I achieve this goal I will stop publishing anonymously and publish under my actual name.
For those of you who join me on this journey I welcome you and thankyou for all your participation, insight and feedback. I read each and every comment left by my readers and while I might disagree I still listen and respect your opinion and your right to have one.
I don’t know where this suspicion of what my motivation comes from when people question why I choose to write about Liberty League. Perhaps it’s a side effect of the general mistrust of ‘leaders’ within the MLM industry as they hop from business to business over the years.
It’s no secret that most of the Australian leaders joined Liberty League after trying various other MLM home based businesses and brought with them their existing downlines which contributed greatly to their success.
In that sense I understand the need to discredit the information I’ve presented by trying to present me in the same light. The truth is I have no such goal, if I’m to make any money at all it will be on the back of my contribution and dedication to this blog. Liberty League is just one of the topics I choose to write about on my little piece of the internet.
To date, despite thousands of page views and hundred of comments none of the information I have presented has been directly challenged by anyone from Liberty League.
Instead supporters of Liberty League have either simply dismissed the information with no reason given (I don’t have enough positivism or I just don’t get it are not valid reasons), or questioned my character and motivation.
The reason the information hasn’t been challenged directly is simple.
I’m just a guy with an internet connection who did some research. All of the information on Liberty League presented here was at some point publicly accessible. I didn’t have to make anything up, the information was there if you looked hard enough.
On anything I’ve posted I’m happy to be corrected or challenged on. This invitation is extended and always will be to those that have different opinions of my own.
OzSoapbox is my watercooler and you are all part of the discussion. For that I thank each and every one of you.
I hope this post puts to rest some of the questions that have been raised about who I am and the apparent motivations I have behind OzSoapbox.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:52 pm Dan(Quote)
Well done. This might quieten them down a bit. Hopefully, within the next week, we’ll see some sort of confirmation from the NSW Dept. Of Fair Trading and get this insidious mob thrown out of Australia for good. Although, I have to wonder what’s going to go on this weekend at the Super Soaker meet. Some high level meetings to change the structure enough to escape the pyramid tag? Only time will tell……
August 29th, 2009 at 4:14 am USA LLI(Quote)
You are right to challenge LLI but you are also wrong in that you do not challenge the other opportunities in the same light. ie: lifepath even more expensive wealth masters etc.
These were all based on the LLI model with some suttle changes to make them (“better”sic) do some more research and then you will not be seen as just picking out one company when several companies are doing the same thing.
Credibility is important when you are setting yourself up as the judge and exocutioner!
August 29th, 2009 at 9:34 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
I don’t pretend to be an expert on all the MLM scams running around in Australia. Nor do I support or reccomend them by singling LLI out.
My exposure to LLI was through their viral advertising on television. They brought upon themselves public scruitiny by taking their business to the masses.
I’m not about to turn OzSoapbox into a fully fledged MLM analysis based blog because that’s not the direction I want to take.
I don’t see how the information I have presented on LLI is any less credible because I haven’t created a directory of every MLM scam running out of Australia.
August 29th, 2009 at 10:01 am USA LLI(Quote)
Wow how disegenuous. I gave you the names of two others. Together with LLI they make up at least 80% of the Network Marketing opportunities in Australia. You also need to know the difference between MLM and Network Marketing. I am losing faith that you are not just trying to exploit some peoples failings to get adsense revenue to your blog. What a hypocrite.
August 29th, 2009 at 10:06 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
MLM, network marketing, amazing business opportunity, call it whatever you want it’s all the same crap to me.
Like I said, I’m just a guy with an internet connection. I’d hope my level of knowledge on your competition, research into them and statistics would pale in comparison to someone who’s active in the industry of ripping people off for a living.
I’ve never claimed to be an expert on the entire MLM scam business industry in Australia. I’d even argue the feedback left by those who have actually been through the scheme is more heartfelt then anything I could ever write on the subject.
Oh and by the way, attacking me doesn’t change the credibility of the information presented here. No matter how you try to disguise it up.
August 29th, 2009 at 10:09 am USA LLI(Quote)
Let me recap 14 articles and you no nothing about what you are talking about.
Thanks for clearing that up for me and all of your 100 or so readers.
August 29th, 2009 at 10:15 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
I know only what I’ve researched about Liberty League, I wouldn’t have the slighest clue about the workings of some of the other similar MLM scams going around. Other then identifying them by name as I’ve been accused of working for them.
It’s interesting you accuse me of exploiting people’s failing to generate revenue and label it as hypocritical. To be hypocrticial as you allege I’d have to be writing about people who exploit people’s failings to generate revenue.
Thankyou for precisely summarising exactly what it is you and all the Liberty League Associates do for a living.
August 29th, 2009 at 10:27 am USA LLI(Quote)
Thanks for trying to make me out to be the bad guy. You obviously do not read your own blog.
I agree that there are some bad people in all of the MLM’s and there are some good people also. You seem to want to throw the baby out with the bath water.
People fail in business all of the time. The newtwork marketing business is a much harder business than most people are lead to believe. I also think blogging and making money at it is harder than most people think also.
I do not agree with the way it is being marketed by certain people in Australia or the rest of the world for that matter.
Paersonal development is a good product and helps people, but no one should use any product to exploit people that are honestly looking for a way to live a better life.
My point is that what you are doing to help people in Australia with LLI could also be done to help people that are being mislead by other people in other opportunities.
As a side benefit it would also drive people to your blog.
Sorry that you are so thin skinned.
August 29th, 2009 at 11:59 am Martin(Quote)
Wow. More than one post from the same Liberty League Ass.ociate. Unfortunately much more of the same drivel we see on all the forums… derision and accusations.
I think its the deception that Liberty League use in their advertising for recruitment that really gets up everyones goat here in Australia.
All the websites and adverts imply huge earnings inside six months. Alot of the websites and adverts imply that you can make money in your first week. There are adds on job/employment websites pretending to offer employment.
Deception, deception, deception, everywhere you look.
Its apparent that the deception continues inside Liberty League and the support network promised to new recruits is non existant in most cases.
Supercharged Saturday is a huge lie.
What training do people get? Why do they have to pay so much to attend? Actually, most probably dont realise the cost involved untill they go to register for the tickets.
Sorry Mr LLI, your company is primarially about deceiving others into parting with their cash, full well knowing that 85% or more of them will never even cover their costs.
To even associate yourselves with personal development should be a crime.
Now I need to get to Mcdonalds, time for work.
(100% of McD’s employees make more than 85% of Liberty League International members and thats working the hours they choose, 15 -20 hours a week. No telling, explaining or selling)
August 29th, 2009 at 12:51 pm Dan(Quote)
Tell us Mr US LLI, what other programs should we shine a light on now? Who is the main competitor to LLI? Maybe we should’ve focused on them first, so your LLI work(ummm)mates could’ve had an easier time of it in Australia.
And why did you use USA LLI as a name. Too scared to tell us who you are? Everyone else here has used their real name, not a screen name. We’ve all used real names to report this insidious business to the ACCC and our state Fair Trading offices.
Oops. Times up. Got to get back from my break at McDonalds….
(Disclaimer: I have never nor do I currently work for McDonalds. I’m a mature age student in the process of changing careers after a long and successful sales career. All without sacrificing my morals and standards by stooping to taking money from people who don’t know any better.)
August 29th, 2009 at 1:10 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Yes it could, I’m not disputing that. I’m a one man operation though and I never set out to write about every MLM scam out there in Australia. To expect me to have all this information after writing about one company on and off for two months is grossly unrealistic.
I think after reading a small section of what I’ve published you’re pulling expectations about what this blog is from who knows where.
August 29th, 2009 at 1:26 pm USA LLI(Quote)
Well Dan, my name is John I hope that makes you feel better. Wow you people are starting to make me not feel sorry for you.
Oh well if you were more literate and could comprehend what I have written, you would see that I am not the saying that LLI is a great opportunity, but you ALL joined because of the outrageous commissions that were being offered. You are just upset because you could not effectively sell an overpriced product. If you could have been successful, I am sure that you and Rachel Oliver would be happy sitting next to each other at the Super Saturday Conference.
Save your vile resposes for your mirror. Your conscience should keep you awake at night.
August 29th, 2009 at 1:42 pm Dan(Quote)
Ok John, if that is your real name….. I’ve sold plenty of overpriced products, but not to people who couldn’t afford them. And by product, I mean something that people can see and touch, not an airy-fairy ideal. Nothing comes to people without hard work and if you believe in something as retarded as “The Secret” then you will get what’s coming to you.
Good luck to you and your fellow scam artists in the US. I really hope the Better Business Bureau steps in and closes it down soon. I hope all the ex-LLI people band together in the US and make complaint after complaint till this disgusting stupid business is closed down for good.
August 29th, 2009 at 1:48 pm USA LLI(Quote)
Hello Dan if that is your real name.
My point with all of this is that I am not even with LLI. I am with a competitor and just wanted to show all of you how incedious internet marketing is.
Kinda funny don’t you think…See ya!
August 29th, 2009 at 1:50 pm Dan(Quote)
So I take you’ve already moved on to the next scam? Would that be Lifepath? Or something else. Let us know, so we can start focusing on that instead.
August 29th, 2009 at 1:51 pm Martin(Quote)
Hilarious.
August 29th, 2009 at 2:03 pm Vince(Quote)
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
There it is again! They’re all robots. They must be programmed to talk like this.
The purpose of this post “Why I write about Liberty League International” was to let you know that Mr OzSoapbox is not interested in being a home business and selling overpriced products.
Ok USA LLI and others, you guys seriously need some new material, it’s just the same old shit now.
August 29th, 2009 at 3:02 pm Roly(Quote)
You’ve stated your position and are up front about your advertising. That’s sufficient.
I run a site (nothing whatsoever to do with marketing of any sort) and decided to carry no advertising and support it myself so there could be no questions about my impartiality, motivation or honesty (well, at least to dismiss that line of argument). As it happens I don’t see your ad’s at all because my ‘Hosts’ file redirects requests to your adserver to the bit-bucket.
Undermining is by no means confined to this area – if you disagree or seek to bring unwelcome attention to something often the first line of response is bluster, discredit, question motives, then that you aren’t burning yourself out trying to change the whole world in one swipe, sour grapes, “negativity”; anything to deflect attention from what you are basically saying, and respond meaningfully to it.
They are always quick to find work for you to do when they could (should?) get off their bums themselves. But the professed concern is just a sham intended to silence critics.
The (illiterate, un-proofread) responses from LLI supporters speak loudly for themselves. In only one day I went from never having heard of LLI/SFC &c to being sure they are a scam/cult simply by checking on the internet myself. With each reality check I found your representations honest, and theirs … well … let’s say “dubious” snow-jobs. I also found *unverified* claims that this group of get rich quick schemes originate with Scientology.
But what honest and ethical business needs to have lawyers dealing with the DoFT? If you’re running a straight-up operation you can totally forget about regulators – an honest person should have no fear.
If we were trying to profit at the expense of LLI&c then we might be “screwed”, but if we are only trying to prevent people being scammed we will be happy if these “Personal Development” schemes are found to be honest. What is more likely is that it is they who will be “screwed” when their true nature is fully exposed.
These guys are scam artists and will try to scam their way out of unwanted attention. If they were honest they would welcome any close examination because it would bring them exactly the exposure they crave, and vindication that they are honest and ethical. But anyone with half a brain can clearly see where this scam is going in a hurry.
I feel sorry for those who have taken a cold bath with LLI (or any of the other scams around) but it is constrained by the old saying that “You can’t cheat an honest man”, and I suspect that their losses are proportional to their personal greed. Who REALLY thinks that you can make $50k a month if you are honest and ethical? From home? Without any qualifications?
The defenders of LLI (etc) posting here are doing more damage to their own interests than you could ever hope to do, but it’s another interesting example of what ‘one bloke and his computer’ can do when you have the truth on your side.
Kudos to OzSoapbox, and to those burned by scams like these being brave enough to speak up with warnings.
(yet more sour grapes and truth inversion – to clarify for John, I don’t need your pity, have never been part of any such marketing scheme, or even worked in sales; I’m an electronics designer by profession)
August 31st, 2009 at 8:49 am Citizen-D(Quote)
My friend, you should not be condemning the literacy of other people here. Go and reread your own posts – the spelling and grammar is atrocious.
Bingo.
October 1st, 2009 at 4:15 pm Joe(Quote)
Hang on – i’ve just come across this post and wanted to derive some truths:
ok, and:
ok, and:
and:
Did that guy just admit;
a) they’re all the same sh!t
b) That their marketing techniques are subversive and immoral
c) They all know that their product is over priced and lacking in value (didn’t ASIC say something about items of no value being sold as a ‘token’ to avoid being classed a pyramid outright)
and;
d) This is about selling an overpriced product, and if you’re good enough, maybe you’ll fleece as many as that evil deceitful scumbag Rachael?
Please correct me if i’m wrong?
October 1st, 2009 at 4:16 pm Joe(Quote)
Sorry, not ASIC, DoFT.
That reply brain my hurted
October 25th, 2009 at 10:58 pm Liz(Quote)
Whew! Wish I’d done my homework properly before I sank $30,000 into this scam now known as Polaris Media Group.
I disagree with Roly who says that you can’t cheat an honest man: I got “done” not by personal greed but because I’d lost my life’s savings last year through a scumbag financial company and my main motivation in joining LLI / Polaris was to further assist my 78-year-old mum overseas who lives on the equivalent of $20 a week. Does that make me greedy? Wanting to help my mother who lives on $20 a week??? Yup, that’s it! Not a bean more. She can’t afford a car, walks with great difficulty so can’t use public transport (because the buses are unsafe and chaotic), lives in a single rented room, subsists on jam sandwiches, wears shabby clothes that are mostly hand-me-downs, and yes, I’ve been supporting her as much as possible for a long time.
That’s what my bid via Liberty League was all about: to IMPROVE my mum’s circumstances. What’s happened is that mine have become so much worse that it will impact on her for a long time. Why? Because I was lied to, was deliberately misled, and didn’t do my homework properly.
And maybe I didn’t thoroughly research Liberty League International because I truly wanted to believe that this home-based business opportunity was IT … THE answer … the REAL secret to never-ending health, wealth and happiness. If I sound self-pitying, yes, at the moment I am. That $30,000 would have helped my mum a great deal.
Shannon and John Lavenia, Rachael Oliver, Shane Krider, Delwyn McKenzie, Keryn West and their disgusting ilk deserve to be part of a doomed company, but the numbers they have taken down financially is unconscionable. We were the commodity. They were the clever (sic) ones!
Must be “nice” to not have a conscience (as per the list of crooks above): imagine sleeping well at night while a 78-year-old woman looks forward to a jam sandwich for breakfast … and lunch … and dinner.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:10 am Carla(Quote)
Wow, Liz I just want to let you know I really feel for you and was so saddened to read your story. I was scammed too and didn’t do my homework either and have kicked myself ever since.
I know my words can’t change your situation, but trust me, I feel your pain. Hang in there girl, you will get through this.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:11 am Carla(Quote)
Oz,
You are doing a great service. Thank you for allowing us to bring the issues out into the open.
Do you know if DOFT are aware LLI have ‘morphed’ into PMG and what they intend to do about it?
I would assume they’ll declare it a pyramid too???
November 5th, 2009 at 7:33 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
LLI operated here for ~2 years before being declared a pyramid scheme. I’m not sure how long the NSW DoFT investigation went on for before this happened.
I imagine similar will eventually happen with Polaris. It hasn’t taken long for distributors to resort back to marketing the busines opportunity along with wild income claims (the flyer that arrived in my mailbox last week is proof).
Here’s another recent example of wild income claims dated November 4th, 2009:
Note the mention of ‘six figure income’ at the end.
This style of advertising and the ‘always needing to recruit new people’ model is what got LLI into trouble over here in the first place.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:45 am RT(Quote)
Oz I think you’re mistaken. That wasn’t a PMG marketing video that was a clip from the movie “Fargo”.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:08 am iwonder(Quote)
Oh my goodness…..
That poor woman.
She looks like she doesn’t even believe it herself!
This scam seriously has to go….videos like this just make me feel so so sorry for the victims.
March 5th, 2010 at 12:32 pm Tam(Quote)
Looks like they’re still at it … one of the targeted ads on this very page is for this website: http://whatifthisisit.com … and it is really hard to find any link to Polaris, but when you read the disclaimer http://whatifthisisit.com/disclaimer.html it is oh so familiar.
What’s scary is that unlike many of the sites, that one is actually a visually appealing site that doesn’t immediately scream SCAM. What’s also scary is that “What if this is it” is such a common phrase that it will totally confuse any Google searches.
Reason I’m pointing this out? I think they are actually getting smarter … someone who may already know about Polaris/LLI may still get suckered into this one.
I also think that it would be FANTASTIC if you could do some research into Lifepath – starting to see that one crop up more and more, and if Polaris goes under we’ll probably see even more from them. Even scarier, when you google Lifepath, there are NO DECENT sites out there providing REAL information.
What you said about your original searches for LLI is now true of Lifepath … all you can find in opposition of Lifepath are sites “that seemed to offer a constructive analysis but at the end hit you with a sales pitch for some other get-rich-quick scheme.” (Probably Polaris, LOL)!
Maybe you don’t have much time to go after these bottom-feeders, but I do (I’m pregnant and I don’t work) and would be more than willing to help.
Tam
April 22nd, 2010 at
[...] when confronted with these accusations I was quick to pen a direct response ‘Why I write about Liberty League International‘. The response didn’t simply question the credibility of the accusers (who were mostly [...]
July 7th, 2010 at 10:20 pm Carla(Quote)
If only we could bring them down once and for all.