My Pampered Rant
myjaxon January 29th, 2009
So something is annoying the hell out of me right now.
I’ve become somewhat of a techie thanks to Jesse. I use the internet for everything. Whether it’s looking up restaurants, getting directions to someplace, looking for suggestions & recommendations, or reading a newspaper – I am hooked into my laptop way more than I am to any print or televised media. So when I joined up as a consultant for the Pampered Chef in December, I couldn’t wait until I was able to have a personal PC website once I qualified. Everyone is using the internet these days and it would have been stupid of me not to get one. So, okay, I have to pay $100 a year to have it, but once I get rolling, it’ll so pay for itself.
I’m sure everyone knows about my recipe sharing site – Open Source Cook (OSC). Recently I got the idea of compacting the two ideas together. There were a few things I wanted to do that the PC personal website wasn’t allowing me to do (i.e. creating a newsletter and sending it out – I can send out emails, but they have character limits). So I started adding links on OSC from my personal PC website and various products. The site was also completely redesigned so it would look a bit more professional rather than just another blog. It looks great.
Then I got a few comments/emails regarding my linkage. I was told I was violating PC policy by linking to my personal website. I was flabbergasted. I’m used to working with authors and publisher for Literary Escapism and they are generally eager for me to plaster their products all over the place. The idea that the Pampered Chef frowns on that was mind boggling. So I contacted my director and she sent me a portion of the policy regarding this. Straight from the policy and procedures:
Consultants of every level are prohibited from linking to their Pampered Chef® Personal Web Sites. This includes both sponsored links and banner ads that you pay for, as well as non-sponsored links that you don’t pay for. For instance, if a friend posts a link on their family’s Web site to your Personal Web Site, you would be in violation of this policy. Additionally, any other form of advertising on the Web is prohibited.
So basically, I am not allowed to promote my own PC business on the web; the only way I can spread the word about it is through word of mouth communication or print media. Seriously? Are they really that far behind the innovation of the internet that they don’t see what a great marketing tool they are prohibiting their consultants from utilizing? More and more people are walking away from traditional print services in lieu of the internet. Newspapers are downsizing their productions; magazines are going out of business. Word of mouth is pretty much the only way to advertise my business and even that isn’t all that reliable.
Granted, my director says that’s the best form of advertising, word of mouth, but that only works if you have the network to work with. Unfortunately for me, my network IS the internet. I’m told I can still advertise my business online, I just can’t link to my website. I don’t know about anyone else, but if someone is telling me about this great new product or service and tells me I should check it out, then give me a link. Don’t make me hunt for it. I’ll be less likely to find out more info without a link than I am with one. For instance, I bet anything that I would get a higher response to a craigslist posting if I included my personal PC website link compared to only listing my phone number or email address. People want to see what a company has to offer before they start talking to someone about it.
I’ve also been told this is for my protection. Bullshit. Yes I said that. An example that was given to me (regarding this) was what happened to the Tupperware consultants when their company started selling the products at Target. How is that situation the same as this one? Of course the consultants were going to see a decline in their bookings. Why would anyone have a show when they can just go to Target and get what they want? If I link to my own website, I’m going to get the credit if someone buys something from it. It’s not going to go straight to the company and bypass me. That’s the point of having the website. It’s a tool for people to purchase Pampered Chef items and possibly book shows with me. I mean, seriously, if I was able to link to my personal PC website, I would probably end up with more bookings, which in turn would mean people would buy more items. That makes it better for me, not worse.
I think the thing that frustrates me the most is how much I hear about how the company is constantly trying to improve their products and their service, and yet they are completely behind on using the internet to it’s fullest. I understand they want to copyright their images and logo – that’s their right – but to prohibit an employee from spreading the word about her business in any way she can, that seems ridiculus to me.
