Logansport Pharos-Tribune from Logansport, Indiana • Page 14

PageBS Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Indiana, Thursday, December 18,1997 Business Editor Margo Marocco (219) 722-5000, Ext. 5151 BUSINESS Dftbeff DON'T WORRY THM WEIL TA.KE ANY NILITMW SE.CP.LTS BNCK TO NORTH WE SIGNED THESE LITTLE AGREEMENTS SNV WE WON'T. Avoid Multilevel Marketing Schemes I recently got a call from selling a multilevel marketing business. She told me that by working just 10 hours a week from my home, I could earn thousands of dollars every month. All I had to do to sign up was pay a $200 training fee.

Although I'm skeptical of her pitch, the concept of working so little for so much money is appealing. Is; this possible? Ahh, the refrain of easy money. "Earn $5,000 monthly! We'll gyen help you hire agents to do the for you FREE! Thirty days is'all that it takes!" "Earn $6,000 per month on the new instant information superhighway." With such pitches, you probably are dealing with a person or two at a post-office box not a legitimate company. The pitch might offer to sell you a package of "confidential information," explaining the business opportunity du jour. The information might cost several hundred dollars or more.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of businesses out and about that derive their income purely from the "signing up" process. They sign up to sell their products or services or to buy their franchise, and then after the money has changed hands, you never hear from them again. Some multilevel marketing companies (MLMs) have a reputation for falling into that category. Also ERIC TYSON Investor's Guide known as "network marketing companies" or "direct selling companies," MLMs have been known to suggest that you can make tens of thousands of dollars monthly while largely sitting on your duff and letting someone else do the work. All you have to do, they say, is sign up a few friends and relatives to sell the company's widgets, and before you can say the words "easy money," the big bucks will come rolling in.

I know people who have been taken for hundreds of dollars in MLM schemes, only to discover that all they've stumbled upon is a quick way to lose a buck and to annoy friends. Anyone considering becoming an MLM investor should keep in mind that any network marketing arrangement is really just another form of a job. No company, MLM or otherwise, can afford to pay you money while you're busy watching the soaps. As with any other business, it takes time three to five years in most cases and lots of hard work to create a business that will provide you with a decent living. If MLM success, was.

as simple as some in the business would lead us Co-Op Posts $8.2 Million Loss FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) Countrymark Cooperative said this week it lost $8.2 million in the last fiscal year, partly because of record low turkey prices. The Indianapolis agricultural coop lost $7.45 million last year. The most recent results, for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, "are disappointing to say the least," said Chairman Urban Mescher, an Ohio grain fanner.

Mescher, speaking at the co-op's annual meeting in Fort Wayne on Tuesday, said he is optimistic that a radical overhaul the past two years will produce better results. us between and "MO ROAD" Countrymark formed joint ventures with grain giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Growmark, an Ohio co-op, to co-market grain, fuel, seed and ag chemicals. There were bright spots in the report. Supply sales to local member co-ops increased to $975 million, compared with last year's $953 million.

Operating expenses fell $25 million, to $100 million, in large part from job cuts. "We are becoming the leanest, best-positioned company of all regional cooperatives," said President Jeffrey Stroburg. WE RENT Bmse Vacs, Appliance Dollies and more WE'RE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD! ADEN HARDWARE PAINT Other locations: DELPHI HARDWARE MINT BOSSVILU PAINT to believe, everyone would dive in. For sure, there are legitimate and successful MLMs, such as Mary Kay and Tupperware. However, they are the exception rather than the rule, particularly among the types of MLMs that are likely to be aggressively pitched to you.

One definite rule of thumb: Never buy into an MLM that is pitched over the telephone. An MLM investor should think twice before signing up relatives, friends and co-workers, at least until he or she is satisfied that the concept is viable. Quality MLMs make sense for people who really believe in, and want to sell, a particular product or service and yet don't want to, or can't afford to, tie up a lot of money in the process. Remember, however, to check the.MLM's references first. Also remember that you won't get rich in a hurry, or probably ever.

And finally, don't forget that those people who do succeed in the MLM business pay the same price lots of hard, smart work over a number of years the rest of us pay for success. Eric Tyson, author of the best sellers "Investing for Dummies" and "Personal Finance for Dummies," is a financial counselor and lecturer. Write him in care of King Features, 235 E. 45th New York, NY 10017. He answers questions only through the column.

loseMoor 'Tea WHERE ELSE CAN YOU FIND COLLECTIBLE PORCELAIN DOLLS? 9-4 722-4311 989 SHERMAN LOGANSPORT, IN Make Reservations FOR LUNCH TODAY! DISTINCTIVE FURNITURE DECORATIVE ACCENTS TASTEFULLY AFFORDABLY PRICED! farnltape 8 accessories 210 N. Main Downtown Monticello 219-583-7621 M-T-TH SAT Closed WED SUN FREEDELIVERYTOTHELOCANSPORTAREA SEC HI STAGGS TIRE! Knights of Columbus AWKINSON TREADS c3 HAWKINS'ON TREADS 213 South Third St. Logansport, IN (219)753-3778 'i toliday Travel In your Tians Ai il Minxs'i on vn I'I Is irt. Call (219)753-8556 for rales and availability. I IDt Kl VS.

"DM! I UlSU'ir UK-I- TH Friday, December 19 BBQRibs Salad Bar, Choice of Potato, Roll Butter $6.00 Children $3.00 -Under 6 FREE SERVING to 8pm Regular Menu Also Available ST. LOGANSPORT PAGERS REBATE 'SOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY-NEW ACTIVATION ONLY I2MONTHPRE-PAIDAIRTIMEMAYBEREOUIRED CELLULAR vi, wireless COMMUNICATIONS Lognnsport Mall IN.JK to www.iriliihfKit.CBH TRANSMISSION TROUBLES? LAFAYETTE TRANSMISSION TUNE-UP WITH COUPON I REGUIAR42.00 i 'includes new filter, fluid, pan gaskel, band and linkage adjustment, I tAHKtS Auto and Standard Transmission Service iFAYETTE TRANSMISSION 765-742-586S 724 NAVCO DR LAFAYETTE, IN 4X4'S FRONT WHEEL DRIVE OVERDRIVES Variety Of Available Software Offers Great Oft Ideas For Children, Adults By DAN KEATING Knight-Ridder Newspapers For you llth-hour holiday shoppers, I have one word of advice: software. It's fast, easy to get, comes in a range of prices, is appreciated for a long time and is easily returned (if unopened). There are only about 9 gazillion software choices out there. So I reviewed every one of them for these gift-guide recommendations.

(Ho, ho, ho!) Actually, most of these selections are big hits with the kids and grown-ups in my house. A few others are titles that I haven't been able to sample but that come highly Let's start with the kids. There's one line of interactive, entertaining and educational titles that has pleased me every time: Living Books, from Random House and Broderbund. The storybooks have built-in learning games and endless doodads on the screen for a child to click on. Each little feature produces a funny sound or unleashes a little animation or triggers some amusing activity.

The kids play for hours. Favorites in my family include adaptations of Mercer Mayer's "Just and Me and Little Monster at School," and Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham," I think "Arthur's Reading Race" will probably be under the tree this year. The titles cost from $30 to $50 apiece and are available for Windows or Macintosh. You need a CD-ROM player to use them, but most computers have CD- ROM drives these days.

My kids also love an associated group of titles called Little Ark Interactive that has Bible stories, such as "Daniel in the Lion's Den" and "The Story of Creation." Publisher Scholastic and software behemoth Microsoft teamed up to do the software version of "The Magic School Bus" series. My 4-year-old son has been around the galaxy several times using "Explore the Solar System" and now beats me at the gravity-jumping game. There are also versions for exploring the ocean, rain forest, dinosaur age and human body. They cost about $30. Another piece of popular Microsoft software is "Explorapedia, the World of Nature." It's a fun collection of videos, pictures, explanations and games depicting a collection of wildlife habitats.

It's called a children's interactive encyclopedia, but it's definitely a learning game rather than a research tool. I got it free when I bought a Microsoft EasyBall, a big yellow rolling ball that kids can use instead of a mouse. Kids find it much easier than a mouse and, in my experience, children as young as 2 can use it to run programs. The EasyBall-sells for $35. The final kids' favorites in my house are Disney's "Animated StoryBook of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" and the IBM- Crayola collaboration of "Magic 3D Coloring Book" Then there are tools for learning to read, School Zone Interactive's "Alphabet Express" and Houghton Mifflin's "Curious George Learns Phonics." It's a wonder I ever get on the computer! When I do, I like to play with Corel's PrintHouse for making greeting cards, banners and stationery especially with my family pictures popped in.

The latest version, called PrintHouse Magic includes software for cleaning up or manipulating pictures if you have a scanner to get them into your computer. Other great choices if you've got a scanner are Adobe PhotoDeluxe ($49) and MGI PhotoSuite ($30 to $40). If you want to look at someone else's pictures, I can't imagine anything better than the complete collection of National Geographic, avail- able as a CD-ROM set for $150. If you've got one of those fancy new DVD players (and I personally recommend waiting a little for prices to come down, next-generation drives to be more compatible and more software choices to emerge), you can try it out on the DeLorme AAA Map Go If you've got a regular CD- ROM drive, you can use DeLorme's Street Atlas USA ($40) or Simply Streets USA or Rand McNally's TripMaker I use the Street Atlas for maps whenever I'm going somewhere. (But it recently led me astray by thinking I could get from Pine Island to nearby but unconnected Sanibel on the Gulf Coast.

Oops!) I'm dying to try genealogy software, programs to help you track down, preserve and display your family tree. They range from $20 to $100, depending on how much background research is included and what it can do with presenting audio and video records. Broderbund, Palladium and Mindscape make well-known products. For totally serious folks, you can get a home-oriented productivity package that provides more powerful word-processing software, budgeting tools and other helpers than usually come free with a computer. Try ClarisWorks ($90) or Microsoft Home Essentials Finally, there's a rapidly expanding world of software for learning to play music.

G-VOX has a series of products for beginners and advanced players in different styles, and the full version ($99) has a pickup that can hear what you play, so the computer can tell you whether you got it right. More general programs, Guitropolis ($50) and Play Guitar, ($55) are also available. There are many programs to help you learn piano, most using a MIDI keyboard that you can plug into your computer. They range from $50 to $200, with keyboards coming with the more expensive models. Attention: Overseas Veterans If you earned a campaign, occupation, or service medal for your service duty, the V.F.W.

wants you as a member. Along with our great continuous members, we need new and reinstated members. We need to keep our membership up to keep the organization strong. The Veterans of Foreign Wars is an association of overseas veterans dedicated to preserve and strengthen comradeship among its members, to assist worthy comrades, to perpetuate the memory and history of our dead and to assist their widows and orphans, to maintain true allegiance to the government of the United States of America, to foster true patriotism and to preserve and defend the United States from all of her enemies. There are many your membership and we fight for your rights and benefits as a veteran.

You may not need the benefits right now, but you might in the future. Many of your fellow veterans and service buddies are using them right now. Your membership helps preserve these rights and benefits. There is hardly a month that goes by that you read in the newspaper or see on television where the government wants us to make more sacrifices by cutting our veteran benefits, that's why we have to stay strong. I have always felt that just because we got discharged from active duty doesn't mean that our 'duty to our country and our fellow veterans should stop.

We do many things in the V.F.W. for our fellow veterans. We do many things for our communities and we have many youth programs that we sponsor. Stop by the V.F.W. and bring in a copy of your D.D.-214 (discharge).

To find out if you're eligible. We would like to welcome you aboard to join a great team. Yours in Comradeship Chad Little -Post Post 3790 and all officers and fellow members Logansport P.S. Get your dues in by Christmas, life memberships also. There will be an increase next year.

A membership or a life membership makes a great Christmas gift..