I responded to a job posting on CareerBuilder.com under insurance agents. The source was unnamed and, only by clicking the link and appplying for the job, did I find out that it was an "agency" in Texas called the Fitz Group which is an agent for NAA (National Agents Alliance). I received three e-mails about 10 minutes after I filled out a brief form at 6PM Los Angeles time (8PM in Texas). The first two were duplicates asking me to watch a 16 minute video by the agency owner, Alex Fitzgerald. The other was for me to call the agency's recruiter Joanne Patek then next day. In the video, Mark, who wants to be called "Fitz", talked about a lot of things, but what stuck in my mind was a statement saying that by obtaining referrals (a necessity in a commission-based job, especially in finance and insurance), you could "wean" yourself off of buying leads. I came to find out that the parent organization, NAA, sends out millions of mailers all over the United States to solicit business and it controls the flow of leads. The agents, like Fitz, encourage you to buy leads, which cost $25 for a "good" or "warm" lead off of a map of the U.S. on one of NAA's websites. There is NO reason for ANYONE to have to spend that kind of money on a lead that is not exclusively yours. I have talked to quite a few other people today that were with various agencies affliated with NAA, and to a person, all have said the same thing: THESE LEADS ARE WORTHLESS. THEY HAVE BEEN SOLD, RECYCLED, AND RESOLD MANY TIMES. Also, the leads that are available are by county only and Los Angeles County is huge (over 10, 000 square miles in area). The expenses required to do business with this organization are outrageously high and the returns are ridiculously low. Three agents I spoke with all made around $100, 000 per year, but one of them netted only $13, 000 after deducting expenses: gas, telephone, lead costs, and most importantly, chargebacks. The other two agents cleared in the $20, 000-25, 000 range. None of these three people are involved with NAA any more.

I know one thing for sure: I WILL NOT BE INVOLVED WITH THIS KING OF BULLSHIT WHERE ALL THOSE PEOPLE ABOVE YOU MAKE A LOT OF MONEY AT MY EXPENSE. This resembles an MLM in so many respects, even if it isn't one (and I am NOT sure that it isn't). In closing, in the words of the ancient Romans: CAVEAT EMPTOR; let the buyer beware.