The For Real Deal

Apparently I don’t know Al Pickett as well as I should.

Earlier this week I got an email from somebody identified only as “Royal,” correcting me concerning my earlier post about Mr. Pickett. In my post, I said that I was disappointed over discovering that Mr. Pickett was “just a salesman” after checking out his website, promoted on Memphis billboards in a clever and effective campaign. After reading how I should “get to know Al Pickett” as the billboard said, I was intrigued as to who he might be.

So, I read on his website, which advertises help on how to “create personal wealth through home ownership,” which I interpreted as MLM (Multi-Level Marketing). “Oh, he’s just a salesman,” I figure. Had to hand it to the guy though: the ads (plain billboards displaying only a phrase, like “Who is Al Pickett?” and “You Should Get to Know Al Pickett”, the latter of which boasted his URL as well) effectively piqued my curiousity. Anyways, I had pretty much completely forgot about it until I got “Royal’s” email, which stated:

Al Pickett is a man who is simply trying to help people find money to buy a home. There is no kind of marketing scheme or any pyramid scheme that suggests that anyone is going to get rich. All that Mr. Pickett is trying to do is help many people achieve their dream of one day becoming a homeowner.

Fair enough, I guess, but when I read phrases like, “create personal wealth” I instantly think of Am-Way and other similar MLM companies. That’s just the kind of marketspeak you’d find in their literature. Perhaps Mr. Pickett should consider re-wording his website.

I’m guessing Mr. Pickett is quite concerned about his public image, especially if he has people searching the Web to find out what people are saying about him. (At least, that’s what this seems to be; why else would somebody email an obscure blogger to correct a 7-month old post that not a lot of people are likely to have read?) But, at “Royal”’s advice, I have posted this correction.

So, there you go. Al Pickett is no salesman; he just wants to help you buy a home. And I take back what I said about his website looking atrocious; it has been redesigned, and it looks much nicer now.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 8th, 2005 at 21.55 / 246 and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.