Now Appearing in an Extended Engagement! Join David Robison as he takes you into his world and his daily life of reviving a stand-up comedy career. Prepare for side trips exploring the "art" of salesmanship and business ethics and his experience with Multi-level Marketing. Enjoy some frequent detours describing his observations on life. Read the exploits of this self-proclaimed Renaissance-man and blooming blogger as you go
On The Road With Dave.
I can't remember the exact date; probably too much booze has erased the "particulars", but I do remember the conversation...and I wished I didn't.
The name on the door says "D. Robison, Public Relations, and I'm a PR Guy.
The door doesn't lock good, so that means anybody can walk in. On this day my informant, Dudley, walked in as my partner, Skyler, and I were reviewing a possible client's file.
Dudley always reminded me of Ernest T. Bass on "crack", but he had a knack for getting odd jobs at golf courses, restaurants, lounges, and hotels. He heard things--bad things--PR things.
"I got something for ya, 'Mr. D.' it could be big!" he blurted out.
"Okay," I said, "Whaddya have?"
His eyes darted towards Skyler.
"Not while he's in the room. He gives me the willies." Dudley protested.
"ME! Give you the willies? rebutted Skyler, "You'd creep out Stephen King and Michael Jackson's love child!"
"Alright, Alright," I tried to calm the situation, "Skyler take the file in the back room while I talk to Ern...I mean Dudley."
Skyler left the room, taking the January copy of Penthouse with him.
"Okay Dudley, spill it" I said.
"Okay, Okay, here's the deal" He started. "About three weeks ago I was talking to dis guy who offered me some work up north, it sounded good, the money wasn't bad so I hopped a bus to Michigan; damn it's cold up there...anyway I was working at this convention center, ya know, cleaning up, taking out the trash, whatever.
So, anyway, ev'ry body up there must be in the mob, cause they all do stuff for this guy they call "Da Boss". They even want to elect him Gov'nor."
"Wait a minute" I interrupted. "Da Boss? Don't you mean DE-VOS?"
Dudley was quiet for a beat, and then said,
"Whatever" and he continued.
"So, one day, these guys are walking around the yard of this place and they mention Quixtar"
"Quixtar? Really?" I asked.
"Yeah yeah yeah," Dudley said, "Quixtar...so my ears perked up cuz I know you are always 'innersted' in what goes on there"
"Right," I agreed.
Dudley continued. "So, I followed them around most of the day; making sure I don't look too noticeable, and then it happened."
"What happened?" I asked.
"Well, this one guy, goes to buy a cup of coffee at this street dude's cart and he pulls out the money and drops a piece of paper from his pocket on the ground. He don't notice it, but I do. So, when they walk across the street I pick up the paper and pocket it." Dudley finishes.
I light a cigarette and ask the inevitable question.
"You still have the paper?"
"OF COURSE I STILL HAVE IT!" Dudley exclaimed, "Which is why I'm here...you want it?"
"How Much?" I ask.
Dudley said, "$20 bucks", without missing a beat.
"20 bucks? Is it really worth 20 bucks? This week has me a little short." I lamented.
"Jee-zus Mr. D! I thought I could count on you, man. That hurts me, man, that really hurts me"
I lowered my head.
"Alright Mr. D, I'll let you look at it...and if you think its worth the money; you pay me...if not; I walk." Dudley bargained.
He threw the paper on my desk and I took a look.
It appeared to be an uncompleted checklist for the development of the, "Then" un-designed website, ThisBizNow.
I told Dudley, "Dude, this isn't anything. It's obviously not the original plan, just a working copy, these guys at Quixtar probably have all kinds of folks working on this."
"But Mr. D," Dudley said, "The checklist ain't complete, what if all this doesn't get done? Shouldn't you tell someone? You could be in da dough, for coming in with dis."
"No, Dudley," I held my ground, "This doesn't seem to be anything to worry about; after all, the only thing they haven't done on the list is to buy one measly domain name; and I'm sure they have bought it by now"
"Fine, just fine," Dudley said indignantly, "I bring you good info, and you snub it; you thumb your nose at it...that's okay by me...I'll sell the info to some one else."
"Who ya gonna sell it to? Who else would be interested in a website about Quixtar and a similar domain name that's probably not even available now." I countered.
Dudley headed toward the door, "Ya know what, Mr. D? I bet Bo Short would gimme 20 bucks for this slip of paper." And with that, Dudley walked out and slammed the door.
I crushed out my cigarette and leaned back in my chair. I mean, I really thought it wasn't anything to worry about.
My partner, Skyler, walked back into the room minus the "client file", and yet with a somewhat satisfied look on his face.
He looked at me for a moment and then frowned and said.
"And, I thought I was the dummy!"
I pulled a bottle out of the desk drawer, poured myself a shot, and hoped my mistake would not come back to haunt me.
"Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored."
Looking for the latest website with news, statistics, interviews, facts, and figures about Quixtar?
Well, if you are an Independent Business Owner(IBO) powered by Quixtar; then you most likely are giving the website address; www.thisbiznow.com to all your prospects.
The link to "This Biz Now" is even in MY "Links That I Like" section.
And the IT guys at Quixtar were quick to snatch up the most popular variations of the "This Biz Now" domain. A quick WHOIS search will reveal that Quixtar used MarkMonitor to register thisbiznow dot com, dot us, dot net, and dot biz.
But, unfortunately, they missed one popular "dot" extension.
www.thisbiznow.info
Who owns that? Why do they own it?
Well, the "why" is pretty simple.
Individuals and companies often snatch up similar domain names and the alternate extensions to existing domains in order to capitalize on the popularity of searches for the company on the internet.
Transposing a letter in the existing domain name, an alternate spelling, etc. may garner the individual or company a website visitor they might not otherwise receive, if they had another name.
Also, the alternate domain extension may boost the individual's or company's site to the same page as the more popular site in a search result. A internet searcher may click on the result by mistake or curiosity.
Domain registering services often recommend that a company or individual register ALL the extensions for their website address to avoid this confusion.
Well, you probably know that Passport folded several months ago and the leadership of the company joined Oasis LifeSciences and transferred the willing Passport associates to the new company.
It was my understanding that inexpensive Passport products would still be available for some time during the transition at the Passport website.
If you recall, I made some observations back in 2004 about the Passport websites and their "search-ability" on the Internet.
The Passport sites are still in my "Favorites" list and today I decided to visit them.
First, let's take a look at the Original Passport corporate site; you know, the easy to remember domain name, http://mpoinfo.net/index_corp.asp.
That site is now FOR SALE. And currently contains a small search page with some recommended links and ads and some search topics.
The second site; http://www.mypassportonline.com/:
My Passport Online is still working and you can still purchase Passport products at the site at what seems to be (to me, anyway) "bargain basement" prices.
The current special when I went to the site was:
Passport Hair Care Power Pack
Buy 6 Bottles of Aloe Vera Daily Shampoo and 6 Bottles of Aloe Vera Daily Conditioner at the special price of $19.99 Get 6 bottles of Aviemore Salon Collection Hair Spray for FREE! A savings of over $50 Off the retail price.
The Passport-branded Summit Nutritionals are all under 10 bucks now. I won't profess to know what the original prices were, (It's my understanding they were always promoted as cheaper than any other MLM) but the current prices seem to be on "fire sale."
And while some Quixtar IBOs or former IBOs have resorted to selling products on eBay; Passport seems to be liquidating its products via the already-hard-to-find website. Maybe eBay is next, after all, Passport founder Bo Short's motivational tapes are already being auctioned at the site.
It seems that Passport, LLC's presence on the web will soon be no more than a footnote in the biography of Bo Short on other websites.
I grew up in a small town in Mississippi. My parents are originally from the Delta of Mississippi. Home of the "blues", with dirt roads, cotton fields, and living and working on the river.
There are many images in my mind when I think of the Mississippi Delta.
And while "good food" is definitely one of the things that comes to mind, I certainly would not have imagined a Multi-level Marketing company located in Indianola, Mississippi; who makes it their business to sell good food and "Suppers Made Simple."
Starting in 1996, with roots dating back to 1972, CEO Jennifer Roughton Schaumburg, carries on the tradition of serving good food that her momma learned the tried and true way of making mistakes and learning from them.
Not only does Taste of Gourmet sell food through catalogs, online and freshly prepared at the family restaraunt, but they also enlist the aid of consultants through an MLM party plan to carry the taste of the delta nationwide.
The compensation plan offers, retail profit, bonuses, additional products, and reward merchandise through their own "partnership" with another Mississippi company, Viking Range.
Consultants can advance to various stages of Director; up to Star Director and are also recognized upon qualifying to be members of the Founder's Excellence Club.
I have no first-hand knowledge of this company, and I haven't tried any of their products: but the Mississippi connection intrigued me and I thought I would share the company information with "On The Road" readers.
Taste of Gourmet is a member of the Direct Selling Association.
It was somewhere around 1968, and it's one of those memories that only makes sense in retrospect. After all, at the time I was 6 and had no idea what a Fuller Brush man was.
But, my dad was one. A part-time one. He also used something called Watkins Liniment. ( I remember that, only because I found a rusted capped bottle of the stuff under a bathroom sink, after my Dad died)
So, maybe I came by my interest in Direct Sales naturally.
But, it was surprising to me a few years back when I, as a Quixtar-affiliated Business Owner, became eligible to sell Fuller Brush products through a Partner Store agreement between Quixtar and Fuller Brush.
So I decided maybe I needed to research this Fuller Brush connection I had as a child and now as a Quixtar Independent Business Owner.
TO MANY AMERICANS, THE "FULLER BRUSH MAN" is known as the friendly Fuller Brush representative who comes to consumers' doors to sell the company's wares. Widely thought of as an American institution, the company's sales team has been featured in comic strips such as "Blondie," "Mutt and Jeff" and "Mickey Mouse."
Joe DiMaggio, Billy Graham, Dick Clark and Dennis Quaid were Fuller Brush salesmen. Red Skelton and Lucille Ball even starred in movies about the famous brush purveyors. But although the door-to-door salesman may be considered a vanishing breed on America's landscape and young people may not be as familiar with the company as their parents are, Fuller Brush continues to come into consumers' homes. Only now it is through direct mail sweepstakes, catalogs, the Internet and television shopping, as well as by traditional means.
Alfred Fuller founded the company in 1906 in Boston, making brushes at night and selling them door-to-door during the day. His goal was to make products that were guaranteed to last. By the end of this first year, the company had more than $8,500 in sales ($160,000 in today's dollars), more than two dozen salesmen and 32 different types of mop and broom products.
The company notes that while the sales force grew dramatically in the next few decades, the job was not easy. Dealers received no base salary and seven out of every 10 failed within the first three months. "The average Fuller Brush salesman was 40 years old, walked six miles a day and sold to only one in every five homes,"
The company says. "Once every four years, he could expect to be bitten by a dog."
The statistics for Direct Salespeople and now, MLMers, probably haven't changed much except maybe the "walked six miles a day"
Secondly, the partnership between Quixtar and Fuller is somewhat unique. Not only can Quixtar reps sell Fuller products. But, Fuller provides and markets Quixtar replacements.
Remember the old Amway Shoe Spray?
"Old-Time" Amway reps were known for carrying around a can of instant shoe shine spray. They would spray a prospect's shoe(just one) and let the prospect see the difference it made. Then the pitch was, "If you want your other shoe to look just as good, buy this can".
Well, Quixtar doesn't sell this spray any more. Who does?
You're probably saying, "Dave, that's not a Quixtar product, that's a Fuller product"
Okay, technically yeah, BUT...if you go to the Fuller website through the Quixtar Partner Store link(REQUIRES LOG-IN), you'll see a special heading on the "framed site", NOT on the regular Fuller site.
See what it says?
PRODUCT REPLACEMENT LIST
And among the replacements are:
Shoe Spray is replaced by Shoe Shine Spray (#704) Pursue Foam Cleaner is replaced by Industrial Germicidal Cleaner (#761) Industroclean is replaced by Spray Clean (#634) See Spray Lens Cleaner is replaced by Spray & Sparkle Lens Cleaner (#56) Mint Condition Gel Bug & Tar Remover is replaced by Tar & Bug Remover (#797)
These are Quixtar-approved replacement products sold by a COMPETING or a not-so competing company; but a cooperating company.
But there's more to this unique partnership. Quixtar is selling many of the Fuller products DIRECTLY through the Quixtar website, complete with Quixtar compensation PV and BV points.
Two examples:
Both of these products can be found in Quixtar catalogs as well.
I think this partnership is fascinating and provides a wonderful opportunity to Quixtar IBOs and Fuller Brush reps. And while, I won't be walking 6 miles a day, door-to-door carrying my Fuller Sales sample case like my Dad probably did; you can bet I won't be looking at the "Fuller Man" as a competitor anymore, after all, I guess I'm a Fuller Man, too.
"As announced on the "No Limits in 2006" DVD in January, and at the Master Coordinators Growth Summit in December, Members who are scheduled for Renewal on June 30, 2006, do not need to pay the usual $19.95 to renew! They may continue enjoying all the benefits of Membership simply by having a cumulative 100 or more PV during the past 12-month Membership year (July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006). This 100 or more cumulative PV may be achieved via MDO product purchases or PV transfers.
Members who qualify for free renewal with the 100 or more cumulative PV will receive a new Membership ID card valid through June 30, 2007 as well as continue to receive Shaklee mailings with any special offers and promotions. Those who have not yet accumulated 100 or more PV by the end of April PV month, will receive a communication from Shaklee encouraging them to reach their 100 or more PV total for free renewal.
All Members, whether or not they qualify for free renewal with 100 or more cumulative PV will remain in Shaklee's system, will not be deactivated, and can continue to purchase and enjoy Shaklee products at their current price tier...
A few days later, I received a package from Quixtar. In it was 2 cases of XS energy drink and a framed photograph of Beth Dornan. Modesty prevents me from even mentioning what she wrote on the photo. Also included was a short note from Doug.
Dear Mr. Robison,
Thank you for your help. We have posted our letter to Mr. Larsen at the IBOIA website, just like Jody Victor did.
Mr. Larsen has retracted information and edited his site, yet not without comment. We also noticed other critics mentioning the episode, as you had prophesied; but we can live with that.
While, we do appreciate your help, you must understand that we can not confirm your assistance to us on this matter. We hope you understand and will keep our little secret. Thanks.
"Doug"
OOPS! Oh well, that'll teach him to say my jokes are NOT funny!
I reflected on the situation for the moment as Bob and Doug stood there. I could tell that Bob desperately wanted to remove his shades, take off his hat, and have a seat; but he stood there resolutely. Doug, unbeknownst to Bob, lowered his glasses on his nose and looked directly at me, and motioned with eyes towards Bob with what I perceived as a "please". He raised his glasses in the knick of time as Bob turned his head towards Doug. Doug cleared his throat.
"Okay boys" I started, "The word is transparency."
"What?" they both said.
"Transparency, boys. In certain times of Public Relations trouble, you have to come clean. Now, I know I'm not about to persuade you guys to start publishing and saying you'd rather Quixtar IBOs just have Quixtar businesses without all the convoluted motivational systems and money-making projects on the side. Maybe later on...but that ain't gonna happen today."
They just stood there.
I continued, "Now, that problem will continue to plague you on the Internet and in other media. I also know that I'm not going to stop any lawsuits already in progress, no matter how justified or unjustified you feel they are.
But, you guys gotta know that as long as the information is out there, people are going to read about it at sites like Mr. Larsen's. Agreed?"
"Agreed." they said.
"You guys own about a hundred different internet domain names that you are publishing information on, why don't you make use of some of them to put out your side of the story? Remember when Jody Victor wrote Scott Larsen about some information Larsen published about Victor?
"Yes, we remember," said Doug.
"Okay, well that worked. The false information was removed. IBOs were ecstatic. And Victor let it all play out on the pages of the IBOAI website and at Larsen's site.
"So anyway, take a lesson from that. You don't have to sue Larsen, you don't have to subpoena computer hard drives and all that; you just have your attorney write the man a letter. State what is false, clarify your position, and asked him to remove the falsehoods and edit his site."
"But, what if he doesn't? What if he makes it sound like we are bullying him? What if he doesn't believe our information?" Bob was getting excited again.
"Bob, Bob, Bob," I said, "you publish the request on your OWN site as well, you let everyone know you sent Larsen files supporting your position. You play it all out in the open."
Doug spoke up, "But Mr. Robison...ummmm...Dave; won't Mr. Larsen and other Inter--I mean, Quixtar critics comment and write their opinions on what we request?"
"Sure they will...but, they almost always will link to YOUR site for the ACTUAL content of the request. That way any reader can form their own opinion. You are transparent in your actions. You aren't going to get Larsen to change HIS OPINION, but he can't change the facts. And boys...there are still facts out there that are negative, yet true." I finished.
They both lowered their heads slightly.
"Of course, how you guys handle those situations; is yet to be seen." I added.
I couldn't believe what happened next. Bob removed his hat. He took his sunshades off and placed them inside his jacket pocket. He held his hat in his left hand and reached out his right hand towards me. I shook his hand.
"Thank you, Dave." he said. "Your payment will be shipped as of today"
And with that, they turned and left my office and closed the door behind them.
I leaned back in my chair and lit another cigarette. Just then, the office door opened again and Doug stuck his head back in.
"By the way, Dave," he said, "that joke you were working on when we walked in..."
"Yes?" I asked.
"It wasn't that funny, sorry." And then he closed the door again.
"C'mon guys, the snapshot, the highlights, the summary," I explained.
Bob said,"Oh, you mean the brief."
Doug looked at Bob in disgust. "We aren't supposed to say "brief", this is not a legal issue, it's a "public relations" matter.
"Oh yeah, I forgot" said Bob. He continued, "Okay Mr. Robison, the short story is that Mr. Larsen has printed at his blog...website...you know..his internet thingy; that we had to pay 13 million dollars for copyright infringement of some songs used by an IBO in the course of his business, PLUS he is saying that we are preventing an ex-IBO from operating another MLM business, he's quoting a perjurer, he's reporting on an arbitration process like he was actually there and he is falsely saying things about a competitor, not really being a competitor...and...and..."
"Calm down Bob, breathe; it's gonna be okay" I could tell Bob was about to get emotional, his Ray-Bans had started to slip down his nose from the perspiration brought on by the Alabama heat on his Michigan frame. I saw his eyes glisten. He took a deep breath and adjusted his glasses and began to speak again.
"We just..." his voice broke again. "We are just tired of the constant harassment. We know we have problems. We really are trying. Doug here, he doesn't sleep at night, he worries."
"Wait a second, I said, You mean his name REALLY is Doug?"
Doug said, "Mr. Robison, you just got lucky...the point is we just can't sue everybody for everything, and when we do resort to legal tactics, the internet critics just turn it against us."
"Well, actually," I said, "they are not Internet critics; they are Quixtar critics."
Bob was getting excited again, "That's what I'm talking about! We can't win. Even when we conduct ourselves in a private closed door session, with gag orders, and guards, and everyone 'pinky-swears' that it'll go no further, the information still gets out. And some of the info is just wrong!"
Doug spoke again, "So you see Mr. Robison, you are our only hope."
I sat back in my chair, and pulled my pack of Marlboros from my shirt pocket, I withdrew a cigarette and placed it in my mouth and flicked my Bic lighter. The sound of the lighter startled Bob for some reason I can't explain, and his body shook and his eyes darted back and forth towards Doug. I inhaled deeply and exhaled the smoke. Blue billows filled the room and caught the sunlight flowing through the blinds.
Bob and Doug still stood at my desk and waited patiently for me to speak. I had them in the palm of my hands. Soon, I would give them the answer to their problems and they would gladly pay me with crisp and cold cans of XS and let's not forget the promised photograph.
It was a hot and muggy May afternoon; it's Alabama, everyday is hot and muggy; I was busy working on a project when the two of them walked in my door. The moniker is Dave Robison, I'm a PR guy.
They wore dark suits, and hats tilted toward their eyes. What the hat didn't cover, the black Ray-Bans concealed. I noticed a glisten of perspiration on each of their upper lips. They asked me,
"Would you mind putting down that hairbrush you were using as a microphone? We'd like to talk to you."
I said, "Sure" and pulled up my chair and sat down at my desk. "Have a seat, boys"
They walked to the front of my desk, but remained standing. I asked them their names, but they declined to give any introductions, they just said,
"We're from Quixtar and we'd like to discuss a situation with you."
"No names, huh? I asked, "Mind if I just call you, 'Bob' and 'Doug'? By the way, nice hat.
"Thanks," said Bob.
"I meant Doug's," I replied. "What can I do for you boys?"
Bob said, "Have you ever heard of Scott Larsen or a website called Quixtar Business Analysis?" "Sure," I said, "He's kinda spanked ya'lls asses on a few issues"
Doug interjected, "Mr. Robison, we'd prefer to just stick to the matter at hand"
"Okay, no problem... call me Dave."
"Mr. Robison," continued Doug, "we are tired of some of the things Mr. Larsen has printed, and we want to do something about it."
Bob said, "That's right, we want to elemi-"
Doug quickly coughed and shot his eyes in Bob's direction.
"Ahem," Bob continued, "we want to settle a matter of confusion that Mr. Larsen has published, and we need to ask you how to handle it."
Okay, boys, my fee is $200 dollars a day PLUS expenses.
Doug said, "We'll give you a case of XS with double PV and an autographed picture of Beth Dornan."
"Okay," I said, "you gotta deal." (I'm a sucker, for PR babes)
He called himself Lawdawg and he wrote his "law blawg". He never revealed his identity, but he gained respectability among Quixtar critics and the Quixtar IBOs willing to debate the critics.
I didn't always agree with his views regarding Quixtar OR MLM in general, but I always respected his views. He "won" some cases, and in my opinion he "lost" some cases.
"Retailing's biggest names are throwing a party, and it's BYOW-bring your own wallet.
That's because it's a shopping party, better known in the industry by the more mundane name of direct selling and once the sole province of Tupperware and the Avon lady. But recently, established brands have rediscovered the concept as they search for ways to connect with busy, and often fickle customers.
Crayola jumped into direct selling two years ago with a division called Big Yellow Box. Jockey's Person to Person launched last year. And in March, the Jones Apparel Group, which owns Nine West and Barneys New York, started Million Wishes to sell fashion accessories at home-shopping parties. All of these companies have recruited teams of representatives, a la Tupperware and Avon, to push products in home settings."
My good friend "Thomas Neal" recently penned an interesting post at an MLM Message Board. I'm reprinting it, with his permission.
Are MLM Distributors Entrepreneurs?
"Before jumping in with an automatic "of course," keep in mind that "small business" and "entrepreneurial business" aren't synonymous.
The word entrepreneur is, unsurprisingly, taken from the French. Its earliest usage referred to those individuals who stimulated economic growth by finding new and better ways of doing business. The 19th French economist Jean Baptiste Say states, "The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield."
In the 20th century, the economist Joseph Schumpter added, "the function of entrepreneurs is to reform or revolutionize the pattern of production." The management theorist Peter Drucker writes, the entrepreneur always searchs for change, responds to it, and exploits it as opportunity." In Drucker's words, "Not every new small business is entrepreneurial or represents entrepreneurship."
It seems to me that duplication and replication strategies are in conflict (partial) with entrepreneurial methods. What do you think?
The pioneers who founded the first companies to utilise mlm methods found new and better ways of doing business, but does that make those of us associated with these firms entrepreneurs? (Ray Kroc was an entrepreneur, but can the same be said of McD franchise owners?)
I believe there are a few successful entrepreneurial distributors, but that success is most likely to visit those who are focused on running a non-entrepreneurial business. Do you agree?"
Irving, Texas-based Multilevel Marketing company Royal Body Care is offering a truly free product sampling program.
Now, you may already know how I feel about "free" samples, but this company's program looks unique.
The company is taking on the expense of offering the product samples, and providing monetary incentive for its distributors to promote the program. Plus, in addition to the potential sales and profit increase for the company's distributors; RBC is running a contest with top distributors winning cash awards for adding more customers through the program.
"During the month of May, if you send us 10 new names, we will send your customers free product samples!
As a limited time promotion, RBC is offering its Associates the opportunity to submit a list of 10 names of potential new customers (through his/her rolodex or holiday/Christmas list). RBC will then send free samples to each of the 10 names free of charge! There are two product choices for your mailing:
Ten "Triple FX" samples OR Ten "10 Days of Chocolate" samples.
Each customer will receive one sample packet and one sampler brochure of either Triple FX or Chocolate Slim Shake. The sampler brochure will include your name, your RBC ID # and your phone number...
...Follow up on your list of 10 names and make some money! If you convert at least two of the 10 people on your list of 10 names to sign up as a NEW Associate in RBC, we will mail out an additional 10 samples for free to a new list of names for you! That’s right! Take advantage of this unique opportunity to leverage your results!
...Not only do you have the opportunity to have RBC do a free mailing for you, you will also have a chance to win money in the: I Thought of You! Sampling Contest! Prizes will be awarded to the top three Associates who sign up the most new Associates from their list of names!
The first prize is $250.00 plus a box of MORE samples to service an additional 50 potential clients.
I like this sample program, mainly, because the distributor is not out any expenses, except the time and effort to send in names AND follow-up with his/her prospects. The company foots the bill, AND rewards the additional successful efforts of their distributors.
One other thing I noticed at the RBC website is their emphasis on a new name. No longer do they use Royal Body Care, I always thought it had a "hokey" sound to it. It seems Royal Body Care has jumped on the "Life Sciences" bandwagon; and now promote themselves as "RBC Lifesciences"
Legal Stuff: RBC is a 15 year-old publicly traded nutritional and wellness company, all product names are copyrighted and owned by RBC Lifesciences.
Lately, I have been visiting the World of Amway via the Internet; researching and learning about how Amway Corporation presents itself and its business opportunity to potential Amway Independent Business Owners/Entrepreneurs and visitors on the Worldwide Web.
Of all the places in the world that offer the Amway business to budding entrepreneurs, I find it the most fascinating in a region once devoid of the ugly word, capitalism.
This region was once under the Soviet sphere of influence; and consists of Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.
In these countries, except Amway Ukraine; Amway operates offline and through a web portal named VEBSO.
VEBSO is the abbreviation for the Virtual Electronic Business and Shopping Opportunity. Vebso offers Business Owners, Members, and Clients the chance to shop online and have products delivered to the home as well as providing business owners a "virtual office" to manage their businesses.
"For the independent business owners VEBSO is the tool of modern business conduct, which means selling products, placing orders, supporting customer service, and running independent offices. Using VEBSO it is much easier to be in contact with Amway, and the customers can more easily reach the products."
The following websites are available in English and offer an interesting flash presentation on the "launch" page, however, you'll need to speak the language of the country to understand.
Besides, the VEBSO portal, Amway also provides a standard Amway "public" site for each country of operation, with the "Amway story" and facts and figures about the country's Amway affiliate.
Turkey is also home of the Amway Experience Center in Istanbul where all the Amway products are displayed and Amway Registration Kits and some literature are sold. This Experience Center is for IBO's and members' usage for placing telephone or VEBSO orders, and for IBOs for holding meetings and showing the Amway business to their customers.
It bears repeating that all Amway distributors are capable of sponsoring new distributors and building an international business in any country that Amway operates. IBOs working in North America through Quixtar also have this privilege.
A listing of all Amway Affiliates in Europe can be found at the Amway-Europe map of links OR at the AMIVO website.
A few days ago, over at Comedy Soapbox, an aspiring comedian joined the group by the name of Josh Alves. (Josh is quick to tell you, it's pronounced like the little guys called "elves"; but with a short "A" sound)
Besides wanting to do stand-up; Josh draws a weekly cartoon called "Tastes Like Chicken" in his homestate of Maine; for a weekly newspaper called, (what else?) The Weekly.
Anyway, after finding out I was a ventriloquist, Josh dug up one of his older cartoons and posted it at his Comedy Soapbox blog.
I've seen a few other bloggers do this and I thought it was kind of cool.
If you use the free SiteMeter to track visitors to your blog, then you know that you can find out a percentage of your visitors by their country of residence.
Just for today, these are my percentages.
Hungary is a surprise for me, but sadly; St. Vincent, I had to look up.
The Grenadines look like a great place to vacation.
If you've been around the world of multi-level marketing for any length of time, then you are probably aware of the MLM Company "cookie-cutter" website.
This is a website with a simple template or templates to choose from that mirrors the MLM Company's website with a customized ID number and the participating MLM distributor's name. Each individual distributor site looks pretty much like all the rest of the company's distributors' sites.
Some companies offer the websites to distributors for free and other companies charge a small price.
Quixtar has, in the past, allowed Quixtar IBO's to contract with third-parties to provide similar sites for recruiting new Independent Business Owners associated with Quixtar. These sites were available at a charge from the third party.
Also, Quixtar Motivational Organizations such as WorldWide Group provides IBO website templates for a fee.
Now, Quixtar Corporation has entered the "cookie-cutter" site arena and is allowing Quixtar IBOs to market Quixtar products via their own distributor site. All for free.
The sites are slightly customizable with 4 separate templates covering different product categories; beauty products, health products, beauty & health products and Gift & Incentive albums. Also other categories can be added.
The limitation is that only those categories are viewable at the site and the full scope of the entire Quixtar line of products still must be accessed at the main Quixtar site after the site visitor/prospective client signs up.
A header link at the sites also allows visitors to register as clients and another link introduces the Quixtar business opportunity to visitors.
Like all "cookie-cutter" sites though, the individual IBO's web address(URL) of the site is company-generated and not easily remembered by most visitors. Business cards, links, and email will be necessary to introduce visitors and prospective clients to the site.
Internet search engine results based on the site content would list ALL the sites in a random state with no chance of gaining a higher google ranking. I suppose this is in keeping with Quixtar's stance of a "level-playing field" for all IBOs.
Clever IBOs could purchase a easily remembered and searchable domain and redirect to the cookie cutter site.
So, Dave? Did you get one of the sites?
Well yeah, IT WAS FREE!
I chose the template that covers the Gift and Incentive line.
