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.
Quixtar Annual Sales Announcement Corporate changes result in new financial reporting timeframe.
In past years, Quixtar has typically announced its annual sales in October based on the September 1 to August 31 performance year established for Independent Business Owners (IBOs).
While the company has not changed the timeframe for which it recognizes IBO achievements, it has changed its own financial reporting schedule as part of a larger shift made by parent company Alticor Inc. For tax reporting reasons, the companies now follow a calendar year for reporting financial performance.
As a result, Quixtar will not announce its corporate financial performance until after the New Year. At that time the company will announce sales for 2006 calendar year as well as sales reported for September through December 2005. After that, sales will be reported for each calendar year (which would not necessarily correspond with the IBOs' performance schedule).
Ty Tribble at MLM Blog, "As predicted, I am about to have a field day with this news. Quixtar sales are obviously not very good so they are delaying the reporting of their sales until after the Christmas season."
That explanation doesn't "jive" with Alticor's past announcements about Quixtar and Amway sales figures. No one would argue that Quixtar's sales figures were down last year in 2005, not even Quixtar in their announcement of the figures.
Alticor and Quixtar have not tried to hide or delay bad sales figures, when sales were down.
I see this announcement at face value. Alticor, Quixtar, and Amway have changed their fiscal year reporting schedule and will announce sales figures at year's end, be they good or bad.
Now, if this time next year, we see NO sales announcement, or some other tactic, then we can assume Quixtar is hiding something, and the conspiracy and cover-up talks can begin. But until then...the scheduling change is what it is.
Editor's Note: Standard Time Begins Today. Set your clocks back one hour.
"Let us, then, as we put forward our clocks for another summer, drink a silent toast to the memory of William Willett, who spared neither labour nor money over a long period of his life in his advocacy of this great reform. He did not live to see success crown his unselfish efforts; he died in 1915, a year before the passing of the wartime Act. But he has the monument he would have wished in the thousands of playing-fields crowded with eager young people every fine evening throughout the summer and one of the finest epitaphs that any man could win: He gave more light to his countrymen."
The following telephone exchange, between a hotel guest and Room Service at a hotel in Asia, was recorded and published in the Far East Economic Review.
To get the full effect, this message should be read out loud. You will understand what 'tenjewberrymuds' means by the end of the conversation.
Room Service (RS): 'Morrin. Roon sirbees.'
Guest (G): 'Sorry, I thought I dialed room-service.'
RS: 'Rye..Roon sirbees..morrin! Jewish to oddor sunteen??'
G: 'Uh..yes..I'd like some bacon and eggs.'
RS: 'Ow July den?'
G: 'What??'
RS: 'Ow July den?...pryed, boyud, poochd?'
G: 'Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please.'
RS: 'Ow July dee baykem? Crease?'
G: 'Crisp will be fine.'
RS: 'Hokay. An Sahn toes?'
G: 'What?'
RS: 'An toes. July Sahn toes?'
G: 'I don't think so.'
RS: 'No? Judo wan sahn toes??'
G: 'I feel really bad about this, but I don't know what 'judo wan sahn toes' means.'
RS: 'Toes! toes!...Why jew don juan toes? Ow bow Anglish moppin we bodder?'
G: 'English muffin!! I've got it! You were saying 'Toast.' Fine. Yes, an English muffin will be fine.'
RS: 'We bodder?'
G: 'No...just put the bodder on the side.'
RS: 'Wad?'
G: 'I mean butter...just put it on the side.'
RS: 'Copy?'
G: 'Excuse me?'
RS: 'Copy...tea...meel?'
G: 'Yes. Coffee, please, and that's all.'
RS: 'One Minnie. Scramah egg, crease baykem, Anglish moppin we bodder on sigh and copy....rye??'
Let's say you sell a aromatic product that controls body odor, and if you drink it, it can neutralize bad breath internally for 2 weeks.
This product has no competition anywhere. Get serious.
There's the deodorant companies, the perfume companies, the soap companies, AND the gum companies, mouthwash companies, toothpaste companies; not to mention, the candy mint companies and the tongue scraper companies.
Top that all with the food and liquor companies that think it might be cool if you smelled like BBQ ribs and Scotch.
Face it, no matter what "niche" you think you may have found; you are going to have a competitor. And, if you don't have one at the outset, you're going to have one six months down the road when some other company comes up with their "me-too" product.
And if you are an MLMer, you not only have product competitors, you also will deal with compensation plan competitors.
You can't or won't be able to compete effectively with all your competitors, but you can compete. And the first thing to do is to learn your market and the predominant competitors of that market.
You may be able to hire some high-priced marketing research firm to conduct this research for you, or you could simply "point and click" to learn an extraordinary amount of the info yourself.
Now, this may seem odd to you. You're probably thinking, "Doesn't a company know who its competitors are?" Not always. New firms come seemingly out of nowhere, preempting existing companies with different technologies or approaches they never saw coming.
Often a company in an adjacent area will change its positioning to try and address your market, or a new startup may emerge in a related area. You need to create a master list of your key competitors and make sure you keep this up to date.
To do this, Google the terms, which describe your industry, your products and services. You can also use a little known feature in Google. In the search box, type in "related:www.yourcompanyname.com" and Google will display a list of companies that it considers related to yours. Look for new companies that show up and see if any of these pose a threat.
2. Check your competitors' home pages for positioning changes
When you visit a company's Web site, first look at its home page to see if they have made changes to the way they describe their products and services. Carefully scrutinize how they emphasize different features or benefits and how they are positioning themselves. Sometimes, you can learn a lot even from the subtle changes your competitors make on their home page.
3. Review the trade shows they participate in
Trade shows can take a big chunk out of a company's marketing budget, so it is important to know which shows your competitors participate in.
Regularly review the events page on their Web sites and maintain a spreadsheet with names, dates and locations of the shows that your competitors plan to be at. You can then see which ones you might want to sign up for.
If you spot one of them at a new show, you might ask yourself, "Why are they exhibiting at this defense-related show?" It might be an indicator of a new market they are entering--perhaps one that you should consider as well.
4. Create a competitive intelligence database of white papers and webinars
Increasingly, white papers and Webinars have become the preferred way for a company to establish its mind share and leadership--so this is another area you should be tracking. You should maintain a list of titles of the whitepapers and webinars your competitors create or host to get an idea of their new direction.
You may not learn much from one single event or white paper, but you'll learn a lot when you look at these as a whole. You'll see trends and patterns that clearly indicate how these companies are positioning or repositioning themselves.
5. Check who they are hiring and firing
Once in a while, check the management team and job postings pages on your competitors' Web sites. Try and see whether your competitors have added or removed any names from their management team. This is often the only way you may learn that your key competitor has lost their VP of sales; no press announcement is likely to be made about such events.
Srikanth Chari writes. "Tracking your competitors is the only way to make to make sure you are thwarting threats, taking advantage of opportunities, marketing effectively, and, ultimately, winning in the marketplace. By performing competitive intelligence, you will significantly increase your margins and profitability.
There's one resource that's often underutilized in this regard: your competitors' Web sites."
Last month I asked a couple of questions about Internet MLM Guru's; like for instance, do they do what they preach?
I haven't spent any money on these gurus yet, But I did visit a few websites and signed up for their free email newsletters.
Most of these websites offer a continuing series of emails that arrive almost daily, sometimes twice daily, touting not only the guru's current e-course, but also the latest, greatest new course that they are working on.
Interspersed in the copy of the emails are short ads for the current course or a link to an affiliate associate's course on a related topic.
But, if you wade through all that, you can pick up a few tidbits of actual advice and, on most days, a bit of motivation.
Currently, I have enrolled in 4 email newsletters.
The first two deal with a comedy stand-up business course and another entertainer course.
But the next two deal with Multi-level Marketing.
The first is from Daegan Smith, owner of the Internet MLM Success site. Mr. Smith appears to have had some experience with MLM, and frankly, I like what he says in most of his articles. Daegan also has among his website corral, a blog called the Ultimate MLM Blog.
I'm enjoying his emails, but still haven't decided to plunk down any money. (most of these courses are available for $97.00...this price seems to be the Internet equivalent of those $19.95 TV offers...almost all the course are $97 or $197 in price.)
The second guru is a recent find of mine, thanks to one of those comedy emails I'm receiving. This guru is all about list-building...address list building.
The reason that the comedy email recommended Tellman Knudson was his video promo on listbuilding that Knudson uploaded to YouTube. Think of it as an internet 2-minute infomercial.
Tellman wants to teach people how to "eat Frito's, drink Pepsi, and play video games" AND "make money." I prefer Dr. Pepper, but I love Frito's.
Again, I'm enjoying the emails, but I can't seem to turn loose any cash to these guys yet.
Maybe, I'm being too skeptical but I'm going to consider some of these e-courses as I read their daily emails and I may sign up for a few more of these absolutely-free- with-no-obligation-email-newsletters up until year's end.
I'll let you know if I "too can become an Internet guru and make ton's of money"
As always, I welcome comments on Guru's you use, Guru news, and new Guru's.
"MLM Mondays"is featured every week on (what else?) Monday; and offers information, advice and tips on operating an MLM-affiliated business. On The Road With Dave does not guarantee any results from the information, but offers it as opinion.
"When ideas float in our mind without any reflection or regard of the understanding, it is that which the French call revery, our language has scarce a name for it."
Okay, admit it, you probably have two or three songs you listen to, that you consider your "theme song".
If you are a "wannabe" entrepreneur, MLMer, business owner; there are probably several songs you listen to for motivation, inspiration, and "a something to get you going".
I'd like to submit for your approval, what I consider to be, a budding entrepreneur's anthem. Consider it your Saturday Diversion.
The Sugarland Full Length Version can be found at CMT Artists.
Feel free to sing along.
"Something More"
Monday, hard to wake up Fill my coffee cup, I'm out the door Yeah, the freeway's standing still today It's gonna make me late, and thats for sure I'm running out of gas and out of time Never gonna make it there by nine
[Chorus:] There's gotta be something more Gotta be more than this I need a little less hard time I need a little more bliss I'm gonna take my chances Taking a chance I might Find what I'm looking for There's gotta be something more
Five years and there's no doubt That I'm burnt out, I've had enough So now boss man, here's my two weeks I'll make it short and sweet, so listen up I could work my life away, but why? I got things to do before die
[Repeat Chorus]
Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate I believe that happiness is something we create You best believe that I'm not gonna wait 'Cause there's gotta be something more
I get home 7:30 the house is dirty, but it can wait Yeah, 'cause right now I need some downtime To drink some red wine and celebrate Armageddon could be knocking at my door But I ain't gonna answer that's for sure. There's gotta be something!
Lyrics are property and copyright of their owners. All lyrics provided for educational purposes only.
I've been a bit "blog-blocked" for the past few days. I have a collection of 5 or 6 half-written entries that seemed to remain half-written no matter how long I stare at them.
But today, I said to myself, "Dave, you MUST print something, you MUST break this inertia!"
Well, dang if ole Dave didn't pull through; only not Dave Robison, but Dave Stone at MLM Today.
He has published an entry called " The Greatests in MLM, that is well, for a lack of a better word; Great.
"I have reveled in great feelings of achievement for others in my business that are accomplishing major breakthroughs. I have sunk into great feelings of disappointment when others in my business have vanished.
I have listened with great respect and attentiveness to others express their vision for their future. I have listened with great skepticism to others that have tried to convince me by saying things they think I want to hear."
Go Read the entire entry, and Dave...Stone, that is; thanks for helping me break that inertia. You're the Greatest!
Fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, grilled shrimp, barbecue shrimp, coconut shrimp, shrimp bisque...throw in some conch fritters, homemade ice cream, boiled crawdads, crawfish etoufee and some gumbo and you have a small portion of the menu available at Gulf Shores' 35th Annual Shrimp Festival.
The family and I took a drive down to Gulf Shores today to eat our weight in shrimp and seafood. Of course cold beverages of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic were also plentiful as well as some awesome music.
The wife and I listened and danced to some good bands at the Children's Miracle Network stage and we sang along with the Andy Smith Band at the Re/Max stage.
And a trip over to the Pink Pony Pub to cool off was also in order.
But, On The Road With Dave would be doing a great disservice to "The Dave's" out there if I didn't mention my favorite performer of the festival, "Coconut Dave."
Seriously...what seafood festival and day at the beach under clear skies and a cool breeze would be complete without the sounds from a steel drum band?
Okay, not a band exactly, but a one-man show from David "Coconut Dave" Waugh is a pretty good facsimile with all the island sounds, original tunes, and the hit "cover songs" from the likes of Buffet, Marley, James Taylor and Bertie Higgins.
Waugh describes his eclectic playlist as Caribbean classics, Latin, reggae, pop, jazz and country all with the steel drum sound.
I talked with Coconut Dave between a couple of songs and told him, he deserved a mention at my blog, so guys, go check him out. I walked away with his two-CD special he was promoting.
"Walked away" might be an exaggeration, I think I "waddled" away. I mean, I was really full from all that shrimp.
At the suggestion of one of my loyal readers, I'm going to place a Pay Pal Donation button in my side bar. My daughter and son-in-law lost everything this week in a house fire.
If you feel like donating some money to them, I'll see that they get it. This donation won't be tax deductible; and I'll only keep the button up for a short time.
Yesterday, at around 1:00pm, my daughter smelled smoke in her house. At first, she thought someone was burning leaves or trash next door, but when she checked through the house a second time, there were flames outside at one corner of her house.
She grabbed the baby, and escaped the house with just the clothes on her back. (No Shoes)
She ran to a neighbors house to call 911, and then stood to watch her house burn down.
Fire responders were there in about 5 minutes, but the fire quickly spread.
They lost everything. Furniture was reduced to ash. (No exaggeration)
The baby's new nursery and all the new baby stuff...gone.
Clothes...gone.
Their automobile...parked by the house...exploded.
One pet turtle...gone. The other pet turtle survived.
Pet cat perished.
We spent today visiting local help agencies and the Red Cross, and getting started replacing important papers and identification. We managed to salvage just a few items, heavily smoked damaged and water damaged.
They'll have to start completely over.
Friends and family are donating clothes and household items for some eventual temporary residence, but their financial situation will be rocky for a while.
I'm a firm believer in receiving positive thoughts, good vibrations, and prayer; if that's your perogative; and so I'm asking all my readers to send some my daughter's and her family's way.
I ran across this "blast from the past" entry at Quixtar Blog today. I had bookmarked the entry, because not only did I think Qblog had made some valid points and stepped on a few toes; but also because it was interesting to see the comments grow and grow regarding the entry.
"A friend recently asked me if "something snaps in people when they are too negative about Quixtar for too long?" It's possible. I've seen people descend into a black hole of negativity, unable or unwilling to climb out. They refuse to recognize the positive in anything and become blinded to reality. They view the Quixtar debate as divided into two camps — friends and foes. Black and white. Good and bad.
Such behavior is unfortunate. I wish it would stop, but know that it probably won't. There will always be a few Quixtar critics who are determined to plunge any Quixtar discussion into an old-fashioned pissing match rife with name calling and stereotypes."
Yesterday I read an email from Steve Royce at Killer Stand-Up about a new inspirational, motivational movie available on pay-per-view-on-the-web and by DVD entitled, "The Secret".
I haven't had the chance to order the movie, or really decided to order it yet; but a promo for the movie is on YouTube.
But, it's much more than a promo, if you are looking for a daily affirmation video.
You know...something to watch to get your mind thinking positive or to gear your self up for action. You could watch the video, like you would have stared at the mirror repeating motivational affirmations to your self.
From what I have gathered at The Secret website, the information is nothing new in the world of motivation and positive self-talk; but another distillation of classic writings from great authors and speakers from the past.
However, what is unique is the presentation; and it may be just what some people need to inspire them to action or greater self-confidence.
You can decide for yourself, if you want to purchase the movie, but the promo is free, and available here at "On The Road".
You can also begin to read Joyce Henry's Blog regarding The Secret at Joyce Henry Dot Com
