Quixtar/MLM WHATEVER Blog

Two who told Two

2005-03-09T11:08:00.000-06:00

Here is part of the article "two who told two"

A DELICATE BALANCE
One little recognized ingredient in Amway's success is the way it has managed its relationship with its distributors. This is saying a good deal, too-effectively managing this relationship is perhaps the single greatest challenge any network marketing company faces. Leave them entirely on their own to do their own thing, and soon you'll have thousands of people saying who knows what, making who knows what kind of product claims and income promises, running afoul of every imaginable state and federal regulation in their missionary zeal. Untrammeled abuses can rain down a maelstrom of regulatory action-even shut a company down. ( it has happend far too many times in this business) What's more, nothing kills the momentum of an independant business like the chaos of an anything goes, flavor of the week, hundreds of channels to choose from palette of business "systems" and "success strategies". Solution? Regulate the field. But how much? Just a little too much, and they feel squashed, stomped on, and resentful. ( Hey this is starting to feel like the corporate rat race I'm trying to escape) Amway maintains a healthy "church and state" sort of seperation from the IBOAI. At the same time, the company has had to rein in the IBO force at times. A quick visit to Amways web site today reveals "Q&A" style efforts to manage some of the most common public perceptions of IBO abuses such as religiously oriented, strong arming, high profit tools loading, and the infamous "curiousity approach" ( where I invite you over for coffee and cheesecake, whip out a white board, draw circles and deny that its Amway) These are the behaviors that have given Amway its sometimes uneven reputation, and Amway corporate and top field leaders strive mightily to prevent them and keep the overzealous troops in check..without inordinately crimping their style. Its a delicate balance, and Amway has it managed masterfully. End of that part!

Okay, not sure if they did or not, but maybe Amway did have it delicately balanced, However some thangs have changed since Quixtar cause shit aint like they say here that they dont do or try to prevent from being done. Yeah okay well I was taught to do JUST EXACTLY those things, and nobody did or said crap upline to prevent it or discourage it. I learned this crap somewhere, UPLINE, so why are they back tracking? If they wanted to prevent it or stop it, why are they turning the other cheek now? Was this article crap? I think so.
*4-9-03*

Update

2005-03-05T23:05:00.000-06:00

Jazi and Majik are proud parents to 6 healthy kittens!!! Born early this morning, she involved me in the entire process, the kids helped it was great. All 6 will be adopted in fact a few already have homes, we got 2 white ones with one teeny strand of black on their foreheads, the rest are calico, mostly black, but mixed with copper and white. Very distinct looking babies.

Just "Passing" on the news

2005-03-02T19:38:00.000-06:00

Passport has launched MAP with 6 affiliates

Amazon.com
Netflix
Petco.com
Inphonic (Cell Phones)
The Sharper Image
Office Depot

It is stated on the site:

Revenues from Passport's Merchant Affiliate Program are placed in the Merchant
Affiliate Bonus Pool and evenly divided among bonus check eligible Independent
Associates. In order to be classified as bonus check eligible Passport Associates must satisfy the $85 in-plan volume during each month of the quarter. Merchant Affiliate Bonus' are paid quarterly.

Passport Independent Associates receive up to a 75% share of the revenues
generated from the participating merchants. The merchants pay up to 15% of the
overall sale.

More affiliates are in the works.

This is taken from an email I recieved from Passport today.

Got Milk?

2005-03-02T15:45:00.000-06:00

Well I have exciting news! My 2 year old cat Jazi is gonna be a momma! We are really excited about this and have been waiting a while for it. We got Jazi because she stole our hearts, she is a long haired tabby who is solid black with big emerald green eyes, My Mother got her brother and named him Ozzy. Well several months after we got Jazi, we went to Memphis for a visit and while away a family member found a kitten whom they said was perfect for me, I did NOT want another cat...till I saw him. He is a solid white short haired tabby/siamese with big blue eyes that are crossed, I named him Majik. Rest is history, several family members and friends suggested we mate the two and were willing to take on the kittens. She is due any day now and we are so anxious. Anyone out there got any advise??

FREEDOM

2005-02-26T12:02:00.000-06:00

I feel the earth moving under my feet!!! It is amazing how free I feel now that I have broken free from the "system" and started this blog.....Im not sure if this blog serves any purpose to the readers but it has been a great healing process for me!! Since I have started this, I have not solicited visits from my downline, infact I havent told them about it....Well now 2 of them know about it ( after finding it in search engines and other links from sites, and recognizing my story LOL ) and my sponsor knows about it ( I told him tonight). I HAVE encouraged my downline to research the Quix Rules and BSMAA agreement as they signed these contracts when they registered, many of them are starting to and its amazing how many people feel cheated and disillusioned by what they have read and found out, just as I was!!!( of course this is due to Upline and what we have been taught by them, not by Quix)....Well needless to say, my Quix group is falling apart...many of them are heading on over to Bo Short's new biz.....It seems that in their research into MLM they have happend upon his biz, most of them found it from the AMQUIX website....Everyones got questions about it, they have met other members of his business online whom have given their testimony's....Again I caution them to research research research and make sure that they are CLEAR on what they are getting into ( if they get in)....Turns out....My sponsor is now in that biz also!!! SO.....I am going to ask you "loyal" readers now to tell me just what you think about this and what you think about the Biz that Bo has started....lets do some comparisons if you will.....NOW let me make it clear that I am polling for OPINIONS so that others who happen upon that opportunity can read here what others have to say about it, I am not PROMOTING the business I am not even mentioning the name of it here, I do not give any credibility to the company nor do take any away.....I just wanna know what the people think!!! So out with it...whats your opinion, what do you know about it, whats the ups whats the downs....So that others can hear what you have to say....I wont say you CANT mention the site name here, I simply choose not to as its a conflict of interest for me to do that!
*3-22-03*

Prospecting

2005-02-25T10:33:00.000-06:00

I have a request for you all. Would some of you share your feelings about how you now feel about having prospected your friends and family for MLM. If you have never been involved in MLM but have been prospected by someone close to you, share your feelings here. I think this will be helpful for some of the people that have visited the blog recently. Thank you all
*Sept. 5 2003*

TAX AUDITS

2005-02-22T12:58:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to throw this in while I am here at the puter...We are currently being Audited by the IRS for tax year 2003, which by the way was the last year we did business with Quixtar. Thank goodness it has nothing to do with that, at least I dont think so. We have been very lucky that this pain in the ass has the outcome of the IRS owing us 3 grand....not the typical ending to that story I know but again we got lucky! Hope tax season isnt kicking you as hard as it has kicked us LOL

What should I say????

2005-02-17T10:58:00.000-06:00

I have recently found out that one of the teachers at my kids school, whom by the way, I have become friends with, is involved in AMWAY/QUIXTAR.....She is becoming a little jaded, as we all do in that organization, and asked me about my experience with the company. Luckily the conversation was cut short as it was dinner time in my home and the kids got rowdy so I let her go....What do I say??? I usually tell them EVERYTHING, but I realize now that its not fair for me to take the wind out of her sails, however that seems to be happening already....What do you think????

ITS NOT A PYRAMID

2005-02-13T15:18:00.000-06:00

Here is "upline" response to the 70% rule and MCVR

The 70% rule states that you sell or use 70% of what you order in any given month. This is to avoid building up a stockpile of stuff.

The MCVR states that you need to sell to a customer 50PV worth of product or any amount to 10 different customers in order to get downline volume bonus. You can be your own customer. The 50 PV keeps this from being a pyramid where you sign up and get money without purchases or you doing anything.

*Originally posted March 8, 2003*

So, What is it?

2005-02-09T14:02:00.000-06:00

Upon visiting QBLOG's site I read that he was polling about seeing "the plan" and I have my own question about this. What all does your plan include? How many pages is the actual paper presentation? Do you have a printed copy? Did you get it from a website that you subscribe to? Has your plan changed? How many times? Who developed your plan? WERE YOU AWARE THAT EACH "TEAM" HAS THEIR "OWN" PLAN???????? Thats another reason why this is so confusing for prospects but see it helps Quix in the long run cause if the "X" team shows someone the plan then the "Y" team comes in and shows "their version" of the plan the prospect will say Oh I have seen this its that "X enterprises" thing, then you can "without lying" say No no this is "Y incorporated" and trick them in to the plan. ( Upline actually said that to us )
(*Originally Posted 4/2003*)

Passport Changes

2005-02-06T19:11:00.000-06:00

The emails I received from Bo Short were vague to say the very least, and I have no desire to sit in on a conference call as it takes away from my all important LIFE. Anywho....anyone care to brief us on the changes?????????

NBC Story

2005-01-24T20:50:00.000-06:00

I was watching MSNBC as I do often and they have a show on their called Cover to Cover. On this show they revisit past episodes of Dateline etc. Well they replayed the Quixtar story the other night and I sat and watched it again, wondering AGAIN if it would reach anyone? Uplines have so many ways to work around these stories and so many ways to cover them up and usually its believable to the downline. Oh I remember those days of being so moldable by upline and used such blind faith with them....whatta mistake.....

The Q KAY CORRAL

2005-01-16T10:50:00.000-06:00

Things are getting interesting around the Q-Kay Corral LOL.........Seems as though some people in my Upline "support" team have branded themselves as "Authorative Decision Makers" and rendered themselves powerful enough to take away things they didnt give, in my opinion it amounts to a bunch of scare tactics and bologny....Some Uplines are under the impression that they have the right to "revoke" ones IBOship and I really feel they make this claim not only because their "loving, trusting, and supportive Upline" told them its so, but because they really believe they can do that.......Well, They cant!! Now, that being said, they CAN pursue the company and the IBOAA ( which by the way is supposed to be in place to PROTECT AND SERVE IBO's ) and try to get someone revoked.....but from what I hear, its next to impossible to do that as it leaves them WIDE open for retaliation that they may not be able to handle or afford.....You know that Michael Jackson song "Smooth Criminal"? Well to me it seems that its the "Theme" for most in the "Team" I am a part of, and sad thing is....They seem oblivious ( whats more they are WAY more "formally" educated that I, and it seems I am more versed in the rules than they are ) GO FIGURE
*Originally Posted 3-12-03*

Sites of Interest

2005-01-14T01:28:00.000-06:00

I recently ran across a HILARIOUS Satire site, You have to go just once and see what you think. I have a pretty weird sense of humor so it really appealed to me, I hope that you will check it out for a nice light hearted look at MLM, its great comedy!!!

and here is the link Click here

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Want more info or more opinions try this site out:

Click here

I especially like the post on 1/30/00. I dont think this site is used much anymore if at all, but I was glad to have stumbled on to it, alot of it was just beating the same dead horse about Quix that we have all gotten away from a bit, but what was interesting to me was that even being 3 years old, the stories are pretty much IDENTICAL to ours now, they had the same questions, and concerns......Some one on there mentions Don and Ruth Storms as being in their upline....
Yet another webpage I ran across, no need to visit this one however unless you just wanna, it seems to be a job posting site where you can search through a really large list of job opportunities, listed there is one for Passport from some Associates, the link takes you straight to the Passport website only it hosts their names on the front courtesy of earnware Akoent.com
*Originally Posted 8-25-03*

Article

2005-01-11T13:26:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh an oldie but goodie, check out this article in
Business Week

Hows this for upline motivation?

2005-01-08T13:47:00.000-06:00

Hows this for upline motivation? Just had a very very brief conversation online with my "upline" and in this time he asked about my business ( The traditional one ) and then proceeded to say that he has an IBO who is involved in something very similar, same industry all that, but joined Quixtar because there is no long term guarantee in his traditional business........then said he had to go and that was the end of the conversation....It had been months since I had heard anything from him and the first thing I do hear is that he wants me to contact my downline and make sure they dont automatically renew their Quixtar business if they dont plan to be active, as it "clogs" up the LOS and costs them money for nothing.......I had a downline IBO tell me when I told him about that..." That makes me want to renew for the hell of it" LOL......ME TOO.......Internet Services needs to have some seminars or put out some tapes on TACT *Originally posted 9-9-2003*

UPDATE
Im still in business with my Auto Detail shop and its going very, very well. Almost 2 years now and we have experienced GROWTH, its great!!! Were not rich but better off, we arent free in the Quixtar sense but we are alot more free than before. We dont need sitters for the kids anymore, we dont miss functions for the kids anymore and when we travel now, its to the place of our choice with our kids and are free to do as we please the entire time no functions, so to us, We are FREE, Free from Quixtar and Upline and man it feels good in every way financially, emotionally, physically etc! Happy New Year all!!!

Rx Nutrilite

2005-01-07T10:42:00.000-06:00

Went to my Dr. yesterday, same old story, Arthritis in my hips flarring up again. While waiting in her office to be seen I found a few Nutrilite brochures... That was a blast from the past, and the brochures dont seem to have changed much. After seeing my Dr she recommended that I try some Nutrilite products and said I could convieniently order them from home and she could set me up for that, or I could order direct from her. She gave me some samples and sent me on my way, of course I asked that she give me refills on my Ibuprofen and she did. That was a huge turn off for me but after giving it some thought and admitting to myself that I was once just like her, I decided I could over look it as she is a great Dr. Ever had this happen to you????????

Happy Holidays!!!

2004-12-27T22:04:00.000-06:00

BAH HUMBUG
It was a great Christmas, though hectic with all the family here. We had a very blessed christmas. We are dealing with some hard times in midst of it all however with 2 very cherished family members having health troubles. One of which is a dear Uncle of mine who I am sad to say, is losing his 22 year battle with Cancer. The other is a Grandparent who has really had a rough time lately. I recently went to a coffee shop to just have a cup of joe and kind of escape from all of this, and low and behold I was PROSPECTED........Yep, sad but true, coffee shops are still not safe, how stupid of me to assume that was a thing of the past. Oh well, Happy Holidays to all, and Happy New Year....Make your resolution to get on that 12 step program that gets you off MLM Addiction!!!!!!!!! I beat it so can you.

Happy Holidays

2004-12-13T13:10:00.000-06:00

Man its a mad house around here right now!!! Just got through my Mother In Laws Birthday then my hubby's birthday, then our anniversary, and off I go into my oldest daughters Birthday followed by my brothers birthday and then comes Xmas and then my birthday blah blah blah BAH HUMBUG it just goes on and on..........

Anywho.....Been doing some online shopping this year to save some time and money and guess where you CANT SAVE?????? QUIXTAR

Big surprise huh? Yeah well look people, YOUR BUYING YOUR PV, Your NOT earning it, so forget PV and shop elsewhere, I recommend Old Navy, Walmart, Best Buy, Office Max and Target........Most of all JCPENNEY..Man they got some great deals...

Also I have been asked how I hold parties in Dec for all these occassions then go into the New Years thing.....www.orientaltrading.com thats how
Wow I turned this post into an infomercial....Just trying to help out Happy Holidays everyone, BE SAFE

Christmas Commercialized

2004-12-10T16:29:00.000-06:00

This year I have heard on T.V., read in the Newspaper, heard on the Radio, and heard from Friends, that Christmas has gotten too commercialized.....well DUH!

Whats the solution, well have a foxfire christmas seems appropriate, in fact this year my idea was to give my family members each a copy of that book...havent read it? Never heard of it? Go to Amazon.com and check it out, its great. Anywho....
I am willing to bet that IBO's will not be encouraged or be encouraging others to celebrate this way, nope....ITS PV PV PV PV PV.....PUSH THAT PV..do your shopping through your own great business....PV PV PV..... I feel sorry for those pooor lost souls who will undoubtedly buy into this notion and go broker than ever this time of year....Let all put our prayers out to those people who blindly spend their hard earned money this way beleiving that it will one day pay off, when they could be catching the sales at the Dept stores and saving a ton........

IM GONNA TELL YOUR MOM!!!!!!

2004-12-04T09:56:00.000-06:00

GET THIS GUYS. Okay, when I first got started in Quix I was told to contact Family and close friends first, to give them the first opportunity and to kind of practice on those I was already familiar with. Well I registered my Mom and hubbys Mom as IBO's right away, they are more like customers, but hey great PV right? ANYWAY, my upline Silver's were the ones training us and would come down monthly to do meetings for us, well they forged a nice close relationship with our mothers, HOWEVER since all this began with us "questioning" things etc, they havent kept in touch with our Mothers AT ALL. Whatever no big deal, theres no love lost here cause our mothers were quite glad to have a break from the fake small talk and smiles etc. As you know I am requesting a tool refund and that I have it on strict authority and have HEARD MY SELF through the wonderful technology of three way calling, My upline silvers BASHING me to downline etc. Day before yesterday guess who called my Mom on her cellphone and left her a message? UPLINE SILVER, saying " Oh I would just love to talk to you, maybe we can a phone lunch date this week, and discuss things" What things? How far does she think she will get with MY MOM????? I told my Mom to call her just out of curiousity, my mother declined, simply saying that if it wasnt about me then she would be opening the flood gates again for calls etc and doesnt really miss that LOL. ALSO, In my team we have a website and we can send prospects to this site, they use a referral number to get in ( our IBO number ) and the site will email us immediately telling us their email etc that they entered with, at the end of the "presentation" they have the option of asking for more information. I HAVE HAD ONE person do that in over a year, but low and behold I got one yesterday. I have no idea how to respond, Im so out of the "team" groove its not even funny, I guess the "pouncing" instinct has worn off. How do I handle this? If I register the poor guy, Uplines gonna drain him dry. It is indeed a dilemma
*Originally posted May 2, 2003, I am currently dealing with a friend who is experiencing a similar situation, where she and her husband decided that they cant afford to build the business any longer, and upline is corralling her family and friends that she got involved, its a mess*

Divorce and Quixtar

2004-11-23T09:32:00.000-06:00

For some additional research go to google search, from there type in quixtar divorce and hit enter. There are some very interesting websites there, not all pertain to divorce and quixtar, some are legal advice etc concerning quixtar. Knowledge is power, be informed, you dont have to believe all that you read, but when you start seeing a trend that spans for MANY years, thousands of people with almost identical stories from all walks of life and from all over the globe, it kinda makes you wonder. So if you are looking into Quix or any other MLM, read up and get all the information you can from all the sources you can, dont listen to people who say not to surf the web, thats bullsh*t. Read up and ask questions!!!
*Originally Posted Aug 25 2003*

Following Suit

2004-11-17T09:25:00.000-06:00

Well look whos finally catching up with the times....HOTMAIL. I have used Hotmail for so many years now, that when GMail came out, I was reluctant to switch. I did open a Gmail account but never used it, I just kept holding out hope that the good ole' Hotmail people would come through on some upgrades once the competition got stiff. Well now they have, and I am glad I waited. I have had the same email address for so many years that switching just was not an option for me. Below I have pasted the announcement.

Big News: Free Storage increase to 250MB
FREE 250MB of storage capacity is coming to your MSN Hotmail e-mail account. We are increasing your online storage to 250MB?that?s over 100 times the storage you have now.

That?s not all we are also increasing your attachment size from 1MB to 10MB! This means that you can send and receive more messages without worrying about available storage space. You?ll be able to see party photos, hear new songs and watch video clips that your friends e-mail to you.

You may already have your increased storage?look for this upgrade to your account, between now and the end of November.

Emails with Bo

2004-11-15T08:36:00.000-06:00

Here is an email I recieved from Bo Short, now he says that he recieved a forwarded email from "someone" that I wrote, in fact I wrote no such email, what he is referring to is a post I made in the Dreambook, but no matter, here is the email, that we recieved along with a personal call from Bo himself. Thank you Bo for the clarification, and thank you to "someone" for bringing it to his attention!!

Someone forwarded an email that appeared to have been written by you. I thought I would respond and offer some additional information that you may not be aware of.

I wanted to clarify something that you have stated which is not quite accurate regarding the Earnware subscription site. Most of what you said is accurate. However, I never said we are not eligible to generate revenue from this. Passport has signed a resellers agreement with Earnware which would enable us to receive compensation (this is triggered with a minimum number of subscribers) for those people that have signed up to use it. What I said was that, to date (2 years) we have received no income from this due to the fact that we do not promote it. We have never "hit" the minimum number of subscribers needed to do so because our corporate site is made available to people at no charge and I tell people they do not need the subscription site.

In fact you may also be interested to know that last month we sold approximately $250 in support materials. This is due to the fact that we offer all of them as "free" downloads on our corporate site. I tell people, "why pay for it when it is available for free."

I hope that clarifies the issue. If you have any questions or would like further information I am always available.

Sincerely,
Bo Short

Anyone have any updates on this info or care to share anything?
*Originally Posted Aug 23 2003*

BSM

2004-11-12T13:04:00.000-06:00

I was thinking about something today regarding BSM's, or business support materials. When I saw the plan, it looked pretty straight forward. When I went to functions, the folks on stage talked about how simple the Quixtar business was. If it's so simple, why would people need 2 tapes per week? There are only 6-8 things you NEED to learn to run a Quixtar business, right? If the business is so simple, why are there so many functions? As I understand it, Avon and Mary Kay only have one convention every year...that's it.

My experience is very limited. I'm really only familiar with Quixtar and Passport. Quixtar was very guilty of the whole BSM business. Passport really doesn't have that same system in place, and I'm told it never will ( it does have a system though ). Does anyone have experience with other MLM's where there are frequent meetings and lots of tapes/books/conference calls that are sold to distributors as a means of becoming successful?

*Originally posted June 20 2003*

Update on my personal tragedy.....

2004-11-10T13:02:00.000-06:00

I am very please so far with my daughters progress. She is healing well, but its clear that there is going to be some scarring...that bothers me deeply but Im sure with time it will look better. She won a bicycle at school and was very happy about that, but cant use it because she cant have any exposure to sunlight per doctors orders. She and her sister made the honor roll AGAIN, I am very very proud of my girls.

NOW....

I need to know what your thoughts are on this.

What is the protocol, or the moral or ethical way to handle the fact that the dog is still living with these people one door down?
We are very good friends, our kids love to play together, and the dog is outside most of the time. However. The day of the incident, the father made it clear that the dog was to be put down because he could no longer trust him, since then he said he was going to adopt him out to a farm, none of which has happend.

They are great people, and have been there both for moral support and financially they have footed the entire bill the entire way.
I dont know if I posted it here or not, but I was also bit by a dog last year, since I am terrified of strange dogs and do not walk outside in the neighborhood, I tense up when I hear barking. Imagine how I feel now! The dog that bit me is still living at his home also and still seems to be pretty vicious...Needless to say, that even though I am a dog owner, and just plain love animals ( those of you who know me know that ) I want this dog to be put down in a bad way. I hate to even have those words come out of my mouth, but I just cant help it. I dont think adopting him out is a good idea, and I dont think having him around the owners and their children is good.....HELP.....What do you think.....I am slowly drifting from the neighbors and they are noticing and have asked....I want to tell them how I feel but just dont know how!

Quixtar Values....

2004-11-08T08:39:00.000-06:00

In a conversation I had recently, someone said something to me that didnt mean much at the time but has since made me think.......

This person said to me Isnt it funny how most people on the ANTI Quixtar websites speak mostly of the system and tools and then speak of what they are doing with their lives now, do they not realize that the system and tools helped them get there....I didnt quote him directly as I cant remember what all was said, but basically he feels that the system and tools some how shape your life and change you and that whether or not you stay in Quixtar you carry some of that away with you. I guess that could be true, and I cant say that all the tapes I heard were a complete bore. I heard some by Earl Nightingale that were pretty good and I read some good books. But some of what I learned was the opposite of what was intended for me to learn, instead of learning their ways of treating people, I learned how NOT to treat people. Sure I carried some positive things away with me, but that is because I chose to. I also carried away some negative things. What are your thoughts?????
*originally posted sep 9 03 10:50am*

....To be broken

2004-11-03T13:31:00.000-06:00

Well even with Ohio still out, it is clear that our imcumbent leader George W, will remain in office. Some are saying that they are leaving the country, moving to Canada if Bush remains in office. Others say that having Bush in office is the only way to win the war on terror. Matters not, Bush won, he is President, Get used to it. Kerry gave a great speech this afternoon conceding the victory for President to George Bush, Bush is expected to give his speech later today. God Bless America, and as Kerry said " We have to band together now more than ever regardless of who we voted for or what party we belong to. So I say to those "threatening" to leave America..." Then go, if thats how you feel you dont deserve the right to call yourself an American".

Traditions are made....

2004-11-01T09:18:00.000-06:00

This seems to be the year for traditions to be broken/changed. Go to:

Snopes.com

As you know, it used to be that Green Bay didn't lose at home, and Favre didn't lose when it was cold. If that can be changed, then will this election change too?

Also, you may have noticed that the BoSox won "The Series". Yes, this certainly seems like its the year to start new traditions.

More comedy from the Quixtar website

2004-10-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

This is an IBO ALERT from the site that is talking about Ponzi schemes, I have only chosen to share the part entitled " Basic Rules to avoid Ponzi Schemes" again My comments will be intertwined in ( )

1. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Beware of promises of high or guaranteed profits. ( hmmmm...I think I might have been in a ponzi scheme once )

2. Avoid promoters who do not give a clear and detailed explanation of the investment they are promoting. Often the promoter will say it is too complicated to explain in laymans terms or that they cannot mention names because the individuals behind the investment want to remain anonymous. ( again Im more sure now that I have been in a ponzi scheme, Ive heard tapes saying not to give info, book a meeting...never give detailed info, never say what it is, say it will confuse them if you try to explain, and dont mention AMWAY AS THE BACKER......hmmmm)

3. Check out the promoter's background and credentials through reliable sources like the Securities Exchange Commission. Typically, individuals have to be licenced to offer investments like those used in Ponzi schemes. Verify explanations as to why the promoter says he does not have to be licenced with the SEC. ( well forget that cause you cant dig up anything on your "upline" you only get what they say, have been trained to say by their upline....gets ya no where, and if you do dig something up, THEY HAVE AN EXPLANATION FOR IT )

4. Ask for detailed info in writing. Obtain information relating to the company that is either doing the investing or in which you are investing, as well as its officers and financial track record. blah blah blah Reluctance to provide detailed information should be a RED FLAG. ( shit, I have had so many red flags.....how could I have been so dumb.....I only get unverifiable information )

5. Be on the alert for any unbusinesslike conduct by promoters, especially the inability to reach them by mail or telephone. Few Ponzi schemes enlist much, if any, office help. Additionally, when promoters become very hard to reach, it is often a sign that the scheme is about to collapse. ( well you can always reach upline on VOICECOM, however now that I have questions its INCREDIABLY HARD TO REACH THEM, I guess its about to collapse? )

6. Resist pressure to reinvest without receiving profits. Ponzi schemes are often kept going by promoters who convince investors to "roll over" their profits to obtain even greater returns. ( Oh goodness, I never got a profit and was encouraged to continue "investing" for that delayed gratification.....)

7. You are not alone! When in doubt, contact the SEC, your state attorney general's office, an attorney, or even the better business bureau. All are resources to give guidance and aid in not becoming a victim of a Ponzi Scheme. ( OH MY GOODNESS.....THE QUIXTAR VISITOR SITE SAYS YOUR NOT ALONE TOO....COINCEDENCE??? I THINK NOT!!!!)

What can I say, they had it coming, made it too easy!!! LOL
*Originally Posted Aug 22, 2003 1:26pm*

Damage Control

2004-10-25T21:07:00.000-05:00

I have always made it clear to those in my group that I dont care what their PV is, I care how they are and about them. I have never PUSHED anyone to get PV or get on the system, because of this attitude I have built a HUGE repore with these people and we have grown to NATURALLY admire and respect one another we also trust one another b/c I have always been honest with them, both good and bad, its a fault of mine I guess. As you all know I am still building and retailing and thought I was doing okay. Well it seems that I am not, and that I have issues, (well thats uplines take anyway, as this is what they are telling my downline, in fact they are encouraging my downline to go to them for now until I can get myself together. I wasnt aware that I was apart??) So one of my closer downlines came to me with this confused and wanted to know what was up. (I have not told my downline about this site, nor have I talked with them about me not participating in the system, I believe that they will do what suits them best and some how find out all they need to know without me trying to influence them into something else as they have already bought into the system and been influenced into it ) Its not my wish to "steal" anyones dream or take the wind out of their sails or discourage them, I want to be ever lifting them up, I did send out an email at the beginning of the year telling them to once again review the rules of conduct and the BSMAA agreement as this was a legal contract that they have signed and they should understand it, 90% did not do that, and thats their choice! Now back to the conversation, I explained that I had decided for personal reasons to run MY business differently, that retailing was going to suit me best and work out better for me. The IBO asked what about the functions etc, I said well at this time I am no longer participating and again its for personal reasons, The IBO said well, should I stop? I said that is up to you. Would you be stopping because I have or because you wish to? The IBO said well both, I encouraged the IBO to research this and to read over the BSMAA and the Business Reference guide and then if there were any questions to contact the company as they have been instrumental in my decision making lately. They agreed to do that. Well it turns out that this particular person is finding the same things I did, and is probably going to drop out all together, but you know what, We are gonna remain friends and they respect me more now for not trying to INFLUENCE them into anything and instead ENCOURAGING them to think for themselves, I have another IBO who quit and blames me and says I scammed them ( this after reading the materials I suggested at the beginning of the year,) I have another IBO who said Well I am gonna continue with this full force infact stronger this year and I am a firm believer in the system and upline and feel that there is no reason to go digging for answers in that jargon the company uses, I have all the information I need. All these responses are met with " Thats great, I know you will achieve whatever you set out to and I respect your decisions" People are gonna do what people are gonna do, and they will do it better and feel better about it if you dont PUSH them or try to INFLUENCE them or TALK THEM INTO anything, respect what they decide, appreciate what they do, and SUPPORT any and every move they make whether you agree or not, thats how to be an effective leader and Upline. Just say Okay, and mean it. Dont say okay then walk away calling them a loser or saying well they wont ever make it. Believe in them!!! If someone changes what they are doing or stops doing something, dont run out and tell others "your version" of whats really going on, it only ends up making you look bad in the end, as depicted here. My upline chose to "corral the horses" when they saw that I was off tapes and out of the system and "investigating". They corralled the horses ( my downline ) by calling them ASSUMING I HAD ALREADY DONE SO. Telling them well they are confused and going through ISSUES and we think its best if you just give them some time to figure some things out, and if you need something just call us. Well all they did was make everyone suspicious because I in fact HAD NOT contacted ANYONE downline saying anything about what was going on. With one exception, there is 1 IBO in my downline whom I have had very close contact with throughout this but I dont consider that person downline or even an IBO its my close friend QBlog and his wife . This is my soapbox and tonight I really needed to use it, I am finding out that those people who "loved me" and wanted to see me "win" really just used me as a PV generator and a sponsoring machine, And boy I produced for over a year. The buck LITERALLY stops here!!!!!! Am I quitting? No, I like what I do. Am I mad? Kinda. What does my downline think? Im not sure. I have only had contact with a few and some of them are not even personally sponsored by me they are in depth, I just keep bouncing them off Quixtar and the IBOAI board, just as I used to bounce them off upline. I answer their questions honestly if they have them, but most of them dont, most of them know me and know the business well enough to just expect to get weird calls now and again and just write it off, so most dont realize there are troubled waters between me and upline and that they are out to get me revoked, they dont need to know. Anyone got any experiences similar? What is your judgement call when it comes to downline???
( I am no longer in Quixtar or involved with them in any way, I still have close relationships with most in my downline and some in my Upline )
*Originally posted March 17, 2003 11:22pm*

....Very Queer...

2004-10-23T20:09:00.000-05:00

I came across a copy of Network Marketing Lifestyles Magazine that featured Dexter Yager on the cover it is dated Jan. 2001 Volume 3 Issue 1. Let me say that I have just out of curiousity tried to call the magazine using the numbers given in the Mag itself, I also tried to call several of the numbers used throughout the Mag for advertisments. None of the phone numbers worked or they led me to someone else. Anyway, I will highlight the interview done with Dexter, I found alot of it very interesting, you may too.

It talks about how Dexter is unquestionably the most successful distributor in the history of Network Marketing, In fact the Article is called "The King Of Network Marketing" ....Dexter is not a very humble man I have to say, and that disturbs me, you would think after over 35 years in the business he wouldnt have to come across so strong anymore or be so vain and materialistic...he should by now be very humble and have nothing to prove...Just my opinion..."Dexter transformed this deceptively simple approach , which he dubbed "the system" into a business the size of a small country." When asked about obstacles Dexter replies :"the second biggest hurdle was the strain it put on Birdie. She was used to people having 9 to 5 jobs where the husband pulled into the driveway by 5:30pm every night. With our business, I was on the road almost every night and often pulled in many hours after she'd gotten the kids to bed and fallen asleep waiting on me. It was hard on Birdie she was 24 taking care of seven little children at home". Okay before I go any further let me give my comments on this here....Birdie was the SECOND obstacle??? Screw that buddy, I come first to my hubby especially since we have kids....Dexter sighted stuttering as the FIRST obstacle....WHATEVER....and upline says that MY priorities are out of order.....OKIE DOKIE THEN.....Okay then he speaks of pretty much not being around at all, Upline does not tell you this when they are enticing you into the business...How can someone justify "running the roads" "chasing a dream" and MISSING OUT ON YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR FAMILY.....Tell me where that is fundamentally correct? To me thats awful....Family first Business second PERIOD....I dont mind using a sitter, I dont mind traveling, but we do it as a family or we dont do it often..Never would my hubby leave me home alone with the kids and return after I was already asleep and then go out the next night and do that again....Kinda weird but we REALLY LIKE EACHOTHER....strange concept.....and then he says something about her being 24 with SEVEN KIDS??? Now that was a busy couple, unless maybe there were children before the marraige?? Has anyone ever asked? Dexter says " I stuck with it because it made sense. There is simply nothing else out there that comes close to the advantages we have with Quix or with Am. We have the history and the numbers to prove it". Okay Im having some problems here too....he sites Quix and Am as seperate companies...guess they are since one is still available over seas but not here. Then he says it makes sense...Well it didnt for me, not his way anyway. He says you cant beat the advantages ( what? Tax advantages?) he says they have the history and the numbers to prove it....Well DUH....HIS HISTORY, HIS NUMBERS.....No one can ever out rank him because while you are "under" him digging and churning you are inadvertantly pushing him further up....He got started when this was a new concept, before lawsuits and bad publicity, he got started with one or two products, times were different then....the market is way tainted now and we have alot of CRAP to deal with trying to build this thing, ITS NOT EASY.....So SCREW HIS NUMBERS AND HIS HISTORY.....Im all about my own numbers and my own history and heres the deal....I can sponsor the crap out of people, I build an easy and NATURAL repore with people, I have made lifetime friends out of my IBO's...I still have 2 STRONG and DEEP legs, I recently lost one....and even with all of that....Never got any real return, the benefits were not that great!! Anywho....I make a mute point, I will close now.....( I will post more of this tomorrow )
*Originally Posted April 4, 2003 9:50am*

Calling all IBO's

2004-10-20T11:22:00.000-05:00

I want for someone who is still involved in Quixtar, to explain to me the new system of Tools. I understand that now you can order them online, and I have heard from a few people that they are not using that system, but instead ordering tools from Nightingale/Covenant? ( Earl Nightingale ) So, tell me what system you are on, what you think about it and how much influence Upline has on your purchases. Be honest! How much do you spend, how big is your group? CAN ALL LEVELS order online or do you have to reach a certain level before you can order online? I am assuming each "upline" has their own site or number or something to track your purchases so that they get the credit, I dont say that in a negative way, just stating what I think is fact. Please give me some feedback!!!

RAGE

2004-10-19T09:54:00.000-05:00

Dear Janet, I have been unable to find the information you requested so far, I think its because most of my resources are Yager based, I am still searching and will report my findings. No word from Renee at Quixtar either so nothing to report there.

I did however speak with my Quixtar sponsor, who is also in Passport now. He had an air about him like most sponsors do, that " I am here for you and will help you and want you to win but you gotta do Quix" I know he is my friend either way, and is a great guy, but he had some things to say that really pissed me off. He had nothing good really to say about passport, yet he is doing it and admits the money comes earlier on than with Quix. He spoke mostly of Quix and how good its going. Then he said something that went all through me, he said that he didnt like that you have to wait till your downline reaches more than 85 dollars to make a profit off them, where in Quix you make money off of every dollar they spend. I snapped. I was like THAT IS EXACTLY WHY PEOPLE DONT STAY IN QUIXTAR, NOT PEOPLE WITH REAL MORALS AND REAL FEELINGS ANYWAY. I HATE that Quix lets you FEED off your downline while they SUFFER to earn each point. I like that Passport sets up a roadblock and says HEY YOU WILL EACH BE PAID ON YOUR INDIVIDUAL WORK FIRST, THEN YOU WILL GET A GROUP BONUS AFTER THAT HAS HAPPEND. YOU CANT MAKE MONEY OFF OF YOUR DOWNLINE UNTIL THEY START MAKING MONEY PERIOD, THEY GET PAID FIRST. I love that concept. I hate money hungry mongers who bullshit you in anyway they can just to make money off of you. Again I know that my sponsor is really not that kind of guy but it shows you that his thinking is that way because of Quix. Its jacked up and I dont like it!!!! I truely believe in Karma, you can call it Karma, luck, devine intervention, some say that god says what you put out there will come back to you in multiples, whatever you want to call it or however you want to say it, I BELIEVE IN IT and Quixtar BSM's IN THEORY are WONDERFUL, LOVE THE PEOPLE, BUILD RELATIONSHIPS, HELP PEOPLE, PUT IN MORE THAN YOU ARE GETTING OUT. All that is great advise and just good stuff really. But you CANNOT do that and be that way with a hidden motive or agenda. You cant PRETEND to be that way in order to benefit from in profit gain. Well I take that back I see all those Diamonds, so yes You can, BUT YOUR SCUM. Your a dirtbag if you can live with yourself after FAKING love for people and FAKING care and concern only for PERSONAL GAIN. Its messed up and you will get it in the end PERIOD, one way or another you will pay for that shit Whew.( Ever seen the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation where Chevy Chase just GOES off? Thats what I feel like right now LOL, in the end he says HALLELUJAH AND HOLYSHIT....WHERES THE TYLENOL ) Anyway, I could go on forever. I will keep you posted as to what I find out about the function in WV and I will also let you know if and when I hear or get in touch with Renee at Quixtar. ( By the way my books are selling like CRAZY on Amazon.com )
*just so you know, I did join Passport, never sold ANY product or registered anyone under me. I guess I am still in Passport since you dont pay an annual fee, but I have no clue what my number is or any of that this was Originally Posted May 18 2003 9:32pm*

My Personal Tragedy

2004-10-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

Sorry for not being around the past day or so, but our middle daughter was bit in the face by a dog Saturday morning, and was in to surgery by that afternoon, and in recovery since. Your prayers are welcomed and requested during this time, and I will keep current here as much as I can. Thank you for your continued support!

Blakey Report

2004-10-16T11:07:00.000-05:00

Here is an interesting read, if you have a minute you will find its worth the read

Blakey Report
*Originally Posted June 5, 2004 11:07am*

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO REGISTER TO VOTE

2004-10-13T21:49:00.000-05:00

I just have to say that! I was talking with a close friend today and voting came up. I was appalled to find out that this person is not registered to vote, and yet has such strong views and opinions about Decision 2004! Please be advised, that while it may be too late to register and vote in this particular election ( SHAME ON YOU ) It is NOT too late to REGISTER TO VOTE!!! Please Register if you are not registered already. Please keep your information up to date, as if you do not, it nulls your card!!!! Vote Bush, Vote Kerry, Vote Nadar....WHOEVER...WHATEVER...JUST VOTE, YOUR COUNTRY IS DEPENDING ON IT, INFACT YOUR CHILDREN ARE DEPENDING ON IT!!!!

Now, on a more personal level, I have predicted from the beginning that this race was going to be neck and neck, many said it would not be so, so I am taking this personal web space of mine to say to those I TOLD YOU SO, I TOLD YOU SO, I TOLD YOU SO!!!!! and yes, I was doing the dance!!

Shiney Happy People????

2004-10-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed that Quixtar uplines are always preaching BE POSITIVE, STAY FOCUSED etc??? How come it is that the same people telling you to be this way can be THEMSELVES some of the most NEGATIVE and PESSIMISTIC people you have ever encountered? If met with opposition they are vicious at times. If you approach them about a person who has "issues" or "questions" they tell you to HARD BALL them pretty much or "BLOW PAST THEM" they say "Dont waste your time on them, they just are not goal driven and have no focus". Well, Ive said it for years and have read stickers that say MEAN PEOPLE SUCK!!! And they do!! Im not a mean spirited person but some people really really are, but pretend or deny it I dont get it!!??!!! Ever met someone who was just negative all the time but tried to mask it as inquisitive or positive? They never have anything nice to say and HEAVEN FORBID you figure something out BEFORE them or do something THEY HAVENT DONE or become more LIKED then they are. They take EVERY opportunity to make you look dumb or too correct or belittle you? I cant stand that I really cant!! I think we all have something to learn from EVERYONE, and think that peoples opinions and thoughts are very important and very personal and I never ever try to use their opinions or thoughts to "prove them wrong" you will never make any solid friends that way!!!!I have so far gotten such a wonderful response here and I really am proud of me,,but Im also very very very gracious for all of you who post here as the knowledge is coming mainly from you all. I just post the thoughts and pose the questions and without fail you guys come through for me with an answer!!! But there are a few people out there who see only a "Target" when they visit my site, like a grand opportunity to "tear it down" or to "correct" what they read or whatever. Listen up folks DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT OPINIONS ARE???? Are facts important? Yes. But really we are just venting our FEELINGS AND OPINIONS AND OUR OWN PERSONAL TRUTHS. If you want verifiable facts GO FIND THEM, then post them here LOL. But we are just simply stating what we believe to be true or whatever. You cant touch that. Its not here for you to belittle or tear down. Stop hiding behind EMAIL and POST YOUR SH*TTY COMMENTS HERE!!!!!!
*Originally Posted 4-1-2003 9:54am*

The Loss of a REAL Hero, and a "super" man

2004-10-11T16:19:00.000-05:00

"Superman" Actor Christopher Reeves, dies at 52

"Superman" actor Christopher Reeve, who turned personal tragedy into a public crusade and from his wheelchair became the nation's most recognizable spokesman for spinal cord research, has died. He was 52.

Reeve died Sunday of complications from an infection caused by a bedsore. He went into cardiac arrest Saturday, while at home, then fell into a coma and died Sunday at a hospital surrounded by his family, his publicist said.

If at first you dont succeed.....

2004-10-08T09:15:00.000-05:00

Heres a question thats been brewing for me but I just havent posted it due to memory shortages that I personally suffer from regularly. If you start a home based MLM business and it doesnt work out or whatever, then you venture out and begin another, Where does that leave your credibility? We have a family member that has been involved in many MLM's and gotten out for one reason or another. I just have to wonder how hard it is finding "New" prospects for your new venture. In my OPINION if you prospect your friends and family into one business, then later you start another, you wouldnt want to go back and prospect those same people would you? Well maybe once but what if you get involved in several? Ive heard a thousand times " Oh so and so gets involved in all those things" or " Oh so and so has tried them all" etc. How do you find the "right" MLM for you and stick it out? If you switch, do you try to take others with you or go back and revisit old prospects who werent interested in your original venture? Then the saturation issue, thats a gray area for me. Pretty much EVERYBODY I have ever prospected, young, old, or whatever they have all "heard" of this before or "know of someone who is doing that" or whatever. That doesnt keep everyone out but it does keep some out. If you read through this jumbled mess of thoughts, let me know what your thoughts are.
*originally posted March 31, 2003 10:15am*

Upline says "YOU CAN TRY THAT"

2004-10-07T20:54:00.000-05:00

Well as you know we have had some IBO's who have decided to discontinue their Quix ventures for one reason or several. Interesting, we had an IBO contact our upline Silver to tell them of their decision to back away from Quix for a while, not go inactive but just continue it "their" way ( meaning following the Quix rules ) and that they may possibly even start a new business with another company....Upline says to them "Okay, well do us a favor and let us hear from you in 6 months so we can check your progress in your new venture"....Because I know this upline well I personally took that comment as condecending....Our upline adopted the phrase "you can try that" and told us to tell others that when met with opposition or if someone wanted to be a renegade and build "their own way" basically if you decide to think for yourself or make your own decisions, you are told " you can try that, it hasnt worked for anyone else in the past, but hey you may be the one who gets it right this time, let us know how that pans out" Usually once you hear that you will say "well what would you do" in which case you are corralled back into their system, OR if you choose to go ahead with your idea or plan you will pretty much be on your own! However you are left on your own by those who REALLY DO LOVE YOU AND REALLY DO WANT TO SEE YOU WIN....right! ( did ya catch the sarcasm?) So all and all, Quix is and or CAN be a WONDERFUL opportunity for pretty much anyone IF you do it within your means and do it properly, not go broke buying all the products yourself and go broke buying ALL the tools and going to ALL the functions...build within your means! My only caution is beware of who your upline is and what team they are on and just know that you cannot hide your downline from your upline and shelter them from the system, I just dont see how its possible...."You can try that"
*Originally Posted March 24, 2003 8:54am*

Two Books, Which do you buy?

2004-10-06T15:16:00.000-05:00

TWO BOOKS

PROBLEM: Two books are for sale. Which to buy? "Titanic" or "My Life" by Bill Clinton?

Titanic: $29.99

Clinton: $29.99

Titanic: Over 3 hours to read

Clinton: Over 3 hours to read

Titanic: The story of Jack and Rose, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe.

Clinton: The story of Bill and Monica, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe.

Titanic: Jack is a starving artist.

Clinton: Bill is a bullshit artist.

Titanic: In one scene, Jack enjoys a good cigar.

Clinton: Ditto for Bill.

Titanic: During ordeal, Rose's dress gets ruined.

Clinton: Ditto for Monica.

Titanic: Jack teaches Rose to spit.

Clinton: Let's not go there.

Titanic: Rose gets to keep her jewelry.

Clinton: Monica's forced to return her gifts.

Titanic: Rose remembers Jack for the rest of her life.

Clinton: Clinton doesn't remember Jack.

Titanic: Rose goes down on a vessel full of seamen.

Clinton: Monica...ooh, let's not go there, either.

Titanic: Jack surrenders to an icy death.

Clinton: Bill goes home to Hilary...basically the same thing.

Its nice to have some comic relief once in a while LOL

"I Cant Get No Respect"

2004-10-05T22:02:00.000-05:00

Rodney Dangerfield, the bug-eyed comic whose self-deprecating one-liners brought him stardom in clubs, television and movies and made his lament "I don't get no respect" a catchphrase, died Tuesday. He was 82.

Dangerfield, who fell into a coma after undergoing heart surgery, died at 1:20 p.m., said publicist Kevin Sasaki. Dangerfield had a heart valve replaced Aug. 25 at the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center.

Rodney, you will be missed!

Click here to visit Rodney's website

PRICE'S ARE SLOWLY ON THE RISE

2004-10-05T11:36:00.000-05:00

Have you saved your old catalogs ? If not start, and if so, research. Prices are slowly but surely on the rise. It is a solid fact that in the Spring 2002 Catalog Double X vitamins were selling for 70.00 retail and 48.35 "IBO Cost" 24.20PV/63.35BV, THIS YEARS NEWLY RELEASED 2003 Catalog lists XX ( we are referring to 31 day supply, however the others went up too) they are now 71.45 retail and 49.35 "IBO Cost" PV24.20 BV64.60 Now, the product hasnt changed, the PV hasnt changed, and BV only changed a small fraction, granted the price increase certainly is not HUGE, but think about it, if every season or from year to year, the prices keep going up, how much will the XX vitamins be in a few years, they are already over priced, yes its a great product, but heck how do we know its "worth" that much?
*Originally posted March 03, 2003 2:36pm*

I hear that prices are still rising this year according to someone over at Qblogs site, WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED!!!!!!!!!!

Decision 2004 Bush Vs Kerry

2004-10-04T08:48:00.000-05:00

Who Should Be The Next President: George W., the former governor of Tx and current commander-in-chief, or Senator John Kerry, who has been representing Mass. for the past 20 years?

Here is the least you would need to know in order to decide

George W. Bush

On Iraq
Bush supported going into Iraq because he believed that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction, and links to al Qaeda. (Neither has since been proven.) He plans to keep the U.S. at the center of the rebuilding effort.
On Terrorism
Bush favors the Patriot Act,which gives law enforcement more tools to catch terrorists. He created the Department of Homeland Security, but was against a panel investigating the 9/11 attacks (though he was overridden on that.)
On Abortion
Bush is opposed to abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is in danger.
On Gay Marraige
Bush supports amending the constitution to ban it. He says states should decide on civil unions.
On The Environment
Bush has rolled back on many environmental safeguards, like air- and water-pollution regulations, arguing that they hurt business (therefore costing us more jobs) more than they help the environment.

John Kerry

On Iraq
Kerry voted in favor of the invasion but has criticized the way it went down. He would keep troops in Iraq, but would ask the UN to play a bigger part in stabilizing the country.
On Terrorism
Kerry says we need better intelligence,and advocates a position to oversee intelligence agencies like the CIA and the FBI. He voted to back the Patriot Act but has since complained that it limits stuff like free speech etc.
On Abortion
Kerry is for abortions in the first and second trimesters, also late term abortions for rape, medical reasons, or incest.
On Gay Marraige
Kerry opposes the amendment. He does support civil unions nationwide. ( Currently in the U.S. Massachusetts is the only state where gay marraige is legal )
On The Environment
Kerry believes in strict environmental regulations, he also believes that the benefits outweigh the costs. He has been named consistently as one of the top environmental legislators, by the League of Conservative Voters.

Choose or Lose, Rock The Vote, You Decide, Whatever Just Vote

Movie Reviews

2004-10-03T10:10:00.000-05:00

Here are some Movie Reviews, some old some new but here they are.

Shaun of the Dead Great Movie, worth the money to see it.
Redemption Great Movie, worth the money to see it.
Wicker Park An Okay movie, wait to rent it.
Collateral We liked it, could wait to rent.
Cellular Good Movie, wait and rent it.
Wimbledon A cute movie, wait and rent it.
Without a Paddle Very funny!!
The Forgotten I already forgot it, wait and rent it.
Jersey Girl JLo dies before killing the movie, its great!!!
Fahrenheit 9/11 Its Michael Moore, if you like his style its a great movie. It is biased to some degree, If you support Bush, skip this one.
Napoleon Dynamite cute, it drags though, rent it on a sunday.
Suspect Zero Loved it!!!
i,Robot Pretty good.
Laws Of Attraction Cute movie
The Princess Diaries 2 The kids liked it.
Two Brothers The older kids liked it, we liked it okay.
The Butterfly Effect Go rent it.

We are movie buffs, and have seen everything out and everything that has been out. If you want to ask before paying to go see a movie or renting it, Give a shout. I am going to try to make this a monthly thing no promises though LOL!!!

Findings at Quixtar Business Analysis Blog

2004-10-02T23:51:00.000-05:00

Here are some Q&A sessions I found at the Quixtar Business Analysis Blog. My comments are in **.

What is the difference between "the system" and "the business"?

?The business? is the opportunity offered individuals to start their own independent business by contractual affiliation with Quixtar Inc. This includes participation in the Independent Business Ownership Plan to receive bonuses and a comprehensive line of products and services to market. ?The System? offers turnkey, duplicable business-building and motivation techniques through Personal Development Programs tailored to help support Independent Business Owners' businesses.

*The system is optional, that was left out, theres a huge cost for these tools that was left out and your upline profits off every bit of it, that was left out too.*

Quixtar Opportunity - Profit (Found on Quixtar MLM Blog)
This information was found on the Quixtar MLM blog. Quixtar MLM blog is a great source for real Quixtar facts.

Quixtar Profit Potential ? books, tapes, Quixtar Products

How much money can I really earn? What the potential?

This Quixtar business opportunity offers the potential of free enterprise with income potential determined by individual desire. How fast and how far a Quixtar IBO independent business owner builds his or her business is dependent largely on that person?s personal effort and the entrepreneurial nature of the business.

*How grey can you be? Notice that in the answer there was no reference to the question of Books,and tapes, yeah neat how that worked out.*

Why so defensive??

2004-10-02T16:23:00.000-05:00

I cant understand why people who register in Quix end up being so very defensive about their business and business practices? I dont know if people do this in other business's so for this point I am speaking of Quix. I realize now that we are programmed by tapes and seminars and uplines to do this and to be this way, always to have the last word, always to have the "ANSWERS", always to be the authority on whats what with this business and to pretty much just shut others down by any means possible if their opinions, experiences, or comments dont match that of what we are told or are experiencing personally. Now, No one ever out right says BE DEFENSIVE etc, but you are trained to do that. Have you ever tried to raise objections to someone in the business who has been in for 6 months or longer? Most times you are shut down in some way or another, some will go as far as to tell you that you are "stupid" or make that implication. If the business is so good why is there a need to "defend" it? I am an ActiveIBO and I have just decided that if what I am doing is really good and if the products and prices really are good then there is no need to defend it and if someone has an objection, its worth looking into, and not simply to PROVE THEM WRONG, but to get answers for myself. We all bring something to that table of circles, whether we are IBO's or not, and you could seriously be sticking your foot in your mouth by not looking into these objections, some hold water folks!!! If someone says to me " that stuffs too expensive" I say yeah for the most part your absolutely right, but SOME of it I have found to be worth the cost and SOME I have found to be cheaper than other places, very little, but I have found some. Then I drop it. If some one says thats a pyramid, I say your right it can be but I dont personally operate that way. But I never ever set out on a mission of proving people wrong or proving my point EVER not in ANY situation. You will never learn that way, you will never make and keep friends that way, and you will forever be a JACKASS that way. So my personal philosophy is to Stop trying to be "right" stop trying to "prove" others wrong, OPEN YOUR EARS AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH
*originally posted April 16, 2003 4:23pm*

Trojans, Spyware, Hackers, UGH

2004-09-30T13:35:00.000-05:00
I have been working hard here lately to protect myself from these things and have been infected more than once. Somehow, someone has I guess "hacked" into my blog and has made some "changes". I have fixed these errors and taken some precautionary steps to keep it from happening again. My comments were affected, they are working again but I lost some of the old ones, I am working with Squawkbox to fix that also. Anyway, sorry for the inconvienience and THANK YOU to the many of you who have emailed to alert me of these little issues. I would like to recommend that you update your spyware and virus protection often, also keep an up to date back up floppy on your computer. I recommend Spybot, Ad-aware, AVG anti virus, spy bouncer, spy doctor, and spy blaster. Be advised that having more than one version of spy and adware protection is recommended as one will pick up things that the other will not.

You Can't Escape "Big Brother"

2004-09-29T20:21:00.000-05:00
I was having a phone conversation yesterday with a buddy of mine, and I was asked this, "If Quix is so bad then why are there so many people still in it?, Why is it so successful?, and why dont they question the same things as you?..." he goes on to say " Sure its hard to make money and yes you lose alot, but why are so many doing it and loving it? There are so many people that we have met PERSONALLY in this business that are VERY intelligent and well educated people and they are all about Quixtar, Is is possible that you ARE bitter for not making it to at least Platinum?". Good stuff, and I have previously considered these points so I was ready for them when they came. Here is my opinion. I think its highly possible that some of those that are so "into" Quix whether they are successful or not, are in it for the companionship and sense of meaning that they never got before. I think others can afford to build this broke because their financial situation was able to afford the loss or bill if you want to put it that way, I think that if there are bitter people out there its because their upline said " Hey have faith in me and you will be Platinum by next year", and then when you dont make it, your mind has to blame SOMEBODY so its either blame yourself or blame them, neither of which I conciously did, and neither of which I today hold any blame for, in fact it had nothing to do with my seperation from Upline. As far as Quix being so bad, Its not, its great, Ive said that before, I like Quixtar and many of their products, I just cant afford most of them but they ARE great products and its a great company, my only prob with them is this. THEY TURN A BLIND EYE BIG TIME TO THE CRAP THATS GOING ON, thats it. Why are so many successful? Again I think they can afford to sustain a sinking ship until its up and running, I cannot. Why dont they see things the same way I do. Well ask any one of them and they will tell you " Ive been brain flushed". Common business sense goes out the window, Ive heard a tape that says to throw out your instincts, throw out your excuses etc. You all of the sudden are running your feelings by your upline for approval or disapproval and you are then taught the proper way to think, feel , and react. See heres what I think, Its all messed up and here is why, I think you can build this business faster, stronger, and better with NO UPLINE SUPPORT. However you have to learn certain things to do it and some one just has to teach you cause some it is not in any book or on any tape. So you get an upline like me, we go around doing our thing, no tools, no functions, no strings, building relationships LITERALLY okay? Great. But there is a LARGE chance that this new IBO is going to find out about "upline", "Tools", "Functions", etc, then what? How will they find out? Cause you can never escape "BIG BROTHER" thats right, Your upline has access to your downline through the computer and can call them to "welcome" them to the "group" ANY TIME THEY WANT, BAM, there goes your credibility cause Upline has such a way with words they will turn that person slowly away from you and into their wings, anyway, these are just my thoughts.
*Originally posted April 24, 2003 8:42am*

Answers from Bo (re visited)

2004-09-27T20:48:00.000-05:00
This just in from Bo, more answers. This is an email we received this morning concerning the 70% rule, this question was posed and answered for Tim, thanks Tim for the question, here is your answer from Bo

Hi Guys,

As you are aware, the 70% rule is a part of the FTC decision that declared that Amway was not an illegal pyramid if they adhered to it as well as others...i.e.. buy-back rule, customer rule, etc. To have a rule and not discuss it, explain it, and emphasize its importance to distributors is worthless (especially when your entire existence hinged on their passage). I believe this is evident when your own hierarchy of "higher pins" are contradicting it in meetings around the country. I share that to attempt to draw a distinction between how we operate Passport and how another business I was involved in was operated. Remember, when products are overpriced to the average person in the marketplace retailing is usually an afterthought.

If you have ever heard our conference calls you will find that we bring this up repeatedly. I want a business that people can be proud of but also one in which rules are important. In fact, yesterday I informed someone that he would be better off looking for another opportunity because he was insistent on not retailing at all. Much of his views came as a result of another business where he was told not to retail. He agreed to look elsewhere because I was unwilling to "give" on this issue.

Our business compendium places the burden of honesty on the Independent Associate. The compendium explains that it is their responsibility to keep records and not reorder if this requirement is not met. Monitoring and enforcement are obviously difficult but important. Before the end of this year we will be conducting a "customer survey" of Passport Independent Associates for audit purposes. Even though this is not required by law it is crucial to us as we want people to continually understand the importance of this issue.

I was asked recently if I felt as though some of the things I say today contradict statements I made in a previous business regarding retailing, etc. Of course I do. Having never been involved in this industry before, many people including me, only know what they are told by people that they are told to trust. A "pin" (including a diamond pin) does not necessarily garner you any additional knowledge. In fact, I would suggest that it only serves to reinforce the information you have been taught. Having left that business and decided to launch Passport I learned that many rules that I was taught to overlook, are in fact, critical to the safety of the company, but more importantly, are important for the well-being and protection of that company's distributors. I say that to tell you that I do not take these rules lightly.

I hope this is helpful. If I can be of further assistance please let me know.

Sincerely,
Bo

*This was originally posted Aug 26, 2003 8:48am

Quixtar News

2004-09-24T10:09:00.000-05:00
While fishing around random Blogs, I happend on one I have visited before. You may have happend there yourself its the Quixtar and Beyond site. Anyway here is what I read about Quixtars numbers.

"Alticor will do about $6.2 billion in revenue this year. Quixtar will provide over $1 billion of that but Amway China will do over double that. Wow!

Also heard some interesting facts about Quixtar too. Of the 50 new Diamonds this past year 28 were ethnic minorities. The average age of a Quixtar IBO is now less than 33 and the average age of a new Quixtar IBO is less than 29. I love it that we are getting younger and more diverse as it makes things so much more vibrant."

In Other News About Quixtar
At another blog, I know you have heard of its the Quixtar Business Analysis Blog I read about "Tolsom". Its a new skin care line for Men. Evidently Billy Florence, Fred Harteis, and Orrin Woodward just LOVE IT! They each wrote little comments on how great it made their skin feel and how hesitant they were at first to use it. So I guess they are really working hard to keep their "noses clean".

Bo Short Speaks to Non Believer

2004-09-23T18:49:00.000-05:00
Here are your answers Non Believer, and thank you for submitting them, This is making for a good read for us all and a learning experience for us all, I have enjoyed this a great deal.

*I hope the following responses are helpful. Call me if I can help.

Sincerely, Bo*

Name: Non-Believer

Dear Bo,

1) Why are you monitoring another one of your potential 'multi-million
dollar businesses' on web sites like this? Your business should speak for
itself and there shouldn't be a need for you to pay attention to what
outsiders say...unless you have some guilty feelings about scamming the next
generation of MLM'ers. Once you get back from that vacation in the Bahama's,
that realization has to cross your mind at some point.

*Part of me does not even want to justify your comments with a response
because of the personal attack with which they seem to represent. However,
there is another part of me that says maybe you were burned along with
millions of others.

I am not monitoring anything. In fact, I do not know what message boards
these posts are from. I have been asked by someone who had a bad experience
in another mlm if I would answer some questions for them. I agreed. I am
generally not a fan of message boards because people can make accusations
and say cruel things while hiding behind a fictitious name. I do understand
however, that this is how it sometimes works.

I believe that the discussion about this industry is important even if
people are not involved with Passport. If you are sincerely interested in
getting answers you are always free to contact me directly. You might find
the discussion is more open than you think.

To address your insinuation about feeling guilty I would offer a different
point of view. You were not privy to the meetings with the company and the
distributor hierarchy that I was involved in during my last year in that
business. You do not know the things that I learned after 10 years of
working 6-7 nights per week in pursuit of something that I believed was
"good". You might have been the type of person that researched the Internet
early on in your business (assuming you were involved); I was not. In fact,
I did not even go to a critical site until the year 2001. Without going into
detail here let me say, after learning about the extent of what I believe is
truly wrong in that business I resigned my income and business.

With all due respect, I am less concerned with your view of me and very
concerned about how a 6-year-old little girl and a wife I love dearly view
me. My wife knows what happened. Her views are the ones that are important
to me. If I had continued to take the money after what I learned I would
have felt a tremendous amount of guilt. That is why I chose to resign. I do
not want that kind of money. If you are asking if I feel bad about standing
on a stage and telling people something that I believed to be true, only to
find out it was not.you bet. I could not rationalize continuing in something
that I learned was, in my opinion, improper to say the least.*

2) Have you ever tried to contact some of you old Amway downlines to tell
them that you lied to them about the 2-5 year Amway plan? (We have it on
tape so don't even try to skip out on this one). Or did you 'really' feel
like you were telling them the truth? What is the Passport time scale? Can
you get rich selling prostate formula?

*As I read your questions I wonder if you are sincerely looking for an answer
or you simply want to be confrontational. I do not know. Of course I
communicated with the group I had worked in about what I found. I think it
is important to point out that I went diamond in 4.5 years. Unfortunately,
this only reinforced my belief that this was real. I bought into the
rhetoric that one's lack of success was due to their lack of effort. I know
with total confidence today that this is untrue, however, it does not change
the fact that I believed it, and promoted it at the time.

Regarding Passport, we do not have a time frame. I believe that would be
improper and contradict what we say we do. Regarding our Prostate Formula
product, I do not know. People have built multi-million dollar companies
selling paper clips.*

3) How much money did you make from those $6 Amway tapes, videos, and
function tickets? How does that profit compare to the money you made from
the actual retailing of Amway products? Can you scan a some copies of your
tax statements from 1996 -2002 to help verify this? (I am not sure of the
exact years but I think you get what I am trying to say).

*I will be happy to answer this. The system that I was involved with paid the
average diamond about $1.65 per tape. With that, you paid your emeralds
about .95 per tape.who in turn paid their directs about .25-.30 per tape. I
was never a large diamond. I had about 200-250 people attending functions on
average as a diamond. Two-thirds of my tapes came from 2 groups that were
represented by emeralds. The others were directs. Therefore, in 2/3 of my
business I netted approximately .70 per tape. Functions varied, but I
believe it would be safe to say that a diamond probably was paid about
$20-$25 per IBO in attendance at a large convention. Out of that, emeralds
received $7-$14 per IBO. This varied tremendously depending on the
organization you were attached to. Much of my income came through speaking.

The real question might be; what happens to the remainder of the money since
it only costs approximately .25 to copy a tape ($1.65 + .25 = $1.90; $6-
$1.90 = $4.10)?

I have never claimed to make money from the retailing of products. In fact,
I believe that one of the great disservices that was put on people was the
teaching that "we do not sell products." I understand that the company says
otherwise, but my experiences in my line of sponsorship were just that. I
believed what I was taught. Therefore, in 11 years I think that I personally
had one recurring customer.my in-laws.

I would also point out that, in my opinion, diamonds generate 50%-90% of
their income from the training business. Obviously the more tenure one has,
the larger the group, the higher the percentage.*

4) Your association with the American Leadership Foundation is public
knowledge now. I noticed that the late Strom Thurman and Trent Lott are
prominent members of this group. Do you agree with some of their views? Do
you believe that if Strom Thurman was elected President when he was openly
supporting his segregationist views, that "things would have been
different".? (Trent Lott made a similiar statement during the 100 year
birthday celebration for Strom Thurman. It eventually led to his resignation
as the Senate majority leader).

*It has been public knowledge since 1996 when it was launched. I am very
proud of its mission. I have had the opportunity to speak to thousands of
young people in high schools and colleges about leadership.

Regarding the two senators you mentioned; of course I agree with some of
their views. If you were to be completely fair you would note that there are
senators from the opposite side of the political aisle on my Adivsory Board
also. I agree with some of their views as well.

However, I believe what you are really asking is do I agree with the earlier
segregationist views of the late Senator Strom Thurmond. Of course not. If
you knew him as I did you would realize that he did not even see many issues
the way he did decades earlier. Probably by the time you and I are 100 (we
should be so lucky) we may have shifted views about issues in our life as
well. I think that many of one's views are shaped because of their
environment. I would suggest that your personal views about me may be wrong
but I can certainly understand the basis on which you might have shaped
them.

Regarding the comments by Senator Lott. I know him and know that all he was
trying to do was to make a 100-year-old man feel good. Should he have chosen
his words differently.obviously he should have. However, his only intention
was to pay respect to someone that may be your grandfather's age. There were
many factors involved in this "blowing up" as it did. Most of them were
politically motivated. I was up here in Washington when it happened. I know
how it was used for political gain.

How would life be if someone who was a segregationist became president? I
would never want to find out. It would be a sad day in America.*

This was originally posted August 26, 2003 1:49pm

Links of Interest

2004-09-22T01:46:00.000-05:00
Here are some random findings while drowning in the internet...all were found through Google search...I dug through the pages that most never venture, however some may have seen or read these before. Check em out if you like.

Lawsuits Quixtar has filed
This was funny cause of misspelled words
Washington Post Article Upline didnt tell me about
Forbes article upline didnt mention
Consumer Affairs

Florence : Quixtar Business Incentives Wins Golden Reel Award

2004-09-21T08:17:00.000-05:00
Billy Florence on Quixtar Golden reel win. â€œWe congratulate Quixtar on this impressive national achievement of winning Golden reel award for the â€œQuixtar Business Incentivesâ€� video tapes. The video and the business incentives are big winners for IBOs and Quixtar,â€� Florence continues. Billy Florence is vice president of IBOAI, Independent Business Owners Association (IBOAI).

Quixtar Background: With the launch of Quixtar Inc. on Sept. 1, 1999, a new business model was created called I-commerce, representing the convergence of the Internet, the Individual, a full-service Infrastructure, and a proven Independent business ownership plan. I-commerce rewards IBOs for sales to those they register at www.Quixtar.com as new IBOs, Members, or Clients.

Since 1999, IBOs have generated more than $4 billion in sales for Quixtar plus more than $300 million for Partner Stores, earning well in excess of $1 billion in bonuses and incentives. Sales for fiscal 2004, which ended Aug. 31, 2004, will be reported later this fall

Im such a bad influence

2004-09-18T15:32:00.000-05:00
I recently spoke with an IBO in depth. I was told that the reason I had not heard from them in a while was that they were told that my recent business practices were less than sound. Further into the conversation they sited events at 2 functions, they are as follows. We were at a VERY nice and EXPENSIVE hotel. SEVERAL upline and downline of us decided to have dinner in the resteraunt at hotel. Well we all ordered and there again were drinks served, I had one, Hubby had 2 beers, Upline ordered a bottle of wine which was shared all over the table and others ordered their drinks, I only know of ONE PERSONALLY SPONSORED IBO in my downline ( QBLOG's Wife) who did not drink. Anyway no one was drunk by any means just some were a little lighter on their feet than others. We headed off for the evenings events and afterwards went to our rooms and went to bed. End of Story. At another function on a Saturday evening after all the days events, we along with 2 people from our DIRECT upline and 2 people from our DIRECT downline, went out in search of food at 2:30am, as thats what time we finally got finished with Upline gatherings etc. We finally happend upon a sports bar that was soon to close, so we ordered quick and waited for our food, in the mean time the guys had a beer, and the girls had a mixed drink. We ate, we drank, we ordered another round of drinks for the road and hailed a cab. Got back to our hotel and went to our rooms to catch a few hours sleep for the next days activities. End of story. Well we got chewed a new one from upline after that saying that it was unprofessional, we should never encourage such activities, and we were setting a bad example. This is coming from upline who also drank those nights, who ALWAYS drank when they visited our home to show plans ( both before and afterwards ) Who had my sponsor in their home for a weekend and got COMPLETELY drunk each night. I mean come on, we went to an "after party" with our upline at one function and we sat and drank beer with our upline Diamonds, Platinums, Silvers, Emeralds etc and they were SLOSHED by the end of the night. We went to another and did the same exept no one got drunk. I can honestly say that we personally NEVER EVER had more than 2 drinks at any function in one sitting NEVER. We also were, by the way, following uplines lead, we figure well if they order we will, if they dont we wont. Well not only did they always order but they always consumed more than us, yet we were branded the bad influence. GIVE ME A FRIGGIN BREAK MAN!!!! Anyone else ever had a run in with this situation???
*Originally posted April 15, 2003 1:06PM*

Vitamins, Supplements, PILLS PILLS PILLS

2004-09-17T22:40:00.000-05:00
I was noticing just HOW MANY supplements that Quixtar/Nutrilite has to offer. With so many available, what do you take??? And how can you afford to take them all? Are they all, if used together, really such a good thing for you? If you read the ingredients you will notice that many of them have some of the same agents in them, so if you take DoubleX and a couple of others, are you overdosing on something? If DoubleX is so great, why take all the others? If Triple Mushroom is so good, Why the echinacea? I mean how many supplements is too many? And shouldnt you be a bit concerned about radio active urine? When taking the DoubleX I dont have to turn on the light in the middle of night when I get up to go, my pee lights up the room!!! If you are not on DoubleX and your urine gets real concentrated like that, the doctors get concerned. Interesting thought that a friend brought up, is there any chance that you are eliminating some of those supplements through your urine and thats the reason its so bright, and I mean like are you eliminating the EXCESS supplements? Dont get me wrong people, I have taken DoubleX and its great, I will never pay for it again however, I just have a stockpile of it for now because it was an easy item to rack up on for PV. I was told to do this and then just sell it, well I could have sold it but not at cost, not even IBO cost!!! Im all for supplements and I take a few myself, but if you go through the Nutrilite catalog and look at how many supplements DIFFERENT supplements with DIFFERENT uses there are that are recommended for daily use, You would be taking AT LEAST 50 pills a day. Who wants to do that?????
* Originally Posted April 18, 2003 8:44am *

The Archives

2004-09-16T09:21:00.000-05:00
For the next few weeks along with new posts, I will also be re-posting some things from the Archives. I realize not all people care to sift through page after page of Archives, so I am gonna do it and find topics that still seem relevant, or that I feel might be interesting to go over again. These "old posts" will be listed as new posts, We will see what kind of feedback I get from this and if its bad then I will stop, but I dont think it will be. Incidently these "old posts" will all state the original post date at the bottom. This will remove them from the "old" Archives List and they will list as current or recently archived.

Just Over Broke

2004-09-14T13:50:00.000-05:00
Author: Bob Osgoodby

You probably get hundreds of emails a week promising great
riches. "Financial Freedom", "Earn Money While You Sleep", "Be
Your Own Boss", "Create Your Own Destiny", "Escape Your Dead End
Job", "Be Able to Watch Your Kids Grow Up While Making Money",
"Work at Home", are all common headlines. Are these statements
true? (sounds like Quixtar Upline Promises huh?)

First, let's have a reality check. Today over 90 percent of
start-up businesses on the Internet fail within the first year.
The majority of these fail in a few short months. Why?

The answer to this is simplistic. Many people are conned into a
program that cannot succeed without selling the same program to
other people. This is a typical example of a pyramid, and when
you run out of suckers to sell the program to, you are out of
business.

Others jump into a program without finding out the particulars
first. Envelope stuffing is a perfect example. You are promised
one dollar for every envelope you stuff. With visions of "sugar
plums dancing in your head", you figure you could do hundreds a
day. Let's face it - machines can stuff thousands an hour. Why
would someone pay you a dollar apiece? They won't - it's a con -
pure and simple.

Some might stumble on a legitimate venture - yes there are some
out there. But they followed the "Earn Money While You Sleep"
routine. They believe if they follow some simple directions,
they will be "rolling in dough" without having to do any work.
When the postman isn't filling their mailbox with $20 bills,
they lose heart and quit.

Others might buy some "obsolete government reports" on a CD and
believe the "rap" that they can sell each one for $15 a pop.
They get a free email account, a free web site, and are in
business with just the cost of the CD. That business might last
a week.

The ones I get a kick out of are where they "front load" you
with merchandise. You could have thousands invested before you
realize you have been taken. Most of the people trying to sell
this deal, are only trying to recover the money someone else
conned them out of, and hope you will be gullible enough to let
them fleece your pockets. Anybody want to buy a "water filter"?
I know someone with a garage full.

With the exception of a naÃ¯ve minority, people are "savvy"
enough to avoid the majority of these scams. So, if you want to
get into business on the Net, use some common sense and do some
"due diligence" investigation before jumping in with both feet .

Do some people make money on the Net? Sure - but guess what?
They work for it. Some may tell you that JOB is a dirty word and
stands for "Just Over Broke". Working for yourself is hard work
if you want to succeed. You must run your "Home Business" with
the same discipline you would use in any other.

You must advertise, advertise, advertise - if people don't know
you're there, how do you expect them to find you to do business?
Be prepared to work 60 to 70 hours a week or more if it is a
full time venture.

But how about those who need the financial security of their
job, while trying to develop their online business - can they
hope to succeed? Yes! But they have to put in their effort in
the evenings and on weekends. They have to approach it with the
same attitude as someone doing it full time.

There are a lot of good opportunities "just ripe for the
picking" out there. If you avoid the obvious scams, and do some
"due diligence" investigation, you will find one. If the first
few don't work for you, don't lose heart. Be sure you give it
enough time and effort before giving up. If you are sure it
won't, "cut your losses" and move on to something else. It may
take some time to find a "fit", but when you do, it will be
worth your time and effort.

Product Comparisons

2004-09-12T23:39:00.000-05:00
While visiting over at the QBlogsite I read a recent post about how Qblog's wife prefers the Artistry skin care line offered exclusively through Quixtar. I too was addicted to the products in that line, but I was finally able to find other products at retail stores, cheaper and just as good if not better. If you too were "addicted" to a particular product offered exclusively through Quixtar or any other MLM and have found a comparable product in a retail store, please comment with it....Some love SA8, some love Nutrilite products and some love Artistry, Do you know of products that are just as good cheaper? Let us know!!!!!

It's not just football

2004-09-12T14:18:00.000-05:00
It's NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL

G.Robert Blakey
is a Professor of Law at Notre Dame, My husbands Grandfather studied Law at Notre Dame and also played football for them in the early 30's. We are diehard fans and yesterdays game was just a reminder of why!!!

The Blakey Report

2004-09-12T13:19:00.000-05:00
I found this report ( which is not new to most ) but I figured I better post a link to it here, so as to be sure that it is made available to people who may not have read this before. If you are involved in, or considering involvement with MLM you should read this report. I previously posted this report its in Junes Archives.

G. Robert Blakey Report

Incidently I found this link at this site:
Amway/Alticore/Quixtar Sucks!

You can find more information relating at theQblog Site

The Rat Race

2004-09-12T01:49:00.000-05:00
My kids have mice, they love them, they have their cage in the living room for all who come visit to see. These mice spend HOURS on their wheel just running, running running...We had to buy a new cage in fact because the first one we got interrupted us constantly with the constant sound of the wheel spinning...You see this go on day after day after day, for over a year now, same mice, same wheel. Mice are supposed to be somewhat smart, and able to figure things out, yet they get on that wheel knowing it goes no where...Are they exercising? Is it fun? What result are they looking to get? Quixtar speaks of the "rat race" alot, and really when you think about it, Quixtar itself is a rat race of sorts...You go out there day after day night after night spinning on that wheel of circles ( showing the plan ) granted the results change and the outcome is different each time...but its the same thing over and over and over, and as far as "I" can see, your not going to ever be able to get off that wheel....Well unless of course you get involved in the Tools business, but then again, isnt that just another wheel? I will say it again, I dont have the gift of words that other bloggers have, and sometimes making my point confuses everyone ( including me LOL ) But if you see where I am going with this...let me know what you think

Lets get Political....

2004-09-11T21:55:00.000-05:00
I want to take this space to do a little poll regarding Florida and its current and past Hurricane/Mother Nature problems....I am a Fox News Junkie and saw something last night that interested me. Do you think that its appropriate for our tax dollars to continue to be spent on rebuilding Florida in the areas that continue to be ravaged by Mother Nature? Clearly funding needs to be available to dislocated families thats a given...however...does it make sense to continue to rebuild only to have to do it again and again and again???? Now...If we do not give our tax dollars ( I made that sound like we have a choice huh LOL ) to rebuild..what does that do to Florida's economy? Where do those families relocate to? I realize lots of problems could arise if we do not continue to rebuild...but rebuilding itself raises some issues....I guess I am on the fence myself about this, but with Ivan fast approaching in the wake of Frances and you know the one before blah blah blah, one has to wonder, is it worth it? Let me know what you think....

Weird

2004-09-11T10:32:00.000-05:00
I got an email from "Administrator@quixtar.com" it was addressed to myself and all that were in my downline.....simply saying that they were testing the email program, and it had a personal message ( Misspelling my name ) saying that the pictures of my kids were nice or something like that....I havent sent out pics of my kids in a while, recently sent out a preschool photo of ONE of my kids but not to anyone in my Q family....weird

UP YOURS

2004-09-10T23:20:00.000-05:00
Hey Up Yours (@aol.com)

Havent heard from you in a few days.....you still out there????

By chance or what?????

2004-09-01T02:31:00.000-05:00
Here is something fishy that I have discussed at length with other bloggers and some online friends....Everytime I get involved in the AmQuix tangle, I get TONS of spam mail, and tons of mail containing virus's, and my computer seems to crash alot and other weird happenings....Well, Today my computer took a trip to a family members house whom incidently is a computer wiz....So now I should be plenty protected and ready to face whatever else is sent to me through this information highway....In a matter of 1 hour after setting my computer back up, I had 3 emails that contained the same Bagel virus, all detected, all reported, and all deleted. Again, I NEVER experience these things while away from my blog or before my blog...Things that make you go Hmmmm. My point here is this...If you are new to the AMQuix blog scene, be sure to have back up restore disks ( current ones ) be sure to have UP TO DATE virus protection, and make sure that your email is safe guarded also...

Shouldnt there be a line?

2004-08-30T12:54:00.000-05:00
I was at a funeral last week for a past co-worker/friend of mine. Afterwards there was a nice spread of fingerfoods, coffee, etc. I noticed there were some nine to five products which I recognized as Quixtar product. Well after about half an hour, I was approached by another visitor there, another friend of the deceased....in conversation he prospected me and gave me a tape and his card....I was highly offended. Shouldnt Upline draw a line as to where you should and shouldnt prospect? Why would you attend a funeral with prospecting material in your pocket ready to go?

Links to Laugh By

2004-08-23T14:25:00.000-05:00
I have been out of the loop for quite sometime and knew I could depend on the AMQUIX Memory Hole Dreambook to catch me right back up and introduce me to the "latest popular opinions, and discussions" regarding Amquix...however now it also is offering alot of these discussions about "passport". I am not sure if these pages are archived at all, but if not they should be. I recommend checking this out when you can for a dose of humor and opinion...There is a link to this page here...Check it out and comment if you dare!!!

Links of Interest

2004-08-19T22:18:00.000-05:00
I put some time into the internet on a down day and found some links I have not seen before, and maybe you havent either so here they are....enjoy

Rich Dad Poor Dad Forum

Ameradream.com

Tim.2wgroup

The Complaint Station

US Tax Court

Freedom Of Mind

Judge Accused of Masterbating Resigns

2004-08-19T16:21:00.000-05:00
I happend across this article and just had to pass it on...I thought it totally hysterical that in his comments he states "I have greatly enjoyed my public service..." Too funny, also in the news apparently a porn star has alot to say about natural vs plastic in regards to "boobs" another amusing read. You will also find this to be a user friendly site to get the news up to date.

Oddly Enough

Before Registering as a Quixtar IBO......

2004-08-17T23:39:00.000-05:00
This will be presented to you on the application you fill out online or on paper to register...you are supposed to be given a copy seeing as how you agree to it when you register....pay attention...I have highlighted some areas of interest....I can tell you that in my experience, the materials that were used were never shown to be "Quixtar approved" and many of these highlighted rules were broken by my upline and then by me...The materials that were SOLD to me and that I was TAUGHT to present to potential IBO's were NOT quixtar approved...GET THE FACTS BEFORE YOU START THIS BUSINESS.....Im not saying DONT do it, I am saying EDUCATE YOURSELF FIRST

BUSINESS SUPPORT MATERIALS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT (“BSMAA”)

Please read carefully the Disclosures and Arbitration Agreement that follow before signing. The Disclosures section contains important information about buying or selling independently produced Business Support Materials, and the Agreement section affects your legal rights.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY BUSINESS SUPPORT MATERIALS TO BE AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS OWNER (“IBO”).

THIS AGREEMENT SHOULD BE SIGNED BY EACH IBO WHO CHOOSES TO PURCHASE INDEPENDENTLY PRODUCED BUSINESS SUPPORT MATERIALS FROM, OR SELL SUCH MATERIALS TO, ANOTHER IBO. THE AGREEMENT DOES NOT DETERMINE PRICE, QUANTITY, OR SELECTION – THOSE ARE INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS – BUT IT OBLIGATES BUYERS AND SELLERS TO OBEY THE BUSINESS SUPPORT MATERIALS RULE, AND IT PROVIDES FOR MEDIATION AND COMPULSORY BINDING ARBITRATION OF ANY DISPUTES.

DISCLOSURES ABOUT INDEPENDENTLY PRODUCED BUSINESS SUPPORT MATERIALS

Under the Independent Business Ownership Plan, all IBOs are responsible for training and motivating those whom they sponsor. To assist you with your own training and motivation, as well as training and motivating others, some IBOs independently produce and distribute merchandising aids and support services, which are not offered by Quixtar Inc. or Quixtar Canada Corporation (“Business Support Materials”). These may include books, magazines and other printed materials, audio tapes, video tapes, software, Web sites, Internet services and other electronic media, rallies, meetings, and educational seminars. While these Business Support Materials are not required, you may decide that they can play a useful role in building a profitable Independent Business. However, you should carefully consider each of the following factors before purchasing any Business Support Materials.

1. Limiting expenditures -- You should carefully monitor your purchases of Business Support Materials so that such expenditures do not become excessive. The cost of purchasing tapes and books and the expenses incurred in attending seminars, rallies, and other meetings must be justified by their benefit to your independent business. You should only purchase items or attend functions that provide information helpful to you in merchandising products and sponsoring others to do the same.

2. Limiting time commitments -- You must decide how much time (if any) you want to spend attending motivational and training functions, viewing or listening to tapes, and reading books, magazines, and other printed materials. You should carefully consider the impact of this time on your occupation, your other business-related activities, and your family.

3. Compliance with IBO Rules of Conduct -- The IBO Rules of Conduct contain important provisions affecting the purchase, sale and use of Business Support Materials. These Rules are contained in the Business Reference Guide, which is found in your Quixtar® Registration Materials, as well as on the Quixtar® Web site. Before purchasing Business Support Materials or furnishing them to others, you should be thoroughly familiar with these rules and guidelines. Business Support Materials are not substitutes for official QUIXTAR literature or sales and training aids.

PURCHASE OF BUSINESS SUPPORT MATERIALS AND SERVICES IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. NO ONE MAY REQUIRE OR IN ANY WAY PRESSURE YOU TO BUY OR USE SUCH ITEMS.

4. You are not required to buy Business Support Materials - You should purchase Business Support Materials only if you decide they assist you in building a more successful and profitable independent business. If you sponsor others, you have an obligation to train and motivate them whether or not they choose to buy Business Support Materials. All IBOs are free to change their volume of purchases of such items, to cancel standing orders, or to cease such purchases at any time without threats, pressure, or retaliation.

5. Cross-line selling - You are free to buy or obtain Business Support Materials for your own use, or for resale, from any supplier you choose. However, the IBO Rules of Conduct prohibit IBOs from soliciting sales of independently produced products and services, including Business Support Materials, to IBOs the seller does not personally sponsor.

6. Independently offered - Business Support Materials are offered independently of Quixtar and have not been endorsed or approved by Quixtar. Business Support Materials should be clearly labeled to show who produced them. IBOs who choose to sell Business Support Materials must make it clear to their customers that such materials are produced and sold independently.

7. Profit to sellers - Some IBOs who sell Business Support Materials may purchase these items at wholesale prices and resell them for a profit, and speakers at meetings and functions may be paid for their appearance.

8. Refund policies - Business Support Materials are not covered under Quixtar's Satisfaction Guarantee or its Buy-Back Rule. However, the IBO Rules of Conduct and this Agreement require an IBO selling Business Support Materials to, upon request, buy back any Business Support Materials purchased for the buyer's personal use, on commercially reasonable terms, and for a period of 180 days from the date of purchase. Items shall be returned to the selling IBO, or other designated party, with proof of purchase. Business Support Materials purchased for stock or inventory, or for any reason other than the buyer's personal use, are not subject to this policy but shall be governed by whatever refund policy is agreed to with the selling IBO. For seminars, rallies, and other meetings, the selling IBO shall buy back any tickets purchased for the buyer's personal use for a period of 30 days following the event on a satisfaction guaranteed basis. Such buy-back applies only to that portion of the ticket cost related to admission to the meeting or function, and shall not include the cost of travel, meals, or hotel accommodations.

9. No guarantee of results - Your success as an IBO depends upon your own hard work. No one can promise or guarantee that the use of any specific method, approach, or sales aid will result in a more profitable Independent Business or the achievement of any specified level of success. No one can guarantee that the techniques, attitudes, or approaches suggested in Business Support Materials will work for you, and you must never make any such claim in selling Business Support Materials to others.

10. Use with prospects - The IBO Rules of Conduct, which are contractually binding on all IBOs, prohibit the use of any recruiting literature (including audio and video tapes) not produced or authorized by Quixtar in any phase of the recruiting process. Business Support Materials, therefore, may not be sold, loaned, shown, given to or otherwise used with prospects, except as specifically authorized in writing by Quixtar Inc. or Quixtar Canada Corporation.

AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES

Disputes; Conciliation - The undersigned parties agree to give notice in writing of any claim or dispute arising out of or relating to Business Support Materials to the other party or parties involved in the dispute, specifying the basis for the claim and the amount claimed or relief sought. During a period of not less than 90 days after the written notice is received, the parties shall attempt to resolve the dispute amicably through direct discussions, and, if appropriate, using the Dispute Resolution Procedures contained in the IBO Rules of Conduct, including the conciliation process.

Binding arbitration - If the claim or dispute is not resolved within 90 days, or after the conciliation process is complete, whichever is later, the parties agree to submit any remaining claim or dispute arising out of or relating to Business Support Materials (including any claim a party to this Agreement may make against any publisher, author, speaker, distributor, manufacturer, seller, reseller, or marketer of Business Support Materials; or against Quixtar Inc., Quixtar Canada Corporation, and any parent, subsidiary, affiliate, predecessor or successor thereof, or any of their officers, directors, agents, or employees) to binding arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration Rules, which are set forth in the IBO Rules of Conduct. The arbitration award shall be final and binding, and judgment thereon may be entered by any court of competent jurisdiction. Demand for arbitration shall be made within two years after the issue has arisen, but in no event after the date when the initiation of legal proceedings would have been barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The parties acknowledge that this Agreement evidences a transaction involving interstate or interprovincial commerce, as the case may be in the United States or Canada. The United States
Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement, and proceedings in any state or federal court of the United States. The Ontario Arbitrations Act (1991) or any Canadian arbitration statute that may supersede it, shall govern the interpretation, enforcement, and proceedings in any federal or provincial court in Canada. The parties intend for the Arbitration Rules to apply to the maximum degree possible in any arbitration.

Confidentiality -- Once a notice of claim has been sent, the Dispute Resolution Procedures, including conciliation and any binding arbitration, shall remain confidential. No party involved in a claim or dispute submitted under the Dispute Resolution Procedures or the Arbitration Rules shall disclose to any other person not directly involved in the conciliation or arbitration process: (a) the substance of, or basis for, any claim; (b) the content of any testimony or other evidence presented during the conciliation and arbitration process or obtained through discovery; or (c) the terms or amount of any conciliation or arbitration award.
The primary reason most people start their own business is to make money. Some IBOs (or companies that they are affiliated with) sell business support materials like books, tapes, meetings, seminars, Web site access, etc. These are strictly optional and come with a buy-back guarantee (see Rule 7).

These business materials can help you build a profitable Quixtar-powered business. Your upline and the producers of these materials are likely to make money selling them. You should make your own decision whether to purchase any of these materials, based on their cost and value in relation to your business' profitability.

Check this out.....

2004-08-16T22:15:00.000-05:00
Deconstructing the Postma Memo

Are Tools the Diamonds worst enemy?

2004-08-16T22:02:00.000-05:00
I had a great conversation today with someone who was in my downline when I was in Quixtar....as most of you alreay know, I did very well in my Quix business and in fact left when it was growing the most.....In my conversation today with my friend, we were discussing the tools....we both agree that most of it was very positive and could be taken different by different people....what happend in my case was the more I learned and grew so to speak..the more I realized I was in the wrong business...the business itself taught me to dream and to look ahead to the future and to want and realize I too deserve to have the things my heart most desires...but in realizing that, I also realized that it was the business that was holding me back from those things and robbing me of those things....the business and upline taught me to be aware of dream stealers and to keep my focus on my goals...I did that...again realizing it was the business doing those things...So I quit, and because I was financially tapped and my credit was close to being tapped, Myself and my Husband just worked very hard to pay off debt and get a loan for a traditional business...We were able to do that within 6 months of leaving the business and things couldnt be better...only now are we realizing the dreams that Quixtar and its tools taught us to dream, and only now are we enjoying the freedom Quixtar showed us we wanted...ironic? Well I know that I have heard this same story time and time again from others....I think that now with all the information readily available and with trends changing, more people will start to realize this...There are positive aspects to a Quixtar business, but for me the negative far out weighed the bad...If I could have joined and just tapped into the system right off, without the seminars and products and manipulation from upline...would I have realized things when I did? I dont know, all I know is that I guess I am glad I made the decision to join and go through all of it both good and bad, cause look where I am today...am I rich? Certainly not, at least not in financial wealth, but my Personal life and family life are!! It bothered me real bad for a long time thinking of all the money and time wasted and it hurt that my "Team" pretty much forgot about me and bad mouthed me when I quit, I thought then that they really were my friends, Im over that now and feel sorry for those people....Do your homework before going MLM...sometimes the price you pay is just too high

Tid Bits that most of you already know

2004-08-14T23:01:00.000-05:00
I think that its important that from time to time we post something on the first page of our blog, the most current visible page, something about how "newbies" can find more information. I personally go to http://www.google.com and from there I type in quixtar or blog or passport or premier jewelry or whatever it is that I might be looking to research........I choose google cause they seem to be the cleanest engine.... Anyway, In a phone conversation I had earlier with a friend of mine, she says to me, " Why are you blogging on there again, why cant you just let it go" Valid question......and I can clearly see her point......And here is what I have to say to that.......I have let go of my money loss in the amquix business, I have let go of lies and betrayal.....I have let go of all of that......BUT people are joining these business's EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY......and when I joined there were very few places to go that were CURRENT in both information and time......So I am ( for my own personal satisfactions ) going to keep this going as a place for new people "Looking" to go and get some opinions, thoughts, and ideas of others who have "gone before them". I dont have the gift of words like the other blogs, I dont have the bells and whistles that the other blogs have.....I dont always make sense and I dont always post about MLM......I am however VERY REAL, and naturally like helping others, so even if I am just a springboard to other sites.....Great!!! My job is done.......

WE GOT A FACELIFT

2004-08-14T02:10:00.000-05:00
THANKS TO A WONDERFUL FRIEND AND FELLOW BLOGGER....THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!

While I was away from my blog

2004-08-13T01:22:00.000-05:00
Get this, while I was away from my blog, I was somehow mentioned or otherwise involved in some kind of lawsuit.....I never knew anything of it till tonight, strange!!! Here is a link to the site I found this info on....
TOD vs. Scott Larsen

Reviewing the posts to my blog

2004-08-12T23:32:00.000-05:00
Okay I have been reviewing the posts to my blog and found one I dont remember, some one requested info about Premier Jewelry.....if any one has that info please give it up.....also I noticed that TOD was a common theme so if any one has the time or the care to rehash some info on TOD I would greatly appreciate it.....otherwise if you are looking for some info on TOD there is alot of it trickled in the archives here and as always the links I have provided should lead you to some answers and opinions.....I also invite you to post information on any "new" MLM's out there.....I am sure they are sprouting up all over......I noticed that the two advertisements at the top of my blog are for Mr Hartiess (sp) peddling vitamins, no doubt Nutrilite products and the "WALK WITH ME" something about IBO's walking to support children in some charity or whatever.....funny they didnt care much about my children and certainly never "GAVE BACK" anything.....I found nothing about the business to be Charitable in any way.....just my opinion, and I am entitled to it right?

Well its been quite some time

2004-08-12T23:08:00.000-05:00
Well its been quite some time ( almost a year ) since I have come here to discuss quixtar......in fact I thought I would just let it go.....It seems that some "teams" are not cool with these blogs and in fact have started creating their own blogs, Which I think is GREAT.....I never wanted to seem one sided and have always been open to every ones stories, opinions, and thoughts.......I was recently prospected by a close friend whom I have never shared any "quix" stories with.....it was very weird....and it reminded me of my lonely blog sitting here.....Im still here, just very busy in my "real life" with my ever expanding, ever growing business.....not an MLM, its a traditional business, and its doing very well but it consumes most of time outside of family time. I will check in from time to time here and try to post regularly.....Ive said this before but I have a friend who is gonna hopefully REMIND me to do this....YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!!!! I would love to hear some fresh stories and experiences.....Tell me WHATS UP WITH AMQUIX THESE DAYS.....not the site.....the business!!!!

I can't even sell my Amway/Quixtar tapes

2003-10-16T09:10:00.000-05:00
Wow I cant even sell my Amway/Quixtar tapes at a garage sale......I even tried to give some away.....you cant even give'em away......COMEDY I TELL YA PURE COMEDY

Memory Hole Dreambook

2003-09-30T22:44:00.000-05:00
I can no longer access the Memory Hole Dreambook.....anyone else having this problem?

Envelope stuffing jobs

2003-09-30T22:42:00.000-05:00
Has anyone out there ever taken one of those envelope stuffing jobs in the paper or assemble products at home or telemarketing from home blah blah blah or been involved in those chain letter schemes? I rarely see those things discussed, but arent they too a form of MLM??????

If you visit us again

2003-09-22T15:31:00.000-05:00
Hey Chris if you visit us again, and we hope you will, you will find that our comments are all back up and running again, so you can fish through our Archives and should find alot of info about TOD there, if you have any specific questions, shoot them out and we will get you an answer!!!!

Good news

2003-09-22T15:06:00.000-05:00
Okay good news, Finally got the paypal crap taken care of and paid for my old comments account so my archives will be complete with all the comments posted here from the past we HOPE, Im not sure how long its gonna take for it to come back up but when it does I will be doing away with the enetation comments and going back to Squawkbox.......Gotta question.....Anyone got any dirt on Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, Avon or Tupperware.....have a friend who lives in Kentucky who asked me to post that here and see what you all know........

Welcome Chris

2003-09-22T11:51:00.000-05:00
Hey all, we have a new commenter here Chris ( welcome Chris ) and he is looking for information on TEAM OF DESTINY......His brother is involved.....Lets give him what we have......Thanks all

Email from Scott Larson of AMQUIX

2003-09-20T18:17:00.000-05:00
Hey sorry I have been absent, we moved Friday before last and are still experiencing trouble with our phones, cable, and Internet.......I am currently using dial up but its very very slow so I cant say how much I will be on here......Anyway I got an email From Scott Larson.....I am posting it here so that others can participate if they want.......here ya go......thanks again for your continued patience.

At one time you wrote me about my Amway/Quixtar web site. I am now asking
for a little help and favor. If you have already written me concerning
this, please forgive me as I am extremely busy organizing the whole
effort.
I am looking for former and current IBOs who wish to participate in a
nationwide Attorney General complaint about illegal pyramiding practices
in both Quixtar and the LOS BSM businesses.
I'm just finishing up a complaint for all the AG's and to help get their
support; I need a bunch of testimonies from people harmed in the
business. I want to package all these with the other hard evidence I have
proving with other court precedents that Quixtar and their lines of
sponsorships promote illegal product-pyramids.
The content of the testimony should be short and to the point. Please
make the first line "to the Attorney General".
Please detail:
The number of years you were in
The losses you had
Were you how to report member/client volume you never had so you could
earn a bonus on downline volume?
The hours you spent
If you ever retailed product, what % of your sales is was
Were you told to ignore the retail sales rule or member/client rule?
I'll need your name, and address at the bottom of the testimony. E-mail
them Scott.larsen@juno.com Please do so as soon as possible to make sure
yours is included in the package. Your personal data will only be
revealed to the Attorneys General
Please ask any your friends of yours from the business to also
participate. More details about the legal nature of the complaint can be
found at TOD COMPLAINT
I've put a lot of time into my site and this complaint. Here is your time
to help in the battle.
Best Regards,
Scott Larsen

A good conversation this morning

2003-09-10T18:53:00.000-05:00
I have a friend here in town that I had a good conversation with this morning over coffee.....She isnt online so she wont be posting here herself, but has given me permission to post some of what we talked about here....She was saying that she has been prospected for a couple of MLM's before and that she felt something about it was wrong and not for her when the people brought up religion.....She feels this is taboo and that its very low of someone to use christianity as a selling point when pitching a business, she went on to say that anyone who "professes" to be a christian or belong to a "christian based" organization is clearly either misguided or trying to sell you something and using that as a factor.....I can see her point and can remember being told to mention that Quixtar is a christian based organization by upline.....What are your thoughts on this and what stories can you share?

Yet another....

2003-09-10T02:25:00.000-05:00
Check out this business opportunity that is harnessing Ebay and other Auction type sites as a way to make money
Epower

When the hell did it become I-Commerce???

2003-09-09T13:12:00.000-05:00
Guess I was out of the "Loop" on that one. I found on the back of the new Choices Catalog the "definition" for I-Commerce noun: a business model originating in 1999 with the launch of Quixtar. I-Commerce is the convergence of four key elements: the internet, the Individual, the Infastructure of Quixtar, and Independant business ownership.

So does Quixtar like OWN that now? I-Commerce....I-Careless

Upline Update

2003-09-09T02:34:00.000-05:00
I heard from "upline" tonight that FEC ( Free Enterprise Celebration, a Quixtar function ) was held for "our group" in St Louis this year, and went well, heard it was a "packed house" and had some great entertainment. George and Ruth Halsey spoke and of course Dexter and Birdie did their bit. The Temptations were there along with some comedians and some TV personality Jay Johnson from the sitcom Soap. One of our "upline" Emerald couples "Kelly and Carrie Rogers" went across stage as new Diamonds, Guess they also heard from some new emerald,who said he made it in a year, his first 4 years in the business were just being active, not proactive, so he got pissed off at himself, and went 1200 PV to Emerald in a 12 month period, pretty cool I guess. I was also informed that some practices that our "team" used to use are now being re-thought and changed. One in particular that I never could conform to was the "END OF THE MONTH PV CALLS" This is where you call everyone in your downline and beg borrow and steal PV out of them, encourage them to order themselves to the next bracket, or to place an order to get enough PV to get a check off of themselves or downline. Since I never chose to make these calls, they were always made for me. Once "upline" called someone in my downline and tried to encourage them to purchase 2 or 3 E-springs ( I cant remember ) to get to the next pin level. Wonder if they realized how much money they were asking this person to spend. They said that it made sense since the e-springs werent shipping right then as they had just come out so you didnt have to pay for them for like another 5 months or so. Whatever it takes to sugar coat it, fact still remains that at some point YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM!!!! So when I hear people say that they are gonna build a Quixtar business "their own way" or "without the system" I just have to laugh and think to myself, goodluck. Your upline has access to your information as well as your downlines info, so they can contact them if they choose to, and imagine if they persuade this person that the system is where its at. What does that do for YOUR credibility once your downline realizes that you "kept" this from them. Oh well. Glad they had a good time in St Louis, and glad my bank account was not affected by it, thats all I can say!!! Im sure that these comments have once again opened me up to fire as a "disgruntled failed IBO" and thats cool, to each his own. Your freedom may be available in MLM or Quix or whatever, mine is not, thats all Im saying!

Primerica

2003-09-08T22:26:00.000-05:00
I have someone wanting some information about Primerca. Anyone got any info on this company, they emailed and asked that I post something to get feedback on the blog. Thanks in advance you all

The Local Fair

2003-09-02T14:35:00.000-05:00
We took the kids to the Local Fair this weekend, they had alot of arts and crafts etc and booths set up for local vendors or business owners to set up their "stuff". Of course you had the usual Tupperware, Avon, and Mary Kay there, along with Pampered Chef, Home Interiors and a few others. Well we were stopped by a couple who were marketing Cell phones, Cell phone service, satellite, cable, internet blah blah blah, well they said that we could make money marketing these things and make money for referrals and all that good stuff, I asked if it were some kind of MLM or "BE SELF EMPLOYED, BE YOUR OWN BOSS" kinda crap, oh they were insistant that it was indeed nothing like that, But oh yes it was. It was very much like that. Its outta control man, MLM's are springing up everywhere, its like okay, we see what people hate about those MLM's so lets create one that hides all that even better and it will market like crazy. Some MLM's are hard to detect, you really have to be MLM savvy to see through some of them. So this makes me think, well MLM may not be that bad and whats wrong with making some money, but isnt there another way to market these products etc? Gets the wheels turnin thats for sure! Incidently there was INDEED an Artistry table.

Neways

2003-08-31T21:11:00.000-05:00
ANOTHER ONE BORN EVERY DAY

What the heck is Neways????????????

Alticore News

2003-08-29T13:59:00.000-05:00
Check out the latest news here ALTICORE

Is Randy Haugen out?

Also I read something at the MLM survivors site that interested me.....< As I understand it in the US an IBO needs 7500 PV to go direct. In the UK this is 10,000. Anyone know why the PV level for the same pin
level would change between countries? > countries. It means more $$ for the corp and for the US kingpins who are at the tops of the lines of sponsorship in other countries.>

I think from my research that this is correct. Not sure why.....Could be alot of things I suppose.

Team Of Destiny

2003-08-29T09:44:00.000-05:00
It appears that alot of people land here at this blog in search of information about Team Of Destiny.........If you guys can offer up some info that would be great, We are in the process of researching this team and will post our findings, but in the mean time you seasoned visitors could offer alot of insight Im sure, so please comment with some info to help those in search of more information, Thank you so much!!!!

Team In Focus

2003-08-29T09:17:00.000-05:00
This may be common knowledge to some but it wasnt to me, So I am gonna share some findings about TIF here and will provide the link it was found on...

Quixtar Terminates 6 Diamond Distributorships
12 Others Resign in Protest
April 23, 2002

On April 19, 2002, Quixtar terminated the distributorships of six Diamonds. Their crime? Attempting, along with 12 other Diamonds, to throw a few pails of water at the Augean Stables of the Amway/Quixtar motivational "tools" business.

"Of the 18 Diamonds in Team In Focus, 6 have been terminated (Andy & Polly Andrews, Gerry & Sharon Betterman, Gayle Collinsworth, Mike & Lynn Jakubik, Ron & Melanie Rummel, John & Pat Terhune) and most of the others, when threatened with termination, have resigned."

For years, the shadow business of the Amway (and now Quixtar) kingpins has been the "system" -- the business of motivation in the form of tapes, books, functions, videos, and CDs. It has been repeatedly shown that the Diamonds make far more -- at least 80% and often up to 95% -- of their income from the "system" than from Amway or Quixtar. The system had become the tail that wagged the dog.

As early as 1982, Rich DeVos, Amway co-founder, chastised these kingpins, accusing them of running an illegal pyramid scheme. However, 10 years later, the "system" had become a way for a very few to suck millions -- even billions -- of dollars from their downline. Tool income was secret, the average frontline distributor was told that nobody made any money on tools, and everything was managed by the "wink and handshake" method. There were no contracts, and upline diamonds could change the way tool money was distributed at will.

Gradually, information about the "system" and the profit being made from it became public. In 1997, Amway acknowledged this in the BSMAA. However, it was obvious that the Arbitration Agreement was created to try and stop the flood of very public lawsuits over the tool business.

Now, in the latest chapter of the history of the Amway/Quixtar tools business, or BSMs (Business Support Materials), the company has preferred to let go of 18 Diamondships rather than attempt to curb the well documented abuses perpetrated by these "system" leaders.

MLMSurvivor has received a copy of a fax sent on April 21 to these (former) diamonds' groups, explaining their side of the situation. If their allegations are true, they represent a rather bizarre indication of the lengths that Amway/Quixtar, the IBOA, and kingpin diamonds will go to protect their major income source.

The Team In Focus Story
"Team In Focus" is a coalition of (former) Quixtar diamonds. It includes:

Andy and Polly Andrews
Gerry and Sharon Betterman
Doug and Julie Cassens
Gayle Collinsworth
Marshall and Diana Douglas
John and Susan Haagen
Marc and Shelli Hellinghausen
Mike and Lynn Jakubik
Barry and Luronda Joye
Adrian and Sue Lewis
Rick and Eve Maxwell
Bryan and Roxanne Parks
Denny and Lori Plauck
Todd and Brenda Rainsberger
Ron and Melanie Rummel
John and Pat Terhune
Frank and Dawana Zecher
Bo and Sandy Short were part of the original Team In Focus group, but they resigned both TIF and their Quixtar distributorship in October, 2001.

MORE TIF INFO

Group Names

2003-08-28T23:13:00.000-05:00
Okay, How many "team" names can you think of?

TIF, TOD, FX GROUP, QBIZ GROUP, EI TEAM (?), FREEDOM FIGHTERS, FREE BY 2003, ROCKIN ROLAND AND MOLLY HUGHES, FREEDOM EXPRESS, CHICAGO FIRE, MISSION POSSIBLE, ..........How many can you name???

MLM WatchDog

2003-08-28T11:35:00.000-05:00
Stop by this website for up to date information about the Quixtar/Amway lawsuit ( P&G ) it seems it was thrown out, and check out what some magazines are saying about MLM, do they think its a good way to retirement???

Latest News

Whatta Dope

2003-08-27T23:34:00.000-05:00
O.J. Simpson claims that smoking pot helped him sleep during " a difficult" time after the trial for murder of which he was aquitted......LOL Heres the full story if ya care to read it.....OJ THE POTHEAD

Choices Catalog

2003-08-27T23:25:00.000-05:00
Got the new Choices catalog today, was flipping through it, boy was that a blast from the past. Reading the product names brought back some memories LOL, Seems as though they are gonna be coming out with some new cookware, this one is called iCook, as opposed to the old Queen Cookware. Anyway I thought I would post a run down of product names here, see if it brings up any memories for you all, please share your stories.

Meadowbrook, Nutripet, Prominence, Kozy Kids, Kahve, Nine to Five, Critics Choice, Nutrilite, Ocean Essentials, Artistry, Body Series, Satinique, SA8, Bioquest, L.O.C, Daily Free, Double X, Action 8, Trim Advantage, XS, Strive, e-spring, icook, queen cookware, magna bloc, lip chic, personal accents, nature shower, glister, peter island, ranir, personna, pursue, scrub buds, smells begone, dish drops, ozium, carpet brite, mint condition, freedom, tie n' tote, kill zone, premium choice, scientific, yesterdays news, healthy times, earth pure, Debut, Formucare, Flavor Charm, Kayo, Superior, Paradise, Citrus Squeeze, Very fine, Express chef, Action Entree's , Soy 7, hain, Chateau D'ermo, The Spice Hunter, Sorrell Ridge, I.M. healthy, Smart Menu, Tumaros, pennysticks, Home Brand, Morehouse, Algood, Sweet Baby Rays, Columbia, PrimaTerra, Our Specialty, Laguna, Good N Hearty, Roadside Farms, Dunn's Farms, Back to nature, Vics, Ferris', Funitos, Reinhold and Timkos,and Kaukauna

Have you ever shopped at one of those CHEAP grocery stores where you have to sometimes pay for your cart, your bags or whatever, stores like ALDI's and SAVE A LOT??? These sound like the names of some of the products there!!! Except they cost ALOT MORE. Quixtar added some new names to the Choices catalog this year, they now carry Libby's canned veggies, bumblebee white albacore tuna, too bad they didnt have that when I was shopping there. I dare say the shipping on those canned goods is outrageous, not to mention the price jacked up WAY above local store costs.