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July 19, 2003
Is the "Bo Short" name marketable?
By QBlog in Bo Short
Do a Google search for Quixtar. Go ahead, I'll be here when you get back.
Ok, welcome back. Did you notice all the Passport ads on the right side of the page? Did it look like this? My question, to no one in particular, is why do they advertise the Bo Short name? It's almost like it's not the Passport business, but the Bo Short business and I think that's potentially bad business for a couple of reasons.
First of all, when you so closely associate your business with an individual and their name (Martha Stewart for instance) then your success or failure is (in part) tied to the individual. What if, God forbid, Bo Short gets caught smoking crack or something. Then the ad, with Bo Short's name attached, becomes an instant liability.
Secondly, on a philosophical level, I believe that a bit of Bo Short worship could develop. I stress "could." I see it in Quixtar. I see people almost worship some of the Diamonds and mindlessly follow every command. It happens with Dexter Yager in the group I was involved with. Now, my concern is that Bo Short gets set up as a sort of Passport version of Dexter Yager. I'm not saying that Bo is anything like Dexter, but my point should be obvious.
And then there's the last point I guess. Who is Bo Short? Do people really know who he is? Maybe his name is widely known in MLMs but I'd never heard of him before my troubles with our upline (read the archives).
Anyway, just thoughts on a Saturday morning while sipping my coffee. Happy weekend.
Comments
I havemet Bo personally. If I were using the "Six Degrees of Separation" rule, I am two-degrees away. I was introduced to Bo while I was involved in that shall remain namless MLM. Bo, a graduate of the College of William and Mary, was quite the impressive man. His wife, Sandy, was as equally charming. They lived in Tampa when I met Bo. I knew he would succeed in that business; I now know he is out thanks to the Internet; and yes, he is a real go-getter who loves people.
I LOVE DEXTER YAGER!
Thank GOD!!! for passport. A real net working business. This industry was built for the average consumer, not the uplines self serving recycled literature businesses. Passport moves products, not meetings/conventions. Your crown kingpins make 7-9 to one ratio in their recycled messages than products. Although I thinf Rich and Jay are just as guilty with their high mark up,high shopping min in their products, just as much as the kingpins are in their "shadow pyramid" tool business. Nobody is above the industry. Thank god Mr. Short brought the industry opp. back to the army instead of the generals. The money in this industry comes from free word of mouth communications,NOT somebody elses PAID communications!!! If your upline can't get over themselves, then send them on their way. After all, you are to be loyal to your downline, not your upline. It's their responsibility to be loyal to you. If their that ungrateful to profit share with your consumer dollars,well,then,you know what to do!
I, too, know Bo & Sandy Short Personally. I and my family have spent time with him and Sandy in their home. I am behind them 100%. They are the nicest, most down to earth people, the most gentle souls with your best interests at heart, and I wish them well in everything they do.
LMAO, who posted these Bo? What a joke. What is so special about two lines of products to sell. Its not like he is selling gas and there isn't another gas station for miles and any old gas station will do. Vitamins and skin care. An unpronven line of products and I am suppose to buy these online? Please do yourself a favor if you want to sell products online check out SFI and Connigen. Just two product lines won't cut it and especially when they aren't readily known of. Just another pill and cream. If you want something to sell for a business find something that sells something that has to be replenished this way you will have repeat customers. That item will be food you can go without vitamins and skin care but everyone has to eat. Sell $85 worth of product and I will get a whopping check for $4.25. LMAO. I have to have over a hundred people in my downline to get $4k. I doubt I could find a hundred people that would even buy skin products. Let alone an unknown product. If it wasn't Bo that made the comments above then there is alot of ass kissing going on.
too funy do a google search for passport and see what you get. i'll be waiting for you to get back. Check page two also. You will notice that Bo Shorts Passport isn't even listed by the 2nd page. What does this mean it means that Bo Shorts Passport business will never be ranked high enough in searches for people to look it up and they will feel its a scam. There is no way that the business Passport will never be as relevent in a search of that word as a passport to travel to another country or a Passport for microcrap. With an all online business online pressence is more important then any product you sell. So you get an affiliate site. All it is a subdomain good luck getting a high ranking listing on the major search engines. Your only opotion is paid advertising then its a numbers game you will have to spend 1,000s in advertising to get enough visitors to your site to get them interested. I have seen alot of affiliate programs and this one looks no different or better then the rest. The only people that even have a chance of making money at this are the ones who get in first. As time moves this idea will go to the wayside just like the rest. People will be tired of seeing the same adds over and over. So if you want a high ranking in search engines like google you will need your own personal domain and you better have a good name that people can remember. Then you will need a webhost. Now your ready to get indexed in the search engines. Your site will have to be attractive as well. Are you HTML or PHP savvy? That is your only option. $50 to start isn't bad but $9.50 for shipping? does this mean your info is shipped overnight. I know a business that is cheaper then that. And doesn't have the constraints of an online business. What kind of support does this site offer. Do you get personal one on one attention. Can you really trust someone you don't even see face to face? Mary Kay is successful because of name recognition and face to face attention. Pun intended. My recommendation for you go by a lottery ticket
Phoenix,
You don't have to spend 1,000's on google for advertising. I know several people that cap their expenses at $2.00 a day and are adding new assoicates and customers all of the time.
Online presence is not more important than the product you sell. The product in Passport is special because it is fairly priced and of high quality...rare in the MLM industry.
Passport does not have to be built online, while I prefer building it online, I know others that make great money selling products to hair salons and health clubs.
Hey,
This...is interesting. You know, the Bo Short name seemingly associated together with a companies' name, as, Passport. The name Mary Kay Ash comes to mind while reading your post. Her company is called Mary Kay ( www.MaryKay.com ). Wow, sad she died recently (at least, that is what I heard by word of mouth). (But who is Mary Kay? Who are Rich Devos and Jay Van Andel? Who is Bo Short? Who really know Ford? Successful entrepreneurs with unique ideas, I would say. We would have to, in some way, befriend them, go into their personal lives or read a biography or their own autobiography to really find out just who they are (that would be nice too).
Think on this for a second: That question (Who is Bo? or Rich?) is not as important as who is Jesus Christ, because in addition to getting to know Jesus personally, it is eternally weighing and important according to what I get when reading the Bible. According to that, if we don't have Jesus in our individual life then we are lost and dead in our sins. If I don't know Ford, or Bo Short, or Mary Kay or Rich and Jay, my life is not all that bad (HEY, I’m FREE!). It is ok to use Bo Short for Passport, whether establishing credibility or just to build rapport or start a conversation. It can be dangerous too if he was a “bad guy” if you know what I mean. So far, Mary Kay and Bo Short are good people; and everyone has flaws too. Bo Short is well known but not famous like Michael Jackson (lol)…sorry you haven’t heard of him.
If I heard bad information about Rich and Jay, and Mary Kay I don't know if I would leave their business plan. I don't know - it depends on what happens to the companies' leadership after he/she is caught. We as humans can emotionally attach names with companies for some reason but even if something bad happens (God forbid) we can realize that they indeed are not the company. If something bad should happen, I would wait it out or even temporarily take over if I have that opportunity, or aid in getting a new president for the company. What if Rich Devos or Ford was a rape man (but we all assume he is not, but a good man just being a good entrepreneur), then how many people would still be "in" Amway or be an employee of the Corporation (I really just don't know - it depends on what happens to the companies' leadership after he is caught. Ford is dead, so that really doesn’t matter). We hope that doesn't happen to anybody’s business. It is interesting to see that all businesses can be unique and can vary like different snowflakes as they grow; for the good or the bad.
So, it could be potentially bad and good to use Bo Short to establish credibility (in some form) of the Passport business. So what? I would do the same for any business I work for or associate with as much as I can, “ethically”, although people may not have ever heard of that particular person before (As long as they have a unique idea contributing to a good cause or mission). I’d use the name as long as I believe it is a naturally human and good thing to do.
Furthermore, I did something as an active Quixtar IBO; that is, I always mentioned Rich Devos and Jay Van Andel in my business presentations in order to establish the company’s credibility and their previous entrepreneurial successes. (I mentioned their ownership of Peter Island, the Magic’s basketball team, their own Amway hotel in Michigan. I mention that Mr. Jay Van Andel was once Chairman of the Board of the United States Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Commissioner General for Genoa Expo '92. In addition, that Rich Devos was once Chairman of the Direct Selling Association and recipient of the Horatio Alger Award.)
From what I've seen on your site, Passport is a good idea. It is different from the mainstream fad of this network marketing industry.
Posted by: Genesis | October 10, 2003 1:40 PM