So, go read the article. Now!

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Quixtar on the Web

By QBlog in

I've often been accused of only posting negative stuff about Quixtar (see below) and to be honest a lot of what I post ends up being links to things that are easily considered anti-Quixtar. However, I don't intentially look for negative comments about Quixtar, it just happens that most of what I find on the Web ends up being somewhat negative. To demonstrate I'll explain my regular process for finding and posting links to this Blog.

1. I go to Google and type in Quixtar and click the News tab. I scan the most recent headlines (which is usually nothing at all) and if it's something besides a press release or a passing mention of Quixtar (like "Billy S., a Quixtar IBO, died in a plane crash last night") then I'll post it here. I'll then type in Amway and Alticor, looking for the same results. Quite often I find nothing. When I do find something it is often "negative" but I gladly post the positive links too. Look over my archives if you don't believe me.

2. I generally look for third party content, meaning that I don't want to link comments from someone who was once a Quixtar IBO and now leaves bitter comments (however truthful they may or may not be). I also don't want to link glowing reports from current IBOs because there is always a self-serving factor involved that makes me distrust the objectivity of the content. I do look for content written by journalists and those unfamiliar with the Quixtar culture. That is why I love finding posts from bloggers who are only exposed to Quixtar in passing. Their comments about the business are often an honest reflection of their thoughts and feelings because they aren't IBOs trying to influence prospects and they aren't ex-IBOs who are possibly bitter about some aspect of the business. They are essentially Quixtar "virgins."

3. I search the popular Blog Index tools for references to Quixtar. This often produces no results but when I do find some content, it's usually "negative."

4. The content must be relatively fresh before I will link it. I don't want some article from 1999 and I don't some static IBO site that has never been updated. I want fresh, timely comments that reflect what's happening NOW.

5. I rarely use any qualifiers in my searches. I don't use phrases like "anti-Quixtar" or "hate Quixtar." I just type in Quixtar. The results are the results.

What is interesting to me is that the preponderance of results I receive from searching are seemingly negative. This begs the question "Why?" Why does it seem that most of the fresh, current and relatively objective content on the Web seem negative? Seriously, it's a question worth asking. If Quixtar is such a great Internet business opportunity, then why isn't there more up-to-date positive and objective content on the Web? Maybe there is and I'm just searching wrong.

Anyway, here's a post from a blogger that I found today. It's a pyramid scheme kind of thing.

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Forum launches June 30th

By QBlog in

Hey folks,

Just a reminder that the new quixtarBLOG Forum launches tomorrow afternoon (June 30). Be sure to check back at that time and start using the new forum.

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June 28, 2003

We Get Letters

By QBlog in

I received some wonderful email yesterday about this site and I thought now would be a good time to offer up some tips for anyone who wants to send me an email.

First of all, anything you send me might end up on this site. If you don't want your name published then just use a fake name or better yet, ask me not to publish your name. I've gotten a few emails from people requesting to remain anonymous and I always respect their wishes.

Secondly, please read the FAQ and About sections of this site before sending me a question or complaint. They are purposely brief and succinct so that reading them won't take more than a minute or two. I answer most (but not all) of the email sent to me but I refuse to answer questions that are already posted in the FAQ section of this site.

Thirdly, at least try to read some of the posts on this site before you email me a complaint. I don't expect anyone to read everything here (or even most of it) but I guess getting a rudimentary understanding of what this site is about would help you avoid adding to the collection of ignorant drivel I often find in my inbox.

Or, just ignore the above tips and keep doing whatever makes you happy. I'm just trying to help. I genuinely appreciate every sincere correspondence I receive, both the negative and positive (each for different reasons). Just know that I enjoy running this site and for me, that's all the reason I need to continue doing something.

So, without further ado, here's yesterday's lovely email complete, without any editing on my part. Enjoy.

From Ira:
I suppose my first thoughts are "why would anyone spend so (obviously) much time and energy with a website that does NOTHING but spew out negatives about a particular company or business"??? Do you get your rocks off each night you type out some new negativity that you brewed up???

Secondly, and finally, the biggest problem with most of humanity is their pride will not allow them to take responsibility for their actions (or inactions as the case may be). If you look at every loser that attempts to blame others for their failure, the value of all this verbage by you and others like you is ZILCH! Therefore you are doing nothing but wasting your time on the Internet.

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June 26, 2003

Define these terms

By QBlog in

Here are some abbreviations and acronyms common in the Quixtar business. Some I know, others I don't. See if you can define them all:

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Thank you "Dave's Buddy"

By QBlog in

A big thank you to "Dave's Buddy" for these links to interesting and humorous AMO sites. The first one is of the Eagles' Nest Church "Come...Fly with us" and "Dave's Buddy" says,

Apparently they had a vision on how to raise money for the church. Simply allow them to sponsor you and then buy until it hurts through Quixtars web site. However, they really don't explain how proceeds from Quixtar purchases fill the churches coffers. Did Quixtar, Microsoft, IBM, Disney and the Eagles Nest Church enter into a joint venture to deliver those in Minomonee Falls from evil? Or is this church a partner in the WWDB coalition of non-profit organizations?

The second link is from Paul E. Tsika Ministries and is equally interesting.

Many thanks to "Dave's Buddy" at The Memory Hole Dreambook.

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June 25, 2003

Amway sales declining in India?

By QBlog in

Found this article titled Amway in India -- Selling Dreams in a Foreign Land. It is from the Pacific News Service which originates from Vietnam and is apparently a respected news source in Asia.

Anyway, the article takes a look at how Amway is impacting Indians and concludes that not many are getting rich.

"At my job I make 22,000 rupees per month (about $465)," says Haresh Pandya, 43, a statistics professor and Amway distributor from Junagadh, three hours by bus from Rajkot. "That is not enough for my dreams," he says.

After a year in Amway, Pandya has made no profit, but remains enthusiastic: "I will tell you the potential of this business," he continues. "After seven, 10, maybe 12 years, you will purchase a jet plane from this Amway! Because there are more than 500 persons in America who have their own jet planes, from Amway only."

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June 24, 2003

Good, Old-Fashioned Forum

By QBlog in

Quixtar Blog will soon be hosting a good, old-fashioned forum about Quixtar (surprise!). Yes, I realize that there are already a lot of Quixtar/MLM/Amway forums on the Web but maybe this forum will offer something the others are missing. Or maybe not. We'll see what happens. One thing you can count on is that the Quixtar Blog forum will be one of the best looking Quixtar forums on the Web.

We'll see you at the forum.

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June 23, 2003

Another Blogger Discusses Quixtar

By QBlog in

Today I found a blog that has nothing specifically to do with Quixtar but shared some non-IBO perceptions of the business. I always find it interesting to hear from people who have never been directly involved with Quixtar, whether they endorse or condem the business. It often seems that people involved with Quixtar are either blindly positive to apparently increase profits or blindly negative due to some grievance (real or imagined). However, someone who has never been "in" the business has a distant and less personal perspective that I tend to trust a bit more than those on the inside.

I recently looked up an old friend and visited her. She really disappointed me. I went to her looking to make a new friend and what I got was business proposition. All she was concerned with was getting me to one of their meetings (which I went to last Thursday night). I was very disgusted/insulted/disappointed...
... An old highschool buddy of mine, Chris, did that same thing to me with Amway years ago. I soon realized why MLM people all hang out together, no one else can stand to be around them...

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June 22, 2003

Quixtar and Diets

By QBlog in

The diet industry is a multi-billion dollar business that practically everyone in America (and a good portion of the world) has participated in at one time or another. Books, tapes, foods, supplements, clinics, seminars and more are sold daily to help people lose weight. However, diets don't work. Not really. Americans are fatter than ever and this is in spite of all the health trends and increased spending on weight loss methods.

Why? Many ask why these diets don't work and the answer is quite simple. The diets and weight loss methods aren't treating the problem, only the symptoms. What happens when someone quits a diet? He regains all the weight (and more). The symptom is fat but the problem is lifestyle. People refuse to permanently change their lifestyle, mentality and eating habits and instead seek a temporary fix by trying some fad diet or exercise routine. The result is a vicious cycle of weight loss and weight gain often accompanied by feelings of failure, depression and worthlessness.

What does dieting have to do with Quixtar? Everything. In my estimation, Quixtar is exacly like dieting. It attempts to treat the symptoms instead of the "disease." People become IBOs because they are in debt, work too much, hate their job, are uncertain about their future, want security and more. Yet Quixtar only treats the symptoms and neglects the real problem, lifestyle.

The Quixtar "cure" for all the symptoms is money, lots and lots of money. Money = Elimination of debt. Money = Free time. Money = Job satisfaction. Money = Security. Money = Happiness. Yet, if the lifestyle goes unchanged, money won't really solve anything and it certainly won't ever provide happiness.

Just like many dieters, a Quixtar IBO who does not change his lifestyle will be doomed to repeat the same bad decisions that created the debt, job dissatisfaction, insecurity, etc. There are plenty of wealthy people who live well beyond their means and constantly worry about the future, essentially staying "fat."

To be fair, Quixtar (and most diets) never promise to do anything other than treat the symptoms. They promise to provide specific results and deliver on those promises. However, I've seen dieters believe that a diet would change their lives and I've also seen IBOs believe Quixtar will change their lives. Neither will.

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June 20, 2003

Amazing Grace

By QBlog in

It amazes me how close minded and blind those in Quixtar are to the truth about the business and life in general. I can see why some compare IBOs to cult members. They aren't but trying to reason with some of them is often like talking to a 3-year-old child. Fine, you're blindly devoted to Quixtar. Great, you think Quixtar will solve all your problems. Whatever.

Look, when I was constantly around IBOs I would talk to some and ask them why they joined up and why they believed in the program and most of the time I got an answer saying, "well, I just realized that I wasn't making enough money to retire on" or "I wasn't making enough in my own business to spend time with my family." Great.

Then, they'd often tell me how much (I didn't ask) money they made before Quixtar and it was usually several hundred thousand dollars a year! These folks were making good six figures and realized they weren't going to be able to retire. What amazed me (and still does) is that my wife and our friends were in Quixtar to make what these people were making without Quixtar. What I began to understand is that it's not about making the money and having the retirement, leisure time, disposable income or whatever, it's about being happy with what you have been blessed with.

All those IBOs were making serious money (to me anyway) yet they weren't satisfied. They were unhappy with their jobs and felt that running around the country seeking IBOs would bring them happiness. Maybe it does but it didn't seem that way to me when I talked to them. They were always "grasping" for more. They seemed desperate in the midst of their "wealth." They talked about God and family but that sparkle wasn't there. I only saw the sparkle when they talked about Quixtar and that sparkle was not the same type of twinkle, it was more desperate or something.

I dunno, I've just always felt that if you're doing something you love, then money is unimportant. I also feel that money is all relative. I bet Dexter Yager doesn't feel like he makes enough money and he's got millions. He feels the same way some poor man in Biloxi, MS. feels when they drift off to sleep at night. Or maybe, just maybe, that poor man feels a little better than Dexter. Who knows. I just know that I've yet to meet someone really, seriously devoted to Quixtar that seemed genuinely happy. Energetic? Yes. Excited? Yes. Motivated? Yes. Happy? No.

That's my Friday ramblings on Quixtar. Happy weekend.

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June 18, 2003

Quixtar and Market Saturation: Part III

By QBlog in

I'm not a professional saleman. However, this should not preclude me from making some basic, common sense observations about sales and selling.

No matter what anyone says, the way to make money in Quixtar is selling. Selling products, tools and IBOs. I realize that nobody is actually selling IBOs but the skills and tactics used to recruit IBOs essentially amounts to sales. When you get a new (active) IBO in your organization then you've essentially made a "sale."

Think of it this way, if you don't ever get any IBOs under you, then you won't make any money. No matter how hard you work, no matter how much you invest, you are not going to make money unless you sign up an IBO. That is sales. If you don't seal the deal then you don't get paid.

The Issue
Look at any traditional sales business. They work very hard to ensure that two salesmen are not competing for the same business. By developing sales regions, creating product categories, distributing client lists, etc. these business seek to avoid what is essentially market saturation. Say Company A sells widgets and has a sales staff of 5. Now imagine all 5 competing to sign a contract with Mr. S. While they are toiling away to impress Mr. S (and beating each other over the head), Company B signs contracts with Mr. P, Mrs. Q and Mr. K without any competition from Company A. Not good.

Now there may be some exceptions to this (Jerry McGuire?) but most businesses want to distribute their resources (salesmen) to get the most bang for their buck. They work very hard by studying the market, understanding trends and avoiding duplication. However, Quixtar has no such mechanism in place to similarly optimize the efforts of its sales force (IBOs).

And this is one of my biggest complaints. I have no way of knowing what type of sales environment I'm getting into. It may be great. It may suck. But Quixtar doesn't know (or do they?), I don't know and my upline doesn't know. Maybe it will take me 5 times as much effort and resources as my upline to achieve the same success. Maybe it will take half as much effort. Who knows. The point is that somebody should know. Someone should be able to at least understand that too many IBOs are competing for the same recruits here, while not enough are working over there. Without this knowledge it's left up to the individual IBO to figure it out and quite often the effort and resources spent to gain this knowledge take such a toll, that IBO resigns in despair and ridicule believing he's a failure.

-- End of Series on Saturation --

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June 15, 2003

Quixtar and Market Saturation: Part II

By QBlog in

Meet Bill and Sue
Bill and Sue are a married couple with no children. They happily reside in a tiny rural town called Townsville. The population of Townsville is exactly 100. The demographics of this extremely small town are surprisingly representative of most American cities.

Bill and Sue visit their friend Frank in Chicago. He's in Quixtar. They've never heard of Quixtar. Frank shows them the plan. Excited about the opportunity Bill and Sue become IBOs. They return to Townsville and begin planning their strategy.

First, they make a list of everyone in Townsville. Since it's such a small town they know everyone and put them all on a list. Bill decides to categorize each person on the list based upon what he knows about each person.

The list looked something like this:

Excited, Bill and Sue begin contacting the 20 people on their "Will Join" list to set up a time to show the plan. They listen to the tapes, talk to Frank and use all the appropriate tactics when making the business proposition. However, to the surprise of both, of the first 10 people on their list, only 3 seem excited and want to see the plan. They contact the rest of the people on the list of 20 and 4 more agree. Now they have a group of 7 to show the plan to on Friday night. Frank is coming and everyone is very excited.

The plan goes wonderfully and 6 of the 7 become IBOs and all 6 seem really pumped. Bill and Sue suddenly have 6 legs and realize that they need to work on building these legs now so they encourage their downlines to begin recruiting too. They even give a nickname to their new downline calling them the "Special Six." The Special Six begins making lists of their own. However, their lists are made out of the remaining 73.

Special Six
Not a problem though. Each member of the Special Six IBOs contacts 12 friends. Of those 12 contacts, 7 agree to see the plan for each of the Special Six. The Special Six, with the help of Bill, Sue and Frank, show the plan 6 times over the following week. Each time they show the plan for one of the Special Six meetings, 3 people become IBOs. It's uncanny the way every person in that Special Six group got exactly three legs that week. Everyone was happy.

However, the brand new IBOs, the downlines of the Special Six, begin making their lists and realized that everyone on their lists have either seen the plan and turned it down or declined to see the plan at all. What to do?

Now the job becomes a little bit more difficult. Bill and Sue only showed the plan to those with personalities and attitudes that would seem most agreeable to Quixtar. The Special Six had to show the plan to people who were not quite so obviously Quixtar material but were pleased to find 3 new IBOs each. Yet these new IBOs are now looking around for new recruits of their own. They realize that they will have to travel to Metropolis, contact family in distant locales and call up old friends in other states. This is hard work.

The Issue
Now the issue I'm addressing should be obvious in this fictional illustration. It is, like all allegories, merely representative of the larger truth. Of course contrarians can find fault with a number of details in the story (some people may change their mind and join) but I can also point out an equal number of details left out (two members of the Special Six drop out).

My point is that this is a representation of how saturation works. Bill and Sue don't care about saturation because they have their money. However, the newest people have to work much harder to get the same level of success that Bill and Sue enjoy. Is this fair? Not really but who said business was fair right? Well, Quixtar does... in a way.

Quixtar is at fault because the dream they sell never addresses the fact that it will be much harder for you (the new guy) to achieve diamond than it was for Mr. Diamond to get there 3 years ago. Other factors work to slow the rise of this increasing complexity but the fact remains that for many IBOs, the business is much, much harder than it was for their uplines. The reason? Because as regional markets become saturated, the newest IBOs must move outside that region to achieve the same results as their predecessors. I don't like the fact that Quixtar refuses to even acknowledge this, much less address it as a problem.

Next Part coming soon...

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June 13, 2003

Quixtar and Market Saturation: Part I

By QBlog in

This is the first entry in a multi-part series dealing with the issue of market saturation in Quixtar. This topic is endlessly debated and I have no illusions about ending the debate but I do hope to inject some common sense into what often becomes an irrational debate.

So, how does Quixtar deal with market saturation? Ask this of an IBO and you will usually receive one of the following answers:

Now, I won't use any elaborate statistics or charts to deal with these responses. I work from common sense and find that often that's all that matters. Let's look at each response.

It hasn't ever happened and it won't happen so quit worrying about it.
First of all, I am not sure that it's never happened. When they say saturation has never occurred they usually mean the entire globe isn't saturated. This is true. However, I'm not so certain smaller markets have not become saturated. Maybe not but I find this argument weak since there are no numbers to back up either claim. Secondly, to say it won't happen is just ridiculous. I'm sure McDonald's thought the same thing but they've had to close several restaurants. How can any IBO predict the future? Especially based upon an unprovable past? They can't.

Someone turns 18 every minute.
Yes they do. However, that doesn't mean they will be prime Quixtar material. The same philosophy fueled many illegal pyramid schemes in the past and now those schemes don't work so well in the U.S. Most of those schemes have found greater success overseas, where people are less experienced and educated about illegal pyramids. It's naive to assume that every person who turns 18 is a potential IBO. My hunch is that the opposite is true. But that's just a hunch.

I'd love it if my market is saturated. That would mean I have many HUGE legs and am making a LOT of money.
I'm sure you would. However, would that last IBO love it? Would she think it was great that she had to work much, much harder to recruit new IBOs? Is that fair? Is it fair to recruit some family, sell them the dream based on YOUR experience while the same market no longer exists? This is my problem with this answer. It's great for the guy at the top but sucks for the new guys. It's making money off of the dreams of the new people. They spend on tools. Buy products. Believe the dream. But the market they work with isn't the same as the one that the diamonds worked with, it's much more difficult. Yet the dream being sold doesn't account for this issue. So, I'm sure you'd love the market saturated but only if it became saturated AFTER you got in, not before.

This business isn't for everyone so the market can never be saturated. The fact that you aren't active is proof that saturation is a myth.
That's just stupid. The fact that someone quit doesn't prove anything except that they will no longer be in the market. If Quixtar isn't for everyone, then the people that will not get into the business make it that much harder to get new recruits. Think about it. If people will not get into Quixtar, how is that good for Quixtar IBOs? They are part of the saturation. I've never understood how anyone thinks fewer customers is good.

Why are you wasting my time you loser? Get a life.
Ok. It's always fascinated me why some IBOs seem to hate me. They think that I'm evil or something for asking questions. Fine. I love people asking questions about my business. I love questions in general. Ask. I love debating. If you don't love questions then you're in the wrong business Mr. IBO. Face it, Amway/Quixtar has a bad rep. It will generate questions. Be ready to answer them or end up surrounding yourself only with those who agree with you. If that's what you like then you have my pity.

Part II of this series to appear soon...

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June 12, 2003

Bored? Why not attend some MLM meetings?

By QBlog in

Here's a guy who attends MLM meetings for fun. Seriously. He doesn't go for any other reason than entertainment. Not trying to get rich. Not trying to build self-confidence. Just going because it's fun for him. I want to meet this guy.

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June 11, 2003

Dr. Phil is in Quixtar?

By QBlog in

Saw this article about overcrowded hotels in Grand Rapids due to a Quixtar rally and noticed that television star Dr. Phil is a featured guest. Not sure if he's actually "in" Quixtar but it's cool that he's participating. I'd actually like to go just to see what he says to the Quixtar crowd.

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June 5, 2003

Tribble No More

By QBlog in

So another blogger about Quixtar has vanished. In this case I have no doubt that Quixtar had absolutely nothing to do with the disappearance of this site. Rather, I feel it is a case of some guy starting up a site and quickly losing interest. Maintaining and updating a site is no easy task. It takes a special type of person to do this consistently without any tangible compensation. Here is Ty's business site but you won't find any "news" there either. Oh well. Aimee and I are the only Quixtar bloggers on the entire Web with any sort of consistent updates. It gets lonely at the top ;o)

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June 3, 2003

What's up with me

By QBlog in

Well, it's now been some time since I've been actively part of Quixtar or Qbiz or anything related to Alticor. My wife (for her own reasons) has basically stopped participating and so I'm no longer exposed to the daily routine of life with Quixtar. The result of this non-participation is that Quixtar isn't in my face the way it used to be so I honestly think about it less and less. My fascination with this business will never wane but my emotional connections are becoming more distant every day. Where I used to get irate when someone said that market saturation was a myth I now just smile and shrug. Some people just believe what they want to believe and that's fine if it makes them happy.

My growing concern with Quixtar is larger than the individuals involved. I see a very large, powerful and secretive organization that has an enormous amount of political clout. This isn't a bad mix but it is ripe for abuse. Another concern is the lack of information about Quixtar in the general media. It's very difficult to find objective and accurate reporting about this company. Believe me, I've searched for a long time to find the few scraps of news about Quixtar and this site might be the most timely and informative repository of Quixtar news on the planet (or not). That's my second passion. To increase coverage of this mysterious company. I want full disclosure. I want facts. I want people to know all the details from objective sources before they begin doing business with Quixtar. Or at least provide them with the opportunity to find out the facts.

Right now most of the information about Quixtar still has a very obvious bias (either pro or con). I really want this to change and hope it will with increased Web coverage.

My main goal is to promote the discourse about Quixtar. I want fair and unbiased reporting of the company and honest evaluations of the business practices. That is all. And for now this is my cross to bear (self imposed of course) and I gladly take it up.

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June 2, 2003

Common question: Is Quixtar a Cult? Answer: Not exactly.

By QBlog in

This site examines the peripheral organizations that "feed" off of Quixtar (BSMs) and looks at how they often behave in cult-like ways while not being bonafide cults.

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Guess who's wife runs the Michigan Republican Party

By QBlog in

Betsy DeVos began her new term as head of the Michigan Republican Party pledging to get along with Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, but issuing a challenged nonetheless.

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June 1, 2003

Are you a Quixtar Democrat?

By QBlog in

According to OpenSecrets.org, Alticor/Amway/Quixtar give a lot of money to Republicans and virtually no money to Democrats. Should that matter? Maybe not, especially if you're a Republican but what if you happen to be a loyal Democrat and you also happen to be a Quixtar IBO? How do you feel about some of your money going to the Republican party? Should you have some sort of say in how the money is spent and who gets it?

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