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September 20, 2004
Monday Reader Mail: 13
By QBlog in Reader Mail
Today's Reader Mail raises a question that's been lingering in my mind for quite a while. "Are there any Quixtar Diamonds?" Wait, let me explain before you answer, "of course you moron!" What these emails, and others, are wondering is if there are any Quixtar Diamonds who've reached the Diamond level solely within Quixtar? In other words, is there a guy (or couple) who joined up with Quixtar after September 1999 (when Quixtar.com launched) who was not previously an Amway Distributor? There's this from "jeremiah"
name: jeremiahAnd this from "Hyrum"
date: September 4, 2004message: just wondering, has any one in quixtar, or the associated groups (ie. world wide dream builders) made there millions or at least there 50,000's in the last 5 years, and not as an amway ibo who switched to quixtar?
thanks so much for your response,
jeremiah
name: Hyrum JOthers, like Dave Stone, have been asking this question but I honestly don't know the answer and I doubt Quixtar would specifically mention whether a new Diamond was a pure Quixtar Diamond or not. I'm sure there have been many Quixtar Diamonds but I'm relying on you readers to supply their names. Can anyone provide the names of any purely Quixtar (never involved with Amway) Diamonds? Thanks so much.
date: September 17, 2004message: ...is there any information on how many people have gone Diamond since 2000. Everywere I look, it's the same old Diamond that were there before Quixtar.
Comments
There are some in India, but India is a new market.
New market or not, India is Amway. Quixtar is only in Canada and the US.
Ought to do some research that looks at USA gross volume in 1999 and 2000. Then look at published volume of compay after launch of Quixtar. To my knowledge, USA Volume was approx 2.1 Billion prior to 2001. 1st yr Quixtar in USA 400-600 million. This will tell story of who has built a diamondship in quixtar. Can't happen. I am one of retired and am a qualified EDC after Quixtar launched. No growth a loss of 1.8Billion. Ken puts the spin on growth as this yr now doing ? in USA. We'll never really know anything more than they want folks to promote.
With a new push towards the concept of stacking and developing 2-3 very profitable legs and then maybe going from there, by many organizations, we may start seeing less and less diamonds.
And yes, profitable to who, considering this building technique has created some of the lowest income platinums in the business.
I have broken down some income calculations by building depth in 3 organizations, and yes you do make less money as a platinum than if you went very wide, but you have a more secure business, and a stronger foundation as an emerald. With the new emerald growth bonuses, you make more as a new or growing emerald than you did a couple of years ago, and so the idea of going emerald first vs. going diamond is very appealing. I too believe that many organizations are teaching this model, which will result in many new emeralds, but will take a little bit longer to go diamond, hypothetically. I think the technique relies on securing an emerald business by building solid depth in 3 organizations, and then moving on to diamond by building out another 3 organizations. I like this business structure better because it focuses more on security and reaching the founders pin, and I also believe there is more IBO retention when there is significant depth.
I will check into how many new emeralds and diamonds there are since the launch of Quixtar. I am sure there are tons of new emeralds, but I do not know enough about every organization that I would be able to guess how many new diamonds there are or what there initial registration date was. I have an email address of somebody at Alticor who might be able to email me back that info. If I get it before I go on vacation then I will post it on here.
If the plan is so successfull they ought to be tripping over each other and people shouldn.t have to be wondering!Does anyone know if Billy Florence has ever broke a Diamond?If so who are they?
Emerald "growth" bonuses are nothing new. Check the Achieve magazine year end issues for recaps of the new pins. I agree that it would be nearly impossible to determine actual enrollment dates in the new buying club vs the old one.
As far as stacking, the only real security is the the pin on top. There is little, if any security, in any company that can only keep 32% of their membership. Orrin, Chris & Tim are truly the only real benficiaries from this "new" concept of stacking. It's more like having virgins lining up to be sacrifices to the volcano god.
Ray, you obviously have some sort of obsession with Billy Florence's business and whether or not somebody in his organization has built their business to the diamond level. I am not sure why, but it is odd to me.
I don't see how it could be relevant to anyone whether he has never helped a single IBO on his team get to the diamond level or whether he has helped 30 IBO's go Diamond. We could easily give examples of Diamonds who have never had any diamonds in their group, and then other examples of Diamonds who have had many. What is the logic behind this request?
Why not ask how many emeralds he has helped in his group while you are at it? Or even Platinums. All of these levels are great achievements, and depending on the size of ones organization, they can also be very very profitable.
Did you know that as an emerald you can make more than a diamond? You can be an emerald and even make more than your upline diamond, depending on the size and structure of your business.
Ray,
I answered your question about Billy Florence in another comments section. Billy broke a diamond back in 1994. It was Steve and Elaine Gardner. It took Billy 9 years after going diamond to break one, and he hasn't broken another in the 10 years since.
I bet he learned his lesson about tape/tool money. He went EDC the year after he broke that diamond and hasn't broken another since. No sense in cutting in to his tool money if he doesn't need to...
:)
Chris
After having been in the Quixtar business for 16 years I am tired of Diamonds and others saying there is a 2 to 5 year plan to go Diamond.Billy Florence is paraded around alot and has only broke 1 Diamond in over 20 years?This is what they teach is why I bring it up and apparently the fruit ain' there.Maybe they ought to teach in 2 to 5 years you could go Platinum or Emerald.The problem with A/Q is all the hype they like to build up about it.Thanks for helping prove that it don't work as they say.Billy is the best at getting people to listen to tapes so he probably worrries more about that than helping people go Diamond.
Isn't it sad?
Billy Florence has been a diamond for around 20 years and has broken one diamond in all that time. Orrin Woodward has been a diamond for about 4 or 5 years and he's broken 2 diamonds. Orrin even practices stacking which doesn't lend itself to generating a lot of bigger pins...lots of gold and silvers, but few emeralds and diamonds. So what's Billy's problem?
:)
For me, this brings up a corollary question: was the Quixtar launch successful. Dave Stone (thanks for the link, QBlog) mentions that the jury is still out on this. It's been five years. How long does the jury get to deliberate?
Isn't this a testable question? As mentioned earlier in this blog, sales have been declining since 1999. Since the economy has been down, and IBO's are quick to point out that business in Quixtar in counter-cyclical to the economy, what's the explanation for this downturn in sales?
Dave Stone also mentioned that self-reporting mechanism for retail that started with Quixtar. I also find it odd that the implementation to begin compliance with the laws were so slow to take effect. I had already asked my upline about compliance with the laws several months before the word came down that this self-reporting mechanism was starting.
Ray, Doug, Ambivalent.
Are you suggesting that Billy Florence, who reached the level of Executive Diamond, should not be respected. And your reasoning is that only one IBO in his organization has reached the level of Diamond! I do not know the details of Billy's Organization, but he has likely broken several Platinum's, Sapphires, and Emeralds, and he has built the business to a significant level as well.
On top of that, he has developed as a very successful speaker, and is very skilled in the area of teaching business principles and practices that are relevant to this business. Trying to exploit the success of Billy Florence is not proving anything about the business.
Quixtar sales have been INCREASING since it's launch in 9.1.99. and we are expecting results from the company to show another fiscal year of growth. It is a very exciting time for the company, and it will grow into a multi-Billion dollar success story and I am very excited to be a part of it.
I too, think the company is doing great from a growth standpoint. They are growing, and they are introducing timely, relevent products to the marketplace....products like the sports nutrition line, that are actually very affordable compared to the competition (not the cheap, poor quality brands) and very marketable as well.
I have no problem with how they got there....ie. tranforming Amway to Quixtar...big deal! They are huge in the areas of health and beauty, online....giant volume is just that, regardless of their history.
As for the magazine that is received every once in a while, recognizing new pin winners, there seems to be an upward trend in pins at Emerald and below.
Overall, there is a changing of the guard with the LOS's and I think we are already seeing steps in the right direction. Personally, I don't see enough to change my views and make me active again, but the situation does look promising.
This business will grow, but that's not the real issue. The issue is...can I/YOU/ANYBODY grow it and make money. As long as IBO's actually become Independent Business Owners and not Dependent Buying Club Members, they can profit. (How big is another story)
chris,
Thanks for your response. From your response, it sounds like you know that Quixtar is growing. Could you please share some of the numbers with us? What did it start from and where is it now? How are these numbers in relation to the Amway numbers for the comparable area, ie US?
Thanks.
Ambivalent
I wish all IBO's success,but remember do not break the rules.
1.70% of product volume must come from Members or Clients.
2.Don't speed,going over the speed limit is against the law.
3.Don't lie when doing your taxes to get them tax breaks.
I know most are Christians and will not break these rules.HA!HA!
Good advice Ray. I have had one too many speeding tickets!
Good questions Ambivalent. I would recommend that you contact Alticor and Quixtar to get accurate answers to those questions.
chris,
Thanks. I too thought it was a good question. And since you wrote:
Originally quoted by chris:
"Quixtar sales have been INCREASING since it's launch in 9.1.99. and we are expecting results from the company to show another fiscal year of growth. It is a very exciting time for the company, and it will grow into a multi-Billion dollar success story and I am very excited to be a part of it."
you seemed to know the answer. How did you come to the conclusion that sales have been increasing without the numbers? When I was in Quixtar, I tried to get accurate numbers that were consistent and reliable, but was unable to. You seem to know more about the company since you're making claims about it. So if you could get reliable and accurate numbers, that would be great. If not, I'll go with QBlog's numbers, which if I recall correctly, shows a decrease in Quixtar sales since 1999. QBlog, please correct me if I'm in error here. Thanks.
Ambivalent
09.01.99 Quixtar officially launches Web-based business.
12.09.99 Quixtar reports $100 million in sales its first 100 days.
02.29.00 Quixtar reports its first $3 million sales day at www.quixtar.com.
03.19.00 Quixtar reports $250 million in sales its first 200 days.
04.03.00 Quixtar reports its first $4 million sales day at www.quixtar.com.
08.31.00 At the end of its first year in business, Quixtar reports revenues of $448million generated by Quixtar-powered Independent Business Owners (IBOs), plus another $70 million generated by IBOs at Quixtar Partner Stores. For their business-building efforts, IBOs earned $143 million in bonuses and other incentives.
09.01.00 The National Retail Federation's STORES magazine ranks Quixtar 7TH among consumer e-commerce companies based on sales. Also, in a survey conducted for the Retail Council of Canada, Deloitte & Touche ranked Quixtar 1st for health and beauty in Canada and 2nd for overall ecommerce sales.
11.30.00 Quixtar reports its first $5 million sales day.
01.01.01 Alexa Research's "E-Commerce Report" for the fourth quarter of 2000 ranked Quixtar 17th overall for traffic among non-auction consumer retailer sites, and 3rd among those classified as "general merchandise" sites. Also, Quixtar was second only to eBay for repeat visitors.
06.25.01 In a Forbes article, a Harris Interactive analyst said Quixtar is the top health and beauty site online with 22.2 percent of sales, more than double the percentage of its nearest online competitor.
08.31.01 As Quixtar ends its second full year, it also achieves its first $6 million sales day.
10.17.01 For the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2001, IBOs powered by Quixtar generated revenues of $816 million, including $751 million at www.quixtar.com and $65 million at Partner Stores. For their business building efforts, IBOs earned $230 million in bonuses and other incentives.
11.07.01 Quixtar ranked #43 among all e-commerce companies - B2B and B2C - in Inter@ctive Week's annual "Interactive 500" ranking. Among consumer retailers, only Amazon.com ranked ahead of Quixtar.
11.13.01 In the 'Numbers' section of its December issue, Business 2.0 ranked Quixtar #1 in sales for the online Health & Beauty category, with 20.5% of the estimated $1.45 billion market segment. Based on the analysis of Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive eCommercePulse, Quixtar was ranked ahead of Drugstore.com (12.2%), Merck-Medco.com (5.7%), Avon.com (4.5%) and MaryKay.com (4.1%).
06.07.02 Doug DeVos is named President of Quixtar Inc. and, upon the retirement of his brother Dick on Aug. 31, 2002, will also become President of parent company Alticor Inc.
07.22.02 Quixtar is featured in a New York Times article about some of the surprises among comScore's rankings for top online retailers in May 2002. Quixtar ranked 6th on the list, outperforming top companies like Sears.com, QVC.com, JCPenney.com, BarnesandNoble.com and Spiegel.com. The article outlines Quixtar's sales success, attributing it to its business model and the efforts of Independent Business Owners.
07.31.02 Quixtar reports its first $7 million sales day.
10.29.02 Quixtar Inc. announces fiscal 2002 retail sales of $901 million, with IBOs generating another $57 million in revenues for Quixtar's Partner Stores. For their business-building efforts, IBOs earned more than $282 million in bonuses and other incentives.
10.31.02 Quixtar reports its first $8 million sales day.
03.31.03 Quixtar reports record sales of $10 million, shattering previous record day by 27 percent.
09.00.03 Internet Retailer ranks Quixtar 5th among retailing e-commerce sites based on the average usage days per visitor per month and 3rd for the average minutes spent at the site per visitor per month (behind eBay and PeoplePC.com).
10.13.03 Quixtar Inc. announces its national partnership with Easter Seals as a leading corporate partner and presenting sponsor of "Walk With Me," Easter Seals' signature event to be held in up to 75 markets in 2004.
10.23.03 Quixtar Inc. announces fiscal 2003 retail sales of $1.035 billion, with IBOs generating another $58.3 million in revenues for Quixtar's Partner Stores. For their business-building efforts, IBOs earned more than $343 million in bonuses and other incentives.
03.31.04 Quixtar reports its first $11 million sales day and its first $100 million sales month.
06.07.04 In its "Top 300 Guide," Internet Retailer ranks Quixtar first in the online Drug/Health & Beauty category based on sales, and 12th among all commerce sites.
Chris
Just fun facts!I think I might just renew .I probably won't though because my upline didn't call me back about a question I asked him 4 months ago.My Triple Diamond is very successfull but it bothers me that his first wife committed suicide,his second wife died and he wasn't listed as her husband in the newspaper and his son committed suicide too.I don't won't to be that successfull.
when did tim marks go diamond. i know he went really fast and i thought he went diamond in 2003. for some reason i though he went deamond in 34 months... anyway just something to look into.
chris,
Wow! Great effort, thanks for the info. and finding those numbers.
And I apologize for wording my last couple posts poorly. What I was looking for was whether Quixtar was more successful as a business concept than Amway. And no, QBlog didn't have any stats on how Quixtar did based on going from zero that I found on a search. Sorry for misquoting you, QBlog.
But here's what I got from your numbers and a quick search at Alticor. You might want to check the numbers yourself for accuracy.
Quixtar
FY2001 $751M
FY2002 $901M (20% increase)
FY2003 $1.035B (15% increase)
Alticor (worldwide)
FY2002 $4.5B (9.5% increase
FY2003 $4.9B (8.9% increase)
So here's the question that I've been trying to answer. In 1998, when I was in Amway, I heard the numbers $7B and $4B repeatedly. I think these numbers referred to worldwide Amway sales and US Amway sales, but I can't find any printed data to back this up. If these numbers did indeed reflect Amway sales at the time, then Quixtar sales have indeed fallen from US Amway sales. But I can't find any numbers relating to 1998 and earlier.
Could you help with this please? Thanks.
Ambivalent
Ambivalent, I don't have the numbers you request. I'm sorry. You can probably call Alticor to request those stats. I do know that since the fiscal year just ended August 31st, we can probably expect figures to be released in the month of October. I cannot verify those rumors, but I am fairly positive that Quixtar had another year of growth, and Alticor also had a pretty significant increase in global sales. Pretty Exciting! I am sure that as soon as they are released, you will see them on here.
I have been building a Quixtar business for 3 years. Although not perfect, I am very pleased with the mentorship, business education available, and product lines. I own a traditional business in MD and would recommend the business to anyone looking for a change. Takes hard work, persistence and putting up with Blogs...but more productive than writing this email so your site, so cheers!
John
This question is what does anyone else have to offer that offers half the opportunity. So what if you do not go Diamond Ruple or whatever. If you increased you income $300 a month, thats better than what you will do on a job. The question is what will you have to do on the job? The talk is great, offer me something better. Education, got it, so what is next. The world is real, real hard and the statistics of our society cannot go unnoticed. Most of us will end up dead, disabled and broke and that is not Quixtar, Amway, Mary-kay, Avon or anything else but the truth. Forget going diamond and sell something. The checks are always good.
Sometime ago I joined the business, then went to quixtar when it was offered.
Many people just like the ones we read about; above just like to be skeptical. It's in their nature.
Like any business association, It's never what someone else does that creates your monies, on your job (if you have one) do they punch your timeclock and give you their paycheck. No; it's only your own hard work. Frankly who cares if Billy, Jim or Roger are diamond or emerald, It doesn't matter you can't have their money anyway.
Dave & Kristin Dessault were recognized in Sept. 2005 at FED as new Diamonds. They started their business AFTER Q* launched.
Greg and Jackie Francis will go diamond in 2006 and hes been in for 5 years. 5 year diamond and its all quixtar. Dont tell me this doesnt work. Im 18 and doing really well in the business. I can see retirment at 21 very clearly at the rate I am going.
another brainwashed member of the francis team...
I'm a 4000 pin in the Q* business. My upline Platinum (will be Ruby next month) just turned 22 years old. He has NO JOB and is "retired" through the Quixtar opportunity (but of course will still build his business). His sponsor makes $150K at his job and because of this business his wife is a stay-at-home mom to a brand new baby boy.. they are 28 and 29 years old. Their sponsors are 26-year-old Rubies who are going in to Emerald qualification Sept 06 (their business went from 9K PV in Aug 05 to over 40K PV in Aug 06). They have been in for about 4 years. Their sponsors are Emeralds who just broke 2 more Rubies this month, 2 Platinums in depth, and 1 in width. They have 5 personal Platinums and will be qualifying Diamond this fiscal year...
Can you guess what team this is?
This will probably be my first and last post, as I am too busy showing the plan and going Platinum to deal with this pathetic negative..
Heh right on man, this business is defnitely growing.. I see it also. For those of you who like to study and pick apart the business, I really wish you well in life.. clearly this isn't for you, so I hope you find something that measures up to your expectations.
Personally, I haven't seen anything better. My $70k/yr software engineering job as a single guy doesn't even afford me the lifestyle of my mentors. Most of my bosses are divorced or living away from their wives, forced to work at a site they don't wanna be at, because they have golden handcuffs and are killing themselves because they don't wanna lose their income, which they don't have time to spend. They make great money, but I wouldn't wish their life upon anyone.
For those comparing Amway in 1998 to Quixtar today, I have no idea man.. I imagine sales dropped a while before they reformed stuff into what we have today. (Thank God) Quixtar is just begun, and growing strong. It might not be perfect, but it's the best thing I see out there. You're free to disagree, as I know some will. To each their own. =)
Yeah I'm Going All The Way, With Or Without The Support Of Friends And Family, I'm Not 2 Far From Leaving My Job As A K.F.C. Manager!(Age 19)
(Thank GOD!)And Besides, With The Monthly Pv Check I Can Live On And Use It As A Belief Builder For My Team!
Oh And Good News IBOs, I'm About To Open Business In England!
(Thats Two Countries For Me)
I, Along With Quixtar, Have Just Began!
-And To Those Who Choose Not To Follow Me, I Cry, "DEAR GOD, Why Do You Choose A Librity In Embers?"-
~Phill~
This will probably be my only entry as i dont usually have the time. the business is what you make it. negative can be found in anything if thats what
you're looking for you'll get it. I am blessed by my my incredible upline going diamond IN 2007 Dr Gary & kimberly Reck who teach for profitability AND security. WHAT WAS I DOING BEFORE QUIXTAR? NOT HAVING AN OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME WEALTHY THAT CAN WORK IF YOU WORK IT! STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND G E T THE JOB DONE!!!
I've only been in the Q* Business since Sept. 06. So far, it's the best thing out there. Every month my business is growing. I can check Quixtar daily and view the new IBO's and there location. It just blows me away how it starts growing and I'm not doing as much work in depth. My direct uplines are Rubies, and his upline is qualified Diamond. This is truely a winning team. Each month the PV checks grow. When I stop to think about where I would be today if I decided not to make it to my first meeting, it really brings tears to my eyes. So far I've been able to pay off some debt. And to watch the lives that I've changed warms my heart. If things keep growing this well, I'll be able to retire in about 3 years. ;) I'm only 35 right now and to know that I will never have work past 40 is the best feeling in the world.
I know that Doug Weir went diamond since Quixtar, but I am not sure when he joined..it was close to Sept.99 when Quixtar launched.
Jake and Jackie Baker went Diamond after the launch, like 3 years after it. They had been in for 10+ years though.
Posted by: ex-dd | September 20, 2004 11:32 AM