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August 24, 2005
Quixtar and Blu Sphere
By QBlog in Quixtar
Last year, around the time Quixtar underwent a site redesign, Alticor quietly launched something called Blu Sphere. I say "quietly" because I'd never heard of it until the president of Passport (an MLM business), Ty Tribble, posted about it on his MLM Blog earlier this month. Did you know about Blu Sphere?
What's weird is that Blu Sphere is owned by Alticor yet Quixtar leaders like Fred Harteis promote it as a Quixtar partner store.
In our continuing quest to offer the widest selection of products for the entire family, we are pleased to announce the launch of the newest Quixtar Partner Store: Blu Sphere. Blu Sphere offers unique, must-have items that help teen guys and girls express themselves in healthy, life-affirming ways.
Additionally, an online marketing site called Peersuasion describes Blu Sphere as "an Alticor-owned company and a Quixtar Preferred Partner Store."
So, it's a preferred partner store that's also owned by Quixtar's parent company, Alticor. That would make Quixtar and Blu Sphere sister companies right? Kinda like Amway and Quixtar are supposed to be sister companies. But can a sister company also be a partner store? I need a genealogist to make sense of this.
Ashamed?
Here are a few curious discoveries I've made about Blu Sphere, Quixtar and Alticor:
- The word "Quixtar" appears on the Blu Sphere site only once — on a page that isn't easily accessed through normal site navigation
- The name "Blu Sphere" doesn't seem to appear on the Alticor website even though it's owned by Alticor
- I can't find a single press release announcing the launch of Blu Sphere
- Blu Sphere is only mentioned at Quixtar.com as a "partner store"
- The Blu Sphere site is structured more like Eddie Bauer and less like Quixtar.com
- Instead of PV/BV, Blu Sphere uses a point system similar to American Express Rewards and frequent flyer miles
Speculate
I'm guessing that Quixtar, Alticor and Blu Sphere don't want the general public, and especially IBOs, to realize the real relationship between the companies. I may be wrong but it seems like Blu Sphere might be viewed as a threat by some IBOs who scramble for their PV each month. Or maybe Blu Sphere is just a trial balloon? Alticor could be testing the MLM-free waters to see what might happen. Tribble at MLM Blog seems to think that Quixtar is trying to cut IBOs out of the loop. What do you think?
Addendum
For those who are wondering, Blu Sphere offers name-brand products. It doesn't look like Access Business Group or any Altico owned property manufactures any of the products listed. To Quixtar IBOs Blu Sphere is pretty much like a Store For More except its owned by Alticor.
Update From Alleged Quixtar Insider
This is a repeat of an attached comment left by an individual using the moniker "SeeSpray." I can't verify the accuracy of the information so take it for what it's worth. However, it sounds credible. I've made some minor edits to correct grammar, spelling and provide emphasis where appropriate.
SeeSpray:
Qblog asked the question — Did you know about Blu Sphere?The answer to that is yes — and I was on the development team for this project.
'Inheriter,' (in a comment on this post) was dead on with the goal of this project. it was developed in the now dissected 'Pyxis' innovations division of Alticor. The project was not projected to make money (and does NOT, even far less revenue than projected), it was simply targeted to get the youth acquainted with 'sponsoring' and being rewarded for doing so.
IBO leadership DEMANDED this project. It was unveiled in HI 2.5 years ago, and the base for catalog receipients was a website designed prior to the launch that collected teen names matched to IBO numbers.
This was/is not in ANYWAY to 'cut the IBO', just the opposite actually — the intention is to recruit at a young age.
Again folks, this project makes NO - NO - NO money for Alticor. They are hoping for the payoff long term. All market research said it will not succeed but you try telling that to the folks that run Alticor — the leadership IBOs!
The Alticor executives are wimps, and actually gave in and shut down Esolis (another partner store that was catalog-based that targeted Asian Americans in the skin care category — hello! — we used the same formulas developed for Japan). Esolis started to get interest from retail stores (even though executives mandated the Esolis staff COULD NOT pursue this avenue) so IBOs forced it to be closed down one year after launch as it was not 'recruiting asian american IBOs.'
Literally millions and millions of dollars were poured into deveoping new businesses for Alticor — not geared toward MLM via Pyxis. The best and the brightest were put into Pyxis, and SEVERAL viable businesses were developed. None went forward because executives were scared of pissing off the leadership. Actually Jim Payne stopped most of them (can you say 'reward'??).
And before any of the 'pro-Amway' folks get freaked out by the truth I tell, Dave Van Andel was sick of it, so he broke off with half of the Pyxis staff and started IdeaSphere. The business has gone nowhere due to his conflict of interest still being on Alticor Board Of Directors.
Also, not moving the diversification of Alticor forward was the REAL reason Dick DeVos left. Dick broke the company apart to make it profitible, but was constantly frustrated that he could not get support for Pyxis.
What I find most interesting about SeeSpray's comments is that the IBO leadership is calling the shots, not the Quixtar, or even Alticor, executives. This is consistent with what I've learned over the past couple of years about how this business operates.
Comments
I think Blu Sphere's purpose is to cater to the tweens and teens of IBOs and the "religious right". A place they can shop and not be confronted by "Abercrombie-type" advertising, if you know what I mean....LOL!! Many of these kids are rather sheltered, to say the least - and this would be considered a "safe" place by the parents.
Will the kids buy it?? If it's their only option - maybe?? But the mall is still more fun!!
But this won't be the first time Alticor/Amway has done something that I feel was Kingpin-influenced and just plain dumb.......
Deb
Just a comment on the "sister company" issue...
Many large companies call other ones 'partner stores' when they are in reality held by the same holding company. I don't think that it's dishonest: Each is its own company, regardless of the holder.
Aside from anything else, that is a terribly ugly site.
Well... I am continually amazed at how boldly some uninformed people state thier "valuable" opinions. Blu Sphere is a partner store that is owned by Alticor business group. All of the Blusphere Catalogs and Marketing are printed with the Quixtar logo on the front making it obvious that they are a part of the Alticor family. Tribble wrote, "I may be wrong but it seems like Blu Sphere might be viewed as a threat by some IBOs who scramble for their PV each month." The truth is, Quixtar pays IBO's full PV/BV for any purchase made at Blusphere by any teen they refer and all of the teens referred by that teen. Blusphere encourages teens to shop and refer through a point bonus that they can redeem for merchandise, but it still pays the referring IBO's for their effort. The fact is that many successful IBO's have motivated children who would love to have their own business, but the rules of conduct at Quixtar do not allow IBO's under age 18. Blusphere, however, gives them a risk-free opportunity to express their skills.
Secondly, thank you Doug_G for your opinion, but the facts speak loudly to the success of Quixtar and Alticor. If Quixtar was smart.... they would be the #1 health and beauty website in the entire world...and they are. If Quixtar was smart... they would be ranked 12th in the world in overall online sales... and they are. If Quixtar was smart... they would achieve 3.1 Billion dollars in sales in their first 4 years online...and they did. Clearly Doug_G you are right this company is dead in the water. If they would only stop building their marketing costs into the price, I mean don't all companies have millions of dollars in a closet somewhere to use for marketing...Brilliant!
1. The point is that Blu Sphere is open, not closed. Nobody needs to be an IBO or be referred to shop there. The same holds true for Quixtar now but the process at Blu Sphere is much more streamlined and consistent with other, similar non-MLM sites. Oh, and are those catalogs online?
2. Quixtar is NOT the #1 Health & Beauty site on the Internet. That's a myth. Quixtar got that ranking by including ALL of its revenue, without segmenting out purchases exclusively in the Health & Beauty category.
Jeff,
Did Quixtar just magically appear one day and have 300,000 distributors? No, they came from Amway. Back in the 70's Amway had around 300,000 IBO's in the US. Now, Quixtar has 350,000 IBO's in all of North America. How much has the population of the US grown since the 1970's. If Amway was maintaining their market share, they would have more IBO's as the US population increased. They don't. Quixtar is just Amway dying a slow death because of their fundamental flaws.
How much did Amway North America earn before it became Quixtar? The answer would surprise you. It was in the neighborhood of 1.5 billion in sales in 1999. Where is Quixtar today? Has it ever topped those 1999 numbers?
I'm curious, are there any Quixtar diamonds who were never in Amway?
By the way, who gets the PV/BV from Blu Sphere customers that aren't referred?
That is a good question QBlog. I would surmise the highest bidder, or nobody at all?
Doesn't matter anyways. People have to actually be interested in buying this crap.
This little promo screams of people who think they know business, but really have no clue.
Just like the huckster diamonds.
Jeff: "Well... I am continually amazed at how boldly some uninformed people state thier "valuable" opinions."
You call us uninformed. Where do you get YOUR information?
Everyone's opinion is valuable, until it is refuted by facts. Where do you get your facts?
Your upline? The corporation?
PW
I have to chuckle a little about what Jeff wrote in his post. I mentioned the PR war Quixtar is waging/losing and he responded by basically rattling off a bunch of the meaningless stats and myths (thanks QBlog :).
So, who is #1 in online sales? Where do you find that?
Jeff-bot:
Great work, fire-up young ambot!!!
Tell me, how much are you pulling down a year from your awesome affiliation with AmQuix ????
#1 in online sales is great, but how much business is done online anyway? The answer in the US is still less then 3% overall. This makes Quixtar a tiny potato when compared to giants like Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and even the struggling K-Mart. Fact is, people want quality at lower prices. Quixtar's outdated business model doesn't allow for this, but others can.
The reality is Quixtar/Amway has stagnated the last 30 years. Same number of IBO's in a country that has a much larger population (loss of market share). Years where sales have dropped off in the past, and when inflation is counted for, even Quixtar is barely growing.
Amway had to change its name because of 25 years of bad publicity. With the internet, Quixtar won't have that long. It's a slowly sinking ship, and when the rats (kingpins) start abondoning, we'll know the end is near.
We just got our Blu Sphere catalog in the mail today (I have a 15 year old daughter who thought she might like some of the stuff in it) and I looked through it just now. The prices actually aren't that bad, actually they seem comparable to what you'd pay in the mall for the exact same thing. They have name brand stuff (Adidas, Skechers, L.E.I., Kodak, NFL and baseball jerseys, etc). My daughter likes a lot of the clothes in it and she needs a high speed calculator this year for school that I will by from this catalog.
As much as I loathe the clothes and stuff in the Q catalogs, I really like the stuff in this one.
Jeff aka "Jeff-bot"
Responding to PW and seveal others. Here is a good article about internet retailing where I got my facts. http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=12109
Actually, Tony, there was 360,000 distributors in 1976 and only 340,000 in 2004.
Yeah . . . it's growing all right.
I went to the site....it's just the same old overpriced, limited selection, stuff
And at one point in 2001 there were 720,000 IBOs lawdawg! About 40,000 new IB0's are registering each month so when was that count of 360,000 in 1976 done?
If in 2000 my city had 1 Open, and then in 2002 it got so big they split, and now in 2005 we're looking at splitting again - what does that say?
If Larry started doing his own functions, and then Joe got so big that he's doing his own functions, and now Alan's so big, He'll be doing his own functions... what does that say?? It's Growing!
It doesn't look like their prices are very good.
The clothes and shoes seem to be MSRP which is pretty much the maximum price you can hope to charge.
Electronics are horribly overpriced.
(Product - Blu Sphere Price, MSRP, 20-second web search);
Creative Zen Touch 20G - $275, $229.99, $190;
Creative Zen Micro 5G - $199, $199, $173;
Jensen CD player (round one) - $69, $??, $47.49;
TI-83 Plus Calculator - $139, $??, $75 (from TI's "where to buy");
Palm Zire 21 - $99, $99, $65
(How to you insert a break in the comments?)
Oops the preview didn't have the linebreaks.
Tony> And at one point in 2001 there were 720,000 IBOs lawdawg!
Tony> and 350,000 in 2005
DI> So you're saying that the number of IBOs dropped from 720,000 to 360,000? You're saying that it got cut in half over four years? Why are they leaving Tony? Damn, if that's not a warning sign agains Qx then I don't know what is.
Tony> About 40,000 new IB0's are registering each month so when was that count of 360,000 in 1976 done?
DI> And how many IBOs quit each month?
How's grandma doing Tony? Tell her to take your place, you suck at this!
I'm just amazed that no one has discussed in more detail the fact that the goal of blu sphere is to entice kids to 'sponsor' their friends and receive 'points' for it!
Next thing you know, some enterprising kid will figure out that he can motivate his friends to sponsor more kids by cutting a music video, sell it for $19.99 and get a secondary source of income coming in.
It will start off innocent enough but then he'll get greedy and add mp3's for $1 through his new Qtunes service.
QBlog--you better go ahead and reserve the next domain name---blusphereblog!
Tony> And at one point in 2001 there were 720,000 IBOs lawdawg!
Tony> and 350,000 in 2005
DI> So you're saying that the number of IBOs dropped from 720,000 to 360,000? You're saying that it got cut in half over four years? Why are they leaving Tony? Damn, if that's not a warning sign agains Qx then I don't know what is.
Joecool> So if there were 720,000 IBO's and about 50 (?) diamonds, then your chance of going diamond was .0000694, or
1 in 14,400.
But in 2005, there are 350,000 IBO's and
31 (?) diamonds, so your chance of going diamond improves to .0000885 or 1 in 12,290.
I guess business is improving! :)
Jeffbot:
You never got back to me -- how much are you pulling down a year with you AmQuix biz? It's awesome right?
DF,
I'm not in the quixtar business. I make millions of dollars per year doing practically nothing. If you want to know how I accomplish this, just buy 500 of my CD's or tapes at $7.00 each.
What? You want proof of my claims? Well, it's none of your business! Now then, about thos CD's and tapes........
Very funny JoeCool.
Now let's see if Jeffbot can provide a REAL answer for himself........
Tony, you need not call me names first off. That's not a place you want to go with me. Never once have I called you a name or been pissy with you and you have posted things that have vexed me to no end. Second off, I don't care if Q catalog has name brands, the stuff in that catalog sucks. Regardless of price or whatever it sucks. I don't buy clothes or whatever for the name, I buy them because I like them regardless of price. I've bought a $5 shirt to go with $100 jeans. If I like something on Q, I'll buy it. If I don't, I won't. I hate shopping in malls with a passion and if I can avoid it I will. If Q, Blu Sphere or Target.com has what I want online, I'm there with my credit card. Doesn't matter.
I think you mistake me for someone who thinks Store For More is crap in general. I've never said that. Are some of the things higher priced? Sure. Is it worth it? It depends. I've said it before and I'll say it again. To me, price and value are two different things. Is a sweater in SFM $10 more than the same one in the mall? Perhaps, but if it means I spend $20 more to not have to go to the mall, I'll pay it.
As for having an open mind about Quixtar. Been there, done that and got screwed over by overzealous people who would take food from my table to pay for their high and mighty SUV and not think twice about it and if there is even a second that you want to make a smart remark to that comment, maybe you should look in the mirror while you're smirking.
Qblog asked the question....Did you know about Blu Sphere?
The answer to that is yes...and I was on the development team for this project.
'inheriter', above was dead on with the goal of this project. it was developed in the now dissected 'pyxis' innovations division of alticor. the project was not projected to make money (and does NOT, even far less revenue than projected), it was simply targeted to get the youth acquainted with 'sponsoring' and being rewarded for doing so.
IBO leadership DEMANDED this project. it was unveiled in HI 2.5 years ago, and the base for catalogs receipients was a website designed prior to the launch that collected teen names matched to IBO numbers.
this was/is not in ANYWAY to 'cut the IBO', just the opposite actually....the intention is to recruite at a young age.
again folks...this project makes NO, NO, NO money for Alticor. they are hoping for the payoff long term. all market research said it will not succeed....but you try telling that to the folks that run alticor...the leadership IBOs! the alticor executives are wimps, and actually gave in and shut down esolis (another partner store that was catalog based that targeted asian americans in the skin care category -- hello, we used the same formulas developed for japan). esolis started to get interest from retail stores (even tho executives mandated the esolis staff COULD NOT persue this avenue)...so IBOs forced it to be closed down 1yr after launch as it was not 'recruiting asian american IBOs'.
literally, millions and millions $$s were poured into deveoping new businesses for alticor...not geared toward MLM via pyxis. the best and the brightest were put into pyxis, and SEVERAL viable businesses were developed....none went forward because executives were scared of pissing off the leadership....actually jim payne stopped most of them (can you say 'reward'??).
and before any of the 'pro-amway' folks get freaked out by the truth i tell....dave vanandel was sick of it, so broke off with half of the pyxis staff and started IdeaSphere. the business has gone nowhere due to his conflict of interest still being on alticor BOD. also, not moving the diversification of alticor forward was the REAL reason dick devos left. dick broke the company apart to make it profitible, but was constantly frustrated that he could not get support for pyxis.
Whoa....Thanks SeeSpray, very informative. So Quixtar is indeed ruled by kingpins. I have complete faith in their egoistical stupidity. They're stuck up in "recruit, train, motivate" way to do business. (It's an mp3, u should hear it Tony, @ amquix.info)
Also Tony, can you please put a bit more exclamation marks? It is really hard to make sense with so few !. Some of stuff you say need ten or more !!!!. Thanks for your cooperation.
Bag to “Leadership�, why are these guys calling shots? Most of them can’t even write properly? Shouldn’t trained business professionals be doing so? Never mind, u answered it. They’re wimps.
Yeah, Tony-bot must be a writer for the Archie comics.
"Reggie, you should see the redhead at the beach!"
"Let's go to Pop Tate's for a soda!"
"Hi Mr. Lodge, I'm looking for Veronica!"
You are a complete and utter bot, Tony. Take your pretend ninja skills and do something with your life.
Qblog,
I was wondering why I got that bluspere catalog without even asking for it...
It didn't dawn on me until I saw it was a "partnerstore". I thummed through it and chucked it. Wrong target market. Send me a Bass Pro shop catalog instead.
Sheepnomore, you shop like I do. "I buy them because I like them regardless of price." . Now I've never bought $100 pair of jeans before, but I have splurged on a $50 sweat shirt from a gift shop once. That's also the way I buy quixtar stuff- have I told you yet how much I am addicted to kahvecchino's? I'll buy them regardless of the price...
I just visited the Bluesphere site and looked at the products. Included in these products under the heading of "books and games" were books such as: How to Win Friends and Influence People for Teens, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, and The Investment Guide for Teens. Are these tools? Second, when I read about the terms of using the site, it said that the site was intended for kids ages 13-18; it suggested that children under the age of 13 use the site under the supervision of a parent. Is this site trying to usher young people into Quixtar after they turn 19?
Believe me Michael, I wouldn't spend $100 on jeans if I didn't have to. I am 5'10" and 125lbs. Very tall and thin, a stick figure if you will, and I can't find jeans just anywhere. I have had to buy them at a store name 'Buckle' which carries Lucky Brand jeans that do fit me perfectly, the downside is they cost serious money. Fortunately they have layaway!!! Layaway is my friend.
See Spray's comment does sound credible as if they are a Quixtar Insider. But, if See Spray was on the development team for Blu Sphere, this brings several questions to my mind.
Does See Spray's revealing "inside info" imply that maybe See Spray no longer is an "insider"?
If See Spray is STILL an "insider", are there any fears that revealing the info and revealing they were on the development team pose a risk to See Spray?
I know the Quixtar staff probably doesn't read every single comment, but the fact that it has now been put into the main body of the blog entry, means somebody at Quixtar might deduce the ID of See Spray.
Or could See Spray be an IBO or ex-IBO that was on a committee in the development process?
See Spray could be to Qblog as Deep Throat was to Woodward and Bernstein; but I worry that See Spray's ID will be more quickly attained than that of Mark Felt.
And if not, then the credibility of the info may be suspect.
In both See Spray's and Deep Throat's, the message is basically the same...Follow The Money. It appears Quixtar is following the money of the IBO leadership.
Who will be standing in the entrance of the helicopter ready to fly off in disgrace?
http://www.webraw.com/quixtar/forum/viewtopic.php?t=99&highlight=esolis
Thanks See Spray for your contribution. I noticed esolis and wrote about it in the forum at the above link.
I appreciate you confirming my theory--although it is not really a theory. My parents confirmed that was the goal when I asked them the first time they wanted to sign my kids up for it. (I am no longer an IBO).
I really kind of feel bad for the 'kids'. I bet most of them realize they need to change their fathers' business but feel powerless to do so. They can't completely walk away though and forget about all that 'cash'.
Pyxxis is still listed as the owner of Alticor's Interleukin shares isn't it? I haven't seen their product(s) come to market yet? Any word on that?
Please feel free to contribute more if you can.
Sheep -- they sell Lucky Jeans at Costco too. So, you don't always have to overspend (IMO) at the Buckle.
Wow, I referred a friend to go save some money and I didn't profit from me.
Does that make me an idiot or a good samaritan.
Sheep--I hope you take the $ you save and invest it in the market. The S&P has outperformed the returns of 99% of the ambots out there.
Good luck.
Thanks DF. When I bought a couple of pairs of jeans I was working at the store and had a very nice discount. Now I must pay full price. As I've said before, I don't mind paying more for something I want (need) and in this case, layaway IS my friend!
Sheep, I am a shopaholic. I love lucky brand jeans; actually, I just love jeans period. Another brand that you might consider, given your height and weight, is Dollhouse. They run about $50.00 to $70.00, and they are awesome jeans. They are usually sold in boutiques, but I have found several pairs on ebay.
So David, tell us how you feel about this insider ;)
Hey rocket - chupa mi gallo, capullo!
Hey Sheep, sorry - didn't mean to affend you. It was just the shock of hearing you say something positive about the business when most of the stuff you say (if I remember correctly) is pretty critical of the business. But if you can keep a open mind I'll have no reason to call you a critbot. But CribotNoMore was actually a compliment. I thought you were a critbot, but now I just think you're a critic, cause you had enough of an open mind to make the positive comments about BluSphere.
You'll have to forgive me if i gave you any attitude. When I 1st came on here Months ago, I was very civil, showed price comparisons where we were equal to or cheaper than the competition, and even cheaper than Walmart on some things. I gave valid arguments about tool $, etc. but the critbots on here just wouldn't listen and your blinded by Their bad experiences. And after so long of their degrading and bashing, now I've gotten a little short tempered with them.
So, sorry, if I mistook you for one of them.
Tony:
You're short tempered tirades do nothing but make yourself look silly. You can curse and swear all you want, we'll just sit back and take it with a big grin.
In the meantime, you're accomplishing nothing except developing a bad name for the pro IBO force.
If I wasn't provoke by critbot BS I'd have no reason to lose my temper. That has nothing to do with being Pro or Anti qx - its human nature.
And how bout you? Like you're such a glimmering beacon of friendship & sunshine??
As someone put it "pot meet kettle, kettle meet pot" ;)
coming from the Bahamas. According to what we were told Quixtar should have been a hundred billion dollar commpany by now. I also beleive that many none quixtanian would prefer to buy their health and beauty product from the corner store. Quixtar has basically told the old arm guard to get online and the did along with all their followers. NUMBER ONE HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Blu Sphere Member,
Thank you for supporting Blu Sphere, the website and catalog for teens, over the past months. As you may have heard, we will be discontinuing operations very soon.
Here are the details:
Blu Sphere will remain open for business until midnight December 27, 2005. This means you can continue to shop at Blu Sphere and enjoy the great variety of products and gifts for teens until that time.
* Please redeem all Blu Sphere Gift Certificates by December 27, 2005.
Blu Sphere will continue customer support into 2006 to handle product returns, refunds, and inquiries.
* Please redeem all Personal Points by February 28, 2006.
* Returns of product for refund will be accepted through March 31, 2006.
Again, all of us at Blu Sphere thank you for your support, partnership, and patronage. We wish you happy holidays and a new year filled with peace and happiness.
Sincerely,
Your friends at Blu Sphere
Kay, viD, Sue, Jennifer, Mark, John, Niki, Karen, Lisa & Val
I'm confused. Why is everyone so down on MLM's, more specifically, Quixtar, if they've never 'tried it'?
1 - From what I understand, they Amway/Quixtar were deemed a 'legal' business by the FTC back in 1979. How many other MLM's have been since? What's the harm there?
2 - $$$ potential: one can supposedly make tons of money opening a fast-food business as well. How many McDonalds franchise owners become multi-millionaires and how many fold?
3 - success: is it hard to make it in the MLM business? YES. Is it hard to make it in a Wendys resaurant business? Yes.
I'm just trying to understand why so many of you are so down on AmQuix. Is it because of those AmQuix'rs who don't run their business the 'right' way and therefore some of you have bad experiences so you assume all AmQuix'rs are the same?
Is it because you think there's really no way possible someone can truly make money in that business?
Is it because of the low upfront investment makes it seem to go to be true?
To me, an AmQuix business and a fast-food business have virtually the same business model, although one has enormous upfront investment. I've seen the 'plan' but am not 'in the business' and think if you sit down and look how the business is structured, and not rely on hearsay, I think you'll find the business to be on the up and up.
I've read many negative comments on it and have met people with bad experiences and those with good experiences and just can't see for the life of me what the big deal is.
Would more of upfront capital investment make it more 'worthy' of a business?
Let the debate begin.....
I think Tribble is only seeing a part of what Quixtar is doing. If Quixtar was smart (which we know they aren't :), they would push a website/shopping portal to the masses, and not just a niche market like teens.
I think the teen website is aimed at getting a younger market who would otherwise not be approached or interested in "a business opportunity." Just from what I can tell, this is a first hesitant step in that direction. Will it work? Nope.
Problem #1 - Advertising. They have almost no advertising for this beast...yes, they have 300,000 distributors in North America, but those people have no idea how to approach regular people, let alone the teen market. If they really wanted to grab an audience quickly, they would need to advertise in a more traditional manner. They need to hit the places where teens will see their name and get a positive impression.
Problem #2 - Value. If this is more over-priced, highest quality "garbage," then it's doomed to fail. The Internet has brought competition to new levels. If that's where your store is, you had better be prepared to have some of the best prices and service available. Being of mediocre value (good quality, but prices are too high or poor quality, but good prices) will not cut it in the markets today.
If Blue Sphere can overcome or fix these shortcoming, then they stand a chance. As it is right now, they are dead in the water.
Here is what confounds me about Alticor or Amway or Quixtar, etc. Why hasn't this company caught up with the rest of the world? This is a company that does billions of dollars of business, but they continue to try to get by "on the cheap." They rely on word of mouth advertising, which is too slow by todays standards, severly limits their market, and is grossly inefficient. They build their marketing costs into the price, which makes them too expensive. They've compounded their problems by trying to wage a little PR war with their "advertisers" stuck in the middle. The advertisers are getting all kinds of information from the Internet that says carrying this company's message sucks. Quixtar fires back by saying, "look our business/revenue is growing, those nay sayers don't matter!" We all know the growth is fake because it's all due to price increases, and now the growth in revenue has stopped. Why doesn't this company adapt to changing market forces? I mean really, if you haven't increased the number of "stores" (read IBO's) in the last 30 years, wouldn't you work on fixing that problem? I guess maybe they have tried to adapt, but it seems to be one failure after another.
Posted by: Doug_G | August 24, 2005 2:16 PM