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November 30, 2005
Don't Click
By QBlog in Miscellaneous
I warned you.
Lovingly PhotoShopped from this link.
November 29, 2005
Hot MLM Secrets Revealed!
By QBlog in Quixtar
So, I see this Google Ad yesterday and I'm thinking, "Oh goodness, what's this?" And I clicked the ad and made an amazing discovery! My suspicions were correct. Quixtar is a Conspiracy. ;o)
From the Hot MLM Secrets website:
Your Suspicions Are Correct... It Is A Conspiracy...
Top Leaders In Quixtar Are Concealing The Secrets They Use To Explode Their Businesses...
A top secret military security clearance never prepared Tim Thomas for the ultra-secret world of Network Marketing. Who knew that MLM was full of ninjas?
UPDATE: It appears that the QBlog Curse has struck again. The Hot MLM Secrets site is down and now this post doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It needs context and without the linked site, it lacks that context.
However, the Google Ad is still running so maybe it's just a temporary glitch.
UPDATE 2: Looks like it was a glitch. Site seems to be back up.
November 28, 2005
Monday Reader Mail: 63
By QBlog in Reader Mail
I believe most IBOs are rational, honest people who just want to make some extra money with Quixtar. Scott A. seems like one of those hard-working IBOs. My comments appear in bold.
name: Scott A.
date: November 22, 2005
message: I've just stumbled across your site and I must say that you've filled a very much needed gap in the quixtar debate. I've been an IBO for a little over a year now and can definitely appreciate the need for unbiased information on the web. Although I've seen some drastic improvements of late there is still a lot of ground to make up.
What type of improvements I wonder?
When I first saw the quixtar opportunity I spent about 7 weeks investigating the business before I decided to sign up. I've run a conventional business for years and wanted some straight shooting on the facts. I found it incredible how blatantly ignorant some of the nay-sayers were but I couldn't understand the hype of the pro-quixtar side.
I had a similar experience.
Eventually I signed up because of my now-sponsor, someone who you'd describe as part of the quixtar backbone. I haven't made any significant amounts of money and have only a small downline but the support of some good people like him has made a huge difference in my life over the last year.
I would guess that the majority of IBOs join because they like and respect their sponsor first and like the business opportunity second, or third. That's how Quixtar and Amway build their business — with relationships.
Having someone that I know is genuinely interested in my success and that I can call any time of day for advice is worth so much more than I could ever express. I had no idea that this was part of the business when I registered but don't know where I would be without it. There were days when knowing that I got to be around those people was the only thing that kept me going. The best part is that because they were there to support me when I wasn't doing anything I know that my efforts now will pay them dividends in the future and they fully deserve every penny they will ever get. I can proudly say that because of my association with them I have turned around my personal and professional lives and have a growing downline, which makes me even more excited because they stuck with me too.
Well, good for you.
Is the business for everyone: absolutely not. Is everyone in the business good: no, there are some bad apples. I can say though that this is the best group of people I've ever had the pleasure of being around and am very grateful that my sponsor had the courage to ask me if I was looking. If you'd like some people for your backbone project I'd love to help. I hope that it will help someone make the right decision, be it to register or to go on their own path, at least they'll know they did their due dilligence. Thanks again.
I sent Scott A. an email inviting him to participate in the Quixtar Backbone Project. I hope he accepts.
November 27, 2005
Forum Log In Issues
By QBlog in Blog News
If you're having trouble loggin into the QBlog Forum please delete your cookies connected to the webraw.com domain. Changes had to be made to the way the log in cookies were constructed so your old cookies are conflicting with the new cookies.
There's a temporary thread explaining what you need to do for cookie deletion. If you don't mind deleting all your cookies then that may be the easiest thing to do.
Orrin Woodward's TEAM Gets Wiki-fied
By QBlog in TEAM
Just discovered that Quixtar Diamond Orrin Woodward's TEAM (formerly Team of Destiny) now has its very own Wikipedia entry. Looks like it was created November 4, 2005, and is beginning to fill in quite nicely.
This could get interesting.
Quixtar Sets Wrong Kind of Record
By QBlog in Quixtar
Earlier this month Quixtar reported sales of $1.058 billion for the 2005 fiscal year. A truly impressive figure.
However, last year Quixtar reported sales of $1.1 billion for the 2004 fiscal year. If my math is correct (and it may not be) that means Quixtar's sales dropped about $42 million this year.
The Grand Rapids Press reports that this year's sales drop is the first such decline in Quixtar's six-year history. A new record!
Quixtar reported a drop in sales for the first time in its six-year history.
Sales at Alticor Inc.'s Web-based division fell about 3 percent to $1.06 billion, according to the company.
Bonuses and incentives paid to the company's army of dealers, known as independent business owners or IBOs, also dropped.
And while Internet Retailer gives a somewhat confusing report on Quixtar's sales, the article still concludes that sales are less than stellar.
Quixtar Inc. is reporting essentially flat web sales for its 2005 fiscal year. In 2005, the web generated sales of $753 million, up less than 1% from sales of $748 million in fiscal 2004, the company says.
No matter how you look at it Quixtar's sales are down at the same time that Alticor (Quixtar's parent company) is reporting its sixth straight year of sales growth. I think I know why Ken McDonald is on Beaver Island instead of in Ada, Michigan.
Amway "Lukewarm" About China's New Rules
By QBlog in Miscellaneous
The Wall Street Journal reports that new direct sales rules recently passed in China are "eliciting a lukewarm reaction" from companies like Amway.
An unnamed Amway official complained that the "administrative intervention goes too far into the micro facet of business operations." Seriously, that's a quote but I'm thinking it was translated from Chinese. The article goes on to explain some of the reasons why Amway is complaining anonymously.
In addition, commission rates for a company's sales force will be capped at 30% of its total retail sales, a much lower rate than in other countries, where both individual and group performances are taken into consideration when payment is made.
The new rules also have strict disclosure requirements. Companies must provide the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce detailed information on their direct-sales staff, including their names, registration numbers, primary occupations, monthly income, tax records and what percentage of their total income is generated by direct sales.
In addition, companies will be required to disclose significant lawsuits and arbitration proceedings in which they have been involved, their corporate compensation structure, recruiting and training methods, and entitlements and obligations contained in sales contracts signed between the companies and their salespeople.
You know, China may be a communist country that regularly tramples on human rights but I think it has the right idea about regulating multi-level marketing. Isn't that ironic?
November 26, 2005
The Two Als
By QBlog in Oasis LifeSciences
The Oasis LifeSciences multi-level marketing business gets more and more interesting every day. The company hit my radar about this time last year when I learned that Joe Land was building an Oasis business while still an active Quixtar Diamond. Not long after that he left Quixtar to build Oasis full-time.
More recently the company turned heads with the announcement that Bo Short's Passport MLM is joining forces with Oasis. And a few intriguing observations have resulted from all that head-turning.
One such observation is that several of the Diamonds in Oasis were once Quixtar or Amway Diamonds. That's noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First, it clearly demonstrates that becoming a Quixtar (or Amway) Diamond might not provide the type of "lifelong freedom" that is commonly promoted to IBOs. Secondly, it seems to prove that the old adage "birds of a feather, flock together" holds true in multi-level marketing.
How many Quixtar (and Amway) Diamonds (or other pin levels) are now Diamonds in Oasis? My incomplete list, partially compiled from the Team Oasis site, includes:
- Marshall Douglas
- Joe Land
- John Terhune
- Mark Middleton
- Ron Boyanovsky (is this Amway Diamond Ron Boyanovsky?)
- Bo Short (not sure about his status with Oasis)
- Al Keranen
The last name on the list, Al Keranen, has received some special attention by site visitors. Several emails have landed in my inbox asking me if the Oasis Al Keranen is the same as the Amway Diamond Al Keranen who plead guilty to mail and bank fraud charges in a $12 million investment scheme in 1990.
Is this the same man?
Oasis Al Keranen - Recent photo
Amway Al Keranen - From 1983
It sure seems like the same person, though it's hard to tell. I certainly don't want to wrongly label the Oasis Al with the transgressions of the Amway Al. And I suppose even if it is the same man, the obvious question would be "so what?" Maybe the man made a mistake 15 years ago. Don't we all make mistakes? Shouldn't we forgive and forget if he served his time in prison?
If you can confirm that the Amway Al and the Oasis Al are the same man then
please step forward and let us hear the evidence. For those who aren't sure
I've created an animated graphic that may give a better view of the two Al Keranens.
November 24, 2005
No More Pretending
By QBlog in Miscellaneous
Quixtar recently modified its "70% Rule" to essentially remove the requirement for retail sales. Prior to the changes IBOs were required (though it was seldom enforced) to sell 70% of the products they purchased. However, the revised rule states that "products used for personal or family consumption or given out as samples are also considered as part of the sales volume."
Using products at home (self-consumption) is clearly not a retail sale but Quixtar now states that it is a retail sale. The lawBlawg has done a thorough analysis of the changes to rule 4.18 (IBOs only).
To sum up the changes Quixtar is basically saying that to earn money in the business you must sell products to customers — unless you don't want to sell products to customers in which case you may just use the products yourself. The "buy from yourself and teach others to do the same" philosophy is now clearly reflected in the Quixtar rules. That's refreshing because before the rule change the "buy from Me-Mart" mentality conflicted with the 70% rule. Now the message is consistent.
One downside to this rule change is that retail-minded IBOs like Fred Johnston don't have the 70% rule to back up their efforts. Now a new recruit has to carefully consider the options — do I work my tail off selling products to retail customers or do I sit in living rooms teaching others to just change their shopping habits. Which would you choose?
November 23, 2005
Quixtar Craps Its Pants
By QBlog in Oasis LifeSciences
The emails keep coming in reporting that the Oasis LifeSciences MLM is filling up with former Quixtar Diamonds and their IBO downlines. I'm compiling a list but it looks like Oasis could be "Plan B" for disgruntled Quixtar leaders. Whatever happened to Rule 6.5 (aka the Non-Competition and Anti-Raiding rule) anyway?
If you know of any former Quixtar Diamonds in Oasis please send that info along. The Team Oasis site (registered to Brian Boyanovsky) has a list of some Oasis Diamonds.
November 22, 2005
Quixtar Chatter - November 22, 2005
By QBlog in Quixtar Chatter
- A guy who works with a "former American Idol contestant" got suckered into attending a Quixtar meeting
- The last thing Webchicky wants when she's buying groceries is to be recruited into a "cult"
- An openly gay man describes his encounter with Amway and how it impacted a relationship
- Daryl Makk ponders how Amway compares to cults and more
- What's the big secret? Oh, it's Quixtar. Pisser.
Randy Bancino Resigns?
By QBlog in Miscellaneous
I just heard a rumor that Randy Bancino, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Quixtar, has resigned. That's about all I know as details have been sketchy.
I will add that his resignation comes on the heels of numerous firings at the Quixtar Corporation, mostly of low-level grunts and apparently one alleged member of the Web Reputation Task Force.
If you have more details, please post a comment.
UPDATE: David Ellyatt, Web Marketing Manager for Quixtar, confirms that Randy Bancino resigned yesterday. I've been told that Ellyatt worked closely with Bancino on Quixtar's Web Reputation Task Force.
November 21, 2005
Monday Reader Mail: 62
By QBlog in Reader Mail
Monday Reader Mail is back — and just a little tardy.
When I received today's featured email I thought it was a prank, some disgruntled anti-Passport guy trying to spread rumors about Bo Short. Turns out, the rumors are true, at least in part. I'm still trying to sort out all the details.
Anyway, here's this week's Reader Mail with my comments in bold.
name: Joe
date: November 19, 2005
message: Passport Online is dead! The man that bashed the MLM industry, the man that bashed Amway and Quixtar...
I really don't think Bo Short ever bashed the MLM Industry as a whole, though he has been publicly critical of some its practices.
...is going back into the so called MLM world that he left is shutting down Passport and trying to bring Passport Associates into his new personal Oasis Life Sciences downline. He states that he doesn't care about the money or titles but here he goes again.
This is an interesting point. Bo Short and Passport Associates emphasized the fact that there were no titles in the business. The lack of titles contrasted with the Emeralds and Diamonds of Short's previous MLM experience with Amway and Quixtar.
He is now trying to push a $1200 sign-up for the Oasis business opportunity.
Bo Short and Passport, What a joke!
I don't know about the $1,200 claim but some Passport Associates have complained that their uplines are "pushing" the most expensive Oasis Starter Kit.
The Story?
So, what's the story? I honestly haven't had time to research this very thoroughly so I'll provide a few links for you to try to sort all this out for yourself.
- Audio of Bo Short explaining the Oasis switch
- Letter from Bo Short to Passport Associates
- An inactive Passport Associate's report on the company's changes and his personal perceptions
- Distributor Force to Merge Into Oasis LifeSciences
- Passport and Team Oasis
- Oasis LifeSciences
- Team Oasis
- Open Forum discussion about Oasis and Passport
I should also mention that a number of former Quixtar and Amway Diamonds have joined Oasis LifeSciences. Joe Land left Quixtar last year to run his Oasis business. Marshall Douglas and John Terhune are part of Bo Short's new Oasis leadership team and also former Quixtar Diamonds from the Team in Focus.
If you have any additional information about this development please let me know.
The Migration Saga
By QBlog in Blog News
The Quixtar BLOG has been down for a couple of weeks. This is due to several factors. I hope my explanation will answer any questions. Thanks for your patience during this time.
The Beginning
The webraw.com domain (which is where this blog is hosted) has been hosted at ThinkHost since 2002. ThinkHost has been very, very good to me and I continue to recommend their services to people needing a host. Their customer service is great and I really like that ThinkHost can host multiple domains under a single account for a great price.
The Strain
However, the Quixtar BLOG has been growing. Really growing. Growing so much that it started straining the ThinkHost servers. The folks at ThinkHost struggled valiantly trying to keep the site up and running smoothly — even moved it to a better server. But the strain continued and problems persisted.
The server would slow down under the strain and, on occasion, it would be inaccessible. This was frustrating to me, to site visitors and to the good folks at ThinkHost.
The Decision
And so on October 29, 2005, I decided to find a new host. My decision was a bit rash because I hadn't fully pursued a resolution with ThinkHost but I just felt it was time to move on. And really, it was time to move on and that's exactly what I did.
Media Temple
I set up an account with Media Temple, a hosting company that has a boffo who's who list of clients. I thought that if Media Temple had super cool clients then it must be a great host. Not!
In order to get my site of the ThinkHost servers and onto the MT servers as quickly as possible the great folks at ThinkHost offered to do the migration for me... for FREE! I'm not an uber-geek and the thought of a server migration gave me a migraine (get it?). It was a relief to know that some skilled people would be handling the migration.
However, something went wrong. Terribly, horribly wrong. I can't be certain but it looks like Media Temple has some problems. Or maybe not. I don't know. I just know that the site never got back to where it needed to be and in frustration (again) I started searching for a new host.
The New Host
I got an account with a new host, Pair Networks. So far, so good. Pair comes highly recommended. Imran, my friend from Toronto, did the migration to Pair. He's a wiz.
There are still a few minor bugs to work out and a couple of changes I need to make but about almost all of the site is back to normal. I didn't lose any data either. I always worry that data will be lost during a migration. But Imran saved the day.
The Forum is back. The blog is back. Everything is back as it should be... except email. I still need to set up my email to work like it did before. I'll get to that tomorrow.
Thanks
Thank you to all who sent me messages of support during the downtime. It's encouraging to know that so many people like this site. I plan to be back to a frequent posting schedule but it may be a couple of weeks before things settle back to normal.
November 18, 2005
Are We Back?
By QBlog in Blog News
Wow. I think the site is back. Fingers still crossed. Looking for bugs and other creeping, crawling things. See a bug? Report it to me at webraw@gmail.com. I'll provide an update later.
I do know that the includes aren't working so the nav is blown again but that should be an easy fix. It's definitely not a deal-breaker. By the way, the Forum is back in business.
Thanks for your patience... and your patients.
UPDATE: PHP includes are now working it looks like.
November 8, 2005
Delay
By QBlog in Blog News
The migration is taking longer than expected. Thanks for your patience.
UPDATE - Nov 9, 2005: The migration is just about complete. I'll be changing the DNS later today and that will then take up to 72 hours to fully populate.
November 5, 2005
Migration Begins
By QBlog in Blog News
The Server Migration will begin tonight. I'll be shutting off comments this afternoon (around 2 p.m. Eastern). The site may be down for a couple of days, or maybe not. We'll see.
Check out QBlog Radio for any news or updates about the migration.
Quixtar Chatter - November 5, 2005
By QBlog in Quixtar Chatter
- Probably not a fan of Quixtar. A Chinese (or some type language) language blog post containing only three English words — "Quixtar" and "Mind Control"
- Conquering the lazy demon with Quixtar
- One Desi in Dallas details his experiences with Quixtar and why he decided not to join
- "I am reminded how I was sucked into a similar, if not worse, environment when I worked for Quixtar"
- Amway Alticor and Quixtar..Leave Us Alone! - "Someone from the grocery store or a drug store or in the mall tried to pick up a talk with us"
November 4, 2005
Copyright Question
By QBlog in Miscellaneous
You think the United A.B.L.E. Association got permission to republish all the news articles it hosts on its Dependence page? I am in the news business and we generally require written permission for republication. But maybe papers like the Orlando Sentinel, St. Petersburg Times, Fairfield Daily Republic and The Miami Herald don't mind.
Or maybe the Bennetts got permission? Yeah, that's probably it. They got permission.
But, I'm sure those newspapers wouldn't mind a friendly inquiry, just to check.
Bennetts in WWDB?
By QBlog in Miscellaneous
I just came across a blog post titled "Help Out a Disabled Person." The author explains an encounter with a disabled Quixtar IBO in the World Wide Group.
Also, a posting by someone claiming to be disabled. They say they still want to work, and if you'd only go shop online at their website.
This sounds a lot like the Bennetts, who operate the (now changed) United A.B.L.E. Association. Are the Bennetts in WWDB? Maybe so, maybe not. And I wonder if this new "disabled approach" could be replacing the standard "curiosity approach?"
Anyway, the author of the Help Out a Disabled Person post is understandably concerned about how to handle the situation.
So the question of the day... if this person is being taken advantage of, do I have any sort of obligation to save them from themselves? I'm really torn... part of me wants to say "Stop! You're going to end up in real trouble!" But these people, once they've gotten in, they've usually been brainwashed to the point that they refuse to listen. Frustrating.
Frustrating indeed.
Site Down - Moving Hosts
By QBlog in Blog News
This site (including the Forum) will be down for a few days as it's migrated to a new host. I apologize for the inconvenience. If you need to contact me send a message to webraw@gmail.com.
UPDATE: My mistake. The site will migrate sometime this weekend, on Sunday. I'm opening things up until late Saturday. At that time I'll shut everything down so new data isn't written to the DB while the migration is occurring.
Also, the DNS will have to be changed and that can take up to 48 hours. That may cause the site to be "down" for a couple of days.
Thanks,
Eric J (aka QBlog)
November 3, 2005
Sales Grow at Alticor
By QBlog in Miscellaneous
The Detroit Free Press reports that Alticor sales have grown for the sixth year in a row.
Sales at Alticor Inc., the Ada-based owner of direct-selling giant Amway, rose for the sixth consecutive year.
Alticor, which ranks third among Michigan's privately held companies, said Wednesday that sales at its global operation rose to $6.4 billion in the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31. The 3.6% growth was considerably slower than the previous year, when sales grew a whopping $1.3 billion, or 26%, from 2003. Last year's growth was propelled by sales in the Chinese market.
Elsewhere...
Worth Noting
By QBlog in Miscellaneous
United A.B.L.E. Association
It's worth pointing out that the United A.B.L.E. Association websites (werable.org, smartershoppernetwork.com & giftalbumchoices.com) have undergone significant changes since Monday's post about the organization.
Some of the changes I've noticed:
- giftalbumchoices.com is now gone, replaced with an email link (anyone have a screenshot?)
- Smarter Shopper Network is now password protected
- The About Us page has been edited to remove the following:
As a sustainable organization, there is no need to hold fundraising events, beg the community for money, or get government funding. This unique funding program provides a perpetual, residual funding stream for the organization while directly benefiting children and adults with disabilities, and their families.
- The John Sestina (an IBO) quote is gone from the How We Help page
- The following disclaimer is now missing from the Help Now page:
This is not a get-rich-quick, or a pyramid scheme. In fact, it's a business plan that has been approved by the government and is accessible to virtually anyone interested in operating an independent business. Thousands of individuals faced with a disability are already successfully using this business plan to improve their lives.
Please let me know if you find other changes that I've overlooked.
Emerald Passport
Also worth noting are the changes made to the Emerald Passport EPI site after I mentioned it last week. All references (text, audio and images) to Quixtar have been removed. Also, I should note that even thought the page title is "Emerald Passport - EPI," there's a disclaimer at the top of the pages saying that the site is not an official site of Emerald Passport INC.
This site is owned by EmeraldBusinessSystem.com, and Independent Distributor of Emerald Passport, Inc and this site is not an official site of Emerald Passport Inc.
So, I guess the site wasn't related to Quixtar after all.
Jody And The IBOAI
One site that hasn't changed is the IBOAI page claiming that Quixtar is simply an Order Consolidation Site. The blog that originally brought that page to my attention (quixtar-team.blogspot.com) is gone but the IBOAI page is still going strong.
That may explain why Jody Victor's MarkerMan site only contains one mention of the word "Quixtar" (according to Google) in a reference to Jay Van Andel's death. And maybe that explains why Jody Victor hates This Biz Now. This Biz Now makes it pretty clear that Quixtar is not just an Order Consolidation Site.
QBlog Comments
You're welcome Quixtar. I am glad to point out problems online and I am glad to see those problems corrected. We'll never know whether or not the site changes resulted from pressure by Quxitar but it's good to those changes nonetheless — online.
However, what is painfully obvious is that what happens online is merely a tiny reflection of what occurs out there in the "real world." Quixtar has the enormous task of policing what IBOs say in living rooms and hotel lobbies around the country. It's a challenge to be sure. But is Quixtar up to that task? Do they want to be? Or is Quixtar content to know that as long as IBOs misrepresent the business in private, undocumented settings, the FTC won't swoop in to clean house.
Only Quixtar can answer those questions. The rumor is that Jim Payne is a reformer, brought in to replace the ousted Ken McDonald and right a ship that the IBOAI has been sinking for the last six years. We'll see if Payne has the backbone and the power to get that ship back on course.
For now, I'll continue to point out what I find online and hope that it makes a difference, even a small one.
November 1, 2005
Quixtar Chatter - November 1, 2005
By QBlog in Quixtar Chatter
- A guy declines to get involved with Quixtar after he learns that it's the "new Amway"
- Rumors are flying that DeVos will spend around $60 million of his own money on the race for governor
- Another blogger makes the Amway-Quixtar connection and says "no thanks"
- "If people like Robert Kiyosaki can live with himself for stealing from the poor, by all means, make your money"
- Is there a new stereotype that all Indians in America are in Amway (Quixtar)?