REAL LIFE Home Business

The Official Kyani Review

2010-07-13T15:13:00.002-10:00

I just put up a website called "The Official Kyani Review". Take a look at it when you have a chance.

http://www.kyanireview.com

Fortune Hi Tech Marketing gets the boot in Montana

2010-05-03T21:53:00.002-10:00

Recruited 1,285 Montanans.
$1.8M total was invested to join the opp in Montana

Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen announced on Monday the issuance of a cease and desist order and notice of proposed agency action against Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing, Inc. for allegedly operating a pyramid scheme.

The actions allege that Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing (FHTM) recruited thousands of Montanans with deceptive claims that members could earn huge sums of money through the recruitment of new participants and through the sale of discounted services.

NUMIS

2010-03-31T14:40:00.000-10:00

Some quick thoughts on NUMIS. Numis is a precious metals MLM. There has been a large exodus of networkers from the recently shut down ILG (iLearningGlobal).

The funding on this company is in question. Some of the large players have "industry rap sheets".

The thing that really scares me is the fact that there has been many "precious metals mlm's"
just like NUMIS all the way back to the 80's and there hasn't been a single one in
that entire niche of the industry that has ever lasted the test of time.

There is no doubt in my mind that everyone should look at investing in precious metals, which is
why I use GoldLine. However, building an MLM around that particular segment of the market
is still very, very unproven.

Maybe NUMIS will last...Maybe it won't.

Are you willing to bet your future on this company? If it works out, you'll be happy you did.
If it doesn't, back to the grind you go.

-elias

ASEA BUSINESS

2010-02-10T20:02:00.003-10:00

So what is the deal with Asea?

Alot of people are saying that it's just flat out salt water.
I'm sure that isn't true.

Please give us some input.

Thanks.

XOWII

2010-01-09T11:09:00.000-10:00

Monavie has now lost a considerable amount of their "upper rank" leaders
to a company called XOWII.

Anyone have any more information on these guys?? Please share in comments.

Here's the thing, no one really knows much else about this new start up
other than the fact that it was started by Monavie ex-distributor,
James Christiansen.

I'd like to know where their funding (if any substantial) is coming from?
Are there any plans for upcoming products. Their product alone isn't very persuasive at all.
Are there any plans for actual science behind their product.

It might be just me, but it seems as if it's just a bunched of re-hashed studies that
everybody already knows.

I'm sure it's a great opportunity though for anyone willing to take a big risk.

I'll be back with more info on this company.

-ec

2009-12-21T11:21:00.001-10:00

Headed to the park

Mandura, a single file downline??

2009-11-29T18:11:00.000-10:00

Mandura.

Yes, I know. We've all had just about enough of the Juice wars and the juice companies all claiming that they are the next big deal. After Monavie hit it big, hundreds of others polluted the scene with the hopes that they would
achieve the same amount of success

Most of these juice companies have mimicked the binary comp plan of Monavie. Binary's are kinda like
rap music in the industry. Either you absolutely hate it or you absolutely love it. Let me tell you why:

Binary comp plans massively reward the top producers.

However, it completely keeps the average joe....an average joe.

It doesn't pay the average joe AT ALL. Well, maybe a little bit.

The reason that Mandura is making a big splash in the Juice war saga is because they are the first ones
to come up with a "Single File Downline" compensation plan. Many have said that either this will
become the biggest thing that has ever hit the industry or it will be the biggest flop of them all.

No one has ever attempted to build an entire business at this level with a comp plan like this.

Funding: Casey Yarbrough, CEO / Founder
Casey hails from Exel telecom. He was part of that huge group that migrated to other MLM's after Excel went down a few years ago. He was laying low for a bit then he popped up with Mandura. No one really knows who's behind the scenes pumping funds into the company's pockets. I'm sure we'll find out sooner or later. Stay tuned for that one.

Product: Mandura Juice
Although the comp plan is pretty darn exciting, I gotta say...The product isn't.
If it weren't for the dream of the comp plan paying you that dream income, the product
wouldn't really be able to stand on it's own. Obviously the question you really have to ask yourself
is, "does it work?". I guess only you can be the judge of that.

There really isn't a whole lot of science behind the product. No huge testimonials. No huge claims.
Either the company is trying to stay in line with FTC regulations and not making a squeek about their
products, or it's lack thereof.

System: Very ONLINE friendly.
I've seen a couple of their systems. The company has an IN HOUSE marketing system that is turnkey.
I gotta say, I've seen many other "in house" online marketing tools from other companies. They are usually worth about as much you pay for them (FREE) or it's a total waste of money.

Mandura has really taken the blue ribbon for TURN KEY ONLINE MARKETING.

They have squeeze pages, ad copy, co-op systems, CO-OP ROTATOR SYSTEM, and a few other bells and whistles that others pay thousands of dollars a month for. You can get the upgraded online marketing system for an extra $25 a month. A steal of a deal.

Maakoa vs. Monavie vs. Xango

2009-11-09T10:58:00.010-10:00

I just recently found out that there are 43 JUICE MLM companies in just the state of Utah ALONE!! WOW!!

So I decided to take these 3 juice companies head to head right now. They all have more than just 1 juice product now so I think it's a pretty even battle.

1) Maakoa (Just recently launched a couple of months ago at the time of this writing). They have a few products. Juice, Meal Replacements. No BIG hitters have joined them at the time of this writing. Doug Osmond is the Master Distributor and a couple other big hitters from Monavie are thinking about making the switch but haven't officially done it yet...or at least gone public with it.

2) Monavie:
We've all heard of Monavie. If you're in the MLM industry and haven't heard of Monavie, you must've been hiding under a rock somewhere.
Products: Monavie Original, Monavie Active, Monavie Pulse, and Monavie EMV (energy drink).
Comp Plan: Binary + up to a 50% matching check bonus.
Timing: 4 year old company.
Market Saturation: At the current time, industry experts say that 1.3 million distributors are in just the U.S. alone. As an industry standard, usually only 10% are actively building the business.

3) Xango:

This company has been around for nearly a decade. When Xango launched, they had broken every record known in the industry. Monavie broke that record a few years later.
They started off with just 1 product like Tahitian Noni did. A few years later, they expanded their product line to widen their market. Xango's newest product is called Formula 51.

...still under construction...more soon...

TVI Express. Legit?

2009-11-09T10:37:00.000-10:00

The scary thing with TVI is that they have no headquarters that anyone has been able to document? No one ever answers the phone number that is posted online.

They are also based "offshore". If that isn't a red light, I don't know what is.

Liberty League International Faces Possible Lawsuit

2008-08-21T08:29:00.000-10:00

So here they are again. Liberty League International are at it again. I say again because they’ve dealt with this type of lawsuit in the past, however, it ’s never a good thing for company PR when you are getting slammed with things of this nature.

This time, it could be a little more detrimental than the last.

But this is where business common sense comes into play:

Would YOU pay $1,295.00 for 3 Personal Development DVD’s, a 50 page workbook, and some sticky notes at Borders Books & Music with no financial opportunity involved?

Now at this moment of writing this article, I have a personal development library that represents nearly $6 thousand dollars and I have A LOT of this stuff. It has transformed my way of thinking and it plays large part in the person who I am today. I know the value of personal development. But I gotta say…couple thousand bucks for a few dvd’s, a workbook, & sticky notes just aren’t my idea of a life changing transformation.

Now I gotta be fair. I’ve listened to the program and watched the DVD’s because a friend of mine actually bought into it. I thought it had great content. So, I got to experience the product but never did buy it. If I did spend the thousand bucks on the program I’m wondering if it would have a larger impact on me. maybe?? So in that respect I need to leave that large gray area out there.

Now, let’s look at the other side of the coin.

What if I told you that if you bought this course for $1,295 (and I think it’s actually more than this) and turned around and sold it you would make $1,000 for every sale you made. Recruit 2 more people and that number doubles. If they recruit 2 people each than that number sky rockets and multiplies faster than your head can spin. As soon as you know it you could be like these other success stories making $80,000.00 a month!!

Now…if you had to pay the $1,295 to join the opportunity for this kind of dough, then ask yourself if you would cough up the $1,295. Different story huh?

Anyhow, tens of thousands of other people get wind of that opportunity and all they can see is financial freedom and a few years later your in a part of a class action lawsuit.

The scary thing is when companies of this nature are caught in a lawsuit.

What makes it scary is the way the pay plan is structured. In the past, a lot of the blame has been turned on to the reps.

If anyone doubts this...they either don't know what they're talking about or are flat out lying.

Once again, i'm not dogging this particular opportunity or this type of business, i'm just stating the results of past horror stories.

Let me explain:

Let's say you pitch me on your "2 up" business. I like it. I buy in.

I fed ex you the check of--let's say $1,295.00 to get started.

Because of the way the payplan is structured, you are taking the $1,295 check that was payable to YOU. YOUR NAME. YOUR ADDRESS. YOUR BANK.

You keep the $1,000 then send the rest ($295) to the company and that's it.

Less liability is on the company.

Let's say you recruited 30 associates and 15 of them each recruited 2. Because those 15 each had 2 checks sent to you, you now have a heap of cash to the tune of $60,000 dollars that you now need to account for. Where is it? Where did it go?

Guess where the big dogs are going to go if they need to recover and account for the other big chunk of money that was “wrongfully taken”. (I say taken because that’s what you’ll always hear the victims call the act of them, at one time, paying.)

Well yup, you guessed it…they’re gonna hunt down good ‘ol distributor joe who probably already used that $1,000 a LOONNNGG time ago to recoup his lost investment and still trying to pay the other $12K he spent last month for the conference in Orlando (or somewhere).

Every situation is a little different with these-what we call in the HBB industry–2 up companies, however it all stays the same.

I’m sure Liberty League International will fight this and win the case but if not, at least they can say that they are (or were) the longest running “2 up” company that lasted in the world of free enterprise. I believe they’ve been running since 2002. All the other ones (and there has been hundreds if not thousands) have all been shut down within about a year.

Anyhow, Good luck Liberty League and all of you LLI associates.

Until Then,

Elias

FaceBook Business Card

2008-08-17T10:39:00.000-10:00

I just made this "business card" on facebook and wanted to post it to see how it would look on my blog. hmmm.... eh, I guess it looks pretty good.

I guess it's earning me some extra gas money so as they say "if it ain't broke--dont fix it".

BurnLounge gets BURNED

2008-07-03T07:09:00.000-10:00

Post from mlmwatchdog.com

In June 2007, the FTC brought charges that BurnLounge and its principals recruited consumers claiming that participants were likely to make substantial income operating on-line digital music stores. BurnLounge recruited participants by selling them so-called “product packages,” ranging in price from $29.95 to $429.95 per year. More expensive packages purportedly provided participants with an increased ability to earn rewards through the BurnLounge compensation program.

The BurnLounge compensation program primarily provided payments to participants for recruiting new participants, not for selling products or services, which the FTC alleges would result in a substantial percentage of participants losing money.

U.S. District Court Judge George Wu ordered a halt to the deceptive practices and froze the defendant’s assets, pending a trial, to preserve them for consumer redress. The settlement announced today ends the litigation with defendant Scott Elliott.

An operator who used deceptive earnings promises to recruit consumers for a multi-level marketing operation that was a pyramid scheme agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the operation was illegal and violated federal law. The settlement bars the defendant from participating in any pyramid scheme or other prohibited marketing scheme, bars false earning claims, and requires Scott Elliot to give up $20,000 in ill-gotten gains.

The settlement bars Scott Elliott from participating in or assisting others in participating in prohibited marketing schemes, including pyramid schemes. It bars misrepresentations about earnings in any multi-level marketing program or business venture. The settlement enters a judgment of $117,710.69 – the entire amount earned by Elliott through BurnLounge. That judgment is suspended subject to a payment of $20,000 based on his limited ability to pay. If the court finds that Elliott misrepresented his financial circumstances, the entire amount will be due. Finally, the order contains reporting and record-keeping provisions to allow the FTC to monitor compliance.

This case was brought with the invaluable assistance of the Office of the Attorney General of South Carolina. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The FTC Commissioners voted to accept the settlement was 4-0.

NOTE: A stipulated final judgment and order is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendant of a law violation. Consent orders have the force of law when signed by the judge.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,500 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

BURNLOUNGE WEBSITE GONE

5 June 2008 – The case that made history when the FTC hit. The Burn Lounge case made legal history in showing that 50% of commissions must come from end consumers – customers that do not belong to the compensation plan. Burn Lounge dropped their Distributors and tried to make a go of with regular marketing. Rod Cook Ur Ed. Note: Website down for good? Maybe not if someone buys them out for pennies on the dollar. There was value in the process but not the pay plan by new standards!

IVT Ventures. Infomercial biz meets MLM?

2008-02-13T19:29:00.000-10:00

I was contacted some time back from a good friend of mine who I met when I first joined mlm. He was ecstatic about this hot new concept that he couldn't wait to tell me about.

Of course, as always, I roll my eyes when I hear the words HOT, NEW, & CONCEPT in the same sentence pertaining to MLM. But as always, I was open.

I was pretty impressed. I, of course, never joined simply because there was no documentation at the time--so I politely declined a "premium position".

About a few months went by and I got a call from that same friend. He sounded a little less ecstatic. He sounded more serious, more grounded.

He's now made over $3,200.00 each month with ITV Ventures because of their system. Of course as always, I asked him for documentation...no problem. Although I haven't joined and most likely will never join, it was well worth my time to get some of my feedback about a concept that will most likely either make or break the entire industry of network marketing.

So what is the breakthrough concept?

What ITV Ventures has done is merged the world of Informercial Marketing with Network Marketing under the same roof. Donald Barrett, the president and founder of ITV is world renown for his expertise in the informercial business. If you've ever flipped through the channels and saw an informecial playing...it was probably him.

Anyhow, you can buy leads and people who see the informercial and call the number will be piped in to you directly--real time.

This really raises a few concerns for me which i'll probably address in my email newsletter in a few days. By the way, if you haven't subscribed yet--do it now. You won't regret it.

So back to the process, let's say you do a fantastic job and you sign joe shmoe up over the phone...bam! you got yourself your very own customer. All you have to do now is convert them over to become an associate.

However, you can also buy business leads as well. They do a product based show and a business based show. It's a win win situation if you concentrate on business leads...we all know that associates will move way more product volume than a single customer anyway.

That's it.

No having to chase friends or family down to become customers.

So because of that, it has the industry in a stir. Why, because as more and more people are finding out, it doesn't matter how great your product is because if you can't sell it--you're headed for the deep, dark abyss of broke, burnt out networkers.

So!!...If you have a multimillion dollar advertising informercial powerhouse blasting all over the nation in almost every city that should solve every problem, shouldn't it?

ummm--the verdict is still out on this one.

From what I understand from talks with many major players in the industry, many a player has their eyes closely watching this buisness model. If it stirs up more and more success stories like my 5 time mlm failure friend to making a consistent $3k+ a month...you'll see the scales tip in favor of ITV and BIG companies will lose millions of dollars and possibly shut down because top income earners along with their entire organizations will be leaving to join the revolution.

Could this turn an entire industry that was built on the premise of "word of mouth" marketing 180 degrees?

Could this be the the one?

Who knows.

I'll be interviewing my friend who's ripping it up in ITV Ventures and put it up on my blog as well as my email newsletter and let you decide for yourself.

Until then,
Elias

The Amazon "Kindle" Revolution

2008-02-11T07:33:00.000-10:00

I've been lookin' at this device for quite some time now and have done a lot of research on it.

I know that the Amazon Kindle device has next to nothing to do directly with the home based business industry-however, when you think about it for a second..it has a lot to do with the industry.

A friend of mine called me up the other day ecstatic about this new gizmo of his called the Amazon Kindle.

I didn't see the big whoop considering that I have a Treo 700P that is just out of this world. However, with more study on this thing comparing a Treo 700P would be like comparing a light bulb with a microwave.

You need both.

This thing is unreal. For business people always on the go or for people who love to read but just dont like the thought of lugging books and newspapers all over the place, this is the answer.

The thing that trips me out is that it isn't backlit, so it's not like your staring at a computer screen. It's just like looking at a regular piece of paper.

It has wireless coverage...unlimited free! Anywhere.
Downloads over the air...unlimited free!

This thing is the future of reading. Anyhow, if you have a few minutes to take a look at an upcoming trend, check it out.

Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device

Update on the MLM scene in Hawaii...

2008-02-10T07:30:00.000-10:00

Well it's that time again for yet another exciting post about the world of free enterprise in the land of paradise. Although the scene has been pretty quiet, there have been a few companies that have been making some noise throughout Hawaii.

I'll talk about each one individually and my experience with them.

Primerica Financial Services

These guys have been a strong hold in the Networking industry for a while now. If I'm not mistaken, they've produced quite of bit of millionaire earners that are DOCUMENTED than any other company around. Some companies have a "Millionaires Club" that you become a part of when you've ACCUMULATED a million dollars throughout your entire career with them whether it be 3 or 30 years. I only spend time talking about true millionaires...annually.

Primerica tends to be a little harder to lay the groundwork considering that you need to obtain your securities license amongst others like a mortgage solicitors license as well.

Its not a "QIP" (Quick Income Producer) where you can realistically make $2,000 to $3,000 in 3 months. (But there aren't many that are legit anyway)

However, you can make a large steady income in 1-2 years time given you take advantage of all the streams of revenue.

I've met a few key Primerica players that happen to be here in Kailua Kona. I'll most likely be interviewing them on my site in the very near future.

Comp Plan: to be quite honest, I've taken a quick glance at the comp plan and it pays out pretty well for selling the insurance policies, mortgage packages, and other financial investments but it doesn't look like there is a strong "stand still" residual. I might be wrong, however, i'll find out when I interview one of the key players this week. Stay posted for that.

Hype: A little. They need to keep people motivated in a time when the economy goes down and still encourage them to stay strong. The gype is most likely coming from individual reps that don't really know what their talking about or what they're doing. It's natural.
Then again, any company- I don't care which one- is going to have some level of hype...your in MLM...that's what it's about!

Melaleuca

Products / Services: Household products, health & wellness
Niche: Environmentally safe products
Established: 1986

These guys have been around for quite some time. There hasn't really been any millionaire status people in Hawaii. However, there the "million a year" producers like Alan Pariser and Ed Bestoso in Florida and California.

Charlene & (I just forgot her husbands name...shame on me) Tajiri have been earning a documented $15k-$23k a month consistently for years and they are locals in Oahu.

Anyhow, I've been hearing a little more buzz about melaleuca lately because although there comp plan hasn't been known for it's lucrative nature for newbies, that's changed because of some comp plan enhancements they implemented over the last few months.

Laraine Agren, a top income producer at Executive Director status now lives on the Hilo side of the Big Island and from what I understand- she's ready to take the Hawaii market to a whole new level...to be honest- I think she's just kickin' it retirement style. I mean, why else would you move to Hilo-- to the slowest, most isolated part of Hilo if you weren't planning on continuing your business LONG DISTANCE?! I'm probably wrong...but who knows.

I've only heard of some other lady in the Kohala area that's a Director 4 (and has been for quite a while) that's pursuing Melaleuca at a serious level. As you can see, Melaleuca is a pretty wide open market in Hawaii- especially on the Big Island.

I'm great friends with a Senior Director (about 800 person downline $5k-$7k/mo..DOCUMENTED) in Oahu and Executive Director 4 (about 2500 person downline $15k-$20k/mo...DOCUMENTED) in California who I'll be interviewing in a couple of weeks. Stay posted for that.

Liberty International

Products / Services: They've got over 100 products but never really say anything about them other than what I just said. Their main focus is the VOIP / Video Phone service.
Niche: VOIP
Established: They say a few years in R&D, but only 1 1/2 years or something since launch.

This company was founded by Industry Mogul Randy Jeffers. Jeffers made it big in something like primerica back in the mid 80's. Became a huge success at that.

In 1995, he started Destiny Telecom and sold long distance telephone cards. Got shut down for some reason. In 1997, his company faced a $20 million dollar lawsuit in Oakland.

The cased was settled and Destiny (Jeffers) only had to pay out $1.6 million to 3 different agencies. I'm sure the DA and the General Attorney was happy about that.

So he came out of the woodworks a couple years back and he's back in action! Here's his latest project:

I went to a meeting that they held at the MIXX BISTRO in Kona about a couple of months back. I was suprised to see probably about 175 people in attendance. One of the top (if not the TOP) income earner was there doing a presentation. I have his name and number on my phone but i'm too lazy to run out to my living room to check it out. He's a latin american dude from california and basically collecting serious checks. I haven't documented any claims though.

What was suprising was that there were a lot people with no MLM experience who were up their in the testimonial section who had pulled in checks (undocumented) to the tune of $7k in their first 8 weeks, $3k in their first 2 weeks, $5k in the first 2 1/2 months, etc...

This will be very impressive if I'm able to document their success and document the success of others on their team over a 6 month to 1 year period. Perhaps, 2 years...even better.

I'll be interviewing a good friend of mine (the one who invited me to the opp meeting) in a week or so to get more insight. stay tuned for that.

I know it's weird because I'm such a big supporter and fan of the Industry, but I'm very skeptical about this opportunity because they don't have much groundwork laid out. I mean, try and google them and see if you can find their main home website. Tell me what you think of that site? Even most fly by night companies have nice looking, professional websites that are very informative. No so with Liberty International.

But as always, like my motto "Documentation beats Conversation every single time". If the success can be documented- who cares about the measly website?!!!

Multi Level Marketing or MLM in Hawaii

2008-02-04T06:19:00.000-10:00

This is the very first post--the beginning of a very rich, in-depth look at the growth of Multi Level marketing (Network Marketing) businesses in Hawaii.
I have been asked time and time again to put out something of this nature on the web to educate and inform people in the U.S.--mainly in Hawaii about the wild world of free enterprise.

It seems like the scams always hit small towns first and eventually spread out to the larger metropolis areas through the warm market. Not saying that MLM is a scam-because it ISNT--however there are a lot of them.

The reason for this blog is to document the information that I have compiled over the years of being in the industry.

So...here's to the beginning of your success in the greatest Industry in the world.

Subscribe to this blog and you will see a difference in your business.