Does it really matter? Look at Mona Vie, it seems this juggernaut is impervious- driven on amway zealotry, and a hype surge like the mlm world has never seen. It will be interesting to see if these new products have the staying power that the originals like Tahitian Noni and Aloe Vera have clearly proven they have- surviving attack after attack and still alive and well.

It is a well accepted rule that most new sign ups last about 3 months in a program. How long do the $300 club newbies last. Few if any companies are going in the opposite direction. What would happen if startup and autoship was $50 a month? Would retention be much longer? Would it be an MLM shoe-horn that will ease a newbie into the system rather than bust him in and out after three months?

Mona Vie- nothing new, just another juice right? What are they doing right? For starters, they have a highly aggressive marketing strategy. Giving away, Ferrari’s, millions of dollars, etc. based on a binary marketing plan so enticing that mainstay die hard Amway top dogs salivated to the point of lawsuits and controversy that propelled Mona Vie to near yearly billion dollar revenues. Will Mona Vie sustain? Doubtful it will sustain its current level of success (but in all fairness, who ever does?). One reason they will not sustain is that a binary payout pays out big on top- and very little to the average guy. Uni-level hybrid plans will sustain lower level distributors much longer than binary- therefore they will stick around much longer.

The dearth in growth TNI has experienced that last few years is a telling sign that innovation in the wrong direction can be fatal. It is never too late with network marketing programs however. It was once joked that once a company reaches $10M a month in sales- you couldnt kill it if you beat it with a stick…. it is certainly true in many cases. Neways Japan for example struggled severely in the end of the 90’s- it was all but over for them. Now they are a dominant force in Japan. What was the change? The right people, the right incentives, and the right products? Who really knows exactly… but it was something to do with motivated distributors.

Super Fruit Juices are here to stay. It is up to TNI, to see if they can reinvent themselves now the right way to revive what was once was most prolific and exciting stranglehold the business had seen in decades. Cutting distributor commissions was a deathly blow- regardless of the reasons. It was poorly executed, and arrogantly implemented. Products began to be less and less lucrative. If you are looking for a how-to-NOT grow a company from $500M to a $Billion, you need look no further than TNI in the last 3 years. But as it was true for Neways in Japan, so it can be true for TNI, time will tell.

Look for the next 5 years, those who grasp a hold of the vision of what is coming, will become millionaires. Consumption on staying-young products is already massive, baby boomers will have more time to research, more incentive to buy, the older they get, the more active they will want to be, and therefore…… you see what I mean.

No other product on the market is as popular as the super fruit. Noni, Xango, Acai, the list is growing. All of it is good, all of it works, and all of it will be sold direct sales. The stuff works, and it will sell.

There is a shift in the work force happening, real estate on hold, network marketing exploding. Look around a little and you’ll notice a huge upsurge in meetings everywhere. Friends calling friends, colleagues meeting at lunch, and pads of paper are out and circles are being drawn connecting the dots while painting a dreaming of residual income bliss to make debt burden of overspending all go away!

If you are considering starting a network marketing career, now may be the best time ever to start it. A recession is always good for network marketing, and that is exactly what we have right now. Strike while the iron is hot! If you cant make it happen now, mlm may not be for you.

Exfuse, well established and deep pocketed founders are launching this week, and are crossing all of the t’s and dotting all the i’s necessary for a big launch. Good story, credible execs, stylish website, and timing for the launch couldn’t be better. Bad market is great for mlm. Real estate agents and mortgage loan officers finding themselves with too much time on their hands, and huge overhead resulting from speculative home market, and bills piling up. The incentive to scrap for every possible dollar is out there and the sharks are hungry. I have been contacted by 5 different people in the past week alone.

The stars may be aligning for Exfuse. All the critical elements are inline. With over seven proven superjuices, and slow economy, and a creative bonus structure, Exude may well squeez all thats left out of the superjuice mlm explosion. With all these great superfruits out there, it was bound to happen. The king of all the kings of fruits… SEVEN!

I don’t know, really, what todays ethics are. I know the dictionary defines ethics as, “a set of moral principles, esp. ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, of form of conduct.” Some people function solely on the premise of “buyer beware.” CLEARLY, there is a conflict here. So are the buyer beware people unethical? Buyers should be aware anytime it involves investing time, money, dreams, effort, while at the same time sacrificing. The responsibility lies with the buyer to make sure what he is being sold is what it is said to be. Ideally, we would all be honest. That just isn’t the case.

Network Marketing recruiting can be done by anyone. All you have to do is pay the sign up fee, and you are in. With thousands and thousands recruiting, there will be some bad apples. Usually, if someone is really unethical, their business will not last too long. However, some are just REALLY THAT GOOD. Some of these heavy recruiters will say anything, do anything, lie, cheat, steal, and do whatever it takes to close the deal. This is at the root of dissatisfaction among the 85% of the worlds population who are not interested in network marketing.

Eithics do play a role in life, especially in a relationship business. And for the most part, one cannot escape the consequences of unethical actions for long. Neways is not the only company that has this going on, but was unlucky enought to pay the price for everyone. From time to time, the industry needs a good wake up call, thanks Neways!

Well, it is cool. It is also very lucrative. YTB, or “Your Travel Biz” has experienced a boom in the travel industry over the past 5 years! However, strangely 85% of YTB’s total sales are not from travel related sales. Hummm, they really aren’t selling any travel? Signing up costs $500- WAIT, oops, my apologies- you are buying your own web page travel business for $500! Well, you can get the same business web page as an affiliate on Travelocity for free, but then where’s the fun in that? There is also a $50 a month licensing fee.

This is a network marketing professionals dream. The product costs virtually nothing for the company to produce, there is nothing to warehouse, nothing to “create” really. That leaves HUGE margins to pay back to distributors…. and I mean HUGE!!!

The marketing plan for YTB is nothing short of genius. It is one of the most generous payout to its distributors on the planet. The YTB creators are generous, sincere, and are true blue network marketing professionals. Is the product really worth something? It doesnt matter. Network marketing is as much a relationship business and a dream machine as it is something that provides a useful product or service. So why not cut to the chase?

YTB appeals to the truest of true network marketing professionals. Ones who don’t really need to ask what and why or if the product good enough. It isn’t a pyramid scheme, it isn’t a rip off really (that is if one does his research, he will know exactly what he is getting into, and if he doesn’t do it? Well, he should).

YTB is pure network marketing in all of its glory. Keep an eye on this one, they are growing like a weed, and are contemplating expanding their services… what next? Used cars? That will be interesting!!!

There was an explosion of activity and buzz when this Hiro launch was announced. Buzz was mostly centered on TNI Execs suggested Hiro marketing strategy- a network marketing product that can reach the masses by allowing Hiro to be sold in retail stores. Think of the possibilities! Finally, a way to reach the 85% of consumers in the world who are not interested in network marketing! Hiro was a gold mine. The build up to launch was so skillfully done, that excitement was palpable. TNI distributors were a hive of activity, salivating at the prospects of another exponential burst of record-breaking growth.

Then came the launch… and more importantly the price and compensation of Hiro was unveiled…

After the initial shock, I believe the jaws of thousands of distributors collectively dropped as reality set in. The saying, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” blasted them back into reality. Ecstatic applause quieted to uncertain looks and raised eyebrows. Distributors started asking themselves, “do they take us for idiots?”

It turns out, TNI priced Hiro right out of the regular consumer market. Recommended retail price is $3.60 a 8 oz can, a very difficult item to sell in such a competitive market. Yea, its good, but is it THAT good? To compound matters further, commission on the product was sliced in HALF! How about pouring salt in the wound?

A year later, and after putting themselves back together, most TNI distributors will say yes, Hiro is good. The research and technology that went into the production of the drink, and the healthy ingredients, including Tahitian Noni Juice, warrants the higher price. It is however unlikely that an everyday shopper will see this value and pull out an addition buck fifty when a Red Bull costs a mere 2 bucks.
It became clear that the company had really no interest in selling Hiro competitively to the regular market. It is still a network marketing product, and the high cost must be justified to a potential buyer and sold by a TNI distributor, the old fashioned way. Why didn’t the Execs just say so in the first place?

Why was anyone surprised? After the letdown, it turns out that the distributor base of TNI distributors actually are drinking up Hiro. It is certainly a great product, it didn’t hit the store shelves as it was proposed by the company- but it did boost overall sales at TNI considerably. Hiro turned out to be a smart move by the Execs. It seems they have surrendered to the idea that explosive growth for TNI with network marketing may be a thing of the past, but they can utilize their huge distributor base… or in this case “customer” base with new and innovative products. Slicing commission in half on Hiro didn’t hurt the bottom line for TNI either. More to the company, less to the distributor, reminiscent of when commissions were cut by 20% the previous year.

Some TNI distributors argue that this is the Execs new strategy- to just take advantage of their immense distributor base as customers. The most recent leadership convention unveiled another new strategy….”Drink More Tahitian Noni!” That’s right, get the customers to spend more per month. After 10 years, suddenly a person should double his usage? Riiiiight.