Why The M.O.D.E. Name Change From MonaVie to Marketing

LINK: One Persons -- Comprehensive Analysis of Permission Marketing

My Take:

There is a lot of BUZZ in regard to one of the most misused words of 2006 on the Internet -- "Permission Marketing," as coined by Author, Blogger, and Marketing Genius -- Seth Godin -- in his book by the same title.

My experiences with Permission Marketing as applied to direct sales and more specifically Online Multi-Level Marketing -- has been Attraction Marketing -- which is somewhat of a spin-off of Permission Marketing as applied to a business that traditionally requires prospecting.

What if the rules of MLM changed, and instead of hunting -- you learned to attract and filter those who you chose to do business with?

A brief synopsis : Think of selling lumber online -- instead of advertising how great and straight your boards are -- you rather build an online community/blog with topics covering building projects and maybe free design plans for such projects. You offer tips for contractors, and anything else that appeals to an audience that would most likely buy your product -- boards.

Many people are promoting multiple terms to describe their individual interpretations of what I perceive as The Art of Attraction Marketing -- yes an art of discipline if you will.

Anyone can get online and post ads on a website, blog, etc. to claim there product and/or opportunity is the best on the planet. To be able to attract a stranger to you and your products/business -- without an ad is a developed talent. Would you agree?

Within the Network Marketing Community (Online specifically) there are hundreds -- most likely thousands -- who are inaccurately and conveniently misusing the buzz-words such as Attraction Marketing to promote their marketing efforts. The phrase sounds so simple and inviting, most people automatically offer their interpretation as to what it is, even when they really haven't a clue as to how it is best applied online.

Many take the casual atmosphere that this form of marketing can produce in an online community/blog setting, and corrupt the art -- by blasting the trust that is established with unexpected ad bombs. Ad bombs are those posts which are the blatant advertisements of ones products and/or services.

Most recently, I have seen one blog in particular become mostly an ad space. This offends readers -- well at least one that I know of -- for sure.

The irony is that when using an Attraction/Permission based marketing strategy as related to Network Marketing -- It is my humble opinion, that marketers should be trying to eliminate the in-your-face type of promotions -- instead -- placing emphasis on engaging the consumer through value driven generic content. By doing so, this eliminates the need to prospect and pitch their widgets and/or potions to their reader base.

Surely -- you have heard some the Permission based terms being promoted within the direct sales industry (Network Marketing) over the last few years; Attraction Marketing, Relationship Marketing, Friendship Marketing, Magnetic Sponsoring, etc., etc.

In the realm of Permission Marketing being described as an art form -- I am a struggling artist myself, but I continue to practice my networking and permission based style of marketing. I find that people are much more receptive to your message whenever the content of the message remains generic versus the dreaded pitch and hype methods used so frequently within the direct sales business models.

Hence the change name change here on M.O.D.E. from MonaVie-One Distributors Experiences to Marketing-One Distributors Experiences. A more generic and general title and theme -- for the sake of becoming more attractive to a more diverse audience of readers.

For those bloggers that have influenced me -- in both directions -- I thank you for helping me become a better blogger.

More to come~

M.O.D.E. Gets Linked -- On The Road With Dave

Link: MLM Product Ingredient Gets Good Press

Marketplace (audio included)



Thanks Dave~

Subsidiary of Readers Digest Association Goes Direct Sales

LINK: Subsidiary of Readers Digest Association Goes Direct Sales

Taste of Home Entertaining, Inc. is a subsidiary of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, New York.

As a key element of a larger strategic plan, RDA acquired Reiman Publishing and their flagship magazine, Taste of Home in 2002. In April of 2005 Bill Shaw joined Taste of Home Entertaining, Inc. as President and began the process of founding a new direct selling company as an extension of the Taste of Home brand.

The 49-year-old Shaw came to RDA after a distinguished career in direct sales which included the launch of one of America's most successful party plan companies. Shaw is highly respected among his industry peers, has served on the Direct Selling Association's Board of Directors and currently serves on the Direct Selling Education Foundation Board as a Director. Bill is joined by his wife and co-founder Robin Shaw, Vice President of Consultant Services. Robin has more than a decade of party plan experience, including serving as President of a direct selling company.

Other officers include David Wilkinson, Vice President of Technology and, Howard Halligan, Chief Financial Officer.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

Thank you for tuning in and following along.

Warm regards,

Jerry Giebeig

What's Squidoo All About?

Latest Updates From Seth Godin on Squidoo:

Squidoo lets anyone build a simple, free web page that points to blogs, online stores, maps and other information on a single topic, any topic. Each page can contain insight, bullet points, links, products and pictures, and each page earns royalties for its creator or for charity.

Squidoo leverages the power of personal recommendation. The site will eventually host millions of handmade lenses, each a focused, useful guide to some area of expertise, some glimpse of the net. Instead of aimlessly poking, a lens lets a user see the big picture a human beings big picture, the overview you need to get the meaning of the idea.

Can you explain more about lenses?

The heart of Squidoo is the lens. A lens can point the best hotels in London. Or blogs with pictures and articles about Paris Hilton. Or personal accounts about Hurricane Katrina.

A lens can expose a cross-section of the web, a more personal and more humanly relevant take that no computer could ever create. A lens is an easy-to-build page of links and referrals. Two lenses may be on the same topic, but they are never the same as every lens is personal, and every lens is built by a person, a Lensmaster.

Squidoo is a project from online marketing genius and author Seth Godin (Seth's blog is in index.)

I have started building my own Squidoo Lens and would like to invite you all to check it out Squidoo and start your own Lens. If you decide to build a Lens, send me a link, as we would enjoy getting to know you better.

My Squidoo Lens Rank -- has went from a 2100+ rating when I initially set it up a day ago, to a rank of 720 already. I guess that is pretty good, as I am not real clear what determines the ranking at this point.

Networking Is A Great Way To Get Business

LINK: BizConnect: Networking Is A Great Way To Get Business

Networking: The Concept

Networking is a process for developing and maintaining quality relationships that are mutually beneficial. The people who think their networking effort is just about selling, or who evaluate their success based on the number of cards they collect is missing the real benefit. Networking is about the quality of the relationships, not the quantity.

Two Facts:

1. 70% of new business comes from referrals
2. The average business owner has at least 25 people in their network

The Win/Win Perspective:

You can try and sell 12 people you meet for the first time, with relatively little success. Or, you can approach networking as a relationship-building activity, expanding your possibilities for referrals by 25 each time you develop a relationship with someone new.

Four Suggestions:

1. Remember, we all came here to meet new people.
2. Use tonight as an opportunity to make new friends
3. Don’t try to “sell” people, find out about them. Ask, “What do you do when you’re not attending networking events?”
4. Choose those you feel you made connection with and arrange to continue talking about how you might assist one another.

Diamond Approach to Self Realization FINALLY Explained

Well, the question that many have been asking for a very long time is finally answered today on M.O.D.E.

That question is -- "What excatly is the Diamond Approach to Self Realization?"

So many Network Markeing companies have silly titles (i.e., Diamond, Emerald, Perl, etc.) that many of us wonder about their origination.

The wait is no longer -- not sure this is what we are looking for, but an explanation nonetheless. Until we get further explanantion -- this may have to do for now.

Here is more than we ever wanted to know:

LINK: Diamond Approach FINALLY Explained

Snipplet~

This site represents the collected written works of A.H. Almaas, the pen name of A. Hameed Ali, the originator of the Diamond Approach® to Self-Realization.

The Diamond Approach is a path of wisdom, an approach to the investigation of Reality and a method of working on oneself that leads to human maturity and liberation. It is a spiritual teaching, a method of connecting with our spiritual nature and bringing it into our life. The Diamond Approach represents a new paradigm in human/spiritual knowledge and understanding. It is not a synthesis of existing knowledge, but rather a new, more integrated understanding of the entire human psyche – ego, personality, soul – and the psyche’s relationship with its fundamental nature.

All the books are in the nature of spiritual texts for the Diamond Approach. They serve several purposes: 1) to support the teachers and students of the Diamond Approach, 2) to help students of other teachings with perspectives and insights not included in traditional teachings, 3) to contribute to the spiritual knowledge of mankind. The books are not rigorous philosophic treatises or attempts to prove any theory. They represent a teaching that developed experientially, as the expression of an inner transformation of consciousness that the author has undergone.

If you are unfamiliar with the Diamond Approach, click here for an Overview of the Diamond Approach by A.H. Almaas.

Quixtar Acknowledges Problems With The Tools Business.

This news is a day or two old. I had written a nice preface to this article and it disappeared right in front of my eyes. I then shut off my computer, but awoke this morning and thought I should post this for those who do not follow Qblog.

Ongoing industry issues with abuse of tool systems continues to be exposed. M.O.D.E is committed to bring you the latest news as related to the businesses within businesses. This industry-wide problem is not limited to Quixtar.

As usual I lie to disclose that there are a minority of Quixtar IBO's that do not participate in the "Tool Businesses." My online friend and fellow blogger David Robison who blogs here, is one of the Quixtar IBO's that is building his business organically = no tools, and no training fees -- or pesticides. :-)


Quixtar's 'tool' trouble

Snip~

Managing Director Jim Payne said Amway co-founder Rich DeVos left a long legacy as a motivator--------

"When you look back at the history of the company, motivation and training have always been important elements of the business," he said.

"As we grew, we made mistakes with it," he said. "The last four to five years, we've done a much better job and set up safeguards to protect IBOs."

The company -- part of Ada-based Alticor -- is working to create "transparency" so new IBOs know what to expect and what the rules are, Payne said.

There are 48 pages of rules that outline the conduct of Quixtar IBOs, said Rob Davidson, vice president of sales and marketing.

Davidson previously served as the company's vice president of global business conduct, rules and business support materials.

"A high 90s (percentage of people) do things the right way," he said, adding the company has kicked out high-level distributors for rules violations.

The company keeps a close eye on rules and ethics.

"Reputation is one of the keys to the Quixtar business," Payne said. "We are more interested in responsible sales than sales at any cost."

Promoters, Salesmen, and Recruiters -- OH MY!

As it has been made obvious from my last post -- I most recently traveled cross-country from Florida to Oregon.

On an airplane, for the most part -- you are surrounded by professionals, so the casual conversations flow pretty naturally if you take the time to just say hello.

I really enjoy the air travel experience as related to meeting a broad diversity of people from all walks of life.

There is no mistake about it, I am a promoter/salesman/recruiter and I have a product and business opportunity that I promote -- to earn a living.

We all promote/sell/recruit, no matter what we do.

Even the stay-at-home mom -- promotes/sells/recruits something new -- as part of their daily routines.

Whether it be a new brand of hair products and/or a new designer purse that she recommends to her girlfriends on the phone or at the local neighborhood Bar-B-Q.

Maybe she is recruiting parents input for a new format for teaching children at the PTA meeting or possibly promoting buy-in for a new nutritional product for the school menu. ;-)

The more we learn and share (about any and all topics), the genuine flow the conversation takes -- without coming off as a promotion/sales pitch.

Reading books is how you will improve your ability to talk business.

If you are not reading new books constantly, you are probably finding it difficult to talk business with new people you meet.

In today's marketplace -- totally new technologies are replacing the old -- about every 18 months.

We are no longer able to compete in the market if we are not constantly learning.

I personally enjoy sharing and exploring ideas with people.

"Everyone likes to buy, but no one likes to feel like they are being sold."

The ability to converse strengthens for all of us as we start/continue to increase our reading and staying current with trends and current events. (Very important to get your information from reliable sources.)

For this is why I also believe in this saying;

"You become what you read, what you listen to, and who you hang around."

For me, I find that wellness is a exciting and hot topic on the forefront of peoples minds.

Wellness and improving nutrition is a topic that is easy and enjoyable to integrate into any casual conversation.

These topics are affecting people's daily lives.

Many people do not understand why the no-fat and low-fat diets have failed them.

Side Note~ North Americans as a whole have become more obese in the last several years -- than in any other time in our history. We are dying from more and more from inflammation related diseases such as; Cardio-Vascular Disease, Strokes, Diabetes, and many other life threatening diseases -- which could mostly be prevented by better nutrition and exercise.

This week -- try to engage with someone by simply saying hello and introducing yourself by name. Not as a MonaVie Distributor, but a human being.

Get selling off your mind, and relax.

Enjoy getting to know people regardless of whether they are interested in your product and/or business opportunity.

Allow people to tell you about themselves -- People love to talk about themselves.

If you have any doubts -- pay attention to how much you talk about yourself in your next conversation.

As a good networker, it is imperative to become a good listener.

People are interesting and the more comfortable they are, the more they will share with you -- their wants, needs, and desires.

You will find that by networking with people, that you will make friends that fit into different areas of your life.

People who you meet -- may become fishing buddies, some golf partners, some crocheting friends, some customers, some business partners.

You never know where there will be a possible friendship -- so start introducing yourselves and becoming a friend to others.

By doing so -- you will not be focused on selling and people will ask to buy from you, instead of you asking them for the sale.

Think this article is wordy?

Can you imagine sitting next to me on a cross-country airplane trip? ;-)

Comments?

P.S. The alter ego of the aggressive marketer in me -- would liked to have had a person wearing a MonaVie Bottle costume traveling with me, to spark interest and conversation. It would have been tough getting through security check-points, I am sure. :-)

Critics have fun with that statement -- LOL ;-)

Retailing MonaVie -- Experiences In Oregon

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

As most of you know -- I have been out West for the past week -- visiting with a friend and also introducing MonaVie to some really awesome folks along the way.

My main business objective in SW Oregon -- was to assist one of my personally sponsored distributors to become more acquainted with MonaVie business opportunity --with a special focus on retailing to sole proprietors/stores.

We easily shared/tasted MonaVie with some health food stores, and even a privately owned grocery market -- which offers a lot of organic and all-natural alternative foods, catering to the growing health conscious market.

Upon close examination, I conclude that MonaVie can elegantly sit atop the shelves with very attractive packaging that will peak customers curiosities.

My belief is that customers will be so intrigued by the MonaVie bottle, sitting on shelves -- that they will literally reach for the bottle.

MonaVie stands out from the rest of the products in a supplement section and even the health food store shelves. This triggers people's interest to inquire further.

Be sure to leave additional information.

With MonaVie's bulk-pricing options -- you can attract store owners attention through the retail component which offers wholesale pricing that is very attractive to small business owners outside of the MLM opportunity. (Yes, some will be interested in the MLM business opportunity, but imho -- you should never mix the two in the initial meet and greet with retailers. Offering the MLM component may come after you have built a wholesale sales relationship and you get to know them personally.)

Most companies that have a MLM component, also claim to have a retail component, but for the majority -- this is a fallacy.

For example -- I do not know of many MLM companies that offer bulk-pricing and/or realistic wholesale pricing programs to warrant retail selling. Quixtar offers wholesale/retail pricing, but no one I ever know pays retail.

My point is that retail opportunities may exist within MLM businesses, but they are few in number -- upon close examination.

As we journeyed, we experienced a very welcoming response from small business owners and/or decision makers alike within the SW Oregon market.

Simply walking into a health food store and/or a gourmet sandwich shop even, with a chilled bottle of MonaVie and asking if they would like to taste a new 100% all-natural wellness product that could increase profits.

No one refused -- they all said yes.

Oh yeah, there was one elderly lady -- who was minding the shop, that was short with us. (Won't bore ya with the details)

We did get more than one person asking us "Is this MLM?"

We responded with -- "We are Independent MonaVie Distributors, and what we are presenting to you today, is a wholesale (bulk pricing available) opportunity for you to resale this 100% all-natural wellness product. Just as your other distributors offer.

No, we are NOT soliciting you to join an MLM.

MonaVie is experiencing double-digit sales growth each month since our launch in Jan. of this year.

We do have a MLM component, but that is not what we are here presenting to you today.

Within a short period of time, there will be other retail outlets that are offering the MonaVie product. Would you like to be one of the first retailers to offer the MonaVie products, that will create a returning customer base?

FYI - People are paying $2.50 for a (1) ounce shot of wheat grass. Meaning --that customers are returning DAILY -- to the retailer to purchase their shot of wheat grass.

Business owners love products of this nature, as it gives them an opportunity to make a new sale every day -- to returning customers -- that frequent their businesses."

There are many sole proprietors still operating small businesses in OR. It was like time traveling back to the early days for me -- as I live on the East Coast and franchising seems to be dominating our marketplace.

The vast amount of consumers that are demanding healthy foods within this area, also pleasantly surprised me.

On the East Coast, it seems that we are thinking less about the negative results of pulling through a drive-thru to satisfy our saturated fat fix, than our friend in Ashland, Oregon.

In Ashland they actually closed a McDonald's and Dairy Queen so that a bank could purchase the drive-thru rights. Ashland only allows 12 drive-thru permits in the entire town.

If all goes according to plan, we should have a few sole proprietors who will be offering MonaVie on their shelves after the first of the year.

The grocer will also allow one of our distributors -- to set-up a sample stand in the store, so that she can introduce the MonaVie product to the SW Oregon community.

Everyone we shared/tasted MonaVie with, loved the taste and gave compliments.

I really enjoyed meeting with the great people of Oregon, and hope to return there soon and visit with my friend and new business associates.

Pomegranate revs up new food and beverage launches - Food Business Review

LINK: Article about "Super Fruits."

Pomegranate's growth spurt could be good news for other so-called "superfruits" which are naturally high in beneficial ingredients. According to Tom Vierhile, Executive Editor of Datamonitor's Productscan Online database of new products, "acai is another 'good for you' tropical fruit which bears watching. A Brazilian rainforest berry, acai is said to have 50 percent more antioxidants than pomegranate. It's now only in a handful of products, but recent launches containing acai have grown at an exponential rate which bodes well for the future."

Oasis Or Mirage? Part I & II

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Program Note~

I may be out of pocket for a couple of days, just have to take it day-by-day right now. I have a terminally ill family member. Please take some time and read some of the M.O.D.E. archives, that are located in the right-hand side of the blog.

Due to time constraints and dealing with this emergency -- I am posting links to Daves 2 part series from the On The Road With Dave Blog.

Great posts Dave -- as usual -- objective and professionaly written.

Enjoy~

Post: Oasis Or Mirage? Part I

Post: Oasis or Mirage? Part II

AgelessXtra Not So Xtra-Ordinary After All

Obviously, AgelessXtra is not as proprietary or unique of a formula as one might have been lead to believe.

Now there is news that another company has alledgedly stolen the Oasis Life Sciences-proprietary AgelessXtra Formula.

According to a news release, you can get AgelessXtra's "Same Recipe" -- minus the Serenex corn extract, packaged as Resource Maxima. Consumers can buy the alternative product, for same money, and get a larger bottle.

Resource Maxima has a total different story from the story being potrayed by Oasis.

Read the Resource Maxima side of the story:

Resource Maxima Responds to Allegations

Now this news break from the Rocky Mountain Press:

Companies feud over anti-aging formula

Comparing potions

• Oasis LifeSciences, formerly of Broomfield, says Resource Maxima is using the
formula of its AgelessXtra product under the brand name Ageless Forever. According to the Oasis complaint, here's how the formulas compare:

Oasis AgelessXtra VERSUS Resource Maxima Ageless Forever

Ingredients

Calories 20 20

Total carbohydrates 5g 5g

Sugars 3g 3g

VitaminB3(as niacinamide, niacin) 18mg 20mg

VitaminB6(as pyridoxal-5-phosphate) 4mg 4mg

Serenix corn extract (2-1) 500mg none

Greentea extract
(70 percent Rhodiola rosea extract) 220mg 220mg

UltrinTG(Rhodiola rosea extract) 150mg 150mg

OKGOrnithine Keto-glutarate 150mg%

Forget Grades -- Hiring All Freaks!

The title of this post should get your attention.

Now before you get offended - Please read the quotes within the snipplet, if you don't have time to read the entire article found below, behind the link.

The article - is interesting - especially if you are a college student. ;-)

My personal observation as a small business owner in the Direct Sales Industry is --

"A lot more people would get involved with some sort of business opportunity if they weren't so comfortable being miserable. People get too caught up trying to portray perfection. The fact they may risk failing at their attempts to build a business - results in them missing out on many personal growth opportunities."

This fear of failure is paralysing to the human spirit. Our inablility and/or unwillingness to conquer our fears, affect every aspect of our lives - including but not limited to -- spirituality, business, as well as our physical health.

Success is about being couragious enough to fail - realizing that failure is one of the main ingredients neccessary for acheiving success.

Do you realize that most all successful entrepreneurs have "lost it all" multiple times, before becoming financially independent. Yes, even the Mr. Trump has filed bankrupcy -- falling down and scuffing your knees, is a natural part of the natural progression of becoming successful.

Can one become successful without be willing to fail?

We stand strong on our views and say -- not.

What are YOUR views, leave them in the comments.....

Your College is Not a Technical School

Snipplets~

Are you stuck by convention?

Let's see what a couple of other hardcore entrepreneurs have to say about it.

Paul Graham notes this in his absolutely excellent essay, Hiring is Obsolete:

Look what business luminary Tom Peters says about GPAs:

Never hire a human being who had a 4.0 in college. If they had a perfect GPA, it means they bought the act and never screwed around. Now a 2.0 is probably not so good. But the ones who had 3.0, yeah! Those are the freaks you want!

I asked managers at Yahoo, Google, Amazon, Cisco and Microsoft how they’d feel about two candidates, both 24, with equal ability, one who’d tried to start a startup that tanked, and another who’d spent the two years since college working as a developer at a big company. Every one responded that they’d prefer the guy who’d tried to start his own company. Zod Nazem, who’s in charge of engineering at Yahoo, said:

“I actually put more value on the guy with the failed startup. And you can quote me!”

So there you have it.

Want to get hired by Yahoo?

Start your own company.