My name is Ty Tribble and I would like to welcome you to the MLM Blog. I launched this site in 2003 as a journal of my thoughts and opinions on Network Marketing.
While I write about many companies, I am only active in one, if you would like more information about myself or my business, visit my personal web site at TyTribble.com
If you have story ideas, comments or questions, you can contact me at ty (at) tribble (dot) org.
This post from lawBlawg should be required reading for all current MLM - Network Marketers as well as those that are researching Network Marketing - MLM.
(Originally Posted on December 27th, 2003)
If you have additional questions feel free to send me an email at: mlmblog@mlmblog.net
In the "What Sets Us Apart" - PDF, Bo Short states the following:
"Passport was designed to offer people an opportunity to take advantage of the home based business industry without many of the associated problems."
I have addressed many of the typical problems associated with MLM and Network Marketing in other posts, but I will take the time to summarize them along with the solutions Passport seems to provide. It remains to be seen whether a small company such as Passport can make a change in the world of Network Marketing. However, I believe that if Passport continues to do the right thing, they won't be small for long.
So what really sets Passport apart?
1. Price of the Products. Passport's products compete with retail stores and may be the most competitively priced products in Network Marketing.
2. Truly Home Based. If you are not in the business of making money by having meetings, and the business is simple enough to explain over the phone or online, why take you time away from your family when you can accomplish the same things from home?
3. No Points, PVs or BVs, it all Dollars and Cents. If you want to bring Network Marketing to the masses, you should speak the language of the masses.
4. No Titles. Everyone is an Independent Associate. Leaders will still be leaders, they don't need a title to tell them who they are.
5. No Qualification Periods. No need to buy extra stuff that you don't need in order to qualify for a "pin" or one night of glory.
6. Support Materials are Free, including two free personalized websites.
7. $39 to start and you get $50 in free products to get you started.
8. No surprises. You make money by selling products and sponsoring others. The Passport training is in place to teach you how to do that very thing, not to get you to buy the next tape or attend the next function.
Too many people are spending more than they are making on books, tapes, and meetings, as if a tape is going to make you a success. I was involved with Amway/Quixtar in the past and just recently found a clip of what Amway Founder Rich DeVos thinks about the systems: The success numbers have not changed with tape systems.
I will certainly keep my eye on this new blog, lawBlawg - Legal news, opinions and analysis about MLM, pyramid schemes, ponzi schemes and other suspect investment "opportunities.".
While you are it, have a look in my links section in the left side menu. There are some good blogs that deserve your attention.
I believe the biggest reason so many people fail in Network Marketing aka MLM is about to be outlined in this short post. Something should certainly be said about picking the right company in the first place but this post will give you the essence.
Why Network Marketers fail:
1. The new Network Marketer fails to find a coach.
2. The new Network Marketer fails to ask their coach the following question:
How can I build a Network Marketing business?
3. The coach fails miserably at answering the question.
The importance of finding a coach or a mentor is well documented. What is not well documented is how Network Marketing coaches (even when they are very successful) fail in answering the question, "How can I build a Network Marketing business?". Typically, a Network Marketing guru or upline will answer the question by regurgitating back all over the new person how he or she built Network Marketing, but simply put, that was not the question.
In other words, the guru is talking about himself when he should be asking questions of and talking to the new network marketer about his goals and comfort zones!
People might be curious how the guru built his or her business, but the purpose of the question is to get some specifics for the new person, not the guru's spit up of his former success.
I give a talk about this topic in a getting started conference call that I do for Passport once a month and was pleased to see this blog post about working within your comfort zone.
Here is a snip from Confessions of a Network Marketing Junkie (By the looks of the snip below, he is now an ex-junkie):
People don't like getting out of their comfort zone, and they will avoid anything that causes them to do so.I know what you're thinking. Whoa. Hold your horses. How can I build a business without getting out of my comfort zone?
It's simple really. Use the multitude of advertising methods that you feel comfortable with.
Helping people get started within their comfort zone is one of the ways to truly stand out from status quo MLM. I am all for self improvement and learning new ways to build a business, but lets start where folks are comfortable and build from that point.
I was talking to a friend of mine a couple of months ago about web sites that are critical of Quixtar. My friend asked me what I would do if someone (I think he used the term looney) put up a website that was critical of Passport. Our conversation centered on a what would happen if a person signed up for Passport, quit, and decided to start a web site blasting Passport.
My basic stance on a critical web site is that if person is offering their opinion based on facts or based on their experience, more power to them. I have always been straightforward and have a very clear conscience about my involvement in Passport.
Well the critical site I am referring to is not a former Passport associate talking about Passport based on his or her experience. It is a the site of a self proclaimed cross between Rich DeVos and Rush Limbaugh who can't seem to (or doesn't care to) tell the difference between the truth, rumors, and outright lies.
If you have any questions about Passport feel free to contact me. I have posted some information on this site and may post further information in the future. I just have mixed emotions about addressing outright lies and rumors.
I'll wrap up with a little challenge to our admirer:
Can you name one person one that has left Passport in order to join Quixtar? If you can, I would like to talk with him or her. I know a lot of people that have left Quixtar for Passport, but can't seem to find any that have done the opposite.
I was joking around with Passport's Bo Short today and told him that he has an admirer who thinks he has an inside scoop on his life. The funny thing about this admirer is that he is so far off the deep end in so many areas that it is silly. Much of the stuff is unsubstantiated rumor and other information that has been widely known and talked about for the 16 months that I have known Bo. All anyone needs to do is call him or email him and ask. If you have specific questions for Bo, and don't feel comfortable getting in touch with him, email me and I will ask him for you.
So I thought I would tell my readers what I have known all along.
1. Passport carries no debt and has been solvent since they shipped their first products in December of 2001.
2. Bo Short - Passport borrowed no money from Larry Sweat or his family. This rumor was intitiated by his former upline when he left Team In Focus - TIF originally.
3. Bo Short is the sole owner of Passport.
4. Passport is not for sale and has never been for sale.
Bo has always said that he purchased the bulk of his 6th leg in Honduras. I have known this all along. This appears to only be a mystery to his admirer. If I am not mistaken the amount was in the $60k region not $100k.
NEWSFLASH: My former Quixtar sponsor who is a diamond allegedly purchased a portion of his diamond-ship in Guam. Stretching (buying products) to get a pin is taught at 1000PV. What would make you think the same is not done at higher levels? I can be certain that there is someone in your up-line that doesn't want to answer the question, "Have you ever purchased additional products to hit a level in Quixtar?"
I know what the admirer is trying to do. That's cool, knock yourself out, dude. But think about this, if Passport only had 10 people involved, was run by Satan himself, and was loaded down with debt, that still wouldn't change the fact that the majority of Quixtar IBO's lose money every month, mostly because of a training system scam operated by a few kingpins. If Passport did not even exist the debate would still be the same. Then again, if you cannot defend your position with facts it is much easier to attack the messenger.
I received this email over the weekend:
I've just finished listening to Bo Short's explanation of what sets Passport apart. I'm deeply impressed with both the integrity and upfrontness that I heard, and also the simplicity and availability of information regarding the business plan.Recently a friend of mine contacted me about joining the Quixtar corporation. Out of respect for him I looked at the propostion seriously and kept an open mind. In the end I decided that the idea of network marketing has some value, but I had many problems with the specific opportunity presented to me. First, I was presented with way too much hype and not enough information. They promised everyone an opportunity to live a life of riches and free time, but they never spent much time explaining HOW their idea could give that opportunity to people.
When I listened to a tape entitled 'why this idea will work', the advice given included, "don't get bogged down in the details", "it's not the opportunity that's important, but the people you will work with", "don't listen to the opinions of people outside the company" and "it's difficult to see so you need a little faith". Everything I heard was an appeal to the emotion of hope, and discouraged an analytical view of the business. Furthermore I was told that it is possible to make money (and even lots of it) by simply buying my day to day products from Quixtar, instead of the local supermarket, and building a network of others who do the same. I was told that it was not products that I would be selling, but rather "the dream". This both smells of a barely legal pyramid and seems insustainable.
So I did some due dilligence on the net and found information about a current lawsuit against Quixtar which reveals that the majority of the profits of the people in the upper rings of the company come from the sales of motivational tools, rather than from the core product line.
Although I have now rejected Quixtar, I have become interested in network marketing in general, and after hearing the Quixtar sales pitch so many times I found yours to be very refreshing. If only I lived in America I would join right away. But as I am writing from Australia I just want to say goodluck and I hope that your organisation is very successful so that one day you can be present internationally. Oh, and if you know of any good network marketing companies that operate down here, I'd really appreciate if you would let me know. Thank you for caring about people rather than being driven by profit at any cost.
Regards, Ben Lambert
Bo Short's Former Diamond Blog is back as a true weblog.
In the first post back, Bo Short addresses some of the criticisms and reactions to the issues he has brought up at his FormerDiamond.com web site:
I was recently asked how I felt about the criticisms and reactions to me regarding the issues that I have discussed within this web site. My response was the same two days ago as it was when I chose to go public with what I learned...No surprise. Attacking the messenger is a very common response when a person or a group of people cannot defend their position based on its own merit. Since they cannot discuss matters substantively it is oftentimes easier to impugn people personally.
He ends the post with this:
I believe that the truth is much like a storm traveling across the ocean, picking up speed. In this case, if your foundation is not built on honesty, this storm will punish you. As well, the truth is also as subtle as a little dog walking over and pulling the curtain back revealing that the wizard is actually a scared little man that has built a life upon deception. Thank goodness for the truth.Always Lead, Bo
The QuixtarBlog is down but not out. I am certain it will be back up soon.
In order to build a profitable Network Marketing business, retail must be a serious component. However, retailing doesn't have to be difficult.
Keep it simple. Companies today, regardless of industry, stay in business because they solve problems for their customers. Network Marketing is no different. Therefore if you want to sell a product, find someone that has a problem, that your product offers a legitimate solution.
Once you have concluded that your product would solve a problem for a potential customer, give them a sample, and then remember to follow up. Identify a problem and offer a solution if you have one. That's it.
In the same manner, if you want to introduce someone to the business aspect of Network Marketing, you should be certain that your business solution would solve a problem for the person. This is not show 10 or sponsor 2 marketing, it is solving problems whether product related or business related.
I have been reading Difference Makers for a couple of weeks now and wanted to share the latest post from this well written blog.
We're taking an emergency trip to visit with one of the most influential Difference Makers that has ever impacted my life. He is a man of modest means with a generous spirit. He is man of unyielding principle, but gentle in every respect.His life is a classic American story. His mother was an immigrant from Czechoslovakia at age 17. She raised eight children on a very meger income. Some of his siblings were raised in foster homes. He is the youngest of the eight; the baby of the family.
As a young man he learned the value of hard work. This training provided him the fortitude to complete his college education while still holding down a full-time teaching job at a vocational school. In addition, he operated a part-time home improvement business in the evenings and on Saturdays.
He was and is a faithful husband. His first wife passed away in 1994 after 43 years of marriage. The following year, he met a lady that has complemented his life for the past 9 years. During his first marriage, he not only met the needs of his job, part-time business and church responsibilities, but cared for his ailing wife for a period of over 10 years.
He is the epitome of character. His word is his bond. His life is an example of consistency and constancy. Faithfulness and selflessness characterize his service to his home, church and community.
All this to say I am going to spend some precious time with my dad. No business, job or earthly good comes close to the value this man has added to my life. He is a Difference Maker...
Read the remainder of this wonderful post here: A Difference Maker
If my son or daughter ever writes or speaks of me in such a manner, I will consider myself a success, regardless of status, wealth, or possessions.
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