XEL8 Tanks & Fires ALL Distributors!

It is a sad day in Network Marketing as we mourn for the Distributors of XEL8 the suppliers of Bazi and functional beverage, who have lost their livelihood. Yesterday XEL8 sent at letter to all its Distributors informing them that they Board of Directors have elected to change the business model & that they would no longer be in need of their Distributors services. In other words they told them they no longer had a business or means to generate money effective February 28th & that no new distributors are allowed to join the company, effective immediately! (A copy of the letter sent can be read here on Rod Cook’s MLM Watchdog)

WOW! Wouldn’t you hate to get a letter like that? Not sure what happened but there are numerous lessons to be learned here as well as indicators it was coming.

Perhaps the ticker tells the tale.

Being a publicly held company (XELR) on the OTC BB, the company truly has a conflict of interest to all Distributors. The primary goal of all publicly traded companies is to pay the shareholders first and foremost. So where does that leave the Distributors? Second in line? Well, no not really. The company also has a profit it must make as well as meeting its overhead, you know like paying its employees, owners, the electric bill, the mortgage on the building, cost of product to be manufactured all those expenditures. After all these are met then the distributors! Wow, depending upon the list of expenditures on the company ledger Distributors/Independent Contractors can be far down the list. LESSON ONE; THINK AT LEAST TWICE BEFORE PARTNERING WITH A PUBLICLY HELD COMPANY!

Were any of the distributors keeping an eye on the stock value?

http://chart.finance.yahoo.com/c/my/x/xelr.ob

This graft is from Yahoo finance and shows the activity of the company from late 2003 when at that time the stock was valued at $15 a large discrepancy from its value today at $0.15 and going down. Read the 8-K filed with the Security & Exchange Commission as required by SEC law.

I am not sure if 2003 is when they went public or merged or changed their name or what, but as you can see it has been a downward slide ever since. So is it really that surprising that the Board of Directors voted to restructure and fire the distributors? Any distributor who was watching this would surly knows the jeopardy their positions were in since the strength of the company was heading to an all time low.  SECOND LESSON; IF YOU ARE GOING TO PARTNER WITH A PUBLICLY HELD COMPANY YOU NEED TO KEEP APPRISED OF THE STOCK VALUE & TREND.

Thirdly, did anyone read the contract? There had to be provisions in the contract, also known as the Policies & Procedures, to allow the Board of Directors to do this; or they would have major lawsuits on their hands, which they obviously can’t afford! LESSON THREE; ALWAYS READ THE POLICIES & PROCEDURES! This document clearly shows the integrity as well as intent of the Owner & Management. In the future make sure the contract fairly protects the interest of not only the company but of you as a distributor!

What saddens me most? Most people in our industry today still don’t know how to evaluate a company. This all could have been avoided if the Distributors did their due diligence prior to partnering with XEL8 or at the very least keep an eye on the numbers. All they needed to do was read a little book, which would have pointed them in the direction of obtaining all the knowledge they needed to prevent them from being in this situation today.

Learn what you need to know BEFORE you enter into a partnership with ANY company. Please for the sake of your future & your dreams take the time to read ‘Success in 10 Steps’ & take advantage of the information Mentoring For Free can teach you so you don’t find yourself in this situation ever again.

What is Mentoring For Free? It is a community of Network Marketers from various companies who work together to learn & teach the necessary information & skills needed to find success in our industry.

Take the steps necessary to have control of your destiny & to own your life, download your book today!

Pillar #1 of Five

Remember the apple pie?

The first key ingredient is a pie plate.

In MLM, the Five Pillars are what a company needs to
have in place for the distributors to succeed. Many
folks search for something like the “Top Ten MLM
Companies” when looking for something to join.

This is OK if You are looking to invest. But, if You
want to be a distributor, then You need to dig a bit
deeper. For example, the number one MLM did over six
billion dollars in sales last year, but most of their
distributors are starving.

A Five Pillar Company is one where the average person
can achieve above average results.

This week we’ll look at Pillar #1.

Pillar 1: Does the company management have personal
experience building their own networking organization?
Have they done it with Integrity?

• Search Google for the owners of the company.

• Do the owners have Integrity? Add the word ‘Scam’
to your search.

• Do the owners have a Corporate background or an
in-the-field Network Marketing background?

• Read your “Policies & Procedures” and “Terms &
Conditions”; both are part of your Legal Contract.

• Look for the word “Ongoing”.

• Look for policies that strike you as
“Unreasonable”. Like “Termination, with or without
cause”.

• Ask yourself “Does this contract protect me or the
company?” “Is it clear which way it leans?”

• Does the company charge you for training or a
company web site?

• Does the company charge you for each paycheck they
send you?

• Rules of Thumb:

• The longer the contract, the greater the
possibility that the policies important to you
are being hidden in “Legalese”!

• If it’s a “Cash Only” business…It’s a Scam!

• If you can buy a position at the top…It’s a
Scam!

• If you are offered a “Special Deal”…the
playing field isn’t level for all.

• If the products are sold on eBay at a greatly
reduced price…Buy there instead.

• If a company is publicly traded, Financial
Decisions Will be made in Favor of the
Stockholders at the Expense of the
Distributors.

For further enlightenment,  get the free
e-book, “Success in 10 Steps” in the
upper left corner of this page.


Next time, Pillar #2.

To Your Success,

Ken Klemm
+1-215-722-3274 anytime

What Do Apple Pies and MLM Companies Have in Common?

Everyone knows You need five key ingredients to bake an apple pie:

1. A pie plate,
2. A pie crust,
3. Some apples,
4. Sugar and spices,
5. An oven.

What happens to Your apple pie if You take away any one of those five ingredients?

Everybody knows the answer.

The same thing applies to MLM companies.

You need five key pillars in place for You to succeed with a company. Take away any pillar, and You get the same result You would get with the apple pie.

Now, I’m not talking about what the company needs in place for IT to be successful.
I’m talking about what the company needs to have in place for YOU to succeed with it.

For example, the largest MLM in the world had over six billion dollars in sales last year,
but most of their distributors are starving because of a missing pillar

Most people don’t know what the five pillars are, and don’t know how to figure out whether an MLM company has them or not.

Over the next few weeks, we will share the Five Pillars with You.

If You are impatient and want to learn this stuff right away, then download “Success in 10 Steps” - the book in the
upper left corner of this page..

Meanwhile, we’ll discuss Pillar #1 next time.
.
Your Friend and Servant,

Ken Klemm
+1-215-722-3274 anytime

Network Marketing - Stealing The Dream

Did someone steal Your Dream?

One of the best kept Secrets  in Network Marketing and MLM’s to successfully reaching Your Dreams, Desires, Goals, is to KEEP it a Secret.

Don’t tell Your circle of family and close friends what You are doing.

Most people in Network Marketing and MLM businesses have been trained otherwise, but then most people in Network Marketing have realized a 97% failure rate in their attempts to follow the road less traveled.

Unless You’re sure of the person whom You reveal Your heart’s desire to, sure they have the vision, the “Y” factor that spurs You on, they will never ever understand.  They will do everything in their power to dissuade, discourage, and dampen Your power, energy and enthusiasm.  They will Steal Your Dream if You let them.

It’s not intentional sabotage.

Those wishing you the best mean well, it’s only that they lack Your vision.  They will steal Your dreams in the name of love and concern for Your well being. Or, sadly enough, they will try to steal Your dreams because of their own insecurities.

Seek out those in a community of like-mindedness; with dreams and desires as large as Yours.  Align Yourself with people who have already done what You desire to do and Be.  Then, let Faith and Belief in Yourself grow.  Borrow their Belief in You until You Believe in Yourself.

It is only through the support of others wishing only Your success, offering You their knowledge and skills that You’ll realize that all IS possible.  Take back what was stolen from You.  What You think of, the positive energy You apply to Your idea, Your dream and the Life You desire, will find its way into Your reality.

Mentoring for Free offers a community of professionals at Your disposal for free – They will believe in You until You Believe in Yourself. Read “Success in 10 Steps,” and Steal back Your Dream.

DNA and Critical Thinking

Posted on September 10th, 2009 in Critical Thiking, Companies/Opportunities, Scams and Ripoffs, Recent Posts by Ken

 Oh, the things I hear in MLM!

Some one says they can look at my DNA and match
nutritional supplements to my body’s needs.

REALLY!

I’m pretty sure my DNA never changes during my life,
regardless of the choices I’ve made.

Now, what if some one with my DNA decided years ago to
become a professional athlete, and I decided to become
a couch potato?

Even though we have the same DNA, are our nutritional
needs the same?

Another question: Would it be wise for me to spend the
funds to have my DNA typed and then send the data to a
company?

What if the company sold or gave the data to the
insurance industry - or worse - the government?

I might never be able to get good health insurance
because of some genetic pre-disposition.

Just a little critical thinking here.

Can You Believe Everything You Hear?

Posted on August 23rd, 2009 in Critical Thiking, Skills Training, Scams and Ripoffs, Recent Posts by Laurie

Recently I was reminded of the ever constant “rumor” that seems to touch us on all levels of life. It seems people are more willing to accept all they hear or are told as truth rather than step back and withhold judgment or a decision until they have all the facts.

This came about when my daughter calls me on my ride home from work and tells me that a young man we know lost his temper and in broad daylight and smashed another young mans windows out of his truck with a baseball bat.

She assured me this was true, had already accepted this as a fact because somebody told her so.

Later that day, my husband came home and told us all the same story; it was a bit larger now, police were involved, witnesses, and arrests were made, they had the culprit.

Learning to think things through as a critical thinker, I tried to clarify some facts not willing to accept yet that all was as it appeared; but both my husband and daughter were adamant, it was true.

In the mean time, my two younger daughters went to the local Festival in town. When they came back, they told me the supposed victims truck was fine, not one window broken or even cracked.

Now I still don’t know the whole story of how this rumor would rage across the town from my teenage daughter to my husband; but isn’t it amazing what people are so ready to believe, and how easily deceived they are based just on another persons words?

As a Network Marketer, I’m often approached by someone who wants to recruit me in their business. They tell me how successful they are, how much they make, that their business has the best compensation plan in the history of MLM, or some such scenario. I’ve learned to turn on the critical thought process - become a detective and investigate the claims they are asking me to accept.

There’s a women in Washington DC hounding politicians like a watch dog. She isn’t afraid to ask, question, and dig in investigating any politician who’s behavior seems to lack integrity.

What I appreciate the most about her story is she isn’t sitting back accepting the claims being made or believing all she hears as truth until she investigates. Her persistence in taking responsibility for her own beliefs, has led to the fall of some prominent government leaders.

Thinking it may offend someone to validate their statements? If the statements are true no harm no foul. Ultimately I’m responsible for what I believe; its up to me to put on the Detective Networking Hat and discover if I’m being given fact or fiction; rumor or truth. If you’d like help learning how to determine whether your being given the facts or not, start with this free ebook.

MLM Leads - Illegal To Use In Email

Posted on August 12th, 2009 in Critical Thiking, Marketing Tips, Scams and Ripoffs, Recent Posts by Ken

Are You violating the law?

You can not buy an opt-in lead.

Let me say that again:

YOU CAN NOT BUY AN OPT-IN LEAD!

When a person opts-in to something, they are agreeing
to receive information from THAT entity ONLY.

The opted-in permission cannot be transferred to
someone else.

When someone opts-in to YOUR information, Your service
- be it AWeber, GetResponse, or whatever - has a log on
their server which records the date, time, and IP
address of the computer Your lead used when they
opted-in.

You have proof against any spam complaint.

A lead mill (seller) may tell You they provide You with
the date/time stamp and the IP address to each lead You
purchase from them.

This does NOT protect You from a spam complaint if You
contact these leads with Your information. The
individuals opted-in to receive someone else’s
information, NOT YOURS.

And You have no idea how many times leads have been
sold and resold.

How serious are spam complaints?

You may be subject to fines and penalties. Your account
with a service provider may be terminated. Your
affiliate agreement with Your MLM company may be
terminated. Your internet service may be shut off. You
could be permanently blacklisted.

Worse, if You are part of a co-operative system, such
as Mentoring For Free, the entire system could be shut
down - resulting in damages to all the members of the
co-op.

Any company or individual selling You, or giving You as
part of a package, opt-in leads is a scam.

Another scam is guaranteed sign-ups.

These vendors will hire someone to visit Your lead
capture page repeatedly and fill in leads on the form
and submit them.

As soon as Your auto-responder sends these people
messages from Your system, You have committed spam. If
You call these people, they will tell You they never
heard of You.

I have even seen companies who have anti-spam policies
in their agreement with You who offer to sell You
guaranteed sign-ups themselves.

They can scam You, rip You off, cause You to spam, and
terminate your account for spamming.

There are legitimate companies who will advertise for
You, and send visitors to Your capture from to opt-in
to YOU. For example, traffic exchange co-operatives.

Please - MLM distributors, affiliate marketers, and
direct sales internet marketers - stay out of trouble
with the law.

Never, never, buy opt-in leads. They are a scam. If You
do purchase them, then don’t use them with email,
auto-responders, or any other form of electronic
communication.

For more information on why leads are worthless and a
scam, see my other posts on this subject:

http://eagleslog.com/214/the-truth-about-buying-leads/
http://kklemm.myccblog.com/2008/04/06/the-truth-about-guaranteed-sign-ups/

The Truth About Buying Leads

Hi, Ken Klemm here.

How much are you paying per lead for leads? Are they “exclusive”? Are they super-duper, high-priced, telephone verified, surveyed leads? Have you ever wondered how the lead vendors acquire these leads?

Perhaps you’ve visited a website because you were responding to an offer for a free meal at one of your favorite restaurants, or an opportunity to get a free computer, big screen TV, or some other deal? You are required to fill out a form on the page to begin the process. If you fill in information and click on a submit or continue link - some entity has just collected you as a lead.

If Your phone rings and You answer it, but there is no one on the line - then You are probably now a telephone verified lead!

Maybe you were taken to another page and asked to answer questions such as, “Are you interested in making money from home?” You may be asked for more input such as how much you want to earn per month, how much you are willing to invest, how many hours you are willing to spend per week, etc. If you answer these questions and submit the form, you are now a surveyed lead!

Even if you quit at some point, the information you submitted has already been collected. If someone phones you and asks you if you visited their site and were truthful about the information you submitted, you are now a telephone verified surveyed lead!

Soon you begin to receive phone calls from different people pitching you on their business opportunities. Your lead has been sold!

Do you wonder how many of those people calling you were told your lead was exclusive? Do you wonder how much they paid for your lead? Ask them!

Are you beginning to get an idea of just how worthless purchased leads are?

I’ve just described one example of how leads are generated. There are many others. Many affiliate programs, MLM companies and others will sell their leads when they need more money. It doesn’t matter if they told you they would not sell or share your information - they can change their minds at any time!

Why purchase worthless leads when you can generate your own targeted leads for little or no cost?

To learn how to do this and learn more things that will save you years of failure and frustration, download your free copy of Michael Dlouhy’s “Success In Ten Steps” by clicking on the book in the upper left corner of this page.

The Truth About Money

You’ve heard it takes money to make money?

It’s a myth!

The truth is…it takes LABOR to make money. If you don’t want to do some particular work, you pay someone else to do it for you. That’s what gives money its VALUE.

Michael Dlouhy and Ken Klemm

What would happen if the government just printed up a bunch of cash and gave everybody lots of it, so nobody had to work anymore?

We’d all starve to death…that’s what!

What could you buy with that cash if nobody was producing anything?

No farmers raising and harvesting crops, no textile people making clothes, no manufacturers making stuff, no drivers transporting goods, no storekeepers stocking shelves, etc.

When you purchase a device you’re not actually paying for the material…the material is free and available to anyone.

You are paying for the EFFORT of the people who mined, grew, or synthesized the material, the people who designed and engineered the device, the people who assembled it, transported it, and made it available to you for sale.

We pay others for their effort because we don’t have the time or know-how to do everything ourselves.

THAT’S what gives money its value…the effort of people.

That leads us to the REAL secret of success in business…do you really want to know what it is?

The REAL Secret of Success in Business is………….WORK!

So why do people tell you that you can join this or that program on the internet, click your mouse a few times, and have thousands of dollars flying into your bank account?

Because they are LYING to you! But why would they do that?

Because they want your money. And they are willing to FOOL you to get it.

They understand what motivates most people. Most people want things FFE (fast, free, and easy) because most people are lazy.

Even though they are lazy, most people are honest…and honest people are easier to target because they expect everyone else to be honest and don’t know how to think like a crook.

So, are ALL internet businesses scams or con jobs? No!

Most established businesses have websites and do transactions on the internet.

But what about the home-based business industry?

There are a very few honest programs buried amid all the scams and con jobs that flood the market. They all have one thing in common though:

If you want to make money with them you have make some honest effort.

Remember, EFFORT gives money its VALUE.

To EARN money honestly you must provide goods or services that other people need or want, and are willing to pay you for.

As I’ve said before, the marketplace is full of PEOPLE.

People will do business with You if they Know You, Like You, and Trust You.

How do You build KNOW, LIKE and TRUST with people?

A great place to start is by reading “Success in Ten Steps” by Michael Dlouhy.

Ken Klemm
Philadelphia, PA
+1-215-722-3274 anytime
http://MentorKen.com

“Everybody knows You need accurate
information to make an intelligent
decision about Your future success.”

The Truth About the Internet

Why do millions of people fail to prosper in home-based businesses, while only a relative handful succeed? Because they don’t understand the internet…or world wide web.

Because people are naturally lazy, and they would love to earn money by doing the least work possible, they believe it when so-called “gurus” tell them they can find easy riches on the internet. The “gurus” make big money feeding on this fantasy, telling people what the “gurus” know they want to hear: that they can make lots of money doing next to nothing. People willingly pay the “gurus” for their “secrets” over and over again.

The internet is not a shortcut, dodge, or cheat. It is simply another medium for doing business - another marketplace.

What do I mean by “medium”? A marketplace is somewhere the market (people) gather to transact business.

You can do business on a table on the sidewalk, in a tent, in a brick and mortar storefront, in a skyscraper, on the telephone, through the mail, etc. These are all media. The internet is just one more.

The principles of doing business are the same, regardless of the medium. People are still people, not digital data.

There are two ways to make money: you can steal or cheat people, or you can sell people goods or services that they need or want and are willing to pay for. People are happy to buy from people whom they know, like and trust.

Thieves and cheaters love the internet because it is not regulated the way street commerce, telephones, and the mail are. They can hide behind false photos, addresses, emails and phone numbers…and do this from anywhere in the world…and do it over and over again.

Honest and legitimate businesses can operate on the internet the same way they operate in other media…but, again, the internet is not a shortcut. Success in legitimate business is not measured in days and weeks, but in months and years.

The internet does offer some advantages to a legitimate business: overhead expenses are low and many goods and services can be delivered digitally without shipping time and expense (think about e-books, music, video, etc.)

Home-based business owners have the same needs and responsibilities that any business owners have: they must be organized, keep good records, and provide customer service and support. They also need to learn how to do these things and how to think like a business owner.

Fortunately, the internet makes all this convenient and affordable for the home-based owner if they can find the right resources and learn the necessary skills.

The book, Success in Ten Steps, by Michael Dlouhy is a good place to start.

Ken Klemm
Philadelphia, PA
+1-215-722-3274 anytime
http://MentorKen.com

“Everybody knows You need accurate
information to make an intelligent
decision about Your future success.”