To Recruit or Not Recruit – That Is The Question…
I received a comment on Tuesday from someone who was looking into YTB. While doing their due diligence and research on the internet they came up with an interesting question. 
There is a ton of information out there concerning our company. Unfortunately, depending on who you find, you’re going to get differing opinions concerning just what YTB is, and what YTB does. It use to be that the problem was with our own rank and file, but there seems to be a new player in the mix, and it appears that this new player can’t keep their story straight.
Here’s our problem found in the comments section of Tuesday’s post:
“I’ve been doing some research on the internet and there seems to be a difference of opinion that I hope you can straighten out.
I’ve seen numbers from the Annual Report that the majority of the money made in YTB comes from recruiting.
I’ve also seen numbers from another report that claim that nobody makes any money recruiting.
I was assured that I did NOT have to recruit anyone into this business as our interest lie in selling all-inclusive vacations to family and friends.
Which is right?”
Anon,
I think I have a very special understanding of where you’re coming from. When I first joined YTB in January of 2005 all I wanted to do was sell cruises. While I was aware of the recruiting aspect of YTB, I avoided recruiting like the plague. I was always told by others that MLM was not a “respectable” way to make a living. Many people have a real phobia about recruiting based on what they hear from others who think they know what recruiting is.
So, I can appreciate your concern about being forced to recruit in MLM. It wasn’t until I actually got involved with MLM that I found out that this notion about “recruit recruit recruit” was nothing more than another one of many myths surrounding the industry. I actually commented on my first year anniversary about what I first thought about the recruiting aspect of YourTravelBiz.com.
“…I didn’t see the whole picture, now that I look back. Oh sure, there was a business and money to be made, but that kind of luck and opportunities go to other people, not someone like me.”
I continued a littler further down the post.
“…I heard about the money that could be made and the bonuses, I heard about the tax benefits, I heard about the leadership, but I listened to the “sell a cruise and get paid” part more than anything else.”
Like you, what caught my eye was YTB Travel Network not the recruiting aspect of the business. If selling cruises was a good enough reason for me, then certainly selling all-inclusive packages should be a good enough reason for you. Besides, both products offer the most lucrative commissions available in our industry.
Now on to which is right. Either all the money is made from recruiting or nobodies making money recruiting.
I happen to love this. I’ve been bombarded with comments here and elsewhere that our critics have YTB all figured out claiming “numbers don’t lie” but depending on which numbers our critics are using, both set of numbers seem to pitch different vantage points and tell a different story. It’s clear to me that while critics yammer on about how much they know, many are only confusing smart people like you who are truly looking at this company in an objective way.
If you look at both sets of numbers you will find that while there is a considerable amount of money generated from recruiting people into our business. These huge numbers are generated from a very small percentage of people who actually recruit. All this fuss about all this recruiting everyone is doing is being generated by only 20% of the people in our company. That’s not even close to the “majority” but somehow, they claim that all any of us do. “Recruit – Recruit – Recruit”! Both the company numbers and my own experience with my team can confirm that recruiting is not the focus of the most of our members.
So you happen to be in very good company.
The only reason it appears to be such a big issue is because of the fears and phobias surrounding “recruiting”. Because they fear it so much, it’s all they really talk about. But FEAR is nothing more than False Evidence Appearing Real based on what the numbers actually tell us.
YTB has two separate business entities and I receive two 1099’s from the Home Office. One from YourTravelBiz.com for recruiting, and one from YTB Travel Network for selling travel. You are free to work one, the other, or like myself both.
I also see and hear that while nobody is making any of this money recruiting, we are also loosing money to boot. Somehow we need to recruit in order to get our investment back.
You are not paying a dime for joining YTB to recruit anyone. The Rep position in our company is a FREE position. It’s on all our Marketing Materials and on all company approved web sites to Market the YTB opportunity.
“The YTB companies offer two unique and powerful opportunities, that of referring travel agent or “RTA” and that of independent marketing representative or “REP”. The travel agent opportunity has an initial fee under $500 and a monthly license fee of $49.95. There is no fee or travel agency purchase required to be a REP. You may choose to participate in one or both opportunities.”
Not one dime of your “one time” investment or monthly fee is tied to recruiting. Your investment in the company is tied to the Travel side, and because no one invests into YTB to simply participate in the recruiting aspect, no one looses anything for not being able recruit. Kind of hard for people at the bottom of this so called pyramid to loose anything if no ones investing in it in the first place, and that’s why we’ve been untouched by any Government entity, State or Federal, for our entire existence.
Everyone is on the same level playing field with their investment into YTB Travel Network and that money tracks your Travel commissions, sends out weekly Steals and Deals to clients, and provides the proper documentation for the trips that you book for your clients.
I will further confirm for you that none of your “clients” need to know a single thing about the recruiting aspect of our company if you choose not too. My business cards only have the YTB Travel Network logo on them and the only web site on the business cards are for BandBVactions.com. If you look at this web site you will not find any mention of recruiting or joining anything. It’s a travel web site just like any other and its purpose is to sell travel, nothing more.
Don’t be surprised however if a client asks you “how did you get started”? If they ask, feel free to tell them, and while it may shock you, like it did me the first time it happened, they will want to join your team. They see how passionate you are, and they also see how much fun you are having doing what you do. It’s not recruiting when they WANT to be a part of what you are doing.
Lastly, I would like to close with this. This is YOUR business. Please don’t get caught up in what others want you to make it. This includes your Sponsor and Power Team Leader, and especially any critics who want to tell you that you’re going about this all wrong. Critics have never been involved with MLM in most cases, and I’ve learned from experience what they actually know. (I even wrote a book about it, which you can download for free!)
I’ve been told far too many times that I need to join a Host Agency to gain respect or to become successful. I’m not walking in anyone else’s shoes but my own, and unless I choose to let anyone else decide for me what makes me happy, successful or respectable, it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. I’ve had some of the best success of my entire life with this company, and I also have far better friendships than ever before.
That being said, I can’t tell you that the answer to that question can be found in YTB for you. All I can tell you is that it is for me. I love this company, I love the leadership, and while I don’t like the critics, I’m glad to see you’ve caught on to the spin a lot quicker than I did. I count on people just like you who are smart enough to ask someone who can set the record straight.
When and if you do join YTB, please be sure to come back and sign up for our free newsletter and 7 Day Quick Start Guide. It is a very valuable resource to help you get off on the right foot and I do focus on a lot of Travel related topics and issues.
I sincerely hope I’ve been able to help you weed through all the garbage out there. I know there’s a ton of it, and most of it as you can see is pure bunk. Any negativity is purely based on fear and lack of understanding about just who YTB is and what YTB does. Stick with listening to those of us who at least have the experience and documentation to back up what they say.
Warm Regards,
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
Learn How To Become A Travel Agent
Book Your Travel & Vacations With
Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635
