Remember those goals we wrote about at the beginning of the year? Just wanted to do a little check up with you on how they’re going.

As January comes to a close next week we’re coming up on the time of year when the fitness clubs start to thin out, McD0nald’s and other fast food service restaurants begin to see an increase in profits, and sales for Nicorette gums and patches drop way down. It’s much more noticeable this time of year because everyone comes into the new year with a bang, only to fade off weeks later and go back to a comfort zone they’re familiar with.

If you’re in the Network Marketing or Direct Sales industry, you see this kind of thing all year long. That’s why I never get too disappointed when someone tells me no, nor do I get too excited when they say yes and sign up. You learn very quickly that talk is cheap.

Those who have a big enough “why” however, have a much better chance to achieve the goals they’ve set out before them. My grandfather for example had two heart attacks and a mild stroke when I was young. After his second heart attack, the doctor told him he’d never be able to more than walk the dog around the block for the rest of his life. He was in his 40’s at the time, and that’s all he needed to hear in order to quit smoking cold turkey and start exercising.

When I was 16, the two of us rode together on a 50 mile bike ride. (And I was the one who struggled.)

He’s 90 this year, and still walks to the grocery store, the doctor – dentist – and various other locations to keep him active.

He had a big why.

I got into this industry for a pretty big why too.

Security.

See, both Ronda and I had been burned far too many times in the corporate world. Four months after our son Brian was born, Ronda was laid off at Bellsouth after 6 years of service. I had been in the golf industry with a very large company who filed bankruptcy. I then moved to wire and cable with a company who was shut down by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud. (Cooking the books.) I worked for Gateway for a short time in their stores before they closed them and went into the big box stores. And my last stint in traditional business was a company called Hi-Fi Buys which I got out of when rumors started to surface about bankruptcy. (Which they eventually did.)

I’ve been with YTB for 5 years now – which is longer than all those other companies combined.

What YTB did for me was teach me how to be self sufficient. It’s also given me an incredible amount of self confidence. One of the reasons I’ve stuck with the company even with all the doom and gloom I use to hear about – I have the tools, mindset, and skills today to not only survive – but thrive on my own.

I never would have learned all that if I didn’t have a big enough why.

My peers at the time, the companies I worked for, nor did any schools teach me anything about being in business for myself. It wasn’t until I got around others like Coach, my Directors, and other Network Marketers that I needed to think about a company called “You, Inc.”

“You, Inc.”, has taught me how to look at a problem and come up with a solution to solve that problem. Look at my newsletter – now with thousands of subscribers. All started because I was smart enough to see a solution to a communication problem. I look at the market, realize what it needs, and offer services and products that cater to that market. It’s built trust and stability for me that I just couldn’t get in the corporate world.

All because I had a big enough why.

Even with all the ups and downs that YTB has had over the years – it’s a far better alternative and much more rewarding than working in the corporate rat race.

Find your why and you’ll have the same passion and stability. It won’t necessarily make the road less difficult, but it will give you the extra burst to break through to the other side to realize the rewards of the goals you’ve set.

Opportunity will knock for those who are ready, willing, and have a big enough why.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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Do You ZamZuu?

I have to admit, ever since 1992, the year Sid Bream slid into home plate to win the NLCS for the Atlanta Braves beating the Pittsburgh Pirates in game 7, I haven’t been much of a baseball fan. It was the same year I moved here to Atlanta from Pittsburgh. I still talk about it and friends here still tell me to get over it.

My response…”I’ll get over that play when you get over the Civil War”. It’s been 144 years since the War ended and I still see signs that the South will rise again.

For the next decade, Brave fans rubbed it in as they went back to the playoffs year after year, while the Pirates never seemed to recover trading away star players like Bream, Bell, Belinda, and Bonds. The Pirates have dwelled in the cellar ever since.

As a sports fan, I can appreciate those who loath the Yankees, even if I never cared one way or another about the team. With their 27th Championship Title now in hand, they’re a team that has dashed the hopes and dreams of multiple millions since 1921. When you beat out other teams about once every three years, you’re bound to upset fans from other teams who desire to be where you are.

If you’re a Yankees fan, you love them. If you’re a fan of any other team in the Majors, you hate them.

While I hadn’t watched a single pitch all season, I did tune into this series once I got back from our cruise. Not necessarily because I was a fan, but because my Steelers had a bye over the weekend. Well…that, and some of my Facebook friends are die hard Yankee and Philly fans who were talking smack. (Which was extremely entertaining to watch!)

You have to love the passion of sports fans. There’s no middle ground when it comes to certain subjects. The emotion it evokes can rival politics, religion, and even Network Marketing!

I have to admit, this series was one of the more entertaining in recent years because of the ebb and flow of the series. Alex Rodriguez is no longer a choker and a loser. The way he raised it up and carried it around, you would have sworn the trophy was light as a feather. Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs and won the Series MVP. (Despite starting only three of six games against the Phillies.)

If nothing else, the Yankees have officially christened their new stadium for the next 88 years to keep the Championships coming.

I love my Steelers and the 6 Lombardi Trophies we have. It’s hard to fathom 27 of them.

I’ll be making a number of phone calls today to congratulate my New York fans, and offer my condolences to my Philly fans. They all did the same for me when Pittsburgh won both the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup this year, so it’s the right thing to do. For Yankees fans, it’s old hat. For Philly fans…remember…I still haven’t gotten over Sid Bream and the South will rise again. ;-p

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The 1999 Texas Electric Choice Act, which went into full effect in January 2002, changed the electricity and power industry. In 2005 Rob Snyder committed $1.5 million of his own equity and after clearing a few hurdles with the Texas Public Utilities Commission, Stream Energy had a REP license and company to sell energy to its customers. They began switching customers over to their new energy plan with 40,000 customers by June. In August of that same year, Katrina hit, devastating the area and threatened to do the same with this new emerging MLM.

Even after so many hurdles, Stream made it through its first number of years and today is flying high. If you’ve never heard of Stream Energy, they’re a retail electricity and gas provider in Texas and Georgia. Stream is now the 29th largest private company in the Dallas/Fort Worth area based on revenues of more than $800 million in 2008. Stream’s marketing division, Ignite, has fueled Stream’s growth through what the company calls a “multilevel marketing program.”

There they are…those three little words…”multilevel marketing program” also known by three letters: “MLM”. One would think it was four letters based on the reactions of some extremely overzealous critics. Because YTB is also a “multilevel marketing program”, you’re well aware of how it brings out some real nut cases who for whatever reason feel they need to save everyone from themselves. Some of us have mothers who use to be in in charge of protecting us as children. Apparently mom needs help now that we are grown adults as some try to warn us of the danger surrounding Multilevel Marketing. (I actually asked someone last week if they were my mother.)

Attorneys from Houston’s The Clearman Law Firm have announced a federal class action lawsuit filed last week under the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act against Dallas-based Stream Gas & Electric, Ltd., Ignite Holdings, Ltd., their related companies and several affiliated individuals. The press release issued by Clearman looks to be a simple copy and paste from the pages of Wikipedia or Scam.com.

“Some of the individuals at the top of the Stream and Ignite pyramid earn millions of dollar a year, while most of those that are now joining the scheme will likely never recover their investment,” says Scott Clearman of The Clearman Law Firm, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “Stream promises recruits that they can make vast sums of money, but the fact is that most will lose their money.”

Nothing new there. It’s the same line we’ve heard for years from a select few who are too stupid or too lazy to figure out that companies like Avon, Mary Kay, Tupperware, Fuller Brush, Amway, NuSkin, Primerica, and Pre-Paid Legal have been operating as an MLM for far longer than this myth about running out of people has been pitched. None of the listed companies have hit this invisible bottom few claim to be inevitable.

I absolutely LOVED the response from Rob Snyder that I found which points directly to the ignorance we find surrounding the MLM model.

The fact that the Texas Attorney General’s office has previously confirmed the legitimacy of Stream Energy’s network marketing effort speaks volumes to the veracity of Mr. Clearman’s assertions. Moreover, the further reality that Stream Energy serves as a Provider of Last Resort as requested by the Public Utilities Commission of Texas also attests as to Stream Energy’s standing and repute within the state’s deregulated retail electricity market.

Simply put, the direct selling models used by firms such as Mary Kay and Stream Energy have been repeatedly found to be unquestionably legal. And, unfortunately, it seems these days that any clown with a bow tie can file a lawsuit on behalf of a purported class of injured parties.

We look forward to seeing Mr. Clearman in court.

While I’ve yet fully investigated this situation I suspect there are a few Reps with Ignite who were unsuccessful in obtaining customers in the first couple of weeks. Instead of improving themselves with knowledge, sales skills, or self-confidence, it was easier to find an Attorney who could file a law suit on their behalf so they could play the role of victim.

I actually know a couple of people who are with Ignite and have been asked to become a Rep and/or a customer of the company. While I did take a look, both the program and product didn’t tickle me the way a cruise would. Energy, like phones, cable (or satellite), and internet service are commodities that most everyone uses and I’m sure there is money to be made in all of these areas. Personally, I’ve always gone after things that I have a passion for. (Trust me, it helps in the sales process.) Entrepreneurship however, does solve a problem with a solution. The timing was right back in 2005 for Ignite to capitalize on a market shift after the deregulation of power and many made money with this MLM.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston alleges that Stream and Ignite induced the plaintiffs and others to invest in the “Ignite Services Program” at a cost of $329 and purchase an “Ignite Homesite” web page for a charge of $29 per month. The lawsuit claims that a large portion of the $329 is paid to those higher in the pyramid.

I found another article while researching and invite you to read what it took to start Stream Energy. (Found in the middle of the article in Arial font.) The millions of dollars invested to start and maintain a power company makes $329 and $29 per month literally chump change. We’re not even talking about the monthly overhead and lapse in time between being charged for the power used and when the customer actually pays (if they pay) their bill. But because the company uses “multilevel marketing” with thousands of independent representatives who now have a legitimate power company they can invest in and sell power through, (which in turn generates revenue for the investor), it’s a raw deal.

The way I see it the raw deal here are the idiots who think they need to save you from yourself instead of educating and training you to become self-sufficient. Like I said, I’m not a part of Ignite or Stream Energy, but I would place very good odds that this company’s focus is empowerment (pun intended) not some bogus pitch that you don’t have what it takes.

It will be interesting to see how all this unfolds. But like we’ve seen with YTB over the last year, we know that these types of allegations (and that’s all they are at this point) take time to reveal the truth. At this point, I can’t predict the future for Ignite or Stream. My hope is however, it will serve as a notice to others who can’t get past their own fears and self-imposed limitations that multilevel marketing is not only here to stay, but a legitimate business model.

All the best to Mr. Snyder, the Corporate Heads of the company, the independent representatives of Ignite and the customers of Stream Energy.

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Welcome to the next phase of YTB 2.0.

A year ago YTB announced the “contemplation of a franchise” in a press release issued just before last years convention. Today that “contemplation” moves one step closer to “reality”.

We touched on this with Sunday’s newsletter and wanted impress on you how this phase of YTB 2.0 will change how many perceive our model. By this time you have come across people who have a difficult time understanding and accepting Network Marketing as a legitimate business model. People don’t actually know that the nations oldest Network Marketing Company started as the California Perfume Company back in 1886. (In 1939 they changed their name to Avon.) Mary Kay is another example of a very powerful and stable MLM that not only markets to the same demographic, but was founded 46 years ago in 1963. Neither company has run out of woman to recruit, while basically limiting both companies to half the world’s population. (There may however be a few males mixed in with either company.)

Yet there are those that fear that someone will be crushed by a huge pyramid when there is no one left.

The suit filed by California was a perfect example of the ignorance our society has surrounding MLM Models. Without verifying, without even looking at our two models, the “Description of the Action” in the settlement stated “Defendants’ marketing scheme effectively requires participants to purchase a website from Defendants and pay monthly fees for the opportunity to recruit others”.

You know that’s not true; we know that’s not true. (Not to mention illegal.) The fact remains however, that because California said so, a portion of society will take this as fact instead of verifying if a statement has value.

Even now, with California behind us, with YTB still standing, still sending out checks, still winning awards, still growing as a travel company, there are those that still allow a tiny portion of society to dictate what they think and what they believe.

If you’re reading this right now you have endured a smear campaign of ignorance and fear mongering that included false claims of a gigantic pyramid scheme which both pro and con believed would finish the company. We want to congratulate you for holding on to your dreams, your vision, and your beliefs. Nobody should have the power to take that away from you, and we know many have tried.

It’s time to raise the bar. It’s time to look for better quality, better intelligence, and better business minds.

We now have a tool in place that can turn the tables, promote professionalism, character, and strength and it starts with you.

Moving forward, all potential California participants are required to wait 14 days before they are able to purchase a YTB Travel Store, or become an Associate who sells Travel Stores. So what does the 14 Day cooling off period have to do with Franchises? We’re glad you asked. (And even if you didn’t we’re going to tell you anyway.)

During this time, potential participants will be given all the facts and figures concerning the purchase of a franchise. In the settlement agreement which was filed with the courts the Description of the Action it states:

“Defendants have operated an on-line travel agency franchise without having registered as a franchise with the California Department of Corporations, in violation of California Corporations Code Section 31005 et seq.;”

We didn’t realize that we bought an on-line travel agency franchise until this was documented in the settlement. This is however a claim (Description of the Action) documented in the settlement filed with the courts.

We found the following reference in Franchising for Dummies by Michael Steid, and Dave Thomas. We’re NOT using this reference because we consider you a dummy, but because of its ability to describe franchising in a clear concise manor that we believe everyone will understand.

“Included in the regulations governing the sale of franchises is a cooling-off period called the ten-day rule. Franchisors are required to give their prospects a copy of the UFOC the first time they have a “personal” face-to-face meeting to discuss the purchase of the franchise, although most franchisors will provide the UFOC much earlier in the course of their discussion with a prospect. Franchisors must wait a minimum of ten business days after giving a prospect the UFOC before allowing the franchisee to sign the franchise agreement or pay any money to the franchisor. The purpose of the ten-day rule is to give you time to think about your decision.”

Please note that the 10 day rule requires 10 business days to expire. During the course of 10 business days you will have two weekends during that time for a total period of 14 days. If you would like to describe this as “10 business days” instead of “14 days”, you are welcome to do so, just as long as the word “business days” is made clear not to include Saturday or Sunday. (Six of one; a half dozen of the other.)

As we moved forward, the Settlement made with California also states:

8. Registration as a Franchise

No later than 30 days from the entry of Judgment, Defendants shall see the approval of the California Department of Corporations (DOC) and shall make their best efforts to obtain approval from the DOC to sell franchises. Any additional conditions or restrictions that my be required or imposed by the DOC for Defendants’ operation of a franchise shall also be required of or imposed on Defendants as part of this Judgment. If the DOC grants its approval for Defendants to sell franchises in California, Defendants shall begin offer such franchises for sale no later than 90 days from the date of the DOC approval. Neither the decision by the DOC regarding Defendants’ application to sell franchises in California, not the timing of that decision shall affect Defendants’ obligation to comply with any of the previsions of this Judgment.

There are 14 States that require Franchise Disclosures which include California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Because of the one time expense of creating such materials, and our belief that a franchise model will increase retention because of it’s perceived value, YTB is moving forward with a franchise model both nationally and internationally.

This will take some time, and we do not know the exact date of the National completion at this time. However, once complete, YTB will be the largest franchise in history.

Some of you may be able to remember the 1984 Presidential Election between Walter Mondale and then sitting President Ronald Reagan. During the course of the debates that led up to the election, Mondale began to make Reagan’s advanced age an issue. President Reagan was the oldest President in history, and some of his staff commented that he was tired after the first debate with Mondale. In their second televised 90-minute debate in Kansas City, Reagan and Mondale debated on international policy and national defense.

Again the issue of age came up during the debate.

Reagan in his best awe shucks tone said, “I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.“

Many didn’t like Ronald Reagan. (And you may be one of them.) Ronald Reagan was however a master in reframing and turning the tables on his opponents both within the political arena and around the world. Successful people and businesses turn apparent weakness into strength. They change history, and they change lives. We see California’s weakness and have now turned it into a strength moving forward.

Will everyone see it? Absolutely not. We were right on mark with the resurgence of activity and excuses on the forums, boards and blogs. Some still want to take your dreams and the power we talked about earlier. Some will still insist that YTB is nothing more than a “pyramid scheme”. Some will still laugh at you. If you want to give them that power, that’s entirely up to you. Why anyone would be willing to let others control and dictate what you think and how you feel is a completely foreign concept to us. Especially in a country such as ours during a weekend when we celebrate our Independence.

Remember, we need to raise the bar, not lower it. We joined YTB to pursue dreams not crush them. In the course of pursuing our dreams of owning a Home Based Business we bought into an MLM. What we’re going to end up with is a franchise.

The way we see it Scott was right…we’re bigger – stronger – superior in every way.

Who knew?

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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Do You ZamZuu?

Monday we talked about owning your own travel business with YTB. Today were going to talk the phobias surrounding building a sales team that sells travel websites as a Rep with YTB Marketing. The recruiting that is a part of the parent company has been a real bone of contention for some time. But before we dive into the phobias, let’s look at a couple of very cool features with YTB Marketing.

1. There is no cost or upfront fee to become an Associate or upgrade to a Representative.

2. There is the potential to make as much money as you wish with no caps or ceilings.

3. You create leverage with others who help you sell and you make money off thier sales efforts.

By no means does that guarantee that this will happen if you become an Associate or upgrade to a Representative with YTB because your success depends on how much effort YOU put into building and working. However, the potential is there, and we have some incredible success stories with YTB Marketing and real people who have made millions doing this.

I know all about the phobias, anger, and fears about this side of the business when you bring up MLM or Network Marketing. Many just follow along with what they’ve been told by someone else. A few give something like this a try for a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, and because they themselves don’t make millions within that time, it’s not good enough for them to simply say “no not for me”…they need to make sure that everyone knows it’s not for them either.

I had the pleasure of watching a PBS special this weekend with Dr. Wayne Dyer and “Excuses Begone”. While watching, I discovered a new word and a new concept called a “meme“. A meme is a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. It’s very much like a computer virus that spreads and from one computer to another, that multiplies itself and infects everything it comes in contact with. Memes are often considered as factual, (that’s how prevalent most of them are) but if you actually take a look at look at data, (or lack of data in some cases) you find no facts whatsoever to support the belief.

There is certainly a meme attached to Network Marketing and more importantly YTB when it comes to the myths surrounding this idea that everyone in the business simply recruits others. It’s so firmly entrenched that even the California filed a $25 million law suit in attempt to stop it. What made the meme spread even faster in recent months is that California is perceived as being some sort of “authority”, and there was a perception that because California said it was so, it had to be true.

What California did for YTB was a huge favor now that we have documentation that separates the two business models. What California gave us were tools to help put an end to the meme that is spreading now that the settlement has been reached. If you think that the settlement alone will help put a stop to the myths, you’re partly correct. Nothing in the settlement specifies any pyramid scheme and YTB was never found guilty of running such a scheme. Huge plus in YTB’s favor.

The underlying problem however isn’t so much the pyramid scheme but the perception that everyone who joins YTB is recruiting hoards of other people into the business. Those that fear pyramids the way the do have all seen the chart from the FTC and the SEC documentation which tells them that it’s impossible to recruit everyone in the world. Doing so, would eventually exceed the worlds current population. Because it’s mathematically correct, most accept this as fact and we somehow need to be concerned that it’s going to happen to us if we get involved in MLM. But typical with most memes, when asked to produce an actual case where something like this has happened, they come up empty handed. (Actually, they ignore the question, but you get the idea.)

We Network Marketers on the other hand, DO have several case studies that should calm the fears and correct the memes surrounding this phobia of running out of people. I wrote some time ago about Mrs. Albee, the first Independent Representative with Avon (then the California Perfume Company) back in 1886. Yet I’ve never even been approached to sell Avon, and most likely you haven’t either. There are dozens and dozens of other Network Marketing companies out there that haven’t run out of people either, yet the business continues to not only survive but grow.

Mary Kay, Tupperware, Primerica, PrePaid Legal, Amway, Herbalife, NuSkin, EcoQuest, Fuller Brush, Melaleuca, NSA, Oxyfresh, Shaklee, Stanley Home Products, USANA Health Sciences, and Usborne Books have all been around for decades and not one has exceeded the worlds population. Yet the fear of running out of people is still being propagated based on what they believe is a flaw in the model.

The same fears and phobias are pitched for YTB of course with the added caveat that recruiting others is all we do in YTB. (Or at least that’s the major focus.) In both the suit and the settlement with California most of the attention was focused on how to stop the recruiting. A plan was devised in an attempt to chop the legs out from under the “recruiters” in the company, which would limit the amount of income Representatives are able to make. Based on the meme that everyone in YTB both buys a travel website AND recruits others to sell travel website the solution was to limit the income based on that beleif. Since everyone is both recruiting and owning websites, this would “fix” the SEC filings that 75% of the income comes from recruiting and help increase the percentage of travel income in the company.

The basic rule that California put in place is 40% of any Sellers compensation in any month could not come from both Website Owners who were also Website Sellers. This apparent “cap” on income would limit the number of big recruiters in joining the business.

All one needs to do here is look at the 2008 Income Disclosure Statement to show any “recruiter” that exceeding the 40% of both Website Owners and Website Sellers, (the big bad recruiters) is nothing more than a pipe dream. YTB Marketing had a total of 209,545 who were either Associates or Website Sellers at year end 2008. Of the 209,545, 188,538 participate only as Associates in our company who are not Website Sellers. (Meaning of course they were not recruiters.) The Income Disclosure Statement documents that only 10% (21,007) could actually qualify as both Website Seller and Website Owner who need to be concerned with the limitation imposed to only recieve 60% of thier compensation paid due to the new “rule”. (Assuming that all 21,007 are also Website Owners with YTB Travel Network.)

While many pitch this myth that everyone recruits everyone else, and that’s all YTB is, the numbers actually show that a small fraction of the entire company are actually “recruiters”.

What critics and now that Government who is blindly following along because of the social outcry of a few ignorant people actually have is nothing more than a “meme”. A false belief, a social perception based on myths, fears and phobias.

The question we now have to ask ourselves is if we can elimiate the virus that’s spread and correct the false belief that all YTB does is recruit others. I can’t honestly tell you that we can. Truth is that the 2007 Income Disclosure Statement also showed that very few people actually recruit others. While some can read and realize that what they are being told proves to be nothing more than a myth based on the documentation in both the 2007 and 2008 reports, not everyone is willing to let go of the socially acceptable belief that recruiting is all we do. It’s a shame that some feel it’s more important to follow social norms than it is to look and accept the facts here. That’s a totally differnet “meme” for another article and another day.

Like I told you on Monday, we’re not looking for “average” or those that want to follow along blindly based on social norms or beliefs. We want people who can think and act on thier own.

I know the pitch is that we’re the “blind sheep” here. That’s nothing more than a pitch to cast doubt and bring you back into the fold. In time, when critics see this the “fix” they’re so sure is going to stop the recruiting falls flat, some may come around. But I wouldn’t count on that, and most are in this way too deep right now. To look at the Income Disclosure and have that change thier beliefs would be a huge step in the right direction. That however, would mean they would have to take personal responsibiilty. Just not going to happen based on what I’ve seen the last couple of years.

The good news however is that there is an abundance of people who are willing to look at the facts, and don’t get wrapped up in the social norms. There are even more still, who like me have undergone an awakening and have questioned many of the social beleifs that have turned out to be completely false. Focus your time and your efforts on that, and you’ll begin to attract others who think and act the way you do. Given time, those that can’t or won’t get past thier own false beleifs will fall by wayside. Before long, you’ll find yourself surrounded by a whole new “social norm” that supports you and doesn’t get wrapped up in what I now know is a “YTB meme”.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

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This past weekend, I was introduced to a company called Aisle 19, and if you are like me, you probably went “Aisle who?” I never heard of them either, but after checking out the movie, it looked interesting. There really isn’t much out there concerning this company or concept so I figured a review was in order to help those of you who may have been invited, (the only way you can join by the way) to provide some information and answer some questions.

Aisle 19 is somewhat like the Discover credit card. You should know how that works. For every purchase you make; you earn a certain percentage as “cash back”.  The difference in Aisle 19 is it’s not a credit card, but a gateway you pass through in order to earn this “cash back” bonus with over 600 retailers. Percentages will range by retailer from 1% up to 20%, but by going through this gateway in Aisle 19 you are automatically qualify and are connected directly to the online stores you know and trust. Some names you may recognize are NFLshop.com, Barnes & Noble, Gap, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, K-Mart, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Staples, Sony….

You get the picture.

In addition, Aisle 19 is a good place to find those special deals, kind of like the Sunday paper, but every day. When I logged in this morning I found an exclusive Aisle 19 offer to receive 20% off the list price of any one item with Borders. The offer expires 1/31 and is good for everything from books and music to movies and kids. Another offer from Target includes free shipping with orders over $50.00. It’s a great place to start your shopping experience to save money.

What’s the cost for something like this? Nadda. There are no additional fees, no setup fees, and no activation fees. There are no inflated prices on shipping or product sales. Product prices and shipping costs through Aisle 19 are the same at the merchant’s web site and sometime even lower with Aisle 19’s Daily Deal specials.

All you need is to be invited by someone else.

So what’s the problem? I honestly couldn’t tell you. For someone like me who’s been buying online for a number of years, it’s really a no brainer. (Seriously) I mean, it doesn’t cost me a thing to join, I shop with retailers I already know (and trust) and I get “cash back” if I arrive at these stores sites via the Aisle 19 web site.

That being said, there are probably some questions, and I’ve seen some out there that I hope I might be able to answer for you here.

• Where is Aisle 19?

Aisle 19 is on the internet. I have seen questions out there believe it or not from people who physically went into the store and looked for an Aisle 19 in the store. (If you’d like to search for them, be my guest, but they will remain nameless here.) Aisle 19 is the online shopping portal or gateway that you can now use to save money and earn cash back.

• How do you make sure you get credit through Aisle 19?

Simply start shopping by going to Aisle 19 first, and then click the store of choice through Aisle 19. Stores will have no way of knowing how you got there without going through Aisle 19 first.

• How do they know it’s me?

Cookies, and we’re not talking Mrs. Fields here. Cookies are computer speak for tracking. It’s not spyware or any type of virus, just a way to make sure that the purchases you make all link back to you. Cookies used by Aisle 19 and it’s network of stores are completely safe and they are enabled by default with most browsers.

• Do all purchases qualify for cash back?

Virtually every “item” you purchase through Aisle 19 qualifies for cash back. Aisle 19 cannot, however, give cash back for taxes, shipping, or any portion of a purchase that is paid for with non-Aisle 19 provided coupons, gift certificates or a store credit. Specials and coupons CAN be combined to maximize your savings. (Unless otherwise stated by the retailer.)

• How do I know I’m saving as much as possible?

One way is to shop from the stores that offer the highest cash back incentives. Simply click on the ALL STORES tab in Aisle 19 and then select the Cash Back pull down. Aisle 19 will then show you which stores offer the highest cash back incentives from highest to lowest. Another way is to always start by checking out the Daily Deals on the main page. Aisle 19 does all the work for you by searching all the specials, deals and coupons that stores are currently offering. This saves you the time of clicking from store to store to find what deals are available. Many times these deals are not available when shopping from the stores directly so by coming through Aisle 19 you get discounts that are often not available to the general public. You can also word search for items in the daily deal section to see if what you are looking for happens to be on sale.

• How soon will I receive my cash back?

On or around the 20th of every month, your cash back check from the previous month’s purchases will be cut and mailed to you. There are special incentive stores that will provide instant cash back for you at the time of purchase. Kind of like an “instant rebate”, and simply take the cash back you receive off the total price.

• What are the shipping policies?

The same as the retailer’s web site. Because you will be shopping on the retailer’s site you will have to check their shipping policies. Some stores like Sam’s and Wal-Mart will allow you to order on-line and pick your merchandise up at the local store. (Cool huh?)

• How safe is my credit card information?

100% secure. When you check out at any of the merchants used, you are on the safest possible connection, a Secure Socket Layer (SSL). Credit card security is of the utmost importance to Aisle 19 and something they look for when partnering with a retailer.

If you’ve been introduced to Aisle 19, I hope this gives you a better idea of what this program is all about, and answer some of the questions you might have had. Personally, I like the idea and it fits in very well with what I’m already doing. It also gives me added incentive to shop for more products online for additional savings of both time and money.

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I was introduced to a book a couple of years ago by Chris Anderson entitled “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More “.  Mr. Anderson is the editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. He wrote The Long Tail, which first appeared in Wired in October 2004 and then became a book in July, 2006.

While I usually find data and numbers extremely boring and it can make my head spin, Chris did an excellent job of injecting enough “layman’s speak” that kept my interest. I do enjoy reading about both business models and the men, (or woman in e-Bay’s case) who ran these successful businesses.

If your unfamiliar with just what The Long Tail is, and your in YTB, it’s best that you have a basic understanding of why this transition is important. In a nutshell, our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of mainstream products and markets at the “head” and toward a huge number of niches in the “tail”.

There are certainly examples of “heads” that are extremely successful, such as Wal-Mart for the mass appeal, or someone like a close friend of mine Nick McCulloch, who owns Link Your House, a specialty Home Automation and Security company. Here’s the rub concerning “real world” retailers. (Brick and Mortar) Due to exorbitant costs for space, you either need to select items that have a mass appeal, or scale back to reduce costs and attempt to focus on a niche market and hope there is enough of a local market to support your niche. 

An average movie theater will not show a film unless it can attract at least 1,500 people over a two-week run; that’s essentially the rent for a screen. An average record store needs to sell at least two copies of a CD per year to make it worth carrying; that’s the rent for a half inch of shelf space. And so on for DVD rental shops, videogame stores, booksellers, and newsstands.

In each case, retailers will carry only content that can generate sufficient demand to earn its keep. But each can pull only from a limited local population – perhaps a 10-mile radius for a typical movie theater, less than that for music and bookstores, and even less (just a mile or two) for video rental shops.

These costs however, drop dramatically in the digital world. Look at music stores like Rhapsody, a purely digital services with no manufacturing costs and minimal distribution fees. Because all music is stored in “bits and bytes”, The Who “Eminence Front“, a song or album that makes one sale per year has the same margins as a someone like Bruce Springsteen, “Working on a Dream” who will sell millions of copies after it’s debut at the end of the month. A hit and a miss are on equal economic footing because both are just entries in a database which are called up on demand. This make BOTH equally worthy of being offered due minimal or no cost, while increasing profits. In The Long Tail, popularity no longer has a monopoly on profitability. Unlike the Wal-Mart’s of the world with a little sliver of space to hold a CD that equals a cost associated with the space, and even that little CD needs to help pay the rent.

In “Brick and Mortar”, if you had to pick between a 1982 version of an old rock classic, and a new hit that’s already getting buzz due to President Elect Obama, which CD would you be stocking your shelves with?

Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it in service after service, from DVDs at Netflix to music videos on Yahoo! Launch to songs in the iTunes Music Store and Rhapsody. People are going deep into the catalog, down the long, long list of available titles, far past what’s available at Blockbuster Video, Tower Records, and Barnes & Noble. And the more they find, the more they like. As they wander further from the beaten path, they discover their taste is not as mainstream as they thought (or as they had been led to believe by marketing, a lack of alternatives, and a hit-driven culture).

Combine enough small, obscure sales on the Long Tail and you’ve got a market bigger than even “The Boss” can produce.

Likewise,  in the case of books, the average Barnes & Noble carries 130,000 titles. Yet more than half of Amazon’s book sales come from outside its top 130,000 titles. Personally, I can only find a book I’m looking for half the time in a book store. Sure, they can order it for me, but so can I through Amazon, AND have it delivered directly to my home without the need of getting a call to drive back down to the store to pick the book up. If the Amazon statistics are any guide, the market for books that are not even sold in the average bookstore is larger than the market for those that are.

In other words, the potential book market may be twice as big as it appears to be, if only we can get over the economics of scarcity. Venture capitalist and former music industry consultant Kevin Laws puts it this way: “The biggest money is in the smallest sales.”

At this point, your asking yourself, “What in the world does that have to do with YTB?”

Take a look at all the niche sites this company offers in it’s digital arena. I know Travel Store Owners who specialize in Weddings and Honeymoons, others who specialize in Golf Packages, and still others like me, who specialize in cruises. Specialization is great, and I highly recommend that you find a couple of areas to specialize in when it comes to travel. But there are times when I run into areas I have no interest or knowledge in, but a potential customer or client may have a passion for.

A perfect example for me would be hunting. Honestly, I’d rather watch paint dry, but my In-Laws who I spent part of the Christmas break with are avid hunters. They also live about an hour and a half away from the nearest Bass Pro Shop. Is it out of the realm of possibility that they might have an interest in a new Hunting and Fishing web site that has comparable prices, that saves them both time and money?

That’s The Long Tail at work. I’m certainly not going to get rich off camouflage sales, but what did it cost me to carry the line as an Travel Store Owner?

Not a penny more than it did before I started…to sell cruises.

Let’s go back to Amazon for a minute. We all know them for their books and probably DVD’s and CD these days. What do you suppose happened that caused them to start selling groceries on a site known for books and DVD’s?? While you’re at it, you can fix the pesky light switch in their lighting and electrical department on isle five.

Are you thinking they might have lost it? Are they getting out of books because they’re making a mint off coffee and light bulbs? Or are they beginning to get the concept of The Long Tail?

Like Amazon who branched out in it’s distribution to capture ancillary sales, YTB is now moving into Food and Gifts, Home Decor, Financial Services, and Apperal and Accessories. Does that mean my passion has changed from cruises to carrot cake? Do I now need to be an expert or even remotely care about thread counts on pillow cases?

Hell no. Besides, if I did care about something like wellness and beauty, I could have gone with a century old MLM called Avon. (Unlike my love for a good steak or carrot cake, I don’t do makeup.)

I realize there are some who could never accept this shift in distribution. You need to remember, they’ll still hanging on to their “brick and mortar” theories and beliefs. Others will attempt to outwit and outsmart an experienced economic mind like Chris with their own excuses as to why this model simply won’t work.

So be it, if that’s their case. Just smile, nod your head, and say “Thanks for sharing”.

On a completely different note, and simply a followup on a previous post concerning Joystar just after Christmas.

It appears that a number of Agents have filed an involuntary bankruptcy case against Joystar in US Bankruptcy Court on Friday. They are seeking more than $150,000 in unpaid commissions that the agents claim are owed to them.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

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