When I started my new business back in August, one of the requirements was insurance. The company required me to either upgrade or add outright general business liability, property, and bodily injury. All totaled, the insurance required with my new company is worth more than $1.4 million.

We went with our current carrier for home and auto right out of the gate – just to get the coverage we needed. We questioned however if the coverage was adequate or if the rates were competitive.

After all the dust settled from getting our new business off the ground, we decided to shop around for better coverage and rates. One of the candidates happened to be a neighbor of ours. She knew us personally, and she had just made a switch to another company that had been attempting to recruit her for some time. We were blown away by the rates, the assortment of coverage, her attention to detail, and the personal attention we received.

When she came by the house the other night with a hard copy of the new policy, she provided a handful of business cards and asked us for referrals.

I couldn’t help but laugh at how her sales process worked. How ironic that if she had done the same exact thing with some MLM or Network Marketing gig, it would have been “unethical” or “hounding” us for even asking for referrals.

Because she works with a “traditional business” nobody thinks twice about this type of marketing and promotion.

I then started to drill back over the last year and thought about all the business we had done with neighbors who were introduced to us either because we knew them personally, or because they were introduced to us by other neighbors who hired them and were pleased with their work.

I thought back to the new roof we put on the house last year that was completed by a neighbor of ours. He doesn’t do a lick of paid advertising, and he was actually recommended to us by another neighbor who had their roof done by the same neighbor. All of his business comes from referrals.

When we repaired the rotted trim on the house and had the outside of the house repainted this summer, we got a number of quotes. As you probably guessed at this point, we settled on another neighbor to do the work for us. He wasn’t the cheapest, but we felt the quality of the materials and paint along with his reputation as a quality craftsman was worth the slightly higher price.

We’ve since raved about his quality work and materials to other neighbors who now admire our new look in the neighborhood. In addition, he’ll get more business from us for a new makeover in our master bath, and a new outdoor area in our back yard that we want to have done by next summer.

The Dealership we bought our new Town and Country Limited from – also recommend by a neighbor. As it turns out, we’ll be recommending that same Dealership as well. Not only was it the easiest, most pleasurable car purchased we’ve ever made, if someone mentions our name, we’ll get a $200 referral kickback from the Dealership when they purchase.

You, yourself can most likely think of your own examples of business you’ve done with personal contacts and neighbors or business that started as a referral like this.

So what gives with this phobia anti-MLM Zealots have with Network Marketing companies doing the same thing? Why – or more accurately “how” could business like this be perceived as unworthy, unethical, or hounding someone for business?

Truth is, after reading and talking with anyone who attempts to make an exception out of MLM for this type of promotion and marketing doesn’t have the proper business background to speak intelligently about marketing.

It screams “ignorance”.

Any true business owner, traditional or MLM will tell you that this type of marketing and promotion is by far the most cost effective – and because it comes from word of mouth (or referrals) it’s potentially the most effective form of promotion there is. Having a testimonial from a third party like this is incredibly powerful and desirable from both the seller and the buyer.

If you ever hear someone complain about MLM or referral marketing and promotion consider the source. Do they have a business of their own? If they do – how successful is their current business? If it’s not – there’s your limiting belief.

Until they change or modify this belief, they’ll continue to struggle and remain unproductive and unhappy.

It’s no coincidence that the neighbors we have that are the most happy, and the most active around the neighborhood are also business owners. They get it.

And if you ask any of them – business is booming.

From the looks of it, anyone who comes in contact with them can tell that’s true. Like us, they’re driving new cars, getting improvements done to their house, and are able to spend just as much time as we do participating in neighborhood gatherings and social events.

Why? Because they know how to market and promote like just like a Network Marketing company does.

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One of the things that I absolutely love about MLM is a genuine desire to learn and grow.

Since my introduction into this industry, I’ve been exposed to more author’s, speakers, and mentors than I can shake a stick at. Some, like Dale Carnegie, Brian Tracy, and Earl Nightingale were in my library long before MLM. Since my introduction into MLM however, I’ve been introduced to more great – wealthy – inspirational minds in the last six years than all my prior years combined.

A new book I was introduced to last week – provided a number of amazing revelations I wanted to share with you.

The author is Robert Shemin and he’s pictured here on the cover of his New York Times Best Seller “How Come THAT Idiot’s Rich and I’m Not?”

Just the title alone makes you want to read this thing. (It’s brilliant!) I don’t know about you, but I’ve known my fair share of “idiot’s” in my day. The vast majority are miserable and broke, and not actually happy and rich however. But I get the gist of what Shemin is trying to convey here, because there was a time when I looked at some rich people and thought, “What do they have that I don’t?”

What I found out, in other books and from speakers like Shemin was there was plenty I didn’t have in regards to mindset and attitude. It wasn’t until I got involved with MLM that I really began to study and eventually understand what it takes to be successful in business. Sure, I made plenty of mistakes. I also had my share of so called “failures”. Each mistake or failure turned into valuable learning experiences that changed my thinking and my actions. Washing away all the crap that cluttered my mind and kept me from taking the proper action to attain success. It took a number of years, but I eventually replaced enough beliefs and actions with powerful thoughts and valuable tools that I now own and operate a number of businesses that has me well on my way to the type of lifestyle and net worth I desire.

Shemin’s book is centered on real estate. That’s his area of expertise. But true to that vast majority of smart, successful business minds that I’ve read both from and about – most support and promote MLM as a viable business model to get involved with. (Especially as a model for getting started in business.) The level of support and tools found in MLM far exceed anything else I’ve seen in the business world.

Shemin’s no different – but with a very nice promotion of a very specific MLM and industry.

Now I know you all don’t have this book handy, and I’m not going to bombard you with what the entire book says. (Besides, it’s mostly about real estate and not MLM.) But there’s one page that I’d like to highlight, because it’s a real eye opener.

For anyone who wants to check out the page for themselves, you can on Google Books. (Here’s the link to the Page 101) I also wanted to use this link just so there’s no doubt about what was printed in this New York Times Best Seller.

Becoming a travel agent is simple. I signed up for something called Your Travel Business, or YTB, and presto! I became a travel agent. You can too. Just go to my special site, www.ytb.com/robertshemin, and sign up. Now you’re a Rich Idiot, too.

So book that trip and live rich now. By the way, I should tell you that when you sign up, I get benefits for introducing you. That makes me an even bigger Rich Idiot. But wait – you’ll get the same added goodies when you share your travel agent site with your friends and family. Remember, Rich Idiots want others to be rich, too!

Imagine that? Here’s someone who’s already rich – promoting YTB as a great way to get rich yourself. No special training involved – no requirements or classes. Just sign up and start telling your friends and family.

Now I know this kind of promotion drives the travel professional’s nuts. (Makes the hair on the back of their neck stand up with disgust and anger.) What these travel professionals have never really grasped is that travel isn’t rocket science. In fact it’s so simple that 4 of the Top 10 travel agencies today are do it yourself type agencies. (Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline.) If the average person can book their own hotel, cruise, and airline ticket – there’s no reason why someone like you and I can’t sign up and point people to your own site.

Also note, there’s full disclosure here. Robert makes it very clear that he benefits from introducing his readers. Broke Idiot’s call that “profiting” – as if there’s something wrong with making a profit in business. For anyone who takes issue with Robert, me, or anyone else making a profit from introducing others about all I can respond with is – “Duh?!”

In other words, profits are a major component in owning and operating any successful business. Just because it has “MLM” attached to it – doesn’t make it any different. It’s business.

Moving on – and you’re going to love this.

At most resorts or hotels, there are better rooms and bigger rooms with more interesting views, concierge floors with special services, and even luxury suits. When checking in, simply ask if you could be upgraded. Here’s how I empower the staff. I say, “If anyone can make this happen, I know it’s you.” Then I offer them a gift (I often carry chocolates with me), not to bribe them but to brighten their day. You’ll be surprised how often a hotel will oblige. Presto! You’ve just become a Rich Idiot for the duration of your stay!

Now wait just a cotton picken’ minute here! You mean to tell me after all these years that all I really needed was a box of chocolates? What about the all-powerful and necessary IATAN that I’ve been whacked over the head with more times than I can count? Here – I’ve been soooo concerned because I’ve been told by so called industry “experts” that IATAN was the be all and end all for upgrades!

What a rip! ;-P

Truth is guys. I’ve really only used my CLIA once way back when for a trip to Sandenstin for a FAM. Other FAM’s and Seminars at Sea were offered via YTB without any such requirement. Likewise, I’ve never owned an IATAN because contrary to what’s been said about YTB and IATAN, there’s no possible way YTB could actually “sell” their IATAN to a third party. There’s only one way to attain that credential, and that’s earning it from IATAN directly with proof of $5000 in commissioned sales. By the time I was able to earn mine directly, they pulled the plug with this nonsense YTB was selling the card.

All these years, all I’ve really needed was a smile and the guts to simply ask for an upgrade. If it was available, I usually got one.

If not, here’s the next tip that I’ve also done.

Here’s one thing I do at least once a year. I put together a group of my friends for a trip or a cruise. This vacation strategy also works very well for school groups, churches, and civic groups. If enough people participate, the airline, the hotel, the resort, or the cruise ship will often give me my trip for free. Not only do I get a fantastic vacation, but I get to spend it with all my friends and I get it for free – just for having the idea and putting it together. By the way, Rich Idiots take a portion of the price of the ticket they would have paid for but didn’t and donate the money to a worthy cause.

Soon after my trip to Sandestin, Royal Caribbean launched Freedom of the Seas. I really wanted to get on this ship but there was just no way RCL was going to kick some full paying customer off this ship just to put me and my family on the ship for a fraction of the cost.

So I did what other Rich Idiot’s do and got a small group of eight of us together. Granted, the group was so small at the time that there wasn’t any “freebie” for us, but because everyone booked at full price, yours truly did earn over $1000 in commission to recoup some of the cost. In addition, when I got back I posted pictures and wrote a really nice review of our experience.

Note: no lime green t-shirts were required with “I got here free, ask me how”. No shenanigans about recruiting everyone on board. Instead, before RCL pulled their little stunt, several people saw our photos or review, and booked full fair cruises with us on BandBVacations.com earning somewhere in the neighborhood of $13 million in the first nine months of 2007.

And Royal Caribbean is demanding that we change our tune in order to have the “privilege” to sell a cruise with thier company? What the hell for?

Makes you wonder who the Idiot is don’t it?

It’s entirely up to you which “Idiot” you want to be. You can be rich – or you could really goofy and be broke. My experience with both (or at least attaining wealth and net worth) is it’s much easier and more fun being rich rather than broke.

Broke as we’ve seen time and time again, leaves you angry and miserable.

Being rich however, takes all those people who want to call you an idiot and makes it incredibly easy to just flick them off like flies. ;-P

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Today, I wanted to give anyone interested a heads up on a service that I think is not only important, but primed to make the smart entrepreneurial mind and marketer money.

If you’ve done any research at all in this arena, you should know that Mobile Marketing is on the way up. If you don’t know about Mobile Marketing – what it is – and how it’s poised as the next boom, do your own independent research on the subject and you’ll certainly see what I’m talking about.

The smart players certainly will, while the pretenders won’t bother.

One of the first things you can do concerning this research is hop on a free webinar tonight provided by my company, YTB International. There’s no question this company knows marketing. It’s one of the biggest powerhouses I’ve ever been a part of in my professional career. It’s made some serious money for the seasoned marketer, and it’s taught the not so seasoned marketer (like me before I hooked up with them) how it’s done.

A few weeks back, at their National Convention, the company announced the launch of a new product called Z Mobile. A week later, it was live and running. At this point, everyone is on the same level playing field in finding out what this service is all about and what it can do. The webinar tonight will cover the features, advantages and benefits of this service for both the end user and the Representative who wants to market the service.

Here’s the real kicker. If you see an opportunity to market this service, like I do, you can sign up as a Rep with YTB and sell this product for no money down, and no annual fee. It’s absolutely free. The company did the same thing 10 years ago when they broke into the Travel industry selling travel websites. Within 5 years of marketing this Travel Company, the Representatives who sold the sites amassed a massive amount of home based travel agents. As a result, it enabled the Travel Company to become one of the top fifty host agencies in the country. Some, (certainly not all) attained great wealth by joining the company as a free Rep and selling these turnkey Travel Stores.

There was one glaring flaw back then when the company took the travel industry by storm.

It ticked the existing travel agents in the industry off. (A few are still incessantly whining and crying about it to this day.) Some were simply stuck in their time warp or fantasy and wouldn’t adapt. While others never dreamed that a simple marketing system with no real travel experience to speak of would really work. Within time, they realized how wrong they were in underestimating the power of our marketing system, and resorted to pulling out every trick in the book to regain control – including lawsuits designed to destroy the company. Some to this day still lay claim that it’s an illegal pyramid scheme – stating incorrectly that the Reps who sold the sites had to pay to participate.

Fact is, it did work. And while some of the chapters in that story over the last ten years have been mired in bickering and fighting to regain control of their industry, YTB Travel Network is still around and still selling travel. (And still in the top 50) I’m a proud Travel Agent myself to this day.

Now here’s the beauty of this new product and service that YTB has just launched with Z Mobile. There’s no real player right now in this industry. You’re not going to hurt somebody’s feelings, or tick someone off for taking business away from them like we did to the Travel Agents. It’s all virgin territory and the market is wide open to blaze your own path and your own marketing story. The Rep position is still free, just like it always has, but you’ll be selling to an end user that’s a little more business minded. (Unlike the travel agents I’ve seen bickering on the internet.)

True, this product is for the “early adopters” at this point in the game. The way I look at it, it simply gives me a little more time to wrap my arms around this product and the potential it has to change the way we market and communicate with clients and customers.

Also, true that there is no guarantee that Mobile Marketing will be as big as some are predicting. It costs you nothing to take a look, and it costs you nothing to become a part of the company to find out. If it does take off – great. If not, well – nobody who signs up for free loses out.

If you want to change your financial picture, you have to change what you’re doing and thinking. If you’re not where you want to be right now financially, then you’re current form of thinking and doing simply isn’t working. (If it was, you’re circumstances would be different.)

I know that may sound a little in your face – but sometimes the truth happens to be just that – in your face.

I’m not here to mock you, or make fun of you. I’m here to help you. I’m here to give you a dose of reality. Which is a lot more than I can say for some of the “experts” I’ve seen on the Internet.

Hop on tonight’s webinar and at least check it out. There’s no high pressure and we’re not even going to ask for your name, nor have you subscribe for a link. It’s open to anyone who wants to take a look. The smart players (who are the actual people we’re looking for here) will find a way to contact either me or someone else who invited them to find out more and get started.

Oh, and if you miss any part of it, it will replay every hour on the hour all night. It all starts at 8:00 pm Eastern, 7:00 pm Central, 6:00 pm Mountain, 5:00 pm Pacific.

I sincerely hope you like what you see. Not only in the product but in the company and the way we market. It’s been a real game changer for me over the years – and it could be for you too.

But only if you take that first step and find out more.

See you tonight?

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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They simply find the people who are ready for them.

As I sit here on the eve of another YTB / ZamZuu National Convention in St. Louis, I’m astounded how this company has changed my life to look for opportunity. How it’s prepared and molded my mind for business success. I’ve now overcome the fear of the word “no”, and in that same vein – it’s helped me help others who were willing and open to opportunity themselves.

Not everyone has taken advantage of the opportunities presented to them. I think it was Edison who said “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” There’s a reason why the word “work” is placed in this industry we call Net”work” Marketing.

If you really study the MLM model, and become a student of the industry you’ll find that this model instills a work ethic and business savvy that you won’t find in any school. It lays a foundation of real – practical business principles and practices that you just can’t find anywhere else.

That being said – I realize that there are so called “experts” out there who will attempt to argue the points I’ve laid claim to above. You (and they) know the ones that I’m talking about. The obnoxious loud mouths who believe they know better than we do – who have it all figured out. Keep in mind that these are the same jerks who warned everyone three years ago that YTB was going to be shut down by the California Attorney General on the eve of the 2008 National Convention. Their experience has taught them that a company that finds themselves in the midst of a $25 million lawsuit will fold like a wet noodle.

I’ve seen instances of companies actually crumbling for far less money and vicious accusations or monetary compensation – but then again, the examples I can recall are traditional business models – not Network Marketing companies.

Companies like Amway, Herbalife, PrePaid Legal, USANA, NuSkin, and YTB have all been victimized by lawsuits claiming they’re some sort of scam and survived because these so called “experts” who get their little panties in a wad aren’t the business minds, or protectors of industry and justice they claim to be. At most, they’re opportunists themselves who take advantage of people’s fears and insecurity instead of instilling rational and logical thinking. It’s simply a chance for them to grab the spotlight and make themselves feel important.

There’s an ancient Chinese proverb I saw just the other day. “Those people who judge a books by their covers…..have difficulty reading!” When it comes to my experience with YTB and critics, that’s about as close to reality as it comes. With some of the outlandish, bizarre and irrational statements I’ve seen over the years surrounding not only MLM but YTB specifically by these people, that proverb pretty much nails it.

Something else I’ve learned over the years about these “experts”. When it comes to owning up to mistakes, inaccurate speculation, or just plain lies – they’re cowards. Actually, their mind, (more accurately “ego”) won’t allow them to admit they might be wrong. This perception they have is the only thing they have to hang on too.

Let me give you an example.

Last week, I was talking with one of our Directors about the once infamous John Frenaye. If there’s anyone who’s fallen prey to speculation and rumors it’s John. The guy would fall for just about anything posted on the internet as “truth” or “fact” if it has a negative ring to it. Even when there nothing there, he’ll manage to create it just to grab some attention. You can only imagine how “excited” John must have been when word of the California lawsuit was announced the night before the 2008 Convention. You’d think the simple filling of this suit meant it was a done deal the way he sensationalized the cover of this suit.

But those of us who went beyond the simple cover, and actually read the verbiage and actually comprehend our business had a completely different take. So much so, that this Director made a bet with Mr. Frenaye.

Sometime after the suit was filed, the two made this gentlemen’s bet. If the suit was indeed accurate, John would get what he wanted. The total and complete illumination of a so called pariah in an industry he actually doesn’t own but merely works in.

If however the suit wasn’t successful in shutting down YTB like Jerry Brown boldly proclaimed he could do – there would be a public apology by John at the next National Convention in St. Louis.

While there was an attempt to make some sort of assurances that John would keep his word on this – according to the account of the Director who made this bet – John’s enormous ego wouldn’t permit him to even speculate any possibility that YTB could survive the cover of the claim.

The National Convention in St. Louis this week will be the third since the suit was first announced in 2008. Along the way there was a $100 Million Class Action filed which has been thrown out of court more times than a cat has lives, and another suit filed by the Illinois Attorney General that honestly just sat there collecting dust for two years before it quietly went away.

John being the gullible and clueless soul that he is obviously took the bet. In his mind – the cover matched his perception, and there was just no way on God’s green earth that he’d ever have to muster up any type of apology with these kind of stakes stacked up against a bunch of lowly MLM Yahoos.

Now I can understand the absence of a full-fledged apology in 2009. While John had certainly speculated that bankruptcy or the YTB Founders riding off into the sunset with everyone’s money was an absolute certainty by the time we all got together in St. Louis at the time, none of the facts about our model had really come to light a year later. Nor were any of the suits either settled or thrown out of court outright.

I’ll even let 2010 slide. He was after all holding on to a thread of hope that the laws as they’re currently written in Illinois would magically change or be re-written in his favor.

However, it’s now 2011 and all three suits have either been settled both legally and monetarily or been pummeled to death by the court system as being “redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter”.

So that begs a very serious question. Could this be the year that YTB gets the apology from this once infamous critic who now finds himself on the wrong end of this bet?

Honestly, I doubt it. Cowards like John and the other critics who have quietly removed themselves from the soap boxes they once stood on just don’t have it in them. The opportunity to correct the years of slander, malicious abuse and misleading information posted on No Travel MLMs will never go away.

Unfortunately, I don’t see John being ready. A far better alternative is to just quietly fade away like he has. However, because YTB will continue to hold National Conventions like the one this week in St. Louis – the opportunity for him to man up and do so will never go away. ;-P

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For the fifth year in a row, YTB Travel Network makes Travel Weekly’s Power List of the top 50 Travel Agencies. Some will be a bit surprised. Others will be pleased. While I’m sure there will be others who will be (as they always are) frustrated with another year of YTB being included in Travel Weekly’s listing.

Personally, I consider this year’s listing as one of the finest showings from previous years for several reasons. This year’s listing dispels the skewed and misleading math formulas we’ve seen in years past from socialist pin heads. It also puts to rest any notion that the word “Travel” in YTB Travel Network is an afterthought.

Let’s not forget as well, all the mud that was thrown up in the companies face three years ago that has now been cleaned off, putting any claims of pyramid or ponzi schemes behind the company.

I’m quite certain that some had dreams and others feared that California’s Attorney General could actually put an end to the company. If California couldn’t get it done, surely Illinois or the opportunist ambulance chasers would. Yet, here I am three years later with the same capabilities in selling travel, and a better commission split to boot.

Clearly, YTB Travel Network has had its share of the spotlight. Some good – some bad – and some just completely bogus accusations. (Some have turned out to be rather comical.) Through it all however, YTB Travel Network has survived because of a very solid foundation laid by the Founders of the company and a few thousand loyal “Travel Agents” who appreciated a different approach in selling travel.

So, here we are – the numbers from the Travel Weekly Power List:

At number 34 – YTB Travel Network

2010 Sales: $221.7 million
Employees: 120
Previous Rank: 29

What is so impressive about this spot is the company has accomplished this number with a small fraction of people compared to years past. At the companies height (before the mudslinging and bogus lawsuits) YTB Travel reported 92,383 travel sellers who sold $424.1 million in travel. What “socialist pin heads” did was divide total sales by the total number of travel sellers. This year, the company reported 12,200 travel sellers who sold $221.7 million in travel.

So why the big jump in “average sales”?

Clearly, these “averages” we’ve seen (or are forced upon Network Marketing companies from our fine Government as “Income Disclosures”) aren’t what they’re cracked up be. You can’t possibly dictate to anyone what someone is capable of selling based on average numbers. Some will excel, while others won’t do a blessed thing to get their business off the ground. Travel sellers who weren’t making any money (because they couldn’t change their thinking or work ethic from “employee” to “business owner”) are now gone. Those who could grasp the thinking and habits of “business” were making money as travel sellers and are still around and producing numbers more consistent with traditional travel agents. It’s always been like this – but it wasn’t until now that we see how the real world actually works – not some mathematical theory.

We’ve heard over and over again that our focus isn’t travel. Again, you can’t dictate as an overall consensus (just like the bogus “averages” above) that’s true for everyone. I got into YTB Travel Network so I could get paid for telling people that a cruise was the best vacation money could buy. I’m still just as passionate about the industry as I was the day I signed up. Sure the other products offered via the ZamZuu shopping cart are nice. In fact, I was selling similar items here on this blog long before ZamZuu ever came about. Ever since I changed hats from employee to business owner, you become educated about what multiple streams of income can do for your bottom line.

While it’s a nice bonus, my focus – and what fires me up is still travel.

Well, that and the Pittsburgh Steelers. But just because I moved from Pittsburgh to Atlanta 19 years ago, I’m still just as much of a diehard fan than I ever was. (Okay – fanatical, but you get the idea.) You know damn well, you’re never gonna take the Steelers out of this boy. You’ll also never take the passion I have for travel out of me either.

While others in our industry would like our focus to be something else – it’s honestly not up to them to tell me, you, or anyone else what we should or should not focus on. Travel got us to where we are – and travel will continue to carry this company in the future. It’s a fantastic product that everyone still enjoys talking about and still the number one answer to a question I’ve asked for years.

“If you had more time and more money – what would YOU do?“

What makes this year’s list especially gratifying is that all the crap from California, Illinois, and a handful of ambulance chasers is now behind the company. All laid claim about being a pyramid scheme. Thing is, pyramid schemes are illegal and scams like that are ultimately shut down. Sure, there will be those who will continue to throw that out there – and that’s perfectly fine. Looks worse on them at this point than it ever will YTB, because it illustrates they haven’t learned a blessed thing. (And most likely, never will.)

I really could care less – because all I have to do is pull up my booking engine and look at another listing on this year’s Power List.

Nuff said.

YTB Travel Network will move on as it always has. Like I said before – travel got us here, and travel will continue to be a major asset for YTB International. If the company can do this with all the obstacles thrown up to distract everyone – imagine what it can do now with this core group of travel sellers.

Nothing like a little dose of reality to get things cranked back up again now is there? The way I see it, there’s nothing stopping this company from climbing back up this list to even higher levels once reached in years past. Difference is, there were lessons learned from the first go around that will make it all that much easier to accomplish if everyone pitches in.

Based on what this year’s list has shown us, the company is leaner, meaner, and battle tested for another great run.

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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UPDATE: It’s a miracle!! The witch is not dead. Actually – I think the proper word right now would be “irritated”. (By yours truly.) Within two hours of posting this – our boy John pulled up a month and a half old rant he never bothered to publish to save face. (Hell, even my wife warned me that what would happen.)

Not too upset. He’s supplied some of the best content and some really great laughs over the years. Based on his history, and the outdated rant, I see no evidence that will change.

~~~

Honestly, I never thought this day would come. I’ve run into my share of zealots and cynics over the years, but have never seen the likes of anyone so obsessed and disturbed as the “Coach” of the Anti-MLM Travel crowd. By default, anyone in YTB would know that person to be John W. Frenaye. One of the most arrogant, confused, and condescending dolts I’ve ever witnessed during my tenure with YTB.

I first caught a glimpse of John’s irritation with YTB back in 2007 with an article he wrote using MSNBC as his platform. It was his last article for MSNBC. You can only imagine how unamused the editors of MSNBC were with anyone “double dog daring” folks like John did for that soap box article. His last rant on MSNBC however was only the beginning of the type of outlandish and eccentric stunts pulled over the next 3 to 4 years of a one man battle to rid the industry of Travel MLM’s.

A few short months later John showed up as a commenter on our blog in an apparent attempt to educate me on his “issues” with Travel MLM’s. I still remember the coy attitude and the intimidation tactic – as if he had it all figured out. It was to become a trademark of the almighty Frenaye. At the time however, I did see John as both a challenge and an opportunity to correct not just misconceptions and misrepresentations the industry had about MLM – but bold face lies about our people our Founders, and our company.

I’ll always give anyone the benefit of the doubt. Call it an asset or a fault, but I did befriend John because I did agree with a few minor points and issues that needed to be cleaned up in our industry. One of those issues being a love of travel and service to others. Perks in our industry known as FAM’s are a privilege and a tool to sell more travel to paying customers – not a right simply because you call yourself a “Travel Agent”. MLM is a business, not some discount program or get rich quick scheme.

And that’s how our discussions began.

When it was my turn to clear the air that nobody actually paid for the opportunity to recruit others, or that gross travel sales were actually 4 to 5 times the amount of travel website sales – that’s where we ran into problems. See, John, like so many other zealots who think they’re the bees knees find it difficult to communicate, learn, and educate themselves to find a resolution. I suppose the reason for this is that if they actually did – there wouldn’t even be an issue. Zealots need controversy in order to maintain their charade.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie Network. It’s a 1976 film that takes a cynical look at TV networks exploits that stars a very deranged ex-TV anchor. The film has one very famous quote that I’m sure you’ve heard of: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.“

That’s John Frenaye in a nutshell. What John saw in YTB at the time, was the biggest – baddest Travel MLM out there. Remember, nobody was able to do what YTB did – they all folded before YTB Travel came along. Sure, other Travel MLM’s were a nuisance and frustrating – but since they were so short lived – they weren’t any real threat.

YTB was a different animal all together – it had legitimacy attached to it. Carnival Pinnacle Awards and listings smack dab in the middle of Travel Weekly’s Power List aren’t something Travel MLM’s are even capable of doing in the eyes of an anti-MLM zealot. And because YTB was morphing into a host agency powerhouse, the only thing John could do was go on a rampage for the next couple of years, finding (or fabricating) any issue he could dream up to shame YTB into submission.

I can’t complain too much because he gave me some fabulous content to show how you should never just walk – but run from zealots like John if you want anything close to sanity or the truth.

Some of my favorites include:

• An amended Class Action suit John dubbed was “powerful” yet was thrown out of court just days later for being “redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter”. (Boy – does that shoe fit huh?!)
• The claims that Candi May couldn’t possibly be a legitimate Travel Agent, or had been courted by Carlson Wagonlit only to find YTB as a better alternative.
• When CLIA slapped John with his hands in the cookie jar over claims that CLIA was playing favorites with YTB and not abiding by the rules set for all agencies.
• The church parsonage which Coach Tomer and Chris donated to a church – which John conveniently spinned into a “lease”. (The idiot even provided the court documents himself to show it was a legitimate donation.)
• The perfect “Gotcha” turned sour. An outdated 32 year old law in Rhode Island which John dug up that required all Agents to be bonded. That is, until John brought attention to it – and instead of enforcing it, Rhode Island repealed the outdated law.
• And of course we can’t forget John’s hopes and the dreams that were dashed in both California and Illinois shutting YTB down and ending our existence all together.

I’ve lost count how many times we were warned that Coach, Scott, and Kim would ride off into the sunset. The warnings of bankruptcy. How the stock was being manipulated. And the ultimate dream – how YTB would get out of the travel industry all together.

Aside from being proven wrong and outed for outlandish and false claims so many times over the years – probably the straw that broke this dolts back was the revelation that John really wasn’t the saint he claimed to be was made public.

Look – nobody’s perfect and we all make mistakes. Lord knows I’ve made my share in my lifetime and so has YTB. The key difference between someone like me and a company like YTB is that we can at least acknowledge we’re not perfect and either make amends and/or correct the mistake.

And it’s that type of acceptance and humility that enables me to keep writing here and YTB to keep selling travel during events like we had last night with Sandals.

John, on the other hand has apparently moved on. While his charade and escapades will be documented on the Internet forever, like the comments section that he was once so proud of haven’t been updated in almost a month. Best I can tell, he’s found another hobby with yet another startup and another site called Eye On Annapolis. It has nothing to do with travel or MLM’s thank goodness. It’s more like a city beat type thing and frankly – I’m pulling for him that it works.

I honestly don’t know if John will ever come to terms with the MLM model. A good portion of these types of Zealots never do because emotion often overrides logic and common sense. In that same vein however – logic never changes like emotions do and that’s why MLM and Direct Sales has survived for more than a Century.

Letting go of a three or four year obsession however is a step in the right direction. The daily rants and spinning have finally come to an end for both John and YTB. The end of another chapter in our journey together in an industry I still love and respect – both MLM and travel.

John’s relevance in the travel industry started to erode with his “double dog dare” in 2007. It’s been a very slow and arduous process over the years. I’m not going to speculate his escapades are completely dead like the Wicked Witch of the West (although it’s a fun title) but the further we get away from this type of behavior the better off the travel industry as a whole will be.

It’s a bad mix nobody really needs.

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If you’re a regular reader of this site – you should know my views about the Better Business Bureau. Truth is, regular reader or not, the articles I wrote last year are widely read with links from BBB Roundup and Google searches from individuals questioning the validity of the BBB.

Once upon a time, the Better Business Bureau was a well-respected and viable source to gauge a company’s performance. However in recent years, the Bureau has come under tremendous fire with high pressure “pay to play” shenanigans mistakenly reserved for Network Marketing companies.

Their problems all started when the BBB changed their system in January of 2009 from a simple “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” rating system to an A to F “grading” system. Since the switch, the BBB has been exposed as playing favorites to those who pay for better grades or downgrade companies who complain to the BBB about their existing grade – which misleads the public. I’ve seen several posts on Facebook over the last 9 months about an ABC news piece that exposed their horrid tactics. When the BBB gives an A- to an organization like Hamas (the Middle East terror group) and an A+ to a skin head white racist group called Stormfront who bought their grades simply by paying the BBB for accreditation – it raises some serious heat. Anyone who saw the piece knew that the BBB themselves were on the take.

After the airing of this news piece last year, Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal sent an official demand letter to the national headquarters of the Better Business Bureau to stop using the grading system, stating the grading system was “harmful and misleading” to consumers.

Imagine that?

Since writing the articles last year, I’ve yet to see a single thread of evidence that the BBB has changed their tune. As far as I’m concerned they’re still just as shady as the day is long.

To my surprise last night, a memo came from the YTB home office about the companies poor rating the last few years being upgraded to a C+ rating. I have to admit – the first thing that crossed my mind when I read the memo was that the company had succumbed to the BBB’s pressure tactics and paid for accreditation. I’m happy to report however, that the home office DID NOT pay for this upgrade. (YTB is still listed as a Non-Accredited Company.)

So what’s with the change in grade from the BBB?

First, the company’s explanation to the BBB’s change of heart.

According to the memo that was sent out to the field, both Sandy Pippins and Casie Fuqua have been working with the local BBB chapter to clear up some of the misrepresentations the BBB has concerning YTB. Another huge plus for the upgrade in their system is the frivolous lawsuits filed against the YTB International (and other non-relevant third parties who were also named) is now behind the company. I don’t know what happened to “innocent until proven guilty” in this country – but the mere filing of a lawsuit (no matter how outrageous the suit appears to be) constitutes a failing grade with the BBB.

Anybody can file suit – but then you have to actually prove your case in the court of law to determine the outcome.

I realize there are groups of individuals who believe that deflecting on “issues” or trumped up “problems” is the way to go. The BBB grade the last few years was one of the “issues” people were warning others about to stay away. While venting makes these idiots feel better (momentarily), there’s never really any resolution or solution attained using this method. We’ve seen that example all too often from irate and irrational critics who’ve been attempting to slander YTB with what ever they can dream up. If you take a look at then, verses now – these same clowns are no closer to a resolution than the day decided to start crying about these so called problems.

YTB on the other hand is a company that focuses on solutions rather than problems. They act like adults rather than children who haven’t attained the proper tools to resolve the most elementary issues. By discussing their differences calmly and logically (instead of emotionally charged outbursts) any differences or issues are eventually resolved.

Anyone who’s willing to sit down honestly with YTB (or anyone for that matter) will have a completely different view with proper dialog. If you’re capable of actually learning and comprehending basic business – it’s not that hard to see why YTB or Network Marketing works. Besides, if a company can manage its way through all the mudslinging and false claims it had levied against them – there’s got to be something more to YTB than what you may have seen or read here on the Internet.

Another reason why the BBB may have upgraded YTB’s rating is the BBB, (like Steve Cox, President and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus) may finally realize that they need to supply a more honest review of businesses if they want to salvage any chance of being a respectable organization. From what I hear, pay to play is a big “no no” – and with the cat out of the bag about the BBB – it’s about time they make some changes to this hideous grading system. While the apology from Cox for the BBB’s lack of proper investigation and strong arm tactics was certainly warranted – it’s really just lip service unless you actually DO something to change the way you grade and operate.

As a result, I’m somewhat torn about this new upgrade in YTB’s grade. On the one hand, I want to give the BBB the benefit of the doubt that they’re attempting to make an obvious wrong right. People do it, and companies do it. On the other hand, I also know how lazy our society has become and how a growing segment of the population don’t actually take the time to investigate anything on their own. A C+ could prompt someone to dig a little deeper and the smart one’s would be pleasantly surprised if they obtained information from sources that actually have some type of experience or logical insight.

I guess until I see some more real – honest changes from the BBB, they’re still on double secret probation. Extreme caution and other more reputable sources are still in order when it comes to the BBB for the time being. (I do however hope they can pull it off.)

Regardless of how I feel about the BBB personally – this IS another good sign that the malicious mudslinging that was thrown YTB’s way by confused and uneducated twits’ continues to be wiped away. Like the lawsuits that were designed to destroy a fine viable company – overzealous critics no longer have the BBB to use as a mud ball.

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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