A couple years ago, I stared swimming laps for exercise. I’ve attempted to exercise off and on over the years, but swimming has been the only form I’ve been able to really enjoy and stick with over time. Our entire family really enjoys the water and swimming’s low impact – full body workout has been perfect in giving me the endurance and stamina I need for work and family life.

In all, I’ve been swimming a mile and a quarter five days a week for the last two years. During the winter I have enjoyed the indoor pools that Gwinnett County offers at a very reasonable rate between Labor Day and Memorial Day. About the only issue I’ve had with this indoor option are the supper high levels of chlorine and the limited hours I’ve been able to get my workout in.

This season, with the new business and increased demands on my schedule, I needed to find another option. I just wasn’t making it to the pool for days at a time, and I felt horrible. I’m not just talking about feeling guilty about missing my exercise, I’m talking about just feeling physically drained and worn out at the end of the day. A body in motion tends to stay in motion, and while I was extremely busy and moving all day long, by the end of the day, I was simply worn out without much left in my tank for family and personal time.

For one reason or another, I’ve always felt gym memberships were overpriced and a waist of both time and money. It’s one of those limiting beliefs I’ve had that was embedded somewhere along the line, and I’m not exactly sure how or why it was planted there.

My beliefs about money has changed drastically over the last seven years now that I know I’m not limited to what somebody else tells me what my time is worth. Today, I create my own net worth and I’m paid in direct proportion to the amount of time and effort I put in.

Because money has long been eliminated as an obstacle, I came to the conclusion that I need to change my limiting belief about wasting my time at a gym. A good start was the fact that our local LA Fitness has an indoor pool designed specifically for swimming my laps to get back into the shape and recapturing the endurance I was looking for. A dry sauna also added value to the membership, as I’ve always enjoyed the benefits of opening up my pores, sweating out toxins and increasing my metabolism.

Much like everything else I get involved in, I not only wanted to do this gym thing right, I wanted to take full advantage of my membership. You can’t help but notice all the other equipment as you walk in that are designed to help you get into shape. Problem is; it’s been decades since I’ve used any of this equipment, and much of it has changed since the last time I’ve even seen equipment like this.

I noticed a segment of the members there that appeared to be wondering from machine to machine with very little in the way of results. We all attain this attitude at the age of 2 or 3 that “I can do it myself” – and some just never grow out of that mentality. We think we should know it all by the time we’re adults.

It’s an ego thing.

When I first got involved with YTB and wanted to learn about travel. I sought out the expert knowledge of Carnival, Marc Mancini, CLIA, and Travel Agent University. When I wanted to change my financial outlook, I gathered the expertise of millionaires like Coach Tomer, T. Harv Ecker, Robert Kiyosaki, and Donald Trump. I did the same with this blog. Experts like Yaro Starak, Darren Rowse, and Brian Clark taught me the ropes and enabled me to attain a permanent place on the internet that gets its fair share of traffic.

Of course, we can’t forget MLM, and Network Marketing. Coach and Scott Tomer, Tim Sales, Mike Dillard, Doug Firebaugh, and Len Clements provided great information and resources on building an MLM business the right way.

The point here is that in every instance I acquired the expertise and knowledge of an expert in their respective field. If I’m going to do something, I wanted to make the most of it – I didn’t want to be just average. Nor did I see the need to be so arrogant to think that I could figure it all out on my own. Not when there’s a wealth of information and people who sincerely want to help.

So it shouldn’t be a big surprise that both Ronda and I have retained the services of a personal trainer at LA Fitness to help educate us on the proper way to use the vast assortment of equipment and exercises in an effort to take our personal fitness to the next level. We simply applied the same thought process and willingness to ask for help from true experts like we always have.

There’s a term in personal fitness and training that I’m sure you’ve heard of.

“No pain – no gain.”

I can tell you that right now, that I have muscles I didn’t even know I had. Every inch on my body is feeling a high level of pain right now. While I give certain muscle groups an opportunity to recover and heal, another group kicks in during the circuit training that brings a whole new meaning to the word pain.

It really doesn’t matter if it’s personal training for fitness – or if the pain comes in the form of personal finance, business ownership, or improving your mindset and thinking. It often involves pain or at least discomfort to some extent because it includes change. A change in attitude – a change in habit, or a change from just thinking about it and actually doing it. It’s uncomfortable and rather awkward when you first get started.

If it weren’t, you’d already be doing it by now.

As adults, we often settle for the status quo or just average. Somewhere – deep inside, always wanting to advance and grow to better ourselves. Some never really take the time or energy to achieve that next level. We all talk a real good game, but fewer and fewer it seems actually walk the walk. Limiting beliefs and excuses always seem to get in the way.

It’s just too hard.

That’s why I thought it was wise to find someone outside of friends and family to hold me accountable – to help with this next level. Like I’ve learned in years past, I found an expert in this field who can show me how to do this the right way for the best desired results.

Results.

What a word.

If the result I wanted was pain – I certainly acquired it.

Don’t misconstrue or take this out of context – but I’m loving it. I’m looking past the discomfort and awkwardness right now and focused on the end result. Results  I haven’t seen in years when it comes to being physically fit and in shape. As I’ve learned so many times before in the area of finance, business, marketing, and personal development, this discomfort and awkwardness is a small price to pay on this journey we call life in an attempt to achieve our desired outcome.

Now if you’ll excuse me – I need more ibuprofen.

Until next time.

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A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that ignorance and injustice has never been something I’ve tolerated very well. It’s not that I expect everyone to know everything – people make mistakes (including me) all the time. But – I do expect people to be capable of learning. These “mistakes” are the lessons learned that helped people like Edison invent the incandescent light bulb. I’ve heard that he “failed” anywhere from 1000 to 10,000 times before he figured it out. The actual number of times isn’t important – but the concept that you adjust and correct with each mistake made to end up with success is.

It’s that type of thinking and determination that has helped YTB return to the original name – better, stronger, and with more conviction I’ve seen in a long time.

I’ve had more subscription signups to our newsletter in the last few weeks than I think I’ve had all year. I also had to create a separate category in my Outlook for the private YTB Facebook pages and the notifications that are coming in. My inbox became flooded with YTB posts. (There’s some really useful information there, and it’s always needed a special folder.)

Not everyone appears to be on the same page in sharing the excitement and passion for success that we do. Make no mistake, they certainly see it – and they know exactly what it all means. Our passion and excitement unfortunately gives them a nervous twitch.

From the day it appeared on my blog, (which I can still recall) one guy has produced an entire comedy of errors, missteps, and mishaps. This self-proclaimed “expert” decided to make it his personal mission to pick a fight with me, you, or anyone else associated with YTB. John Frenaye got more than he bargained for when he came trolling onto this blog to pick on what he assumed was just another “lowly MLMer”.

Instead of cowering or avoiding, I responded to both him and his illusions. His perceptions of MLM and YTB simply don’t match my reality or experience. I did see John’s charade as a valuable lesson in exactly what not to do, and how not to think. His so called “problems” with MLM, gave insight into what to avoid. Although by doing this you couldn’t avoid his pessimistic rants, which helps tremendously.

Although John never mustered up enough courage or strength to sit down with YTB face to face to discuss his “issues” with the company and our model, his Internet persona and constant bullying in every nook and cranny associated with YTB did provide insight for not only myself, but YTB to look at the perceptions and adjust accordingly.

I have no idea how this whole thing has worked out for John, but I don’t think it’s been all that pleasant. Nobody likes to be made the fool like I’ve highlighted and documented here. Not that it’s been a bed of roses for me either. Personally, and for others who have gone through this battle with me in YTB however, it’s been a great experience and lessons learned because unlike John, and others like him, we actually know how to learn and adjust from the mistakes we all make.

It makes us stronger, more resilient, and better than ever before.

John on the other hand, just doesn’t make them. “Mistakes” I mean. He’s still just as stubborn and bull headed as ever. Sticking to his illusions that MLM and its people are inferior to him or anyone outside of the “cult” that hasn’t been drinking the Kool-Aid.

And that my friend is exactly why this personal crusade of his and this battle that’s waged inside his head has been going on for at least the last four years. He hasn’t learned a blessed thing.

You might be thinking to yourself, “If an old dog like TravelPro can learn a few new tricks, certainly someone like John can – couldn’t he?

Not exactly.

I’ve heard it said from more critics than just John, that cynics think we MLM’ers are so caught up in the cult and drunk on the Kool-aid that our identity becomes attached to it. Without a YTB or another MLM to hang on to, we’re lost without any meaning. Truthfully, I think that concept speaks more about themselves than it does about any of us.

See, the whole idea of MLM is to teach the average person how to change from an employee mentality to a business owner mentality. The heart of MLM, what makes it tick and beat, is ground floor access to a business that will teach anyone who is willing how to become a real true entrepreneur and business owner. The problem as I see it, isn’t actually the MLM business itself, but the actual person running the business.

I look at the traditional business I came under contract with a couple weeks ago. The territory was run into the ground, and the old manager is filing for bankruptcy. If it were MLM, critics would be yammering about how the model failed. Now that I’ve been working this new business a few weeks and have done a couple P & L’s – I can’t for that life of me figure out how he couldn’t make this work – other than the fact that he didn’t know how to control expenses, and honestly was just plain lazy.

In other words, the model and the territory are just fine – it’s the business owner who didn’t put the proper time and effort into it that landed him in bankruptcy.

Network Marketing is not different. There’s a reason why the word “work” is in there – it takes “work”. This idea that you pay money and just sit back and collect checks is the most absurd notion there is in the MLM industry. You’re paid based on activity and results. No activity equals no money. To put it another way, you get out of it what you actually put into it. How it’s perceived by some as any different than any other business is a big red flag that they actually don’t know anything about business or what it takes to succeed.

For critics and cowards like John or the folks in the Class Action who have an average of 6 months of business experience among them, it’s just easier – or rather more comfortable to point the finger at MLM. They never notice the three fingers pointing right back at them.

I know commissioned sales can be a real drag – even overwhelming. It used to create its own nervous twitch inside me way back when. You have no idea how lucky you are to have a company like YTB, a product like travel to sell, and a mentor like Coach, Scott and Kim to learn the ropes and overcome that fear. And, yes, you’re even lucky to have someone like John to show you exactly what not to do and how not to think as an added bonus.

Considering where I’ve been and where I am today, I wouldn’t trade any of it in. I feel nothing but confidence and success because I knew who was right and who was dead wrong.

You too can rid yourself from that nervous twitching when you know who and what to join up with.

Ain’t no doubt about it for me.

It was Y-T-B.

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I’ve always loved this game critics play when they put partial information out there that supports their beliefs and ask:

“What do they know that you don’t?“

It’s a “what if” game that’s designed to get you questioning and doubting your own beliefs. Can’t blame them really, our minds are well adapted for concocting all sorts of scenarios and outcomes. The mind is doing its job in trying to protect us when it comes up with the worst possible scenario.

They know that there’s a ton of mileage to be had by simply placing any tidbit of doubt out there for the average person to find. The hope of course is that the average person is just as lazy and gullible as they are. (Well…truth be told – their ego is far too large to allow themselves to be categorized as gullible or lazy.)

Since inception, there has always been a lot of speculation going on surrounding YTBLA – because it’s MLM. For the record, I do own both Class A and Class B shares of this stock, and have for years. Before the stock split, I did sell a percentage to recover my initial investment, but for the most part, both classes of stock have been sitting in my portfolio for the last five years.

Therefore, I keep up with the financial data from the company. Maybe not on a daily basis, but I do keep an eye out for transactions and quarterly reports.

In the middle of last year, I heard rumblings about our Founders dumping stock. Now mind you, this comes from a long standing belief from critics who buy into this idea that Coach Tomer, his son Scott Tomer, and partner Kim Sorensen would be riding off into the sunset – leaving everyone high and dry without compensation or a company to speak of. It’s a ploy that’s been around for years. Not exactly sure how this last circus round was spun by these clowns, or what was written – but true to form, “dumping” really wasn’t the proper word to use in these instances.

Scott Tomer for example, gifted over 1 million shares to each of his four children in one transaction. In another transaction, Kim Sorensen basically did the same, gifting 3 million shares to his six members of his family in another transaction. All public record in the Form 4′s that were filed, complete with comments regarding what happened to the stock.

In a classic “smoke and mirrors” style, critics never relieved this information – just an overall number of what was owned by our founders then – and a number they own now. Of course the question they want everyone to think about was also asked – “Why did they dump millions of shares?” and “What do they know that you don’t know?“

These are rhetorical questions when asked by the way. Nobody on these boards or blogs ever wants a real answer. All it’s designed to do is apply doubt and perception disguised as “factoids”. Actual fact in both these instances doesn’t conform to their fears that the Founders are cashing in – simply to get out.

But alas, this question of “What do they know that you don’t” does work both ways.

While researching a question poised in my last article, and found two new Form 4′s filed in the Company’s SEC filings. If you don’t know what a Form 4 is, (and I suppose there are some who don’t.) it’s a required filing for any insider transactions. Insiders are defined as Executives, Founders, Board of Directors, or anyone else who’s privy to insider information not available to the public. It’s a transparency thing – and it’s not uncommon for CEO’s and Executives to acquire company stock. (I found 9 stocks with CEO buys of over $100,000 in the past week.) The reports were possible after finding the required Form 4 that was filed with each company financial filings.

So what does it say about YTB International when CEO and President Robert Van Patten acquires 500,000 shares of stock, and CFO Jeremy Hemann acquires another 100,000 shares of stock?

Or to borrow our line from critics – “What do they know that we don’t know?“

About all I can say for sure is that sales are up. In February alone the company produced $450K in sales from affiliate and featured stores – a 58% increase year over year. Prior month’s sales have also been at record levels. Our free agent opportunity is now up over 100k, and they’re getting their legs. I see groups being booked at new levels as well from our Travel Agents with YTB Travel Network and our BDM at Carnival is extremely pleased as sales for the current year so far are extremely strong.

I see people in the field being energized and happy.

But I’m wondering if there’s more to this that just gross sales? I’m wondering if the bottom line that we’ll all get a good look at when the Annual Report coming out in mid-April and our first Quarterly report due in mid-May is released. I also know from the financial data that the third and final suit surrounding bogus claims surrounding a pyramid scheme is also on the mend. The Illinois Attorney General has recently proposed resolving the suit short of litigation. Since the state can’t win, resolution alternatives are being worked out at this time. Both situations could reveal more news about the company’s health and well-being.

Mind you, I don’t have that answer right now – I’m just throwing ideas out there to chew on. If anyone does have an answer right now however, it would be our Company’s CEO and CFO.

After seeing those Form 4′s filed day before yesterday, I just had to ask – “What do they know that we don’t?”

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Not many companies make it past their first year in business. Even fewer make it past year 3. If a company manages to make it through year 5, most business experts will tell you that the company has passed their litmus test concerning “risk”.

Some will tell you MLM has even a slimmer chance of making it past year one. Even if it does make it past the first year, there’s this myth that MLM is nothing more than a house of cards that will eventually topple. These aren’t “experts” mind you, (not by any stretch of the imagination) they’re just people who regurgitate what they were told or what they’ve read somewhere else.

Truth be told, when you look at Amway, Avon, Mary Kay, Tupperware, NuSkin, PrePaid Legal, and Primerica, these examples dispel the myth with documented cases that MLM can be built to last for decades. In Avon’s case, more than a century.

Before YTB, not a single MLM Travel Program made the cut in the travel industry. I can’t tell you all the reasons why these MLM’s failed, mostly because they were here and gone long before I came into the picture in January 2005. I’ve read about dozens of them over the years and can only guess at this point what sealed their ultimate demise. When YTB Travel Network entered the picture however, there was an enormous shift in the way people actually booked travel – moving from “brick and mortar” to “click and order”. There was also a simple shift in mindset and the companies focus.

In 2001, it was the first really big wave of retail sales moving to the internet. Companies like Priceline, Travelocity, and Expedia were making massive jumps in sales as people found it much more convenient to book their own travel on line. Today, Expedia tops the list of Travel Agencies – doing more business than any other “brick and mortar” out there.

Me? I just wanted a small slice of the pie. So I signed up, bought a domain, and BandBVacations.com was born in January 2005. Other than my first full year in business, I’ve made money selling travel every year since. The only reason why my first year didn’t produce a profit was because all the travel “booked” in 2005 were for trips to be “consumed” in 2006. (You don’t get paid in this industry until after the travel has been consumed.) Once a stream of bookings were created after the first year, it’s been profitable every year since – selling “travel”.

From what I’ve read and heard elsewhere, the problem with Travel MLM’s was they were nothing but “card mills”. Pitching that the average “Joe” had an opportunity to travel on the cheap using travel agent credentials. That wasn’t YTB’s focus however. (Although some in the company did abuse that privilege.)

YTB’s goal was much bigger and far more threatening to the industry – to become the largest supplier of travel in the world.

Pretty big goal to be sure. Some would say it was outrageous – even outlandish. Regardless of either opinion, it’s the one key difference that cemented YTB’s success in the industry, making YTB Travel Network the first Travel MLM – and to this day, the only Travel MLM that really matters in the industry.

So, how did YTB Travel Network do in accomplishing its goal of being the largest supplier of travel in 10 years? Depends on how you look at it. While it’s true the company fell woefully short by billions in taking over the number one spot – by projecting and reaching for such a massive goal, the company has solidified itself smack dab in the middle of some of the biggest, most respected agencies in the country.

Not bad for a bunch of MLM Yahoo’s. ;-P

That doesn’t mean however, that YTB Travel Network totally escapes what I’ve come to recognize as nothing more than “guilt by association”. The Network Marketing industry is riddled with a plethora of myths and misconceptions. Combine that with the negative impact other Travel MLM’s had when they entered and then abused the travel industry. What you stir up are intense emotions in traditional sectors of the industry – and quite frankly rightfully so.

You can’t slap a standard – one size fits all label on YTB however. The company broke that mold when it was founded 10 years ago. If the company and its model was indeed the same as all the others, it would have suffered the same fate. I might add that that the company has withstood what most would assume would be insurmountable odds over the last few years. In reality, losing a single cruise line couldn’t possibly have the impact the industry was hoping for. True, it might have worked if everyone would have piled on like traditionalists had hoped for. But when you’re dealing with true business minds and logic instead of pure emotion and anger, that ship never sailed. Vendors weren’t that dumb. Didn’t matter what the “perception” was – YTB as a whole sold a boat load of travel.

Then there’s IATAN. Again, if the perception was correct as stated by IATA that the company was in the business of “selling” credentials to third parties, the company would have folded long ago. Others may have done it, but in YTB – the only way to obtain that credential was to earn it like everyone else – by selling travel. When the company tried to correct the error and appeal – they snubbed their nose at us. Since credentials, and free rides was merely a perception or label, we moved on and continued with our core model and product – producing even more sales and more bookings without the almighty IATAN at our side.

After the attempt to cut off suppliers and IATA failed, California filed a $25 million law suit with claims the company was illegal pyramid just one day before the 2008 Convention. Problem with that was Jerry Brown, the Attorney General at the time who filed the suit, figured out that nobody has ever paid for the “opportunity to recruit others”. (A very common myth in the industry.) Regardless, California still collected $875 thousand in the deal for themselves, leaving the last tenth of the million dollar settlement to the victims Jerry Brown boldly claimed he was trying to protect.

The Government will always get theirs – and since we did nothing illegal we kept our business.

Biggest problem I see with critics who enjoy slamming and shaming the company and its people – is they can’t correlate “BandBVacations.com” with an actual “product”. Never understood that – really. Nexion sells several hosting plans, TravelQuest does as well, even Expedia sells “booking engines” to those looking to get into the travel business.

But try to do that with an MLM – and suddenly the “value” is nonexistent simply because these minions fear the word recruiting. A phobia some never really overcome or grasp. Reality is, all those Hosting Agencies above are attempting to “recruit” you. They need new blood – new recruits in order to maintain and build their brand.

Regardless of what appears to be an obvious oversight regarding the word “product” or even “value” the company has learned how to “dumb it down” so that anyone, (including staunch critics) can understand what we are selling and being paid on moving into its next 10 years of business. (Truthfully, nobody’s really that dumb, they just like to play dumb on the Internet.)

As the parent company YTB International moves into the next 10 years of business, it’s expanded it’s product offering to another huge boom on the Internet.

Online shopping.

Like Travel, YTB or ZamZuu isn’t the first to market this type of product in the industry. Nor will the company be the first to successfully market an online shopping experience in the industry. But there will be a key difference in how commissions are paid to the Representative who sells it.

What hasn’t changed is the “fee” to become a Representative of the company. It’s free – nor are there any requirements to purchase any of the products associated with the company. But the company has finally come up with a way to ease the fears and phobias surrounding paying commissions in Network Marketing with what’s called a Z-Kit.

It’s silly really – not the actual product mind you, but the idea that people actually need a physical product they can feel – touch – and grasp in our industry in order to calm the nerves. Government and society has a lot to do with that. People like me (or others in the company) who can think on their own in logical, rational terms are in the minority. We have to appear to be like everyone else in order to be accepted – or in this case – to be able to keep jerks like Jerry Brown and Lisa Madigan from filing outlandish lawsuits with claims that it’s some sort of pyramid.

What ever happened to logic, and independent thinking?

The problem isn’t the industry – it’s outsiders who perceive the industry through a fixed lens that create the problems. While Royal Caribbean, IATA, Jerry Brown and Lisa Madigan all made bold claims about who we are and what we do. None of them hit the nail on the head.

How can I make such a bold claim? I don’t – but my website does. See, it’s still here – regardless of all the overzealous and wild claims to the contrary.

While I didn’t join the company when it first evolved 10 years ago – my bet is that it will still be here during the next 10 years. That excites some, and terrifies others. Regardless of which end of the spectrum you fall in – BandBVacations.com isn’t you’re choice to make.

It’s mine – and will be for decades to come. And for that I am grateful that there is somebody out there that still relishes and promotes independence, logic, and value in this world.

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Do you remember the outrage a year and a half ago when the CEOs of Ford, Chrysler, and GM flew to Washington, D.C. in private jets to ask for $25 billion in taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy? Not that selling off private jets would have covered the $25 billion these guys were asking for – but it would have been a nice start.

It’s unfortunate that we see this kind of arrogance and greed in the Corporate world. Millions of people were laid off from thousands of companies while big wigs like these CEO’s live in the lap of luxury. You saw very little about any CEO taking a pay cut during the turmoil this country went through during the latter part of 2008 and 2009. Instead, they cut out the jobs of average American’s while keeping their pay and perks intact.

Most CEO’s have a lucrative bonus plan in place – including the Founders of YTB. The difference between our Founders and the CEO’s of other companies is that Coach, Scott, and Kim’s bonus is based in part on the performance of the company. Some based on pay or salary, while another chunk is based on stock options. Unlike other CEO’s or companies (like the Big Three in Detroit) our three founders forfeited 355,000 shares in options each of the last two years because the company didn’t meet the performance goals they wrote down to achieve that would trigger each bonus.

In case your wondering – that’s called accountability.

While there were some riffs about the forfeiture of options from critics, I would have loved to see the outrage over actual shares being awarded. It’s one of those “damned if you do – damned if you don’t” scenarios we enjoy from Zealots who flip flop depending on how it furthers their own agenda.

Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, the fact is our Founders aren’t the type who take big pay days when the company isn’t performing as promised. The buck stops with them so to speak – which goes back to their AL Williams days as “Reps”. (Not to mention its just good business.)

To further illustrate our Founders desire to create a healthy, viable company they’ve restructured their compensation based on overall performance rather than acting like the fat and happy Executives we see in traditional corporate models. The company announced the new pay structure in a press release on Tuesday:

In order to ensure the Company continues its best practices related to executive compensation, YTB is transitioning to a performance-based incentive compensation program. Effective for the 2010 fiscal year, certain Company executives are entitled to incentive compensation if the Company achieves growth in the number of Business Owners at fiscal year end compared to the beginning of the fiscal year; if the Company meets or exceeds certain financial objectives established at the beginning of the fiscal year; or if the executives meet or exceed certain personal or departmental financial and budgetary objectives established at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Nothing like taking personal responsibility and holding yourself accountable for the overall health of your company now is there? If our Founders and Executives don’t perform to acceptable standards – they’re not paid that handsome bonus other CEO’s are paid. Instead they created an incentive to meet or exceed goals which could compensate them above and beyond their previous pay structure.

Because YTB is a public company obviously all this was filed with the SEC and you can find details of the new compensation package along with a breakdown of objectives that are now required from the Executive Team. Compensation now rides on and includes the growth of business owners (or IBC’s), cash flow and available cash on hand, bottom line earnings reported to stock holders, and other discretionary objectives for each department.

Based on the Press Release that was issued – and the terms of the new compensation that were filed with the SEC – simple logic would have you conclude that the Founders and Executives are at the very least willing to do their part for the overall health of the company.

That being said – not everyone who read the filing was able to comprehend or discern what went down. In a very comical and incredibly bizarre “Google Alert” – some jack ass laid claim that our Founders could be getting ready to resign after landing a sweetheart deal.

I’m not kidding – our self-proclaimed “YTB Expert” thinks you can quit (or resign) AND collect severance to boot. His focus – a two year deal that’s structured under the old compensation package that he claims will enable Coach, Scott and Kim to ride off into the sunset. While they haven’t resigned (yet) according to this dolt – we all need to be cautious of this severance stipulation.

Typical.

For the record, the clause he didn’t “copy and paste” on his blog stated otherwise:

Accordingly, a beneficiary under no circumstances would receive any payment under the Program if he left YTB without good reason or was terminated for cause.

It’s not that a clause like this is really necessary. Can you imagine walking into the Boss’s office sitting yourself down and stating “I’d like to resign – what kind of severance can you offer me?”

You’d either be thrown out and most likely fired “with cause” (for being stupid) or suffer the brunt of company jokes for years to come. (Again – for being stupid.)

You might be wondering if this idiot wrote this out of desperation or due to sheer stupidity. While I’m certainly not a mind reader and I hate having words put in my mouth (like he does with me) I’m pretty certain that this zealot thinks we’re the suckers due to the growing number of YTB’ers (including myself) that make it into his “Dumbass Den”.

In his own arrogant and self-righteous way, our lack of intelligence can’t possibly uncover the obvious error because those in MLM aren’t smart enough. We’re beneath the almighty professionals who pick – poke – and pry at anything and everything our company does.

On the other hand: If you think Coach, Scott and Kim have even the slimmest chance of quitting and having the Board of Directors approve a single dime of the two year severance package that was written – you DO belong in a “Dumbass Den”.

Likewise, for those who are reading up on the internet about ZamZuu or YTB at this time – go back to Tuesday’s article and the statement that John is helping us weed out those that aren’t intelligent or responsible enough to uncover fact or truth. Seriously – If a big old red flag doesn’t come up warning you that nobody gets a severance package when they resign – how could they even be considered a viable prospect?

See my point?

Are his statements ridiculous, absurd, bizarre? Sure they are – that’s what we’ve all come to know, but not quite love about John. But trust me, there’s no way you’re going to convince an arrogant pompous ass like John Frenaye that he’s wrong. His ego is just too big and overpowering to allow anyone to knock any logic or sense in that brain of his. (That – or there’s just not enough room down there.)

At this point, the best you can do is smirk (or laugh out loud like I did) and be thankful and grateful that you’re not as desperate (or stupid) – nor are you likely to run into anyone who is because John’s pretty much got a lock on weeding out any bottom feeders for us.

Instead, turn it around and be thankful. If for nothing else – for ability to read and comprehend the English language.

Then you can move on and be thankful that our Founders are willing to do what it takes to provide a viable, profitable, and respectable business opportunity for those of us who see things for what they really are.

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One thing I absolutely LOVE about YTB is the way this company figures out a way to pay out more money to the field. If you’ve every heard Coach or Scott speak, or had an opportunity to speak with them one on one – you’ll realize that they’re “Reps” at heart. When you spend 20 some years as Reps like they did with AL Williams, the feeling doesn’t leave you.

They’re unlike any CEO – President or Executive I’ve ever seen. You take one look at them on the street and you’d never know their net worth. They look – act – and befriend you just like anyone else. Average people at best.

But there is nothing average about how they take care of the field, giving those that are motivated by sales – be it travel or team building – the Founders of YTB create every possible avenue they can think of to put money in the hands of those who want to go out and get it. If it’s too hard, they figure out a way to make it easier. If not enough are qualifying, they change it or enhance it. One segment goes down – they create another segment to compensate.

It’s always been about how much money they can pay out to the field. YTB is constantly tweaking – enhancing – making it better, easier, and more lucrative for anyone who is willing to go out and get it.

Honestly, it’s been so lucrative, that it’s gotten us in trouble. California assaulted the company with it’s hideous claim of being a “gigantic pyramid scheme” in an attempt to end the companies existence. When you pay out 70% of what cames in instead of the 10% average the travel industry pays – that’s going to garner some attention.  What do we hear all the time from the critics? “All the money is in the recruiting” right?

Well, yes – and it’s not hard to do when the travel industry pays out a max of 16% and you pay 70%. Duh?!

What’s so amazing to me is that even after the assault from California – not only did the Founders protect the compensation, but they enhanced the comp plan for new IMR’s, (Independent Marketing Representatives) cutting the requirements in half in order to get to the bonuses into the Power Team quicker. As a result, what once took twelve sales to get your first $1000 bonus – now only takes nine sales.

As a side note: For anyone who’s thinking of the 60% rule where 40% of the nine couldn’t be both Reps and TSO’s. At most three of the nine (33%) would actually qualify as both. (If that) After seeing this rule in action since the settlement, it’s been nothing more than window dressing and never been a factor in anyone’s organization. I know it can be a real chore dealing with all the ignorance surrounding Reps, Affiliates, Associates, TSO’s and IBC’s. In this case ignorance enabled the company to settle with California and agree to terms over a perceived issue that ultimately had no consequences in compensation. California nor anyone outside of the company truly knows how teams are built, nor how many are actual “recruiters”.

In this case – a critics ignorance truly is bliss. ;-P

If that wasn’t enough, Convention came and the Founders not only increased the Travel Commission Contracts, but created contracts up to 100% commission, with full life and health benefits. It’s still unmatched in the industry when you factor cost, benefits, and percentage all in one. I’m still waiting for a legitimate contender to beat these contracts. Instead, I get excuses about not being allowed to offer insurance to non-employees. Even better – that only ONE person qualifies for the insurance in the entire company. (While the income disclosure lists BOTH the Affiliate and RTA categories with individuals who exceeded $25K annually.)

For the true lovers of travel – you just can’t beat these contracts in the industry.

Let’s not forget the $10K Challenge for the newcomers and the mentoring money for the veterans who are helping them. I’ve never seen something so simple and easy as handing out one DVD a day and collecting a name and e-mail. To spend $4 in tools and training per DVD and turn it around for a profit of $29.33 per DVD just for collecting a name and e-mail address is also unmatched in business. (More about how to do that is found here.) For the mentors, there’s additional money for training, and if you do your job correctly, there are overrides on all product sales from each business center.

Are you beginning to see how much money is available for anyone who wants to go after it? These aren’t some impossible, unreachable goals here. (Unless you can’t ask someone to watch a DVD.)

Well hold on to your hats folks – because Coach, Scott and Kim did it again.

Remember the interview and article Travel Weekly wrote over the weekend about Scott and Noah Mantos up in New York? Nadine quoted Scott saying the company would roll out new features and it’s vision for the future in Las Vegas in January.

Part of that vision was announced this week on a Directors call and it’s a Christmas bonus like no other I’ve ever seen.

Some of you need more than 6 sales to earn a $1,000 Leadership Bonus because of fall off. You know, the people who bought a Business Center who quit after two months because they couldn’t figure out that it takes additional training and work. (It’s always been part of this business.) Well, the $1,000 Leadership Bonus is no more than 6 sales away. Yep, the company is going to reset everything just before Christmas so you can get a bonus.

But it gets better. Whenever you earn a Leadership Bonus, the sales associated with that Bonus will be locked away. No more replacing the sales that fall off from any previous Bonus. (And you know how that works when you get into the high teens and twenties.) This works exactly the same way as it currently does at 30 sales BUT NOW it happens at 6 sales. And as extra incentive – all sales made after October 31st will count toward your next Bonus. If a Site Owner makes a $99 payment and it is one of their first four payments, it will count as .25 toward the current bonus. All sales made prior to November 1st will not count toward any Bonus unless they are one of the 6 that count for your current Bonus. Those sales will count toward the $10,000 Bonus.

The program is good through the first quarter of 2010. (Maybe longer.)

That’s one heck of a Christmas bonus – because you’re in control of it!

I’ve read that Coach, Scott and Kim are evil con men. Just this week as a matter of fact in the comments section of Nadine’s article in Travel Weekly. (That oddly enough is masquerading as a “press release” because critics need more excuses to be angry and bitter.)

Sure doesn’t look that way to me – how ’bout you?

So what do you say? Make your list – check it twice, and go show someone how they can earn a $1000 bonus this Christmas!

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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I got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with extended family last night just prior to the Steelers vs. Ravens game. To tell you how out of touch I was this weekend, I had no clue that Big Ben wouldn’t start last night. (Much to my shock and surprise.)

While watching the pre-game before last night’s game, I made my rounds to the various travel publications to see what else I might have missed over the extended weekend. What wasn’t a shock, or a surprise was seeing YTB prominently placed yet again on the front page of Travel Weekly with the headline YTB: ‘We’re not going away’.

Yes, it’s true, a trade publication has finally ponied up and is preparing the industry that YTB is – like it or not – here to stay.

You can probably imagine how this news is going to sit with some with more twists and outrageous claims in an attempt to turn the tables back to thier own illusions. Others will simply ignore the warning and continue on with the impossible dream of ridding “their” industry of the likes of YTB.

Nadine Godwin took advantage of one of the many Super Saturday events up in New York the previous weekend at the Park Central Hotel on November 21st. The event was hosted by a very magnetic group of TSO’s. If you haven’t heard about or seen Noah Matos, not to worry, you will. He’s one of the most dynamic new Directors in YTB these days.

Based on how Nadine’s story was written, it looks like she was a participant of this New York meeting the way she quoted Scott Tomer and his message to the group of about 100 TSO’s and guests. Unlike other eyewitness “reports” I’ve seen in years past on blogs and message boards, Nadine not only had the guts, but the foresight to actually make her presence known and was able to clarify a number of points in this well written article.

It’s no secret that YTB has been battle tested the last few years. The company has had most everything – including the kitchen sink thrown at it. That comes with the territory when you include the three letter word “MLM”. It brings out some real nut cases – including the high profile ones. One such critic thought he had the power and ability to end the model and the company based on the premise that you pay for the opportunity to recruit others into the business. That’s called a pyramid scheme – which are illegal and ultimately shut down. 

Regardless if you deal with facts or fiction surrounding what is or isn’t a pyramid scheme – YTB is not only still around, but holding meetings and trainings in cities like New York every weekend. Sure the company had changed over the years. Good companies do that. Even profitable companies like Wal-Mart and McDonalds. Have you seen the new McCafé’s sprout up the last 6 months? You know there was a time when you had a choice of a hamburger and cheeseburger (a hamburger with a slice of cheese) when you ordered there – right? YTB has always been a company that likes to introduce new ideas and products. YTB Flowers, YTB Golf, YTB Outdoors and YTB Romance were all products introduced years ago.

Today, YTB has shopYTB for even more income opportunities using a model and a team of people who have proven that ordinary people can produce some large numbers. (Travel Weekly has shown us that for years.) For some reason however, a few in the industry don’t recognize $424 million in travel sales. All they can see and all they ever talk about is the recruiting revenue that’s 1/4 of the total travel sales. YTB didn’t create the pour margins in travel – but we sure have to put up with most of the crap because recruiting revenue pays better. (Which isn’t hard to do.)

Look – I know there are people who can’t wrap their tinny little brains around the Network Marketing business model. While a simple “no thanks” would do, there are those who – for one reason or another – feel the need to dig up every negative aspect they can find about the industry. And if they can’t find it – they make it up just so they have something to do with their time. Doesn’t make much sense to me either – but like I told you last Wednesday – you have to let it go and move on.

They said the the entire travel industry would cut us off – didn’t happen.

They said California would be able to shut us down for being a gigantic pyramid scheme – Instead, we’re putting together franchise documentation.

They said the Class Action filed by the ambulance chasers was powerful. Turned out to be redundant, irrelevant, immaterial and a big ol’ pile of scandalous crap.

They said we’d be bankrupt with the doors closed by the end of last year – no, April – no, Convention – no, third quarter – no, end of this year. Well, you get the idea here – and we’ll continue to read this position until the cows come home.

Point is, that all the claims and speculation about YTB over the years from our critics have been proven wrong over time – and Scott, Kim, and Coach have pretty much been spot on. Why? Because critics don’t have the practical experience that our Founders do to make the right choices. They went through the same garbage with AL Williams when the insurance industry got all bent out of shape about part time insurance agents.

To this day, the organization they built still produces residual income some 30 years later based on the very model and standard YTB was built.

That’s not to say our Founders make all the right choices. They’re also risk takers and there are bound to be mistakes made along the way – nobodies perfect here. However, if I had my choice between three men who’ve been battle tested not once – but twice in this industry and made it – you can bet you’re life who I’m going to side with here.

Thanks for the insight Nadine for those of us who have made the right choice here. And thanks for warning our critics that all the smoke and mirrors that they’ve attempted to throw up over time is clearing out of the way.

Despite all the setbacks, I too, “knew we’d be standing at the end.”

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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