OK…So I heard through the grapevine that YOR Health had their Anniversary seminar here in Southern California and although I missed it I heard that it was actually pretty good. Cathy was attending the seminar with Jim. She told me that LA County Sheriff Lee Baca was a guest speaker at the seminar and spoke about YOR Health.

Now I know if you are not from Southern California… hearing that the Sheriff of the LA County Sheriff’s Department endorsed something might not mean all that much to you, but having lived in and around LA County my whole life I can tell you I honestly thought she was joking at first, and when I asked Cathy if he was actually endorsing YOR Health, she told me that he was, but after I called Jim to talk to him, he told me that he talked mainly about leadership and the YOR Health products.

So if this was true, it would have to be circulating somewhere on the internet, so I set out to see what I could find. The first place I checked was YouTube, but unfortunately I was unable to find any Sheriff Baca YOR Health videos. So I figured YOR Health would have something about it on there website, so I stopped by the YOR Health website and noticed that they had a website that showcased the seminar. On the front of the seminar website was a video of the event “highlights” and sure enough Sheriff Baca was featured in the video. So I was pretty impressed, and even more impressed when I started to do more digging about Sheriff Baca, but I will get to that in a sec.

What I WAS NOT ready for was what I saw following Sheriff Baca! I ALMOST DIED when I saw the other guest speaker they had at the seminar, Professor Charles King. He is the Harvard Graduate that teaches about Network Marketing at the University of Illinois. The only reason I know of him was from the research I did for the article I blogged about earlier this year. Avoid Misleading Information! Do Your Due Diligence! So of course I was now even more curious about what he had to say about YOR Health. From the video I saw, he talks about how “YOR Health has positioned itself as an enzyme leader in the industry” and “YOR Health is right at the stage before momentum.” I am not entirely sure what he is referring to since they were just minor sound bytes from the seminar. Hopefully they will post more videos or even the entire seminar online to view.

So anyways, back to Sheriff Baca. I hear Sheriff Baca speak on the nightly news and radio quite often and he seems to be a really stand up guy. So I decided to do some digging to see to how credible he really is. When I pulled up the LA County Sheriff’s Department website, there is a picture of Sheriff Baca right at the top. So I clicked on the picture and looks like he is a “5 Star” Sheriff. I wasn’t really sure what that meant so I looked it up.

According to Wikipedia, “The LASD is the largest sheriff’s department, and the sixth largest federal, state or local law enforcement agency in the United States with over 16,000 employees, over 8,400 of whom are sworn deputies. Leroy D. Baca is the current sheriff. LASD deputies provided law enforcement services to 2,557,754 residents in an area of 3,171 square miles (8,210 km2)…”

So of course I had to ask myself… Why would someone this credible be involved with a Network Marketing company such as YOR Health if it were a scam? My conclusion is that he wouldn’t be involved with a company that was even remotely considered a scam. Also, if YOR Health was a scam why would they allow the Nation’s Top Sheriff anywhere near them? I have not heard Sheriff Baca’s full presentation at the Anniversary seminar, but according to Jim he did say he uses the YOR Health products and he notices a big difference in his life with them. So for me, I feel more confident than ever standing behind my initial uncovering that YOR Health really truly is not a scam.

You can look at this chart I found online that shows the status of this Sheriff, and ask yourself the same question. Why would this guy endorse YOR Health products if they were not as amazing as they claim? Anyways see chart below… (prepare yourself to scroll)

[click image to see full size]

I hope this article is helpful to some people that are still out there looking for information on YOR Health. I thought Cathy was pulling my leg at first, but sure enough the Nation’s top Sheriff does in fact endorse YOR Health products.

Cheers!

Shawn

Couple random things over spring break that I figured I would share. My Multi Level Marketing research has kind of been on the back burner for a while now, due to the demands of school last quarter, but never the less network marketing seems to find the most random ways of popping up in my life.

About a week ago I was at the grocery when I bumped into an old high school buddy. As we started to catch up he went off on a tangent about some random topic that he was all excited about. He started telling me about how he recently got involved in a company that allows him to determine his own pay check. So of course I knew he was talking about a commissions based job, and I asked him if he was involved with a Network Marketing Company. At this point Jim’s eyes lit up, He said “Yeah! Have you already joined one?” I briefly told him about my story with YOR Health, and how I used to think MLM was a scam. I told him that I have been researching MLM in my spare time, and was considering joining one after college if I find one that is a good fit for me.

Of course Jim used this opportunity to try to tell me why the MLM company he joined was the “perfect fit for everyone.” Truthfully, I had never even heard of the company he was talking about, and I asked him if he knew how many members they had. He informed me that they were brand new and selling a hip new “trendy beverage.” I almost fell over laughing. I was thinking to myself that the fact that he used the word “trendy” does not sound like they are going to be a company that will withstand the test of time. BUT Jim seemed pretty convinced and went on to tell me how much money this company is “going” to make in the future, and how one day he thinks it will be one of the MLM “mega giants.” I hoped for Jim’s sake that he was right, and that the reality would live up to the hype.

This leads to the main topic of this article. Despite all of Jim’s confidence in this new company, he still asked me a question on a personal level that gave me the sense that he was concerned about the decision he had made in joining this MLM company. He said “Do you really think all the big numbers are real?” I asked Jim to specify which numbers he was referring to. He stated “All of them, the amount of money the companies make, and the amount of money you can make if you join, and also the amount of people that actually do MLM?” To be honest I really didn’t know of any current global or even national statistics for Network marketing, so I told Jim I would research that and get back to him.

We exchanged phone numbers and I gave Jim the URL to my blog so he could read up on my research if he was curious.

While researching national MLM stats I came across a website called the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA). They seem very legit and perhaps the leading authority in the “Direct Selling” or Network Marketing Industry. On their website they have a chart for “international statistics” that appear to be estimates of Annual Retail Sales revenue in US dollars, and also the Number of people that participate in Direct Sales companies. They break it down by Country. The statistics are absolutely astounding to me. (See chart below)

After seeing this chart, I was absolutely shocked by the shear number of people participating in Network Marketing, and also the amount of sales generated by these groups. The USA alone is estimated to be $29.6 Billion dollars a year, and 15.1 million people participating in MLM?!? So why is it that I didn’t even hear about MLM till I was in College?

Anyways, I called Jim to let him know that I found something that I felt was pretty concrete validation that Network Marketing is worthwhile. Before I could even get a word out Jim said to me, “Shawn I think you are my new hero!” I laughed, and then asked him what the heck he was talking about? He told me he spent all day on my website reading my articles, and that he had such a better understanding of network marketing and MLM now. I told him that I was glad my research on the subject proved helpful to him, and had him pull up the WFDSA website to take a look at the chart. He also agreed with me that the WFDSA site was very helpful in easing some of his concerns he had about joining a network marketing company.

Jim also told me that he had never heard of YOR Health before reading about it on my blog. He told me that after he visited yorhealth’s website he realized that the company that he joined didn’t seem to have the same perks as YOR Health and their pay plan. Jim also told me he now understood what I meant by “trendy beverage” not being a long term investment in both time and money. Jim told me that he was going to try to get his money back from the company he joined, and look for a better MLM company to participate in.

I thought to myself… Did I really almost sell Jim on YOR Health?!? I mean… all he did was visit my blog, and he seemed interested in leaving his company and joining YOR Health.

UPDATE: Jim in fact did join YOR Health. When I asked him about who signed him up, he told me that he filled out a form on their website and a distributor from YOR Health called him back and got him all setup with someone here in California. I thought to myself, that it seems pretty crazy that Jim was referred by me, and someday if I ever choose to join YOR Health I will have to put that I was referred by Jim. =/ On a side note, Jim will be receiving YOR Health products soon, and he said he is willing to let me try some of them out. So I am really interested in finally getting to check out their products.

Anyways, that is the minor update to the site. I have not had a lot of time last quarter to post, but I think this quarter will be a bit lighter, and I will try to update the website more frequently.

As always thank you for reading my blog,

Shawn

Hopefully this read will be as interesting to you as it was for me as I experienced it. Soooo… A handful of odd events have occurred since I posted my last article on the Risk Assessment of Network Marketing, so I decided to blog about it. At the end of that article I brought up the fact that I was never taught about MLM in my formal schooling up to this point in my life. So I set out to find a University that was teaching it, and look into what type of information they provide. If it was not for Alex and YOR Health I don’t know how much I would have ever been exposed to in this industry. As I started down this path, a series of bizarre and somewhat upsetting situations began to unfold.

It all started out just a few days after I had posted my last article. While on campus, I decided to stop into the College of Business and ask the one man whose opinion I truly TRUST and VALUE above all others, Prof. P, a question about Multi Level Marketing being taught at the University level. Unfortunately he was not in his office, but a colleague of his noticed me in the hall and asked if I had a question. I figured the question was harmless enough and figured I would go ahead and ask Prof. Rivera if he knew of any.

I didn’t preface the question much and primarily inquired, “Do you know of any universities that currently teach courses on Network Marketing or MLM?” Prof. Rivera’s facial expressions instantly went from a smile to a cold look of disgust or disappointment. At first I thought I was maybe reading into his expressions wrong, but when he started to speak I could tell his tone had changed for the worse. He said to me, “Why the hell would a University teach people how rip people off.” He followed that statement with, “I had a good friend that tried to sucker my wife and I into selling some sort of tropical juice, and later I read a posting about it being a scam online and told him to never call us again.” I quickly ended the conversation by telling him I was just curious if he knew, because I was thinking about writing a paper on it. He ended the conversation with, “Good luck with that…”

As I was leaving the building I was not only shocked as to the response from a teacher of “higher learning”, but more with the lack of research and the skewed conclusions of an industry based on what?!? “A posting” he read online?!? If my early online experiences about YOR Health and MLM is any testament to how you can be misled if you believe people’s online opinions as facts, then Professor Rivera’s comments are a blazing example of how someone who doesn’t do the right research and is quick to jump to conclusions, even if it means passing up a potentially amazing opportunity. By the way, I looked up the company he was referring to, and they do roughly half a billion dollars in product sales annually.

So now I wanted to talk with Prof. P about this more than ever. I was curious to hear his take on how ridiculous Prof. Rivera acted despite having no facts to back up his statements. Unfortunately I was unable to find him, so I went to the computer lab to do more in-depth research about the topic at hand. What I found next was astounding!

Network Marketing is being taught in Universities around the country. IN FACT, Professor Charles King who got his Doctorate and MBA from Harvard University teaches classes on Direct Sales & Multi Level Marketing at the University of Illinois. I found a couple videos of Prof. King online where he states that at first he was skeptical of the industry and then a STUDENT CALLED HIM OUT ON IT!! I felt that is was EXACTLY what just occurred with Prof. Rivera and me not but a few hours earlier. Here is the video:

Around 1 minute and 40 seconds (1:40) in he starts talking about how he was cynical and skeptical, but did due diligence on MLM and now is such a strong believer he is now teaching Network Marketing at the University level.

After seeing the video I wanted to head back up to Professor Rivera’s office and show it to him, and explain how I felt his statements were without merit. I also wanted to express my concern about his level of conviction behind the statements he was making, despite it being based on little research and information he had about MLM.

BUT, I quickly realized that I didn’t need to cause any issues, or prove anyone wrong by what I had uncovered with Prof. Charles King’s video. Instead, I decided to continue looking for more information that backed up how Network Marketing should be considered as a viable business model. The next video I came across was a bit older, but again to my surprise, another high profile endorsement.

President Bill Clinton’s Take on Network Marketing:

As I continue seeing mind blowing numbers referring to the Direct Sales and Network Marketing Industry, I can’t help but feel that there is an injustice in this country when it comes to Network Marketing NOT being taught in Universities, especially regarding students graduating with Business Administration degrees.

I want to continue down this path for a bit longer while researching MLM. I will try to find the most credible sources of information provided by highly credible individuals. I will let you know any new or exciting things I find online.

Side note: Another interesting person I found was a woman by the name of Ellie Drake. She seems to be a strong supporter of the network marketing industry, but also a very truthful and empowered woman.

The moral of today’s posting… Find credible resources for topics you are researching before making statements of conviction to inquiring minds.

Thanks for reading,

Shawn

Risk Assessment of Network Marketing

In my previous blog about the Odds of Succeeding in MLM, Tom brought up something that I have often asked myself as well.

What is the TRUE RISK involved in joining a Network Marketing Company?

My initial response was pretty much same as Tom’s. I would rather just walk away and avoid the “risk” of losing my money or being “scammed”.

BUT, recently my friend Kim introduced me to Sue, a very successful woman who works for a cosmetic MLM company in Japan. I told Sue about my story with yorhealth and how I started this blog. She was excited to hear that I was taking time to understand network marketing before I get involved.

While talking with Sue the topic of “startup fees” and “startup risk” came up. I explained to her that the only MLM I have considered so far is YOR Health, and that they have a 30-day money back guarantee on the products, even if the bottles are empty. She laughed and said, “Well then that is a no brainer.” But I also thought…how do they make any money if their return policy is so lenient?

Sue mentioned to me that nearly all credible MLM companies have very good refund policies. She went on to say that one of the first things she looks for in any Network Marketing company is the return policy, because it is a good indicator of their business ethics.

Sue explained that the MLM Company she works for does not have a return policy as lenient as yor health but it is fairly low initial investment to get involved. Sue also emphasized the same thing that Alex did. She instructed me to first try the product or service and make sure that I like it before I decide to join any MLM opportunity. She said “THIS IS CRITICAL.”

But the best thing to come out of the conversation I had with Sue was when she simply stated to me. “Instead of looking at how you might lose your initial $200 investment as a barrier to your involvement with a network marketing company, you should think more about everything that you stand to lose by NOT getting involved, such as financial freedom and being able to make your own schedule.”

This was a very insightful way at looking at it. I guess you can think of it as small minded vs. large minded individuals, but truthfully I think of it more as an outlook of a seasoned entrepreneur vs. the outlook of a college student thinking people are trying to get my money. The funny thing is, I am not only beginning to see how Network Marketing could be a real full time opportunity, but it also is actually starting to get me mad that I have not been formally exposed or taught about MLM in school as a viable way of building a career. Sure it doesn’t seem to be for everyone, but it would at least be nice to know that it exists and that it could be a vey rewarding form of income.

Since I am now on break, I think I will have more time to update this blog! I think for my next article, I will try to find a college that is teaching courses about MLM and see if I can find a course outline as to how they present it. My quest for MLM greatness continues. =)

Thank you for reading and Happy Holidays all!

Shawn

Odds of Succeeding in Multi Level Marketing

I was in the hallway waiting for my class to begin, when I overheard two classmates of mine talking about a Network Marketing company. Of course this piqued my interest because I have been researching MLM recently. “Tom” was explaining to “Jim” how his uncle recently signed up for a scam company (I will not disclose the name of the company they were talking about, but it is a long standing MLM Company). Tom told Jim how his uncle was trying to scam him and his parents into becoming sales associates for the company.

What Jim said to Tom next really got me thinking. Jim told Tom that his sister used to work for one of “those types of pyramid scheme companies”. Jim went on to say that “the odds of making money with those scams are less than winning the lottery.” He then advised Tom to stay as far away from the MLM Company as possible.

Something about Jim’s statement to Tom didn’t seem right to me, but I could not put my finger on it at that time. I thought about whether or not I wanted to chime into their conversation or not, and decided it was best to not say anything until I looked more into the Network Marketing company Tom claimed his uncle was scamming them into.

When I got home that night I looked over my notes from the conversation I had with Alex about YOR Health over the summer. Alex had mentioned that Network Marketing is probably the most fair business model in the world. His reasoning was that MLM companies like YOR Health pay sales associates based on performance or what he called production standards. This basically means that you earn a paycheck when you meet the qualifications to earn a paycheck, and does not pay anyone more for having a college degree, having a fancy certification, being at a company longer than someone else, or being a friend of the owner, etc… You get paid for the sales performance of your organization.

Once I read over my notes with Alex, I realized why Jim’s statement to Tom was out of context. Jim implied that making money in Network Marketing is based on odds or chance, and that is false according to what I know about MLM from Alex. This is because legit MLM companies pay based on performance, therefore odds have nothing to do with it. I did some digging online about the subject of odds in MLM and realized that this is a common reason why people decide to not do Direct Sales or Network Marketing. BUT ODDS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH SUCCESS IN MLM.

Two days later I approached Tom and started small talk with him. I let him know I over heard him and Jim talking about a MLM Company that his uncle worked for. Tom simply replied “yeah that guy is a loser.” I said to Tom that I was interested in Network Marketing and I have been researching it in my spare time. He laughed at me and said, why waste your time you wont make any money with it. I explained to him that a lot of people out there have no idea what network marketing is, and how it works.

I gave the example of what Jim had said to Tom just the other day. Jim convinced you that you had little odds at succeeding in MLM, when actually odds have nothing to do with whether you fail or succeed. Tom seemed confused, so I gave him an example I came across online that explained it pretty well to me. I told him to think of it like this.

Whenever performance is involved then it is incorrect to claim the odds of something. For Example, Imagine you decided that you want into lose weight. And then I asked you, “What are the odds that you are actually going to lose weight? One in six? One in twenty?” Truthfully, odds have nothing to do with whether or not you will exercise and do what is needed to get your body into good physical shape, because getting your body into shape is based on your individual performance.

I explained to Tom that like losing weight, building an MLM business is the same. It requires performance. So if an MLM company is selling a product or service that you enjoy, chances are with the right performance you can be successful.

Tom seemed to understand what I was saying, but his eyes were a little bit glazed over at this point, and he replied, “I think that I will stick to traditional business. I talked to my parents about it, and it is not worth the risk.”

At this point I realized that explaining MLM to people is not so simple. I know that if I ever plan on becoming a sales distributor for a Network Marketing company these are things I will need to learn how to overcome to be successful.

Tom’s response alone brought up another issue I plan on looking into. What is the Risk associated with doing MLM? I will probably make that my next article.

What I learned this week:   Don’t use “odds” to gauge the success of something that involves performance.

- Shawn