TasteTheEnergy.com announces new products

Every few weeks I blog here about some exciting new products that I use for training that are available for sports nutrition consumers. Time for an update. These products have helped me take my fitness to a new level, and they can do the same for you!

- Sugar Free Strawberry Sports Drink launched on June 30 and is going gangbusters. This great new flavor tested at the top of the list with consumers and is a terrific replacement for Sugar Free Dragonfruit.

- Mixed Berry Smoothie Energy Bars launched on July 27 and are a great addition to the line of already beloved flavors. This bar offers a change-up, to borrow a baseball term, in that it has even more carbs for energy production, with slightly less protein, and lower calories. Plus there are no nuts in the product (though please read the label as it is made in a facility where some allergens may be present).

- Mixed Berry Smoothie Protein Shake launched around August 10. Get your Strawberries & Cream while it lasts! This terrific new flavor improves upon the taste of the Strawberry and offers the same great 25g of protein with no sugar and only 160 calories. It is the perfect post workout fuel for lean muscles and quicker recovery.

- Chocolate Chunk Sports Cookies are now shipping. These cookies are as good as they sound and serve a critical function in the sports nutrition category. They boast an optimal 4:1 carb-to-protein ration, which has been shown to provide faster muscle recovery and reduced muscle damage. The 24g of carbs also give this product versatility in that it can be used for pre-workout energy.

- ROC2O Isotonic Sports Drink is set to ship any day now. These tasty drink mixes come in Mixed Berry and Fruit Punch flavors in convenient stick packs for quick and easy addition to your favorite bottle of water. Think sports drink on the run when you think about this product. Or sports drink plus. The plus is the 100mg of Red Orange Complex, which has myriad benefits.

Coming soon - Endurance Cubes. I'll blog more about that very soon...

Amway IBOs get all their products free plus extra cash!

Amway critics just love to quote various government mandated statistics that Amway publishes, but thanks to some help from The truth about Amway we have once again foiled the efforts of would be detractors, with FACTS. For example, for some years now Amway in North America has published the statistic, based on a 2005 survey, that the average “active” IBO makes $115/mth. $115/mth doesn’t exactly sound like it will lead you to the land of your dreams does it?

So, of course, Amway critics cite that as “proof” that it’s a bad business opportunity and most people make little or no money. Indeed they’ll often go on to mention “expenses” and claim it means most IBOs lose money.

Well, there’s a saying you’ve probably heard – lies, damn lies, and statistics.

I love statistics. Used properly they can tell you a lot. Used improperly they can mislead you badly. In a former career I used to do statistical analysis, and my curiosity was peaked one day when I read a newspaper article that claimed that (in the state I lived) “in half of all fatal accidents where the driver tested positive to marijuana, the driver was not wearing a seat belt” . The article went on to theorize about careless behavior brought on by the drug use.

At the time I happened to be working in alcohol & other drug research with regard to road safety, and I had the entire accident statistics database sitting on my computer. I also knew it was a rather odd statistic, since authorities almost never did blood tests for marijuana in fatal accidents.

So I looked it up.

There were exactly two fatal accidents recorded where the driver tested positive to marijuana. One of them (half!) wasn’t wearing a seat belt.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics.

The article was 100% truthful in it’s reporting of the statistics, but what they reported told you almost nothing at all.

The same with the Amway average monthly income statistics. Average is only a useful statistic if you’ve got a group that is of decent size and fairly “homogeneous”, that is, they’re much the same. The Amway statistic includes all “active” IBOs, which is defined as -

An “active” IBO is one who attempted to make a retail sale, or presented the Amway Global IBO Compensation Plan, or received bonus money, or attended a company or IBO meeting during the year.

That’s it. If you ask your brother, once, in a whole year, if he wants to buy a can of XS … and he says no! … you’re active! $115/mth is a pretty good income for that, isn’t it? Or how about if you and your spouse are both in to health and each buy Nutrilite Double X and Omega 3 …. you’ll have bought more than 100 points of products, and qualify for a 3% rebate! Congratulations, you’re now “active”. Amway critics think it’s scandolous that you only earn $115/mth for doing your shopping!

Of course, that’s not what’s going on at all is it?

Lies, damn lies, and statistics.

The reality is that the group the “average” is calculated from includes all sorts of people. It includes people that joined Amway 50 years ago and have built global empires. It includes people that joined a few weeks ago and went to one meeting. It includes people who just joined to shop and get member pricing. The average tells you nothing at all, and anyone who pretends it does is either ignorant or actively trying to mislead you.

But just for the heck of it, I thought I’d do the same …. so let’s have some fun with numbers!

First, let’s try to see who this group is. Based on the definition of “active”, the toughest criteria is that they actually earned a bonus, right? So, being cautious …

• The average income of IBOs who earned a bonus was (at least) $115/mth

A couple of years ago in a lawsuit against Quixtar in California, it was revealed that -

• 12.9% of IBOs receive a bonus on downline volume

In other words, anyone else receiving a bonus did so purely as a rebate on their own purchases (including for retail sale). The same source indicates that -

• only 50% of IBOs place an order in the first 3 months after joining

Virtually none of the rest ever order or renew. So that 12.9% must come out of the 50% of IBOs who at least place an order. That means that for roughly 74% of IBOs any bonus earned is purely a rebate on their own shopping.

74%! Clearly that’s a pretty large majority – so in other words, this “active” group earning $115/mth is primarily made up of people simply shopping for themselves! $115/mth just for shopping … pretty good huh?

But let’s continue …. Amway used to publish some statistics internally called “The Platinum Index”, and a leaked 2004 Platinum Index revealed that -

• The average monthly purchase per IBO was $104

Putting this altogether -

• The “average” IBO is simply a “wholesale shopper”
• The “average” IBO purchases $104 a month
• The “average” IBO gets $115 a month in bonus

Clearly, we can conclude from this that -

Amway IBOs get all their products free plus extra cash!

Lies, damn lies, and statistics.

The all-new Legacy of Clean line!

If you haven’t heard yet about the new LEGACY OF CLEAN™ laundry and cleaning products coming in September, it’s time you do! It’s the new line of family-friendly, high-performance products that keep homes amazingly clean. They’re also planet-positive, so while you’re making things cleaner and brighter at home by using them, you’re doing the same for the home planet.

Amway, the original "green" company has launched it's Legacy of Clean line. A line of products that are competitively prices, environmentally friendly, and all with the quality you come to depend on from the LOC line. This places Amway in front of the green movement, and gives opportunity for ordinary people (like myself and you) a chance to promote the planet friendly products, earn what you are worth , and help others achieve more than they thought possible!

There will be much more to come about Amway in the coming weeks, as I try to give my opinion about the biz. There will be hard times and good times, but I will be documenting it all right here. I would like to take this time also to thank IBOfightback ant The Truth about Amway. There you can find more honest analysis of just how we operate. I hope everyone has had a great summer so far, and I look forward to your comments.


Have a great day
Mike

Amway. Parrt of the Green movement before there was one?

Amway: Part of the green movement. Before there was one.

August 6th, 2009 | Posted in Commentary, LOC, SA8 by ibofightback ShareThis

One of the regulars on AmwayTalk, MichMan, often passes Amway world headquarters in Ada, Michigan. He sent me this photo of a great billboard that’s up nearby. When he first mentioned it in the AmwayTalk forums, another poster, Deb, mentioned that Amway introduced the word “biodegradable” to the world with it’s first product, L.O.C. - Liquid Organic Concentrate. L.O.C. was one of the first commercially marketed biodegradeable cleaning products, meaning it’s components break down safely without damaging the environment.

I thought that sounded a little hyperbolic, Amway introduced “biodegradable” to the world? I know they’ve been “green” since the beginning, but that seemed a stretch. Then I started digging. I found this source that says the first known use of the word “biodegradable” was in a scientific text in 1961, barely a year or so after the founding of Amway. I then found sources from 1962, 1963, and 1964 that all mentioned Amway marketing biodegradable products – that’s within a year of the first known use of the word.

Researching further I found this copy of a 1965 Amway SA-8 advertisement that clearly shows “bio degradable” on the box. This 1963 L.O.C. advertisement seems to have the same text on the bottle. By 1965 Amway was well known for promoting biodegradable products.

While they may not have coined the term, it seems thousands of Amway distributors were indeed introducing the word “biodegradable” to the world long before it became common usage.

The billboard says it all – Amway: Part of the green movement. Before there was one.

Amway – 50 Facts

1. Amway is a global leader in the $102-billion direct selling industry. More than three million Amway Business Owners operate independent businesses in more than 80 countries and territories around the world.
2. Amway and its subsidiaries employ more than 13,000 people worldwide.
3. Amway and its subsidiaries reported record sales of more than $7.1 billion for the year ending December 31, 2007.
4. Amway operates 65 Research and Development laboratories worldwide, staffed by more than 500 scientists, engineers, and technical professionals.
5. Amway Research and Development professionals have been awarded more than 500 patents and have had more than 400 papers published in top industry journals.
6. Amway is a leader in the U.S. Direct Selling Association, the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
7. Amway was ranked #43 on the Forbes Magazine 2007 list of “America’s Largest Private Companies.”
8. Our eco-friendly home care products help maintain a cleaner environment and a cleaner home.

Our Subsidiaries

9. Amway owns the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and the JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, as well as Peter Island Resort in the British Virgin Islands.
10. Amway owns the Laura Mercier™ line of cosmetics, which is sold in fine boutiques and department stores.
11. Amway manufacturing facilities are located in Ada, Michigan, USA; Dongnai Province, Vietnam.
12. Each year, 75 million units of soap, detergents, and cleansers; 150 million units of cosmetics; and 6 billion vitamin and mineral tablets are produced by Amway.
13. Amway operates six distribution centers across North America, totaling more than 1.5 million square feet of warehouse space.

Nutrilite Products

14. Nutrilite™ is the world’s leading brand of vitamin, mineral, and dietary supplements, according to 2007 sales figures.
15. In 2008, sales of Nutrilite™ products worldwide reached a record $3 billion.
16. More than 75 years ago, Nutrilite founder Carl Rehnborg created the first multivitamin/multimineral supplement sold in North America.
17. Nutrilite™ is the only global vitamin and mineral brand to grow, harvest, and process plants on its own certified organic farms.
18. Nutrilite operates 6,400 acres of farmland in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil, where plants are grown and harvested in accordance with nature using sustainable, chemical-free methods.
19. Nutrilite scientists are at the forefront of a new scientific discipline called nutrigenomics, the study of how our genes interact with nutrients.
20. The Nutrilite Health Institute Scientific Advisory Board, a worldwide group of leading nutrition, health, and genetics scientists, helps guide the future of the Nutrilite™ brand.
21. The Nutrilite Health Institute Center for Optimal Health is a world-class teaching and training facility offering visitors a personal,
interactive path to optimal health.

Artistry Products

22. Since its 1968 launch, the Artistry™ brand has become the only direct sell brand in the prestige skin care and cosmetics category with more than $1 billion in annual sales.
23. The Artistry™ brand is one of the world’s top five largest-selling prestige brands of facial skin care and color cosmetics.
24. More than 250 Artistry™ products are sold in more than 50 markets worldwide.
25. In 2007, the Artistry Scientific Advisory Board was established to lead Artistry researchers and scientists in the study of skin and skin care.
26. Artistry™ Creme L/X is the most luxurious, technologically-advanced product ever developed by Artistry scientists.
27. The Artistry Beauty Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, is an in-depth, comprehensive training destination for Business Owners.

Durable Products

28. iCook™ Cookware offers the most advanced technology in stainless steel cookware, enabling busy families to eat healthier meals at home.
29. The eSpring™ Water Purifier was the first point-of-use system to combine carbon filtration with UV light technology, removing 99.99% of bacteria and viruses.
30. In Europe, Amway sells more point-of-use water filtration systems—our eSpring Water Purifier—than any other competitor, according to a study by the business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
31. The Atmosphere™ Air Purifier removes 99.99% of indoor airborne pollutants that pass through the system.
32. It would take 16 of the leading competitor’s air purifiers to do the job of one Atmosphere™ Air Purifier.

Corporate Citizenship

33. Since its 2003 launch, the Amway One by One Campaign for Children has given more than $52 million to make a difference in the lives of children around the world.
34. Since 2003, Amway employees and Business Owners have volunteered a combined 606,000 hours in support of One by One Campaign for Children projects.

Environmental Leadership

35. The first product launched by Amway in 1959 was L.O.C.™ Liquid Organic Cleaner—one of the first-ever biodegradable cleaning products.
36. Amway recycles up to 95% of recyclable waste produced at our manufacturing facility in Ada, Michigan, USA.
37. Amway was an early innovator in the use of biodegradable surfactants in its SA8™ Laundry Detergents and its cleaning products.
38. No synthetic chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers are used on the organic acreage where the plants used in Nutrilite™ concentrates are grown.

Endorsements and Sponsorships

39. Volleyball champion Gabrielle Reese and championship runner Sanya Richards are spokespeople
for Nutrilite™ products
40. International soccer star Ronaldinho (born Ronaldo de Assís Moreira), a two-time Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Player of the Year, is a celebrity spokesperson for the Nutrilite™ brand.
41. International celebrity chef Jason Roberts serves as the Global Ambassador and Culinary Expert for iCook™ cookware.
42. The Artistry™ brand is the official skin care and cosmetics sponsor of Skate Canada events, and the Skate Canada national team.

Amway Business Owners

43. Globally, Amway has paid its Business Owners more in performance-driven bonuses than any other direct selling company in history.
44. The top health and beauty brand in China is Amway.
45. Amway Business Owners follow Rules of Conduct and a Code of Ethics designed to protect themselves, their customers, and the Company.

Overall Brand—Creating Change With a Caring Touch

46. Through Amway’s One by One Campaign for Children, we’re creating change with a caring touch by volunteering in communities where we live and work.
47. The Amway business opportunity enables people all over the globe to create meaningful change in their lives and to leave something of value to their children.
48. We care about our Business Owners’ success, so we equip them with well-made products, proven sales tools and a strong support system.
49. At Amway, we infuse a caring touch into everything, from our innovative products, to our business opportunity to our eco-friendly farming practices.
50. This year, Amway celebrates 50 years of creating change through leadership, innovation, caring and vision.

Evaluating a Home Based Business(opportunity)

Why a Home-Based Business?

The S&P 500 has declined 38% in the previous 12 months producing mass layoffs and causing six million new people to be added to the unemployment rolls in the United States. Highly educated people desperate to bring some money into the family coffers are filling even minimum wage jobs. The current economy has produced thousands of individuals realizing the need to create their own income opportunity. But with so many home-based business opportunities, how can you tell if an opportunity is a good one?

What is a Good Opportunity?

New home-based business opportunities are becoming available each month. Unfortunately, these companies are going out of business at an alarming rate. The reason why most of these companies fail boils down to two reasons, undercapitalization and mismanagement. Even though home-based businesses do not require expensive franchising fees, to be successful, you will still need to invest your valuable time and emotional and physical energy. Many people work very hard to create a sales organization that can produce a part-time or full-time income, only to have it yanked out from underneath them when the company goes out of business. Work with companies that have been around for more than a few years. There are many that have been around for 10-20 years,and even a company that has been around for 50 (that's FIFTY) fears!

What Metrics Should I Use?

Stock market analysts use sophisticated metrics to make educated projections about which stocks will yield the desired returns on investment. Anyone considering a home-based business should also carefully evaluate the business before investing his or her valuable resources. They should carefully research several factors listed below that I call the four Ps; People, Product, Profit and Process. Do quantifiable research and don’t believe everything you hear, especially from a salesperson.

Who Are the People?

The people managing the business are the most important consideration. Find out who the top executives are and do a thorough background check on each one, especially the founder. The Internet is a good source of information, although be careful to confirm that the source is unbiased, authentic and respected. There are only two attributes that are important to evaluate – Are they trustworthy? Are they competent? Trustworthiness is absolutely mandatory. Nothing else matters if the management cannot be trusted in their business and personal relationships. If they are trustworthy, confirm that they have sufficient experience and a successful track record for the responsibility they have in the company. Many good honest people have failed because they don’t know how to do their job. Most inexperienced managers also don’t know what they don’t know.

What is the Product?

After confirming that the people are trustworthy and competent the next question is about the product. Most importantly, does the product have real retailable value? Does the product stand on its own outside of any income opportunity? Would consumers purchase the product without expecting any financial kickback? Is the company justifying the price with earnings from recruiting others who then need to repeat the process? Is the product in high broad demand and is it consumed regularly? A highly specialized product may limit your potential market of customers and recruits. If the product is a durable good sold once then your income will be based on new sales every month, which will be more volatile that a consistent revenue stream from the same customers consuming the product every month. Also be aware of commodity products that don’t have sufficient margins for significant earnings. Companies with these products typically pay most their commissions on subscription-based tools, like websites, rather than the actual product (e.g. phone service, energy, travel, shopping clubs).

How Do I Make a Profit?

One of the first financial questions in any business is how quickly do I break-even? In a home-based business that means how quickly will I recover my initial investment? How quickly will I earn enough to pay for my product consumption? And how quickly will I earn enough to pay for my monthly business expenses? The Direct Selling Association (DSA) reports that 90% of all people who get involved in a home-based business do so to earn an extra $500 a month. How easily can you get to $500 per month? How many people do you need on your sales team to earn $500 monthly? Some plans purport high payout percentages, but have hidden breakage that never gets paid out. Is the compensation plan easy to understand? Can you easily explain it to others? Can you easily calculate your earnings manually? Some plans are designed to only reward the big dogs at the top. The good plans recognize that the stability of a company is based on the number of $500 checks it writes. In the long run this stability provides the dream income for the top earners.

Is There a Simple Duplicatable Process?

This is a very important aspect of any business. According to Entrepreneur Magazine, 80% of independent businesses fail in five years; conversely, franchised businesses with a proven system have a success rate of 91% for the same time period. Does the company provide a proven system to build and retain a successful sales force? Many companies provide recruiting tools like lead generation pages and contact managers. The real question is not only how quickly you can recruit others, but also how well you keep them and help them become successful. The most successful companies also provide support and self-help systems, complete training and certification systems, and leadership and mentoring systems.

The Nutrilite Difference

One issue that often arises regarding Amway and Quixtar products is pricing. Critics will occasionally publicize price comparisons that ostensibly show that Amway and Quixtar products are over-priced. The problem with these comparisons is that they rarely incorporate any judgment on value or quality. For example, Artistry was ranked a top 5 “prestige brand” by Euromonitor International. What does “prestige brand” mean? Well, by virtue of it’s quality and packaging, Artistry was deemed to be in the same category as brands such as Lancôme, Estée Lauder, Clinique and Chanel. This means that if you are going to do price comparisons, it should be done with those brands – not with the cheapest cosmetics you can find at the local supermarket.

Artistry is Amway and Quixtar’s #2 best selling product range, with sales of around a billion dollars a year. The top selling products though are the Nutrilite range, with sales in the order of two billion dollars a year, making Nutrilite the best selling nutritional brand in the world. However, if you do a “price comparison” you may be in for a shock. You’ll find Nutrilite Bio-C Plus (Acerola-C in some markets), for example, much more expensive than the average Vitamin C tablet at the local store. There’s a reason for this. The majority of nutritional supplements are produced synthetically in factories. When you buy Vitamin C, what you are usually getting is Ascorbic Acid made in a laboratory. Vitamin C was first isolated from food in 1928 and in 1932 it was discovered that a diet deficient in Ascorbic Acid could lead to scurvy. Vitamin C is also a very strong antioxidant – helping prevent oxidative damage to cells in the body.

{mosimage}Once Vitamin C had been isolated from food, it could be chemically synthesized in the laboratory and put into tablets. This is essentially what you are getting when you buy most Vitamin C preparations. Nutrilite however does things a little differently. Dr Carl Rehnborg, who founded Nutrilite, always believed that there was more to food and optimal health than simply the compounds we have managed to identify and isolate. He called these other substances “phytonutrients”. It’s taken some decades, but science has caught up with Dr Rehnborg and is discovering new and important phytonutrients regularly. Substances such as lycopene, lutein, and quercetin. Many of these phytonutrients are found to be more powerful antioxidants than the substances we had previously know about and isolated. They are essential to good health. When Rehnborg started Nutrilite, rather than isolating and synthesizing known substances, he instead developed methods for removing the fiber and water from plants and turning them in to a powder. This powder could then be put in tablet form. The advantage, when done properly, is that the original substances in the plant remain. So in Nutrilite products you don’t just get Vitamin C, you get all the other healthy phytonutrients found in Acerola Cherries – one of nature’s best sources of Vitamin C. Recent research is not only indicating the benefits of these additional substances – but that they also aid the body in utilising the Vitamin C – so the whole package is far more effective.

As science finds and names more and more vital phytonutrients, other companies must develop ways to isolate, extract, and synthesize them to put them in tablet form. In contrast, Nutrilite has found that if it tests its older tablets – the nutrient was already there! Nutrilite never took them out. A case in point is the Tocopherol family – otherwise known as Vitamin E. Vitamin E is a powerful fat-soluble antioxidant, and research indicates that it plays a role in preventing numerous cancers, as well as protecting against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other diseases. Vitamin E was first discovered in 1922, but it’s chemical structure was not established until 1938. Until that point synthesis was impossible. Eventually, one of the eight known natural forms of Vitamin E was synthesized, alpha-tocopherol (and the synthetic form of this is not identical to the natural form) and that synthetic form is what you get if you buy standard Vitamin E supplements. More recent research though is finding that natural forms of tocopherols, such as d-alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol are far far more potent and important for the health than the synthesized alpha-tocopherol. Indeed, some research is showing that in contrast to the natural forms, synthetic Vitamin E may even be bad for the health.

The fascinating thing? A good source of tocopherols is alfalfa. Alfalfa concentrate has been one of the basic ingredients of Nutrilite supplements since the 1930s. If you’ve been taking Nutrilite, you’ve always been getting d-alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol, even before science even knew what they were. Other companies can’t put a substance in to their tablets until it’s been discovered, isolated, and synthesized. Nutrilite takes a different approach – it just never takes them out. That’s the Nutrilite difference.

It’s your health. Do you want the cheapest … or the best?