HBSA

If you are in MLM or any other business, and the Internet is a mystery, this should help.

Herbalife Chariman and CEO Michael Johnson was one of several people honored by non-profit youth center A Place Called Home at it’s 15th annual “Gala For The Children.”

Founded in 1993 by Deborah Constance, A Place Called Home provides at-risk youth with aid and assistance with learning life-skills and a shelter from street influences (gangs, drugs, etc).

Herbalife leader Johnson received teh Deborah Constance Humanitarian award for his work with the development of the Casa Herbalife Program to help children worldwide with nutritional issues.  Our hats go off to Mr. Johnson; such work exemplifies the positive impact that entrepreneuralism can have on this world.

How buying traffic can make the difference between no business…and LOTS of business.

Home Business Success Academy (HBSA) is a training organization for home business entrepreneurs, network marketers, and retail business owners.  Founded in 2008 with the goal of providing top-tier training to marketers and entrepreneurs world-wide, they have gotten much notoriety for their blunt style and cutting-edge direct response marketing and education.

However, not everyone is a fan of the HBSA – in this brief post, I’ll review the good, the bad, and maybe even the ugly of becoming an HBSA student.

Let me be up front in saying that I have a vested interest in the HBSA.  That said, I think I can be objective enough to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the organization.

HBSA – The Good

The HBSA is direct and to-the-point.  One of the good things about becoming an HBSA student is that all the staff have a very direct style.  The education itself is very meat-and-potatoes – the attitude is “here is what works, now go and do it”.  They don’t necessarily provide a lot of “motivational” or “feel-good” information, which is nice sometimes.  However, in network marketing, there is plenty of feel-good information, and the education provided is very effective.

It mainly focuses on prospecting, closing, and using online marketing sequences to target interested prospects.  They talk about Web 2.0, copy writing, and other marketing tools.  It’s a neat curriculum.

HBSA – The Bad

For starters, HBSA is definitely not for people who want to get rich quick.  They state repeatedly that growing the skills to develop a successful business take some time, and that the only people who get rich quick are lottery winners.  They are also pretty hard on hype – they don’t like exaggeration, and they support many of the FTC regulations that affect the network marketing industry.

The training is also not cheap – training packages run into the thousands of dollars.  However, there are some substantial guarantees that are included, which is nice.

HBSA – The Ugly

The only really ugly thing about HBSA is their refund policy – in order to get a refund, you have to either return your training package within a week of getting it, or you have to actually use the training  and apply it to qualify for their guarantees.  However, they state this up front, so it’s not in any fine print or in a “weasel clause”.  The only time it will be an issue is if someone enrolls and then decides they don’t want to work their business any more.

To sum up,  if you are anything less than dedicated to your success as an entrepreneur and self-sufficient marketer, then hiring the HBSA would not be a good move.  On the other hand, if you are serious about your business, want to learn how to become pro-level marketer, and are willing to work for success, then the HBSA would be a great asset.

The following article is taken from the MLM Legal Primer from http://www.mlmlaw.com/. This article looks specifically at how lottery laws can be and are applied to MLM companies.

Federal and state multilevel marketing and anti-pyramid statutes are components of a comprehensive consumer protection umbrella. These laws are designed to protect individuals from being defrauded (more…)

We get a lot of inquiries asking for a list of ALL the MLM companies out there.

So we found one.  Here it is:

The Best MLM List We Could Find

I’m pretty grateful.  Here’s a list of 100 of my grattitudes, in no specific order:

1. My wife
2. My son
3. My house
4. Vehicles that work
5. My unborn baby
6. My blog
7. The knowledge I’ve acquired
8. Other marketers
9. Our Underwriters and Affiliates
10. Capitalism
11. The gym
12. HBSA
13. Creativity
14. Health
15. The ability to focus
16. Sunshine
17. Word processing software
18. Google
19. Radiohead
20. Fax machines
21. Comfortable flip-flops
22. Steve Jobs
23. Globalism
24. Cell phones
25. Email
26. Inlaws
27. The English language
28. FedEx
29. Crayons
30. My business partner
31. Organic food
32. Clocks
33. Wood stoves
34. Physical ability
35. Turkey
36. Stuffing
37. Pumpkin pie
38. A blue sky
39. Botanical beauty (flowers, trees, etc)
40. Working on cars
41. Youtube
42. Ability to help people
43. Innovation
44. Electricity
45. Emotions
46. Merchant accounts
47. Target practice
48. Dan Kennedy
49. Dictionaries
50. Pull-up bars
51. Thesaurus’s
52. Ultra-soft Kleenexes
53. The 2nd Amendment
54. Energy
55. Children’s perspective
56. Smiles
57. Dancing
58. Laughter
59. Piano players
60. Pictures of people I love from back when they were kids
61. Pets
62. Generosity
63. Fire
64. 4-wheel drive
65. Street sweepers
66. Car washes
67. Arm wrestling
68. The DNC list
69. Spam
70. Good movies
71. Ralph Waldo Emerson
72. Chiropractors
73. Football
74. Running water
75. The Colorado Rockies (actual geography, not the sports team)
76. Snowboarding
77. Beaches
78. Rich people
79. Poor people
80. Brave people
81. Lance Armstrong
82. Swimming lessons
83. The Olympics
84. The founding fathers
85. Disco music (it’s funny)
86. Opportunity
87. Winter snow
88. Good books
89. Coolwater (cologne)
90. Air transportation
91. Starbucks coffee
92. Wal-Mart
93. Wal-Mart protesters
94. Freedom of speech
95. Akitas
96. Alaska
97. Constellations
98. The past
99. The future
100. Right now

Immunotec announced the appointment of their new VP of marketing, Ron Wigdor.

Wigdor has over 20yrs experience in the marketing industry.  Prior to Immunotec, he worked in the packaged goods and corporate services market.

Immunotec is a global provider of health and wellness products.  With demand increasing for additional self-help remedies, Mr. Wigdor should be able to work some magic.

You won’t be able to work forever.

This might seem obvious, but there will come a time when you will either want to retire or be forced to retire.  When that happens, the choices you have made during the time you were working will determine your lifestyle after you stop working.  This is double-true if you are self-employed or own your own business.  You won’t have a corporate sugar-daddy paying you pension money (more…)

This guy ran for a congressional seat in California: