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A big welcome to all network marketers in the world at
OBTAINER WORLDWIDE - the first global network marketing magazine!
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EDITOR´S NOTE
Dear Readers,Why doesn‘t OBTAINER WORLDWIDE know anything about a “summer silly season”?
Because on the other side of the world it‘s the middle of winter :-)
In fact, however, this isn‘t the only reason why this edition is also full of exciting and informative reports
from the colorful world of network marketing and direct distribution yet again. A further reason is that more
and more MLM companies from all over the world are approaching our editorial team and asking us to re-
port about their organization – a wish that we are pleased to fulfill insofar as they are serious companies with
genuine success stories. Such as with the company in the cover story of this issue, the Middle East Division
of the networking giant “Forever Living Products” – or in the case of the “Company of the Month,” which the
editorial team awarded this time with a great majority to the American company “MonaVie,” whose distri-
bution partners, after all is said an done, fill four of the places in the Top Ten Earners including the current
No. 1.
But what is the reason for the success of this company? It is the same reason that also account for the suc-
cess of OBTAINER – and that is and will be decisive for your success. The “magic word” in this context is:
added value! Here two things are concerned that are very similar only at first glance: These are “offering
added value” and “using added value.” How is that to be understood? I want to clarify using an example.
OBTAINER is regularly on the look-out for things we can offer our readers as “added value.” One of our most
recent coups in this regard is our cooperation with myOn-ID, a “platform for marketing yourself” we report
on in this issue. If you now test whether and how myON-ID can help you to build up your business more
quickly and efficiently and to win new customers and distribution partners, you will save €15. That is the
added value we offer here. What advantage do you have now if you DON‘T take up this offer? Right: none!
You‘ll have “saved,” believe it or not, the total of €3 that you would have had to invest for the online service‘s
three-month test, but in return you still don‘t know whether and how this tool would have helped you to
achieve your goals.
Let us transfer the whole thing again to your networking business. It is no use if you (or your company)
are offering a promotion – as long as you (or your customers) don‘t take up this offer! If you receive “three
months‘ supply for the price of two” of your company‘s nutrition supplement as an action offer, this is a real
added value. If you don‘t order this offer, what have you gotten out of it? Nothing! And if you don‘t pass this
offer on to your customers, what have you gotten out of it? Absolutely nothing! So you see: In order to suc-
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EDITOR´S NOTE
ceed it isn‘t sufficient to offer added value – it also has to be taken up! But in order for this to happen the
added value has to be recognized as such. In case of the nutrition supplement (“3 for the price of 2”) this is
simple – in other cases it is significantly more difficult because it is less obvious and occasionally it is also
dependent on your attitude (and an action triggered by it).
What do I mean by that? Well, in the first place what concerns me here is the fact that through the statistical
analysis of our Internet data and through personal discussions with distribution partners all over the world
we have become aware that networkers, particularly in Europe and the USA, don‘t use OBTAINER as effec-
tively and productively as they could – and as their colleagues in the Pacific Region, Asia, Arabia and Africa
are already doing. It may be that this has to do with the lower purchasing power in these countries which
compels the networkers there to approach their business in a somewhat more creative and unconventional
manner. The networkers in the rich countries seem to be less aware of what a “treasure” OBTAINER with
its online archive is laying at your feet. Sharp tongues maintain that the reason for this might be that poor
people are generous and rich ones are, on the other hand, tightfisted – and that the latter will therefore only
treat themselves to “Acrobat Reader.” The fact is, however, that there are free PDF programs you can down-
load on the Internet so that this argument doesn‘t hold water. A fully-fledged PDF program is, however, a
precondition for being able to make optimum use of OBTAINER. Namely with such a program you can take
individual pages out of our publications and create your own new compilations – a possibility that is regu-
larly used in poorer regions!
Numerous top-class experts share their knowledge in every issue of OBTAINER… how do you use this op-
portunity? Networkers in Asia, Arabia and Africa use this offer regularly in order to produce inexpensive
but nevertheless high-quality training material for their downlines… why don‘t you? The same is true of our
personalized offprints, which you can order in the online shop of our Internet portal at www.obtainer-online.
com/shop.php. Although the favorable price of €57 is “more expensive” in the poorer countries when viewed
relatively, the sales of personalized offprints are greater there! How does that come about?
It may have something to do with the fact that fewer people there have direct access to the Internet, which is
why it is is more important to have something presentable “at hand.” But that is only part of the explanation.
The real reasons are “pride” and “professionalism” - that has been the result of discussion that we have had
with a large number of our customers. The people in these countries are very proud of their business and
would love to present it professionally. Not only with the promotion material provided by their companies
but also with promotion material from a “neutral authority,” as it were, which at the same time promotes
the company, its products and also the independent distribution partners. The opportunity to produce this
promotion material in very small print runs at incomparably favorable prices is then the icing on the cake
that lets people use the added value offered by OBTAINER!
And still more: Many people from these countries approach us and ask us to produce a special issue about
“their” MLM company eventually so that they can utilize this opportunity. For a whole number of them this
wish will be fulfilled in the coming months. So if your company isn‘t yet available in our online shop: Don‘t
be afraid to put on a bit of pressure! Send us an e-mail and complain! Ask us when an offprint about your
company will appear at long last.
And until that happens: Stay strong!
Yours,
Tomas Klünner
Editor-in-Chief
Page 8:Forever Living Productsin Middle East
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COPYRIGHT © 2009 BY OBTAINER MEDIA. All rights reserved. OBTAINER MEDIA IS PUBLISHED 12 TIMES A YEAR, MONTHLY, BY OBTAINER MEDIA, P.O. BOX 212880, DUBAI, V.A.E. MATERIAL IN THIS
PUBLICATION MUST NOT BE STORED OR REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION. REQUESTS FOR PERMISSION SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO [email protected]. REPRINT RE-
QUESTS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO [email protected]. CONTACT INFO IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN REACHING OUR ADVERTISEMENT DEPARTMENT, CONTACT US AT [email protected].
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Text: Tomas Klünner
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We are speaking, of course,about “Forever Living Products”, the company which was founded by Rex Maughan in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1978
and which first and foremost owes its success
to one plant: Aloe Vera! In July 2000, the main branch for the Middle East region, which was registered in October 1999 in the
Free Trade Zone of Dubai Airport, started its work. Since then aloe vera has continued its tri-
umphal march also in the Arab world. In the meantime the “family company” Forever Living
has come to control 85% of the worldwide supply of aloe vera through its affiliate “Aloe of
America” and uses the potential of this plant to fight what company founder Rex Maughan
once called “the most widespread disease in the world”: an empty wallet.
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top: FLP Middle East Annual Rally 09 Country Pride Award Winner - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; right: The FLP-ME delegates who attended the International Super Rally 09 in Dallas, Texas; below: FLP-UAE delegates winning the Middle East Rally 09 Spirit Award
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INSIGHT
In the struggle against this disease Eliser Salvador, 62, a na-
tive of the Philippines, is also standing “in the front line.” Full-
time as managing director of Forever Living Products in the
Middle East – and on the side as a “distribution partner of
Forever Living Products working part-time.” OBTAINER met
the father of three, who is now also a grandfather of three, in
Dubai for an interview which dealt not only with the company
itself but also with the general living and working conditions
of networkers in those countries where branches have been
opened: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE).
Eliser Salvador became acquainted with FLP in 1997 and be-
gan, just as more and more people in the Arab World are doing
today with his help, by working from home. “My motivation
was to prepare financially for my old age,” he still remembers
very well: “In the final analysis in this part of the world there
are no pensions for employees since no contributions are de-
ducted here for welfare insurance or pensions.” When Eliser
got to know “his” company, Forever Living was already in its
21st year of business and had a truly impressive success story
behind it. It all began – or so the story goes at least – when Rex
Maughan burned his hand at a barbecue. A friend advised him
to treat the burn with freshly cut aloe vera – and the speed of
the healing process gave Rex an idea: to improve the lives of
other people with the aid of this plant, which is also called the
“plant of life” – aloe vera.
Rex Maughan began to sell the first aloe products from a
modest office. Here he benefited from the fact that a few years
earlier Bill Coats, a pharmacist from Texas, had succeeded
in stabilizing the fresh gel from the leaves of the plant after
harvesting using vitamins E and C at specific temperatures,
thereby making it possible to store the valuable vital elements
and nutrients for a longer period of time. A procedure such as
this, which is in no way detrimental to the quality of the gel,
had been sought without success for a long time. Since then
the company “Aloe of America” has registered this stabiliza-
below (from the left): Eliser Salvador with his wife, Susan Oyemade and Mustafa Kassim with the DSEI Award“Best Direct Seller 2009”
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from the right: Managing Director Middle East Eliser Salvador with his wife andSusan Oyemade (in the middle), Diamond Manager Nigeria
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tion procedure as a worldwide patent. Rex Maughan began
at first with only a few core products. The range around Aloe
Vera Gel Drink, Aloe Vera Jelly and Aloe Vera Lotion has been
constantly extended. Today the company has over 190 differ-
ent products ranging from drinks via nutrition supplements,
skin care and household products to various beauty and well-
ness products which among other things help with weight
control and fitness.
All of these products are based on the gift of nature called
“Aloe Vera barbadensis miller.” The plant belongs to the lily
family, which has over 300 different species. But only one of
these, specifically “barbadensis miller,” possesses this posi-
tive effect on the human skin and the whole human body. This
is because of the combination of more than 270 different vital
elements, nutrients and minerals, trace elements, vitamins,
enzymes, amino acids, fibers etc., which the plant has been
shown to contain.
The positive experiences, made all over the world in the course
of the years by many million people who have consumed aloe
products, formed the stable basis for the success of the compa-
ny by mouth-to-mouth-propaganda. Enthusiastic consumers
became enthusiastic consultants and a never-ending chain of
satisfied recommenders led in 2008 to a worldwide turnover
of more than $2.5 billion. More than $1 billion came from
drinks based on aloe vera. In the Arab World too, these drinks
are finding more and more enthusiastic buyers. The trend is
moving steeply upwards – and this despite the current world
economic crisis!
INSIGHT
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top: 3.platzierte im Bowling-Wettbewerb im Rahmen der Middle East Rally 2009oben links: 2.-platzierte und darunter die Gewinner des Wettbewerbs
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Those who look more closely at the history of the “miracle
plant”, aloe vera, will very quickly realize why that is the case.
Over the last 5,000 years aloe vera has always held an excep-
tional position among healing plants and herbs. The priests in
Ancient Egypt called aloe vera the “plant of immortality.” Ac-
cording to historical sources, Cleopatra used the juice of the
aloe in her daily skin and beauty regime and in one of his text-
books the famous Greek doctor Hippocrates describes the var-
ious healing properties of the plant. Alexander the Great too
had his wounds treated using aloe vera during his campaigns of
conquest and Marco Polo became acquainted with the plant in
the “Middle Kingdom” and reported euphorically about its ef-
fects. It is no wonder, after all, that aloe vera is firmly anchored
in Chinese culture and is a regular part of medical treatment
there. The Chinese describe it as a “means of harmony” and
consider it to be the plant with the greatest healing powers.
Christopher Columbus brought aloe vera with him as a
“healer in the jar“ against hunger and disease on his flag-
ship “Santa Maria.” Although he discovered America in
the course of his travels in at least one case he was unable
to offer the Mayas and the Indians something they did not
know about – they had long been aware of the powerful
healing effects of this desert plant and aloe leaves ferment-
ed in glowing ashes were a standard element of their diet.
Also in “Ayurveda,” the well-known Indian traditional medi-
cine, aloe vera is soundly anchored as the “source of youth”.
Things are similar in Japan. For the Japanese aloe vera is a
“royal plant.” It is eaten, drunk and applied externally. The
enthusiasm of the Japanese for aloe products is so great that
the Japanese market has become the country with the high-
est turnover among all 137 countries where FLP is active.
Middle East Top 10 Distributors2008-2009
INSIGHT
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they all come from India, Pakistan, Nepal, the Philippines
and other countries. These people make up the majority of
the population in the Gulf Region – and these people love
network marketing.
As “normal employees” they earn $150 to $300 a month. In
this situation those who earn an extra $200 through network
marketing have already almost doubled their lifestyle. And
so in the countries of this region you always come across
surprising images again and again. The Nepalese security
man, who in the evening sits in the park with his notebook
and goes surfing, is among them. In fact he is at the bot-
tom of the social scale – but thanks to network marketing
he can afford a lifestyle that you could truly envy him for.
Because with an extra income of between $200 and $400 a
month many people here are very happy. And these incomes
are predominantly based on real product sales! This too is
another great difference from America and Europe where
MLM is now almost only marketed as a “business opportu-
nity.” And the “how” of the marketing also differs consider-
ably from the way it is usually done in Western countries.
In the USA and Europe business presentations usually take
place in hotels or consultants invite interested parties into
their own homes. In contrast to this, in the Gulf Region the
presentations – and also the sale of products – take place in
most cases in the offices of the networking companies.
For this reason FLP Middle East has even gone so far as to
install a “living room” directly in the main branch office in
Dubai – with a television, a stereo system, armchairs and a
sofa. Here people meet, talk, drink and hold presentations
“directly on the spot.” During this consultants and customers
are taken care of by the “domestic servants” obligatory in the
area, who serve drinks such as coffee or aloe vera juice. So
what is prescribed in China happens of its own accord in the
UAE. For this reason the products here are not dispatched
as a rule; instead the consultants come into the office, col-
lect the products there and pay cash or by credit card. The
same is true of many customers. Sometimes, however, lead-
ers purchase larger quantities of products and organize their
own meetings where the consultants can buy the products.
INSIGHT
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The positive effects that the consumption of aloe vera products
have on the human organism were also undoubtedly decisive
for the success of Forever Living Products in the countries
of the “Gulf Cooperation Council” (GCC), to which Kuwait,
Bahrain, Saudi-Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman belong.
“After all in these countries there is only basic provision of
medical services, which primarily covers accidents and very
serious illnesses,” explains Eliser Salvador in his interview
with OBTAINER: “Complaints such as arthritis, joint pains,
skin problems and such like are not covered as a rule and
only very few people have additional private insurance. Most
people have to pay for every visit to the doctor themselves.
So if somebody takes our products and if as a result their
complaints are reduced, they save an awful lot of money on
doctor‘s fees and medicines.”
In addition, there are many other aspects which differentiate
“networking” in the GCC countries from the business that
Europeans and Americans think about when they hear the
term “network marketing”. Among other things this is be-
cause the natives of the Gulf States hardly ever work as con-
sultants, but at best appear as customers. There are several
reasons for this. On the one hand, as a result of their
oil wealth they do not need to do so, and on the
other, religious convictions play a role. Here,
however, it is important to know that the
natives in these countries make up
only a small fraction of the popu-
lation. So , for example, 90%
of the residents of Dubai
do not come from the
UAE. Whether they
are taxi drivers,
construction
w o r k e r s ,
domestic
servants
or hotel
work-
ers
–
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However, the company offices are the heart of network mar-
keting in the Arab countries. One advantage of this approach is
that from 20th to 30th of the month the consultants can find out
by computer log-in how many points they still need to achieve
their qualification or to move on to the next step of the career
plan. So, for example, people who see that they only need a
few more points can buy the appropriate quantity of products
immediately just to be “on the safe side.”
Through the network of branches Eliser Salvador has es-
tablished a comprehensive support system through which
the consultants in the GCC states are trained and coached.
“Here we offer both product training and success training,”
explains the manager: “We assume that new distribution part-
ners will participate in the basic training programs as soon
as they have qualified as distribution partners in our system.
In addition, we also have Webinar, which comes direct from
our company headquarters in Arizona.” At least three times
a year, Eliser Salvador organizes regional conventions to-
gether with his team in each country of the GCC, the main
event being the “Annual Rally” during the month of May
with Rex Maughan himself coming to be with the distribu-
tors of the Middle East. This event is part of the worldwide
FLP Rally Concept, which this year reached its highpoint in
August with the „International Super Rally“ in Dallas, Texas.
“In the near future MLM will experience explosive growth,”
declares Eliser Salvador with conviction: “The factor that will
cause this business explosion is the professionalization of our
industry. Once people understand that this is a career that can
be developed and not a gamble where you get rich overnight,
this business will become one of the great forces in this mar-
ket. Experts predict that wellness will be the next trillion-dol-
lar business – and the best area to be involved in is no longer
production but distribution. We are independent distribution
traders – so we find ourselves on the right road, both region-
ally and globally.” Here Eliser Salvador sees the role of his
company as providing people with the infrastructure they can
work with and in addition supporting the legitimization of the
industry in this part of the world.
In this respect some things have improved in recent years. For
example, in the past networking contracts were regularly not
recognized by courts in Dubai. For reasons of legal certainty
most of the consultants therefore had to make their contracts
in their home countries. Whether it was a result of the influ-
ence of the “Direct Selling Educational Institute” (DSEI) that
this practice was changed a short time ago is something that
nobody can say with any certainty. What is certain, however,
is that those responsible have recognized that, particularly
for people with low incomes, network marketing is a worth-
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Dubai, The Palm
INSIGHT
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Rex Maughan
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while alternative which should not be
hindered without reason. The fact that
FLP Middle East was a founding mem-
ber of the DSEI will only be mentioned
here in passing. In any case, as a result
of this change in the official attitude
the opportunities for networkers in the
region have improved significantly. So
we can expect that in future more and
more people will achieve similar suc-
cesses to those already achieved by
Gloria Rosete, who received the Best
Direct Seller Award at the Direct Selling
Festival in April of this year.
At the moment Gloria is still a Sapphire
Manager in our system,” reports Elis-
er Salvador, who is very pleased that
Gloria is on the verge of becoming a
Diamond Sapphire: “For this she now
only needs another two distribution
lines – and that is something she will
certainly have built up in the foresee-
able future.” Gloria‘s success is remi-
niscent of that of Salsabila al-Harbi,
called Sally by her friends, as reported
in OBTAINER No. 07/09. Despite all
obstacles Sally has built up a large orga-
nization for FLP in Saudi Arabia. In both
cases we are talking about impressive
achievements, which are all the more
astonishing as they were accomplished
by women in male-dominated Arabia.
Eliser Salvador is certain that this shows
that everywhere in the world and for
people of either sex the right attitude
is the central element of success: “You
have to clearly define the reasons why
you want to do business with us. We are
on the look-out for people who are look-
ing for a change in their lives, people
who have great dreams for themselves
and their families. You have to be free of
preconceptions and ready for changes.”
INSIGHT
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Actually there is hardly a more interesting region for building
up an international network marketing business than Dubai
and the GCC states. Here there is a huge human potential
made up of people from all over the world who are interested
in health and financial success. Forever Living Products‘ health
and beauty products based on aloe vera offer the greatest op-
portunities for making the best possible use of this constella-
tion. “Our products are so effective that we are always making
jokes about how they sell themselves,” declares Eliser Salvador
with a happy smile: “The fact is, however, that people first have
to be made aware of our products – namely through personal
discussions.” This is a task that more people take up month
after month in the countries he looks after so that the “healer
in the jar” is conquering the Arab World slowly - but surely.
INSIGHT
If these conditions are fulfilled, the marketing plan of FLP
provides all the prerequisites for achieving the goals set. “The
remuneration schedule of Forever Living Products is the same
worldwide and is protected for the company by copyright. No
other company can adapt our marketing plan, which because
of its special characteristics is very fair and accommodating
for our distribution partners,” explains Eliser: “Essentially it
offers four sources of income: profits on turnover, personal
bonuses for business activity, bonuses for group volume and
residual income, also called Gem Bonuses. In addition there
are other performance incentives such as the free-travel pro-
gram, the car plan and profit sharing. It is also important
for many partners that the business can also be inherited
so that the family is safeguarded in case the partner dies.”
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INSIGHT
OBTAINER: What was your job before you started
with MLM? For more than 30 years I worked in the printing industry. Then I did a course to qualify as a photofinishing engineer where upon I worked in advertising and portrait photography.
OBTAINER: What experiences have you gathered in
the network marketing industry? My positive experience is that most of the products sold in this business are of high quality. The negative experiences are related to the fact that some people have already had negative experiences with this industry and these are reflected when you approach them. The most negative thing, however, are the people from other companies who attempt to recruit our downlines for their company.
OBTAINER: What characterizes your current company
and why does it suit you? Our company is known for its prod-ucts and for its global presence on the market. It suits me per-sonally because I‘m not only in the business to make money but also to grow professionally and to teach others to do the same.
OBTAINER: What characterizes your work as a spon-
sor? The things that differentiate an average distribution
partner from a successful one in this industry are social com-petence and the ability to train and lead others. In this re-spect I hope and think that my downline is happy with me.
OBTAINER: Do you work with online presentations?
We wanted to do something like that but the telephone providers in this part of the world do not have the necessary infrastructure. If you make use of their services, it costs a fortune. In our branch offices we can, however, use Webinar and online presentations offline.
OBTAINER: Do you hold telephone conferences?
Please explain why or why not. No, not many people in this part of the world use things like that. We work primarily on a personal level, in other words through direct person-to-person discussions.
OBTAINER: How do you explain the advantages of
your business opportunity to a “lay person”? The advantage is that you can do this work part-time or full-time and that the infrastructure is already in place on the spot. All that you have to do in order to achieve success is to use it.
OBTAINER: What is your inner motivation? To become and remain healthy and to have the opportunity to help my fellow human beings to do the same while I am doing so.
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28 OBTAINER
books and fishing, particularly fishing with a harpoon.OBTAINER: What car do you drive and what would be
your dream car? At the moment I have a Volkswagen “New Beetle” and I have my sights on XC60 Volvo.
OBTAINER: If you had three wishes what would you
want? I would like to retire to my beach house surrounded by my grandchildren and at the same time I would like to be in a position to run my business as a distribution partner full-time from there, to go swimming or fishing on the weekend and to enjoy a long walk without a cellphone.
OBTAINER: Have you got a book you would like to
recommend to our readers? To be successful in business you should read “The Greatest Salesman In The World” by Og Mandino, “Think & Grow Rich“ by Napoleon Hill, as well as using materials for developing your personality such as the DVDs and CDs of Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar.
OBTAINER: Which countries of the world have you al-
ready been to and where would you like to travel? Thanks to FLP I have already been in a large number of countries in the
OBTAINER: If somebody would like to earn about
$500, what must they do to get it? I speak realistically based on my experiences. There are two ways of succeeding in earn-ing this sum: Either you sell a specified volume of products. I have, for example, a downline who earns $1,000 month only through sales. Or you train, shall we say, 12 people to sell a specific volume of products – and you will also achieve this income.
OBTAINER: What further possibilities do you use oth-
er than a list of names or classified ads? Primarily mouth-to-mouth propaganda. Meetings are in my opinion the best ap-proach based on the premise that a stranger is only a friend you have not met yet.
OBTAINER: Are you married? Do you have any chil-
dren? Yes, my wife and I have now been married for 40 years. I have three children who are now all working and I now also have three grandchildren.
OBTAINER: What are your hobbies? What do you do
in your leisure time? Swimming, playing the guitar, reading
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world. I could not list them all at the moment but I can say that I have already traveled the world.
OBTAINER: Is there somebody you admire? I admire our president and managing director, Rex Maughan, be-cause he believed in me.
OBTAINER: How and where can our readers contact
you? By cellphone at +97 150 6581910 or by e-mail to [email protected]
OBTAINER: Thank you for this interview,
Mr. Salvador.
INSIGHT
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Punctually for the launch of
the Webstar Community
WellStar announced drastic
commission increases for its
partners. Christian Wiesner, CEO von
WellStar:
“Through the introduction of the slim
and speedy e-network system we have
grown in the last 18 months all over Eu-
rope by several 100% and have recruited
neqrly 200,000 users for Webstar. Now
we are launching the Webstar Commu-
nity, which will multiply this fantastic
potential turnover still more so that in
2010 we reckon with a million Webstar
users.
“Through Webstar we are now working
significantly more efficiently as a com-
pany. This allows us to increase the in-
comes of our partners from effectively
50% at the moment to effectively more
than 50% of the turnover on which com-
mission is payable!
“WellStar Partners now earn follow-up
commissions of up to 64% on 10 active
levels and receive up to 15% extra on
the Europe-wide turnover in the leader
pools. Especially for the first leader stag-
es we have increased the commissions
in the pool by 50% and we have simpli-
fied the monthly qualifications further.
We are expecting a drastic increase in
the income of our active partners!
“For TOP Leaders a highly lucrative
founder pool program has been created
which in addition to a lifelong participa-
WellStar Launches a Massive Bonus Program
tion in all turnover contains a special
bonus program!
“According to their level WellStar TOP
Leaders will receive between €100,000
and €1,000,000 as a one-off special
commission for reaching the prescribed
TOP levels. For this there is time until
December 2010 – for highly active net-
workers a period in which everything is
possible.
“Our goal was and is to create the per-
fect plan which will enable all active
partners to achieve high and secure
top incomes. With this update we have
come very close to our goal and are set-
ting new standards. The plan update ap-
plies from September 1st and is valid for
the whole of Europe!”
NEWS
Client: XANGO
Job #: XAN_0443 / Glimpse 39_EU Print
File Name: Glimpse_BUS_OBTAINER_ENG.pdf
File Created: 6/11/2009
Publication: OBTAINER
Issue Date: N/A
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Trim: 210 x 297 mm
Live:
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Agency Contact: Melissa Crespo
Phone: 801-531-0122
Fax: 801-531-0123
Email: [email protected]
159 W. BroADwAy suite 20o
SAlT lAKE CITY Utah 84101 1801
TEL 8 0 1 5 3 1 0 1 2 2
FAX 8 01 5 3 1 0 1 2 3
Account Executive:
Art Director:
Copy writer:
Proof reader:
Creative Director:
RoUnd 1 - 6/06/09
So you want to build a personal
business using the highest quality
skin care products that exist. Now
you can. Choosing to build a
business with Glimpse™ Topical
Skin Nutrition from XanGo—one
of the world’s trusted leaders in
the health and wellness landscape—
is the right choice to make.
Glimpse™ Topical Skin Nutrition
combines ancient wisdom with
state-of-the-art science to create
an exciting new category in skin
care, something completely
unique and refreshing.
Glimpse skin care delivers
holistic nutrition as found
only in the mangosteen fruit
through a toxin-free, proprietary
formula. To begin building your
business with Glimpse, visit
xango.de/glimpse today.
a proven opportunity
32 OBTAINER
NEWS
Since the 23rd of July 2009,
the cooperative partnership
between the PM International
AG and the German ski orga-
nization was officially a done deal. As a
result, PM International with their nu-
tritional supplement series, FitLine, are
now the official sponsors of the German
national ski team.
The quality of the premium products
and the findings resulting from studies
of FitLine have, in the past years, lead to
numerous close partnerships and coop-
erations with many elite athletes from
across the entire world. More than 250
top athletes, from over 10 nations and
over 50 sports disciplines use PM Inter-
nationals FitLine products to increase
their personal performance.
Behind all FitLine products are proven
scientific findings, an uncompromising
claim to quality and purity as well as
the assurance of an optimal selection,
preparation and bioavailability of in-
gredients in all FitLine products. These
high standards ensure the production of
FitLine products is carried out accord-
ing to the strict GMP standards of the
pharmaceutical industry. The standards
are also ensured by the regular indepen-
dent control of products by the center
for preventative doping research by the
German Sports University in Cologne.
These were all arguments that con-
vinced the DSV (German ski organiza-
tion) of the benefits of a close and long-
term partnership with the company
from Speyer.
PM-International Now Official Sponsor of the German National Ski Team
32 OBTAINER
Your Concept for Success!
Contact: Patrick BacherSales Director GermanyAn der Hofweide 1767346 Speyer, GermanyTel: + 49 6232 296 - [email protected]
Cell Energy-SetThrough NTC® (the Nutrient Transport Concept) the
FitLine Cell Energy-Set delivers nutrients to the exact
place they take effect, namely our billions of cells so
achieving better bioavailability.
Beyond this, the Cell Energy-Set provides the nutri-
ents exactly when the body needs them (morning and
evening) thanks to the modular product concept.
XXS Weight ManagementAlong with the FitLine products in the XXS Set, a
detailed online support program, the “XXS Coach” is
also available to you, and a DVD with guidelines on
exercise (your personal FitLine XXS trainer) and also a
40 page brochure with numerous diet tips and recipes.
To keep check on your dimensions, a measuring
tape is also included. It has never been easier to lose
weight.
We offer your two product concepts which have been used by our customers with great success month by month.
Satisfied customers who have experienced results are the basis of your sales success! Use our concepts for success too!
Experience Results.
Interested? Please visit our Website www.fitline.com for further infor-mation about the products or www.pm-international.com for more about PM-International and the business idea. I would also be happy to take time to talk to you in person - do make an apppointment.
A brand of PM-International AG
Obtainer_FitLine_220609Eng.indd 1 22.06.09 16:45
34 OBTAINER
NEWS
There are some changes in the
board of directors and the
supervisory board of Nova
Nutria International AG.
The Chairwoman of the Board, Rosa
Maria Manzano Vela, and the Chair-
man of the Supervisory Board, Juan Fé-
lix Manzano Vela, have resigned from
their positions with immediate effect.
Rosa Maria Manzano Vela, who was
responsible for finance and personnel,
founded the company in 2002 together
with her husband. She has resigned
form the board partly because of diffe-
rences of opinion about certain aspects
of business and the future positioning
of the company. Mrs. Manzano Vela
will continue her links with the com-
pany and she is convinced that Nova
Nutria will master all future challen-
ges. At the same time she expresses her
thanks to all the distribution partners
of Nova Nutria, who form the real basis
of the company‘s success. Until further
notice board member Dragan Manzano
Vela will take on responsibility for these
board portfolios. The Chairman of the
Supervisory Board, Juan Félix Manzano
Vela, has also resigned from his position
with immediate effect for the reasons gi-
ven above. The election of his successor
is planned to take place when the new
supervisory board has been elected at the
General Meeting of the company. This
information is available at the website
of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ad-hoc-
Publizität (http://www.dgap.de). More
precise details are unavailable. But since
Dragan Manzano is taking over the areas
of responsibility of his wife, we can assu-
me that the differences of opinion have
certainly also been discussed in private.
We have, of course, asked the company
for more information and we will keep
you informed of further developments.
Personnel Changes in the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board of Nova Nutria
OBTAINER 35
NEWS
Helmut Spikker Is Back
Ahlen (Germany) has every
reason to be pleased. As it
is exactly here that Helmut
Spikker – former co-founder
of the “LR” company from Ahlen – wants
to go about setting another “global net-
work marketing milestone”. The seeds
for this have finally been sown. He will
focus initially on a newly acquired piece
of land and on this construct his distri-
bution center. His specially designed
machinery, packaging, shipping and call
and service center are to be housed here.
30,000 meters squared on an expansive
16 hectares (160,000 square meters), 20
million initial investment, to commence
September – these are the bare facts with
which Spikker will show how good he is.
The visionary is back and with his new
company wants to go way beyond the
success he achieved with LR Interna-
tional. Lets hear from Helmut Spikker
himself: “The entire capital expenditure
amounts to hundreds of millions of Euro.
We are building a global company that
will truly break the current network mar-
keting mold.
He will create many new jobs in the
Spikker center, located in Ahlen, and
through his investment will also facili-
tate economic recovery. If he achieves
this, he will be a hero and deserves to
be celebrated as such. Thanks to people
like Spikker, network marketing will be
the business of the future. Also present
in the Spikker team are Thorsten Nigge,
ex- “LR” Marketing Consultant, Detlev
Spikker, ex “LR” Head of Organization
and Technology, Friedrich Gerdtoberens,
ex “LR”Managing Director of Finance
and Rainer Zumholte, ex “LR” Managing
Director of Operations. This team has
lead LR International to become lead-
ers within the European market. The
full time professionals want to, this time,
lead the networking industry to never
before seen profit zones: With products
that require no farther explanation. If
this statement is made true, a long cher-
ished dream for many networkers will
also have come true: products, that will
sell like hot cakes.
Spikker – known as a man of his word.
Therefore this mega success shouldn‘t be
put passed him. The OBTAINER edito-
rial team promptly received an invita-
tion to go on site to help us make our
own impression. We will gladly take
him up on this offer and since Helmut
Spikker plans to provide innumerable
numbers of people with tremendous fu-
ture prospects, people ought to wish him
the greatest possible success. The success
the networks are wishing the company‘s
founder Helmut Spikker, ultimately
wants to be realized by themselves also.
The OBTAINER team wishes him in any
case every success and our readers can be
assured that we will from now on “copy
from” Ahlen and keep you up to date.
Helmut Spikker (middle) with his team
of experts: Ex “LR” Managing Director
of Operations Rainer Zumholte, Detlev
Spikker (ex “LR” Head of Organization
and Technology), Friedrich Gerdtoberens
(ex “LR” Managing Director of Finance)
and Thorsten Nigge (ex “LR” Marketing
Consultant)
36 OBTAINER
31/10/20
09
Kongress- und KulturCentrum Filderhalle, Bahnhofstr. 61,
70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
THE PRODUCT – Professor Dr. Westendorf reports on the latest noni science.
THE COMPANY – Thanks to TAHITIAN NONI™ Juice, TNI has been the market leader for more than a decade! All of the Tahitian Noni products are a combination of ancient traditions and state-of-the-art science – for your well-being and your future.
YOUR OPPORTUNITY – The Tahitian Noni opportunity is presented to you by successful networkers, so you can become just as successful!
SUCCESS STARTS IN YOUR HEAD – You will be spellbound by mentalist Harry Riegel and his stunning show combining magic and science.
Prof. Dr. Westendorf
To order tickets now, send an e-mail to [email protected]!For more information, please call our toll-free call-center hotline at 08 00 82 44 84 26.
Harry Riegel, mentalist
Welcome on Board!
LOOkINg FOR A CHANCE? DISCOvER TNI
TNI headquarters
and go
with TNI
NEWS
Last Monday the Missouri
based firm, “Reliv Interna-
tional”, launched a new cos-
metics line. “Relivables” is a
range of skincare products for women,
men and the entire family. The range
is now available the world over. All re-
livables products contain the RA7 com-
plex, an assortment of antioxidants, an-
ti-inflammatory ingredients and various
anti-aging ingredients: Soya, Omega 3
fatty acids, CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid,
green tea, pycnogenol and vitamin A.
Voilà, what more could pampered skin
ask for? By the end of the year Reliv
wants to expand its exquisite relivables
cosmetic line and by doing so will ex-
tend the range of healthy and beneficial
Reliv Int. Launch New Cosmetics Lineproduct alternatives available within the
cosmetic industry.
By the way: Distribution partners from
German speaking areas also have the
opportunity to win a trip to the Christ-
mas markets in Frankfurt with the new
product range. Even if the tempera-
tures aren‘t quite right to raise the fes-
tive mood, success hungry distributors
won‘t miss out on this double chance:
Firstly, to generate a lucrative income
from the new cosmetic series and sec-
ondly, to win a trip to the Christmas
markets in Frankfurt. On the face of it,
it would appear that not only do Reliv
know their stuff when it comes to skin
care, they also know the ropes when it
comes to distributor relations.
OBTAINER 37
31/10/20
09
Kongress- und KulturCentrum Filderhalle, Bahnhofstr. 61,
70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
THE PRODUCT – Professor Dr. Westendorf reports on the latest noni science.
THE COMPANY – Thanks to TAHITIAN NONI™ Juice, TNI has been the market leader for more than a decade! All of the Tahitian Noni products are a combination of ancient traditions and state-of-the-art science – for your well-being and your future.
YOUR OPPORTUNITY – The Tahitian Noni opportunity is presented to you by successful networkers, so you can become just as successful!
SUCCESS STARTS IN YOUR HEAD – You will be spellbound by mentalist Harry Riegel and his stunning show combining magic and science.
Prof. Dr. Westendorf
To order tickets now, send an e-mail to [email protected]!For more information, please call our toll-free call-center hotline at 08 00 82 44 84 26.
Harry Riegel, mentalist
Welcome on Board!
LOOkINg FOR A CHANCE? DISCOvER TNI
TNI headquarters
and go
with TNI
NEWS
Amway: Direct Selling Saves Jobs
Grand Rapids, Amway
Corp., the world`s lead-
ing direct selling compa-
ny for the past 50 years,
is charting another milestone to per-
petuate its global reach under a busi-
ness model that sustained its contin-
ued growth even in the worst of times
when retail sales are falling to unprec-
edented levels.
Steve Van Andel, Amway chairman,
told Philippine journalists invited as
part of the company`s 50th celebra-
tion that the company`s direction is to
put more focus in its existing markets,
particularly Asia, which now accounts
for two-thirds of its total business and
the strengthening of its new and inno-
vative products.
“The global economic recession has
brought the company tremendous ad-
vantages,” Van Andel said. Van Andel
noted that while retail sales are fall-
ing off generally because people are
holding off, Amway`s business model
has saved them from experiencing
the same debacle. He, however, ad-
mitted that they have experienced a
slowdown in retail but stressed this
is not enough to pull the company`s
growth to a negative. “Our business is
up this year to mid-single digit growth
from double-digit growths in the past
years,“ Van Andel said. Although
72-rated economists in the US are say-
ing that the economic recession is on
its way out, Van Andel noted that this
global crisis is a little bit different than
the last one that hit Asia stressing that
several firms have closed shops and
laid off workers causing in a deeper
change in business fundamentals.
“But there is always reason to be op-
timist,“ he said noting that things
are looking up a little bit with a few
good news like improving automotive
sales, the optimism is catching up.
For Amway, Van Andel attributed the
company`s resiliency to its direct sell-
ing business model. “The direct sell-
ing business model offers great oppor-
tunities for some people to join them
and earn extra money to tie them over
the crisis period,” Van Andel said.
“Our advantage is the opportunity to
make some people earn money.”
“So during this time of crisis, we at-
tract people who are inspired to make
good money,“ Van Andel said. Amway
operates in 80 countries and territo-
ries employing over 13,000 people. In
addition, Amway distributors are part
of a sales force of more than 3 million
business owners around the world dis-
tributing over 450 unique products in
the areas of nutrition, wellness, beau-
ty and home. To sustain this growth,
the company is putting focus on its ex-
isting markets by enhancing their po-
tentials. Asia, which now accounts for
two-thirds of its total business, is one
of its major targeted markets. It has
existing manufacturing facilities in
China, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea.
“Asia now accounts for two-thirds of
our total business. So, we are spend-
ing a lot of our time in Asia,” said Van
Andel even as he noted how the com-
pany has changed over the past 50
years. From a single North American
market, Amway has expanded geo-
graphically reaching now to over 80
countries and territories, where over
80 percent of their business come
from.
“Our priority now is to move in to
markets that we are in and try to
figure out how to expand, how to go
there and be more effective,” he said.
To complement its business direc-
tion, the company is marketing cer-
tain product categories in some tar-
geted markets. From a single cleaning
product company that his late father
Jay Van Andel and business part-
ner Rich Devos started 50 years ago,
Amway has now shifted to over 80
percent health and beauty product
company and the rest are cleaning
products.
Steve Van Andel
38 OBTAINER
NEWS
In September, Inc. Magazine will publish the latest edition of its renowned special is-sue. The annual edition lists
the companies which recorded the strongest growth.
This year, the 500 US companies which generated the greatest com-pany growth within the period of 2005 to 2009 will be listed. A great reason for MonaVie to let corks pop
from the USA to New Zealand and from Singapore to Israel: MonaVie is number one among food and bev-erage companies and is the third strongest company as per sales fig-ures. In the overall ranking, the Mo-naVie networkers achieved the 18th spot, an excellent position.
As a result, MonaVie now ranks among companies like Microsoft, Timberland, Intuit, Jamba Juice,
Oracle and Under Armour which, in the past, have also been listed in Inc. Magazines top 500 list. It was only 5 years ago that Henry Larsen, Randy Larsen and MonaVie founder, Dal-lin A. Larsen, sat around the kitchen table dreaming of a global company and of wealth and abundance.
The OBTAINER would like to con-gratulate the networkers and wish them fulfillment of their dreams.
MonaVie, which has just
been listed with an ex-
cellent position among
the best companies
by Inc. Magazine, has once again an-
nounced good news: John Doughty is
being appointed Managing Director of
MonaVie Europe. With this appoint-
ment MonaVie is hiring hiring an expe-
rienced and successful “captain” for the
European market. John Doughty brings
more than 20 years of experience in di-
rect distribution both as an executive
and also in management. Among other
things he was a member of the man-
agement team of betterware, one of the
largest direct distribution companies in
England and is Director of the “Direct
Selling Association.”
All the companies in which John Dough-
ty has worked so far have been led ex-
tremely successfully by by him to the top
of the European market. That is what
MonaVie is counting on with this man:
The company also wants in the shortest
time possible to get in on the act in direct
distribution in Europe right at the top.
Already in September John Doughty
will be bringing MonaVie onto the mar-
ket in the United Kingdom and Poland.
Doug Allen, Vice-President of the Inter-
national Development Department at
MonaVie can pat himself on the shoul-
der for being able to win someone of the
caliber of Doughty for MonaVie‘s ex-
pansion on the European market. And
John Doughty says that for him it is a
wonderful task to head MonaVie in Eu-
John Doughty
OBTAINER 39
NEWS
rope than that now “exciting times for
MonaVie” are dawning. For him this is
just the right time to become “a part of
MonaVie.”
And there is another piece of news about
personnel from MonaVie: Dr. Stephen
T. Talcott is joining the MonaVie‘s Sci-
entific Advisory Board (MSAB) with
immediate effect. Dr. Talcott is Associ-
ate Professor of Food Chemistry at the
Texas A&M University. Previously he
taught at the University of Florida. He
did his doctorate in food science at the
University of Arkansas. He is one of the
leading experts on the açai berry and
since 2002 he has made a notable con-
tribution to the spreading of knowledge
about the chemical effects and health
advantages of the açai berry and to mar-
keting it. Dr. Talcott was impressed by
the quality of the research and devel-
opment and the efforts being made in
product development that are being car-
ried out in the background by MonaVie.
For this reason he will presumably feel
as comfortable at MonaVie as the pro-
verbial fish in water.
OBTAINER 39
40 OBTAINER
NEWS
Not only are Dan Norman,
company manager of Syn-
ergy, and Kerry Brown,
boss of OGI, pleased, but
also a whole armada of distribution
partners is enthusiastic. Because Syn-
ergy Worldwide and OceanGrown™ In-
ternational (OGI) now belong together.
On August 13th both networking com-
panies announced that Synergy Interna-
tional is taking over OGI. It is intended
to complete the merger of the two com-
panies within 30 days. For the distribu-
tion partners of both companies this is
an enormous gain. OGI will continue
to attend to “the good things from the
sea” and at the same time – at one blow
– it will be represented in many inter-
national markets. At OGI people are ex-
tremely thrilled that they can now con-
tinue to carry out and build up business
their very own business but that at the
same time they will experience an huge
growth of tools and resources.
And for expanding Synergy Worldwide
OGI‘s thousands of distribution part-
ners mean a new and additional rein-
forcement of the distribution structure.
Synergy in action, so to say. As the name
suggests. Something that will prove sig-
nificant for Synergy in this merger is the
fact that the Asian market in general has
a strong demand for nutrition supple-
ments from the sea and that OGI will
therefore open up the road to Asia for
all Synergy products. In return OGI‘s
distribution partners will now reach
Synergy With Sea Power – Mega-Merger in Network Marketing
further international markets that Syn-
ergy has already captured.
Dan Norman of Synergy gets to the
point: “Synergy knows the power of a
good partnership since we have expe-
rienced an enormous boost as a result
of our link-up with Nature‘s Sunshine.
OceanGrown products have held their
ground on the market with a scientific
reputation and innovative branded
products. In the name of the whole Syn-
ergy team we welcome OGI‘s distribu-
tion partners and are pleased that we
can avail ourselves of a powerful oppor-
tunity together.” The first international
market for OceanGrown products that
Synergy wants to focus on will be the
Philippines.
Synergy Management
NEWS
THE LEGACY CONTINUES!CZECHIA - LAUNCH NOW!
Official Start: September 2nd of 2009
GET YOUR POSITION [email protected]
NEWS
J Ü R G E N F L I E G E :TV-Discoverer of legendary Aloe Vera has now discovered Mangostan. „It now reads: „Attention, Mangostan! The whole world is talking about...“ from Fliege-TV 2008
w w w . M a n g o s t a n G o l d . c o m
The Number 1 pure European company for functional drinks which contain Mangostan and Goji
1 Million EuroBonus program for Top-Networkers
Secure your chance!
OBTAINER 43
NEWS
Mangostan – Two Young Entrepreneurs on the Road to SuccessFounder of the functional drink `Mangostan Gold` on Fliege.TV
B erlin, August 2009: Jürgen Fliege, talk show host
and television minister, interviews the founder
and president of Mangostan Gold on the show
“Mangostan – two young entrepreneurs on the
road to success”. The interview informs viewers about the
high-growth start up company in direct marketing of refer-
ence programs, that exclusively produce a functional drink
with the mangostan fruit, as well as the idea that is behind
the concept.
Norman Thier and Ulrich Jannert, both founders and presi-
dents of Mangostan Gold, have built up the entire company
following a self-developed concept without any borrowed
capital or bank loans. “Everything is 100% self-made, noth-
ing was given to us – neither by the public authorities nor
by banks. There were so many hurdles and restraints in
the way, that borrowing was impossible”, states Jannert &
Thier.
Both ex coca-cola managers recipe for successful, quick and
sustainable growth is the innovative product Mangostan-
Gold. It contains antioxidant ingredients from various
fruits; from the mangostan to the acerola cherry and from
the nopal cactus to the logan fruit. In addition, the product
meets the current trends of the time: health, wellness, pre-
vention as well as anti-aging and pro-aging.
Those who are interested in the origin and the vision of the
`Mangostan Gold` product, can get informed in the next
broadcast of Fliege.TV.
http://www.fliege.de/talkshow/index.php
Jürgen Fliege
The Mangostan Gold® AG is a Europe-wide direct marketing company, which is listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange. Mangostan-Gold® is committed to the theme of functional drinks & dietary supplements with the basis of the mangostan fruit and the goji berry. Mangostan-Gold® is an innovative liquid di-etary supplement. It is also the first product world-wide to not only harness the power of the mangostan fruit with valuable Xanthonen (secondary plant substance), but in addition also manage to combine the attractive forces of six worlds in one. Due to its ingredients, it is a functional drink, which is suited to the contemporary and promising future trends of anti-aging, healthy lifestyle, wellness, beauty, life quality, health care and pro-aging. Mangostan`s Gold website: http://www.MangostanGold-AG.com or www.Mangostan-Gold.com
46 OBTAINER
NEWS
Already, after just a few
months of turnover, the
first CARAT partner can
look forward to a 4 digit
check – this shows that CARAT‘s com-
pensation plan works and that CARAT
Design Jean‘s business partners are
able to build up their business and
achieve a speedy income – states the
young company in a press release.
It also states that: Since August 1st,
Mr. Gennaro De Angelis, has had
particular responsibility for the care
and support of the City-Center and
Business-Center in Viernheim. Busi-
ness partners therefore receive quick,
purposeful and personal support
with all of their questions. Genna-
ro De Angelis is, in all respects, a
sporting partner and the company‘s
board of management is extreme-
ly pleased to have him on board.
Ms. Manuela Hagendorn is also part
of the team and is responsible for the
smooth operation of organizational,
commercial as well as accounting mat-
ters. Even this part of the business has
to be tackled professionally from the
onset. On account of Ms. Hagendorn‘s
long experience in this industry, she is
a valuable and indispensable support.
The steady growth of new partners
and City-Centers in some regions
CARAT Design-Jeans Writes Out First Check
already provides optimum logis-
tics and a continuous supply, there-
fore offering CARAT customers
the best opportunities in accessing
the coveted CARAT Design Jeans.
In areas with a less dense City Cen-
ter network CARAT provides their
partners with an intelligent and
efficient system to, nevertheless,
get the CARAT jeans cheap. For
a shipping cost of just 4 Euro, all
partners can have 20 pairs of jeans
sent to them or for 5 Euro get 45
pairs sent. There are no long wait-
ing periods, therefore CARAT De-
sign Jeans is easier on the nerves
and the gas budget of their partners.
OBTAINER 47
NEWS
Mannatech, Incorpo-
rated, a leading global
pioneer and developer
of health, weight and
fitness, and skin care solutions, an-
nounced its products are expected to be
available in Austria, the Netherlands,
Norway and Sweden in September
2009. Currently in Europe, Mannat-
ech products are available in Denmark,
Germany and the U.K. This expanded
European presence will allow Mannat-
ech to offer its proprietary, patented
products to consumers while extend-
ing its unique business opportunity to
roughly 193 million people. The com-
bined direct selling industry volume of
these additional regions is (EURO)5.76
billion as of December 2008 (see also
Mannatech, Incorporated).
„Mannatech Europe`s
growth is a result of our
eager independent sales
Associates who seek well-
ness, purpose, financial
freedom and the chance
to impact the lives of oth-
ers,“ said Colin Jones, general man-
ager of Mannatech Europe. „Leading
these efforts and seeing our expan-
sion to 37 million people through
the combined populations of these
four additional markets come to
fruition is a privilege.“
Wayne Badovinus, president and
CEO of Mannatech, added, „Man-
natech is devoted to impacting qual-
ity of life around the world through
our integrated wellness products
and business-building opportuni-
ties. It is very rewarding to be able
to extend our presence in four ad-
ditional countries and offer oppor-
tunities in an area primed for direct
selling growth, especially during
these uncertain economic times. We
look forward to additional growth
Mannatech Set to Significantly Expand Global Footprint by Adding Presence in Four Additional European Countries
and increasing our global footprint
in the months and years to come.“
Among the products scheduled to
be available for purchase this Sep-
tember are the company`s Advanced
Ambrotose® capsules and powder,
Ambrotose AO® capsules, multi-
vitamin/mineral supplement Phy-
toMatrix® caplets, PLUS(TM) tablets
and OsoLean(TM) fat loss powder.
Mannatech`s cutting-edge, proprie-
tary products are based on the foun-
dation of nutritional science and
development standards to deliver
the highest quality available. The
company has distinguished itself in
the emerging glyconutrition market
through the development of Ambro-
tose® complex, the technology for
which it holds more than 43 patents
in 30 countries. Glyconutrients are a
blend of plant polysaccharides which
are believed to represent a new cat-
egory of untapped vital nutrients for
optimal health.
Orange PMS151
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50 OBTAINER
NEWS
Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc.
(NYSE: NUS) today an-
nounced record sec-
ond-quarter revenue of
$322.6 million, up slightly from $321.7
million reported in the prior year, but
up 4 percent on a constant-currency
basis. Earnings per share for the quar-
ter were $0.35, a 9 percent improve-
ment over the same quarter of 2008.
Earnings per share, excluding restruc-
turing charges in the current quarter,
were $0.36, a 13 percent improvement
over the prior-year period. Operating
income improved 19 percent.
„We`re very pleased with the direction
of our business and the progress we
are making towards achieving our an-
nual goals,“ said Truman Hunt, presi-
dent and chief executive officer. „We
continue to generate healthy results in
a difficult economic environment.
„Our growth is a result of continued
strength in the skin care category,
with sales up 14 percent, driven by
strong sales of our Galvanic Spa Sys-
tem. Additionally, our business trans-
formation efforts, most recently in Ja-
pan, have helped us track ahead of our
operating margin targets.“
Regional Results
North Asia: Second-quarter rev-
enue in North Asia was $146.7 mil-
lion, compared to $151.0 million for
the same period in 2008. North Asia‘s
results were negatively impacted ap-
proximately 1 percent by foreign cur-
rency fluctuations, due to a 26 per-
cent weakening of the Korean Won
compared to the prior year. Japan
recorded a local-currency revenue
decline of 6 percent while South Ko-
rea local-currency revenue improved
11 percent. The number of executive
distributors in the region was down
3 percent while the number of active
distributors declined 2 percent.
Americas: Revenue in the Ameri-
cas improved 9 percent to $62.2 mil-
lion, compared to $57.3 million in the
prior-year period. The United States
posted a 5 percent revenue increase
during the quarter, while Canada and
Latin America local-currency revenue
grew by 69 percent and 30 percent,
respectively. The number of executive
distributors in the region improved
9 percent while the number of active
distributors decreased 2 percent com-
pared to the prior year.
Greater China: Second-quarter rev-
enue in Greater China was $52.8 mil-
lion, compared to $55.8 million in the
Nu Skin Enterprises Reports Second-Quarter 2009 Results
prior-year period. Foreign currency
fluctuations negatively impacted rev-
enue by 3 percent. Local-currency
revenue in Mainland China improved
6 percent over the same quarter in
2008. Taiwan local currency revenue
increased 1 percent, and Hong Kong
local-currency revenue was down 18
percent, reflecting significant sales in
the prior year at a regional distribu-
tor convention held in Hong Kong.
The executive distributor count in
the region declined 5 percent, while
the number of active distributors was
down 21 percent compared to the pri-
or-year, primarily a reflection of the
on-going transition in the company`s
business model in China.
Europe: Revenue from Europe was
$32.2 million, a 6 percent improve-
ment over the prior-year period, with
solid growth in each region within
Europe. Results in the region were
negatively impacted approximately 16
percent by foreign currency fluctua-
tions. Executive and active distribu-
tor counts in Europe increased 20
percent and 25 percent, respectively,
compared to the prior-year period.
South Asia/Pacific: Revenue in
South Asia/Pacific was $28.7 million,
an improvement of 5 percent compared
to the prior year. Sales in the quarter
were negatively impacted 11 percent
by currency fluctuations. The region`s
second-quarter executive count im-
proved 17 percent while the active
distributor count increased 5 percent
compared to the same period in 2008.
Strong Performance Leads Company to Raise Annual Guidance
• European family business with total focus on distribution
• No-nonsense, solid, innovative and only network marketing company voted into the TOP 100 innovative German compa-nies 7 times in succession by an independent business com-mittee
• Represented in over 30 countries with approved products and in-house logistics
• Best risk rating at Dun & Bradstreet (100 of 100 possible points)
• Reliable up/downline protection
• Quality made in Germany
Let us be your Rock
PM-International AG
8
PM-International AG – your reliable partner to build up a secure income even during the credit crunch.
Interested? Please visit our Website www.pm-international.com for further information about PM-International and the business idea. I would also be happy to take time to talk to you in person - do make an apppointment.
Contact: Patrick BacherSales Director GermanyAn der Hofweide 1767346 Speyer, GermanyTel: + 49 6232 296 - [email protected]
Simple. Successful.
Obtainer_PM_220609English.indd 1 22.06.09 16:45
Desig
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EDIA
OBTAINER 53
NEWS
Operational Performance
The company`s gross margin dur-
ing the quarter was 81.2 percent, a
40-basis-point decline compared to
the prior-year period, due primar-
ily to foreign currency fluctuations
and shifting product mix. Selling ex-
penses, as a percent of revenue, were
41.7 percent in the second quarter, an
80-basis-point improvement due to
distributor compensation plan modi-
fications aimed at rewarding produc-
tivity. General and administrative ex-
penses improved to $91.3 million, or
28.3 percent of revenue, compared to
$96.5 million, or 30.0 percent of rev-
enue in the prior-year period. Prior-
year results included expenses asso-
ciated with conventions in Japan and
Hong Kong. The company incurred
restructuring charges of $1.6 million
during the quarter related to the con-
tinued restructuring of Japan.
The company`s income tax rate for
the quarter was 37.4 percent. The
company`s cash position at the end
of the quarter was $125.3 million.
Dividend payments during the quarter
were $7.2 million. The company repur-
chased $3.9 million of its outstanding
shares during the quarter.
Outlook
„Our strong first-half performance
keeps us on course to achieve anoth-
er year of record results,“ said Hunt.
„We look forward to the next phase of
our ageLOC launch in October when
we will introduce a highly innovative
anti-aging skin care system. ageLOC
represents our proprietary approach
to attacking the sources of aging, as
opposed to just the signs and symp-
toms. We believe these ageLOC devel-
opments represent our most signifi-
cant product innovation in our 25-year
history.
„As we continue to export successful
and proven sales programs through-
out our markets, we expect to sustain
increases in distributor productivity.
For example, we introduced a new
feature to our distributor compensa-
tion model called the `Wealth Maxi-
mizer` in the United States and Eu-
rope last year with excellent results. In
the second quarter, we launched this
compensation feature in Japan and
Southeast Asia with encouraging early
indicators.
„We are generating improved profit-
ability from our concerted efforts to
operate the business more efficiently
around the world. We are particularly
encouraged by the restructuring work
in Japan and anticipate continued im-
provement going forward,“ concluded
Hunt.
„Based on the strength of our busi-
ness, we are increasing our 2009 guid-
ance,“ said Ritch Wood, chief financial
officer. We are increasing our revenue
guidance to $1.26 to $1.27 billion,
anticipating a negative impact from
foreign currency fluctuations of 3 to 5
percent for the year. We are increas-
ing our earnings guidance to $1.09 to
$1.14 or $1.23 to $1.28 excluding an
estimated $0.14 restructuring charge.
We expect third-quarter revenue of
$312 to $317 million which antici-
pates a negative currency impact of 1
to 3 percent, and earnings per share in
the $0.30 to $0.32 range, including a
$0.02 planned restructuring charge,“
concluded Wood.
Company management will host a
webcast with the investment com-
munity on July 29, 2009, at 11 a.m.
(EDT). Those wishing to access the
webcast, as well as the financial in-
formation presented during the call,
can visit the Investor Relations page
on Nu Skin Enterprises` Web site,
www.nuskinenterprises.com. An ar-
chive of the webcast will be available
at this same URL through Aug. 14,
2009.
54 OBTAINER
NEWS
An Important Victory for the Networking Family
By denying a motion by the
Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) an American district
court could have created an
important precedent for the whole of
the nutrition supplement industry and
so for the whole of MLM. The Com-
mission had moved against LaneLabs
in 2007 for making “unsubstantiated
advertising claims.” Concretely it con-
cerns the advertising and effectiveness
claims of two LaneLabs products: Ad-
vaCal and Male Fertil.
AdvaCal is a calcium product extracted
from oyster shells, which has been on
the market since 2000. And Male Fer-
til is extracted from the active com-
ponents of the maca plant (Lepidium
peruvianum). Male Fertil was launched
by LaneLabs in 2003. LaneLabs pro-
motes AdvaCal by claiming that this
product “increases bone density” and
“that from a clinical viewpoint it is
the only calcium that can actually in-
crease the mineral bone density and
that it is three times easier to absorb
than other forms of calcium.” Accord-
ing to LaneLabs the plus point of Male
Fertil is that from a clinical viewpoint
“this product increases the produc-
tion of sperm and sperm mobility.”
The FTC and the FDA (Food and Drug
Administration) considered that these
claims were not sustainable and have
been taking proceedings in this matter
against LaneLabs since 2007.
The case was finally tried by Judge
Dennis Cavanaugh in a district. The
verdict leaves neither the FTC nor the
FDA looking good. There they were
certain that LaneLabs had violated a
previous decree with “unfounded and
unsustainable advertising claims about
AdvaCal and Male Fertil” and for this
reason LaneLabs ought pay through
the nose: a $24 million fine was filed
for! Judge Cavanaugh, who was pre-
siding, rejected this motion on the
grounds that LaneLabs really did pres-
ent scientific proof for the effectiveness
of both products. During the trial the
experts of both sides were heard. On
behalf of LaneLabs two scientists gave
evidence – a physicist and a physician
– who presented their expert evidence
to the court with absolute credibil-
ity and technical competence. Against
them the experts from the FTC spoke
and presented their assessment..
Judge Cavanaugh came to the conclu-
sion that the dispute was at the most
about two “different scientific opin-
ions,” but under no circumstances
could anybody accuse LaneLabs of
having made “unsustainable and false
advertising claims.” In not one single
point were the FTC experts able to
demonstrate that the products Adva-
Cal and Mal Fertil had no effect or that
they might cause damage to health.
The judge declared that on the contrary
LaneLabs had undertaken “proper ef-
forts and comprehensible steps” to ful-
fill earlier directives from the FTC with
respect to credibility and scientific evi-
dence in product advertising.
Thus LaneLabs has achieved justice and
at the same time an important judg-
ment has been issued, which brings to a
close what has been called a “milestone
case.” If the nutrition supplement in-
dustry continues to exercise care in the
scientific assessment of its products
and in the course of that works with
recognized institutes and scientists it
will no longer be so easy to spoil the
broth for this industry. It will become
even less simple to siphon off the prof-
its made with precisely these effective
products by means of “fines.”So in fu-
ture the money will remain “in the fam-
ily” - the networking family!
56 OBTAINER
NEWS
Three Idaho companies
were among the five to re-
ceive awards this summer
from the Direct Selling
Association, a national trade group
for firms that manufacture and dis-
tribute goods and services sold di-
rectly to consumers.
Scentsy, Inc., a five-year-old
wickless candle maker based in
Meridian, received the Rising Star
Award, presented to an „up-and-
coming direct selling company that
has dedicated itself to achieving a
high standard of excellence in busi-
ness operations,“ according to a news
release from the DSA.
Coeur d‘Alene-based Oxyfresh.com
received the Technology Innovation
Award, largely on the strength of
the firm‘s „Money for Life“ Web site
which is designed to help field dis-
tributors attract new business part-
ners.
Finally, ServiceQuest, of Idaho
Falls, received the Partnership Award
for its role as a provider of consult-
ing and training services for direct
sales distributors. ServiceQuest has
exclusively served the direct selling
industry for more than 20 years.
Other companies honored with 2009
DSA awards were telecommunica-
tions direct sellers ACN Inc., and
cosmetics giant Mary Kay Inc.
DSA has more than 250 active and
pending members and represents
an industry that in 2007 had U.S.
sales of more than $30 billion. This
summer‘s awards program marked
the first time three Idaho direct sell-
ers have won national awards in the
same year.
Three Idaho Firms Win National Direct Sales Awards
are “Promoters of a happy life“
OBTAINER 59
NEWS
BVNM celebrates 5th anniversary and holds BVNM awards
September 25th is set to be the
big day: The “Bundesverband
[eng. Federal Association] Net-
work Marketing” will celebrate
its 5th birthday with a huge anniversary
gala in the Ludwig-Erhard-Haus in Ber-
lin. The OBTAINER, the world‘s leading
direct sales and multi level marketing
magazine, will not only be in attendance
reporting from the event for you, we are
also offering you the chance to be in at-
tendance – when luck is on your side.
This is being offered, despite the fact that
the BVNM anniversary celebrations are a
closed event, attended by members of the
BVNM and their invited guests only. The
details of how you could come into pos-
session of these coveted tickets are to be
found within this article.
This one of a kind event will provide net-
workers as well as leading personalities
from the industry, the opportunity to
come together to share achievements and
to talk about the future of network mar-
keting. What significance network mar-
keting (NWM) holds within the direct
marketing industry will be the subject of
a speech by Prof. Dr. Zacharias from the
university of Worms (Germany). Prof.
Dr. Zacharias, also known as the “Father
of Networking”, will demonstrate using
facts and figures from the 2008/2009 in-
dustry report, why those who are active
partners in NWM are on the right track.
A little insight into this has already been
given: Prof. Dr. Michael Zacharias in con-
junction with the UVDV has prepared the
current industry report on the subject of
“direct marketing” for Germany, Austria
and Switzerland. More than 6,000 busi-
ness partners from all three countries
have contributed, making the document
representative of the direct marketing
industry. The new standard work offers
interesting insights into the present and
exciting prospects for the future. The
standard work will serve companies as
well as existing and potential business
partners with an ideal base of informa-
tion for a successful business particularly
in network marketing.
The BVNM is very pleased that numer-
ous network marketing ‚legends‘ have
already accepted their invitation to the
event. Who these will be cannot be dis-
OBTAINER is giving away free tickets to the event set to take place in the Ludwig-Erhard-Haus in Berlin
60 OBTAINER
NEWS
closed here to maintain the “excitement”.
Alongside the interesting program which
will be lead by Michael Drebs, Head of
the BVNM Academy, the BVNM will set
another milestone at the anniversary
event. Not only will the first success-
ful graduates of the “Consultant in Net-
work Marketing” program be introduced,
which will also be reported on, but for the
first time ever, the “BVNM awards” will
be given out, which will be awarded an-
nually to leading personalities from the
network marketing industry for particu-
lar achievements.
Alongside some of the NWM “greats”, all
networkers will be given the opportunity
to vote online for the person who, in their
opinion, has made significance contribu-
tions to the industry through commit-
ment and responsibility, perseverance
and reliability. This type of award has
never been awarded in network market-
ing in German speaking countries – and
it is exactly this that the BVNM wants to
change. Many participants followed the
call to vote for the “BVNM award 2009”
which enabled the association to get a
comprehensive picture. 10 people will be
nominated by the BVNM and will be in-
vited to the event.
The event will also be actively supported
by media partners, for example by the
OBTAINER. According to Michael Drebs,
“this publication has, through its excel-
lent work ,held it‘s own on the market
and represents a very important source
of information in the network marketing
world”. Although the anniversary cele-
bration is booked to capacity, we are able
to offer our loyal readers the unique op-
portunity to attend this exclusive event.
Two possibilities are available: Firstly,
10 tickets at 50 Euro each are available
and can be purchased through our edito-
rial office. Those who would like to bring
a guest, pay just 20 Euro (incl. tax) for
this. To take advantage of this opportu-
nity, please send an email to redaktion@
obtainer-media.com with the subject
“BVNM Jubiläum” and please state how
many tickets you wish to purchase.
Secondly, the OBTAINER are pleased to
be able to offer two cards for free. Those
who would like one of these, send an
email to [email protected] with
the subject “BVNM Verlosung” answer-
ing the following question: Was is “the
leading direct sales and multi level mar-
keting magazine in the world”? Those
who have difficulties answering this
question will find a few ‚subtle hints‘ at
www.obtainer.info ;-) If more than two
correct answers are received, a draw will
decide the winners. The judges decision
is final. We wish everyone the very best
of luck!
Now just a quick look back on the his-
tory of the BVNM: During the “deGUT”
(German Founders and Entrepreneurs
day) the 50 something participants of the
„Forum Network Marketing“ demanded
a networkers representation of interests
within a single association. This idea was
implemented a short while after with
the foundation of the “Bundesverbandes
Network Marketing” e.V. (BVNM). A
month later the association‘s website
was put online. In September 2004, the
branch office in Berlin opened followed
by a further office in Zürich in January
2005, from which the associations activi-
ties in Switzerland could be organized.
The BVNM considers itself “a strong sup-
port for all networkers within German
speaking countries”. The organization
is committed to being strictly neutral
about companies and in having factual
information about network marketing.
The aim is to give interested parties an
informed and unbiased opinion on net-
work marketing. Middle and long term
objectives include the recognition of net-
work marketing as an independent job
description, influencing the legislative
procedure related to commercial practice
and the protection of competition law
within the economic system of network
marketing.
Chill it!
Drink it!
Love it!
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62 OBTAINER
BRAINBOX
Personal Branding —Social Networking Was Yesterday!
At www.myonid.de, the myON-ID Media GmbH
operate a “platform for self marketing”. The por-
tal was launched as a monitoring tool for one‘s
own reputation however, since then, it has also
established a whole host of measures for professional self pro-
motion. The name myON-ID (“my Online Identity”) reflects
the company‘s mission: here people are marked as a brand,
therefore taking their online personal branding into their own
hands. myON-ID was founded in 2007 by Mario Grobholz and
Roman Pritzkow. The T-Online Venture Fund and the nexum
AG are among the company‘s investors. Today, the company
is lead by Mario Grobholz alongside Christian Sigl.
A few weeks ago, the OBTAINER reported on the problems
many networkers had with the XING portal. Through its
terms of use, XING refuses self employed business partners,
in particular those employed in network marketing, exactly
that what the majority of XING users wanted from the ser-
vice in the first place: Reacting potential customers and busi-
ness partners and the generation of business and turnover.
Attempts in establishing other network media, independently
of XING‘s “Social Networking Platforms”, appear as being
somewhat insufficient to the OBTAINER team. As in the digi-
tal world there also has to be a “boundary of respect” - and this
is violated quite fast with ‚unwanted attention” (SPAM, etc.).
The business of the future will therefore be someone who un-
derstands the Internet as a ‚channel of distribution‘ and ac-
tively creates something for themselves. “Personal Branding”
is the magic word.
This basis of this is formed by your personal reputation, a
reputation which you constantly build up and maintain – and
a platform for self-marketing like www.myonid.de. myON-ID
offers a completely new approach and works in reverse to peo-
ple searches, which simply access data concerning your name.
Here, people can take control over what exactly is found about
them. With myON-ID you can present yourself to less Inter-
net minded users quickly and skillfully on the net. In addition,
myON-ID brings your activities and content together in one
place, and shows what you currently see as being beneficial in
everyday business life. From your myON-ID platform you have
direct access to most of the services (Flickr, Youtube, Twitter,
Facebook, mySpace, Sevenload and many more – even the un-
popular XING ;-) ) you already use, thus saving you time and
energy. At the same time you can, with only a few clicks, create
your personal and professional online business cards.
Following extensive research the OBTAINER team has reached
the conclusion that myON-ID is the ‚first address‘ in operating
a comfortable distribution business of the future, engaging in
self-publicity and in building up and maintaining a network
of contacts. Even the basic functions, which are available free
after registration are impressive, however those who take their
business seriously won‘t hesitate to exploit the advantages of
the premium membership and present their personal brand
individually and free of third-party advertisements.
We are also very proud to be able to offer you a further OB-
TAINER special on our myON-ID landing page: With the scope
of a cooperation with the myON-ID Media GmbH we can of-
fer all OBTAINER readers the opportunity to test the premium
membership for 3 full months for just 99 cent (instead of the
normal 5,99 Euro/month) – and then decide if you would like
to continue using the myON-ID as a premium member.
Visit our myON-ID site, http://goto.myonid.de/obtainer, and
find out more about the features on offer. Compare these to the
offers of other providers. myON-ID does not need to shy away
from competition – just as your OBTAINER doesn‘t.
An since myON-ID Founder and CEO, Mario Grobholz regu-
larly writes interesting and informative texts on the subject of
“self marketing” and “personal branding”, we are delighted to
now have him as a columnist for the coming issues. We will be-
gin our new series on the subject of “personal branding” with
the following text:
Desig
n by O
BTAI
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EDIA
64 OBTAINER
I wouldn‘t like to create any illusions here: Unfortu-nately, there isn‘t any recipe for success for the cre-ation of your personal brand. Creating your online brand can be a very tough process that demands time, creativity and some technical finesse. We have
developed myON-ID to make this process easier and so that everyone can essentially create and maintain their own online brand.
“Is there a tried and tested way of doing this?”, I was asked in an interview with magnus.de. “Unfortunately, I‘ll have to disappoint you”, I answered when asked about the correct approach. The reason for this answer are different interests and objectives. A few basic points should, however, be con-sidered:
1. Make sure you know exactly what it is you stand for: What
is your message? What are your expertise?
2. Develop your own brand name (e.g. your name) and, ide-
ally, also a personal design (corporate identity).
3. Use your brand both consistently and universally on the
web – on your profile, on social networks, in your blogs or on
video channels.
4. Make sure you are easily contactable.
5. Create your content. Write a blog, comment, tweet and cre-
ate a significant profile with serious service providers through
which your position, strengths and what you stand for can be
portrayed clearly.
6. Use numerous possibilities to pursue self marketing pro-
cedures. Get involved in things when its about your subject.
Share your knowledge with others. Attend conferences and
hold talks when you feel ready to.
7. Regularly check your probability of being found on Google
and optimize your ranking there.
MyON-ID can help you with many of these steps, as this is ex-
actly why it has been developed! So time can be saved and no
previous knowledge is needed, to ultimately show your best
side on the Internet.
by Mario Grobholz
64 OBTAINER
BRAINBOX
OBTAINER 65
Mario Grobholz is the founder and creative di-rector of the myON-ID Media GmbH. Over the last 10 years, the 36 year old mechanical and
industrial engineer has develop Internet strate-gies for leading Internet, telecommunications and media companies. Since 1999, he has been designing and operating successful consumer
portals and social networks etc. with WEB.DE, o2 and Eurosport.
BRAINBOX
OBTAINER 65
66 OBTAINER
CLOSE UP
Timing is Crucial for a Successful ComebackThe right time in network marketing is often miscalculated
I
OBTAINER 67
CLOSE UP
Many factors are involved when setting up a
network marketing company. The correct
time to join a company is also often mis-
judged.
Nelis van de Wateringen began his return to PM-International,
this time, at a point in time that was perfect for him. During
his involvement with PM in 2002 and 2003, he worked for
the firm for a total of 12 months, however he couldn‘t identify
with the business one hundred percent. “The products have
always inspired me. However, at that time I felt PM wasn‘t
ready to become a big, international business. The marketing
plan also didn‘t meet my expectations”, explains Nelis follow-
ing his past exist.
Nelis has been familiar with MLM since 1995, as he began
gathering his first experiences with Quorum. During his MLM
career he repeatedly backed the wrong company, however by
doing so, he gained a knack for telling the perfect time to join a
company. “I often chose start-up companies that were no lon-
ger there a year later. Therefore, I always had to begin anew.
Other companies made promises which never happened (for
example; product approvals) and marketing plans were dra-
matically altered”, explains the native of Holland about the
bitter experiences he has gained in the industry. However, all
these experiences haven‘t made Nelis turn his back on the in-
dustry - quite the contrary actually.
Today, he analyses whether or not a company suits his net-
working style. Nelis has therefore decided to return to the PM-
International AG. The timing couldn‘t have been better for
the football fan. PM-International has been growing steadily
since it was setup and today it is one of the most stable and
best run MLM companies in Germany. The high customer ac-
ceptance of the patented products and the well planned tap-
ping of international markets can also be added to this list.
Since 2009, the native of Amsterdam, alongside his business
partner Nicky Gebhardt, has been preparing for his comeback
so that he will be able to immediately hit the ground running.
Nothing now stands in the way of their well planned start with
PM in October and all preparations are on schedule. With
Nicky Gebhardt
68 OBTAINER
CLOSE UP
Nicky Gebhardt at his side, he has a distinguished expert in
the field of dietary supplements and product knowledge. This
allows Nelis to make full use of his strengths in team build-
ing. “We complement each other perfectly. We can both fully
contribute our skills. Since my first involvement with PM-
International, over six years ago, they have done lots. In par-
ticular as far as international business and the marketing plan
eligibility are concerned. Many people do not yet realize that
the time is ripe with PM-International”, explains the native of
Amsterdam with enthusiasm and adds: “Every day is a new
beginning – so forget yesterday! In MLM a good day or even a
good hour can change your life. Always look at what someone
does and not at what is said.”
Nelis van de Wateringen is not a typical networker. He is a
modern MLM perfectionist, who wants to run a purely “Home
Based Business”. He runs the entire business through phone
calls and online tools. The Dutchman simply finds organized
hotel meetings and seminars outdated. PM-International it-
self organizes excellent business academies and seminars to
a very high standard. At these he also has the opportunity to
personally meet team partners. Otherwise he relays informa-
tion to his partners by telephone – or through big telephone
conferences.
He would also rather use the possibilities the Internet has
to offer. In addition to the various tools that PM have made
available for use, he works on his own newsletter, own team
website and own training tools. Nelis’ secret is to operate
MLM using a simple duplicate system. In addition to this,
work must be relaxed and team partners should not be under
any pressure. I explain the MLM business to newcomers as
follows: “We have a fantastic ready-to-use system, so that you
can work from home. Previous knowledge is not necessary.
Anyone can do it.”
The native of Amsterdam can hardly wait to get going. The “in-
ternational attack” is currently being prepared. Above all, the
motherland of network marketing, the USA, will be “seized”
from the very beginning. The German market will, naturally
enough, not be forgotten about and will be built up in the
same way. However, Nelis is thinking on a larger scale and
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is getting ready for his comeback accordingly. His team part-
ners will, from the beginning, profit from the opportunities
which PM-International, himself and Nicky Gebhardt have to
offer. They shouldn‘t worry about the ‚background noise‘, they
should just concentrate on their own business.
Nelis can also confirm that the products speak for themselves.
He is a fine example of this. He lost 20 kilos in 10 weeks and
throughout the period he felt great and was full of energy. He,
therefore, advises everyone to try the products beforehand.
Then, according to him, you can do nothing else but share
the enthusiasm with others and talk to them about it. PM‘s
huge end customer base absolutely support this view also. “A
large customer base is very important and indeed healthy for
a company. Our team will mainly concentrate on the >>be a
customer and recommend us further<< method. We show all
interested parties how you can establish a global business us-
ing this method”, states Nelis, explaining why it is so easy to
have success with PM. The Dutchman has observed the growth
of network marketing and is convinced that this type of busi-
ness will develop into one of the most important industries in
the world. Alongside preparing for his comeback, Nelis van
de Wateringen still has enough time to recharge his batteries
by spending time with his family and friends. As a trainer of a
B league youth team, he is a living cliché of the football crazy
nation of Holland – and he can go one better than this. When
asked about his dream car, he replied grinning: “My dream
car will most definitely have to have a tow bar. After all, I‘m
from Holland. The joy that Nelis van de Wateringen is having
with this comeback isn‘t put on. The same is true when he says
that both him and Nicky are “looking forward to being back
home”.
Germany (Landline) + 49 6724 602265
Germany (Cell) + 49 177-7392368
USA (Landline) + 1 347 853 7988
www.niemalsaufgeben.de
Skype: teambuilders2008
www.facebook.de/fitliners
70 OBTAINER
Prof. Dr. Zacharias has already given his
acceptance to attend and contribute in
some way to the day as has top long dis-
tance runner, Achim Heukemes, who
will deliver an exciting talk on the theme
of ‚patience‘ and ‚stamina‘. The festive
day will be framed with further top-class
music and information. Entry is from 9 o‘clock. The program
will begin around 10 and will last well into the evening.
In the run up to the convention, OBTAINER WW met with
the Founder and CEO of ‚Networker for Humanity‘ (NfH),
Dirk Jakob, and talked in depth with this well-known
trainer from Heidelberg about his motives and strength in
being dedicated to this service. The result is the following
feature penned by Dirk Jacob about his ‚baby‘, the NfH:
How many times have we heard the saying “support others
and you will be successful yourself”? How many times have
we realized that these are merely nice words said in order to
gain people‘s sympathy – and instead leave scorched earth
behind? On the other hand: Is it a preconception that many
people hear over and over again: “Here acquaintances are
being used and ripped off in order for you to do business
and get richer...?” Is it not clear that both these aspects are
dependent upon each other?
I, Dirk Jacob, have not only personally experienced a great
deal (as a part-time consultant with around 100,000 part-
ners in the downline and an annual turnover of billions, con-
tinuing now as the CEO of an international network com-
pany) in my 30 years in this industry, but also during my
13 years as a consultant and trainer, I have seen many firms
and ‚high flyer‘s‘ come and go. Alongside the many people
who just chanced their arm at it, I have obviously also got
to know many people who mean what they say. People who
you can trust, people who don‘t just support others to benefit
themselves, but treat it as a vocation!
Apart from my long and varied training in the psychological-
pedagogical field, I was only interested in one thing: people!
I am firmly convinced that the network marketing industry
has potential, far greater than what is being utilized today.
We live in an age where it has never been easier to explain
to people that they ought to take responsibility for their own
lives. Over the last few years something has become crystal
clear: the security of large systems (e.g. companies, unions,
etc.) is gone – the autonomy of individuals is becoming more
and more important! But how can we explain this to people?
Professor Dr. Michael Zacharias, also known as the ‚Holy Father of networking‘ in Germany, is al-
ready looking forward to the 19th September. As are top athlete, Achim Heukemes, top coach, Dirk
Jakob as well as numerous top networkers from various companies. The reason being: on the 19th
September the ‚Networker-for-Humanity-Day‘ will take place in the Schwabenland hall in Fellback
(Germany). For the sixth time the association is inviting friends, networkers and charity enthusiasts
to their annual meeting and and is by this means collecting money for their numerous projects.
In the foreground? People!NfH-Day - 19th September - Schwabenland hall
BRAINBOX
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By exemplifying it through your own life! One thing I pain-
fully discovered was how people always say the same as oth-
ers – the difference, however, is in their actions! And there-
fore it is essential to take a good look.
It is for this reason, that for many years, I had the idea of not
only showing the industry what networkers are capable of,
but DEMONSTRATING to everybody what they are capable
of – and what this industry truly can do. On the day after
Christmas 2004, I decided – after the terrible news of the
tsunami had been broadcast – to take action. On the same
day I sent an email to business partners and executives in
the industry. In the first few days after the appeal, 30,000
euros was donated; the wheels had been set in motion. I then
sought backing for the idea of founding a non-profit orga-
nization whose founders would be executives from different
networking companies. I wondered: “Is it possible to sit com-
petitors around a table and work together for one cause?” All
I knew was: “If it worked out, we would have achieved some-
thing that had not yet been possible in any other industry
and that would be truly exemplary!
I then called some friends and people associated with net-
working: Gabi Steiner, Andrea & Klaus Tafel, Robert Merkel,
Claus Nagel, Prof. Michael Zacharias, Felix Puzio – and all of
them were on board: “We will help you!” Through my cross-
company seminars, which I successful organized and held
with Prof. Zacharias under the title “The Right and Left Sides
of the Network Marketing Brain”, I knew it was possible to
create common ground.
My intention was and is not only to help people who are no
longer capable to help themselves, something we have called
“helping people help themselves” - no, in addition I would like
EVERYONE who is involved here to show just what the in-
dustry is capable of. “Documentation beats conversation” is
one of the most dominant guiding principals in networking.
Therefore, it was at the beginning of 2005, at the first meet-
ing of the non-profit organization in Heidelberg, that the
“Networker for Humanity e.V” was founded. At the begin-
ning, everybody sat across from one another a bit cautiously
– and I just laughed to myself. They sat there: the most suc-
cessful of a wide variety of companies such as LifePlus, Unic-
ity, FLP, Nikken, usw. We also realized that along with doing
something good, a fundamental point had to be taken into
account: Communication! As the motto goes, “Do good and
talk about it”. The bigger the projects we could generate, the
greater the public interest would be. During a press-confer-
ence by ‚Trauerland‘, which we support, it was clearly high-
lighted just how important our involvement has been over
the last few months. Here is a quote from the press-release:
“Without this start-up funding we wouldn‘t have been able
to follow our ambitious goal”, stated Jens Jacobsen-Brem-
er, member of the board of managers with Trauerland e.V.
(The Center for Mourning Children and Young People),
thanking the networkers.
EACH and EVERY networker can now benefit from this – he
can PROVE what we do and is no longer at the mercy of the
prophecies of doom. And with his own membership (which
only costs 50 euros a year, which is tax-deductible and which
guarantees him his very own website) he is promoting the as-
sociation, the image of the entire industry and can promote
himself and his own business.
In addition, he can also benefit from the marvelous annual
meeting, he can listen to guest speakers that he would have
perhaps never had the opportunity to get to know. At the bi-
ennial meeting of members, everyone can inquire about the
finer details of the relief projects, get more involved and can
actively contribute to the interests of the idea.
It is one of my very personal concerns to offer meaningful
support (as you well know, you can wish to do something
good, but though your actions actually do the opposite) and
enable disadvantaged people the prospect of an independent
life. For this reason, we select our relief projects quite care-
fully. All relief efforts are 1:1 to the needy. In addition to this,
we also have personal contact with the decision makers of
the projects and in the future will also initiate our very own
relief projects.
At present the following members have been elected to the
Board: Gabi Steiner (LifePlus), Gabriela Häußner (XanGo),
Claus Nagel (Nikken), Robert Merkel (LifePlus), Dr. Uwe
Alschner (ElfNullElf), Felix Puzio (H.P. Marketing GmbH)
and myself. At the founding meeting in 2005, I, as the ini-
tiator, was elected 1st chairman of the NfH e.V.; at the De-
cember 2006 and September 2008 meeting of members, my
position in office was confirmed.
Get informed – because as we know, “Actions speak loader
than words!” And if you have the opportunity to hit numer-
ous birds with one stone – you should jump at the chance.
Yours sincerely,
Dirk Jakob
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NfH board
Dr. Uwe Alschner:I play a part in this to give commitment to the principal of network marketing as an idea of “helping people help themselves”. One thing most companies have in common is opening up op-portunities for everyone – regardless of qualifica-tions, age, sex, background, etc. This is also the NfH‘s principle.
Felix Puzio:As a long-standing expert in the industry, I see a unique opportunity to participate in the creation of a non-partisan institution that produces new re-lations and stands for human values.
Claus Nagel:The NfH’s networkers are simply different! Besides the interest in earning good money, they support humanitarian projects. The entire networking industry needs a neutral institution like the NfH, which can gain attention through humanitarian aid and incidentally improve the image of the networking industry. For this reason, every networker ought to be a member of the NfH and those who aren’t yet, should visit our event on the 19th September and get an idea for them-selves.
Robert Merkel:The predominant question in my life is: “What really does make sense?” The answer is: It makes sense to affect the lives of other people positively! So what could be more obvious than to work in network marketing and at the same time get in-volved with an industry specific charity? I ask all networkers who think similarly to become mem-bers. Let us do something for others and show just what networkers are capable of.
Gabriela Häußner:Why am I committed to the NfH? Because the NfH offers us networkers, regardless from which company, the opportunity to show those people hidden in the shadows the light of life and we can, through our involvement, enrich this life.
Gabi Steiner:At NfH, we all sit around a table with a unique project, despite company boundaries, with a com-mon goal, to share our success!
Opinions on the NfH:“This is what motivates a Networker for Humanity”
72 OBTAINER
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STEMTech Aim to Revolutionize the Wellness Market With Stem Cells
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CLOSE UP
Nutritional supplements form the strongest
sector in Multi Level Marketing. For this
reason, it is important to have a product
which has a unique selling point and has
been proven to do exactly what it promis-
es. This is precisely what STEMTech can offer Willi Sprenzl
from Augsburg – namely with a product which some ex-
perts suggest could outdo the antioxidant market.
Willi Sprenzl, a civil servant, first came into contact with
network marketing in 2002 and began his MLM career as
a distributor with the British firm “Ecoflow”. As he says to-
day, he approached his first MLM business “quite naively”
and actually only did it at all because his friend was doing
it too. Back then he still hadn‘t a clue about the opportu-
nities the industry had to offer. Above all, he didn‘t know
how a network marketing business should be run. As his
friend was also still a “rookie”, six months passed by with-
out achieving any successes. Willi remembers: “It was the
blind leading the blind. That simply wasn‘t going to get us
anywhere. It was only when I attended a meeting in Eng-
land, at which top networkers explained the business, that
I came to understand what it was about.”
At this event Willi literally soaked up the information and
began to implement his newly gained knowledge at home,
step by step. After only two years, he had built up the larg-
est sales organization in Germany for Ecoflow. However,
this alone wasn‘t enough for Willi Sprenzl. He went in
search of a networking company that, instead of being a
user network was a consumer network. In other words, one
that marketed a product that was consumed and as a result
enables customer loyalty to develop and with it a recurrent
income. For this reason, he moved to XanGo in 2006 and
was successful here straight away.
“It was here that I celebrated my first real successes in
MLM. After just nine months I had achieved the highest
level and after two years I had built up a team of over 2,000
consultants,” relates Willi, who left XanGo for personal
reasons. “There were personal disappointments there,” he
remembers. This is surely the reason why he, at this time,
became “tired of networking”. Nevertheless, he now knew
that network marketing worked if certain conditions were
met. In July this year he became aware of STEMTech. A
friend from the pharmaceutical industry gave him a tip af-
ter seeing studies about the effectiveness of the products.
STEMTech had made a breakthrough in the field of stem
cell research. This should not be confused with the discred-
ited “embryonic stem cell research”. Here, we are talking
about “adult stem cells,” the stem cells which everyone reg-
Willi Sprenzl and “the Dimensions of an ingenious product”
Tel.: +49 (0)179 115 87 [email protected]
OBTAINER 75
76 OBTAINER
CLOSE UP
ularly produces from their own bone marrow. These adult
stem cells are responsible for the body‘s natural renewal
system. They repair damaged cells within our body. At a
young age the body still produces enough adult stem cells.
However by the age of fifty, production amounts to only
20% of that of a twenty year old. In a double blind study
it was shown that after taking just two of STEMTech‘s “al-
gae concentrate” capsules, the production of adult stem
cells in subjects increased by an average of 25%. And this
was after only a few hours. The study was published in the
well-respected journal “Cardiovascular Revascularization
Medicine”.
The certificate of marketability for the revolutionary prod-
ucts, necessary for Germany, has already been received. It
was issued in July 2009 by Dr. Jürgen Reiman , one of the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry‘s officially appointed
and certified experts for the Munich and Upper Bavaria
region of Germany. At a pre-launch event in July 18th, at
which Willi was present, the wheels were set in motion.
“What I found quite pleasant was the fact that the event
wasn‘t simply a meeting where people were there to ap-
plaud. The event was backed up with facts and scientific
studies. Nothing was exaggerated and no empty promises
were made. For me the approval, the unique selling point
and the rapid effectiveness were important. If you do your
homework, success is inevitable,” says Willi Sprenzl with
great certainty in an interview with OBTAINER.
He has at last found a company that has everything he has
ever wished a company could have – and he has already
proven that he can be successful with MLM. His ambition
for the industry has been rekindled. Willi avoids empty
words, just as STEMTech does. Sentences like “join up
and earn 5,000 euros in six months” never pass his lips.
He remains genuine and works honestly and in a disci-
plined manner on a daily basis. This is his key to success.
Therefore he frankly admits: “The passive income and the
free time management are the advantages of MLM. Until
this stage is reached, people need to understand that at
the beginning you need to invest lots of time and some
money. During the start-up phase leisure activities need
to be scaled back. You don‘t get paid for nothing in MLM.
Here too the rule applies: No pain, no gain!”
Therefore, in the coming months, Willi will have less time
for his hobbies like football, the Bavarian mountains and
for tinkering with his HHO generator. The launch of his
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CLOSE UP
networking business with STEMTech will have his full
attention for the next few months. During the last five
years Willi has already traveled over 300,000 kilometers
with his hybrid car – and many thousands of kilometers
more will surely follow as he travels around Germany and
Europe personally building up his team. “I enjoy doing
it”, he says, “as I know the fantastic dimensions of this
STEMTech product.”
Here people always come first for him and personal train-
ing is essential in his eyes. Cold calling is the best way
of finding customers and consultants. As he has mastered
this, he now passes this knowledge on to his team part-
ners. For this reason he is also sure that he will build up
the strongest team in Europe. He trains his people with
“how can I earn money,” not with “how much can I earn.”
“STEMTech has excellent training tools. There is no need
to reinvent the wheel,” explains Willi Sprenzl, who is as
energy-conscious as he is energy-charged: “80% of net-
workers do not end up making money – that is just the
way it is, unfortunately. 20% do their homework, work in
a structured manner and by doing so achieve the income
they want. Admittedly, structured work sounds easy, how-
ever this also requires a system. I myself, for example, use
a recruiting tool that, once someone has activated it, gen-
erates contacts automatically. In the age of the Internet, it
is an indispensable tool.”
Newcomers profit immensely from his previous experi-
ence. Willi has also written a “Networker Info-Report”,
which he offers as a free download. His ambition and will-
ingness always to work hard to achieve his goals are things
he traces back to Thomas Edison. The inventor of the light
bulb needed over 10,000 attempts before he was success-
ful. He never gave up and after each knockback he got
back up again. It is this type of attitude that commands
Willi‘s respect. He therefore advises everyone: “We net-
workers ought to do this too. Believe in yourself and the
industry and success will come to you!” he says with con-
viction.
So far Willi Sprenzl has celebrated great success with ev-
ery one of his networking companies, although he always
felt compelled to make compromises. With STEMTech,
Willi will no longer have to make compromises and there-
fore you can only wonder what Willi Sprenzl‘s personal
balance sheet will look like in two years. Prognosis: He
will outdo himself once again!
OBTAINER 77
“Business breakfasts“ or other networking type events can
be a great opportunity for you to meet new people and make
contact with potential business partners and customers - If
you know the right way to interact with people, that is.
A common mistake is to fall into the trap of thinking you have
to talk about yourself first.
As you can probably imagine there is a lot of „nervous energy“
and „anxiety“ flowing when people are trying to put them-
selves in the best light possible telling each other about their
services.
However, doing that can actually produce poor results. With
everyone wanting to get their „say“ in - most people are not
listening!
So what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation? Sim-
ple! Turn your telling into a “Listening Opportunity” and…
Stop Telling (Selling) and Start Discovering
Stop the unproductive idea of talking about yourself, and in-
stead ask about them and listen and respond to what they
have to say about any challenges they might be having per-
sonally, professionally or in their work or business.
Doing so keeps you calm while you quickly assess people as to
whether there is any value in talking with them later on. This
is the fastest way to increase your bottom line as well!
Here‘s an approach I use when I network at a meeting of cor-
porate business leaders and owners. I find that it’s a great „ice
breaker“ You can easily adapt it for your own situation.
In a light hearted way I ask the question after introducing
myself…
“So how can I help you?!!“
Look for“Listening
Opportunities”By Michael Oliver of
www.NaturalSelling.com
Michael Oliver...
Michael Oliver is the founder of Natural Selling, the only sales training program designed to really eliminate rejection and objections. He is also the author of the inter-national best selling book “How To Sell Network Marketing With-out Fear, Anxiety Or Losing Your Friends!”
To learn more about how to get higher conversion ratios from helping more people achieve their vision, contact him at [email protected] or go to his website, www.NaturalSelling.com for his free Ecourse “7 Steps to Natural Selling”.
COLUMN
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COLUMN
Usually the reply that comes back with a grin is…
“I don’t know! How can you help me?”
Too which I will respond with a smile…
“I don’t know either, though we can soon find out… what kind of business are you in?”
Once I established that I’m talking with the right person in
terms of what I have to offer, I then move on to ask these
types of questions…
“What do you find are your greatest challenges in the area of your sales or sales people?”
„Do you ever feel you or your sales people could be more effective but not sure how?“
„Are you satisfied with the results your sales people are getting for you?
„What sort of challenges do you face with selling your products/services?“
“How is that affecting you?”
“Does that also possibly affect you in the area of (describe a knock-on effect)“
“Have you done anything, or are you doing anything to resolve these challenges?”
“How did that work out?”
“What did you feel worked/didn’t work?”
“If you could do it all over again, would you do it differ-ently?”
“Have you thought about what you think the problem might be?”
“What if the reason you’re only doing marginally better
since you took that course of action, is that the cause of
your problem might not be what you think it is… what if
it was because of something else? Have you ever thought
about that?”
Of course, adapt these questions to fit your own situation.
So here is what I do:
1. I ask them about their business and personal related chal-
lenges.
2. I let them talk while I listen without interruption and no sales
talk.
3. I ask them to expand on the answers they give and ask more
questions if appropriate.
At the right time, if I find I might be able to help them (and they
indicate they are prepared to be helped) I then make a short
statement followed by a final Qualifying Question. Something
like this...
“Well it might be that I can help you resolve this and if this is
something of interest to you, perhaps I could give you a call to-
morrow to explore further about whether we might be able to do
something together… would that be OK for you?”
The answer is always “Yes” because we are talking about some-
thing that is important to them. And we’ve both decided that they
want to do something even before I ask the final Qualifying Ques-
tion because is was all in the dialogue!
I will then set a time, politely excuse myself and seek other op-
portunities. You can keep yourself busy for a whole week from
just one hour of talking with people.
It’s Fast and Precise
Each “listening opportunity” takes no more than 2- 4 minutes,
after which I move on to the next “listening opportunity”.
The world is full of opportunities when you;
1. Question conventional wisdom
2. Rethink the way you think
3. Do things differently!
The key to creating a “Listening Opportunity” I described is
knowing how to ask the right types of questions at the right time.
This isn’t hard, but you do need to shift your thinking a little.
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He first got involved with network
marketing in April 2005 when he
came into contact with DXN be-
fore it had formally started opera-
tions in Ethiopia. With a group of
friends he played a crucial role in
establishing DXN in Ethiopia, its
first bridgehead in Africa.
A major motivation was his recognition that DXN‘s product
could supplement his efforts to improve the health of many
people in Africa and elsewhere. “I knew that DXN was such
a credible company to work with.” But personal motives also
played a role, as he himself says: “I was looking for extra in-
come and the new experience of networking with people.”
Dr. Markos‘s commitment to the building up of DXN was to be
seen early on when he sponsored himself to attend the Inter-
national Leadership Conference in Al Ain, UAE, in September
2005. Since then, his experience has been overwhelmingly
positive: “Network marketing is a good opportunity irrespec-
tive of one‘s background. It is a very good way of promoting
one‘s product and services. It is really a very good way of net-
working with people who you need for other businesses too.”
As regards DXN: “It really has very powerful consumable
products and the marketing plan is also legitimate and gener-
ous.” He adds: “I have witnessed the amazing benefits of DXN
products, both myself and through thousands of my patients
CLOSE UP
Dr. Markos Feleke Haile is a young physician and public health professional from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. A native of Addis Ababa, where he was born in 1979, he is now married and has one daughter. A graduate of Jimma and Harayama Uni-versities, where he gained a doctorate in medicine (MD) and a masters in public health (MPH). Despite his relative youth, he has gained lots of experience working for governmental, private and non-governmental organizations in Ethiopia since 2004. He now has his own consultancy.
Network Marketing in EthiopiaDr. Markos Feleke Haile, DXN
and customers. In addition, the extra income that I earn work-
ing with DXN, promoting these valuable products, has been
increasing very well also.”
When asked what distinguishes his approach from others, he
says: “I just focus on continuous training and mentorship.
It is not usual for me to work with hotel meetings, however
sometimes I do – especially whenever I have a larger number
of attendees; otherwise, I normally give seminars at service
centers where members and consumers routinely come.” He
does not use online presentations or telephone conferences
“because it is not common practice here in Ethiopia.”
His approach to explaining his business opportunity to “inter-
ested people” is simple: “Starting from his or her own current
situation and experience, I will just share success stories or
testimonials of my own or from other team members.”
His advice to readers in their current companies is: “Being
focused and strategizing is very important.” And he recom-
mends a virtual library of books: Think and Grow Rich by
Napoleon Hill, The Eight Habits of highly effective people
by Stephen R. Covey, The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield,
Mark Victor Hansen, and Leslie Hewitt , The Power of Now by
Eckhart Tolle, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and Rich Dad and
Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki.
His hobbies include reading, swimming and “I just enjoy
spending time on the outskirts of the city.” Currently he drives
82 OBTAINER
a Jeep Cherokee and a Toyota GL but “I dream of buying an
Escalade (Cadillac) as soon as possible.”
In response to a question about his 3 wishes he replies:
“Firstly, Vision 20-20: I would like my total assets by the
year 2020 GC to be $20 million (this is more of my plan
too); secondly, to see my country becoming prosperous;
and thirdly, to see everyone in our team realize his or her
own dream.”
Dr. Markos is now the chairperson of the Ethiopian Ex-
ecutive Diamonds Club (EDC-Ethiopia) and is one of the
international trainers in personal development with DXN.
Since joining DXN “I have been to USA, France, Belgium,
Germany, UAE, Egypt, Malaysia, Kenya and South Africa.”
And “my role model is Barack Hussein Obama with his ex-
traordinary endurance and wisdom.”
You can contact Dr. Markos Feleke Haile at P. O. Box 19468,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Tel. +251911511610
Email: [email protected]
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84 OBTAINER
Ina & Christian Klatt have held their own after some bad strokes of fate, and have found
their solution in network marketing
PM-International: Honest, Solid and Innovative
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Their family life was perfect. They were blessed with children,
and were secure with their employment and in their finances.
The Klatts had their own house, strong family ties and wishes
and dreams that were not unrealistic. Their lives took a turn
when their son came into the world with atopic dermatitis, a
form of eczema.
In 2003, after an odyssey of medical consultations, the family
learned from an acquaintance about the Fitline products of
PM International. “Health is and will always be one of the
most precious things in life, and it often lies outside of our
own power,” is something that the family has known since
that time. “The one thing that is within our power is to do ev-
erything we can regain our health.” Ina suffered from acne,
intestinal problems and allergies; those are the reasons why
the family was very open to using these products for the bet-
terment of their health. Ina remembers this difficult time very
well and adds: “Back then we weren‘t familiar with the mar-
keting system of MLM, but rather at first we just consumed
the products like normal customers.”
“Our views changed when relatives and friends came to us and
asked what positive changes we had made! The difference was
clearly visible. For the first time in years our son had healthy
skin and I didn’t have acne anymore! In our discussions, we
naturally spoke more about the positive results we had gotten
from using the products, like more restful sleep, and noticeably
more energy.” Up to this point the couple had only used PM
International’s products as customers – then came the second
blow when Christian received a letter from his employer: it
was a layoff notice! “That was a total shock for us,” remembers
Ina. “After all we were a family with two small children and
a house to pay for. Above all our parents were beside them-
selves.” And in spite of Christian’s excellent qualifications,
Many tourists know about the city of Bingen, which lies in the romantic Middle Rhine Val-ley. The world-renowned wine
region, the craggy mountains, the Lorelei, the countless German and French castles, and in the middle of it all: “Father Rhine” – all of these serve to immerse the human soul in another world. And just here live Ina and Christian Klatt live with their son and daughter.
After being trained as a technical draftsman, and studying at
the University of Applied Sciences in Bingen, Christian worked
with great success in an engineering office. In addition to the
raising her children, Ina trained to become a state recognized
and certified beautician, and she began and completed a train-
ing course to become a retail management assistant. She was
true to her motto, which is still valid today: “always try to be
better in everything you do.” Both of them knew that for dreams
the family has you also have to have commitment. The couple
had many dreams including getting a motorcycle, a Harley per-
haps, or the attractive idea of eventually restoring a classic car.
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86 OBTAINER
all of his job applications were rejected. “We lay awake for
nights and discussed,” said Christian, who eventually had
to sell bread rolls to keep their heads above water while Ina
looked for a job as a cleaner. At this point, they had just
begun their business with PM International and they were
only doing it part-time with no thoughts of earning their liv-
ing with it. But during this difficult period they both tossed
around the idea of MLM more and more and they soon rec-
ognized their chance! Because PM International’s products
were already a part of their lives, they came to a conclusion:
They decided to build their own business.
“Again we lay awake all night and discussed what to do. It
became clear to us that working with PM-International and
in network marketing is a once in a lifetime opportunity to
change our lives for the better. On one very special evening
we decided not to go back to our jobs, but rather to stake
everything on PM International and to give it everything we
had,” reports Ina about this moment in her life, which to this
day she does not regret. Even though she (and everyone who
decides to do Network Marketing professionally) very quick-
ly came to realize how much ignorance and prejudice there is
within their circle of acquaintances about the subject.
Ina and Christian did the right thing and strongly believed in
the enormous opportunities in MLM and continued to work
with commitment in their business. They saw a challenge in
the criticisms and took it up. “We are grateful to all our crit-
ics because they have made us strong, and helped us stand by
our vision and develop stronger personalities and leadership
skills. MLM is a school for people, one which calls many
former mindsets into question. We stopped judging people
by their looks, background, or professions, because everyone
in networking has the same opportunities and possibilities,”
explains Ina.
For both of them it goes without question that MLM is not
just a profession, but also to a great extent a guide to life and
to the development of your personality. The eternal scep-
tics cannot offset the joy they receive when their partners
develop their own businesses and reward the trust placed in
them by achieving personal success. Many inspiring people
are now accompanying the family in their structural growth.
Of course, Ina and Christian now know the many faces of net-
work marketing, including those that damage the industry.
Not least for that reason, changing companies is completely
out of the question for them. In addition to the unique prod-
ucts, the couple also appreciates the fact that PM Interna-
tional is a German family company. “It incorporates the val-
ues that we take to heart in our own lives. We always like to
sum it up in the three words: honest, solid, and innovative.
These words express old values, which combined with new
and fresh ideas are a joy to tke out into the world. We con-
sider ourselves very lucky to be in a company that puts sales
and distribution in the forefront.” explained Ina
All PM International distributors receive all the training,
forms, information, and tools to build a serious and stable
business. As sponsors it is not necessary for Ina and Chris-
tian to create their own online presentations and aids that
take them away from their real work. They have created
their own website for their Team, but otherwise they primar-
ily profit from the company’s professionalism. Because of
this they both have the time to support their team members
in every way and to give them the feeling they are not being
left on their own. Precisely that is the success the two of
them have achieved.
They are always reachable by telephone and keep in continu-
al personal contact with their team. They avoid hotel meet-
ings and prefer, when possible, to have meetings in the com-
pany‘s Direct Sales Centers (DSCs). This is also fairly simple
because wherever large structures and downlines have been
built, PM has opened a DSC to give distributors access to
company premises free of charge. There it is also possible
to order products or to take them with you immediately. If
there is no DSC in the area, then Ina and Christian switch to
community centers. “The premises there are fantastic, there
is also a kitchen available, and there are never any problems
with parking,” reports Christian. Because members of their
team organize the meetings themselves there is a kind of
“feeling of togetherness” that you just cannot get in a confer-
ence room prepared by hotel employees.
“The big plus with PM-International is that the distribution
partners can simply focus on the distribution, just as the name
suggests.” Christian and Ina both feel the same way about this.
Therefore all the their distribution partners can feel that they
are never left on their own when they are trying to build a suc-
cessful business. “The only important thing is to be prepared
to learn.” This is something that Ina knows and Christian
adds: “A career in networking doesn‘t only have to start when
fate deals you a heavy blow!” In any case Ina and Christian are
always happy to pass on their knowledge and and are always
willing to inform people about the possibilities of this industry
true to the motto: “Examine every opportunity. It could be the
chance of a lifetime.” (Henry Ford)
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86 OBTAINER
OBTAINER 87
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GLOBAL INFORMATION - WHENEVER, WHEREVER, AND HOWEVER YOU WANT IT.
No longer does news relate only to events within our direct sphere of experience or within the narrow geo-graphic boundaries in which we live. No longer does it exist only at certain times of day or night. Network marketing professionals have taken the reins in de-manding immediate information wherever they are and whenever they want it. This is our marketplace for in-ternational news on network marketing and direct sales that has broadened our reach into nations where we might never have otherwise expanded.
OBTAINER WORLDWIDE offers you the platform you need to reach a global network of marketing profes-sionals. Our mission is to inform you and inspire the readers to make smarter decisions in their professional and personal lives. We offer the actionable insight af-fluent professionals need at every stage in their career - whenever, wherever, and however they want it. We encourage you to explore these plentiful opportunities with us! With our free, digital editions of business mag-azine, we surprise our readers with creative journalism with a fresh graphic design. We tell stories that will be remembered. Intelligent content and quality journalism has secured us not only readers, but also friends and fans. Together with our customers we develop adver-tisements that are perfectly tailored to meet the aims of communication, regardless if they are printed or viewed online. Editorially designed ads tell stories about prod-ucts and people using a creative approach.
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Get to know the most successful tool of an entire indus-try. You want to experience unparalleled growth, then not only use our OBTAINER SPECIAL but ensure each one of the business partners in your downline also uti-lize the OBTAINER SPECIAL and together you will ex-perience a never before seen momentum! Through the support of the OBTAINER MEDIA GROUP and network marketing, a unique opportunity to generate and inform contacts throughout the industry and indeed across the entire globe will arise.
The remarkable thing: Every OBTAINER SPECIAL will be personalized for you. Not only can you completely personalize contact details like your name, surname, location, email address, website, telephone numbers and so on automatically, you can also upon request in-sert a picture into the OBTAINER SPECIAL.
Your advantages:• personalized advertising tool,• neutrally researched,• tailored to the requirements of the network marketing industry,• Easily adapted,• once purchased – unlimited use,• unbeatable price
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In many industries the Internet is a leading source of information and also a very important place in form-ing opinions. In the days of User Generated Content, Social Networking and Web 2.0, online media is in more demand than ever. Whatever your strategic aims, the OBTAINER is built to deliver the results you need. For branding campaigns and product launches, the OBTAINER´s strategic distribution channels and high read through rates mean that your message will be seen by the people you want to reach. We are here for you throughout your entire campaign. We are in-terested in the individual requirements and needs of your company and what you realistically can achieve. Your company, your products and your customers/partners are at the foreground of our work. We support you as a creative partner and bring our experience, our ideas and our enthusiasm with us. Reliable concepts, creative ideas and budget orientated projects achieve the attention you need – with your desired audience, in your core market.
Communication tools are essential, and conveying an accurate and inspiring message in video, audio and print requires indepth industry knowledge.
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Get to know the most successful tool of an entire indus-try. You want to experience unparalleled growth, then not only use our OBTAINER SPECIAL but ensure each one of the business partners in your downline also uti-lize the OBTAINER SPECIAL and together you will ex-perience a never before seen momentum! Through the support of the OBTAINER MEDIA GROUP and network marketing, a unique opportunity to generate and inform contacts throughout the industry and indeed across the entire globe will arise.
The remarkable thing: Every OBTAINER SPECIAL will be personalized for you. Not only can you completely personalize contact details like your name, surname, location, email address, website, telephone numbers and so on automatically, you can also upon request in-sert a picture into the OBTAINER SPECIAL.
Your advantages:• personalized advertising tool,• neutrally researched,• tailored to the requirements of the network marketing industry,• Easily adapted,• once purchased – unlimited use,• unbeatable price
90 OBTAINER
MonaVie has doubled in size
e v e r y y e a rFounded in 2005 by Dallin A. Larsen, Henry Marsh and Randy Larsen and with headquarters located in South Jordan, Utah, MonaVie has doubled its turnover every year and is now operating in 10 countries: the U.S.A., Canada, Brazil, France, Singapore, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.
Marching toward becoming a Billion-Dollar-Company
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OBTAINER 91
DAs a privately owned company they do not disclose annual sales figures, but they have said that in
2008 cumulative sales topped $1 billion and are expected to reach $2 billion in 2009. This makes
it one of the fastest-growing companies in the direct-selling industry.
Launched in January 2005, MonaVie “develops and markets scientifically formulated, premium quality prod-
ucts, specifically for person-to-person distribution. Developed with a philosophy of Balance-Variety-Modera-
tion, MonaVie brand products deliver phytonutrients and antioxidants to promote and maintain a healthy and
active lifestyle.”
The basis of MonaVie’s juices is the açai berry, a small Brazilian fruit prized for its healthful properties. Com-
plementing the açai are another 18 fruits, some of which are exotic and some well known. These are combined
to deliver “a one-of-a-kind source of nutrients and antioxidants.”
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92 OBTAINER
“Until MonaVie came around, I’d say the vast majority of the
population had never even heard of açai,” says Randy Larsen,
MonaVie Founder and vice-chairman. “MonaVie has created
the buzz through word of mouth”. And the company describes
its products as follows: “MonaVie premier açai blends are
products with a purpose. From powerful antioxidant support
to joint and heart health, each formula delivers key nutrients
to help you maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.
MonaVie supports your body’s antioxidant and nutritional
needs. Taking a Balance-Variety-Moderation approach to nu-
trition, this premier formula delivers powerful antioxidants
and phytonutrients to help fight free radicals and maintain
your body’s overall health.
MonaVie Active enhances your body’s joint health. This ad-
vanced formula features the added benefit of plant-derived
glucosamine, which has been scientifically shown to promote
healthy joint function by targeting mobility and flexibility. De-
signed to support joint performance and recovery, this vital
formula delivers the resources your body needs to get moving.
MonaVie Pulse nutritionally supports your cardiovascular
system. With added heart health benefits derived from plant
sterols (which studies suggest play a key factor in lowering
cholesterol), resveratrol, and omega 3 fatty acids, maintaining
existing healthy cholesterol levels has never been easier.
MonaVie EMV features a proprietary blend of antioxidant
rich fruits, including the Brazilian superfruit açai, and nat-
ural sources of energy. Great tasting and lightly carbon-
ated, this healthy formula increases performance, endur-
ance, and concentration by boosting your energy level and
maintaining it - without a subsequent crash.”
MonaVie is not sold in stores. Instead, its juices are ex-
clusively available from independent distributors. With
MonaVie’s compensation plan, distributors have multiple
options for earning income through their immediate sales
and the sales organizations they build.
“Network marketing provides a way for people to take con-
trol of their financial situation,” explains Dallin Larsen,
MonaVie founder, chairman and CEO. “It’s also the best
way to reach consumers and show them the value of the
product. A product sitting on a shelf doesn’t have the same
promotional power as one sold through network market-
ing.”
A major breakthrough for the acceptance of MonaVie has been
the partnership with the Boston Red Sox baseball team which
has made MonaVie the official juice of the team. Continuing
the baseball theme, more recently MonaVie has also formed
a partnership with the LA Angels of Anaheim, once again,
making MonaVie EMV the official energy drink of the team.
Dallin A. Larsen, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Henry Marsh, Founder and Vice Chairman Randy Larsen, Founder and Vice Chairman Dell Brown, President and Chief Operating Officer Devin Thorpe, Chief Financial Officer
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OBTAINER 93
As mentioned above MonaVie do not issue specific sales fig-
ures but in response to queries the company revealed: “We
can tell you that growth in 2008 was almost exclusively in the
United States, and international sales represented less than
10% of total revenue.” However, the company is already op-
erating in 10 countries around the world, and will continue to
focus its efforts on global expansion.
When asked about the company‘s philosophy the founders
say: “At MonaVie, our mission is to change and improve lives
around the world by introducing unique nutritional products,
offering a rewarding business opportunity, and by giving back
through our charitable initiatives.”
The most recent country to be opened up was Mexico, where
the launch took place at the Centro Banamex in Mexico City
on July 11th. Over 1,500 distributors and guests attended and
another 8,500 joined the festivities online. A key element of
MonaVie‘s strategy was placed center stage when Dallin A.
Larsen kicked off the convention by announcing the MORE
Project.
He revealed MonaVie’s new involvement and commitment
to disadvantaged children in Mexico. MonaVie has formed
a partnership with Fundación Mexico Unido to help build
schools, support underprivileged teens, and give back to chil-
dren with disabilities all across Mexico. While the MORE Proj-
ect in Brazil will remain the company’s principal philanthropy
project, contributions to the MORE Project made by Mexican
distributors will automatically be funneled to the Fundación
Mexico Unido.
The day before the convention, MonaVie formally opened its
Mexican office in Mexico City with a ribbon cutting ceremony
performed before 100 guests by Mexican television personal-
ity (and MonaVie distributor), Marco Antonio Regil. The new
office will serve as the administrative headquarters for the
MonaVie staff in Mexico as well as a place for distributors to
pick up products and hold meetings. This operation will be led
by MonaVie Mexico General Manager Alfonso Todd.
Having a local office in Mexico emphasizes MonaVie’s com-
mitment to international growth. Other significant recent in-
ternational events have been the official launch of MonaVie
EMV in Canada at the Edmonton City Meeting on July 25th
and the Jerusalem City Meeting on August 2nd where it was
announced that MonaVieTM had received kosher certification
from the Orthodox Union and an Ishur Kashrut certification
from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. And the international em-
phasis continues with the start of the pre-launch phase in the
UK and Poland.
You can find out more details on the MonaVie web-
site at http://monaviemediacenter.com/ or by e-mail at
And how does MonaVie see the future? “We are blessing the
lives of people around the world, one bottle and one relation-
ship at a time. It’s a recipe for success because it’s based on
sound business and ethical principles, principles that never go
out of style and will never need to be bailed out.”
94 OBTAINER
Sabine Poster of Synergy enjoys her work. You can see that both when you look at her and when you look at her sales figures. She likes to help her fellow human beings and takes pleasure in see-ing how others can arrange their lives freely. She herself has also been able to achieve a great deal of freedom through her work for her company. For the Schleswig-Holstein-born networker this freedom is the great advantage of the multi-level marketing industry. She herself lives in accor-dance with the motto: “Be enthusiastic, love your product, spend your time with people who also want and believe in what you do. Let people help you and be active.”
“LOVE, LEARN AND LEAVE A LEGACY”
Portrait of Synergy top seller
Sabine Poster
Ein This is a principle that the woman
from Northern Germany has worked
by all her life even if on the way she
has made a couple of detours. After
her vocational training Sabine worked
for many years as a hotel manager.
But after a time she needed a change
of scene – so she did a training course to become an insur-
ance saleswoman. Then she worked for ten years for a large
financial services company.
She first came into contact with network marketing through
the company NSA. But at that time she was still very happy
with her job. “This meant that it wasn‘t the right time for
me,” she says in an interview with OBTAINER; she first be-
came really involved in MLM through the telecommunica-
tions industry. But this sector proved to be “fast-moving
and confusing,” which is why she is very happy to be work-
ing for Synergy today. In the meantime she has come to
understand that this change was also very necessary for her
personally: “Synergy is a company I can identify with com-
pletely. Because this company is ethically impeccable and
lives up to the motto ‚Love, Learn and Leave a Legacy‘.”
“WE have brilliant products,” reports Sabine as she tells us
about the enthusiasm she can feel from partners and cus-
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OBTAINER 95
tomers, which is “gigantic.” “In addition our pay-plan really
allows genuine teamwork – something that, unfortunately,
isn‘t always something you can take for granted!” And she
adds: “The people who like our products like to recommend
them to others or to give our partners recommendations.
For this reason there are a lot of partners who are making
very good money just from our products.”
Sabine Poster is a team player – being anything else is
something she can‘t even imagine. “It‘s the principle of net-
work marketing that inspires me. Working in a team where
everybody is working on achieving their goals however
great or small they might be – and supporting each other in
the process. That‘s what I call real team work! Where else is
that possible in this form?”
During her time in network marketing Sabine has had no
bad experiences. In her opinion this is because here the
“me-first principle is impossible.” Even if things should on
occasion go wrong, you grow as a result and develop your-
self further. For this reason she also says full of conviction:
“There is is really no other activity that aims more to help
other people to achieve their goals. As a rule in professional
life people really only try to ensure that they look good in
order to get a job or to get promoted to the opening with
better pay.”
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96 OBTAINER
In the course of acquiring new partners the most important
means for Sabine Postel is still personal contact with those
who are interested. She works using predetermined system
because “everything that is excessive only causes confusion
and distracts from the essentials.” When she explains the dis-
tribution system, she therefore does so in line with the prin-
ciple: “the simpler the better.” This also applies to the online
method, which of course she also uses. Presentations on the
Internet represent for her a good additional module to give in-
formation to people who are interested when they live further
away. This saves her a lot of time and new partners are able to
deepen their knowledge using the online presentations.
That she has no problems getting to know new people and
thus potential partners is something that you accept form the
friendly career woman without any doubts. “You are constant-
ly getting to know new people,” she says with a radiant smile
and a hearty laugh.” Every day and everywhere. You only have
take the opportunities offered and walk openly through life.”
And how does she explain the advantages of her MLM busi-
ness opportunity to a lay person? “Many people do it a little
and everybody can achieve their goals within the team, no
matter how great or small they are.” She is of the opinion that
you should use the leverage of the network. Precisely at the
present time when a second or even a third job is often nec-
essary in order to be able to maintain a certain standard of
living. For the woman from Northern Germany network mar-
keting appears for precisely this reason today to be just what
the doctor ordered.
Here she is motivated by the quality of life the job offers her
and which also consists of working according to her own ideas
of where and when she wants to work. Because her hobbies
place great demands on her time too – particularly riding,
which is one of her favorite leisure activities. But she also
reads a lot and continues her education. At the moment her
favorite book is “Die Handtaschenlady,” a book that commu-
nicates the principles of networking in an amusing and an
entertaining manner. But also by reading biographies Sabine
has bee able to find role models for herself. And also in her
personal circle she has found people who have motivated her
and she is very grateful to them. This is particularly the case
with here collaboration with Hakan Cetin (cf. OBTAINER
ONLINE No. 31), provides her with new motivation again and
again: “Here I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to Hakan
once again!”
When asked whether she also holds meetings in hotels Sabine
Poster responds: “Hotel meetings are an option because they
provide a serious ambience and are neutral places. But home
meetings offer a more personal atmosphere. For those who
value such a personal atmosphere product parties are the most
suitable method as a rule.” She herself is also a great sympa-
thizer of seminars in hotels. Her company carries out training
sessions there regularly. “Hotels offer a good opportunity for
training sessions and to present the business to guests.”
In addition these sorts of meetings create the team bonds
she values so much: “In this way the partners can see each
other regularly and exchange experiences.” For current news
Synergy offers telephone conferences – and that is a good
thing! Because, as already indicated at the beginning: “More
would only act as a distraction from the essential things!” For
this reason Sabine advises all networkers: “It doesn‘t matter
whether you want to earn 500 euros or more – the difference
is the amount of time you invest! Because what you have to do
is always the same!”
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96 OBTAINER
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COLUMN
Dear Readers,Before we look at the 4th level of development more closely, In this issue I would like to make a short digression with you and look more closely at the leadership qualities of a well-known personality. I am certain you will ask „Why?“ – and I would like to answer this question immediately. Having now looked more closely at the first 3 levels of development, the question often arises: “How can I now best implement that?” An initial response can be found in the analysis of leadership qualities of other famous leading personalities. But this also brings about a certain danger. When we look at the abilities of another great leader, we tend to compare ourselves with them. But when we compare ourselves we often miss the opportunity to learn because, as is the case with most people, their self-confidence is not strongly developed enough to make a comparison WITHOUT immediately looking for faults and mistakes in themselves. For this reason we will today only make a short digression and look at only three essential principles of leadership used by this leader and to which he owes his above-average and histori-cally unique success.
A few months after the almost landslide victory of Barack Obama in the American presidential election we are faced with an historic moment: the first black president of the United States. But is that all we can learn from this election campaign?
COLUMN
Today‘s view and analysis of this success is not about an ideology. The election is over. And while many believe that John
McCain‘s economic program would have made more sense for business, particularly with regard to free trade, the tax
policy and when it came to creation of jobs, almost everybody is nevertheless happy (coupled with a lot of hope) about the
presidency of Barack Obama. Because his election campaign slogan was an “America for everybody” as he so passionately
promised again and again. But enough about politics.
Today I would like to examine with you what lessons you can draw as, a businessman or women, as an executive or as a
private individual from McCain‘s defeat and Obama‘s victory. Because when we look closely three principles or lessons
can be drawn which are valid for both the “politics & election campaign” stage and also for business and indeed our lives.
And it was precisely on these three lessons that Barack Obama systematically built up his victory.
The first principle of leadership
Let us start with the classic principle of leadership: a clear
constant vision.
If we would like people to follow us it is important that we
repeat a clear understandable and constant message (or vi-
sion) again and again. This is a very well-known principle
and, despite this, it is one of those most commonly disre-
garded in interpersonal communication – here it is not only
valid for managing staff and/or a company, but also for
friendships, relationships and in the upbringing of children
and young people.
The more often you change your “message” the more you
unsettle those who are supposed to be following you. And
the more difficult it is to understand your “central mes-
sage” the more difficult you make it for people to follow
you. When you look at, for example, McCain‘s health policy
you will recognize that it has in many details really very
good elements which, if implemented, would definitely
have helped many people. The problem however was that
McCain did not succeed in communicating this policy sim-
ply and comprehensibly. Instead it appeared to many peo-
ple to be too complex and incomprehensible.
So while McCain tried to convey his policies in a complex
manner, Obama‘s message was simple and was more of a
declaration of intent. He spoke of the failures of George W.
Bush. He talked about transformation and hope and health
care for all. He always painted a picture of the future that
inspired people. This is also a perfect example for leaders:
Seek out a limited number of points and repeat these un-
tiringly when communicating with the people you want to
“follow” you.
Therefore it also means: “People will follow the person
who is following his or her dream.” That is precisely what
Obama succeeded in doing. With his simple message “Yes
we can” he presented people with a clear and simple pros-
pect and at the same time handed them a “mantra” that was
easy to understand and follow. This is how we should live
our lives. If you would like your subordinates to follow you,
if you would like your children to do what you say, if in your
relationships you would like your partners to have a feeling
of security and follow you in order to build on the relation-
ship, then it is important that you present all these people
with a clear vision AND that you never get tired of repeat-
ing this vision again and again and “painting” it anew.
The second principle of leadership
After looking more closely at the first principle of leadership
from the American election campaign of Barack Obama,
let us turn to the next principle of leadership, which will,
I am sure, be familiar to many of you: faultless execution.
In their trail-blazing book “Execution” Larry Bossidy and
Ram Charan describe how faultless execution is not the
only thing that a leader needs to act correctly – but without
this important characteristic everything else that the leader
does will count for little. This American election proves
their thesis. Over almost two years of constant attacks and
combat Obama‘s team made only very few mistakes. From
the very beginning his advisers were the better campaign
team and his “staffers” were always prepared, agile and ac-
tive where they were needed most. By contrast McCain‘s
team often seemed inept and “hobbled” in a makeshift
fashion from one public appearance to the next. Bad team
spirit among his advisers often made an impact in the form
of bad preparation on McCain‘s part. And the significantly
100 OBTAINER
COLUMN
lower campaign budget showed the “lower” quality of his
team since they were unable to raise enough funds. The
team surrounding McCain tried again and again to run the
campaign in the “classical manner” while Obama‘s team
was innovative, for example, they used the new media in-
geniously in order to provide as many people as possible with
their information.
From this also you can draw two important lessons for your-
self. Firstly: It is not bad if you make mistakes as long as you
quickly learn from them and get them under control again.
Secondly: the less mistakes you make in your execution and
where an agitated McCain behaved erratically the impression
grew that McCain himself was afraid and was helpless with
the means at his disposal. Obama responded mostly with stoic
calmness, stayed sitting in his place and answered with care.
Even when he was personally attacked, he kept his cool. In
this way he communicated “non-verbally”. He stuck to his
viewpoint and radiated calmness.
Another of Obama‘s ingenious moves (which you can classify
under the principle of “faultless execution”) is the way he out-
maneuvered Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
Hillary Clinton committed a catastrophic mistake in thinking
implementation the more people will connect competence
with your conduct and behavior. This is valid both in business
and in private life.
And there is another important third lesson: You do not have
to make all the mistakes yourself, but can learn more quickly
from the lives, experiences and mistakes of others by precisely
observing them and drawing lessons for yourself which you
then implement.
Obama‘s team succeeded in doing the latter excellently. While
with every new television debate McCain came across as being
more and more “helpless”, Obama scored points less by what
he said than by the way he reacted to what McCain said. Mc-
Cain allowed himself to be tempted (or was forced by his party
and his advisers) to attack Obama directly and personally, try-
ing to arouse fear in him. But what this approach provokes is
something that McCain‘s team was unaware of: It creates fear
in those wanting to create fear! With every new attack, with
every television debate and with every television appearance
she could win in the same way all previous candidates had
done; by securing victory in the large states New York, Ohio,
California and so on. By contrast Obama‘s team did its home-
work perfectly and realized that he stood little chance against
Hillary Clinton in the large states. However they figured out
an unexpected possibility of how he could nevertheless win..
While Hillary Clinton concentrated on winning in the large
states, Obama‘s team focused on the many small states and
on the undervalued delegation meetings of all factions in a
particular state. In this way Obama‘s team was able to secure
the majority step by step and at the decisive moment overtake
Hillary Clinton.
Here too you have an important lesson for all aspects of your
life: It is not always the big things that lead to changes, but of-
ten the many small things that we often overlook and see little
significance in. The best example of this is keeping a journal.
Often people look for spectacular things to include instead of
understanding that it is the many small, apparently insignifi-
cant entries , can change our lives.
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COLUMN
The third principle of leadership
Let us now turn to the third principle of leadership that
shaped Obama‘s election campaign strategy. The third prin-
ciple of leadership is: well positioned allies.
During coaching sessions I experience again and again, com-
panies that believe they can win in everyday business by us-
ing the same old methods and going the same old way – only
more intensively and better. Therefore I would like to ask you
a provocative question: Do you know the definition of idi-
ocy?
Doing the same things again and again – and expecting dif-
ferent results!
And do you know the definition of increased idiocy?
Doing the same things more intensively, more frantically and
more often – and expecting better results!
The road to more success in business consists of looking for
new customers and finding and opening new markets en
route. You can beat your competitors if you try to play accord-
ing to “the old rules”. In order to grow, you must, however,
invent a new game and then also defeat your competitors in
this new game.
This American election has once more shown and reinforced
the value of “well positioned allies”. From the very start
Obama had the support of the media, which in turn decided
to consciously downplay the controversies Obama was in-
volved in. And so the game that McCain‘s team had built up
in order to whip up fear in Obama and to discredit him had,
in the end, a boomerang effect against McCain. In the end
nobody could deny that Obama‘s relationship with the media
made a significant difference.
As a company you cannot succeed in winning in the long term
if you do not have the support of your well positioned allies.
And the bigger the company the more important this prin-
ciple is. Because every time you try to change things or try to
create a new path, you will always have people that will resist
you. They will carry out the “struggle against you” openly in
meetings, in the media or through “palace intrigues.” There-
fore you need your allies in all these places. Because in the
end these can be crucial in deciding whether you win or lose.
That is the reason why it is important that you only start ev-
ery leadership initiative and/or change in your company af-
ter you have your “well positioned allies” firmly on your side
and these are convinced of the advantages, of your character
and of your initiative. But that is not enough. If you would
like your allies to stand by your side, you should not confront
them with unexpected surprises.
Think only of the move by McCain‘s team to unexpectedly
present Sarah Pallin as the vice-presidential candidate. The
media had not been informed of it in advance and they did
not react very positively to the move. Quite the contrary.
Through this action, McCain‘s team lost many allies in the
media and what then broke out was a kind of “hunt Sarah
Pallin” campaign which culminated in the media doing every-
thing to paint Sarah Pallin in a negative light.
Here too this third principle applies, not only to companies,
but also to your private life. Thus, things become difficult if
you are in a relationship and your partner‘s friends do not
like or respect you. It will become difficult for you to bring up
your children if you do not get on with your children‘s best
friends and/or their parents, the same is true with the teach-
ers etc. Therefore, always choose consciously and carefully
which ally you need in which position in order to act for the
general good.
In the coming months we will see which deeds follow the
words of the election campaign. As it is not without reason
that the slogan goes:
“Actions speak louder then words!”
But no matter what deeds we see, one thing is clear: We are
experiencing exciting times and we can look forward to an ex-
citing future where we can learn a lot from the lives of others.
Because: The future belongs to those who prepare for it!
Consider just how you can integrate these three principles
of leadership into the first three levels of development the
people in your downline are going through. It would be best
to take up your journal right away and make a note of your
thoughts on this.
Always remember: Leadership is action – not position!
Your Coach,
Nuno F. Assis
www.assis.de
102 OBTAINER
OBTAINER 103
COLUMN
Proper Behaviour IsNever OutdatedCellphones are therefore a subject for business etiquetteBy Alexander Plath
… about the author:
Alexander Plath (www.alexanderplath.com) is an expert on the subjects
“first impression) (twitter.com/erster_eindruck), presentational skills, body language, communica-
tion & presentation, etiquette and business etiquette, enthusiasm & motivation, selling and man-
agement training. For 20 years he has be active in sales, distribution and training and during this
period he has occupied all positions from salesman to Director Foreign Distribution and Press
Spokesperson for a multinational corporation and he was responsible for the foreign expansion
and the public relations of a multinational group of companies. In addition ,Alexander Plath is the
Managing Partner of Plath & Partner AG and is a member of the supervisory board of the Swiss
subsidiary of a multinational corporation.
ALEXANDER PLATH
104 OBTAINER
Today within the
framework of
making a good
first impression
we are devot-
ing ourselves
to the question
of business eti-
quette. There are only a few things that
can put you out of contention and make
a terrible first impression as quickly as
lack of manners. The challenge here is
that people will not tell you if you have
gotten out of line. You‘ll simply not be
invited or rung up anymore. Or more
snobbishly: “It‘s not a question of the
exclusive membership of the golf club,
it‘s a question of the other members also
wanting to play with you!”
Doesn‘t this raise the question of who
establishes the recommendations for
business etiquette? For German speak-
ing countries (and beyond) the “Arbe-
itskreis Umgangsformen International”
[Engl. International Working Group on
Etiquette] is the leading organization for
recommendations regarding etiquette.
Its (business) etiquette and recom-
mendations are accepted unanimously
and taken as the general standard and
implemented. In order to accommo-
date the growing demand for training
in etiquette, Inge Wolff, the chairman
of the AUI, has recently been instruct-
ing AUI-certified trainers, one of whom
is also the author of this article (www.
alexanderplath.com).
Particularly in business life the cell-
phone has become indispensable and
therefore the subject of this article is
cellphone etiquette. In recent times
more and more areas have been in-
troduced in which cellphones are for-
bidden. It is a shame that this is even
necessary as it is so easy to have con-
sideration for other people when using
a cellphone. Modern technology has
made it possible to turn off the most
disturbing function – the annoying
“tootling.” The vibration alarm, the
flashing light function and the mailbox
make this easily possible.
A further nuisance factor is being forced
to listen to someone else‘s conversa-
tion! However, to avoid this molesta-
tion, people can‘t use technology, they
have to act themselves. If a conversa-
tion in the presence of others cannot
be avoided, a polite person will move
away from others and leave a comfort-
able distance between himself and the
other parties. For example, by leaving
the room. In addition, everyone who
heeds the following points will make
themselves popular:
10 Golden rules for using a cell-phone
1. Please always remember the basic
rules for making and receiving calls in
a public place: Wherever the peace and
quiet or the concentration of others
is likely to be disturbed, the nuisance
caused both by audible ringing tones
– primarily by the “tootling” of all pos-
sible melodies – and by being forced
to listen to the conversations of others
should be avoided.
Today within the framework of making a good first im-pression we are devoting ourselves to the question of business etiquette. There are only a few things that can put you out of contention and make a terrible first impression as quickly as lack of manners.
OBTAINER 105
COLUMNALEXANDER PLATH
2. In everyday situations such as when
shopping and when in areas with a
high density of cellphones, such as on
the train, please turn down the volume
of your ring tone and please also lower
your voice when talking.
3. During a discussion with somebody,
don‘t place your cellphone on the desk.
This implies: I am at any time ready to
interrupt this conversation with you.
The subliminal, but clear message is:
You aren‘t important to me!
4. Never interrupt an discussion – or
lose eye contact – to look at a text mes-
sage you received. This – just like send-
ing a text message – has the same nega-
tive effect.
5. Remember to also avoid annoying
tones for text messages. This applies
both to receiving and sending text mes-
sages.
6. Answer your cellphone just as you
would on a landline using the appro-
priate time of day (for example: “Good
morning, your company‘s name and
your own name). The exception is when
you only use your cellphone privately
and you see on the display that some-
body is ringing who will recognize your
voice if you just say “Yes” or “Hello” or
if you are able to greet them directly by
name.
7. Take a call on another person‘s cell-
phone only when you have been explic-
itly authorized to do so. In this case,
answer with your name, the appropriate
greeting and in addition: “John Doe‘s
cellphone.”
8. To avoid such situations set your
mailbox up so that after the fourth ring
you mailbox kicks into action. This is
also practical if you can‘t take a second
call while you are on the phone.
9. Please keep your mailbox greeting
brief. A sentence like: “Unfortunately
I‘m not available at this time, as I either
have no reception or I‘m currently un-
available for another reason” doesn‘t
just make the call unnecessarily expen-
sive for the person calling. It is simply
unnecessary. The reason: Everyone
knows that somebody is unavailable
when the mailbox kicks in.
10. Never use a business cellphone
number that someone has given to you
late at night or during the weekend. The
reason: Anyone can forget to switch
their mailbox on. Everybody – even in
the age of the cellphone – has a right to
privacy.
And on a personal note:As a regular passenger on Swiss and
German railways, I ask you, from the
bottom of my heart, to keep in mind that
the person you are on the phone with is
free to decide if or how long they want to
continue talking to you – but your fellow
travelers, in most cases, do not :-) …
Always on top of business etiquette?
http://twitter.com/business_knigge
106 OBTAINER
TROJAN M A R K E T I N G nach dem Bestseller von Roman Anlanger, Studiengangsleiter an der Fachhochschule des bfi Wien
Language as a Trojan Horse
The deep-down cleanness of Ariel
UlrUlrike, a fashionably dressed woman, lays great value on
clean laundry. It has to be perfectly washed and it should also
smell good. However, in light of all the tempting advertising
slogans from the producers of detergents, what does clean re-
ally mean? Which washes really clean: the detergent with the
“gigantic cleaning power”, the one with the “megapearls”, or
the ones that are “double concentrated.” “Good advice is expen-
sive,” thinks Ulrike, who has already spent ten minutes stand-
ing in front of the goods on offer in the supermarket before fi-
nally choosing “Ariel” from Procter & Gamble, which she knows
well. What has been going on in her head?
Let us first take a look at the advertising history of Ariel. The
product came on the market in 1966 and was initially adver-
tised in Germany with the slogan “Ariel zum Reinweichen” (Ar-
iel to soak things clean). Two years later Klementine, probably
the best known protagonist in German commercial television
appeared for the first time. She always wore white dungarees
and the slogan “Ariel doesn‘t just wash clean (sauber), it washes
deep down clean (rein)” caused the pulse of many women to
speed up. Ulrike expects detergents to wash clean, that is, so to
speak, the basic assumption, the basic use of the product. How-
ever, a detergent that washes “clean” has a completely different
dimension for Ulrike. In Ariel‘s slogans the concepts of “rein”
and “sauber” were differentiated from one another. Other de-
tergents were allocated the idea of cleanness (“sauber”) while
Ariel took possession of the concept of being pristine (“rein,”
which also means “pure”). Here two concepts were separated
from one another and brought into opposition.
“In this way precisely that semantic characteristic which sepa-
rates “sauber” from “rein” is activated for the recipient. “Rein”
also has a moral quality, whereas “sauber” only has a func-
tional one. Thus Ariel is allocated the characteristic of moral
cleanness, and does so without this being expressed explic-
itly.” (Helene Karmasin, leading motivation researcher)
Language is, formulated simply, a “complex system of signs
that transports meaning.” The system of linguistic signs is
explained and investigated with the aid of semiotics. There-
by, semiotics investigates the relationship between patterns
of perception and their meaning. A subdivision of this is the
demonstration of equivalence and opposition which provides
an analytical framework for the explicit and implicit codes of
language. By means of this analytical tool, products can be
differentiated from others and positioned by means of the
linguistic expressions; they can be anchored differently in the
consumers heads and claim to be unique.
In this contribution I will deal with the question of how language can be used as a Trojan horse. Again I will cite some prac-tical examples and give guidelines and hints about how you can use these methods yourself for your own company. Using myths as an example, I will show that these archaic images can be used as vehicles (Trojan horses) for modern messages.
„nachgebende Zahnbürste“
„langlebigen“
OBTAINER 107
The possibilities of language in Trojan marketingIn order to find, in the truest since of the words, “the right
words”, it is necessary to keep a few rules in mind. The five
most important properties of effective words for marketing
have been illustrated by author Michael Brandtner in his ar-
ticle “The essence of the brand: This is how you focus your
brand on the future.”
Notional freedom of the wordThe supreme maxim here is that the word used is unique, i.e.
is not used by anybody else. As an example he gives the word
“Felsquellwasser” (rock spring water) used by Krombacher,
which was the first brewery to use this word and so positioned
itself as the No. 1 brand in the heads of consumers.
The word has to fit with the customer‘s experienceHere Brandtner cites the example of Dr. Best‘s “flexible tooth-
brush,” which guaranteed the success of the company.
Simplicity of the wordPeople love simple things and seek to avoid complexity since
this is linked with greater mental effort. The words used should
always be in the dictionary. Examples of this are: “Fahrfreude”
(joy of motoring) for BMW or “koffeinfrei” (decaffeinated) for
Kaffee Hag.
„Fahrfreude“„nachgebende Zahnbürste“„koffeinfrei“
„langlebigen“Roman Anlanger is Course Director of the course “Technical Sales Management” at the University of Applied Sci-ences bfi Vienna and is responsi-ble for the teaching and research staff. Anlanger successfully com-pleted two degrees, is a CRM manager and business trainer and also lectures at various sci-entific institutions. Anlanger is the inventor of Trojan marketing and a successful author (his best-seller is “Trojanisches Market-ing”). In addition he is in great demand as a speaker.
108 OBTAINER
TROJAN M A R K E T I N G Contrastive effect of the wordHere the same principle is used as in the case of Ariel by
bringing something into semantic opposition. For this point
Brandtner points to the example of Duracell, which contrasts
its “longlife” batteries with the “shortlife” batteries of its com-
petitors.
No use of fashionable wordsThe drawback of fashionable words is that after the end of their
fashionability they have a different significance and so can be-
come negative.
On this theoretical and practical basis we will show in the fol-
lowing how language can be used as a Trojan vehicle. Here it is
always a case of charging existing language patterns in a Tro-
jan manner and diverting them into new levels of activity.
Mythological linguistic images as a Trojan methodGreek and Roman mythology offers a rich pool of linguistic im-
ages which can be used in a Trojan manner as the following
examples will show. So let us take a trip into the realm of the
gods and myths.
Sport under the banner of the goddessDo you know who assisted the father of the gods, Zeus, in his
struggle against the Titans? It was Nike, the Greek goddess of
victory. Nike is a name you will certainly know from a com-
pletely different context, namely in connection with sport. The
international manufacturer of sports articles took its name
from Greek mythology. In Antiquity it was custom to erect a
statue in honor of the goddess of victory after battles had been
won. Nike was always represented with wings, in modern times
also. An example of this is the statue of Nike on the Olympic
site in Berlin. Now let us analyze the Nike logo, the Nike tick,
also known as the “swoosh.” This is an allusion, a reference to
the wings of the Greek goddess. The implicit meaning of the
wings expresses the idea that with Nike products you will “out-
perform” your sporting rivals. In recent times the producer of
sports articles for sportsmen and women has also used adver-
tising subjects where the image has been missing. It was sym-
bolized by sportsmen and women using fictitious characters
and every viewer knew immediately that this was an advertise-
ment from Nike. Here, there is only one thing to say: A creative
piece of work!
Calling your product after the god of warLet us now make a short detour into Roman mythology. You
have surely heard at some stage of the “Rape of the Sabine
Women”. According to the legend Romulus and Remus found-
ed the city of Rome but in the city there was a great lack of
women. In order to eliminate the shortage of women Romu-
lus thought up a sneaky plan. Using the pretext that an great
spectacle was going to be staged, all the surrounding cities
were invited to Rome. The Sabines also accepted the invita-
tion and sent people to attend the spectacle. However, since
they did not see through Romulus‘s underhanded trick, the
Sabines brought no weapons with them. In the middle of the
drama the Roman soldiers attacked completely unexpectedly
and kidnapped all the women who were present. The Sabine
men swore that they would take revenge and prepared for an
expedition against the Romans. However, the women who had
been kidnapped stood between the conflicting parties and end-
ed the impending battle peacefully. So much for the legend.
The proud Sabines had, as was then usually the case, their own
god of war called Quirinus.
Let us come back to the present. In 1998 the Berliner Effekten-
bank (an investment bank) was founded and in 2006 it changed
its name to the “Quirin Bank”. The bank‘s logo is adorned with
the Sabine god of war sitting on the back of a rearing horse.
As was the case with the sporting goods manufacturer, Nike,
here too a concept with mythological associations was chosen
for the name of the company. The advantage of this technique
is that mythological words are learned socially and transport
meaning. Concepts borrowed from mythology are basically
Trojan horses since they implicitly and explicitly transport ex-
isting learned meanings into the heads of customers.
If you had asked somebody in Austria two years ago whether
they knew anything about the Hound of Hell in Greek mythol-
ogy they would in most cases have said no. Today, all Austri-
ans know the Greek Hound of Hell very well and if you ask
the question again you will get the answer Cerberus. What
has happened? The American investment company, Cerberus
OBTAINER 109
Capital Management, has bought one of the
largest banks in Austria, the Bank für Arbeit
und Wirtschaft AG (BAWAG), and through
the dissemination of the news in the media
people suddenly became aware of the name
Cerberus, the guard-dog of the Greek under-
world Hades. Here the interesting thing is the
implicit meaning because ,figuratively speaking,
Cerberus guards the customers‘ funds. A further
advantage of using mythological words is that
these have a meaning which is already manifest
and which will not change anymore. By contrast
in the case of fashionable words the meaning can
change quickly – and this can have negative conse-
quences.
In most cases mythological figures such as gods, demi-
gods, warriors, emperors etc. carry a symbolism which
can be used as an additional code for transmission of
meaning. The Greek sea god, Poseidon, who was called
Neptune by the Romans, is inseparably equipped with the
following three symbols: the chariot, the dolphin and the
best-known symbol associated with him – the trident.
One of the best-known Greek goddesses is Artemis,
who is regarded as the goddess of the hunt and
as the goddess of women and children. In Ro-
man mythology she is called Diana. The
principal symbols in her case are the bow
and arrow and the quiver belonging
to these. The well-known Austrian
product “Diana Menthol Balm” is
one that you may know. Here
too mythology provides the
template. In the brand logo
the goddess is depicted
with her bow and arrow
just before firing. Im-
plicitly this means that
Diana Menthol Balm
works quickly. Just
as quickly as an ar-
row.
110 OBTAINER
COLUMN
A x e l G r a s e rdifferentiates himself as a trainer from the “usual” trainers
in MLM by the fact that he quite simply takes the principles
that are self-evident in nature as the premises for successful
work. “It does not require philosophical thinking or psycho-
logical training, we merely have to keep an eye on nature” is
his credo.
Axel Graser was born in 1948 in Tailfingen, Swabia. He grew
up in a medium-sized car dealership that his grandfather had
founded in 1924. After the War the industry boomed and so
as the eldest of two sons he was trained to take over from his
father. He learned what in those boom years passed for “man-
agement.”
On the other hand, however, he was from his infancy a con-
firmed horse-lover and also dog-lover who spent as much time
as possible out in nature. In the course of this he always con-
sidered nature both as a challenge and an adventure. During
his life he has traveled much and among other places he lived
for a long time in the Canadian West. In 1992 he founded a a
company as a tour operator and was able to make his hobby
into a profession.
Axel Graser is married and has four grown-up children. He
got to know network marketing in Canada where he lived
with his family after “restructuring measures” by by the “Ford
Works” – which within a very short period pushed 450 dealers
in Germany into ruin – drove his dealership into bankruptcy.
“I therefore know from my own experience how unexpectedly
and quickly such a thing can happen and I am – unfortunately
– convinced that in the next few years many more companies
will have to go this way no matter what industry they are ac-
tive at the moment,” explains the trained businessman and
economist. That Axel Graser sees in network marketing an
“incomparable opportunity to build up a second string as a
businessman” is no wonder, after all he himself built up a
superb downline with the network company Forever Living
Products (FLP) by putting his stress on personal coaching and
“Natural Leadership.”
OBTAINER WORLDWIDE is pleased to be able in the next
few issues to make the thoughts of Alex Graser on “Natural
Leadership” accessible to a wider circle of interested people –
i.e. to you, our success-oriented readers. Look forward with us
to an inspiring, exciting and knowledgeable read.
OBTAINER 111
COLUMN
We live in a constantly changing world and each change, every further development faces us with new challenges. There was a time when the vast majority of people made their living in agriculture – until one day the “Industrial Revolution” with it technologi-cal inventions laid a completely different basis for work in agriculture and made many of the agricultural workers superfluous. These people were compelled to move to the towns and earn their daily bread in future in the emerging factories.
Today we find ourselves in the middle of an industrial revo-
lution again. Again the cards are being shuffled anew and
that means that we are again facing challenges that we can
either accept – or ignore. However, we will bear the con-
sequences of this ourselves. The age of full employment
as we have known it for decades and have considered to
be natural definitely belongs to the past. As a production
country we (in Germany) have been relegated to a place at
the back and the progressive technologization adds to that
by replacing more and more people by technology. Whether
you regard that as a tragedy and mourn for the “Good Old
Days” or not, does not change anything with regard to this
development. ‚Whether we recognize and use the opportu-
nities resulting from it lies in our – in your and my – hands.
We can allow ourselves to be overrun by the changing times
or we can use them!
The wheel of history cannot be put into reverse. Techno-
logical development continues and with it the reorganiza-
tion of our society as a whole – and indeed at an unprece-
dented speed. When millions of people are already without
employment today and this trend will continue to become
more acute – of that there is hardly any doubt – we have to
consider alternatives – and that can only mean self-employ-
ment. But what can/could that look lime? What risks are re-
ally bound up with that and what opportunities offer them-
selves in self-employment? Who will guarantee success?
There are three possibilities of self-employment that we
want to look at here.
The “classical” form of making yourself self-employed is to
build up your own business on the basis of the profession
or trade you were trained in. A craftsman‘s business, for ex-
ample, or a shop or whatever. That means that you devise a
business concept and with it you march off to the nice ladies
and gentlemen who say that they will “clear the way” in order
to ask them for a suitable loan. Whether you rent an busi-
ness, buy an existing one or build a new one – first you have
to dig deep into your pocket. You need tools, perhaps ma-
chines, vehicles, office equipment, a stock of good and other
things – and if you take on one or more employees, they will
expect their wages or salary to be paid on time from the very
start.
Axel Graser:
Every crisis offers new opportunities 2
OBTAINER 113
The first question you will have to answer at the bank is
about appropriate securities. Now perhaps you have a
house that you can put up as security, or perhaps your par-
ents or a friendly aunt will sign a surety – and when every-
thing is “home free,” you can open the business. Then you
should be on the lookout for a species called “customer.”
Of course, you cannot expect that things will already be re-
ally rolling in the first month or the first quarter after you
open for business. Therefore you think about a suitable
advertising campaign. You calculate what you will have
to pay for that – and so you talk to the bank again. And
again the question of securities comes up. The opportuni-
ties grow if such a loan is granted – and also the debts. And
the struggle continues. – I do not want to continue along
this path. The fact is that most of the companies that go
bankrupt here in Germany are less than five years old. To
talk about risk, about “entrepreneurial risk” in this context
is indeed justified.
A second possibility is franchising. We all know the fran-
chise chains: McDonald‘s, Burger King, OBI Markets, In-
ter-Sport or Fressnapf for getting everything you need for
dogs, cats and canaries, BodyShop for cosmetics or compa-
nies like Auto Crew, ATU Auto Master etc. for car repairs
independent of your car model. Yes, today even private
tuition for schoolchildren is on offer from franchise sys-
tems! How does franchising work? Why is this method of
distribution so successful that these companies drive mar-
ket-leading competitors from their positions often within a
very short period and are spreading to more and more sec-
tors? – Quite simply: Here strengths are being combined
in a sensible manner!
On the one hand we have the franchiser, namely the com-
pany whose name of company emblem stands over the
business or on the vehicles. It deals with all the business
needs of market planning and the whole marketing strat-
egy, with advertising that provides the appropriate degree
of recognition, with the range of products, training courses
etc. and provides the franchisees, i.e. the people running
the businesses on the ground, with a worked-out ready-
made business concept. For that they pay a more or less
hefty sum as an investment and in addition in future they
will pay a certain share of their day-to-day turnover or
profits to the franchiser. The investment costs for the fran-
chisee can amount to several thousand, or even million,
euros or according to the significance of the company, the
sales territory and the location.
Franchising has prevailed and its triumphal march is far
from finished. Today you find it in nearly all sectors of this
system – and daily it is used by new partners!
Now human beings are characterized by the fact that when
they are successful they would like to achieve more suc-
cess. Therefore people have asked themselves how they
can continue to develop this fantastic system and so make
it even more effective. The most important capital for each
business consists of people – namely happy people. Happy
customers just as much as happy employees and happy
business partners. In order to integrate as many people as
possible into the concept and to allow them to share in its
success two obstacles had to be eliminated. The first ob-
stacle is that for a start not everybody is in the position to
or prepared to invest money – and therefore it does not
come into question for them no matter how good it may
be. The second is the limitation to one location or one sales
territory. If solutions are found for these two problems, so
people tell themselves, then a business like this must de-
velop unhindered and without limitations.
Here some people remembered a marketing strategy that
had been developed in the 1940s in the USA and had been
practiced at the time with considerable success. A company
called California Vitamins, which sold all possible items of
everyday use, was looking for ways to achieve nationwide
coverage one day. In view of the size of America and the
communications of the time this was a difficult task. So
somebody at California Vitamins had the idea of reward-
ing every customer who was happy and recommended the
company and its products to others with a small bonus.
Such an idea was at the time brand new. But it worked im-
mediately – even though this bonus was extremely modest!
Still recommendation marketing was born and its success
was quickly visible.
The resounding success of the franchising business com-
bined with the idea of the recommendation business – this
is what we call “network marketing.”
The famous scientist Prof. Dr. Zacharias, who has been
looking into the development of efficient distribution sys-
tems for years, is of the opinion that not only is network
marketing the distribution system of the 21st century par
excellence but that if anything it will also eclipse the suc-
cess of franchise systems. And innumerable people in-
volved in this business have long been proving this on a
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daily basis. The time is ripe for this idea! Whether we use the
opportunity it offers or not is something each of us will decide
on our own.
The French poet Victor Hugo once said long ago: “Nothing is
as strong as an idea whose time has come.” That is true for
all life situations and also for the professional and business
challenges we face!
What then is the difference from classical franchising and
where do numerous economic experts (Professor Zacharias
is by no means alone with his statement) get this confidence?
While a classical franchisee gets his license direct from the
franchiser, in network marketing everybody who is already
working in this business can issue such a license. This means
that everybody can “name” as many business partners as they
want; they can also say “build branches” and participate in
their success. Networkers who have understood this business
will therefore always do two things: they endeavor to increase
turnover – as is also usually the case in any other business,
whatever it may be. Because without turnover there is no
profit! That is something that should never be forgotten!
At the same time, however, they also make an effort to build
up a series of partners and to support them because they
share their partners‘ success. Although this is very simple it
seems that many people find it difficult to grasp. In the first
place this is the result of a mentality that most people have –
namely fundamental distrust of anything new. But also some-
times it is a result of envy and mistrust and also the “fear”
that somebody else might “get rich” as a result of “their work.”
The fact that they themselves are always also these “Others”
is easily overlooked. Does that not mean that giving is more
blessed than taking?
Network Marketing is a genuine revolution that is happening
before our eyes. It is not only an economic revolution, but
also a revolution in people‘s attitudes. Namely that here the
greatest success is recorded when people support the busi-
ness partners they are associated with as actively as possible,
when they pass on their own insights and knowledge, when
ultimately they look after their partners‘ businesses at least
as much as their own. The leverage at the basis of this concept
is shown by the numerous success stories in the industry that
are reported regularly by OBTAINER.
How does this work in practice? And how should be under-
stand this leverage? I want to make this clear using a simple
numerical example: Let us assume that you are absolutely
in this business and have understood that the dynamic and
power lie in the reproduction and duplication of your own
success. So you make an effort to win three partners for your
business and you support them in doing exactly what you are
doing yourself, namely to make their own normal turnover
and in addition also to find business partners. After all, your
partners‘ business is also your business.
Let us further assume that each of your partners imitates what
you have done and that after some time – with your aid – they
all also have three partners in their businesses and help them
to be successful too. What does that mean for you now? In
addition to your own commission you also receive a passive
income from your three “direct” partners and from the busi-
nesses of their nine partners; in other words you are partici-
pating in the success of twelve “downlines.” Let us now go one
small step further and calculate it all with five business part-
ners each. This means that in this case you have five direct
business partners plus 25 in the second line. Assuming that
all five of your partners have understood what you have un-
derstood and exhibit the same élan – and ensuring precisely
that is your loftiest task! In this example you are now already
earning a passive income from a share of the performance of
a total of 30 people. Here I will consciously stop playing with
numbers because multiplying things further leads to results
that sound unbelievable. But innumerable people working in
this business are living proof of what explosive force is hidden
in it – and would never again do anything else in life!
Just as in the classical franchise the whole tried and tested
business concept of the company is available in full to every
Axel Graser: Every Crisis Offers - New Opportunities
114 OBTAINER
newcomer and it only needs to be put into use. Also in this
business nothing works of its own accord; you have to work
at it. But the harvest is enormous if the seed is sown cor-
rectly! If you think how much effort each of us normally has
to put into earning our daily bread, how many hours are in-
vested in work just in order to get by again every day and
every month, then commitment in a business with such a
basic leverage should be worth all the effort. The only secret
is that you get rewarded when you help others to be success-
ful instead of concentrating exclusively on your own results.
Considering this seriously should actually not be something
that anybody would call into question no matter what job
they have, what business they run or whether they are even
unemployed.
Today we are being flooded by new products, technologies,
methods or whatever. Trade routes have become shorter,
communications quicker, the world smaller The transforma-
tion we are permanently subjected to is taking place today at
a breathtaking pace. Anybody who closes their eyes to it is
maneuvering themselves onto the sidelines. The old German
saying “Shoemaker stick to your last” may be a well-inten-
tioned piece of advice, but already for many who have stuck
to it it has already become a pitfall. Today we are faced with
changes and thus with challenges that are unique in history.
Whether and how we react to them is our decision alone.
There are three groups of people when the question arises of confronting something new.
The first group consists of those who face anything new with
skepticism and rejection and who pull out the stops to fight
the innovation. Their premise is: What should not be can-
not! – Now you you can talk a new idea, a new product, at
new trend or any other innovative thing admittedly to death
or discuss it to death or even prove that it is dead – but you
cannot prevent it happening if the time is ripe for it.
The second group – consisting the vast majority of people –
also takes notice of something new, they find it either super
or completely stupid (and they do not keep their opinion to
themselves even if it is just the opinion of other people which
they have adopted). But they themselves do not draw any con-
sequences from it. Afterwards they are astonished when it has
worked for others and they have to find an explanation for
it. These are the people who always speak in the conditional:
“You would have to... I would indeed... We should...” People
with this attitude will never change anything in their lives.
They will always know everything better, continue to com-
plain and unfortunately will very often be envious – but will
never do anything themselves.
Then there is the third group as well. They are not any
better informed than the other two groups, they are not
more intelligent either and we are also not talking about
“clairvoyants.”However those who belong to this group are
a little bit braver on average. The decisive question these
people ask themselves seriously when then confront some-
thing new is: “What benefit is it to me if I tackle it?”
Only these people move something in the world! Things were always that way – and they will always remain so.
I do not know which of these groups you, dear readers, belong
to? This is a question only you yourself can answer. Perhaps,
however, you should ask instead: “Which of these three groups
do I want to belong to?” In the final analysis God gave us hu-
mans something that differentiates us from the animals – and
that is free will. Surround yourself with “positive” people and
defend yourself consciously and systematically against skep-
tics and pessimists and decide yourself what you want!
There are studies that indicate that most people concern
themselves in their thoughts 98% of the time with the past
and the future and only 2% of the time with the present. What
has happened is, however, something that we can no longer
change. And what the future will bring is something that we
cannot know. But what we decide in the present is the corner-
stone on which we will build our future!
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Dr. med. Manfred Conradt
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OBTAINER 117OBTAINER 117
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
Fall is slowly but surely approaching and winter is
not too far behind that. The days will become short-
er, colder, windier and rainfall will increase. This
time of year is known for its coughs, colds, hoarse-
ness, fever, fatigue and limb pains – the symptoms associated
with colds. Many of these are relatively harmless but are quite
unpleasant and can lead to being on sick leave more often,
something that can have enormous economic consequences.
Many people might like to “take sick leave” and squeeze a few
more extra days off work a year. However, for self-employed
individuals who have to work constantly every sick day is a
day without pay.
However, not every flu is harmless, particularly real influenza.
Old people and those with weakened immune systems can
be in danger of complications such as pneumonia. For some
time now, swine flu has been making its way around the globe
and has now made it to every continent. This is the reason
the WHO (World Health Organization) has declared it a pan-
demic (an infectious disease spanning countries and conti-
nents). There have already been several deaths reported and
young people have also been affected. Nobody knows what
else is in store for us, maybe the virus could evolve or per-
haps become more infectious (virulent). The pharmaceutical
industry is working hard on vaccines. There are also antiviral
agents, which are, however, not comparable to the antibiotics
we know so well. Viruses do not have their own metabolism,
they are cell parasites and like a terrorist cause the cells to
carry out their commands.
We live in constant battle with bacteria, viruses, fungi and
parasites. To survive these organisms very early in their devel-
opmental history developed defenses that are so good they are
still surprisingly effective today. We humans have a protective
outer barrier which prevents micro-organisms from entering
the body whenever possible. The skin has a so-called protec-
tive acidic coat. Its pH value (degree of acidity, i.e. chemical
hydrogen ion concentration) is approx. 5,7 (neutral 7,0) and
with this wards off the tiny intruders. Tear drops contain an
enzyme (lysozyme) which can dissolve bacteria. Pathogens
who can survive this are later confronted with the alkaline
environment of the duodenum, which doesn‘t do them any
good. The upper airways use cilia for protection. Cilia move
like a windy cornfield transporting pollutants and micro-or-
ganisms out of the body once more. In doing this, the mucus
produced is also helpful. The females vagina also produces an
acidic environment (lactic acid) using Döderlein‘s bacteria
(named after the gynecologist Albert Döderlein). The bladder
and urethra are also constantly being cleaned by the urine.
For this reason it is important to drink plenty. Everything in
the intestine that is not absorbed (incorporated) is sent back
“outside” - amazing, but true. During my time as an internist,
I carried out X-rays of the gastrointestinal tract with a bacte-
rial barium meal. Barium is normally highly toxic to humans.
In this chemical composition it, however, was not reabsorbed
by the body and was simply excreted. This is why the what
is called “bioavailability” is so important. Only the absorbed
part of a substance can have an effect on the body. For this
reason scientists have concerned themselves extensively with
bioavailability studies.
However, if pathogens are successful in breaking through our
outer barrier, our immune system kicks into action. This is
very complex and the way it has been built up is fascinating.
The organs, the thymus and the spleen, as well as tissues like
bone marrow, lymph nodes and other lymphatic tissue belong
to the immune system. The immune system can be divided
further into the innate and the acquired immune system and
also into the cellular and humoral (Latin humor = liquid).
We constantly take, food, liquid and air into our bodies. There-
fore it is understandable that the interface of these organs
(throat, lungs and intestine) have special defensive barriers
between inside and out. The tonsils are the first defender, the
bronchial system contains many defense cells (lymph nodes
etc.), the intestine with its huge surface area can accommodate
up to 80% of antibody cells. The appendix of the cecum at the
beginning of the large intestine is lined with lymph follicles.
As the old proverb goes, “death begins in the intestine”.
It is generally accepted that 90% of all infections can be suc-
cessfully fought through the innate immune defenses – the so
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118 OBTAINER
Prevention“The consequence of this can only be that
we must take great care of our most pre-
cious possession, our health – as we only
have one chance!“
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OBTAINER 119
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OBTAINER 119
to say basic equipment. This first attack will deploy leukocytes,
monocytes, macrophages, lymphocytes, natural killer cells (NK
cells), cytokines and so-called complementing systems. For-
eign and pathological cells must be identified. For this reason
the cells contain a body specific identity, that can be proven
just like with a passport, through our individual major histo-
compatability complex (MHC). However, this is unfortunately
something which can cause problems with organ transplants.
Only identical twins are completely identical.
The specific or acquired defense system targets certain anti-
gens. This system is once again divided into a cellular (T cells,
with various subgroups with various functions) and a humoral
section (antibodies). These antibodies are known as immuno-
globulins. Here several other classes with various significance
are referred to. Special memory cells memorize the foreign
antigens, so that they can react faster and more effectively if
re-exposed to these foreign antigens. Isn‘t it a wonderfully
elaborate system? The details are far more complex and can‘t
be explained in detail here.
Naturally all of this only works correctly under optimal condi-
tions. The more effort we make to adopt a healthy lifestyle,
the more effective our defense system will also be. Sensible
hygiene (especially during times of illness with frequent hand
washing), sufficient exercise (preferably in fresh air and in
natural light), relaxing sleep, relaxation and mental balance
and a healthy diet, as well as avoiding obesity, smoking, drugs
and alcohol. In my last article I reported on the production of
light dependent vitamin D and explained the meaning of this.
Some things are easily implemented, on the other hand, oth-
ers aren‘t so easy.
For many the holiday season is over. However, was it really
pure relaxation? Did you perhaps get sun burnt, catch an in-
fection (diarrhea, a cold) or herpes? These coveted free days
in the sun can also be stressful for the body, with changes in
time zone, high temperatures, intensive sun rays, increased
and unusual movement, change in diet and many, many more.
We sometimes never completely get over some infections.
The herpes virus stays in our bodies and will strike the next
time our immune system is weakened, only to disappear once
again. Viruses like chicken pox can in old age and in people with
weakened immune systems cause shingles. The HI virus (AIDS)
attacks the T cells and thus undermines the bodies defenses.
The consequence of this can only be that we must take great
care of our most precious possession, our health – as we only
have one chance! Nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle is pre-
senting itself as a problem for more and more people. This is
because many food products are industrially processed to make
them available all year round, however not enough of them are
being consumed. The quality of fruit and vegetables is also re-
duced by selection of specific varieties, exhausted soils, unripe
harvests, length of transport and particularly long periods of
storage. Malnutrition also weakens the immune system. A solu-
tion to this could be the consumption of natural fruit, vegetable
and berry juice concentrates in order to achieve an adequate
basic supply for the general strengthening of defense forces.
In the plant kingdom, echinacea and mistletoe are worth men-
tioning. Echinacea strengthens defenses, blueberries are said to
have a healing effect on urinary tract infections and mistletoe
seems to have a positive roll in adjuvant (supporting) cancer
treatment. Professor Susan S. Percival from the USA has prov-
en in studies in line with the Gold Standard (random and place-
bo-controlled double-blind studies) that Juice PLUS+® has a
positive effect on the immune system (reported at the congress
of “European Nutraceutical Association”, ENA, in March 2007
in Berlin).
Questions to Prof. Percival: “Do you believe that it is really
necessary to take such a nutraceutical regularly in conjunc-
tion with a normal and healthy diet? Or would you say that
it is of value to take such capsules during periods of stress?”
Answer: “No, I believe it is important to consume a healthy
variety of phytonutrients.”
All I can say from my experience is that since I began regu-
larly taking this product about 11 years ago, I haven‘t spent
one day sick in bed and I‘ve been free of my frequent and
annoying herpes virus attacks. The bottom line is: “It is
never too early to begin a healthy lifestyle, but it is often
too late.”
Juice PLUS+®
Unfortunately, the consumption of fruit and particularly the consumption of vegetables in Germany leave some-thing to be desired. In addition, deficiencies in quality occur due to long storage times, transportation andimmature crops.
The National Consumption study II (NVS) from 2008.
Remedial action can create fruit and vegetable extracts. These can be taken in addition to meals as a capsule or as a powder and contain the piths of a wide selection of different types of fruit and vegetables.
he Institute of Sports Nutrition, Bad Nauheim.
Kontakt:Dr. med. Manfred Conradt *** Internal Specialist & Nutritionist (focus on private medicine) *** Marketing Direktor of the NSA AGVehser Str. 29, 49635 Badbergen *** Tel. 05431-4646 *** Fax: 05431-902180 *** [email protected] *** www.juiceplus.com/+dr.conradt
OBTAINER 121
These days time is scarce. Scarcer than ever before. Not only during their private time but above all in their jobs many people wish that the day had 30 hours or more. A not insignificant amount of our time is taken up reading information. Whether it is the newspaper, the mail, the ever-increasing number of e-mails or research on the Inter-net. We spend a large part of our day for reading automatically. And particularly in network marketing a large flow of information is normal and necessary. Anybody who has built up a larger team will know exactly how many e-mails have to be processed per day when doing so. In addition, there is the constant further training in order to keep up to date in your business. There are two different techniques that make it possible to drastically increase your reading speed and nevertheless understand the information completely – speed reading and photo reading.
Reading more quickly using Speed or Photo-Reading
With some training anybody can increase their reading speed and potential uptake
SPEED READINGSpeed reading was developed in the 1970s by the British
mind trainer, Tony Buzan. The British author, who was born
in London on June 2nd, 1942, has become world-famous
for his writing on mnemonic techniques, creativity, learn-
ing and speed reading. He is considered to be the inventor
of the Mind Map®. But the origins lie even further back.
For training purposes the Royal Air Force used a fade-in
technique for recognizing aircraft. The goal was to enable
pilots to recognize friendly and enemy at various distances
extremely quickly. For this a slide projector was used which
at first showed air battle scenes with large pictures for long
periods and then later showed tiny pictures of 1/500 sec-
ond. This training achieved impressive results. Therefore
this tachistoscopic technique was transferred to reading.
Quickly the test persons were able to increase their read-
ing sped from 200 words per minute (wpm) to 400 wpm.
However, the reading speed rapidly decreased to 200 wpm
again as soon as the training ceased. Tony Buzan was the
first person to deal with the possibilities of reading quickly
and he originated speed reading.
122 OBTAINER
Today, just as at the beginning of the 20th century the aver-
age reading speed is between 200 and 400 words per minute,
whereby most people are at the lower end of this range. While
in the course of school and study reading speed increases and
mostly by the end of this period lies around 400 wpm, this
reading speed decreases again during adulthood and sinks
down to the 200 wpm mark. With speed reading it is possible
to achieve reading speeds of 1,00 to 4,000 wpm. In the case of
scanning a text it is even possible to achieve a speed of 10,000
wpm! This is worthwhile in the case of a very long text where
it is then possible to pick out the most important topics and
unimportant details at first don not even impinge on the brain
in any detail.
The origin of speed reading lies in recognition that our brain
processes a text considerably better at higher speeds of over
400 wpm than it does at average speeds of about 200 wpm.
The goal is therefore to train the eye in such a way that two
obstructive activities of the eyes are prevented. One of these
is regression. This means the constant return to words, sen-
tences or paragraphs that we think we have understood in-
correctly or even not at all. The other is returning. This is an
unintentional return to words and sentences. The latter hap-
pens unconsciously.
The eyes can be supported with a simple aid in this training.
For this a pencil, a knitting needle or a chopstick may be used.
The reading aid is moved here along with the line which is
being read. The eye can thus follow the text significantly more
simply and straightforwardly. At the same time concentration
is increased and attention is heightened. Above all this is often
observed in children when they follow the text with their fin-
ger. Unfortunately, this is something most of them are forced
to unlearn as a “bad habit.” while reading the eye does not
move smoothly across the text. The eye stops, takes in one or
more words and then goes on to the next stopping place and
begins again from the beginning. This short glances are called
“fixations.” The first step is to increase the number of words
per fixation. It has been discovered that skilled readers need
only half as many fixations while reading a text as unskilled
ones. Even when the eye fixates on larger blocks of words and
it appears that the reader might not take everything in – no
need to worry: The brain absorbs the information just as well
or even better!
So when a text is read using a reading aid the number of words
fixated increases automatically and the reading speed is also
increased. With conventional reading only 20% of the field of
vision is used. After a while using the reading aid. 10 words
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to the left and right of each stopping place are registered. It
has also been shown that reading with fewer fixation points
is more enjoyable. Quickly the brain gets used to such large
groups and deals with them of its own accord. The reading aid
then becomes superfluous. But with this the goal has not yet
been reached. The extraordinary thing about speed reading is
the “photographing” of a text, which the brain then assembles
and analyzes. Here the field of vision is increased in such a way
that the brain processes words from the previous and follow-
ing line and registers them together. As a final step the brain is
trained to read backwards so that not every line has to be read
from left to right. In this way jumping backwards and reading
speed is doubled. Finally the reading order is changed. There
are six different methods for perfect speed reading. For these
exercises the reading aids are again necessary.
1. The S methodThe eye is moved with two lines from left to right. When the
end of the line is reached two lines are again fixated and the
eye then moves from right to left to the beginning of the line.
The whole thing is then repeated from the start.
2. The zigzag methodThe method is similar to the S-method except that here the
number of lines can be variable.
3. The ribbon methodThis method is similar to the zigzag method but it begins at
the right. In addition the number of lines is adapted to the
reader‘s rhythm, which is why it is very popular with readers.
4. The vertical wave-movement methodHere the eyes move rhythmically from left to right while mov-
ing downwards in the center of the page. This method not only
promotes reading backwards it also trains the vertical and
horizontal vision.
5. The double-sided reading-aid methodHere two reading aids are necessary. That can be the finger on
the left side of the page and a pencil on the right. Both read-
ing aids move downwards on each side of the page while the
eye reads the words between them. With this method you are
training your brain to determine the direction of movement
of the eyes.
6. The slow S MethodThis is a combination of the S, zigzag and the vertical wave-
movement methods. Here you make a series of Ss and re-
versed Ss down the page. The best possible results are with
five or six slowly falling movements from left to right until the
end of the page.
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124 OBTAINER
PHOTO READING
Photo Reading has a completely different approach to
speed reading. Photo Reading was developed by Paul R.
Scheele. The basis of this reading method is the mode of
operation of the subconscious. As a first step the reader
must get a short general idea of the structure of the read-
ing material. After that the Photo Reading proper begins.
The reading material is leafed through page by page but
the eyes do not fixate the text. In this way the text is trans-
ferred into the subconscious. After the Photo Reading
follows the incubation period. That means that the brain
processes the information. That is why a recovery phase
is important immediately after the Photo Reading. Finally
the contents read have to be activated in order to transfer
them into the consciousness. For activation two further
reading runs are necessary. In the course of these the text
should be looked through using two different methods.
Paul R. Scheele advises the use of the creativity technique
known as Mind Mapping® because here the brain receives
optimal support.
Not every type of reading material is suitable for Photo
Reading since the text is registered subconsciously. The
text reaches the consciousness in a different way from
conventional reading or speed reading. Therefore reading
speeds of 25,000 wpm and more are possible. However
there is no doubt that it works.
1. PreparationFree yourself from the conventional way of reading and get
into the new technique. Fears and doubts will lose ground
with continuing practice. Consider it as a game where you
will discover new things. You should have a sheet of paper
and a pencil available and allow yourself enough time to do
the photo reading. Take the reading material and place it on
the table in front of you. Determine what the reading mate-
rial is about what you hope to gain from it. In this way your
subconscious will recognize what significance it has for you.
Then start to relax. Close your eyes and allow your thoughts
to run freely. As soon as you feel relaxed count down from
10 to 1. With each number you will become looser and your
breathing will become quieter and more relaxed. As soon as
you reach 12 think of something nice such as, for example,
a rainbow or a personal experience. If all goes well you will
no be in the alpha state – a state of total relaxation with
simultaneous high alertness. In the alpha state a person can
learn particularly well. Think again of the reading material
and why you want to read it. Then open your eyes.
2. OverviewNow read the title of your reading material, the table of con-
tents, the preface, the short biography of the author or other
things that do not have anything directly to do with the text.
In this way you will become more familiar with the topic of the
reading material. After that leaf without interruption through
the text from beginning to end and look out for words that
stand out. These can occur often, are written in bold or italic
type or you may notice them for other reasons. Write down
the trigger words and read through you notes again. Try to
write down the content of the text in two or three sentences.
3. Photo ReadingRelax again and close your eyes. Let your thoughts run freely
and breathe deeply in and out. Imagine that you have a a fra-
grant orange in your hand. Visualize the orange as if it were re-
ally there. Now move the orange to the back of your head and
let it go. Since it is a magic orange it stays stuck there. Now the
photo reading begins. Open your eyes and start with the first
page of the text. There are two variants of Photo Reading.
A: Try to look through the text. For this you should fixate on
a point behind the text. When the letters in the text appear to
be out of focus you are on the right road. A sort of additional
page that is narrower ought to appear. This view is something
you must retain the whole time.
B: Imagine a cross that is hovering above the page and the
ends of which reach into the corners of the text. Concentrate
on all four corners and the middle of the text. Here too the let-
ters will go out of focus.
With the out-of-focus view leaf through the pages from begin-
ning to end. Always linger on each page for only a few seconds.
Try to maintain a speed that is as steady as possible. Think
of something else while you are leafing through. That can be
the lyrics of a song, a poem, a formula or something similar.
Under no circumstances may you consciously notice the text.
When you are ready, relax a bit again. Then do something
else because now the incubation period is beginning. You will
know nothing of the text at all yet. The brain is now processing
what has been read unconsciously and that takes at least an
hour. It is better if you wait a whole day.
4. ActivationNow it is a question of becoming conscious of the information
recorded subconsciously so that you can use the information.
Relax again and think about the topic of the text. Go thorough
the text again now by moving your eyes down the page in the
middle from top to bottom. I a place is particularly interest-
BRAINBOX
124 OBTAINER
OBTAINER 125
ing read it more closely. However, beware of reading the text
completely. Make notes for yourself on the topic of the text – or
better, create a Mind Map®. Do not use more than 10 minutes
for this and avoid consideration that is too strenuous. Photo
Reading is supposed to be fun.
5. Rapid ReadingWith this you can gather still more information for your con-
sciousness and understand still more of the text. Read the text
completely from start to finish without pausing. Read signifi-
cantly quicker than you normally do. Skim through the para-
graphs that appear familiar and read parts more slowly when
these contain new information. Through this variation of the
speed you gather the last information into your consciousness.
If you would like to learn both reading techniques, speed read-
ing and Photo Reading, start with Photo Reading. In the case
of speed reading it is primarily a question of fixation, whereas
with Photo Reading you have to give up fixation. However giv-
ing up fixation is all the harder if this has first been promoted
by speed reading.
BRAINBOX
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Daniela Claudia Szasz
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COLUMN
Here are some examples of a few things that are in there:
- Learn a foreign language
- Get a free upgrade on a flight
- Throw a dart at a map: go wherever it lands
- Read the most important books of all time
- Live to be 100
- Learn the meaning of your name
- Save someone’s life
- Quit your job
- Buy everyone in the bar a drink
- Make your sex life more exciting and so on and so on
So you need some humor with the whole thing and for this
reason I hoped I would find one particular point. I would have
been able to check that off my list straight away. But no matter
how intensely I searched, I didn‘t find it. That point needs to
be expanded…
I‘m talking of “paying taxes“ because that is something every-
one has to do them before they die. It is not quite so enjoyable,
but let’s now imagine the fun parts.
Am I hearing a long, drawn-out “Aaaaahhhh? Stay away from me!“
Relax; this is not a dissertation about the internal revenue ;)
What is interesting about taxes: Some hate them, others evade
them, others see them as a necessary evil, others flee from
them – but no one loves them.
No one enjoys them with the exception of tax consultants, who
really love them because they earn their money from our taxes
and they regularly send it with great enthusiasm to the IRS (a
bit of humor is necessary).
Do you know the film “Meet Joe Black” with Brad Pitt and
Sir Anthony Hopkins? It‘s superb how among other things
the subject of taxes is dealt with there. There you can hear:
“Nothing is as certain in life as death and taxes.“ An inter-
esting sentence which I know since then. J
Because I have been dealing with it for more than 13 years,
I have developed a pretty good feeling about how important
this subject is in certain countries (especially Germany and
Austria).
Above all when tax consultant (who is also only human)
makes an occasional mistake. It was 2000 when the fol-
lowing happened: I happily flew around the world to build
my business in the good old networking fashion. I was per-
fectly content with myself and with the world.
Right on time every month I sent my neatly filed accounts
to my tax consultant, who as always booked everything on
time and sent them back to me and I regiularly sent either
the VAT or other advance payments to the tax office. Like
I said: I was quite happy and always virtuously set some
money aside so that I could always pay my taxes on time.
Both my tax consultant and the tax office were not exactly
the cheapest items in my accounts, but “what must be must
be” I thought, and I “was at ease.”
In addition, at that time I also had a financial coach who
also double-checked everything and told me in advance
how much money I had to set aside, so I really had noth-
ing to worry about. I then came home from a business trip
to Morocco and was planning a longer trip abroad to build
my business further. Then my financial coach came by to
throw a monkey wrench into the works, something I will
never forget.
Duty or Free Will?I am not sure if you are familiar with the book by Richard Horne: “101 things to do before you die.“ In any case, I sat
down and studied all 101 things, looking at those of which I have done and those of which I haven’t.
128 OBTAINER
She explained to me without hesitation that the accountant
had made a mistake that I had not noticed, and for this rea-
son I owed a large back-payment for the previous year, which
as a result would change all my advance payments retrospec-
tively so that I would have to pay about 60.000 euros within
3 months.
Can you imagine to some extent how I felt at that moment;
how the rug was pulled out from under my feet? I could not
understand how such a mistake could be made. I regularly
paid three people (my tax consultant, who was also an accoun-
tant, my bookkeeper and my financial coach) so that every-
thing would run smoothly – and then something that was ex-
tremely important had nevertheless been overlooked (at least
in Germany)?
I was angry, but that didn’t help – the money had to be paid.
They all apologized to me, but did that help? A few short
months later I fired my financial coach, and my tax consul-
tant, but the damage had been done.
Then I remembered a saying from the famous German chat-
show host Harald Schmid. He said once in his Late Show: “In
Germany the rich are those who can pay their taxes without
taking out a loan to do so.” I had just barely escaped getting
into debt, but I understood very well what he meant.
As a result of this experience I tried to gain some insight into
the whole question of taxes and to understand it a bit. Up un-
til that point I “only” did what people told me to do. After all,
I was busy building up my business and for “something like
that” I just did not have the time. However, the truth is: If you
do not want to deal with that, than you have to live somewhere
else, in other words, in another country that is a bit more re-
laxed about these things. My easiest year – as far as bureau-
cracy goes – was when I lived in Asia. I did not know how
easy-going everything could be until I lived there. Not quite
as relaxed – but easier than here – was the year that I spent
in Switzerland. In Switzerland, for example, tax evasion (re-
gardless of whether it is intentional or completely the result of
ignorance) is not a criminal offense.
You simply make a back-payment and you’re done. In Ger-
many I would prefer not to risk anything like that. Think of
Boris Becker, or Steffi Graf’s father, or many others. Other
countries have different customs and rules. For example,
American citizens have to pay taxes in the USA without any
regard where they live or work on this planet – simply because
they have an American passport. France has a very friendly
and simple tax system for people whose businesses are still
starting up. That changes when you earn a lot of money. J
I myself, as many of you know, never wanted to return to
Germany. But since I am here, I have to adjust again. It very
quickly dawned on me why I hadn‘t wanted to come back: Af-
ter almost 10 years my bookkeeper made another mistake that
would also have cost me money unnecessarily. But because I
had learned to keep an eye on things myself, I had the feeling
that there must be a mistake somewhere. I ran my tax records
COLUMN
COLUMN
by a neutral person and look – I was right! My tax con-
sultant was overworked and had too many clients and this
sort of thing just happens occasionally.
Now I have once again changed my tax consultant. Mis-
takes with taxes are something that I am not prepared to
accept anymore. What is the most important thing in this
case? The most important thing is that I now try to keep
track of my taxes, look at them, and try to understand what
is going on. I am definitely not a tax professional, and I
never want to become one, but I should know enough to
understand my tax return. Because: when I pay too much
(or too little in the short term) I have to foot the bill and
never my tax consultant! Tough, isn’t it! In this case you
really think: What am I paying for then…?
Okay. Why have I been telling you all of this? Do I want to
bother you with it? Too many networkers underestimate
what they can do on their own, and still have an “employee
mentality,” even though they are self-employed. I can give
you a few tips from my own experience about what to look
out for:
· The moment you decide to work with all your power in
MLM register a company!
· Look for an inexpensive tax consultant and sign up for a
monthly business assessment (at the beginning it should
be around 80 to 100 euros a month).
· Learn how to read your business assessment
· Collect all your receipts, bills etc. even if you still do not
have a tax advisor, you will find one and he can book them
retrospectively.
· Send your business registration to the company that
sends you your monthly commission checks. Then you
will receive checks including the value added tax. How-
ever, you can only spend a limited amount of this money,
because it will flow away again. Make sure somebody ex-
plains the “prepaid tax game” carefully to you
· Become familiar with the tax regime for small businesses in your
country and learn the most important details.
· Have a business account, a private account, and an account for
your tax reserves.
· If you ever get the feeling that somewhere in your documents
there is a mistake, make sure that you get it checked by another
tax consultant.
· Have one or two people that you can always call if something
should happen to you (through no fault of your own) and you
unintentionally wind up in a bad spot. J In some countries that
happens faster than in others. May you never have to experience
that.
There are certainly more things that need to be taken into consid-
eration, but these are a few points at a glance. If you don‘t have
the time for this whole business and you can afford it: Pay some-
one to do it for you! However, do not underestimate it!
And now to close, something to make you smile from the book
“101 things to do…”
· Pull the perfect practical joke or April Fool’s day prank on a
friend
With that in mind: Have fun! ;-)
Yours truly,
Dany Szasz
www.danielaszasz.com
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130 OBTAINER
LIFESTYLE
130 OBTAINER
The Falcon SymbolGold, luxury cars and villas aren‘t status symbols in Arab countries
The luxury on show in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E), is like a fairytale from 1001 nights. Expensive villas, splendid hotels, luxury cars and jewelry made from the finest materi-als the world has to offer. While in the Western world such things are status symbols of wealth, they form part of every-day live in the Emirates. Those who would like to reach and maintain high standards, own a falcon, which is trained on a falconry.
OBTAINER 131
LIFESTYLE
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A falcon – in this region, is a symbol of
lifestyle. It stands for pride, freedom
and class. The strong love for this no-
ble animal can be seen in many varia-
tions. The falcon is the heraldic animal
of Abu Dhabi. It graces money and
stamps. A four story concrete falcon
greets golfers to Abu Dhabi‘s golf club and the hotel, manage-
ment and tourism training college is called ‚Falcon College‘.
A particularly well trained, fearless and beautiful falcon
which is as swift as an arrow can easily cost 100,000 Euro.
The most expensive falcon in the world is the Gyr Pure. A
particularly fine specimen can cost 150,000 Euro. In Abu
Dhabi the average price of a falcon is between 20,000 and
50,000 Euro. Most of the falcons at the falconry are fe-
male. They are around a third lager than the male and
are more aggressive in the hunt: The heavier, the larger
the prey that can be hunted. While swooping a falcon can
reach speeds of 280 km/h. In the United Arab Emir-
ates, falcons and falconries are a centuries old tradition.
Before the Arabs discovered the “black gold” under their feet,
Bedouins used the peregrine falcons to hunt. While falcons
flew over the desert en route to their winter home, they were
caught by the Bedouins. The more success the falconer had,
the higher his reputation was. In addition to food security,
the falconry was an aphrodisiac. After the hunting season, the
falcons were released once again. However, this tradition no
longer exists. Since 2002, trapping and caging falcons from
the hunting ground is prohibited. Today all falcons are bred.
Most falcons bred come from Germany, Great Britain and the
USA.
However, in the Arab region, falcons aren‘t just any ordi-
nary pet. On the contrary. They belong to the family and are
treated exactly like a family member. Family, is of particular
importance to the Arabs. Abu Dhabi has the largest and best-
equipped veterinary clinic specifically for falcons. Today, the
clinic have some 18 employees and even has a high-tech labo-
ratory. Of the four laboratory staff, one is a doctor for molecu-
lar biology and another has a masters degree in microbiology.
The clinic also contains the latest technological tools the world
132 OBTAINER
has to offer. Every year 4,000 falcons are treated here. Among
these are the falcons of the ruling families of the Emirates.
A detailed medical file for each falcon is filled out and they
are treated like royalty. Birds of prey are strong hunters, how-
ever they are also very illness prone. The diagnosis‘s can range
from eye problems and injuries to breathing difficulties and
foot conditions. Air conditioning and fungal spores pose a se-
rious problem to this animal. “Infections, ulcers and fungal
infections of the foot are often a result of incorrect posture
and lack of preparedness”, explains Dr. vet. Müller.
The hospital also serves as summer accommodation for the
falcons. During the summer, hunting can not take place, as
the birds begin to molt. If too many feathers are shed, the
animal may bled to death. In the summer quarters the falcons
claws and beaks are trimmed and the bird is cared for around
the clock. In special aviaries, similar size birds rub shoulders.
Here, they can move around comfortably and train their mus-
cles. Diet is also specially adjusted to meet the requirements
of the birds of prey: quails, mice and vitamins ensure strong
feathers. Some 40 falcons spend their “summer holidays” in
the hospital.
The first – indirect - written record about a falconry in the
Middle East goes as far back as the Talmud (about 250 BC).
Around 600 AD, texts about hawking were put together by
Byzantine, Persian and Indian doctors at the court of the Sas-
sanid Empire. A century later Emir Adham ibn Muhriz al
Bahili collected all written texts about hawking. He didn‘t just
concentrate on Arabic texts, he collected everything and read
them when they had been translated into Arabic. In Damas-
cus, between 720 and 730, Al-Gitrif a-Gassani compiled all
texts that were collected into one work both for himself
and on behalf of Emir Adham. Al-Gitrif was the top hunter
in the court of Kalif al-Walid II between 724 -744. Kalif
Hischam was the top hunter in Damascus. In 775, the Ca-
liph of Arabia, Caliph Abu Abdallah Muhammad al-Mahdi,
was given a book about the falconry from Byzantium. Fol-
lowing this, Al-Gitrif received an instruction to collect all
known works. It took him ten years to compile an overall
work about the falconry with that of the Turkish Chacans.
This ancient work was constantly changed by authors. So
two versions exist, the al-Haggag version or the Iskandar
version. In both, the illnesses affecting falcons are at the
foreground of the book. Noways, there are numerous pub-
lications on this topic, however all of them contain findings
from al-Gitrif‘s work.
Hawking isn‘t just a hunting sport. It is seen as an art, as a
strong relationship between the falconer and the falcon is
required. Raising a falcon is a very time consuming process.
Hawking has nothing to do with dressage or blind obedi-
ence, as is the case with a hunting dog. Therefore, a trusting
relationship is absolutely crucial when training falcons. A
lure and hide ball are used for training. The lure is the most
LIFESTYLE
132 OBTAINER
OBTAINER 133
important tool when training falcons, it teaches them how
to hunt in the air. The lure is usually a fabric or leather pil-
low with bird wings attached to it. The lure is then attached
to a two meter long cord.
The lure is used to tame the falcon and also used as a signal
to return to the falconer. For this reason, a piece of meat is
attached to the lure before the falconer throws the “bait”
above his head in a lasso motion. As soon as the falcon sees
OBTAINER 133
the circling lure, it will plunge on the prey from the air. The
meat is used as an immediate reward for a successful hunt.
With the hide ball, hunting on the ground is practiced.
Similar to the lure, the hide ball is a pillow, that is thrown
across the ground on a long cord. Instead of wings, it is
made of hares skin or of something similar. A piece of meat
is also attached to this as a reward. Falconries are prevalent
the world over. However, it is only the Arabs who have such
a great love for this tradition and bird of prey.
134 OBTAINER
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