The Sell Off Continues, YTB Stock Almost Worthless

Michael Brent has sold another 2.2 million shares of YTB stock on February 25, 2009. Several months ago, he entered into a Sales Plan to divest himself of 4 million shares; however, I do not recall seeing SEC filings for these transactions.

Brent is still the largest shareholder of YTB stock and when your own leadership (and ownership) is bailing at a rate like this is it never a good sign. The Brents entered the Sales plan on September 30, 2008 when the stock was valued at 60 cents per share (9/29/08 Adjusted Close). This was obviously a good move, since the stock had been artificially inflated at one time nearly $9.00 per share. But as of yesterday's close, the shares were trading at 22 cents per share. This is a 63.3% drop in value for YTB's stock in a short 5 months.

Looking at a longer term picture, the stock traded at $8.50 on August 3, 2007 and has declined 97.41%. Translated, YTB has lost nearly 100% of its value in 18 months (only 6 of which have been affected by the Attorney General lawsuit).

The year end filing with the SEC is due to be released no later than March 31, 2009 and it will be interesting to see how YTB fares. It has been speculated that they will amortize the $500 sign up fees, so there may not be a significant drop in recruiting income. However, that may be a double edged sword in their legal defense--after all the high recruiting numbers are what has landed them in trouble with Jerry Brown and Lisa Madigan, the Attorneys General of California and Illinois, respectively. I wonder if they report the active RTAs again. This has always been done by a note, so I assume it is not required.

But in another filing, YTB has offered a Stock Option plan for the Reps and TSOs. I have not had a chance to read the plan, but to be honest, unless YTB was actually giving the stock away, based on past performance, any purchase of the stock at any price is apt to be a money loser for the Reps and TSOs.

More Pressure From Travel Agent

Travel Agent magazine had an article on the changes that host agencies and our associations need to implement to make a dent in the card mill/MLM  issue.  They interviewed Peter Stilphen and came up with a bullet list (some of which I disagree with) which is a good start.

• Host agencies should be required to maintain a commission escrow account or insurance that protects the travel agent in case of insolvency by the host agency.
• The host agency should eliminate the 100 percent commission programs. They are unfair to host agencies and suppliers and are unprofitable. The only benefit to hosts is they build volume with the supplier.
• CLIA should eliminate the extra photo ID cards afforded to their member agencies.
• The word "insolvency" should be spelled out and applied to those hosts that have demonstrated they are not paying their agents. Insolvency along with any Chapter 11 filing by that host agency should automatically allow the transfer of bookings on any reservation that as yet a commission has not been paid to that host by the supplier.
• Requirements and rules should be implemented that deal with or forbid those host agency models that promote multi-tier commission programs.
• Host agencies should be forbidden to offer photo ID cards to their affiliates for any reason other than as a membership card. They should not have any numbers on the card except an internal number issued by that host agency.

I am not sure what an escrow account will do when it is managed and run by the same people that are supposed to be paying the agents in the first place.  The solution, in my opinion, is to re-take this industry with a public relations campaign and offer more oversight--either on the associative or the governmental level.

Agents need to let the traveling public know how detrimental card mills and MLMs are to the travel industry, and to the consumer. Government entities need to be able to watch over, or at least have some leverage, over the agencies to protect the consumers. There is a strong movement to do just this afoot and likely you will see the beginnings of that in March or April.

In a recent meeting with an Ohio state Senator, there were many ideas floated about how to gain better control over the scourge. To be honest, he was absolutely shocked at what is happening and even more shocked when he realized that one MLM had nearly 2500 unregulated, untrained, card carrying MLMers running amok in his State!

A Statue Update

Well, it appears that the Fake Statue of Liberty might have a home...well half of her! From the Post Tribune of Northwest Indiana:

She was touted on eBay recently as the largest replica of the Statue of Liberty ever produced.

And still no one wanted her.

Even before her 15 minutes of fame last fall for a convention in St. Louis, the 132-foot, 50,000-pound foam and plastic statue already had been scorned by environmentalists as "the ultimate waste product."

Since then she's been rejected twice, first, by Lake County as a memorial to soldiers and law enforcement.

Then, Hammond thought it wanted her to stand proudly on Boy Scout Island in Wolf Lake, but a study revealed that she wasn't strong enough to withstand the weather.

Now, the Lady Liberty knock-off -- the faux-leather Gucci bag of Ellis Island -- languishes in a Hammond warehouse.

But Miss Liberty, or at least part of her, may soon find a temporary home as part of one of the annual exhibits at the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority.

Hammond and authority officials are in "the very early states of discussion" about using the statue's head or torso, and torch for a convention and visitors display.

Hey but if you read the article, if Chicago gets the 2016 Olympics, the FLL might be a tourist draw. Somewhat ironic that YTB's Beijing Olympic stunt failed miserably, and now another of their failures might ultimately be an Olympic draw! Oh the irony!

And for those that missed out on the bidding on eBay (or those that doubted it was "that" statue, please click here for the listing and all the full color photos!

Advice From Our Favorite Traveling Moms

Nothing like a little fear to motivate the recruitment effort:

5 million people lost their jobs. There are no jobs to work. They are hiding the homeless report. Think again what you need to do to earn any money. Watch this video and learn how. If you pay a cell phone bill, landline phone, cable, satellite why not invest in yourself I know you pay more than $50 dollars a month. People in this company have made a lot of money and all they had to do is pay $50 a month for the website. They are now millionaires and they still pay $50 a month. What I did was dropped a landline in my house that was my $50. Now the $50 is making me money. Watch the video and understand that there are no jobs out here. This might be the only way to make money and if you wait too late it might be too late.I don't plan on standing in soup lines for food, being homeless and I am not depending on the government to bail me out.

And in order to stimulate the economy she is recommending WHAT?

We need to keep that money here in America . You can keep the money in America by spending it at yard sales, going to a baseball game, or spend it on prostitutes, beer. (domestic ONLY), tattoos or Disney World since those are the only businesses still in the US. 

So, I guess it is fair to assume that the December 15th policy has now been rescinded? Recruitment by terror is now acceptable and the YTB Reps and TSOs are recommending that you spend your money on sports, hookers, booze, tattoos and Disney!

I am so sure that the YTB Disney Rep is VERY proud of the relationship they have forged.  And remember, this is the same woman who suggested that dildos at a travel party were perfectly acceptable!

More Plays By Coach

It's a kid week, so no time to listen to the Saturday morning Coach's Call sermon, but had a report for this week.

• YTB is the biggest thing that happens in St. Louis all year long and the media never covered the convention until California came in the picture and then it was all bad news.
• There will be more bad news about YTB but Coach has decided to not listen to it (or any other bad news) because all of the newspapers and the television news shows all have "a smell" to them.
• Coach is choosing to surround himself with the truth and not the lies that the media puts out in their papers and on their television shows.
• Coach is excited that a bunch of people from Illinois are coming to Red Carpet Day and hopes they will all bring their 7-10 recruits.
• In 2020, YTB will "own" internet distribution.
• Coach does not want anyone to listen to the negative news and the media and if they want the truth to just continue to work their business.

Does Coach think something not so nice may be coming out soon? Hmmm, I guess time will tell. My guess is the 10-K may not be so good or another state jumped on the Jerry Brown bandwagon. Seems to me that old Coach is pulling a Wizard of Oz here...ignore the man behind the green curtain!

A Virtual High Five To Pilgrim Tours

While Pilgrim Tours is a relatively small company specializing in pilgrimages for the past 20 years, in November 2007, they established a policy regarding the card mills and specifically name YTB and Global Travel International. We have alluded to this policy in this blog in the past, but never re-published it.

So, just to be clear, here is one more company that refuses to deal with YTB or GTI and I applaud Pilgrim Tours for their insight and for their commitment to professionalism in the travel industry. While it has taken a while for supplier to come around, they slowly are and I am sure that Pilgrim Tours is pleased to be included with the likes of IATAN, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Perillo Tours, Azamara Cruise Lines, Qantas Vacations, Celebrity Cruise Lines, A Plus Tours, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Slowly the suppliers are coming around to the realization that doing business with an MLM is bad business. Granted, it is business, but the suppliers are beginning to see that it is not the business they want! To Pilgrim Tours, I say "THANK YOU!"

Pilgrim is getting an alarming number of calls from prospective travel agents who have purchased memberships and/or travel cards from companies such as YTB, Global Travel International, etc.. They use the company IATA number from the agency in order to get a discount or rebate on their own travel. We also have travel agencies who encourage clients to do all the research on a tour, choose the tour they want and then call their agency for the reservation. If the client has already done the research, the agency will then rebate some of the commission back to the client.

Pilgrim's classifies the above situations as unethical practices that undermine the travel agency commission system. We will not support these practices and discourage honest people from buying into any form of this activity.

Does Pilgrim Pay Referral Commission?
Pilgrim Tours pays commissions to travel agents who refer clients to our product line and help the client through the quotation and booking procedure. Commissions are normally paid only on our Christian Retail Tour Products. We also give commissions and small group net fares to tour operators and approved CLIA agencies that wish to promote our Christian Tour products. It is our policy to not give commissions to agencies if the client has first been quoted by a Pilgrim agent. We appreciate very much the work that professional agents do if they initially deal with clients, but we only pay commission under this condition - no exceptions. Pilgrim also does not pay commission on clergy or industry discounted fares.

In order to receive commissions from Pilgrim Tours, your agency must be a valid travel agency that is not involved in rebating in any form. If you are interested in applying for our "Qualified Agency" status, please fill out the form at the following link. Click Here

See, THIS Is What I Am Talking About

In the comments from a post a few days ago, I was discussing how the bulk of the Reps with YTB will simply exaggerate or outright lie to get the sale.

For being such an "ethical" and "Christian" company one might think that stuff does not happen. But it does. Even our own Firemedic is lying again. Remember he spoke with forked tongue a while back after he claimed to never "diss" the competition and then created a blog for that sole purpose?

Well, a few days ago, he was on here lying about ditching YTB for Traverus. He even took his blog down and changed the title to "Traverus Rocks". Well, not many people believed him, but just to give the benefit of the doubt, I did some checking and as suspected, he was lying. I know how some bloggers like to see documentation for claims, so I offer the following:

From:
Date: Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Subject: Status Change on Your Trouble Ticket, ID: 36855
To: xxxxxxxx@gmail.com



Trouble Ticket ID: 3X8XX
Description: New TraVerus Member

-------------------------------------------------------

Please be advised that the status on your trouble ticket
has been changed from Submitted to Closed
with the following comment:
-------------------------------------------------------
Comment: XXXXX,

I am not showing a Conrad that has signed up recently at all in the system.

thank you,
Ginger

To reply to this comment directly, please click on the link below:

http://www.exdesk.com/TraVerusTravel/index.cfm?addcomment=yes
-------------------------------------------------------
Status changed by: Ginger Johnson
-------------------------------------------------------

Regards,
noreply@traverus.com
---

Thank you!

TraVerus Support Team

And now, his old anti-Traverus blog is back up with a juvenile "I was joking" message--for now. I mean really, is it coming down to this? The purpose of this blog if pretty evident and I have stuck to my opinion from the start. It is too bad that rather than debate the issues, Firmedic decides to resort to sophomoric antics. But you can rest assured that once the collapse of YTB becomes more than he can handle, he will be running out the door to some other MLM that is going to make him one of 10,000 millionaires. Maybe it will be Glenn and Starla Green. But if Traverus is reading this blog (and I know they are), you might want to mark down ole Firemedic's name. He obviously is not doing any favors for YTB!


And finally Firemedic, what would Coach say? What happened to the old "if it ain't right don't say it" line he loves to use? Firemedic, this is no way to get a chance to sit on his lap like Doug does. This will never get you invited to the mansion owned by John Simmons. All this does is move you up one more notch in your quest to be the valedictorian of the Dumbasses Den!

WARNING: Pickpockets In Area

Not only is it bad enough that you need to pay to fly to your corporate headquarters, but you also need to pay to get a tour. But the fleecing of your wallet will not stop there. Oh no! Once inside, you are subject to all sorts of "opportunities" to buy all sorts of items. Clothes, magazines, DVDs, marketing materials, brochures and more.

From the February 13th Biz Report:

Over 1,000 enthusiastic Reps, Travel Site Owners, and guests attended the first Red Carpet Day of 2009 this past Tuesday. The February weather cooperated with warm temperatures and no snow! Tours of the Wood River home office were non-stop through the morning and in the afternoon after the RCD presentation. Welcomed by YTB mascot Travel Lee, crowds visited the information and shopping booths at the Gateway Center before lunch, buying logo merchandise, apparel, and marketing materials to promote their YTB businesses. Information booths included YTB Travel Network, YTB Outdoors, Marketing/Enhanced Rep Site, Travel Support, YTB Cars, Sprint, H&R Block, and Limited Medical/Major Medical Health Insurance.

Well, one has to wonder how many guests were actually there. There were already nearly 600 Directors and Coach's Corner members, so out of the remaining 400, my guess is that 99% of them were TSOs. Remember back in February 2007 when I attended the Founder Tour revival, there were close to 1000 in attendance and only about 40 were true guests. All the others had drank the Kool Aid before coming.

Top Secret YTB Meeting Notes

While a member of Coach's Corner was blogging that he was "not at liberty" to discuss the goings on at the recent Directors and Coach's Corner meeting last week, I have no problem letting you know**. There is nothing surprising here. Travel does not come into play till item 15 and only lasted for three items. So that makes the meeting about 85% about recruiting and 15% about travel.  Seems like a pretty standard number and one that we see in the SEC filings a lot.  I did notice that the Tomer's seem to be bringing on a lot of family to run the business. And that does not even count the relatives that have different names and those of Andy, John, and Kim! I wonder what their management qualifications are. If you are a Rep or RTA you might want to ask that question--after all it is YOUR travel business.

TOPIC 1 - Communicating with your YTB Technology Eric Smith – Chief Information Officer - Discussion of your communication needs with respect to your downline, PowerTeam, and custom communication groups, as well as the types of communications you need to send.

TOPIC 2 - Back Office Reporting Jeff Thurston – Director of Application Development - What reports do you need as a new Rep with YTB, how about as a member of Coach’s Corner, or a Director? Let us know what reports you require.

TOPIC 3 - Building Your Business with Marketing James Tackett – Chief Marketing Officer - The use of the Sizzle Call line and lead generation.

TOPIC 4 - Using Your YTB Marketing Tools Josh Tomer – Vice President of Marketing Services - Enhanced Rep Site and Internet marketing focusing on email campaigns.

TOPIC 5 - Tax Program and $6,000 Guarantee Clint Tomer – Marketing Services Manager - Discussion of the tax program with Botkins and the $6,000 Guarantee.

TOPIC 6 - First Tuesday Travel Party Caryn Tomer - Marketing Writer and Editor - Discussion of the First Tuesday Travel Party format and party packs.

TOPIC 7 - Home Office Communication with the Field Derek Avera – Vice President of Communications - Tell us what you like about the home office communications and what you don’t like – how can we improve communications to the field?

TOPIC 8 - YTB’s Communication with the Public Marcia Dempsey – Director of Public Relations - How can we improve our communication to the public and what activities would you suggest to aid improving our public image? What suggestions do you have for improving “The Facts about YTB” website?

TOPIC 9 - National Convention Tim Church – Director of Business Development - Discussion of the overall event schedule, YTBU, general session agenda, crowd control and security, food and dining options, registration, and vendor exhibits.

TOPIC 10 - RTA Retention Duane Vancil – Chief Operating Officer - Discussion of our current processes for retention, our current statistical success rate for retention, and our ideas for the future.

TOPIC 11 - Legal and Compliance Amy Wollenweber – Vice President of Operations - Discussion of our current processes that protect your integrity and YTB’s. In addition, we'll offer summary statistics of investigations and resolutions, and our ideas for the future.

TOPIC 12 - Enhancing Your Customer Support Experience LeAnn Troeckler – Manager of Director Relations - Discussion of our current processes and our current statistical success of contact handled. Hear about our ideas for the future and offer some of your own.

TOPIC 13 - Your Training Tools Emily Archibald – Director of Learning and Development - Discussion of all the current training tools at your disposal, as well as the pros and the cons of each.

TOPIC 14 - Enhancing Your Coach’s Corner and Rep Support Experience Amber Foster – Rep Support Division Manager - Discussion of our current processes and our current statistical success of contact handled. Hear about our ideas for the future and offer some of your own.

TOPIC 15 - Travel Training and Tools Shelly Coppersmith – Vice President of Travel Marketing - Help us determine how effective our current offerings are (such as Funshine, E-Campus, Travel Portal, Travel Compass). We'd like your feedback on user-friendliness and accessibility and your suggestions on how to improve.

TOPIC 16 - Group Travel and Cruises Tami Goad – Director of Travel Management - A discussion of the need for guidelines for group cruises and other groups in the future, as well as your ideas to better service groups. Discuss any thoughts and ideas on enhanced technology to improve the booking, tracking, and management of groups.

TOPIC 17 - Travel Promotions, Training, and Communications Stephanie Kulek – Travel Promotions Coordinator - What features would you like to see in the weekly Travel Compass and in the Travel Portal? Discussion of training offered by vendors and destination marketing organizations.

TOPIC 18 - Your YTB Online Store - Past, Present and Future David Lash – Director of New Business Development - Discuss the difference between the Travel Portal vs. the Booking Engine and what that means to TSOs and building your business. In addition, we’ll be seeking your input on most wanted features, products, suppliers, etc.

TOPIC 19 – Open Idea Forum Tony Green – Project Manager - What are you’re ideas? Here’s an opportunity to throw out your specific ideas - any topic. Tony will recap and present to the Founders.

TOPIC 20 - 2009 Meetings and Events Andy Cauthen – President and COO, YTB International - Let’s discuss the timing and content of YTB’s 2009 meetings and events: National Convention, Funshine Travel Trade Show, Red Carpet Days, First Tuesday Travel Parties, and more…

**Nice to know that December 15th missive is working well isn't it?  And Eran Distler, why is it that you tell people that they are not allowed to blog about YTB and shut them down (Travelin Mom) yet you let Just Picture It Now continue? Apparently you have two sets of rules as was evidence by Doug's "shout out":

Oh and by the way, Eran says “Hi”. (Just an inside “joke” between me and my critics. ;-P)

YTB Loses ANOTHER Vendor

It seems that we can add Well Wishers International to the list of companies no longer wishing to do business with YTB. Well Wishers is an almost 40 year old company that has provided gift baskets for travel agents to give to their clients.

But apparently they too have determined that YTB business is indeed bad business. Yes, it is a small vendor, but it also demonstrates a clear and forward moving trend.

From the February 12, 2009 Travel Compass:

Well Wishers International
Well Wishers International has been removed from the Booking Engine.
Once a replacement has been found, an announcement will be posted.

Traverus Takes Some Heat

Travel Agent magazine is dishing some dirt on Traverus and rightfully questions if they have all the accreditations as they claim or are just piggybacking on someone else's numbers. (I am not taking odds on that bet)

For travel professionals, TraVerus’ offer can be quickly identified as a multilevel network-marketing scheme offering rewards for building the network’s membership as well as for travel sales. But to the unwary consumer the offer appears a legitimate business opportunity - and in an economic downturn a possible source of added income. Its doubtful that the average consumer is aware of the bankruptcy of Joystar or the allegations against YTB by the attorney generals of California and Illinois.

And when Travel Agent tried to contact them:

The presidents phone number is a pre-recorded message.

No Need For The Sunday Comics

YTB revealed all sorts of information to their TSOs on their weekly one sided conference call.

1. Effective March 1, 2009, there will be an RTA Stock Option Program (OMG--you mean an opportunity to earn the valuable YTBLA? I wonder what needs to be done to earn the options and exercise them? Guess we will need to wait till the SEC filing to know.)
2. Coach advised everyone that YTB is an anomaly in the travel business. No one can understand how they get 20,000 people to pay to go to their convention when the traditional travel agents pay for their members to attend. (Dammit, my copy of this announcement must have got hung up in my spam folder.)
3. Every meeting the travel industry starts with the words "YTB". (Coach needs to go to a real travel meeting)
4. At these meetings, the main topic of discussion is how YTB was able to put that many brick and mortar agencies out of business.(Good question fantasy. But Scott says they are not competing with brick and mortar. Hmm.)
5. All of the travel companies are laying off people left and right. YTB is going after these people to bring them into our company.(Well, there have been some layoffs, but usually they are the dead wood in an organization--good growth plan there Coach...hire more deadwood.)
6. By 2020, YTB will "own" the travel industry. (Seems like he just pushed a goal back by a decade. How is that "billion in travel sold in 2008" coming along?)
7. YTB had the most successful Red Carpet Day last week with almost a thousand people there. (But later he said that 600 of them were Directors and Coach's Corner Members, so how many potential recruits were actually there? Ask Kim. No wait that will never work, he doesn't know how many RTAs he has.)
8. In 2020, YTB will "own" the distribution system on the Internet. (I imagine it was all he could do to stop from breaking out in him Dr. Evil voice).
9. At the Directors and Coach's Corner meeting they planned to break out in 20 groups of 20 (see the theme here..2020) but because they had so many it was 20 groups of 30 to discuss how these people want to see YTB become the owner of the distribution system in 2020. (Well, first of all, invite the right number of people and learn how to do math. But why are you asking these people? The only thing they know how to do is recruit and point to the website. Some may know how to install stereos as well.)
   
10. YTB's cash position has never been better. We have millions.(We will need to wait and see on that one; but I hope it is at least $125 million.)
11. YTB is growing so fast right now that in the future, YTB will be studied at Harvard Law School. (Oops, now that's a Freudian slip if I ever heard one. And he is probably right.)
12. YTB does not sell travel, cars, and flowers. YTB sells hope and opportunity. The hope for a better day and the opportunity that a business will be there for them, YTB has that. (Till Jerry is done with them. And what about the meat, the clothing, and all the other stuff you sell?)
13. You HAVE to have 7 to 10 friends or relatives that NEED what YTB offers and you need to get recruiting like crazy. (There he goes again, recruit alienate all your friends and relatives so Coach can get his money.)
14. Coach wants to help everyone on the call be one of the 10,000 millionaires he will create but he cannot do it without each of you recruiting 7-10 people that need hope and opportunity. (Let's see, 10,000 people times 7 to 10 people, each at $500 and $50 a month..oops that is not nearly enough to make 10,000 millionaires, but that's OK, math is not the RTA's strong point, they will never figure it out.)
15. YTB can do more for the economy than Barack Obama's Economic Stimulus Bill. (No argument from me there. Most people will not see $104 from the bill; but they do stand a chance to earn that in YTB if they work hard and become one of the top earners. Oh and make sure your payments of $1100 are on time.)
16. When you run across someone that says they cannot afford YTB, how do you think that makes them feel? In this economy, it is the perfect time to join YTB--they need hope and opportunity and you can give it to them. (Coach, here's an idea, why not include a large jar of Vaseline when people sign up to recruit for you. It will make it that much less painful and you can find it in Aisle 19. And, you probably can earn a decent commission on that from your HUGE Aisle 19 downline.)
17. People are looking for hope, opportunity, trust, and something to believe in. YTB is it. (Somehow I think many will disagree with you--Ted Lindauer, Jerry Brown, the BBB, and the members of the Class Action.)
18. YTB's finances are built so solidly for the long run that it will be here for you, your kids, and your kids' kids. (Wow, with that many people involved, just how do you do that on $600K in cash according to your last SEC filing?)
    

What was amusing about this call, is that Coach kept referring to himself in the third person. Coach said this and Coach did that. Kind of interesting. I know that some folks will say I am exaggerating the contents of this call. But I encourage everyone to take a listen at one time. They are all essentially the same. Every Saturday at 12 noon Eastern you can call 641-594-7505 and then when prompted, enter 601340# to be connected. They are only a half hour and typically have a bunch of commercials as well, but these calls are almost as amusing as the Sunday comics.

I had an interesting email exchange from a current TSO after the call. He had a very good question. Instead of making 10,000 millionaires; why not make it the goal to make ALL of the people financially self sufficient? Wow, now there is a concept that will never cross their mind! 10,000 millionaires out of their potential base of 305,000 is only 3%. Well, that seems about right. BINGO--YTB only cares about the top 3% of their participants!

And yes, it appears that Doug is still so close to being a Director he can taste it! Personally I think it might be a bad batch of Kool Aid in Aisle 19 that is leaving an aftertaste! But hey, it's only been four years!

MLM Bingo

How to play MLM Bingo - a fun game for all ages:

1. Print out and bring the MLM Bingo card to any meeting that you suspect may be intended to motivate you to join an MLM company, or excel at being an MLM distributor.
2. Each time you hear one of the phrases on the board, or see one of the actions described, cover that square with your last penny, an M&M, a small pebble, or other marker.
3. When you get 5 in a row, you win! At that point, you can be sure you are in a rip-off scam MLM meeting and that you will be screwed. It’s advised that you leave, run like hell and never turn back!.

Build Your Business Dynasty With Cruise to Cash!

Remember Dynasty? The money? The power? The big hair? Well apparently you can be just like Alexa and the rest of the gang just by joining Cruise to Cash!

Cruise to Cash has everything you could want in a travel MLM. Testimonials with College Professors. Celebrity endorsements by none other than Ken & Barbie. The ever important $10,000 per week earnings claim. In fact you can earn giant piles of cash with no travel training what so ever just by joining cruise to cash! And of course Cruise To Cash has Jesus, and lots of it! Cruise to Cash claims that their opportunity is the number 1 internet business opportunity. Just look at their website at http://www.no1homebasedbusiness.com/
Now maybe you’re not sure who to choose for your sponsor in Cruise to Cash. This guy claims that he talks to the owners of Cruise to Cash all the time, and is making more money than he knows what to do with.

So here we have yet another mlm scam that claims to be legitimate, honest ethical, God fearing, and the best homebased business opportunity on the planet. But if you look at their recruiting messages, their false earnings claims, their You Tube videos and more, it just screams scam! How is it even possible for someone to get sucked into something like this?

Wait-isn't this the exact same marketing message that YTB uses? Big piles of cash with no work or training? Endorsed by Jesus and other celebs? Legal? Ethical? Where have we heard this all before?

CLIA..suppliers, are you watching this??

Blog Notes

1. I don't know what is happening with the link colors. I did not change them, and they all appear to be correct in the template. I am suspecting it is a Google issue and hopefully it will resolve itself soon.  If not, I will go in and manually tweak colors for better readability.
2. A post about Cruise To Cash briefly appeared today. It was supposed to be published tomorrow. So there is nothing nefarious afoot and it will appear tomorrow.
   

YTB Scoops The Travel Industry

It seems that not only was YTB the first company to think of putting the Internet and Travel together, they are the first to develop the concept of a "Traveler's Profile".

Yes, you heard it here first (well maybe second if you listened to their calls or visited this site)--YTB has an exclusive on the "Traveler's Profile". No longer will travelers need to constantly repeat the basic information and the not-so-basic information. No more forms to fill out. And to top it all off--it is automated!  I simply cannot believe that no one has thought of doing this before 2009!  Just imagine a concept where your travel agent can keep the following information:

• your name
• DOB
• addresses and phone numbers
• your passport information
• frequent flyer information
• car rental program data
• hotel guest program information
• itineraries
• payment profiles
• emergency contact information

Yes and to think that this is available exclusively to YTB Referring Travel Agents:

At, Sharnese Travel & Cruises we have a feature that eliminates all that hassle, making it easier than ever to plan your next trip- introducing The Traveler's Profile.

The Traveler's Profile allows you to create an individualized profile that is securely saved within the system. Each time you return to the site, your profile information is ready and waiting for you, eliminating the need to re-enter all of your personal data. This exclusive feature is an added convenience that sites like Expedia and Travelocity don't have. In fact, it is exclusive to Sharnese Travel & Cruises!

Gosh, what will they think of next? I bet they will develop plagiarism as well. One particular post on that blog was completely lifted from another source without reference. I mean who could have thought about ripping off someone' s writing besides YTB?  What do you think of that?

A YTB Blast From The Past

The other day, I came across some older promotions and sales pitches on YTB.  How many of these "facts" hold true? How many of these "dreams" are still alive?  

The obvious key to success for the author of all of these columns is recruiting. What's the lure? Tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in your bank account. Instant tax deductions for your vacations. I wonder how many in YTB have actually added tens or hundreds of thousands to their bank accounts? We know the answer from last year, I guess we need to wait for an income disclosure for 2008!

Ah yes, recruiting and the dangling carrot. This unreachable carrot has been dangling in front of the author's nose for over 4 years now, and he is still no further along. I venture to guess he is probably behind where he was several years ago. In October 2006, her was poised to be a director by December 2006. In July 2007, he could almost touch it. Now in February of 2009--where is that carrot?

But for someone who likes to claim that he is all about the customer experience, these columns seem to contradict that. There is not too much discussion about selling travel (other than to himself for a tax deduction). But that is not surprising, because as has been said ad nauseum, people in YTB that sell travel do not make any substantial money. People that recruit for YTB have a better chance, but only if they are positioned closer to the top of the pyramid.

YTBitis Sweeping The Country

The worst symptom of all…most whom are infected with YTBitis experience increased bank accounts of Tens, sometime Hundreds of Thousand of Dollars. 

Need A Tax Deduction? Own A Business!

To be in business, you merely declare it. And by doing so, you can magically turn personal expenses into tax deductions.

Our hobby is cruising. So we became Travel Agents. It is customary for Travel Agents to preview cruise ships so we can inform our clients. BAM! All our cruising just became a tax write off. We also took a trip to Disney earlier this year, and took the kids. Why? Don’t you think it might be necessary to get a 3 year old and 5 year old perspective on what they liked about Disney?

Team YTB Is On The Move

We learned at the trade show, that YTB has a Directors Challenge for anyone who becomes a director by 12/31/06, YTB will DOUBLE the Director bonuses for life. For example if you have 2000 RTA’s in your downline as a Director you receive $100,000 instead of $50,000 and so on. This has inspired Doug and me to work even harder to reach director by the end of the year. 

When you have someone who is interested in the business call Doug and give him a warm introduction, then stop talking and let Doug take it from there. Many of you know this works first hand, because you or someone on your team joined after being on a 3 way call. The team member who gets Doug on the most 3 way calls will win a prize. Also, you can win a prize by participating in thirty 3 way calls between now and 12/31. We have 12 weeks left, so that’s just an average of 2.5 calls per week.

Your Ticket To Paradise

With just a few core people that we have personally found, they have found others that have grown our team to over 200 at this time and we are getting closer every day to becoming Directors ourselves. We see it, we feel it, and it’s so close we can almost touch it.

Another One Bites The Dust

I follow several YTB blogs and just wanted to point this one out. Here is one of the more successful RTAs and Reps that has quit. He has identified what YTB is, and more importantly what it isn't. You can read his entire post here, but here are some excerpts:

• My first year (2007) in YTB wasn't anything to brag about. Nevertheless, I was in the top 5% in the company. It doesn't take much because most members don't do anything.
• My experience with YTB started out well. Since I was mislead and actually told lies when I signed up I had no doubts I would make a ton of money. I built a decent downline, which by now has shrunk to 18 paying members. Everyone else has dropped out. Very few in my downline ever did anything, which caused me to feel guilty because I talked them into something that did not work for them.
• Last fall I listened to Coach Tomer telling us that YTB was unfairly targeted just as Roger Clemens was. That was the whole theme of that Saturday morning's call. That was the beginning of the end for me with YTB. If YTB falls in the same category as Roger Clemens, a cheater and dishonest person who will likely spend time in jail soon, then I don't really want to be associated with YTB.

Congratulations!

Sound Familiar?

• We are poised to enter 50 countries around the world next year.

• Traditional travel agencies will be going out of business like they did in the 90's.

• Joining World Ventures you have 0 overhead.

• 100% positive cash flow with zero liability.

• Endorsed by many prominent people & celebrities alike

• #1 Travel Agency for Carnival Cruise Lines.

No, it's not YTB. It's the New Kid in Town. Or, should I say old Kid in Town since they have been around for awhile. World Ventures. Same song, different tune.You pay $400 to join to point people to book travel to on your website. There is a monthly fee just like YTB and if you sign up 6 people they waive the monthly fee. Most of the money is made in recruiting your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors.

So, just who and what is World Ventures? And, why should we care? According to Peter Stilphen, MCC, World Ventures is indeed a travel MLM and on his naughty list. Mike Azcue and Wayne Nugent founded World Ventures after being involved in another MLM called GTT. World Ventures income figures released in 2007 show only 26.3% of the people made money. The average income was only $200. Sounding familiar again? Seeing a pattern?

And, when you question the figures and say anything about the company the flock rises up and tells you we (TTA's) are jealous, going to be extinct and they are going to take over the world. Big sigh. Here we go again.

What is it with people believing this stuff? Is it because of low self esteem? Wanting to be rich? Lured by greed? Or, is it that travel is sexy and fun? I am sure psychologists and cult specialists could enlighten us all day on the motivation of people to join these companies. But, the bottom line is they hurt the travel industry. Last count I saw was upward of 55,000 untrained World Ventures reps running around passing themselves off as travel agents to the consumer. This hurts all of us.

The sad thing is once one MLM goes away there are more awaiting in the wings with the promise of riches and the lure of easy money and traveling like the pros. If you are as fed up as I am here is the petition to sign asking for regulation of the MLM's.

http://www.pyramidschemealert.org/PSAMain/home.html

A Ponzi Scheme Defined

This was originally in a MSN article, but I could not copy and paste the slide show into this blog, so I have recreated it. It highlights many salient points that are appropriate with the travel MLM/Card Mills that are operating today.  As you read through this, most likely you will be nodding your head in agreement. Is it no wonder that Jerry Brown and Lisa Madigan have taken notice and taken action? With the California and Illinois Attorneys General either prosecuting or investigating, are others far behind?

How Ponzi Schemes work

Since Charles Ponzi defrauded thousands in the 1920s, investors have continued to fall prey to such schemes. Here's why.  --Source: The North American Securities Administrators Association

# 1 Ponzi's allure

• Ponzi schemes work by paying old investors "dividends" from new investors' principal.(YTB pays the lion's share of bonuses from money received by new RTAs. This is substantiated by their SEC filings)
  

# 2 Variety and confusion

• A flood of new investment vehicles has made it difficult to identify frauds. (While not dealing with investments, yet, YTB is adding all sorts of ancillary products. In addition, with the other MLM outfits like Traverus and GTI, it does become confusing to determine legitimacy. YTB counts on this.)
  

# 3 Greed

• High rates of return and "guaranteed" low-risk strategies lure even conservative investors. (If anyone has attended a YTB "Opportunity Meeting" they flash the success stories like Julliet St. John and Ron head, but neglect to mention that their own income disclosure indicates that the vast majority of participants earn nothing. The low risk is the minimal investment and no investment programs.)
  

# 4 The appearance of success

• Early investors receive "proof" through high initial returns. (Undoubtedly the top people in any pyramid scheme will receive the high initial returns. Look at Ron Head, Rick Ricketts, Andy Lakey, Bill Hoffmann and others who are always highlighted and paraded as "proof" of success.)
  

# 5 The herd instinct

• Those investors then promote the scheme to friends and others. (When you have tens of thousands of people all led by financial earners, they will take that success as an indicator of theirs and promote it to anyone and everyone. As a matter of fact, one of the key "tools" in MLM is to promote the opportunity to everyone within a three foot radius of you. It is called the Three Foot Rule.)
  

# 6 Fear

• As the scheme unravels, some still promote it for fear of losing out amid mass withdrawals. (YTB is currently experiencing this right now. In March of 2008, they had 138,000 RTAs and right now they are just about to go under 90,000 and are losing about 300 RTAs per day. Yet there are many, the majority, who do not see the warning signs--IATAN, RCCL, dropping RTAs, lawsuits, falling stock prices, and most recently the decision by NCL to terminate them. These people will continue to believe and promote hoping for success that is out of reach and they will continue to do so until the company eventually collapses. One onlly needs to look at the loyalty some of the Joystar agents exhibited who are now in dire straits.)
  

# 7 The Tooth Fairy syndrome

• Some refuse to relinquish their faith in the business acumen of the alleged mastermind. (Well, I am not sure there is ANY business acumen in ANY of the alleged masterminds. None of them have ANY experience in travel and they all have experience in questionable MLM outfits. AL Williams, selling fuel additives, etc. Their acumen is suspect when they deal only with Board insiders and make sweetheart deals with privatelyheld sister companies. However, they ALL talk a great talk and have amassed a large loyal following. The followers of YTB management are quite literally zombie-like.)
  

The Hidden Cost Of MLM

TO:  Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Disney Cruise Line, Walt Disney Travel Company, Globus, Trafalgar, VAX Vacation Access, Travel Impressions, Cunard Line, Seabourn, Collette Vacations, MSC Cruises, Costa Cruises, Apple Vacations, The Mark Travel Company & Brands, Travel Guard and the rest of the travel suppliers who deal with the MLM travel agencies.


RE:  Additional costs to deal with MLM

I bet you thought that offering a 16% commission and a few marketing bucks was a great deal to deal with an MLM when you started. I bet you are wrong. Have you ever taken a look at the hidden cost of dealing with an MLM? When reputation is everything in this industry, I am surprised that you all are willing to sacrifice your hard earned brand image. Please consider the following:

Are you gaining more clients? Or just discounting your product?

• The bean counters all see the dollar signs for the bookings. But it has been proven that most of the sales are to themselves. So it is logical to assume these MLM participants would likely have traveled in any case and purchased via a more reputable means. All that is accomplished here is to cheapen your product by discounting--something many of the suppliers themselves prohibit. The alienation of your sales force by doing so is a whole other discussion. Perillo Tours found out that 90% of their YTB bookings were for the agents themselves. Sort of defeats the purpose of hiring an "agent" to do your marketing doesn't it?
  

What's happening to your reputation?

• What happens when one of these untrained MLM participants makes an attempt to market your product? I am sure you have seen some marketing attempts--many have been highlighted on this blog. And do you really want someone trying to sell your product, when their goal is to sell them into their scheme so they can travel for free?
• What happens when one of these so called "agents" decides to collect almost $100,000 from high school seniors and run with it? While Carnival obviously had no responsibility in that matter, the cruise line's good name was certainly dragged through the mud.
• What happens when you do offer reduced rate travel and these MLM participants descend and are soliciting your full fare paying customers? What type of taste does that leave in your customer's mouth? And why do these MLM "agents" need to be continually reminded on how to be professional?
  

What's happening to your money?

• Cruise lines are becoming more and more dependent on onboard revenue for their profitibility. Has anyhone bothered to do a study of the amount of money the MLM clients actually spend on board as opposed to that of a traditional agent? What about the MLM participants themselves? I was on a Carnival ship in November and witnessed a MLM agent from Traverus bragging that they got the cruise for next to nothing, had weaseled out of tipping, smuggled in a lot of alcohol and soda, and brought insulated drinking cups to keep them well lubricated. With all that planning, I am sure a nickel did not make its way to Carnival.
• Sure you pay some of these MLM companies top tier commissions, but for that, one would expect that the agent does the lion's share of the work. Are the MLMs pulling their weight? Have you looked at the time your internal people spend hand holding and re-training the MLM participants time and time again? Is it really worth it to pay 16% commission? I recently heard that a major cruise line flew staff from Miami to St. Louis to answer consumer calls during YTB's recent Sail-A-Thon.  I suppose they did not want a repeat of the "service" handed out at last year's event. Honestly, it makes more sense to take the booking direct and not pay a commission at all.
  

How do your employees feel?

• Have you ever questioned your front line empoloyees about how they feel dealing with the MLM agencies? I have. It is not pretty. You need customers for sure, but you also need employees who are excited to work for you. Why not offer an anonymous survey and allow them to voice their opinions? 
• Ask your BDM's their honest opinion. I am sure you will be shocked. Be sure they know you want to know how they feel and not what they think you want to hear.
  

Do these "agents" know the product?

• On a recent blog post, a YTB Referring Travel Agent was insistent that a "tender" was money. While that is certainly a definition of tender, it is not the case in the travel industry. Most likely this agent is advising clients that while in George Town, Grand Cayman that they need to take money to get ashore.
• Speaking of the Caymans, the RTA that took off with the high school seniors' money--she advertised that the "boat" "docked" in "Grand Caymen". What impression is left on the consumer? And why are suppliers facilitating it?
• When Royal Caribbean made their move, most of YTB insisted that Lisa Bauer's promotion to the VP of the Hotel Operations was really a demotion for "dissing" YTB and that she was in charge of changing sheets in the pre-and post cruise hotels.  Seriously, I am not kidding.

Is the interference worth it?

• From what I hear, many suppliers have received subpoenas from the California Attorney General requesting access to many financial documents related to the current suit against YTB for operating an illegal Pyramid Scheme. While I am sure that all suppliers operate on the up and up, additional governmental scrutiny can never be a good thing.

It is obvious the cost is far greater than the commissions paid. The MLM "agents" are not earning their commission and quite honestly, your continued dealing with them is slowly but surely eroding your very own brand image. Royal Caribbean took a bold, brave step in 2007 by eliminating YTB from their agency list. Other smaller suppliers followed as well. Last week, NCL came to the realization that dealing with an MLM is simply not worth it.

Right now, each supplier needs the support of people that know the product and are professional, legal and ethical in operating their businesses. I challenge that you are not getting this with YTB, Traverus, GTI and the rest. Richard Fain and Adam Goldstein reiterated their belief in a trained professional agent to move their product. I applaud them. Traditional Travel Agents are very relevant to travel suppliers, and they are proving that relevancy each day.

How relevant are the MLMs?  How committed to you are they? Have you listened to one of the YTB Saturday morning conference calls? This week, the word "travel" was mentioned exactly once--when they said they "started with travel" and moved onto flowers and cars. Both Traverus and YTB are now focusing on selling potions and lotions. YTB is selling home decor, financial services, meat and food, cakes and peanuts, and more. Don't believe it, go click on the links. These MLM companies are only  dedicated to travel as long as they can use it as the sexy lure to recruit new members.


You all received a copy of the petition withnearly 3000 names of travel professionals asking for you to throw your support to the agents who produce for you. If you need a copy of this petition, please send me an email and I will be happy to send it.

Now that 2/3 of the major cruise lines in the world have seen the light and have made the business decision to not deal with the MLM/Card Mill/Pyramid companies, don't you think it might make sense for you to take a look as well?