Funshine Reports Trickling In

Well, in a recent comment, TravelCop stated:

Fact is- YTB isn't going away..
Did you count how many people were at FUNSHINE this year??
I was astounded! The numbers were up- the vendors were up- and I am pretty sure that we had more vendors at our travel trade show than any other...again. If they hate us why do they come? ( And they sure did show out with colors a blazin!)

But from someone who was actually there, I received this:

Hello John,

This was my fourth year in a row to attend Funshine.  As expected, it was different this year.  The crowd this year was the smallest I have seen in 4 years.  All the people attending were enthusiastic about YTB so there is a new breed of YTB agents coming up to replace those that quit.

There was only one 2 hour general session for announcements and awards.  There were no numbers with the awards which I was disappointed about.  The only travel award given was the top 10 referring travel agents who received the highest travel commissions for the year and they had to receive a travel commission check every one of the last 12 months.  That was it, no numbers on how much was earned or booked.

There were coincidently fewer suppliers coinciding with the fewer number of RTAs.  The training sessions were well attended, meaning the seats were 3/4 full to full capacity at every meeting.  There were several YTB Preferred vendors there.  I don't want to go into detail which companies were there.  It was well worth my time and money. 

And judging from the empty booths in Coach's Facebook video and the 11 people waiting in line to get it signed, I have to think the second report is more believable.

What is particularly amusing is that the criteria to win a "travel award" is to receive a check each month from YTB regardless of the amount.   Keeping in mind:

In 2008, 43,670 (49%) of all TSOs received no income at all.

And then there is this little tidbit:

The average annual income for all TSOs in 2008 was $111.26.

But seriously, even the top travel producer in YTB only earned $2000 a month. Honestly, it is a joke! And something even more amazing expected is that YTB's very own TravelPros were not hailed as leaders in selling travel.  Yes, neither Doug Bauknight nor Candy May made the cut. I guess they were too busy faking it till they make it!

WWJS?

No, not "What Would Jesus Do?" but "What Would Jerry Say?" if this happened in California and not Georgia!

I hope you've had a chance to carefully view our informative presentations. If so, you've learned a lot about Your Travel ... I hope you've had a chance to carefully view our informative presentations. If so, you've learned a lot about Your Travel Biz and how it can help you EARN THOUSANDS PER WEEK. If not, please don't pass up this amazing opportunity to change your life! * Are you tired of your 9-to-5 job? * Would you like to make more money? * Are you sick of just getting by? * Do you wish you could get paid what you're worth? * Would you like the freedom to work in your pajamas and travel whenever you like? YOUR TRAVEL BIZ LETS YOU HAVE IT ALL! And, it's easier than you probably think! With our super EASY marketing system already in place, YOU could easily earn THOUSANDS PER WEEK, just like I do. And I'm not joking! I have the freedom I want, the income I love, and the career that makes it all possible. There is no obligation, and you'll learn everything you need to know about YTB! ** NO cold calling! ** Your own personal mentor to assist you in making sales! ** Work your YTB business from anywhere; home, the office, or the beach! All you need is access to a computer & phone! ** You'll have a GREAT TIME traveling & taking dream vacations to exotic locations all around the world...at COST!! What are you waiting for? Like I said before...there is NO OBLIGATION to join after viewing the presentation, and it could change your life! LEARN HOW YOU CAN GET THE FREEDOM YOU DESERVE!

I have to guess that Jerry Brown's reaction might be to make a contempt of court filing.

Did You Read This?

Did you read this in Travel Agent?

Your Travel Bard Strikes Again

Back in June, a reader of this blog only identified as "Bob from NJ" sent a poem entitled "An Ode To YTB".  Well, it appears he has branched out from poetry to song and has just submitted this remake of a Beach Boys classic.

RONDA
 
Well since Doug put her down she has doubt filling up her head;
She comes in late at night, in the mornin' just cries in bed.

Well, Ronda you looked so fine
Til YTB did not make a dime
So we must help out Ronda
Dougie threw her under the bus.

Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda yeah
Dougie's driving the bus.

She was gonna have a life, YTB was gonna be her plan;
But Tomer's scam is cruel, and it ruined her and Doug her man.

Well, Ronda we see you cry
And I can give lotsa reasons why
We gotta help help Ronda,
Dougie threw her under the bus.
 
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda
Help, help help Ronda
Help help Ronda yeah
Don't let Doug drive the bus.

Yours truly, Bob
(Your Travel Bard)

Expert Travel Advice From YTB (Not So Much Spelling)

Valerie I hope this helps you, 1. This is not a pyramid because it is a publically traded company so learn a little more about your company to combat that objection from people. 2. We don't guarentee the lowest prices we guarentee one stop shopping at competative prices and sometimes the prices are lower. Remember the prices you are quoteing inculed taxes and fees, many of the other companies do not do that then the customer is shocked at the end of their transaction. The best way to sell travel is directly through the vendor so if you have taken your first class training and have all of your creditientials you should have better results. Also you may want to specialize in an area of travel. I make most of my travel revenue from group crusies and travel. 3. Just another tidbit. When people jump from site to site looking for the lowest airfare prices it acually increases the price. Airline prices are based on demand and the more hits for a flight creates a demand unfortunitly it's a false demand because it's one person all over the internet. That's the beauty of your muilti million dollar booking engine. It searches for the lowest available price from all of the airlines. Hope this helps, if not there is a ton of free travel training in your back office to arm you with the knowledge you need to sell travel.

And our "Fake It Till You Make It" man chimes in as well.

Valerie, what Cheryl wrote is 100% factual.
We can discuss this all day on here..But the basic bottom line is back to my original post. Plug into a leadership call, training etc. This is an awesome tool in your back office called "The YTB System" It will help and guide you.
Your in prime location especially if no one as heard of YTB back there. That means you could become a National director in less that no-time with that market. WOW Do I need to fly that way? :-)
Remember Point and Click..U don't need to know it all. I don't!!! earn as you learn.
Send some1 to your marketing or associate presentation. Let the "system sort" them out..them follow up with 3-way call. Give me a call if you need assistance. Be Blessed..

Fake It Till You Make It

 

My reccomendation is STOP Selling and just start telling the story.. Become a artist at story telling the YTB story. If you don't have a story yet borrow your Directors until you get one.

An Outstanding Business Plan

One of the things we are doing in UT is meeting as a group, although we are from several different teams, and planning group travel. It's a good way to get some cash flowing. We are each planning our dream vacation, then meeting together to share the information and help promote one another's groups for those vacations.

The plan is that we will all advertise and hopefully then all get to go on each other's trips by selling enough "seats" to go free.

YTB Rep Says Obama Endorses Tax Fraud!

"Jeannette Otto Mollo
So how many people out there would love for the IRS to pay a share of your house & car note, part of your utilites & cell phone. Who would love to be like me & write their vacations & trips to the store off on their tax's? Mr. ...Obama has stated that we all need a Home Based Business to take advantage of the tax breaks. Well I have that business & it costs less to own than what you probably pay a month in a house payment or rent. Find out more & how you can take advantage of the IRS taxbreaks at www.ytb.com/jettexpresstravel & then let me know when you are ready to take Mr. Obama's advice & own your own business. See you at the top, the tippy top!"

Website For Sale

The website "TheYTB.com" is for sale. They are looking for offers from those in YTB as well as their competition. I wonder what the asking price is. Based on search engine positioning and traffic, we might be able to get triple the amount they do.

Hey, if anyone wants to buy this blog, let me know!

An Interesting Statistic

YTB's main travel type is cruises. Carnival Cruise Lines is their largest supplier. According to the most recent 10Q filed with the Securities Exchange Commission they had 60,414 active websites or TSOs actually selling travel.

Why is it that only .07  of 1 percent of their "travel sellers" have even bothered to enroll in the CLIA ACC curriculum? I mean really, they could not get more than 41 to enroll?

Even the self proclaimed Travel Pro who specializes in cruises and writes copies travel articles for The Examiner is not enrolled.

Very strange indeed. And once again, the focus is on travel?

Good Question

 

Diane Fox-Gibson

o.k. Coach I have no other way to contact you so I am using facebook. Recently I worked my behind off getting a team member group cruise booked. Took a lot of time and effort as there were a lot of changes. Today I found out that we no longer get ao 10% over ride on travel. What is up with that. I thought YTB would never take any money away from us. Due to the economy we have focused mainly on travel and now we find this out. Very disappointing to say the least. Even more disappointed that our directors never told us, or at least if they did we didn't get the message.

about an hour ago · Report

Long Lost Twins?

Can you see any similarities between the EKG of a dying person and the Stock Report of YTB? Which one is which? Can you tell?

 

 Is it death? Or YTBLA.OB?

 

Is it death? Or YTBLA.OB?

Hey Coach, Is This Acceptable?

I was snooping around a few YTB sties this weekend and discovered something very unusual.


When I went to a well known Coach's Corner member's rep site, I discovered that it is slightly different than every other rep site out there. The content is the same, but it is not hosted by YTB, but by a company called Pinnacle Performance Institute. And apparently, Pinnacle replicates the YTB site on their servers and intercepts the registration information that YTB is requiring effectively bypassing YTB from capturing any information from potential customers.  Considering that YTB is pinning their growth on Associates, Affiliates, TSOs, and IMRs all signing up through their portal, I have to wonder if this particular rep is scamming a scammer.  Certainly YTB has a vested interest (Contempt of Court) to make sure their message is consistent and legal. When you complete the required information form (which requires more information than YTB) you are taken to a special splash page, and then transported to yet another YTB replicated page.

A typical YTB Rep page does not require all of the same information and the information you put in, is passed along to YTB. Once you enter the information, you are sent to a YTB hosted site.

The sites are VERY similar but not exact. Perhaps this is to avoid allegations of plagiarism or copyright infringement.

It seems very clear to me that someone is trying to outfox the fox.  Check it out for yourself. You can put in any information to get beyond the sign up forms!

Shady Independent Marketing Rep Site
(hosted by Pinnacle)

Another legitimate Independent Marketing Rep's Site
(hosted by YTB)

Hey Eran and Coach...what do you think about this? A trusted Coach's Corner member thwarting the system. I wonder if the names are being captured for use in the next MLM? 

Mike The Travel Juice Guy

Mike Reams, who goes by the name "Mike, The Travel Guy" has traded in his passport for a six pack of Xango Juice! Mike claims to have 27 years in the travel industry (doubtful) and 30 in network marketing (likely) and was reported to be one of the core group of recruiters in the west.

Mike was a Director in YTB until last Friday when he resigned his Director position so he could concentrate on his new position in Xango. Maybe he felt a little backed up from his years in YTB and decided to see if Xango might give him a discount on a good laxative.

But this latest departure has to be concerning YTB. In the last month, they have lost at least 5 Directors (Williams, Iverson, Ezzell, Reams, and Ward) who elected to stay in YTB as reps while they concentrate on building their next opportunity. Of course this will save YTB some money up front, but you just know that 100% of the efforts are being used on the new opportunity. And this will put YTB into a bind--regarding their "Bill of Rights". YTB will either have to continue to pay these "traitors" residuals per the Bill of Rights, or admit that it is a sham.

And really, if you only had 85 Directors at the end of December 2008, and 5 of them have bailed in the last month....I'm just saying, that's 6%!

A ShopYTB Test

OK, over on Facebook Coach is crowing about a 90% discount for YTB people at restaurant.com.  He makes sure that people know to log in through his downline their YTB portal to get this special discount.  He talks about how Andy Cauthen just bought $250 worth of gift cards for $20.  He says his savings on one card was enough to afford a month of YTB hosting fees!

Well there needs to be an asterisk there. The deal is not unique to YTB by any means and if you go to restaurant.com you too can get the exact same pricing. Just enter the promo code of "ninety" and you are good to go.  The other asterisk is to read the conditions on the restaurants. At least for the ones in my area, they are not gift cards at all. They are discount coupons. BIG DIFFERENCE.  For instance, the one I can buy locally is a $10 coupon that I can buy for $1.  But the catch is that in order to redeem it, I need to spend a minimum of $50 on food. Alcohol is not included, nor is the gratuity, tax or anything else. Oh, and it's not valid with anything else.  So essentially they are giving a 20% discount. Something that they likely run routinely in the local markets.  No big deal at all.

But, if you sign in under Coach's downline, he get's a percentage of the dollar! Just more false claims!

What Does This Mean?

I inquired as to the status of the Illinois suit against YTB brought by Lisa Madigan, the Attorney General.  Here is the response from the Attorney General's Office:

John, the litigation is ongoing. On background, the defendant did not file a response, but as I said, the litigation is ongoing. 

 So, YTB failed to respond to the suit. I am not an attorney, but that can't be good.

Shop YTB Get Solicited

Last week, I was assured that if I joined Shop YTB that I would not be solicited. After all, this came from someone VERY familiar with YTB. Somehow I doubted that and decided to test it. Well, lo and behold, I got my first solicitation today in the form of a contest for the "Trip of a Lifetime".

Yes, 3 nights on an older Carnival ship with "the person of my choice" (is Paris Hilton available?).  All I need to do is register (again) where it now says it is 4 nights.  So I put in my email address (the one specifically made for this test) and agree to the following:

By entering the Trip of a Lifetime sweepstakes offered by YTB Travel Network, you agree to allow the YTB companies and its travel site owners to email you about upcoming sweepstakes and other promotional offers. Your information will not be given or sold to any third party.

Then I am asked more questions about my travel preferences. Then I click to finish the entry and I get this form:

Give your friends and family a chance to win, too!
Simply enter their contact information below, and we'll send them an invitation to enter to win a Trip of a Lifetime!

I can say "no thanks", but if I put in a friend, I get another form for another friend!

So, exactly how is this NOT soliciting for more business?  How is this the "trip of a lifetime"?  More to come!

UPDATE:  Since I recommended a "friend" (actually it is me with another email address), I got another solicitation and when I clicked "Enter" I came to a dead end! It was a generic YTB page letting me know:

To experience our product, you must visit the Travel Booking Engine through one of our RTA's sites.
Enter the web address of the RTA who referred you to YTB Travel Network to start taking advantage of great travel specials available to you!

Well, since I don;t know my RTAs site (and YTB does not really like any contact information), I guess all the referrals are dead in the water. Ain't technology grand!

What Happened To YTBs Blockbuster Announcements?

Coming off of the National Convention it was all hype. Get 25 people to look at Shop YTB and be on your way to being a millionaire.  The new California settlement will have people flocking to sign up. These were "blockbuster" announcements!

Doesn't seem like that is working out too well.  From the Director's Newsletter sent out a few days ago:

To all YTB Directors -

1.  EXTENSION OF 60% COMMISSION

Per Scott Tomer, YTB will extend through Wednesday, September 30 the 60% commission contract for new Site Owners.

Originally, we had planned to go to 50% commission for anyone purchasing an Internet Business Center on or after Tuesday, September 1.  We will now extend the current offering an additional 30 days.

Also, for new Site Owners in California - as long as the prospective Site Owner has entered into the 14-day waiting period by Wednesday, September 30 AND purchases his/her IBC within three business days after the 14-day waiting period expires, they will be included in the 60% commission category.

If you have any questions, please contact YTB Support at 618-655-9477,
option 2.

2.  shopYTB CONTEST EXTENDED

Speaking of extending deadlines, the shopYTB contest (the push to get 25 new customers) cut-off date has been pushed to Wednesday, September 30 as well.

YTB To Penalize Reps With Loose Lips

Loose lips sink ships--or so they say. Well, in YTB, loose lips make Coach another $10,000 or more.  A helpful YTB Director just sent the following reminder to his or her team:

If a REP attempts to cross recruit COMPANY'S other REPS, Associates, Travel Site Owners or Customers to a competing network marketing entity utilizing contacts gained from the proprietary information contained in the COMPANY'S Downline Activity Reports, the REP agrees that for each occurrence of a documented attempt (i.e. e-mail solicitation, recorded phone call, letter, personalized brochure or business card) liquidated damages will be due the COMPANY in the amount of $10,000 per person, per occurrence. 
 
Remember if you have information on any of this taking place:

With Questions, Concerns, or if this has happened to you, Immediately
CONTACT YTB Compliance:
 compliance@ytb.com
Attn: Eran Distler

Buh Bye

Another Director has flown the coop.  Jimmy Ezzell has just resigned his Directorship. He was one of the big speakers at the convention a few weeks ago. But alas, his moving speech has been deleted from the YTB YouTube Channel.

Isn't it funny how YTB forced all these changes on the Directors last October and now they are paying the price because the Directors found a loophole.

They give up the monthly income which was dwindling, are able to participate in other MLMs, and get the overrides from the downline sales which are protected by the Bill of Rights.

But you can be sure that YTB is doing what they can to find some infraction to terminate them before making any payments--just like they are doing with Floyd Williams and Spencer Iverson!

Doug's Challenge

Over on "Just Picture It Now" Doug has been issuing this challenge:

Provide me documentation of just one Host, one Agency, one single Brick and Mortar that:

• Offers 80%-100% commission contracts.
• Pays cash bonuses of up to $10K when you hit performance levels for travel commissions earned.
• AND completely covers the cost of your Medical Insurance and provides a $150,000 Life Insurance policy.
• Oh, and you need to give me that “hat trick” for less than $500 start up and $49.95 per monthly overhead.

YTB has offered medical benefits and life insurance to Directors for years without challenge because YTB has a successful legal stance to ensure that we can and will be offering these benefits to any Traditional Travel Agent who is smart enough to break free of the cult like thinking and mentality. Furthermore, the response does not answer the possibility of 100% commission, and our incredibly low start up cost and monthly fees.

I'd like to discuss some aspects of this offer.

1. He has combined the various business of YTB into 1 again, which I believe is a violation of the consent decree with California. Directors of YTB earn that distinction by selling travel websites (i.e. recruiting), not by selling travel. True Host Agencies simply don't work that way. So, we need to throw the medical insurance and life insurance part of this challenge out the window.
2. I am not familiar with the $10K bonus for travel commissions earned. How much do you have to earn in travel commissions before you get this bonus? I'd be willing to be that I could negotiate with most Host Agencies in advance that if I earn $100K in commissions under their 80/20 split, that I would get a $10K bonus.

So, to keep it just related to travel, there are several that will give you an 80% split on commissions, with no start up fees, no monthly fees, no yearly fees, no transaction fees, and still give you a consumer website by which clients can book their own travel. There are Host Agencies with 100% options, but those do have fees. Since I don't know what YTB's fees are for that option, I am not in a position to compare.

If Doug is willing to just compare the Travel Business to Host Agencies, then I am prepared to offer answers to his challenge. If he continues to mix apples and oranges by combining the multiple YTB businesses into one, then quite simply he has successfully proven that the businesses really are not separate, but a single entity.