Thursday, December 18, 2008

 

A Major Announcement

 

 

 

Maybe a few very young EcoQuesters don't remember the day when Coca-Cola announced they were replacing their original flavor with "New Coke." An uproar swept through the marketplace. Was it a good move or a bad one?

 

On April 23, 1985, the Coca-Cola drinking public were shocked out of their minds by this change. The history of this marketing soap opera is easy to find on the Internet. Suffice to say that the change was reversed less than three months later on July 10.

 

But did the campaign fail?

 

Sales of Coca-Cola actually increased significantly in the aftermath of this so-called marketing blunder. Were the Coke executives smart to anticipate that they had a chance for a big win either way? Many critics say they could not possibly have been that smart. But the fact remains: Coke increased its cola market share in the aftermath of this event.

 

Heartland Select rolls back into EcoQuest

 

Effective immediately (Dec 2008) the idea of developing a separate company, Heartland Select, for the marketing of EcoQuest's consumables products has been reversed. The Heartland Select product is still with us, very much alive and well and receiving rave reviews.

 

The company's announcement stated that the experimental compensation plan the independent company had been testing did not, after all was said and done, pay the same high "total payouts" as the popular plan that preceded it. Like Coke, EcoQuest decided to reverse its experiment and go back to the "Double and Triple Bonus" plan that was used prior to the new test.

 

This "adventure" will probably turn out to be very positive for the company and for the EcoQuest field.

 

The EcoQuest Umbrella

 

Since its inception, the EcoQuest Adventure has been tied to unique, important and interesting products. We began by pioneering indoor air purification. We branched into water technologies but not just with the same old/same old stuff. We dabbled into nutrition and they made a game-changing discovery when we teamed up with the cutting-edge line of Infinity2 products that were based on enzyme technologies and incorporated only the finest whole food and chelated ingredients. In 2004 that company became a wholly owned part of EcoQuest. Meanwhile, we were experimenting with a commercial division and breaking ground that had not been successfully traversed by any multilevel marketing company—ever. Along the way we made some huge technology leaps with our air technologies, adding RCI and ozone-free UV lamps and our top-selling commercial products, the InDuct line (based on DuctwoRx but in more sizes). Then came LaundryPure, a revolutionary spinoff application of the RCI technology. In 2008 EcoQuest found two new blockbuster products: the EcoPower4 line and Heartland Select.

 

Wow and double wow!

 

Potential

 

It is often said in sports that potential is not worth very much if you don't win games. For nearly twenty-three years the heritage of EcoQuest has been one of bold experimentation. We've had dramatic successes, glaring marketing goofs, exciting surges, and a few policy reversals. You certainly can't say we haven't been in the game! This observer believes that the Heartland Select experience will prove to be the launching pad for a new era of EcoQuest success.

 

Heartland Select is a spectacular and important health product. It was developed by EcoQuest within the theme of "Healthy Living Products" and it can be marketed within that theme. Critics who say that health products don't belong in the same company as air purifiers are wrong.

 

What is an air purifier if not a health product?

 

Hey, maybe we need a brochure that features [1] Gemini, [2] Fresh Air, [3] DuctwoRx, [4] Focus, [5] Heartland Select, [6] Essentials For Life and [7] EcoPower4. We have the most amazing line-up of beneficial and profitable products that any networking company has ever had. Now all we have to do is start networking at about twenty times our current pace!

 

Go Wide, Go Wide, Go Wide

 

This was my mantra when I first came to Alpine Industries almost fourteen years ago. I was a veteran network marketer. I knew the system. I looked at the Alpine plan and my course was clear. This plan called for GOOD WIDTH—that means a "healthy number" of personal recruits on my first level. I set my goals based on the "go wide" philosophy and brought in an average of 2-6 personal recruits per month for eighteen months.

 

Work Deep, Deep, Deep

 

Meanwhile, as good leaders "surfaced" (a discussion of this in a footnote below) on my first level, I worked very hard to help and support those leaders and their networks. I believe in working deep-deep-deep by following this general formula:

 

[1]  General support is provided abundantly through newsletters, meetings, conference calls, emails, literature, web pages, use of company systems and general availability by phone and in person. But there is a limit. No leader can be "on call" for every dealer and every small question in a large network.

 

[2]  A sub-leader system must be developed so that little people at all levels can get some degree of "on call" service from a leader close to them.

 

[3]  Focused support for major people as they are identified all levels. How is a major leader supported? One leader supports other leaders with ideas, strategies, friendship, downline work and the availability of your General Support (item [1] above).

 

Now is the time again

 

I joined Alpine Industries on March 23, 1995. That, indeed, was the right time. I bought 11 air purifiers and flew home from Minnesota to Florida to start my career. If I were starting today I would want...

 

This order would be $4,973.85 not counting shipping and literature items. This is a more complex mix of products than I started with 1995 because the company now has much more to offer, but the cost is almost identical to the commitment I made. It is not out of line for an ambitious person to spend $5,000 to go into business.

 

My goal would be to introduce new recruits to all of these items. People who wanted to start with less product, less diversity or their own selection would be welcome to design their own starter order.

 

My Growth Secret: I would use a third of this order for my own home.

 

A major source of my momentum and early profits would be based on the in-home "consumption" of my downline (who would be following the system I was teaching).

 

This has been the main growth mechanism of MLM since it first became a significant earnings system in the sixties. Multilevel Marketing existed before that as a sales network system. After a decade and a half of experimentation it became clear that a business building network system would produce more sales in the end and, of course, more profits.

 

The system and the products have to make sense and ours certainly do!

 

By getting my downline to grow at the rate of 2 new leader candidates per week (this order would define a serious leader candidate), I would endeavor to reach 50,000 QV by month six. As an Executive Manager I would earn a bonus check of approximately $12,500 the next month and it would continue to grow.

 

I did that in 1995. James & Jennifer Clendenin did that. Gordon & Dorothy Brodine did that. John & Jo Clements did that. JK & Becky Baker did that. Bill & Mattie Perry did that. AJ & Caroline Krause did that. Ed & Carlene Hutchins did that. Others did, too. Some of these did slightly better and some did slightly worse than the model shown, but all were in the ballpark.

 

Wow and double wow.

 

Heartland Select is now a Permanent Part of EcoQuest

 

I am totally happy with the decisions EcoQuest made just before Christmas 2008. It allows us to go into the New Year with a clear vision and hearts filled with hope. The US economy being what it is, there could not be a riper time for embracing a clear vision and executing a proven plan.

 

We'll dig out and dust off our explanations of the "Double Play/Triple Play" sales plan that worked so well earlier in 2008. All sales plans take a little time to learn and usually there are two or three theories about how to best capitalize on a plan's features.

 

The Giddens Summary

 

1.   The quickest, most solid way to build a career is by developing a network of business builders.

2.   If you are a good retailer, put as much time as you wish into retailing (but remember that retailing isn't the name of the game). Developing a network of business builders is the name of the game.

3.   More product is moved through "consumption" by your network than through retailing.

4.   Decide on a plan, make sure you believe in the products you have chosen, and go for it.

5.   I absolutely love Heartland Select. I think it is the finest nutraceutical and antioxidant health drink in the world. Its taste is better than exceptional. It's amazing.

6.   I absolutely love Essentials For Life, our enzyme-based, whole food, six-products-in-one daily supplement. Everyone should use this product. It is even more essential than Heartland Select.

7.   I absolutely love living and working in an air purified environment. It's as basic to me as heating and air conditioning and maybe more important for my family's health.

8.   My favorite air purifiers are the Gemini, the Focus, the Refresh (not in my starter order), the Fresh Air and the DuctwoRx (not in my starter order).

9.   My favorite water product is the Living Water Ultra. I have a floor model in the kitchen and a counter model upstairs. One filter ($30) had to be changed after 11 months. These units make the best water. We take it in bottles when we travel.

10. I must find leaders and my group must find leaders. We love sellers but they are not the key.

11. I believe in go wide-go wide-go wide. I also believe in go depth-depth-depth.

12. I must provide services for my downline. My services include newsletters, meetings, conference calls, emails, literature, web pages, use of company systems and general availability by phone and in person. But I cannot be all things to all people.

13. A healthy network has to be contain...

[a] top leaders (at all levels) who are self-starters, hard workers and full-charge problem solvers,

[b] many other sub-leaders (at all levels) who will care for their people and give personal service,

[c] up-and-coming workers (and future leaders) who will use the systems that are provided and not demand too much,

[d] sellers who are happy working on their own (perhaps some commercial types mixed in here) and

[e] all the rest...

(1) people who recruit their friends because they love the products,

(2) people who don't ever want to recruit anyone but they love the products,

(3) people who use just one or two products,

(4) people who are mostly inactive but make a lucky sale every once in a while,

(5) even people who are totally inactive but still want to remain a part of us!

14. You'll have to make a lot of approaches and go through a lot of prospects to get this job done.

15. Spread your group around geographically. This advice applies to your personal recruiting and to your downline expansion as well. It is not as good to recruit randomly all across the country to places you (or your close uplines) will never support. It's possible, but not as good.

16. Where, in 2009, are you going to find a better opportunity than this?

17. Don't try to second guess your decision to make a career in network marketing. Some of your family members and friends will treat you as if you have HIV. The answer: Get some new friends. A friend who won't support you in an honest and important career move isn't much of a friend.

18. Get started quickly and work with a sense of urgency!

 

 

 

EcoTrust Energy website:

www.ecotrustenergy.com

 

---   ---   ---

"We can make a difference" calls: http://www.ecoquestintl.com/email/081126_EcoUpdate_1.html

---   ---   ---

 

 

---   from Coordinating Manager David McBurney   ---

Dear EcoQuesters:

 

Nostalgia emails circulate around the Internet and one that contained these pictures arrived today. When I was growing up, I wanted to be like two of these people, No, not the Indian and Annette. Superman's marketing phrase informed us that he was fighting for Truth, Justice and the American Way. The Lone Ranger meant exactly the same things to me.

 

As a Navy pilot, I tried to live up to the impossible standards these two fictional heroes set. When I found multilevel marketing, it was more of the same. I wanted to apply these qualities these characters stood for to my work. It would be my destiny to try to emulate these guys in whatever career I pursued.

 

No one can live up to fictional standards. Even when we try really hard, we are inevitably destined to miss the mark by a wide margin. But I think my believe in these characters has been a source of valuable inspiration. Annette Funicello, too. Unlike the other two, she was real. Every man my age (66) was in love with Annette when we were 12 or 13, and she turned out to be the fine person in real life that she portrayed in her Mickey Mouse Club persona. I still draw inspiration just by thinking of these characters. My thanks to Annette and to the writers who brought us the other guys.

 

At a time of inspiration, it is good to draw upon the strengths we have learned from others. Our parents, our grandparents, and other leaders in society are the bedrock upon which we build our own story. As in my case, fictional characters can help, too, if you happen to be a fan. I bring this up because this is a time in EcoQuest when inspiration could be of extra value. The opportunity has opened up "big time" in 2008 due to the changes in the Consumables income plan, the introduction of EcoPower4, and the economic jumble that America and other countries is in.

 

If you have ever thought of planting your flag and saying, "This is it. I'm going to set a big goal and build something solid once and for all," this is the time to say it. In three weeks we will meet in Kansas City for our national convention. I want you to ride in on your big white stallion. I want you to have your Superman outfit hidden beneath your clothes. And I want you to have the kind countenance of Annette. Add to that your own goals and determination. You'll be unbeatable.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=36ireOG4Q84

 

Many regards,

Bob Giddens