Melaleuca? What is that?

One of the first things I hear when making an introduction to this great company is:

"Melaleuca? Never heard of it..."

Part of that is because there is not a lot of bad news to tell. The company is sound and has great products. Their consumer direct marketing method however has had people them leap to this very wrong conclusion:

"Ah... I see its like Amway..."

NO. Not even close. Consumer Direct Marketing. I tell the story and introduce people to this company. If they want to become members I help facilitate that - and then they are on their own. I do not "sell products" to people. I endorse a company that I feel is well rounded and worthy of telling others about. Indeed it is. If you are not a Melaleuca customer there are a ton of benefits - contact me or visit my business homepage for information!


Life and Home Solutions

I came across a great blog that really summarizes the company and these very natural comparisons people try to make:

Reposted from:
http://melvessells.blogspot.com/2011/09/comparison-of-amwayquixtar-and.html

"Written by Valli Morgan, Melaleuca Marketing Executive and 2 time former Amway Distributor 
Taken from her personal experience with both companies Quixtar is Amway.. due to the trouble they got into they changed their name apparently to Quixtar!!

Melaleuca-Different From Amway

Let’s look at ten points and compare Melaleuca with Amway. This comparison comes up quite often as a concern to many people. It’s nice to be able to address this issue and have the confidence that Melaleuca comes out on top.

1. Company Track Record 
Amway- Amway has been around for 50 years so obviously they have a track record so we’ll give this to them.

Melaleuca- Melaleuca is a 18 (now 25) year old company with a A1 financial rating. We have excellent credentials with the Better Business Bureau. Our president and CEO, Frank Vandersloot, is the Vice Regional Chairman on our US Chamber of Commerce and was recently named Entrepreneur of the Year by CNN, Nasdaq and USA Today.

2. Financially Sound 
Amway- We can give this to Amway, also. They are a financially sound company.

Melaleuca- We are also financially sound as stated above.

3. Strong Management 
Amway- Since Amway has been around so long we can assume that they have good, strong management.

Melaleuca- Melaleuca has been featured in the Inc. 500 magazine five years in a row (Microsoft was featured three years in a row) as one of America’s fastest growing, privately held companies. This would make Melaleuca’s management team strong, also.

4. Unique Consumable Products 
Amway- Amway does have lots of consumable products but only 5% of them are unique. Actually, Amway buys from other companies and then packages the product in Amway bottles.

Melaleuca- All of Melaleuca’s products are consumable and unique to the company. They have patents or patents pending on all their products. What they don’t spend in advertising they spend in scientifically developing the best products for your home and personal use. They call it “the best of science and nature.” Melaleuca will not release a product until it is well-documented and researched.

5. Competitively Priced 
Amway-This is another area where Amway fails. As stated above, Amway buys many of their products from a middle man and thus has to mark up everything to the consumer to make a profit. You can buy most of their products just off the grocery store shelf for a lot cheaper.

Melaleuca- Melaleuca prices are very competitive to grocery store prices. We beat just about all prices on name brand products. This was a goal of Frank Vandersloot’s when he started the company. He wanted to make sure that anyone could afford safer products for their homes.

6. Low Personal Production Requirement 
Amway- This is another failure for Amway and one of the biggest. To be an Amway distributor (remember that word) you must order $250 a month of product to try and sell to others. That’s where the word distributor comes to play. You must buy wholesale and sell retail to anyone you can to get anywhere with Amway

Melaleuca- We are so different from Amway in this category. In Melaleuca, you order for you and your family alone. The requirement is only about $60 a month, something that you’re doing already at the grocery store. With Melaleuca, you just switch stores. We DO NOT buy wholesale to sell to others retail. We are not distributors. We are all just customers and have the privilege of buying wholesale for our families every single month. This can also include the privilege of earning a check from Melaleuca every month.

7. High Reorder Rate 
Amway- The reorder rate for Amway is 12% every month. Only 12% of the people that you have sold these products to will buy them the next month and months after that. And then you have to keep on chasing these people to get them to order again. Talk about lost friends

Melaleuca- The reorder rate for Melaleuca is a whopping 95%. Ninety-five percent of the people that ordered Melaleuca this month will order it next month. Once you set up a customer account with Melaleuca the company takes care of the rest and the customer orders and pays the company for their products. No chasing anyone.

8. Low Attrition Rate 
Amway- The attrition rate in Amway is 90%. That means that 9 out of 10 people will quit Amway and you will spend 90% of your time trying to replace those people.

Melaleuca- The attrition rate for Melaleuca is 7%. This is almost unheard of for a company. Customers are totally satisfied with Melaleuca products and the Melaleuca business.

9. Low Initial Investment 
Amway- The initial investment for Amway is $50 but, and that’s a big but, the starter pack is $200.

Melaleuca- Becoming a customer of Melaleuca is a $29 decision. Period.   You can order a Value or Career Pack to help your business, but they are not required.

10. No Risk 
Amway- There’s quite a few risks in Amway. One is just the risk of wasting your time. The majority of people in Amway seem to never make money and many lose money. The only way to really make the big bucks in Amway is to sell tapes, books, do seminars and conferences. Any training with Amway will cost you. And, of course, you run the risk of losing friends if they won’t buy your product. There are, also, quotas every month that you need to meet.

Melaleuca- There is no risk. If you are not satisfied with the products you will receive 100% of your money back. There is a 120 day money back guarantee on the business. If you are not satisfied with the business and you just don’t think that it will work for you, Melaleuca will refund your $29 no questions asked. They only want satisfied customers. All training with Melaleuca is free. You build your business the way you are comfortable with and at your own pace. There are no quotas every month to meet.

These are just a few ways that Melaleuca differs from Amway. We are trademarked as Consumer Direct Marketing. Melaleuca is a catalog company that pays residual income to those that refer others to the company.

The Bottom Line No selling products
No inventory
No risk - no one gets burned
Safe, healthy North American-made products for my family
No added expense - I already buy these products from some store
I’m paid to tell others
I am the boss, and I am responsible for my own work"

New Year, New Resolutions, and TOTAL WELLNESS!

WOW. It is 2013 and as I look back on the last half of 2012 I am blindsided as to where it actually went. I have been absent from the blog for a while - other things get in the way and "real life" takes over. But a new year brings with it new opportunities and I am ready to go at it fresh!

I am dubbing 2013 as a "year of total wellness" for me. I am taking this beyond just my cycling by starting a new business that focuses on actual TOTAL wellness. Throw in coaching CrossFit and for the first time in a long while the feeling of "doing what you love" is finally arriving at my door.

My new business is an opportunity for all. If you are interested in YOUR total wellness I implore you to visit my new website:

www.lifeandhomesolutions.com/robert

Contact me if you are interested in hearing what more there is to be gained by embracing total wellness! When I say TOTAL WELLNESS I am really speaking about four aspects: Personal Wellness, Physical Wellness, Financial Wellness, and Environmental Wellness. 

• To up my game for personal wellness with this I am resolving to network more, talk to more people, commit to family time, and just have a bright outlook on life. It is time to up the game on the personal wellness aspect!

• For physical wellness the resolution is to RIDE more, CROSSFIT more and just keep a steady pace to that training. I am also hoping for a return with a vengeance to Cycle Oregon goodness. Stay tuned. 2013 here I come for physical wellness.

• Financial wellness. Who DOESN'T want this? Well, my new business is going to bring me financial wellness. I am resolving in 2013 to make it happen and will not be deterred by naysayers or party-poopers. Do you want to be a part of this and gain financial wellness? Visit my new site and get hold of me and I can help you.

• As always, I am concerned about the environment. For myself and for my children. A renewed commitment to the environment goes without saying. In 2013 I am taking it to a new level.

So, here is to a renewed commitment and promise to make 2013 the best year yet!

Fat Head!!

We have been following the paleo diet now for a while with a lot of success. Add to this - I feel better now than I ever have. What follows is the documentary film "Fat Head" and it is a must watch for everyone who wishes to hear some amazing information about diet, history, politics, etc.

You Can Do It!

How do I prepare for this? Can I do this? Why did I sign up for this?

These questions might be running in your mind here after signing up for your first long distance event like a Cycle Oregon or other long cycle ride. Even something like your first century or a metric century will seem daunting. A week on Cycle Oregon will seem like riding to your doom for non-riders. “Hey, I signed up for Cycle Oregon!” you will say. Your non-riding friends will reply “Crazy!” and they will think you are insane. Many will find your sign-up for riding a 100 mile century as a psycho move. But with the right preparation you can tackle it no problem.

A challenge for most people is finding time to ride. Unless you are a cycle commuter, you might only have the weekends to hit the road. Thats fine - the key is mixing it up. Add in workouts where you can keep the legs moving and build muscle. Racking long miles is important but not the end-all be-all. Don’t let it be a complete bummer if you cannot log thousands of miles on your bike. 

If you are on a recumbent and you have your bike dialed in, the miles on longer and organized rides will come so smoothly that you will lose track. Are you at mile 20? 40? 60? It won’t matter because you will be quite comfortable at any mileage. 


If you are on a diamond frame road bike - you will typically find advice on easing into long miles - probably because your ass will be hurting like a mother. Even if you have a professionally fitted road bike - which I would assume most people do not - riding long miles will be more uncomfortable for you than recumbent riders. Just a fact. So ease into it and don't try a huge ride out of the chute.

When you cannot ride due to weather or other circumstances, pick up the slack on a fluid trainer at home. I personally don’t like riding a trainer, so I use a workout DVD that focuses on leg and core work. I also do a yoga DVD that is quite intense to help build core strength. A strong core is particularly important on a diamond frame road bike where you will be relying more on upper body strength over long miles. I like the core workouts for taking insane corners on my tadpole trike where I really need to lean out of the seat.

If you have a recreation center nearby, take a spin class or pop onto the stationary bikes. Put it in a good resistance where you can spin at 80 RPM or so for a long time. See how long you can go. When Fox News comes up on the tele in front of you, use that as inspiration to spin harder and angrier. Imagine trying to run over those talking fools kind of like attacking a hill. Mix this cardio with other leg muscle workouts to bring your overall fitness up and you will do fine.

Keep diet in check as well. Everything in moderation, except candy bars and soda pop. My advice: Send a big “F-You” to the soda manufacturers and corn syrup pushing corporations by just not buying their crap ever again. I know Coke likes to sell its product as a happy land of weird creatures living inside an alternate universe soda machine, flinging out their 12 ounces of bottled happiness to humanity, but its time to get real about soda. Its bad for you, period. “Hey, Coke and Pepsi Corp: F-YOU and your soda!” Say this loudly - it will make you feel good inside I guarantee it.

Use a log for keeping track of your workouts and miles ridden. A great one is Bike Journal where you can keep track of your riding workouts. A great thing about keeping a riding log is that you will see your mileage rack up over time. Before you know it you will have hundreds of miles logged. Maybe some of your rides are short, but they all add up. Do the same for when you do weights or other exercise. Keep notes. It might sound crazy, but if you don’t know where you have been you cannot know where you are going. The record lets you know what you need to do to up the intensity. Measurement is good and it inspires you to go longer and harder.

When you do go on an organized event, you will be surprised at what you can accomplish. Being in a larger group of cyclists - all having a great time at the start of a ride - will bring out the best in you and you will be amazed at what you can do. It is an increased atmosphere of “We can do this!” that is really catchy and very addictive.

Ride on!