Inside Quixtar

A spot in the crowd

When I was younger, I used to have a fantasy that either Sting, Elvis Costello, or Bruce Springsteen would spot me in the crowd at a concert, be smitten upon sight and I'd then become their muse and we'd live happily ever after.  I have to admit I got the idea from the Springsteen "Dancing in the Dark" video where he extends his hand to a then relatively unknown  Courteney Cox and they dance together on stage.

Of course I later realized I would never be spotted in the nosebleed seats (if anything, I would just be a spot in the crowd, never spotted.)   

But last night, two of the three objects of my affection shared the stage here in Grand Rapids.  Elvis Costello and The Police stopped at the Van Andel Arena on their current tour and gave an amazing performance.

I'd seen Elvis before, at a very disappointing performance at was then the New World Theatre outside of Chicago.  I'd been an Elvis fan since "My Aim is True" and had viewed this concert as THE event of my early 90s summer.  But this night,  Elvis was alone, acoustic, bored, and seemed depressed.  Opening act The BoDeans, on the other hand, brought the crowd to their feet with their infectious bar band sound.  I left feeling betrayed. But I stuck with Elvis (even through the opera explorations, even through Burt Bacharach.)

The Elvis Costello I saw last night was the one I've dreamed of for decades.  Touring with backup band The Imposters, Elvis brought his witty lyrics, blinding guitar work and manic energy to a very tight set.  He played a few songs from the brand new "Momofuko" (named for the noodle cup inventor), and featuring the standout "Go Away,"  but lots of old favorites, like "Pump it Up", "Watching the Detectives," "Radio, Radio," and "Peace, Love, and Understanding." During "Alison" a cardigan and hat wearing Sting joined him for the refrains and that alone was worth the price of admission.  Only the addition of "Red Shoes" would have made the set perfect.

I had to wait 15 years to see Elvis at his geek-punk best, but it was worth it.

The Police were surprisingly tight and energetic.  While I admit being distracted during the first few songs by my husband's comment that drummer Stewart Copeland is 64, I was then dazzled by the musicianship and, of course, by Sting's vocals.  I didn't care for the "Don't stand so close to me" slowed down version and would have liked to have heard Synchronicity I or II, but everything else was stellar -- especially the encore with a angst-ridden "Roxanne," driving "So Lonely," and beautiful "Every Breath You Take." 

And the best thing about seeing a band that broke up decades ago?  You know all the songs because there's no new material!

One sour note to the concert experience.  There was a young woman nearby more intent on talking to her identical blonde buddies than watching the show.  She had a tinny, nasally voice that could have shattered glass and amazingly cut through the music for at least 10 feet all around her, to the dismay of all within earshot.  She was self-absorbed and clueless to the annoyance she created around her -- and was clearly at the show more for the date than the acts.  I hope there's a wailing baby next to her on her next flight.

Name this space!

Remember hearing about the couple who said they'd allow the highest bidder to name their child?  Or the guy who offered to tattoo a company logo or slogan on his forehead for the right price?

I'd never go that far, but I am opening up the renaming of this blog to the thoughts and ideas of those who visit here.

This blog has been Inside Quixtar since its inception in 2004. But as we go through a brand transition from Quixtar to Amway Global, the name isn't going to fit any more.  Inside Amway doesn't seem right, as this is a North American view of our business.  And every time I try to think of something to name this blog, I conveniently find something better to do.

Got an idea for what to name this blog?  Post your thoughts here and I'll send an Artistry or Nutrilite sales kit to the best suggestion and Artistry essentials skin care or Simply Nutrilite samplers to the four runnersup.

Please submit your ideas by the end of May and I'll announce the winner and runnersup the first week in June. 

Reports from LA

I've heard some reports coming out of the first National Spotlight event in LA.

First, that it was jam-packed.  As you all know, this was our first Spotlight and we had over 6,000 IBOs registered and each could bring guests.  If you went to the registration site, you could see that an IBO could choose a number of guests to bring along -- up to 99!  Some IBOs did suggest they'd bring 99 and from the numbers we saw, some just may have.       

Second, it was exciting.  Lots of energy around the discussions about product and training.  Lots of excitement about what's ahead for IBO businesses. And again, lots and lots of people!

Third, as the event breaks down and gets packed on trucks to go to the next venue (Greensboro, N.C. May 30-31), your Quixtar North America/Amway Global team is still excited about being able to be with the people we work so hard to support. 

It was a great start to the 10-city tour and much more ahead as this tour continues through the summer and fall!

If you're planning to attend one of the remaining nine events, get a complete schedule of the breakouts and training, plus fliers and postcards you can use to promote the events, at Quixtar.com.

National Spotlight Kicks Off Tonight in LA!

The first U.S. stop on the National Spotlight Tour is Los Angeles tonight and tomorrow.

Tens of thousands of IBOs and their guests are expected to be part of the tour launch in the "City of Angels"  and learn more about products, training, and support for their businesses.

In a lot of ways, Spotlight will bring our catalog of products to life and let IBOs touch, feel, see and experience the products, brands, and supports that back their businesses.

We're all excited about this program getting off the ground and a lot of Quixtar North America/Amway Global staff have been in LA for days getting everything ready for this debut.  And while some staff will be part of just a few of the 10 Spotlight events, some will be "roadies" and be at most of the stops along the way. 

If you can't make LA, you'll be able to see and hear what's happening through coverage at Quixtar.com.  I won't be in LA but I'll post reports from those on those in the thick of what's sure to be an exciting event for all.  

Helping more people with disabilities achieve -- IBO giving to Easter Seals lifts giving 15 percent

This year Amway and Quixtar will celebrate 25 years with Easter Seals.  The parallels between Easter Seals and Amway have always been strong.  Easter Seals provides opportunity, as does Amway.  Easter Seals is about empowerment, as is our business.  And Easter Seals helps people achieve independence, which is what draws many IBOs to Quixtar and Amway.

From the start, our partnership with Easter Seals has been built on IBO giving.  Yes, the company provides a corporate contribution, but that's only part of the equation.  The majority of funds raised for Easter Seals result from IBOs who raise funds in ways big and small.   And those efforts add up fast.   IBO and corporate giving to Easter Seals is up 15.4 percent over last year.  Even more impressive, giving since 2004 is up 55 percent.

Today our giving is approaching $1 million dollars, which is incredible.  Because each of those dollars is helping someone with a disability achieve more -- from a child getting early intervention and treatment for autism to an adult getting rehabilitative support after an accident or debilitating illness.     

It's never to late to get involved.  The Quixtar-sponsored Walk With Me events are happening all over the country.  Our local event is July 30 in Grand Rapids.  You can join an event like Walk or you can have one of your own.  Leyla Kayi, who hosts the One by One blog, is there to help.  Every dollar raised creates opportunity for someone with a disability.  

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Got Newsweek's May 12 issue?

The Newsweek issue with the Statue of Liberty on the cover?

The Quixtar/Amway Global ad is on the inside back cover, right across from Anna Quindlen.

There was some confusion in a communication at Quixtar.com which directed IBOs to look for our ad  May 5 -- which is when the May 12 issue went on newsstand sales.

To quote the ad, "now you know."

Opportunity Zone a winner, finalist in awards programs

It's been said that a job well done is its own reward.

But it's nice to get an atta boy for what you do.

The Opportunity Zone recently was honored by the International Association of Business Communicators' Heritage Region with an Award of Merit in the Electronic and Digital Communication category.  Our agency partner Converseon entered the Opportunity Zone in this competition.

And, the Direct Selling Association (DSA) just notified us that the Opportunity Zone is one of three finalists in DSA's annual "Industry Innovation Awards."  This annual award recognizes direct selling companies that have "developed an innovative approach to some aspect of direct selling" for "conceptualizing and implementing programs that are not common in the industry."  The winner will be announced during the DSA Annual Meeting in June. 

When many of you think of Opportunity Zone, you may think about the bloggers who share their thoughts here.  But there are a lot of names and faces you don't see who are critical to this program's success.  Jeff  Bosch in IT, for example, was the project manager who helped us launch the Zone and helped take our ideas and make them happen.  Anna Bryce and Katie Pearsall have served as editors in the Zone since its launch, moderating comments, finding answers to questions and helping keep the conversation going.  There are designers in communications and developers in IT that are too many to mention but who have played key roles in its evolution and ongoing operations.  They're the real winners and the folks who deserve a hearty round of applause!

Next USA TODAY ad running tomorrow

The next ad featuring the Amway Global "now you know" message will run in tomorrow's editions of USA TODAY.

You'll see ads appearing in major national news and business publications in the coming weeks.

Details coming soon! 

What's the 411 on direct selling? A new DSA site has the word

There are some things that from a generational cultural perspective that have passed me by.  The phrase "411" is one of them.  I know that getting the "411" is getting information about something, so I'm not entirely clueless, but it's not a phrase I use on a daily basis.

But I will moving forward, to direct people to a new  Direct Selling Association (DSA)  web site that offers the "411" on direct selling opportunities.   You can find it at www.directselling411.com.

Check out the blog as well as other content designed to help people find the right direct selling/mlm opportunity to meet their needs as well as basic information about direct selling and the benefits of having your own direct selling business.

DSA has had its own web site for years, but this is the first consumer facing web site for potential direct sellers and existing representatives. 

Visit it and watch the blog for an industry perspective on issues, urban legends, and other topics.  And, join me in welcoming DSA to the blogosphere!  

A break for spring - now back to work

Last week lots of Quixtar staff were out on spring break with their families.  I guess it's kind of a unique phenomenon here, but most of the public schools align their spring breaks so they occur the same week, which means a lot of people are out at the same time.  It's baffling to newcomers or those who work with the company to find that a pretty large number of people are out during the same time not connected to a major holiday, but there it is.

For those who stayed here, spring break week meant easier commutes, fewer meetings and time to get a lot of work done.

And there's been a lot to do.  As you all know, in March Quixtar began phase one of its transition to the Amway brand.  Last month the first of three transitional logos made its debut on our communications and web sites, showing that today we're Quixtar North American but well on our way to becoming Amway Global.  In September the logo order will flip and you'll see Amway Global on top and Quixtar North America below, as Amway begins to eclipse the Quixtar name.  Finally, in spring 2009, in conjunction with Amway's 50th Anniversary, this market will once again be known as Amway as the Amway Global logo stands alone.

On March 28 the first of our national advertising broke in USA TODAY in the U.S. and The Globe and Mail and La Presse in Canada. The "hello" sticker is designed to reintroduce folks to today's Amway.   Look for more ads to break in the coming weeks that help tell the story about how today's Amway is different than what many people may think. Complete details will be available at Quixtar.com.  

And in less than a month, Quixtar will hit the road in the first of the new National Spotlight regional events.  These two-day events, launching May 9-10 in LA, will shine a spotlight on produts and the business and bring brands like Artistry, Nutrilite, XS and Ribbon to life for IBOs, their prospects, and customers.  Between May and September, Spotlight will visit North Carolina, Orlando, Chicago, San Francisco, Omaha, New York City, Washington D.C., Portland and Dallas.  Again, look for dates and event details at Quixtar.com.

The Blog in Prague

Many of you know that our very own Robin Luymes, "Kia" of Real Quixtar Blog, was part of a panel during a global Amway Public Relations conference last week in Prague that featured five IBOs who host blogs or who frequently comment to blogs.

Why would the company host such a panel?  Because unlike here in the U.S., blogs are a relatively new phenomenon in other parts of the world.  Public Relations staff at Amway affiliates were eager to learn more about what inspires people to blog or participate in blog conversations.  Many affiliate staff are used to dealing with news media and haven't been sure how to respond to the blog community.

What Quixtar did in launching the Opportunity Zone just over a year ago was unique within our Amway world and also within the direct selling industry.  When Direct Selling News contacted us for a story they were doing last fall, we were part of a handful of companies blogging or using social media to communicate with key audiences. 

Robin recapped the Prague experience at Real Quixtar Blog and you can read all about it there.  He said it was an invaluable experience to match faces with names and get to know more about those we knew largely through their online personas -- IBOFightBack, Bridgett, Big Apple, Dave,  and Tex.  It was a way to extend and deepen the conversations we've had in the Opportunity Zone since launch.

And, it helped us reevaluate a few things that have been happening here in the Opportunity Zone.  Some of you have called us out for our silence on some issues, as we allowed the conversations to happen elsewhere.  We've realized that we haven't been as attentive at times to the blogs, and to the conversations that happen here.  (I've come to view operating a blog as like getting a new pet -- they need regular care, feeding, and attention to thrive and often take more time than you anticipated!)   

There's a common tool used in evaluations at companies around the world.  It's called a "start, stop, continue" survey.  You identify what you want someone to start, what you want them to stop, and what they should continue.   So I ask you, Opportunity Zone visitors, what should we start?  What should we stop?  And what should we continue?

Let us know, because this isn't a conversation unless we're both participating AND listening.

Slainte!

Cheers and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

As I'm of Irish descent, St. Patrick's Day generally means food, drink, and friends.

But since it falls on a "school day" this year, we saved the food and drink for this weekend.

We even tried to make a St. Patrick's feast healthier this time around.  First, for a traditional boiled dinner, we trimmed all visible fat off of the corned beef brisket.  We then cooked this in a crock pot for a few hours and then dumped the fatty water, trimmed more fat off the brisket and rinsed it throroughly.  We then put it back in the pot with fresh water, more seasonings (salt, pepper, bay leaf, parsley and coriander seeds) plus cabbage, carrots and potatoes.  Not only was the dinner not "greasy," we figured we cut a good deal of the fat out of the meal and didn't miss a bit of the flavor.

For soda bread, we substituted whole wheat flour for white to make more of an Irish brown bread.  But for the colcannan, a traditional Irish potato dish, the only thing we did was cut back on the butter.  To make colcannon, you boil potatoes in salted water, chop and saute cabbage in butter (we used only a tablespoon compared to the 1/4 - 1/2 cup most recipes suggest) and then combine with salt and pepper (and we like a bit of parmesan)  and bake for about 20 minutes.   It sounds awful but it's one of the simplest and best dishes in all of Ireland. a country not known for good food.

The rest of our revelry surrounded making a leprechaun trap.  Now, I don't ever recall being clever enough to trap a leprechaun and take his gold, but it's a fairly common practice today.  At my children's school there are several traps laid to catch the Irish elf.

And why?  Because it's a way to get a treat.  The leprechaun has become like the tooth fairy or the Easter Bunny in that even if you don't catch it, you get something in return.  As for our family, after the trap was set with hopes that the leprechaun would be caught and he'd hand over a pot of gold -- or at least leave something sweet.  We scrounged around and found a few candy bars and left those as a treat, as well as some loose change.  It was enough to keep them looking around for any clues that a leprechaun had been afoot.

Whether you're Irish or not (and 34 million Americans claim Irish ancestry), may the sun rise up to meet you, and the wind be always at your back.  Slainte!

20 and out

The results are in from my very informal anthropolgical study:

I'm 20.

My husband's seven.

My daughters are three and four respectively.

What are the numbers?  The total number of products we use to get us out the door every morning (not including any breakfast.)

I had read that on average, it took most women more than 30 products to get themselves out the door every morning, which I thought was excessive.  Yet when we took a count this morning, we were all astonished at how many products we use without even thinking about it.  We counted every consumable product we used from the time our feet hit the floor until they walked out the door.  For example, we counted the coffee in our cup but not the cup or coffeemaker; the toothpaste but not the electric toothbrush.  One of my kids either didn't brush their teeth or wash their face this morning (hence the difference in numbers), but by the time I realized this we were in the car driving away.

I view myself as fairly low maintenance, but my numbers were kind of surprising.  Four hair products.  Five makeup products (mostly Artistry essentials.)  Four skin care products. Two kinds of soaps.   The only thing I could realistically cut out would be the coffee (but I'd just pick that up later in the day.)    And if you count my Nutrilite vitamins (which I take with breakfast), the number would be closer to 30. 

What's really interesting about this is realizing the potential for converting customers to our products.  If you play out the scenario throughout the rest of the day, you realize the potential of every customer in helping an IBO create a successful retailing business.   Because if I were to count the products I interact with through the rest of the day, the number would climb higher and higher (for example, I'm on my way to wash my mug -- Dish Drops! -- and then have a cup of tea.)

And because Quixtar offers so many products people use every day -- especially in the health and beauty categories -- it's not surprising the company has held the top spot as the #1 online health and beauty retailer, according to Internet Retailer magazine, for four years running.   Because in my family alone, there are 34 opportunities to sell a product -- before we even step out the door!

The doctor is in

I had an opportunity to chat earlier today with Dr. Duke Johnson, medical advisor to the Nutrilite Health Institute.  And once again I was reminded how Nutrilite is much more than just a brand.

Years ago I had the opportunity to visit Nutrilite and go through what was then the Nutrilite Experience, the precursor to the Center for Optimal Health.  I met Dr. Duke for the first time during that session.  A visit to Nutrilite is powerful and overwhelming, because you can see, hear, feel, and taste the seed to tablet quality story that's unlike any other.  Even though I could quote the Nutrilite story chapter and verse and give you all the soundbites, I didn't realize the power behind these products until I saw the story for myself.  

Part of the Nutrilite Experience is a series of diagnostic evaluations to determine your general nutritional state and fitness levels.  My first visit was on January 2, 2004. You get the blood work done as soon as you get there and the results later the next day.   Now as you might imagine, right after the New Year is not the best time to have such tests done.  And when I got the results back, I was depressed -- cholesterol up, blood glucose levels up, weight up.  But instead of a stern lecture from Dr. Duke and from fitness consultant Sean Foy, I got encouragement to make little changes that can make a big difference in health and wellness.  And, instead of finger wagging, I got some understanding that everyone "overdoes it" during the holidays but the point is to get back into healthy habits.

And I did.  I embarked on an exercise program that meant that by the time I returned for the Center for Optimal Health opening in 2006, I'd shaved 4 points off my body mass index and signifcantly improved my numbers.  

I still have health goals to meet.   While I work out diligently, I'm also an enthusastic eater and love food.  I'm focusing more on eating healthier foods day-to-day and saving splurges for special occasions.   And I've been more diligent about taking my supplements to fill in the blanks in my diet. 

The commitment to organic farming, to seed to tablet integration, to leading manufcaturing techniques make Nutrilite products the world's leader in vitamins and dietary supplements, based on sales.  The people behind the brand, like Dr. Duke, is what makes Nutrilite more about creating optimal health than just about making products.

Ronaldin - who?

I openly admit I don't really watch sports.  Or follow politics.  I figure I have a lot of things to track and follow (children, work, weather, what's for dinner) andI don't have room for sports as a distraction.   Plus, my husband is an avid fan of many sports so he more than makes up for my nonchalance.

My reputation for being relatively clueless about sports is so bad, that Robin Luymes was nearly astonished in a meeting this week when I named all the Team Nutrilite athletes and came pretty close to matching them to their events.

So when I learned that Nutrilite was adding Ronaldinho to its Team Nutrilite  roster of world-class athletes, my reaction was, Ronaldin-who?

But Nutrilite's sponsorship of Ronaldinho, I was soon informed, is a very big deal.  Ronaldinho is the most marketable soccer player in the world -- even bigger than Beckham.  He has a higher E-score celebrity ranking than Oprah, as reported in Forbes.  And like the other Team Nutrilite athletes, he's at the top of his game and a world-class performer. 

This affiliation will help bring the Nutrilite brand name and story to an even wider audience.  You can see the announcement as it occurred yesterday in Barcelona at Nutrilite.com.