PRINT THIS OUT if you’re involved in our considering starting a network marketing home-based business. I am 100% confident that you’ll find this helpful.

There is so much hype out there these days.

Before you invest your time, energy, and money, please ask your latest candidate to become your business partner 10 questions.

I’m not just talking about a new distributor you’re looking to enroll, but also the gal or guy that is trying to recruit you.

Desired score for both is 70% – at least 7 out of 10 answers should be acceptable to you.

If you don’t feel comfortable with the person or the proposition, DO NOT partner with them.

Questions for Your Prospective Trainees:

1. Have you ever worked a home-based business before? Tell me about your experiences. [To determine their experience level].
2. What made you join that business? [To determine their 'why']
3. Why do you want to join this business [To determine if their excitement being tempered by reasonable thought]
4. How much extra income per month would make you feel like you’re getting ahead? [What amount of money is considered 'success' to them]
5. How many hours per week are you going to dedicate to growing your business? [Is the time commitment in-line with the income goal?]
6. How do you see yourself growing your business. From home, over the Internet, phone, mailing post cards, meeting new people, or some other way? [This will give you and idea of their personality type]
7. Do you have a * minimum * of $100 per month to commit to the operations of and marketing of your business? [It costs to grow a business. This includes personal product and/or service use, along with replicated website, Bookkeeping software, CRM, samples, marketing collateral, postage, face-to-face networking events, and speed networking over the phone.]
8. How long are you going to commit to working this business before you decide that it is not for you [Recommend 90 days]
9. Will you do what you say you’re going to do? [To gauge their credibility--honesty]
10. Will you in be honest with me on how you feel and fact do what you say you’re going to do once you make a commitment? [Setting the stage for accountability]

_____

Questions for Your Potential Coach:

1. How many companies like this have you worked with before? [To determine a track record of success or failure]
2. How long did you stay with your last company? [To gauge their commitment level]
3. Why did you leave that company? [To see if their reason for separating was valid - to you]
4. Why did you decide to partner with this company in particular? [What was their why]
5. How many ways can I make money? [They should have a basic understanding of the compensation plan]
6. What are 3 things that makes an MLM program a good, worthwhile program? [Look for 3 out of the following: Good company management with experience in the industry; Timing in the company and industry; Remarkable product; Fair compensation plan--rewards spare-time, part-time, and full-time people; Training system; Purpose that fits your tastes; Reputation and culture of the company and it's distributors]
7. How many people are you actively coaching now? [To see how available they'll be]
8. How many business opportunities are you working right now, and why are you working more than one program? [How focused are they and are they a shrewd capitalist?]
9. Other than the start-up kit and my monthly commitment (products or service subscription), how much extra money do I need to spend? [They should be able to something like this: "It costs to grow a business. This includes personal product and/or service use, along with replicated website, CRM, samples, marketing collateral, postage, face-to-face networking events, and speed networking over the phone."]
10. How can I get the extra money to start and maintain my business? [Buy from yourself--if your company has products that allows you to "switch stores", CoinStar(TM) machines, bag lunch, W4 adjustment]

_____

Here are video tutorials on the above:

How to interview new prospects for your home-based MLM biz (Pt. 1 of 2)

How to interview new prospects for your home-based MLM biz (Pt. 2 of 2)

How to interview your potential MLM sponsor/coach (Pt. 1 of 2)

How to interview your potential MLM sponsor/coach (Pt. 2 of 2)

Go get ‘em tigers and tigresses!

Wishing you massive affluence,

The Keeper of the ARC of the Covenant
http://www.twitter.com/tyroneturner

The world has lost a legend today, film director John Hughes.
I know it’s silly, I didn’t know the guy, but I felt like I did.
He truly touched my life…in so many different ways.

John Hughes was born in Lansing, Michigan (ironically, where I went to College!!!) and his family moved to Illinois right before he entered high school.
He was a 1968 graduate of Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois.
I graduated from GBN in 1994…a bit later.
However, Hughes used Northbrook and the entire North Shore area for shooting his film locations. He normally left the name of the town unsaid, or referred to it as “Shermer, Illinois.”
The original name for Northbrook was Shermerville. It was changed a long time ago…however, the main road that runs through the town, and the one the high school sits on, is still called, Shermer Road.
Rumor has it, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Breakfast Club” was based on John Hughes’s personal high school experience. Apparently he hated it so much, he felt he had to make many movies about it.
Rumor also has it that the Mr. Rooney, the principal in “Ferris Bueller’s” was based on our own dean…which I can believe.
Anyway, I was in Jr. High when they filmed that movie.
Our Jr. High was directly located next to the high school.
I vivedly remember the filming of two scenes in the movie.
1) The scene in which Ferris comes to the school to pick up his girlfriend. Mr. Rooney walks them out, Ferris has Cameron’s dad’s car, and is all dressed up..and then
2) They drive away from the school, top down on the car…to the music of “Yello- Oh Yeah”. That street is called School Street…it’s a windy road between the two schools and is…or used to be…a big speed trap by the Northbrook Police…

The other great thing about this movie….the watertown in town was painted with “SAVE FERRIS” and stayed that way for months…we had no idea why at the time.

Many of my friends homes were used in the movie. Most of them in the scene where Ferris ran through the homes trying to beat his father home.

Of course, there are other great movies that all have a tie-into where I’m from…but Ferris Bueller is by far, is the one closest to my heart. We even took our wedding pictures in the same place where Ferris took Cameron to try to wake him up out of his coma….yes…I’m a dork

Ci avrei scommesso qualunque cosa. Certo, nel male, poteva andare peggio, perchè ad essere accusato di uso di sostanze stupefacenti è stato l’attore Lim Joo Hwan che ha inerpretato il ruolo di fratello maggiore di So Yi Jeong (Kim Bum), una parte tutto sommato modesta. La sua carriera, come quella di Joo Ji-hoon è cominciata come modello, salvo poi debuttare nel mondo dello spettacolo. Ma direi che è anche finita qui.

Boys Over Flowers

Un articolo del Korea Herald ha riportato le considerazioni del  YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association): il drama Boys Before Flowers/Boys Over Flowers/꽃보다 남자/Kgotboda Namja o come volete chiamarlo è stato un completo fallimento. Milioni di adolescenti l’hanno guardato solo per la romantica trama e il cast composto di persone di bella presenza. Certo, perchè se al posto di Lee Min Ho ci fosse stato un ragazzo cicciottello e poco piacente l’avrebbero guardato molte più persone. Per la precisione, leggendo l’articolo del Korea Herald si apprende quanto segue:

According to a group of university students who participated in the assessment of the drama, the Cinderella story became immensely popular thanks to its good-looking cast and easy-to-understand storyline.

However, the group pointed out that the drama failed to deliver more than a worn-out story involving violence in school, teenagers indulging in pleasure and prejudice toward others based on their appearance and social class. It added that the leading female character named Geum Jan-di particularly failed to convince being passive and dependent, yet cocky at times.

The report concluded that the 25-part drama series was the epitome of materialism and the Cinderella complex, and has set a bad example for Korean drama.

In traduzione si capisce che:

Secondo un gruppo di studenti universitari che hanno partecipato alla valutazione del drama, questa storia ‘tipo Cenerentola’ è diventata estremamente popolare grazie al suo cast e ad una trama di facile comprensione.

Tuttavia, il gruppo ha sottolineato che il drama non ha espresso niente più che la solita storia di bullismo a scuola, adolescenti che si compiaccio nel piacere O__O e nel pregiudizio verso gli altri, basato sul loro aspetto e sul loro status sociale. Ha aggiunto anche che la protagonista femminile, Geum Jandi, in particolare, è poco convincente, passando da un atteggiamento passivo e dipendente, ad uno più spavaldo.

La relazione conclude che il drama, composto da 25 episodi, era intriso di materialismo e affetto dalla ’sindrome di  Cenerentola’, ed ha costituito un pessimo esempio per i drama coreani.

Ok, questi qui non hanno capito niente di televisione. E’ solo un drama cavolo! T___T

credits: kpopped, Korea Herald

Boys Over Flowers

Samkhya Edamaruku CNN-IBN Contributor – Bias Exposed
Ex-Devotees Of Sathya Sai Baba (particularly Barry Pittard) have been quick to reference an article written by Samkhya Edamaruku that was published on CNN-IBNLive on August 1st 2008 entitled “Self-Styled Godmen Under Increasing Scrutiny”. The article in question made a casual slur against Sathya Sai Baba that said:

The Sathya Sai Baba of Puthaparthi too has faced allegations of sexual abuse and exposes on the alleged gimmicks behind his miracle acts. (Ref)

An internet search for the name Samkhya Edamaruku reveals a carefully guarded secret. Samkhya Edamaruku has never been referenced or referred to by his full name on any rationalist or atheist website, including those of his father, Sanal Edamaruku.

Sanal Edamaruku is the founder-president and editor of Rationalist International and the president of the Indian Rationalist Association (which is so professional, it is hosted on blogger). Sanal Edamaruku has been active in the Rationalist Association from the age of 15. He has been the General Secretary of the Indian Rationalist Association since 1983, and has been the editor of its mouthpiece Modern Freethinker. His father was Joseph Edamaruku who was a well known militant rationalist from Kerala, India.

Samkhya Edamaruku is also a rationalist and atheist who uses CNN-IBN to disguise and peddle his rationalistic, atheistic and anti-guru views to the unsuspecting public. As a matter of fact, Samkhya Edamaruku has worked closely with his father and K.M. Sunny in rationalist exposures and campaigns throughout India.

In the Rationalist International bulletin #48, Ritu Sehgal said:

The sadhu and his disciple are Sunny and Samkhya, two of the many rationalist activists who have been trained to perform all famous “miracles” of gurus and godmen in order to debunk them. (Ref)

The following pictures (01 – 02) show Samkhya Edamaruku in action at an anti-superstition campaign in Makkanpur (a village in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh):

Samkhya Edamaruku Fake Pranams

Samkhya Edamaruku On Nail Bed

Samkhya Edamaruku Picture Links

To Date: Sathya Sai Baba has never (ever) been charged with any crime, sexual or otherwise and not even one alleged victim has attempted to file a basic police complaint or court case against the him in India (the only place where courts would have jurisdiction over Sai Baba as an individual defendant). Ironically, Barry Pittard and Robert Priddy (two of the main spokespersons for the Anti-Sai Movement) believe even after their defection that Sathya Sai Baba posseses genuine paranormal powers, can materialize apports and is psychic (Ref).

Also see:
‘Great Tantra Challenge’ Hoax? Rationalist International, India TV & Sanal Edamaruku

Important Related Links:

- The Truth About The Alleged Sathya Sai Baba ‘Sex Scandal’
- Alaya Rahm Self-Dismissed His Own Lawsuit Against The SSB Society
- Alaya Rahm – A 6-Year-Long Daily User Of Illegal Street Drugs And Alcohol
- A Scathing Response To Critics About Alaya Rahm’s Failed Lawsuit
- The Truth About The ‘Secret Swami’ Program
- The ‘Open Letter’ To The Prashanti Council – Defamations Addressed
- Prof. Venkataraman Writes About The Sai Controversy

Today in the market, Wednesday April 9, 2008:  Market nervousness continued to push the stock market down.  Energy prices keep pushing higher.

RSI’s Themes:  No ETF/CEF picks today and only two stock picks, an insurance company and a gold mining stock.  I don’t see a theme in these two selections.

Stocks Medium Volatility:

• ACAP – American Physicians Cap., Inc.
• GBN – Great Basin Gold Ltd.

The new stock for today is;

American Physicians Capital, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides medical professional liability insurance in the United States.

GBN’s strong performance reflects the great showing of gold this year.  However, although my metric ranks this as medium volatility, I’m sure you would agree that this is a high volatility stock.  ACAP has had a much smoother ride this year.

Catch a Falling Knife: none

Das Gay Bankers Network war eine informelle Gruppe von schwulen und lesbischen Bankern und Finanzdiensleistern. Das Netzwerk hatte rund 200 Mitglieder aus Großbanken, Sparkassen und Raiffeisenbanken sowie Privatbanken. Regelmäßige Treffen fanden in Frankfurt, Berlin und Nürnberg statt. Bei der Recherche bin ich darauf gestoßen, dass die Website nicht mehr funktionierte. Noch am selben Tag meldete sich Martin mit dem unten stehenden Kommentar, der das Ende des Netzwerks erklärt. Sehr schade!

Today in the market, Wednesday April 2, 2008:  Crude oil moved higher and Bernanke said the “R” word today and all that spooked the market.  The major indices were moderately lower.  I suspect there was some profit taking happening too.  Still a good time to buy?  I think so.

RSI’s Themes:  In the ETF/CEF arena metals and mining were certainly the theme.  The stock picks echo the mining theme and adds oil & gas production.  Is this the way ahead?

ETF/CEF Medium Volatility:

• GCS – Scudder Global Commodities Stock Fund Inc.
• SLX – Market Vectors Steel
• XME – SPDR S&P Metals & Mining Index

GCS is a CEF and is new pick for RSI.  It trades at a -14.65% discount to NAV.  The expense ratio of 1.10% is okay.  Global commodities is an interesting sector that may warrant attention.  Its chart for the past year looks strong and I expect it will continue its good performance.  RSI keeps picking SLX and its outstanding performance sure hasn’t disappointed us.

Stocks Medium Volatility:

• BTE – Baytex Energy Trust
• CPL – CPFL Energia SA
• FMC  – FMC Corp.
• GBN – Great Basin Gold Ltd.
• GEF – Greif Bros. Corp.
• GGB – Gerdau Usa
• VIV – Vivo Participacoes S.A.

Stocks High Volatility:

• PBR – Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras)
• PBR/A – Petroleo Brasileiro Sa

Some new names here:

Baytex Energy Trust operates as an open-end unincorporated investment trust. The company, through its subsidiary, Baytex Energy, Ltd., engages in the exploitation, acquisition, development, and production of oil and natural gas in Canada.  BTE pays out a sizeable 10.6% yield.  Remember to investigate the issues with taxation of the Canadian energy trusts.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.—Petrobras, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, exploitation, and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale, and other rocks in Brazil.

Catch a Falling Knife:

• DBV – PowerShares DB G10 Currency Harvest Fund
• IYH – Healthcare iShares
• VHT – Vanguard Health Care VIPERs

These three funds really haven’t fallen that much since they have rather low relative volatility.  DBV is an interesting ETF in that it is a play on just three country currency futures.  Research it at http://www.etfconnect.com/select/fundpages/etf_funds.asp?MFID=168359

That’s all folks

Today in the market, Friday March 28, 2008:  Unlike last week, the market ended the week on a down note.  Consumer worries weighed on the market.  Overall the week change was slightly positive.

RSI’s Themes:  With no ETF/CEF picks it is tough to discern any themes.  As was the situation yesterday, the few stock picks didn’t give a clear thematic vision.  I guess it is punt (as in football) time.

Stocks Medium Volatility:

• BTM – Brasil Telecom SA
• DCOM – Dime Community Bancshares, Inc.
• GBN – Great Basin Gold Ltd.
• TNE – Tele Norte Leste Particip

We have only one name on the medium volatility list, new to RSI that is:

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for The Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh, which provides financial services in the United States.  It pays a 3.40% yield which is getting competitive with CD rates. Does this pick portend that there is hope in the banking sector?

Stocks High Volatility:

• CALM – Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.
• CLF – Cleveland Cliffs, Inc.
• PCLN – priceline.com Inc.

Bottom line is that all the stock picks have done well this year and are bucking the market trend.  That is what RSI is all about.

Today in the market, Wednesday March 26, 2008: Concerns from the financial sector weighed heavily on the market. All the major averages were down with the S&P 500 off -0.88%.

RSI’s Themes:  Finally RSI has some ETF/CEF picks.  Two oil & gas production, one in steel and one in Asia.  The stock picks favor steel and gold mining.

ETF/CEF Medium Volatility:

• EWM – Malaysia iShares
• IEO – iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production
• SLX – Market Vectors Steel
• XOP – SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Index

Stocks Medium Volatility:

• CREE – Cree, Inc.
• FST – Forest Oil Corp.
• GBN – Great Basin Gold Ltd.
• HOS – Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc.

Stocks High Volatility:

• CLF – Cleveland Cliffs, Inc.
• ICLR – ICON PLC

There are two new stock names on this list:

Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., a mining company, produces iron ore pellets and supplies metallurgical coal to the steelmaking industry primarily in North America.

ICON public limited company, a contract research organization, provides outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries worldwide.

Catch a Falling Knife: 

• EVV – Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund
• IDU – Utilities iShares
• PFN – Pimco Floating Rate Strategic Fund

It is interesting that two of the CFK picks are income funds.  I’m adding these three to the long list of CFK candidates.

Today in the market, Thursday March 20, 2008: To my great relief, the market rallied to close this shortened week an a strong note, up 2%.  I especially like to see strength going into a long weekend.  It is a very good gage of short term investor sentiment…they don’t want to be left out of the market over the weekend and the shorts need to cover to be able to relax on their days off.

RSI’s Themes: Only one ETF/CEF pick today and it was in the corporate bond fund sector.  That is a very conservative call. On the other hand RSI has picked a dozen individual stocks that run a gambit of enterprises, many of them foreign companies.  Half of the stock picks are new to RSI.

ETF/CEF Low Volatility:

• LQD – iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund

This is a new (to RSI) ETF which has a PYE of 0.77, 5.17, 0.15 some very nice numbers. For investors wanting a conservative investment that has some price appreciation, take a look at this fund.  Two things to consider about corporate bond funds, the interest rate risk and the viability of corporate businesses. Thus LQD should do well unless the Fed reverses course and raises rates or we dive deeper into a recession that hurts corporate America. As in life, there are risks to consider.

Stocks Medium Volatility:

• BKE – Buckle, Inc.
• CPL – CPFL Energia SA
• CVD – Covance, Inc.
• FRO – Frontline Ltd.
• GBN – Great Basin Gold Ltd.
• GEF – Greif Bros. Corp.
• ITG – Investment Technology Group
• MANT – ManTech Intl Corp.
• SVR – Syniverse Holdings Inc.
• TUP – Tupperware Brands Corp.
• URBN – Urban Outfitters, Inc.
• WW – Watson Wyatt & Co.

Stocks High Volatility:

• CCH – Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A.
• PCLN – priceline.com Inc.

We have several new faces on the stock list so here are their profiles:

Great Basin Gold, Ltd. engages in the acquisition, ownership, exploration, and development of precious metals deposits.  GBN is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Investment Technology Group, Inc. operates as an agency brokerage and technology company, which provides solutions spanning the investment process in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

ManTech International Corporation provides technologies and solutions for national security programs in the United States and internationally.

Syniverse Holdings, Inc. provides technology services for wireless telecommunications companies.

Urban Outfitters, Inc., a lifestyle merchandising company, operates specialty retail stores under the Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People brands in North America and Europe.

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A. engages in the production, distribution, and sale of alcohol free beverages, under franchise from The Coca-Cola Company. The company is based in Athens, Greece.

Catch a Falling Knife:

I won’t report them today but there were 66 CFK funds on the list.  Almost all are repeats of my big data dump yesterday.  I’ll make a compilation of new additions to the list and report them at a later time.

Well there you have it for the end of a good week.  Please stay tuned for a report I am working on discussing portfolio strategies.  I believe it will be instructive.

These are not the only big analysts calls this Friday morning, but these are the ones that 24/7WallSt.com is focusing on this morning:

• Bear Stearns (BSC) raised to Buy at Merrill Lynch.
• Continental (CAL) raised to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
• Dell (DELL) raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Express Scripts (ESRX) started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
• Honeywell (HON) raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Illumina (ILMN) raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman; raised to Buy at UBS.
• Nuance Communications (NUAN) raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
• SPX Corp. (SPW) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
• STMicroelectronics (STM) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform.

DEUTSCHE BANK Downgrades Gold Stocks:

• Anglogold (AU) downgraded to Sell from Hold;
• DRDGOLD (DROOY) downgraded to Hold from Buy;
• Gold Fields (GFI) downgraded to Sell from Hold;
• Great Basin Gold (GBN) downgraded to Hold from Buy;
• Hamrmony Gold (HMY) downgraded to Sell from Hold.

Jon C. Ogg
January 11, 2008

jhgf

I had the good fortune to actually watch Stewart Brand present his fascinating lecture on urbanisation and megacities – “City Planet”. Google Video has a full recording (it’s 1h 14 mins long so you’ll probably want to watch it on their site).

If you’re pressed for time, here’s a summary.

Either way, be sure to check out the article he wrote for strategy+business. You can download a PDF version too.

Looks like veteran futurist, scenario planner extraordinaire and Global Business Network co-founder Peter Schwartz has finally started blogging. The scope looks very specific though — the blog consists of his comments on the recent World Economic Forum conference in Davos. Hopefully he won’t stop there.

Schwartz at Davos 07
Schwartz’s bio at Global Business Network
Wikipedia entry