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Navigating the Perfect Storm

by Alloy on June 25, 2009

Editor’s Note: this article was originally published in the November 2008 issue of LIA Magazine

As I write this, the economy is in a mess. The stock market has lost over 25 percent of its value. Banks are failing left and right. The U.S. Government just passed a $700-billion (with a “B!”) bailout package to try to prevent the nation from crashing into a serious recession if not an out-and-out depression. Corporations are laying off people by the tens of thousands. The housing market has crashed. A huge percentage of homeowners are in default. Those who are not in default have watched their homes lose a substantial percentage of their original value. The Democrats are blaming the Republicans and the Republicans are blaming the Democrats. It’s hard to know who to believe. Even the press has taken sides. There seems to be a liberal press and a conservative press but no accurate press. Credit is tight. Businesses are in trouble. Consumer confidence is at an all time low causing everyone to ask themselves two questions:

  1. How did this all happen? and
  2. Will we ever recover?

The first question is a lot easier to answer than the second. It’s been said that people are a lot like sheep. Even though that’s an awful thing to say, it is more true than most people would ever want to admit. I know a little about sheep. We had some sheep on our farm when I was a young boy. It would often be my job to tend them. A sheep has a deep need to be with the other sheep. A single sheep separated from the flock will be frightened out of its mind. If you are herding sheep, the hard part is to get the first one to go where you want it to go. No sheep ever wants to go first. But once you get the first one to come the rest will quickly follow. Each and every one! Because just as badly as not wanting to be the first one to do anything, no sheep ever wants to be left behind.

I see a lot of similarities between some people and sheep, especially in regard to how they make financial decisions. It’s those very similarities that got our economy into so much trouble as a nation.

Remember the .com bubble when everyone was investing in internet companies? Remember when the world finally realized that those companies were all a sham? The weird thing is that for years, even though everyone knew all of the .coms were losing money (the analysts knew it, the experts knew it, the stock brokers knew it, the economists knew it, even the investors knew it) people were still investing like crazy. Why? Simply because everyone else was doing it! And they assumed that everyone else saw something that they themselves did not see.

Investing in those .com companies never made any sense to me. Fortunately, I never invested a penny. My brokers thought I was nuts. They told me I was going to be left behind- that I needed to get in on the ground floor. I’m certain they were using the same pitch on their other clients. And why were they pitching the .com companies? Because all the other brokers were doing it! No one understood the business plans of the .coms. They just feared they would be left out. Six months before the .com bubble burst in late 2000, I explained my concerns in the President’s Message of Leadership in Action. I warned readers about these so called internet companies and advised them to proceed with caution before investing in one of these companies. I do not know how many people listened to me or how many people dumped their stocks before the bubble burst, but I know some did and I have always hoped that many acted. I do not mention this to boast about how right we were on our predictions, I only want to point out that it is better to use common sense than to follow the masses.

Then in September of 2005 I wrote about what was happening in the financial markets. This article ran as the November 2005 President’s Message. Melaleuca Director of Corporate Affairs Cole Clinger and I had met with Senior and Executive Directors earlier in September of 2005 in Baltimore, Atlanta, Tulsa, Dallas, Phoenix, Irvine, and Seattle. We predicted that the housing industry and financial markets were headed into “The Perfect Storm.” We pointed out that as soon as interest rates started increasing, those with variable rates or balloon clauses in their mortgages would not be able to make their home payments, resulting in millions of defaulted mortgages, creating a large number of excess homes on the market, which would destroy the value of homes in the marketplace causing more foreclosures and eventually resulting in bank foreclosures. We predicted that these foreclosures would cause a chain reaction that would rock the nation’s financial institutions and those around the World. The intent of those meetings was to encourage our people to avoid the financial pitfalls that we feared were going to happen to those who had lived beyond their means.

Over the last three months, all of those dire predictions have now come true. What we did not predict is that the government would approve a $700- billion bailout package for the banks and financial institutions. Again, it is not my purpose here to brag about how right we were with our predictions. I only want to point out that if you take a second to look around at what is happening today, you can often figure out what is going to happen tomorrow. With close study and observation, serious analysis, and some common sense, you can make sure that you end up in a much better place than where the masses end up. The only thing that is amazing about this is the fact that the vast majority follow the masses in whatever direction the masses are going and very few study things out for themselves.

Okay, I am finally getting to my point. Let’s take a close look at the current national crisis and use a little common sense as to where it can take us! People are hurting financially, many have lost their retirement savings. Three months ago they were financially secure, now they are in financial ruins. People need money and financial security more than ever and they know they will not get it from their employer!

They are actually looking for us! They just don’t know we are here!!! They will be glad to learn what we have for them! We can show them 23 years of solid growth and prosperity for people who want to own their own businesses. We are financially secure. We have the safest, most effective natural products in the World. A proven business model! No risk! No substantial investment! Everyone can do it.

For many, our message will seem almost too good to be true! A little study, analysis, and common sense will show that Melaleuca really is the answer.

Melaleuca: The Wellness Company®. The World needs us now, more than ever!

Sincerely,

Frank VanderSloot

Frank VanderSloot

November 2008

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Frank VanderSloot

Why Would an Avid Conservative be Excited about Barack Obama?

by Alloy on June 25, 2009

Editor’s Note: this article was originally published in the December 2008 issue of LIA Magazine

A Message from Frank VanderSloot

Barack Obama was not my first choice as president. He was not my second choice either. Anyone who is close to me knows that my first choice for president was Mitt Romney. In fact I was a National Co-Chairman and Idaho’s Chairman for Romney for President. My staff and I worked very hard to elect Mitt Romney and for a while we thought he was going to be the Republican candidate for president. It was close, but he didn’t make it. A side benefit was that, over the span of several months, Belinda and I became close friends with Mitt and Ann Romney. We have had the pleasure of visiting each other’s home during and since the election, and they are very good people.

Looking back, I can’t help but think how things would be different today if the economy had become the focal point during the primary elections. Given his strong business background I believe Mitt Romney would have been extremely qualified to handle the economy, which is currently in such shambles. I mention this not to lament Mitt Romney’s coming in second in the Republican primaries but to point out my original enthusiasm for a candidate other than Barack Obama.

After Mitt Romney conceded to John McCain, my family and I did our best to support the John McCain candidacy. I was especially concerned about Barack Obama’s lack of experience and his alleged political and personal ties to radical liberals. Again, I make this point only to explain where I was coming from during the election. It became clear long before election day that Barack Obama was going to become president of the United States. Even though we knew who was going to win long before the election, I spent the day after the election in deep mourning, primarily out of respect for what remained of the Republican Party.

Two days after the election I sat down and had a talk with myself. It was a long talk! I have always been blessed with the ability to look on the bright side of things. I called upon that ability at that time. The more I thought about things the more excited I got. I started out recalling what had happened during the George W. Bush presidency. I had watched closely at how the leaders of the Democratic Party had dealt with the war in Iraq. It became quite apparent early on that at least some of them actually wanted America to fail in Iraq. And clearly, some of the liberal press also wanted America to fail miserably in the Iraqi war. They had taken a stand against the war in the beginning and now in their quest to be “right” it was to their best personal interest for the war to fail. They put the most negative spin possible on the War and refused to mention any of the success and progress that has been made. Clearly, to oppose the war is their absolute right, but to hope America would fail or to facilitate that failure, was in my opinion, absolutely un-American!

Now, I am an American. Therefore, even though I fought for his opponent during the election, now that Barack Obama is going to be president I want him to succeed! As an American, I now enthusiastically support Barack Obama. As I turned my attitude around, I began to think of all the positive aspects of a Barack Obama presidency. The more I thought about it the more excited I became!

The next day I met with Belinda and the rest of our family. I asked them to join me in my enthusiastic support of our new president. I told them of my thoughts and why I thought Barack Obama had the potential to become great president. I called their attention to what happened during the Bush administration. President Bush had many liabilities—one of which was that he absolutely could not speak on camera. In my few encounters with him in person, I learned he could be very engaging and quite articulate. But on camera he froze up and came across as less than intelligent. Not really what you really want to have in your president! Presidents who could not speak well have never been very popular, and therefore unable to accomplish much for their country i.e. Jimmy Carter, both Bushes, Gerald Ford, etc. Compare their popularity and accomplishments with great speakers like Ronald Reagan, John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, etc.

I believe that having a bright president that can speak well could be a very positive thing for all of us—especially if he has good intentions! And, since he’s really bright, it’s quite likely that if he surrounds himself with the right people, he will make the right decisions! Even though he has a very liberal voting record, he is brilliant enough to know that he will need to govern from the middle. Brightness is always extremely beneficial especially when a person has good intentions. Clearly, Barack Obama has good intentions. His brightness will be a huge advantage for all of us!

Besides being very excited about his keen intellect, I’m very excited about Barack Obama’s ability to lead! His ability to get the masses excited about the USA and about moving forward can have a huge impact on our country! We need to have our country united and proud of who we are and what our great country stands for! Barack Obama can make that happen!

Barack Obama has good moral values! I believe Barack Obama will leave the interns alone! And I’m not saying this tongue-in-cheek! I think good morals are a tremendous plus in a president!

Another very important and positive note is that the press is excited about Barack Obama! If you have never traveled to a foreign country and watched CNN’s coverage of America from overseas, you may not understand how much damage CNN and the rest of the liberal press has done to our country from overseas. For the past several years, according to the CNN overseas version, everything that America stands for is evil and wrong! That will now cease! Our own press will no longer be attacking our country. That will have a huge positive impact on our image around the world!

The issue of race cannot and should not be overlooked! The fact that a white majority elected an African- American president should send a clear and indisputable message to all races, all people, and to all nations that the issue of race in the United States, for the vast majority of Americans, has become an absolutely dead issue! What an absolutely profoundly positive statement! It’s far too late in coming, but clearly, that moment has arrived! It’s about time! Given the shameful history of our country regarding the issue of race, this is an exciting time for all of America and a very positive statement about our great nation!

I suspect and hope that over time many more positive attributes will become known about our president named Barack Obama. Even though I supported a different candidate and am an avid supporter of family values, and conservative government, I am genuinely excited to have Barack Obama as my president! I am an American! Barack Obama has the potential to lead us into a new era of prosperity and reestablish America as a beacon of democracy to the world. He has the capacity to lead! The press is behind him! Other nations (our allies) are behind him! Much of America is behind him! He needs the rest of us! We need him to succeed! He needs and deserves our prayers and enthusiastic support. He definitely has mine!

Sincerely,

Frank VanderSloot

Frank VanderSloot

December 2008

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Frank VanderSloot

True Residual Income – by Frank VanderSloot

by Alloy on June 11, 2009

The concept of residual income is a very powerful principle! Residual income is dependable income that keeps coming in month after month. It is usually based on a previous activity, but often needs nurturing to keep it coming. Very few people have had the opportunity to develop any type of residual income that will sustain them in their old age. Medical doctors don’t have it. College professors don’t have it. Attorneys don’t have it. Neither do school teachers, firemen, politicians, nurses, business executives or accountants.

“Our commitment is to continue to build Melaleuca in such a manner that it will continue to produce residual income for generations to come. We are constantly searching for new,innovative, health promoting products. We will continue to be on the forefront of the latest science and proven discoveries relating to good health.”

Most people that hold 8-5 jobs can’t even imagine continuing to receive an income from their employer should they ever leave their 8-5 job. Residual income is a concept they have never really thought of or even considered.

True residual income opportunities are hard to find. Some suggest that authors and actors have the best example of residual income because they receive a small royalty every time their book or their movie is sold. But a closer look reveals that that income is really short lived because should an author be fortunate enough to have his or her book hit the best sellers list (necessary for it to produce much income at all), it usually lasts for a very short period of time—often for only a few short months.

Even the most phenomenal books last on the best sellers list for only a few years. That’s because once someone buys a book, he/she is not likely to buy the same book again and soon, pretty much everyone who would buy a particular book has already bought one. And as soon as no one is buying the book, the royalties stop coming and thus ends the residual income. The same is true for actors and movie producers. The true financial life of a movie is extremely short. And therefore the income stream is also extremely short.

So where can one find true residual income these days? In truth, real residual income opportunities are very hard to find. Oh, sure, if you own a few million dollars in bonds or dividend producing stocks, you can have a substantial and reliable residual income stream. And some types of businesses provide residual income to the owner or shareholders of that business. But stocks and bonds and businesses that are substantial enough to produce significant residual income cost millions of dollars. So the extremely wealthy do have residual income opportunities, but for the average guy, opportunity for residual income is extremely hard to find.

Some MLM companies claim that they provide residual income, but for a company to provide residual income it must stay in business for more than a few short years. That pretty much disqualifies most MLM companies. So where can you find residual income these days?

“Residual income is dependable income that keeps coming in month after month. It is usually based on a previous activity, but often needs nurturing to keep it coming.” —Frank VanderSloot

We recently did some extensive analysis on residual income opportunities, and after several months of investigation we have come to the conclusion that true residual income for the average person who is not already independently wealthy exists in only two places: insurance companies and Melaleuca—and Melaleuca has a tremendous advantage!

Some insurance companies do provide real residual income for insurance agents. Many insurance agents will receive a commission on the original sale of a policy and additional income each year that the policy holder renews the policy.

Of course, the insurance agent needs to continue to service the account. If the agent closes his agency or neglects to service the account on an on-going basis, the insurance company will transfer the account to another agent. The agreement between the agent and the insurance company spells out those rules very carefully. Some might argue that the fact the insurance agent must continue to service the account would disqualify it as being true residual income, but we would argue that except in the case of interestbearing accounts, no residual income really exists without some on-going effort from someone.

The insurance agents that we talked to were very happy with their contracts and felt that they had the best thing going until we told them about what Melaleuca has to offer.

Insurance agents are paid only on the business that their own agency sells or services. They did not believe us when we told them that Melaleuca pays residual income not only on the business that the individual Marketing Executive brings in (his or her personal enrollees), but also on the business that his customers refer and his customer’s customer’s customer’s, etc. One insurance agent was very proud of the fact he had referred eight individuals to his company, State Farm. They had become State Farm agents also. They are now all very successful State Farm agents. Of course, he does not receive a single cent from their agencies. But he hadn’t expected to. He could not even imagine what life would be like if he received a percentage of their sales also.

After several months of research we could not find any business opportunity that provides anything close to what Melaleuca provides in residual income for the average person. Melaleuca’s serious Marketing Executives receive residual income from not only their personal sales, but on the revenue created from a substantial pool of customer referrals. Because their customers purchase Melaleuca products month after month, it creates a residual stream of income which appears to be unmatched anywhere in the world. With just a little consistent effort and nurturing, anyone can keep their Melaleuca business prospering and producing revenue well into their later years of life.

Of course this income is completely in proportion to the energy invested, but for the serious business builder, Melaleuca appears to be unmatched. Our commitment is to continue to build Melaleuca in such a manner that it will continue to produce residual income for generations to come. We are constantly searching for new, innovative, health— promoting products. We will continue to be on the forefront of the latest science and proven discoveries relating to good health. It appears to us that nothing comes close to Melaleuca in providing residual income. We will continue to protect what we have and constantly strive to make it better for everyone. Thanks for being part of this wonderful journey!

Sincerely,

Frank VanderSloot

Frank VanderSloot

from the April 2009 LIA

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The Melaleuca Foundation – Offering a Hand of Hope

June 1, 2009
Thumbnail image for The Melaleuca Foundation – Offering a Hand of Hope

From the April 2009 LIA
Thanks to compassionate caregivers at the Santa Lucia Children’s Home, miracles happen every day with the orphaned and abused children there. Under the watchful eyes of working angels, these children in Quito, Ecuador, have been given a second chance at leading rewarding lives alongside people who love them.

This reality occurs in [...]

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Melaleuca Introduction by Frank VanderSloot

May 29, 2009

Melaleuca Introduction by Frank VanderSloot

“..In the summer of 1985 we [Melaleuca] had a vision of helping average people get ahead financially.  The idea was create a business model that would take the risk out of starting and owning one’s own business, and would not require the purchase of inventories or any other major investment and [...]

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Our Future Depends on Our Focus – Frank VanderSloot

May 27, 2009

(From the October 2008 LIA)
“To be successful in any endeavor we must focus on those things that bring success, and we must do it diligently, consistently, and with passion.” “We at Melaleuca are focused on providing an opportunity for people to get ahead in life. It is our hope to free people from the limit [...]

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Melaleuca – We Are the Cleaner Greener Company

May 14, 2009

Melaleuca – We Are the Cleaner Greener Company

From the Melaleuca website: If all other consumer product companies followed our lead in selling concentrated products with less packaging waste, each year landfills in North America would have 890 million tons less plastic waste. For perspective that’s enough to fill the entire state of Delaware with a [...]

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Melaleuca Scam Unfolded

May 7, 2009

Melaleuca Scam Alert

There’s a lottery scam out there using Melaleuca’s name. Be careful out there!

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Melaleuca – Families Trying to Get Out of Debt

April 29, 2009

Melaleuca – Families Trying to Get Out of Debt

Melaleuca video – Families Trying to Get Out of Debt with Kim Cherveny

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Melaleuca Stay At Home Moms

April 28, 2009

Melaleuca Stay at Home Moms

What are the challenges facing moms today?

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