Geoffrey,

This past Sunday at 11am, me, Debi and the girls drove 40 miles North to
Wellington… to have brunch with some old friends from New York.

We took the Maserrati and raced up I-95 North. It’s a great car (Ferrari
engine) and interior straight out of Architectural Digest.

We had the radio blasting Miley Cyrus (for elle), Jonus Brothers (for ava),
& Allman Brothers (for me + debi) - took turns singing solos, and we were
having a blast….until…..

We reached the restaurant, Johnny GS, and Debi tried to parallel park in a
tight spot while I was belting out my own rendition of the Allman’s “Crazy
Love.”

Her first attempt was…how should I put it…off a bit (ok, maybe off a
lot).

So, Debi decided she needed to concentrate on the task at hand. I was told
in no uncertain terms to “shut-up”, the radio was muted, now there was
absolute silence…And she came in for her second attempt…

And this time she NAILED IT! In fact, it was a better job than yours truly
has ever done.

And, that my friend, is where today’s entrepreneurial lesson is hidden.

You see, there are four stages of learning:

Stage (1) - Unconscious Incompetence - you don’t know what you don’t know
Stage (2) - Conscious Incompetence - you now know what you don’t know
Stage (3) - Conscious Competence - you now know it, but you have to
concentrate to use what you know
Stage (4) - Unconscious Competence - you know it, and you can do it without
thinking about it

Let’s take learning the alphabet as an example. There was a time you didn’t
even know what the alphabet was (stage 1). Next, you were told about the
alphabet and you realized you didn’t know it (stage 2). Then you learned the
alphabet, but you really had to concentrate to draw each letter and not
confuse a “b” with “d” (stage 3). And now (hopefully) you can write words,
sentences, and even pages without thinking about the letters themselves
(stage 4)

So, back to Debi for a sec….

Debi is unconsciously competent (stage 4) when it comes to driving, BUT,
she’s only consciously competent (stage 3) when it comes to parallel
parking. And you know what? For driving and parking that’s good enough.

“So, where’s the lesson in that?” you ask.

Easy chachi, I’m getting to it - first, let me ask you a question:

Are you unconsciously competent (stage 4) at your money making activities?

For example - can you write an optimized blog post without having to think
about keywords and their placement? Or an email with an effective hook, and
a compelling call to action?

If your like most entrepreneurs and marketers, odds are you can’t - and it
costs you more than you realize. Here’s why - When you are only consciously
competent (stage 3):

(1) You’re more prone to make a mistake

(2) You’re forced doing it slowly - meaning you also make money slowly

(3) You can only do it in certain places (with your reference material) at
certain times (when you can concentrate), so you don’t make money as often
as you could

(4) You never achieve mastery so you’ll quickly fall back into conscious
incompetence if you take a few days off.

This is important. Come closer. Listen…..

The biggest leap in income happens when an entrepreneur becomes
unconsciously competent (stage 4) in their money making activities.

Because it’s easier and they can do it faster, with better success and more
often. In essence, they spend their time doing instead of fumbling.

I think you’ll find the stuff in this newsletter about two tier affiliate programs interesting.

MARCH 2009 BUSINESS ASSOCIATE ADVISORY

From: Nehra & Waak, Attorneys at Law

Gerald P. Nehra, Principal Member of the Firm

Richard W. Waak, Member of the Firm

231-755-3800 MLMATTY® www.mlmatty.com <http://www.mlmatty.com/>
gnehra@mlmatty.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ITEM ONE – My latest article,

appears in Network Marketing Business Journal, March 2009, Volume 24,
Issue 3, beginning on page 15 and continuing on page 16 & 19.

**ARE TWO-TIER AFFILIATE PROGRAMS MULTILEVEL MARKETING?**

by Gerald P. Nehra, Attorney-at-Law

The title of this article begs two questions we must address. First,
what is a two-tier affiliate program and how does it differ from a
one-tier program? And, of course, what is multilevel marketing, or
M/L/M? Let us start the definition process.

Affiliate programs are a product of e-commerce. An online seller
offers a commission to another for referring a customer to an online
site. An offer to a person to compensate them in some fashion for
bringing in business, WITHOUT any additional incentive to locate
(find, recommend, recruit, sponsor) more business finders, is a
one-tier program (at least for the purposes of this article).

I have personally had two two-tier programs explained to me in
excruciating detail. What I write next is based on that experience,
and not on any universal examination of all the programs that are
titled “two-tier.”

When a program contains TWO sources of income, namely compensation
for bringing in business AND compensation when you locate (find,
recommend, recruit, sponsor) more business finders, WHO THEN BRING IN
BUSINESS, it is a “two-tier” program. The “program” involves selling
something and paying commissions for sales. Look at the money flow and
the REASON for the money flow: Someone buys something. Money flows
from the buyer TO the program. This is a customer sale. The program
pays a commission to the “customer finder.” Money flows AWAY from the
program TO an income opportunity seeker to reward the person for
bringing business volume to the program. This money flow evidences the
existence of a single-level income opportunity (to use affiliate
program words, “one-tier”). Note that there exists NO incentive
for the income opportunity seeker to find more “income opportunity
seekers” – only to find customers.

If, in addition to the above, the program pays a commission to an
income opportunity seeker, BASED UPON the business volume of another
income opportunity seeker introduced by the first income opportunity
seeker, a two-fold incentive exists: The income opportunity seeker has
a financial incentive to get customers for the program AND a financial
incentive to find more income opportunity seekers. In this second
case, the second type of money flows AWAY from the program TO an
income opportunity seeker, BUT it rewards the person for business
volume not directly generated, but generated by the income opportunity
seeker “found” by the first one. This second type of money flow
evidences the existence of a “two-tier” program.

There are two other characteristics to the money flow away from the
program (both one-tier and two-tier) that should be noted: It is gross
income, taxable to the recipient, to the extent income exceeds
allowable business deductions, and it is reportable by the payer under
the 1099 rules to the extent it exceeds $600 in a year to an
individual recipient.

“Is a two-tier affiliate program M/L/M?” takes us to an attempt to
define M/L/M. My short-cut definition is: a form of compensation that
creates the incentive and reward for income opportunity seekers to
“sell” to consumers AND find more “sellers.” Clearly, two-tier
programs fit the definition. This is not LAW, and not even all direct
selling companies accept this definition. There is MUCH law affecting
direct sellers, but LITTLE law specifically defining M/L/M. Only five
states and Puerto Rico attempt a definition. Only Maryland focuses its
definition solely on the method of distribution. The other
jurisdictions define multilevel as, substantially:

Any person, firm, corporation, or other business entity which sells,
distributes, or supplies for valuable consideration, goods, or
services through independent agents, contractors, or distributors, at
different levels wherein participants in the marketing program may
recruit other participants, and wherein commissions,
cross-commissions, bonuses, refunds, discounts, dividends, or other
considerations in the program are or may be paid as a result of the
sale of such goods and services or the recruitment, actions, or
performances of additional participants.

Although there is an argument that the first part of the definition
excludes from M/L/M direct fulfillment (not different level)
distribution systems, the rest of the definition talks to recruiting
and compensation that would include two-tier affiliate programs. The
way out of the dilemma is judicial interpretation. Unfortunately there
is none. The real practical answer is – it does not matter. All the
laws affecting direct sellers apply to everyone, whether or not this
or any definition is met. The summarized laws of Prohibited Activity
in the first four states in an alphabetical list will show what we are
up against:

ALABAMA – Prohibited Activity . . . any plan . . . wherein a person
for consideration . . . acquires the opportunity to receive a
pecuniary benefit, which is based primarily upon the inducement of
additional persons . . . to participate in the same plan . . . and is
not primarily contingent on the volume . . . of goods, services or
other property sold or distributed.

“Consideration” Exclusion . . . sales demonstration equipment and
materials furnished on a nonprofit basis . . . less than one hundred
dollars ($100) . . . .

ALASKA – Prohibited Activity . . . a sales devise whereby a person,
upon condition that he make an investment, is granted a . . . right to
. . . recruit . . . additional persons . . . .

“Investment” Exclusion . . . sales demonstration equipment and
materials furnished at cost . . . .

ARIZONA – Prohibited Activity . . . any plan . . . by which a
participant gives consideration for the opportunity to receive
compensation . . . derived primarily from any person’s introduction of
other persons into participation in the plan . . . rather than from
the sales of goods . . . by the participant . . . introduced into the
plan . . . .

“Consideration” Exclusion . . . goods or services furnished at cost .
. . .

ARKANSAS – Prohibited Activity . . . any scheme whereby a
participant pays valuable consideration for the chance to receive
compensation primarily from introducing one or more additional persons
into participation in the scheme . . . .

“Consideration” Exclusion . . . payments based upon sales made to
persons who are not participants in the scheme and who are not
purchasing in order to participate in the scheme.

No one can charge for, or require a product purchase for, entry into
an income opportunity that includes the right to recruit other income
opportunity seekers. This statement is based on LAWS of a vast
majority of states (samples above) and is NOT dependent on any M/L/M
definition. (There is a nationally accepted exception that permits
requiring the purchase of an at-cost, non-commissioned sales kit or
administrative fee.)

What does it all mean? Well, if you offer, or participate in, a
one-tier affiliate program, think vacuum cleaner or encyclopedia
company representatives of years ago. The laws applying to those types
of arrangements will apply to your arrangement. Pyramiding and endless
chain concerns are generally not present. A quality general practice
law firm should have the answers to virtually all questions that may
come up. But if you offer, or participate in, a two-tier affiliate
program, a line has been crossed. The unique skills of an M/L/M legal
specialist, either in-house, or from one of the direct selling
specialty firms in the United States, are highly recommended. Two-tier
affiliate programs, while not structured in a traditional MLM way,
must be as carefully structured as a full-featured stair-step
breakaway or uni-level compensation plan, to which they are closely
related..

Gerald P. Nehra is a private practice Attorney at Law. He is one of
only a few attorneys nationwide whose practice is devoted exclusively
to direct selling and multilevel marketing legal issues. He began his
legal career in 1970, and from 1982 to 1991 he was the Director of the
Amway Corporation Legal Division. He can be reached at Nehra & Waak,
Attorneys at Law, 1710 Beach Street, Muskegon, Michigan 49441,
231-755-3800. His e-mail address is GNehra@mlmatty.com. You are
invited to visit his web site at www.mlmatty.com
<http://www.mlmatty.com/>
. Permission to reproduce, with this attribution included, is
granted.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**ITEM TWO - British Court of Appeal Upholds Dismissal of Government
Claims Against Amway UK

Amway Global reports that Britain’s Court of Appeal has unanimously
upheld the dismissal of government claims against Amway UK.

The entire Amway community took the matter seriously. The BERR
investigation spurred the Corporation to speed the pace of reform in
the UK market, introducing “radical reforms” in record time to
address government concerns.

After a full and fair hearing a little more than a year ago, a
British court accepted that Amway Corporation was sincere in its
determination to learn from past weaknesses, and cleared them to
continue doing business in the UK. The Court of Appeal has confirmed
the judge’s reasoned legal interpretation and commended him for his
“shrewdness and fairness.”

The IBOAI joins IBOs everywhere in thanking the many Amway UK
employees and distributors who fought the good fight through almost
three years of uncertainty. Good people stayed in the fight – and
the Corporation stayed in it for them. Congratulations to Amway
Corporation and Amway UK. Once again the Corporation has demonstrated
integrity and honored its continuing commitment to its distributors
and employees.

While the IBOAI serves North American IBOs, many of our Members have
extensive international businesses that include legs in the Republic
of Ireland and the UK. They will be much relieved by this decision by
the British Court of Appeal.**

**+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++**

ITEM THREE - DODGING A BULLET IN CALIFORNIA

A budget resolution drafted by a majority of the Members of the
California Legislature was designed to close a significant budget
deficit. It included a provision on independent contractor withholding
of 3 percent for earnings in excess of $600 by independent
contractors. This was hastily drafted and passed over the opposition
of all Republican Members of the Legislature and was ultimately vetoed
by Governor Schwarzenegger. Since that time, intense negotiations have
taken place to reach a bipartisan agreement on a resolution to address
California’s approximately $40 billion budget shortfall. In the last
few weeks a bipartisan agreement was reached that the Governor has
said he will sign into law. The final budget agreement did not contain
a withholding requirement for independent contractors.

Thanks go to Direct Selling Association (DSA) staff, DSA member and
non-member companies, and other trade associations who opposed the
withholding on independent contractors.

This significant victory for our industry underscores the weight of
our industry and merits of our case when it is well articulated,
organized, and executed. It also illustrates that when the direct
selling industry speaks with one voice for the millions of direct
sellers who comprise more than 200 direct selling companies, the right
result can be achieved.

Please be aware that this issue will come up again.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ITEM FOUR – MLMIA Announces:

“Starting Fast and Finishing Strong”

2009 MLMIA Corporate Convention & Expo

Del Mar Hilton Hotel

Special Room Rate of $119 per night March 26-28, 2009

Saturday will be focused on Distributors! Distributors may tour the
exhibit hall and the agenda for that day will focus on Leadership
Strengths and Making Success Happen. .

Call 858-792-5200 to make hotel reservations NOW!

All the information you need is at www.mlmia.com
<http://www.mlmia.com/>

If you come to this function – you we be at the right place for
the below event that will not conflict. If you will not be at this
event – consider coming to the below three hour event – which is
FREE

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ITEM FIVE - MLMIA Announces:

Career Fair Being Held at Del Mar Hilton, March 28, Noon to 3pm, for
Persons Seeking Financial Opportunities in These Economic Times

As the economy takes a bigger downturn, people are searching for ways
to generate additional income or replace lost income due to job loss.
A National Career Fair for persons interested in starting a full or
part-time business is being held at the Del Mar Hilton on Saturday,
March 28th from 12 noon till 3 PM in Salons A and B. Numerous
companies will be there representing diverse industries such as
wellness, cosmetics, weight management counseling, technology and
others. The Fair is open to the public and admission is FREE.

There will be free products and valuable information being given away
by many of the companies. A raffle drawing will be held each hour with
prizes like an iPod.

Celebrity author and internationally known marketing consultant Janet
Switzer will be available during the event for book signing of her #1
best selling book “Instant Income®: Strategies That Bring In the Cash
for Small Businesses, Innovative Employees and Occasional
Entrepreneurs.” Janet is best known as the woman who developed and
executed the income-generation strategies of many of the world’s top
celebrity entrepreneurs: Chicken Soup for the Soul founder Jack
Canfield, personal finance guru David Bach, celebrity speaker Les
Brown, America’s highest- paid marketing consultant Jay Abraham, and
master motivational speaker Mark Victor Hansen, among others.

Persons interested in exploring the option of a full or part-time
business with very little or zero investment should attend this Career
Fair. More information can be gotten by calling 949-854-0484. Any
Network Marketing Company wishing to exhibit in the Career Fair should
contact the MLMIA offices immediately. 949-854-0484 Space is very
limited.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ITEM SIX - SAVE THE DATES - ANNUAL CONVENTIONS

For advanced travel planning:

MLMIA Annual Meeting and MLMIA sponsored Career Fair (see above) –
Del Mar Hilton – March 26-27-28, 2009 – Nehra will attend & speak
and exhibit

DSWA Annual Celebration – Westin LAX – Los Angeles - April
17-19, 2009 - Nehra will attend and speak on 4/17 only

DSA US Annual Meeting – National Harbor, Maryland – May 31, June
1-2, 2009 – Nehra & Waak will attend and will have booth number 111
in the Exhibitors Hall.

DSA Canada Annual Meeting – Niagara Falls, Ontario – June 7-8-9,
2009 – Nehra will attend

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ITEM SEVEN - SECURITY TIPS – TRUE HORROR STORIES

GPS UNITS

A couple of months ago someone had their car broken into while they
were at a football game. Their car was parked in the green section
which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to
football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door
remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently
mounted on the dashboard.

When the victims got home, they found that their house had been
ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.

The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then
used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry
to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game ,
they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew
how much time they had to clean out the house.. It would appear that
they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

MOBILE PHONE

A different lady has changed her habit of how she lists her names on
her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which
contained her cell phone , credit card , wallet… etc…was stolen.

20 minutes later when she called her hubby from a pay phone telling
him what had happened, hubby says ‘I received your text asking about
our Pin number and I replied a little while ago.’

When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the
money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen
cell phone to text ‘hubby’ in the contact list and got hold of the pin
number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their
bank account.

Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your
contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart,
Dad, Mom, etc…. And very important, when sensitive info is being
asked through texts, don’t reply. Also, when you’re being texted or
emailed by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call
back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don’t reach
them, be very careful about going.

Something to consider if you have a GPS, don’t put your home address
in it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can
still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know
where you live if your GPS were stolen. You can also use the security
function on your GPS that’s requires a password before the unit will
function.

PROVIDED BY: My “Go-To” guy on security issues – Greg
Caldwell, White Hat Solutions, 888-840-0057

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ITEM EIGHT - FTC Will Grant Six-Month Delay of Enforcement of ‘Red
Flags’ Rule Requiring Businesses to Have Identity Theft Prevention
Programs

I have a two page piece on this subject, kindly provided to me by an
expert in this field: Phyllis Del Pico at 281-788.8845, that I will
email to you upon request. The rule applies to “Financial
Institutions” but the definition of “financial institution” is
so broad that you might be one if you, for example, issue, or
facilitate the issuance, of debit cards to be used to pay commissions
to your distributors. It is worth checking out.

MLMATTY® is a Registered Trademark of Gerald P. Nehra, Muskegon,
Michigan

(C) Gerald P. Nehra 2009 - Permission to reproduce WITH ATTRIBUTION
granted.

 

Here’s a refreshing post from Jonny Andrews of Guru Assassin Fame.

G-Man

I was looking at their terms and conditions when I came across this:

License Grant. As a user of the Site, you are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable and limited license to access and use the Site and associated content in accordance with the Agreement. adNET6 may terminate this license at any time for any reason. You may use the Site on one computer for your own personal, non-commercial use. No part of the Site including, but not limited to, the Blog may be reproduced in any form or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical. You may not use, copy, emulate, clone, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or transfer the Site, Site content or any portion thereof. adNET6 reserves any rights not explicitly granted in the Agreement. You may not use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site. You may not take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on adNET6 infrastructure. Your right to use the Site is not transferable.

Emphasis added by me…

Priceless!

G-Man

He asked me if it was possible to use it with his host.

After a bit of investigation of CityMax (his host who has some type of software to help people build websites) I decided to send them an e-mail and ask about it.

The response I got is below:

Hello,

Thank you for your message.

Unfortunately, but for security purposes we do not support any application-level scripting such as ASP, PHP or personal Databases.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us again and we would be happy to assist.

Kind Regards,

Kerry
Software Support Technician

These guys need to be in the public hall of shame.

Personal databases are insecure - omg! (not to mention that personal Databases are not application level scripting :P)

Seriously folks, if you’re worried about your security, you don’t want to go with a company like this because they obviously have no clue what security is.

Don’t know what else to say other than…wow!

G-Man

P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

If this is what’s going to get lots of sales these days? Well, then, count me out.

http://www.sitestealer2.com

Wow.

G-Man

Read this entry on Perry’s blog…You’ll get a kick out of it. He’s got some valuable points in it to:

http://www.perrymarshall.com/perrys-greed/

G-Man

I bought 2 of your previous products and you said that they were all I needed. Now you expect me to buy this one too?

It’s a fair question when you first take a glance at it.

However, what the person asking the question doesn’t realize is that because a product is released does not mean that you have to get it!

All sales is based on timing.

A new product released today may be the perfect timing for you giving your current economic situation, job status, life status, and so on.

There are all kinds of things that can factor into this.

Just a few thoughts while I wait for the release of Google Conquest.

G-Man

Every site I’ve read today, at first glance, thinks this is an unusual move by Google.

They usually go on to explain that, perhaps, this is a ploy to get the best digital content distribution service out there.

What most are neglecting, I believe, is that Google - for all intents and purposes - is an ad company.

They want to sell more ads.

What better way to do it than through games?

Sure, they might actually want the digital content distribution but my best guess, if the rumor is true, is that they’re doing it to start an effort towards ad distribution in games.

G-Man

Basically it integrates with your file system in mac, windows or linux and lets you store files online. You get up to 2GB free and can get more space if you want it for a cheap price.

They keep backups of the files, store revisions of the files, you can even share files and photos.

This thing freaking rocks!

G-Man