The multi-level marketing (MLM) business model has been experiencing significant trends in recent years, with nearly half of the revenue being used to pay commissions.

One notable example is the MLM company Luckin Coffee, which expanded rapidly but failed to record a profit.

In contrast, some MLM companies have been successful, with 3.5 million distributors generating 98 billion yuan in turnover in 2020.

However, the majority of distributors are supporting players who contribute commissions, not earning stable salaries, with only 27% of distributors receiving commissions, averaging 45,000 yuan per person.

The MLM industry has also seen a significant number of new entrants, with 1 million people joining each year, but also a high dropout rate, with 450,000 merchants quitting in 2020.

Some companies, such as Avon and Tupperware, have been cited as examples of traditional direct selling companies, but they have also been struggling, with Avon's stock value falling from $30 to $3 between 2000 and 2020.

Tupperware's stock value has also dropped over 90% in the last 5 years, and 94% of its active party planners earn only $12/week on average.

The MLM business model has been criticized for its focus on recruitment, with most commissions going to the top 1% of salespeople.

In recent years, some MLM companies have shifted their focus to online sales, with companies like ShopToEarn offering over 10,000 Earth Friendly products and allowing customers to shop online.

However, the MLM industry as a whole is still struggling with profitability, with many companies failing to make a profit, and some, like Luckin Coffee, even going out of business.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also had an impact on the MLM industry, with changes in underwriting norms and industry risks, and new claims trends emerging.

Overall, the MLM business model is facing significant challenges in terms of profitability, with many companies struggling to make a profit and a high dropout rate among distributors.

Some MLM companies, such as Nu Skin, have seen a boost in business due to the pandemic, with Nu Skin's stock tripling in value from March 2020 to June 2021.

However, the pandemic has also posed challenges for MLM companies, with Nu Skin's sales being affected by the pandemic in China, where they have their largest customer base.

The pandemic has accelerated the shift to online sales for many businesses, including those utilizing the MLM model, with some companies seeing a significant increase in online sales.

The pandemic has also driven businesses to innovate and invent, with some companies launching new products to bring joy and sales.

Successful MLM companies have used various strategies to maintain revenue and retention rates, including investing in technology, leveraging social media, and optimizing operations for efficiency.

These strategies have enabled companies to stay competitive and adapt to changing market conditions, including the shift to online sales and the impact of the pandemic.

Some companies have also seen significant growth in revenue, with Red Violet's revenue increasing by 12% to $9.3 million in Q3 2020.

The company's adjusted EBITDA also increased by 84% to $2.1 million in Q3 2020, demonstrating its ability to maintain revenue and retention rates despite changing market conditions.

Avon shifted to an MLM-style business in 2000, but its global revenue dropped from 2009 to 2019.

Avon was sold to Natura and LG Household & Health Care, indicating a significant change in its business operations.

Tupperware's stock value dropped over 90% in 5 years, and the company may violate loan agreements and declare bankruptcy.

Tupperware's party planners earn less than $30 on average, suggesting that the company's business model may not be sustainable.

Many direct sales companies have transitioned to a direct sales model without a recruitment component, and some have closed down due to various reasons such as competition and insolvency.

KupiVIP and Mamsy shut down in 2021 due to competition, and SaveTime delivery service closed without announcing reasons.

1520 express delivery service closed after a year of work, and MF kitchen delivery service suspended work due to IT problems.

Openland Messenger stopped working due to market share failure, and Ecois.me energy-saving startup closed due to insolvency.

Borodist cosmetics manufacturer closed after eight years, and MyToys online retailer left Russia after 10 years.

Juul Labs closed retail outlets in Russia due to anti-tobacco laws, indicating a regulatory challenge for some companies.

The pandemic has affected the MLM industry in different regions, such as Europe, Asia, and the Americas, with varying impacts on sales, recruitment, and retention.

The pandemic had second-order impacts in some markets, and consumer sentiment weakened in the largest markets, including those in Europe and the US.

In contrast, the Asia Pacific market experienced growth despite the pandemic, driven in part by the gaming industry.

The North American market, on the other hand, was hit hard by the pandemic, with significant declines in sales and revenue.

Regional differences in vaccination rates and government restrictions have also impacted the MLM industry, with countries such as Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines imposing restrictions in Q3.

The pandemic has also led to a weakening of consumer sentiment in Latin America, which has negatively impacted MLM sales and recruitment in the region.

Digital media companies and streaming services have seen significant growth during the pandemic, which has changed consumer behavior and created new opportunities for MLM companies.

The pandemic has accelerated the shift to remote work and online sales, which has forced MLM companies to adapt their business models and strategies to remain competitive.

Social media has become a crucial tool for the recruitment and retention of MLM workers, with 4.7 billion users as of 2021, providing a vast pool of potential recruits.

Facebook, with 2.8 billion monthly active users, is a particularly important platform for MLM companies to reach new talent.

MLM software has also played a significant role in boosting online ranking and profits for these companies, with features such as user-friendly interfaces and easy setup.

Cloud platforms have facilitated MLM companies with genuine resources, providing scalable and flexible solutions to adapt to changing market conditions.

Companies have leveraged online platforms to showcase their values and culture, attracting new talent and conveying what employees value and who they are.

Recruiters have used various channels, including social media, to find the right talent online, with platforms like LinkedIn being used for professional networking and recruitment.

Social media has been a game-changer in the market for recruitment, providing a powerful tool to engage with target audiences and increase client base.

Some companies, like Broadwing, have achieved exponential organic growth in social media following since 2018, demonstrating the potential for effective social media recruitment.

Employee ambassadors have also been used to promote employer's brand on social media, increasing awareness and customer loyalty.

Social media platforms have been used for recruitment messaging, with recruiters using Facebook to send messages to potential recruits.

The key demographic characteristics of individuals who are most likely to join and remain in MLMs include young adults, unemployed individuals, those with low incomes, and limited job experience.

Many college graduates join MLMs due to job market pressure, and individuals with high school or college degrees are often participants in MLMs.

Urban residents, part-time workers, and individuals seeking supplemental income are also more likely to join MLMs.

Some MLMs may have a higher proportion of female participants, and individuals with strong social networks may be more successful in MLMs.

Gen Z, which makes up 25% of working Americans, prioritizes flexibility and values in their work, with 63% feeling it's very important to work for a company that shares their values.

Millennials and Gen Z prioritize mental health over corporate jobs, and many young people in Mexico start their own businesses, with 44 million micro, small, and medium enterprises existing in the country.

In Mexico, 35% of entrepreneurs are between 26-35 years old, and many millennials and Gen Z have a second part-time or full-time job.

Women are often targeted by MLM companies, such as LuLaRoe, and participants may have limited financial resources and be influenced by social media.

MLM leaders often have control over followers' finances, and participants may be urged to adopt a certain lifestyle, with nepotism being common in MLM companies.

The demographic characteristics of individuals who join MLMs may vary across different regions and cultures, with some studies suggesting that cult-like behaviors can be present in MLMs, and 70% of cult followers are women.

Veteran single parents, particularly female veterans, may also be vulnerable to joining MLMs, with 42.8% of veteran single parents identifying as female and facing lower financial stability.

The attractiveness of MLM companies to potential workers can be attributed to various psychological factors, including economic freedom, autonomy, and flexibility, which are key motivators for joining MLMs.

Economic freedom is a major driver, as it offers individuals the opportunity to design their daily life and achieve financial liberation.

Autonomy is also a significant factor, as it allows individuals to work independently and make their own decisions.

Additionally, the prospect of spending time with loved ones and having a flexible schedule is a major draw for many individuals.

However, irrational thinking, deception, and psychological manipulation are also used to recruit and retain participants in MLMs.

Present bias, cognitive adaptation syndrome, and

The multi-level marketing (MLM) business model has been experiencing significant trends in recent years, with nearly half of the revenue being used to pay commissions.

Title:

Content: [Street Industry Watch] In the Year of the Pandemic, many people joined the "marketing" to pull down the line, but nearly half of the revenue was used to pay "multi-level" commissions.
Photo Credit: Central News Agency
What we want you to know is
At the same time, the body product channel and product spokesperson can further bring the "offline", which is the start of expanding the business and crossing the threshold of receiving commissions.
But this threshold seems easy, but not everyone can climb, because whether it is old or new distributors, most of them only contribute to the commission of the supporting role......
In the summer of 2020, it is supposed to be the graduation season of college students and the time when social newcomers are pouring out of the cage, but I saw a youthful face at a few lively junctions in the business district of Banqiao, and started the work of “listing people ” for housing construction.
Single-handed advertising placard, carrying a backpack leaning against the road light pole, the other holding a thin, seemingly split reference book, on the hot sun, earning the card holder's hard hourly salary, and paving the way for future job hunting.
When a PT (Part Time, Part-time, Part-time, Part-time) job that was originally labeled as a middle-aged, second-degree employment face, there were many young faces, can not help but make people shiver in the heat of the day!
The virus has hit households and disrupted the job market, affecting youth employment.
We have to admit that the epidemic has disrupted the pace of new people entering society and seeking jobs. Although it is at a time when the virus has not really invaded the door, the job market has been chaotic.
According to the Ministry of Labor ’ s “Youth Employment Status ” report, there are about 280,000 college graduates in 2020, a decrease of 5.4% compared to 2019. This reflects not only the decrease in the number of children and the decrease in the number of college students, but also the explosion of life extension in 2020. If further deduction is further deducted, the number of people who can work (including military service) is a low of nearly 5 years (223,000), a decrease of 12% compared to 2019. And...
As of the end of January 2021, only 68.3%, about 152,000 people, of the post-secondary students who graduated in 2020 and are working people, joined the ranks of labor / agriculture / public insurance, which is not only a low point in the past five years, but also a decrease of 24% compared with the previous year.
In other words, there are many college graduates, after more than half a year of job search, still have not successfully entered the workplace; the pressure of job search and living economy, so that they have to make very choices in this extraordinary period.
The job market is cold, and marketing continues to expand its organization, becoming a potential employment option for new people in society.
In 2021, the virus officially "invaded the door" in May, before graduating from college in the new year.
The alert of the epidemic, so that this year's job market has a cold wind, but also the unemployment rate in July this year (4.53%), blowing up the same period of high in the past decade, recently graduated social fresh people, inevitably have to face the fear of graduation, namely unemployment.
However, there is a saying in the workplace: Despite the economic downturn, business jobs such as insurance and distribution are always recruiting.
If this is not true, we can try to turn off or turn on the query function of the above industries on the job search platform to achieve a full personal experience.
However, in 2020, the number of people registered for the personal insurance business survey (85,000) increased by 5% compared to the previous year, and the number of new entrants to the marketing business is also a million people.
This is the type of occupation that people need to earn life, some people are joining is no retreat, but some people are carrying a dream forward, but the dream is very rich, the reality is very bones, when we dream in the winter, do not forget to pragmatically understand the mode of operation of the industry.
Today, let ’ s talk about selling!
Most people's stereotypes of marketing remain in the "brainwashing" of marketing conferences, constantly inculcating that this is a "personal business," getting rid of being hired as social animals, and directly attacking the freedom of wealth, and in addition, trying to give individuals the self-esteem and ability to think independently, suggesting that "thinking for themselves, not having to discuss with others."
Perhaps, some people have experienced this process of marketing to pull members off the line, some people join, some people feel that it is a "cult", but making money, quality of life, and self-empowerment (Self-empowerment) these material and psychological skills, is indeed for most people have a certain hypnotic effect.
However, most of our understanding of marketing is just the “recruitment ” discourse, and we do not have a deep understanding of how it works.
Perhaps, when we understand the logic of the industry, we can better understand why the so-called brainwashing conference is a starting point for marketing recruitment.
Multi-level marketing requires multiple distributors as sales and marketing channels
According to the Fair Trade Commission ’ s “Multi-level Marketing Business Development Survey ”, nearly 3.5 million distributors (each“ individual ” who joined members or purchased goods is an independent distributor) of 314 marketing entities (such as Anli, Ruxin, etc.) in 2020 generated a turnover of 98 billion yuan, a slight increase of 5% over the previous year. In contrast to the population over 20 years of age (more than 19.4 million people), about one in six people join the ranks of distributors.
Since all distributors replace all types of retail channels, they not only have the function of the channel, but also have the function of marketing, that is, word-of-mouth marketing, so whether they emphasize themselves as retail (sales) orientation, product recommendation (head-pulling) orientation, or emphasis on membership, they are ultimately based on "people" and "organizational hierarchy".
And the product channel and marketing costs saved by the marketing business are converted into the commission of the distributor.
Therefore, when we contact distributors and ask them why they are involved in the marketing industry, they will almost unanimously reply, "The product is great!"
Distributors continue to pay for new members by pulling down the line, expanding the organization and expanding the commission
That being said, it ’ s one thing to see how great a product is in the domain of a distributor, and constantly adding new blood is the highest goal for continuous marketing, expanding the organization, and increasing revenue and commission revenue.
Similarly, according to the Fair Trade Association report, the number of new entrants to the market in 2020 is about 1 million, and for the past five years, the number of new entrants has remained at around 1 million each year.
And in 314 marketing businesses, 96% of the joining system is to take "conditional join", of which, the most important is "order goods" (62%), "pay a deposit or membership fee" (59%), so "conditional join" is not only contributing to the marketing business and the top level of the sales (the one who pulls you in), but also contributing to the level of the commission.
In contrast, if someone joins, someone exits. The number of MLM merchants who quit in 2020 is about 450,000, and the number of exits in each of the past five years has been around 400,000 to 500,000.
The main reason for exiting is “non-renewal of contract ” (83%), which means no longer operating, no longer consuming, and the product is no longer considered“ great ”.
However, in this process, there will always be new blood distributors who will contribute to the expansion of the organization and the commission generated after the consumption of the product.
Whether old or new distributors, most are only supporting players who contribute commissions
As has been mentioned, the distributor at the same time with the product channel and product marketing (endorsement) people, their own recognition of the product, use, and purchase, to become a new member of the body and teaching.
Of course, once you can further bring in new members, new distributors, or offline, it is the beginning of expanding your business and crossing the threshold of receiving commissions.
It seems that the threshold is easy, but not everyone can climb it.
According to a survey conducted by the Fair Trade Association, 222 of the 314 marketing businesses (about 70%), and more than 60% of its distributors will make stable orders to the company; however, only 27% of all marketing companies (about 960,000 people) receive commissions, and the average commission per person is 45,000 yuan.
Therefore, most distributors who order goods either maintain their status as distributors by buying products, or sincerely recognize and continue to use the products; and by bringing in new distributors, order sales, and achieve a commission threshold, and can earn a stable salary or even become rich in this industry, not only are rare, but also the successful cases seen in various conferences or education and training survivors. "The Beautiful Misunderstanding We Have".
It doesn ’ t matter if the product is worth the price
In addition to the threshold, this kind of personal marketing and sales channels, to achieve the "multi-level" (that is, constantly expanding the organization down the line) of the business of distribution, not only eat personal interpersonal skills, "multi-level" commission distribution will indirectly increase product prices.
According to a survey conducted by the fair society, the import cost of the pyramid scheme business accounts for only 28% of the turnover, but the commission accounts for 44% of the turnover, in other words, the real cost of selling a commodity of $100 is only $28, $44 is used as the commission of the pyramid scheme business, and the remaining $28 is the administrative expenses and profits of the pyramid scheme. Whether the essence of a product is value for money is one thing, the marketing business will compress its own profits, expand its commission expenditure, and recruit and expand the organization with a strategy of large is beautiful, so that we can find: there are so many people who have joined the ranks of marketing!
Marketing has always been a very special industry, in which a small number of people have been able to earn their fair share of commissions, and become the mainstay of business operations, but the vast majority of people are only a supporting part of this multi-level marketing structure, and by paying membership fees, buying and using products, they become a part of the source of commissions.
Back to the intention of writing this article, no matter how difficult the job search for new people in society during the epidemic, I hope that by understanding the operation mode of an industry, I can assess whether to use the marketing industry as the first job to enter the society.
Through the Fair Commission report, we have gained a profound understanding, no matter how many of these people successfully earn high commissions and create successful careers, this data is hinting at us: if this industry is the main occupation, not only requires a certain degree of interpersonal relationships and skills, there may be a period of social novices can not understand life or career experience.
Source: Ministry of Labor “Youth Employment Status ”, Fair Trading Commission“ Multi-level Marketing Business Development Survey ”
Extended reading
Editorial responsibility: Ding Zhaojiu
Editor ： Weng Shihang
Tags:

One notable example is the MLM company Luckin Coffee, which expanded rapidly but failed to record a profit.

Title:

Content: Too big to fail!
Post Date: November 25, 2021 18: 22
In the 1980s and 1990s, the older generation who have gone to the north to work hard, talking about the mainland market, always love to say this: "The mainland's population is only 1.2 billion, even if one person is given a mosquito, there are 1.2 billion, the market is so large, the prospects are good!" 」
The rapid development of the mainland economy in the past 30 years has made Hong Kong people who were brave enough to set up factories in the north and start a business as a cattle farmer. Over the years, they have made a lot of profits and generally have landed. However, the times have changed, and the people and scenery have changed, and the market of 1.2 billion people is indeed large.
Don ’ t think that only factory workers are familiar with the Mainland, and the industries of wealthier cities have long been transformed. How many Central elites in the financial sector and the legal profession went north almost every month, or even every week, before the epidemic, to serve the businessmen and celebrities in various provinces and cities, and the degree of familiarity of Central people with the state of the country is even higher than many legislators who “love the country and Hong Kong ”.
The financial industry that has dealt with mainland businessmen may have seen them and other different business models: Hong Kong people do business, usually from small to large, but the mainland people love to go the other way, prefer to borrow to raise funds, but also to maximize the business from the beginning, take market share and income sources, and slowly think about how to turn losses into profits. People 1 yuan also has 1.2 billion "dogma, as long as the market is large enough, accounting for enough, sooner or later will also make money.
Do you remember Luckin Coffee?
Known as the "Starbucks of China" at that time, in the very short time of its establishment, it has opened thousands of stores and expanded by means of promotion.
Their strategy is very simple, is to try to grab market share, hoping that when the competition is defeated, the winner will have a chance to eat.
However, the entrepreneur ’ s ideal may not be able to come true, and “strategic loss ” is just empty talk most of the time ----- fighting a price reduction war is equivalent to“ burning money ”, how much ammunition must be burned to reach Turning Point? Even if corporate planning is very popular with investors, save enough ammunition through the ABC round of financing, but wait until the turnaround time can be short. Still not landed, will investors continue to be willing to "pour money into the sea"? Just like Luckin, the money burned a little, but still not until the realization of the "1.2 billion people 1 person 1 yuan also 1.2 billion" vision, still did not succeed in recording a profit, it broke out a fraud scandal, and finally can only fade out of the market.
The sudden mention of Luckin, only because of the observation of the performance of mainland technology stocks in the past two weeks, it is felt that many technology stocks are still in the stage of "strategic losses", although it will not end like Luckin, but to achieve profitability, it seems that it is still far away.
Dramatic point said that the performance of technology stocks in this quarter is a bit like before the examination, and a bit like a turning point.
In the past two quarters and the past six months, there has been no epidemic as a pretext for poor performance, but it has encountered a regulatory storm, and a more stable economic environment and a more stringent regulatory environment have emerged at the same time.
Recently, many people said that "Hong Kong stocks are dead", perhaps the Chinese technology stocks have long been uninterested in war, but for the few old scattered people who still pay attention to the trend of science and technology companies, this quarter's performance is considered to be qualified technology stocks, only the larger e-commerce or online gaming stocks.
The growth of e-commerce stock earnings slowed down, but it is still called profit, any industry has done for a long time, even if the turnover rose, it is still difficult to escape the fate of gross profit decline, which is when the market began to saturate it will appear.
Just like the double 11 in the past, although the voice is not as strong as before, sales are still high.
If you believe that the trend of online shopping is irreversible, the outlook for e-commerce stocks is not too pessimistic, at least there is sustainable profitability, and the biggest enemy may just be the ever-changing, unpredictable regulatory laws.
The situation of online gaming stocks is roughly the same. Even if growth slows down, there has always been a profit, and the biggest unpredictable factor is still approval and supervision.
Video shares, the situation is very different, video shares revenue source is only two ---- user fees and advertising revenue, but this is a bit of a complementary relationship, to keep users, so that they upgrade to a higher level of users, you can collect more premium costs; at the same time, as long as the user, advertisers calculate the amount of content browsing, will naturally increase the advertising budget.
However, the mainland tightened the supervision of various industries, but did not intend to drag down the advertising revenue of video stocks.
The tutorial agency has always been a big advertiser, but the education industry was destroyed, and the advertising rice road was cut off; the advertising budget of medical beauty companies is also quite a lot, but it is also reduced to the target of supervision, and it is also imperative to reduce advertising expenditure.
Of course, limiting the playing time of minors is also a fatal blow to video stocks, in addition to online games often selling advertisements, many short video content is also a strategy to beat the machine, limiting the amount of browsing of related short films is bound to reduce, thus affecting the intention of merchants to put advertisements.
Perhaps some people say that buying high valuations of technology stocks, many times is also Buy A Dream, dream that it has a strong day, as long as it successfully recorded a profit, there is a chance to be revalued, then "revenge to the sun", but the problem is, some high market capitalization of science and technology enterprises that still do not make money, they are already the industry leaders, but have been in a loss for a short period of time, That is, there are many users, but still do not think of the way to turn users into profits, did not find a business model to make money.
Luckin mentioned above, some analysts have pointed out that when it sold more than 1 cup of coffee, it would lose more than 1 cent, which is obviously not the problem of market share, but the problem of profit model.
There is a beautiful picture (1357), but also a representative of the number of users but can not be realized, the mobile phone business is broken, the social business is not enough to grab, Turning Point is where? Who knows!
Video shares seem to be taking this old road, although there are more users, but there are too many competitors, it is more and more difficult to lock the user's eyes on the screen, advertising revenue continues to face challenges, still unable to find a profitable business model.
Yes, like Kuaishou (1024) and Station B (9626), the investment community gave them a very high valuation when they went public, and they bought the future growth potential; but when the loss situation did not improve for years, the “strategic loss ” this ugly cloth can not last long.
Ironically, even though the market capitalization of the two major video stocks has evaporated by more than half from high levels, it is still very large, but too Big does not mean that it can not fail. How much patience do investors have for them?
One day can not solve the problem of turning a large number of users into a profitable way, and it is difficult to get rid of the "Fail" label.
In the early stage of the listing, the number of technology stocks listed since the beginning of the year is still in the majority of retail investors who are still "on the boat".
"It is not important to take a boat, the most important thing is to have someone to accompany, and the big family will lose all together!" This is the true dialogue of a friend who entered the scene after the quick hand cut more than half, but the cruel reality is that the big family has not lost with you.
Don ’ t forget that when they entered the market with the ABC round of financing, the valuation was extremely low. After the company went public, the principal invested in the company has risen in geometric multiple, and there is a significant profit in selling at any time.
Frankly speaking, if there are no retail customers to "pick up" in the secondary market, how can large customers have leeks to harvest?
Lo Shih-yung
Other points of view

In contrast, some MLM companies have been successful, with 3.5 million distributors generating 98 billion yuan in turnover in 2020.

However, the majority of distributors are supporting players who contribute commissions, not earning stable salaries, with only 27% of distributors receiving commissions, averaging 45,000 yuan per person.

The MLM industry has also seen a significant number of new entrants, with 1 million people joining each year, but also a high dropout rate, with 450,000 merchants quitting in 2020.

Some companies, such as Avon and Tupperware, have been cited as examples of traditional direct selling companies, but they have also been struggling, with Avon's stock value falling from $30 to $3 between 2000 and 2020.

Title:

Content: 'Direct Selling' - Avon, Tupperware - Is Extinct

Nov. 18, 2022 11:25 AM ETHLF, MED, NTCO, NUS, PRI, TUP, USNA3 Comments
Robert FitzPatrick
394 Followers

Summary

  • Direct Selling became obsolete generations ago. So how is it that millions today get recruited for "income opportunity" in "direct selling" and billions are traded on "direct selling" stocks?
  • Avon and Tupperware are cited by "multi-level marketing," or MLM, promoters as "proof" that MLM, e.g., Amway, Herbalife, is "direct selling."
  • Usable data on actual income and churn rates of MLM "direct sellers," market saturation, and retail sales to actual customers are not provided.
  • In fact, Avon and Tupperware for years have been walking dinosaurs, still trying to do "person-to-person" sales to end-users with commodity products, while MLMs hype "unlimited" income.
  • The shrunken and devolved state of Avon and Tupperware today reveals that direct selling is extinct. MLM is not, and never was, direct selling.

It is generally accepted that "direct selling" was killed off generations ago by mass merchandising, big box stores, mail-order and then the internet, among other societal changes. The "Fuller Brush man" is long gone. No one's at home. No one wants or needs or has time for a "personal" salesperson. Everything's in stores or online. And, even when "direct selling" still lived, no one ever went into that tough line of work thinking they would get rich from it.

Yet, each year, millions are recruited, and pay thousands, for the "opportunity" to work as "direct sellers," with promises and expectations of "unlimited" income. The number involved today is many, many times greater than ever worked in that "extinct" field decades ago. Billions are being traded on Wall Street for shares of "direct selling" companies. How can this be?

In my book, Ponzinomics, the Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing, I document the death of "direct selling" and the 1945 invention of "multi-level marketing," or MLM. I describe how "MLM" falsely assumed direct selling's revered old identity. I trace MLM from its Adam, a little California-based company called "Nutrilite," to today's "industry" led by Amway, Herbalife (HLF) down 64% YTD, Nuskin (NUS) down 31%, USANA Health Sciences (USNA) down 49%, Primerica, Inc. (PRI) down 13%, and Medifast (MED) down 45%. MLM's financial solicitations for consumers to become "direct sellers" have reached into – and led to losses for – virtually every household in America.

In the newly invented "MLM," the main source of revenue shifted from end-user customers to the salespeople themselves who are incentivized to "be their own customer" by buying their own products. Obviously, no one makes money purchasing their own inventory, but MLM offered a unique reason to do so – "unlimited" income potential.

No More Need to Knock on Doors

All MLM "direct sellers" can potentially gain "unlimited" income by recruiting an "endless" chain of other "direct sellers." No need to pound the pavement and get rudely rejected at front doors any more. Each "direct seller" on the chain has to meet a quota to "qualify" for future rewards from their recruits who, in turn, are their "own customers" and recruiters too, ad infinitum. The chain can grow without continuous personal effort. The qualifying quota can usually be met by just making a personal monthly purchase of inventory. "Commissions" on all these transactions, all the way down to the "last ones in," flow up the chain. In the MLM pay plan, most of the total commissions go to the top 1%. So, all new "direct sellers" try mightily to recruit (and buy) their way to those top ranks. Of course, only a tiny few can ever be at the top.

Some people argued this is a pyramid recruiting scheme, inherently unfair and deceptive, and a counterfeit of direct selling. In the design and the pay plan, bottom ranks – the vast majority – will inevitably lose. They said constantly adding salespeople in any area destroys profitable retail selling potential, if any exists to start with. They cited data on 90-99% loss rates and huge churn rates among new "recruits" and asked, where are the retail "customers"?

While offering no data on retail customers or salespeople losses or market saturation, MLM promoters offered "proof" that MLM is direct selling by pointing to two long-established and respected direct selling companies in their ranks, Avon and Tupperware (TUP). Both companies were members of the Direct Selling Association, DSA, and both were "direct selling" icons, Avon for its "ladies" and Tupperware for its "parties." To any pyramid scheme accusations, MLM promoters indignantly countered: "Are you calling Avon and Tupperware pyramid schemes?"

Walking Dinosaurs

The truth for both companies is very different from the MLM-spin. Avon and Tupperware used to have differentiated products and real consumer demand. Their salespeople made money from their own retail sales. But moving into the 21st Century, Avon and Tupperware became walking dinosaurs, vestiges of the extinct era of "direct selling." They were still trying to base their businesses on their historical brands and on person-to-person retail sales to real customers, as direct selling companies always used to do.

Despite MLM's citing Avon and Tupperware, and thereby bestowing legitimacy on the "MLM" members of the Direct Selling Association, deep differences between those icons of the old era and MLM burst into public view in 2013-14. The two companies publicly quit the Direct Selling Association, charging ethics violations and DSA-member connections to pyramid schemes.

Avon's Long Good-Bye

Avon had been a true direct seller for decades before MLM was invented. But as the door-to-door model faded, Avon began a long decline. In 2000, Avon began shifting its focus to "incentivizing" salespeople to recruit more salespeople and getting them to buy inventory, MLM-style. In 2009, during the Great Recession, Avon ran its most expensive ad in history, on television during the Super Bowl. The ad never mentioned any Avon products! It only solicited "salespeople." Still, global revenue dropped continuously over the next 10 years. Avon stock value fell from over $30 to just over $3.

Finally, Avon split off its faltering North American business and sold it to the Korean company, LG Household & Health Care. Avon claimed to have 250,000 sales representatives in North America. The remaining global business was later sold to the Brazilian MLM, Natura (NTCO) down 50% YTD, which also owns the retailer, Body Shop. Though Avon global was much larger, Avon shareholders traded 3 shares of Avon for just one in Natura.

The Korean-owned segment of Avon in North America is now classic MLM, selling the proverbial MLM "income opportunity" along with "health" supplements, make-up, jewelry, clothing, scented candles, even toothpaste.

On the Canadian Avon website, Avon promotes the "income opportunity," urging prospects in large bold black type: "Think big. Sell Avon part-time, full-time, you decide how much! It’s your business, your way!"

A disclosure (legally required in Canada, but not in the USA) appears midway down a long webpage in tiny, barely visible gray lettering: "The 2020 earnings of a typical Avon Leadership Representative was between $0 and $2,620 in commissions and bonuses." That's $0 to $50 a week, before subtracting all costs! And the "disclosure" does not break out how much of that tiny return comes from personal sales or the "downline."

Avon quietly rejoined the Direct Selling Association. The Brazilian company, Natura, which took over Avon's global business in 2020, has lost over 60% of its stock value in the last year.

Tupperware on the Brink

Tupperware was one of the first "party plan" companies, which are technically a small subset of MLM. They employ an "endless" recruiting chain, but are more rooted in retail sales transacted at "parties." Tupperware used to have a popular brand with innovative, differentiated products. But, as true direct selling began to disappear, Tupperware went into decline. It added MLM-type "health and beauty" commodities to bolster recruiting appeal but then deleted them. This year, it began also selling its products in Target department stores. Its kitchen-related goods are generally not distinct from other brands. A 10-months "Income disclosure" for Canada (not published in the USA) showed that half the "party planners" were classified "inactive," earning less than $30 for the period on average. 94% of the "active" ones reportedly received about $12 a week on average, before expenses.

In the last 5 years, the stock value of Tupperware has dropped over 90%. Its latest financials warned investors the company may violate loan agreements, setting off speculation Tupperware might declare bankruptcy.

The shrunken and devolved state of Avon and Tupperware, the most famous brand-icons of "direct selling," makes citing them as a defense of "multi-level marketing" as extinct as their old business model.

This article was written by

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Robert L. FitzPatrick is the author of the new book, Ponzinomics, the Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing (2020),the first comprehensive history and analysis of the "MLM" phenomenon, addressing its political influence, propaganda techniques and use of cult persuasion. FitzPatrick is an expert in examining and revealing deception and fraud in Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes and bogus home-based businesses. He served as expert or consultant in more than 30 court cases involving pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing. He is co-author of False Profits (1997), an examination of the values and beliefs that support the delusions of pyramid schemes. He was featured on NBC Dateline, ABC World News, and CBS 60 Minutes, the documentary film, Betting on Zero and the podcast, The Dream.He has been quoted in many newspapers around the world, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. His booklet, Pyramid Nation, has been translated to Chinese and used by government regulators in writing China's first laws on pyramid schemes. His booklet, "The 10 Big Lies of Multi-Level Marketing", has been translated into four languages and posted on numerous websites. His White Paper, "The Main Street Bubble", which details the extensive influence-buying of the direct selling industry was featured in a CNBC Documentary, Selling the American Dream. In 2005, he delivered a seminar to in Colombo, Sri Lanka to central banking representatives from that country as well as India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal. Robert FitzPatrick has developed informational resources for consumers, journalists, academics and regulators including a multi-media PowerPoint presentation and a statistical analysis of the losses suffered by participants in pyramid selling schemes. He also published a widely read booklet on the landmark federal case brought against the Amway Corporation. He is a expert network member of GLG Research, and Coleman Research Group, as well as other networks of experts who are referred to clients for consultation, speaking and report writing. In this capacity, he has provided expert consultation to financial many analysts who sought information about multi-level marketing companies and pyramid and Ponzi schemes. Robert FitzPatrick co-founded and serves as president of Pyramid Scheme Alert, the first international organization to expose and prevent pyramid scheme fraud. He personally responds to hundreds of consumer and news media inquiries each year. He has served as consultant and expert witness for Attorney General or State Attorney offices in four states, the US Dept. of Justice, and in numerous cases involving distributor fraud and pyramid schemes. Robert FitzPatrick is not an investor in multi-level marketing companies. He has never owned and never plans to own stocks of multi-level marketing companies. He has never been compensated based on any stock's performance. He does not offer investment advice and he is not an attorney.

Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: This article is for educational purposes only. It discusses fundamentals of the "direct selling" business model and the evolution of "multi-level marketing."

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Tupperware's stock value has also dropped over 90% in the last 5 years, and 94% of its active party planners earn only $12/week on average.

The MLM business model has been criticized for its focus on recruitment, with most commissions going to the top 1% of salespeople.

In recent years, some MLM companies have shifted their focus to online sales, with companies like ShopToEarn offering over 10,000 Earth Friendly products and allowing customers to shop online.

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What he hasn’t done is looked at each one individually

What he hasn’t done is looked at each one individually

I believe that what Mike says is true in Most cases because he has grouped all MLM or Network marketing together. There is no one product that gets stuck in a closet. There is no one product that you are forced to buy every month and figure out what you are going to do with it. You do have 800 retail stores that you can buy from each with it’s own online deals and over 10,000 Earth Friendly products to choose from. If you are using these products anyway, then where is the problem? Sure you can start your own affiliate site and you can take advantage of those who find it… you make the money, they get nothing. You can show the business to others that shop online and if they like it, they can earn their affiliate amounts back and get the benefit of those who they refer rather then like referring people to Costco, Sams, any club, doctor or even finding someone a job and receiving no referral back. There is no Balancing of legs.. you can have 150 on one side and 20 or 10 on one side and 2 on the other and make money.. not a fortune that many seem to think that you Have to make if you are in an MLM but enough to make more then if you had to take a part time or second full time time to exist. The money I have made in the past 2 months has been 90% just from my and others shopping. Name me a business, any business, that if you start, buy or join and don’t work it, you will make money? The people that I see that have not made any money for some reason expect that money will just flow in. If someone puts in the initial amount and does nothing to work their business, then that is the amount that they may lose, no more. So, although I can understand some of the harse comments made by some of those above, i feel that they really are looking at the industry as a whole.

Capt Steve makes a fair point. Shop to Earn for lets say $450 is a heck of alot better than the ridiculous Team National which asks folks to fork over $2200. I have never seen something as ridiculous as that.

I’ve looked at over 100 network marketing business opportunities in the last eight years or so, and the only one I’ve EVER considered joining was ShopToEarn. Here’s why:

Although many will argue that STE falls into that category it really does not

– The very realistic chance of making your initial investment back in the first 30 days. – A compensation plan which far surpasses that of just amout any other network marketing model I’ve seen. I think someone pointed out earlier that calling ShopToEarn ‘network marketing’ isn’t entirely accurate. I would agree with that. It’s more of a hybrid. In a nutshell, though, the STE compensation plan goes deep, instead of wide. This allows you to make a LOT more money a LOT faster. .. and you still have to work… but I think https://www.hookupdate.net/pl/dating-com-recenzja your chances are much better with this company than others. – No branded product/inventory – No home parties/workshops – The sheer volume of what you can sell through STE allows you to approach several niche markets

No guarantees

It seems a lot of people on this site are against MLM as a whole. I really don’t understand that, as MLM, as a whole, has proven to be very successful for a great many people.

However, the MLM industry as a whole is still struggling with profitability, with many companies failing to make a profit, and some, like Luckin Coffee, even going out of business.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also had an impact on the MLM industry, with changes in underwriting norms and industry risks, and new claims trends emerging.

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Paid Claims notifications spike, though not fueled by pandemic as once predicted: Liberty GTS report

November 15, 2021   by Liberty Mutual Canada

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Though COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the M&A risk landscape, it has surprisingly not caused the spike in claims once predicted, new data from Liberty Global Transaction Solutions (GTS), the M&A insurance division of Liberty Mutual Insurance, suggests.

While claims notifications rose 40% year-on-year and the speed of notifications increased, COVID-19 has not let to the predicted surge in ‘buyer’s remorse claims’, according to the recently released Liberty GTS 2021 M&A Claims Briefing.

The claims briefing examines M&A insurance claims by industry, region and cause, offering detailed insights about trends, types of deals and from which industry claims are most likely to emerge.

“Through better data and deeper analysis, our claims briefing enables more informed decision-making for our brokers, clients and law firms,” says Jonah Goldberg, Head of Canada for Liberty GTS.

Goldberg says what surprised him most about the research was the lack of impact from COVID-19 on claims so far. “Most of the predictions for larger claims have not yet occurred,” he says. “However, the pandemic has rebalanced the nature of the risks that underpin M&A deals, and we expect to see long-term impacts from that rebalancing playing out in the next few years.”

According to the data, claims processes for deals are becoming increasingly institutionalized. “We’re seeing a real change in approach from M&A professionals in terms of post-deal reviews, active study of where claims might fall and earlier reporting of claims”, Goldberg says. “For us, this is broadly beneficial. It means our clients are engaged, making full use of their cover and making themselves aware of risks, what is covered and what is not.”

Claims made quicker, severity remains unchanged

While claims notifications rose 40%, Goldberg says this figure reflected a corresponding increase in the size of Liberty GTS’s M&A book. “The percentage of claims to risks underwritten remains consistent,” he added.

According to the data, claims are being made more quickly after policy inception. Just under 60% of notifications were made within the first year of the policy period in 2020, a significant increase from 48% in 2019.

“Many claims notifications are precautionary in nature,” Goldberg added. “Just 25% of notifications will result in a request for payment.”

Claims severity has remained largely unchanged year-on-year. Medium ($1m to $10m) severity claims were Liberty GTS’ fastest growing type of notification in 2020, with the number of claims falling into this category almost doubling compared to 2019. “We saw a slight fall in the number of high ($10m plus) severity claims in 2020, but those that we did receive were for higher amounts,” Goldberg says.

Claims drivers

According to the data, common claims drivers include:

  • Accounting and financial issues make up 41% of “high” severity claims. Many of these involve stock control or revenue recognition issues.
  • Cyber claims, claims relating to failed IT projects and claims around class-action wage disputes are all increasing in frequency. “This reflects the critical importance of digital infrastructure to all types of business today,” Goldberg says.
  • A number of “high” severity claims involved ‘founder’ sales, and some of these have involved suspected fraud. Overall, the most common type of fraud involved management fabricating revenue to boost the bottom line.

Post-pandemic impact

Whilst the predicted spike in claims due to COVID-19 has not materialized, Goldberg says the rapidly changing environment disrupted underwriting norms, “fundamentally changing the nature of some previously well-understood industry risks”, like travel, hotels and real estate.

“We expect new COVID-19-related claims trends to emerge in the next few years as a result,” Goldberg concluded.

Overall, the MLM business model is facing significant challenges in terms of profitability, with many companies struggling to make a profit and a high dropout rate among distributors.

Some MLM companies, such as Nu Skin, have seen a boost in business due to the pandemic, with Nu Skin's stock tripling in value from March 2020 to June 2021.

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Nu Skin’s Biggest Customer Base Is in China. Now It’s Accused of Spreading Covid.

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The Covid pandemic was good for the business of multilevel marketing firms like Nu Skin Enterprises, as furloughed workers tried to make ends meet by selling vitamins and skin creams from home. Salespeople swelled the bottom of Nu Skin’s marketing ranks, and its stock tripled in value from March 2020 to a June 2021 peak of $62, before sliding back to a recent $47.

Now Covid is a problem for the company in China, the nation where Nu Skin (ticker: NUS) gets its largest number of customers and more than 20% of its revenue. A...

However, the pandemic has also posed challenges for MLM companies, with Nu Skin's sales being affected by the pandemic in China, where they have their largest customer base.

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Nu Skin’s Biggest Customer Base Is in China. Now It’s Accused of Spreading Covid.

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The Covid pandemic was good for the business of multilevel marketing firms like Nu Skin Enterprises, as furloughed workers tried to make ends meet by selling vitamins and skin creams from home. Salespeople swelled the bottom of Nu Skin’s marketing ranks, and its stock tripled in value from March 2020 to a June 2021 peak of $62, before sliding back to a recent $47.

Now Covid is a problem for the company in China, the nation where Nu Skin (ticker: NUS) gets its largest number of customers and more than 20% of its revenue. A...

The pandemic has accelerated the shift to online sales for many businesses, including those utilizing the MLM model, with some companies seeing a significant increase in online sales.

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Content: 'How can we adapt': Local businesses moving online amid rising challenges

Tiber River, known for its natural body care products, is dropping its ambassador program due to numerous business challenges.

The company said the program, where people sell products based on commission, is no longer sustainable.

"Our economy is heading into a recession, supply chain issues are numerous, interest rates are at an all-time high and people have to make choices between necessities and desires when making purchasing decisions," read a joint statement from Adriana De Luca and Michelle Lalonde, Tiber River's owners.

"Costs are going up, but the ability people have to pay for consumer goods and services is going down."

The company will now focus on direct-to-consumer online sales but will still have a Winnipeg store.

The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce said many of the hardships Tiber River is experiencing are being felt by the wider business community.

"Part of that ongoing experience of being a business owner, you're always looking at your model and how you operate, saying, 'how can we adapt to an ever-changing environment,'" said Loren Remillard, the chamber's president and CEO.

In a recent survey of chamber members, two thirds say they are optimistic about 2023, but the majority are expecting slower growth and a much smaller profit margin.

Remillard said many businesses were already expanding their online presence prior to the pandemic, but COVID-19 and subsequent challenges accelerated the process.

"You're now able to sell your wares all around the world, but you're also competing on the internet with every business around the world," explained Remillard. "How do you differentiate? How do you make sure you're connecting to potential audiences?"

Even with more businesses moving online, Remillard doesn't see physical stores going away.

THRIVING ONLINE

Radiance Gifts decided to give up its brick-and-mortar location last year after 27 years on Corydon Avenue.

Lisa Tjaden, the store's owner, said she made the move due to increased overhead costs and ongoing safety challenges.

"The significant cost that sort of drove us to this was actually shrinkage, the shoplifting, so that made the decision more palatable."

Now operating out of a warehouse, Tjaden said the change in business model was a success, being able to offer more items at a reduced price.

She noted the transition was still bittersweet for loyal customers.

"It was sad for them and does take a bit of adjusting. To realize it is still us and it's still the same business," said Tjaden.

She said she offers same or next-day delivery, and customers can still use the chat feature if they want to communicate with staff.

"We are still a local business. That's the perspective that is sometimes difficult for people to understand," Tjaden said. "We're still contributing to our community."

The pandemic has also driven businesses to innovate and invent, with some companies launching new products to bring joy and sales.

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For some Mass. businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed changes for the better

When disaster strikes, sometimes, innovation follows.

At Titcomb’s Bookshop in East Sandwich, it all started with the PPP loan. The store, attached to the Titcomb family’s 17th-century home, had been operating on the Cape for five decades when the pandemic swept in.

Demand for books soared as residents rallied around local businesses, but the shop’s mostly part-time staff — working from home during lockdown — was overwhelmed. So owner Vicky Titcomb took a chance, using some of the store’s federal Payroll Protection Program funds to bring on more full-time employees when the store reopened. Titcomb promoted a part-timer to take over from her as manager, and she has been a dynamo, coordinating virtual events and reaching out to local artisans to expand the store’s gift selection. She also oversaw new hires, one focused on expanding the toy selection, another on rare and antique books, and a third on social media.

In 2020, the shop had its best year ever. And 2021 was even better.

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“COVID changed everything at our store,” Titcomb said. “It made us a better business by far.”

The pandemic crushed many small companies, as health concerns, supply chain issues, and labor shortages converged. But some were able to adapt — and thrive. They upgraded technologies and expanded online offerings. They sought out new customers and jump-started new lines of business. Others, like Titcomb, saw an opportunity and ran with it.

The pandemic didn’t kill them, it made them stronger.

For nearly two years, there has been a “global scrambling” as companies try to stay afloat, said Sridhar Tayur, professor of operations management at Carnegie Mellon University. And this crisis mindset has sparked changes that could have a lasting impact. Businesses are tracking customers’ online orders in ways they never did for in-person sales, he said. Operations are being automated and simplified.

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“Necessity is the mother of invention,” he said. “I don’t think they’ve had this amount of necessity at least in the last 20 or 30 years.”

Lightyear Strategies, a marketing firm in Boston, witnessed the shift in its clients. At first, the mindset seemed to be, “the world’s ending ... let’s get rid of the marketing,” said chief executive Nima Olumi. But a few months later, clients realized they needed help adapting to a changed and largely virtual world.

A New York property management firm asked Lightyear to figure out how to e-mail thousands of residents about new sanitization measures. Boston hospitals wanted videos educating patients about safety protocols.

At the same time, Olumi realized he needed to narrow his focus rather than trying to be a jack-of-all-trades “yes man.” Today, his recurring monthly revenue is more than 10 times what it was in 2019.

“If you make hot dogs,” he said, “stick to making hot dogs.”

For other business owners, though, the pandemic was the right time to branch out. Runamok Maple in Fairfax, Vt., saw its online syrup sales skyrocket, while restaurant and hotel sales slumped. So the company decided to launch Sparkle Syrup, infused with edible pearlescent mica, to “bring a little bit of joy,” said co-owner Eric Sorkin. And it’s been a huge hit. “All the working dads out there were now at home, and what does a working dad know how to make?” he said. “They make breakfast.”

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At Copper Dog Books in Beverly, mastering online orders when nobody wanted to shop in person opened the door to shipping gift boxes, including a monthly subscription with two sci-fi novellas, a snack, and a small item such as a journal or key chain. Scenic Roots Garden Center in Sandwich launched a virtual landscape design business and started selling produce from a nearby farm. Both businesses have had record-breaking sales for the past two years.

Adopting new technologies has been a game-changer for many companies. In response to COVID restrictions, the owner of a nautical jewelry business in Washington state put scannable QR codes next to each necklace and bracelet in her window display, directing shoppers who couldn’t come inside to the items on her website. A business consultancy in Utah started digitizing operations when the world went online, including using artificial intelligence to help predict employee turnover, a major challenge during the pandemic. Financial services firms have turned to facial recognition technology from Bedford biometric software provider Aware to give mobile customers a more secure way to check their accounts.

Many companies have embarked on a “digital transformation” during the pandemic, said Mark Tina, vice president of sales for Verizon Business in the eastern US. New high-speed Internet-based services not only have more capabilities than older technologies, they are less expensive, he said, which is key for businesses struggling to survive.

When workers stopped going into their offices, Dependable Cleaners, based in Quincy, saw its business drop to a fraction of what it used to be, driving the dry cleaner to look for ways to become more efficient, said director of operations Carlyn Parker. It switched to a Verizon service that assigns one business number to ring on multiple mobile devices and desk phones, and it added a texting feature to its biweekly pickup-and-delivery service.

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Now, instead of visiting every home-delivery customer twice a week, the drivers only go where requested, allowing the company to add more customers without more drivers. Before Omicron drove companies to push back office reopening dates, Dependable Cleaners had climbed back to 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

“We’re in the fourth generation,” said Parker, whose grandparents started the company. “We’re here to stay.”

Finding new customers has also been a life-saver. When travel came to a halt in March of 2020, revenues dropped to “nearly zero” for LugLess, a Boston company that ships luggage for travelers. But it quickly started playing up the fact that using its services meant less human contact, said chief executive Aaron Kirley. No more waiting in line at the airport to check bags, no more gathering with the masses at the baggage carousel. The company also partnered with moving companies to reach the surge of digital nomads who could suddenly work wherever they wanted —and likely didn’t have room in their cars for all their stuff. And when people complained they could no longer print out shipping labels because they weren’t at work, LugLess developed digital labels.

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By the fall of 2020, business had tripled from its pre-pandemic high, then tripled again last year.

“It kind of forced us to open our eyes and look at new opportunities,” Kirley said.

Some of the new opportunities revealed during the pandemic aren’t just boosting revenues. They’re also saving lives.

Groups Recover Together, an addiction therapy provider based in Burlington, has almost doubled the number of people it serves around the country since it started offering virtual sessions. Before COVID, people battling opioid abuse had to attend group therapy in person due to the medication being provided, said chief executive Colleen Nicewicz.

But when that requirement was rescinded during the shutdown, Groups Recover Together started holding sessions over Zoom, and then through a new app. The organization now reaches more than 10,000 people a week, nearly a third of whom live in counties with no physical site. Opioid addiction is rampant in rural areas, Nicewicz said; in one Indiana county with a population of just 10,000, Groups Recover is serving one out of every 200 residents, even without a clinic.

Crucially, data show that virtual group therapy is just as effective at keeping people off drugs as in-person sessions, she said. At a time when the opioid epidemic is worse than ever — overdose deaths rose nearly 29 percent in the 12 months ending in April 2021 compared to the year before — reaching more people is critical, said Nicewicz, who is hopeful virtual therapy will become a permanent offering.

“We really met an unmet need,” she said.

Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ktkjohnston.

Successful MLM companies have used various strategies to maintain revenue and retention rates, including investing in technology, leveraging social media, and optimizing operations for efficiency.

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Content: In the post-pandemic new normal, flexibility, adaptability and enterprise resilience are important in ensuring MSMEs can operate more efficiently in a highly competitive business environment. It is also necessary for small businesses to invest in the right office technology solutions that are cost-effective and scalable according to their unique needs.

Investing in technology solutions is no longer a choice but an imperative. MSMEs that fail to undertake the digital transformation journey run the risk of losing relevance and market competitiveness. As a result, both big and small companies are now deploying powerful AI-enabled algorithms to improve daily operations, gain better operational insights and drive more efficient use of their resources.

Cloud and IoT-enabled smart solutions

Herein, it is essential to deploy cloud-based tools for data storage as well as to facilitate remote work and a more collaborative working environment. Cloud computing can be particularly useful for driving enterprise growth and resilience by enabling collaborations despite geographical constraints. Cloud computing also helps MSMEs avoid the upfront cost of physical IT infrastructure while assisting them to expand their presence in new and unpenetrated markets.

AI-driven tools can also assist small entities in areas such as CRM (customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) as well as sales and marketing initiatives. For example, chatbots can be useful in improving customer service functions by responding to routine sales queries. Besides integrating digital technology into office systems, MSMEs must promote workspace flexibility. This could be achieved through various means and different office layout models. In this context, tech innovations could be instrumental in altering workspace interiors, promoting greater efficiencies and higher productivity.

Today, office furniture enabled by IoT (Internet of Things) is the smart way forward. Statistics indicate there will be more than 75 billion IoT-connected devices worldwide by 2025. Small enterprises should optimise their operations by creating a conducive and more productive work environment with smart chairs, adjustable desks and connected devices.

Then there are smart lighting solutions, an often-ignored aspect in offices. Smart lighting can lead to a 20 per cent increase in productivity since it reduces eyestrain while enhancing employees’ energy and alertness levels by providing proper illumination across the workspace.2 By mimicking natural daylight patterns, it also promotes better work-life balance and improves employee well-being.

Shared workspaces, co-working options, hot desking and more

Smart technology apart, shared office spaces and co-working options are an excellent means to curb overhead costs and operate a hybrid work model backed by flexible office attendance for employees. Flexible office layouts can also accommodate varied working styles and functions.

Shared workspaces are those where multiple employees can use the same space, which is beneficial for offices having hybrid work schedules. Shared workspaces include individual or secluded areas reserved as required or open collaborative zones where staff work alongside each other.

Hot desking, a popular trend, entails sharing one desk among multiple workers, fostering effective shared workspaces. While it may pose scheduling and logistical challenges, the use of scheduling software can streamline availability. This approach minimises required square footage for each employee, offering a cost-saving option for MSMEs.

Coming to flexible office spaces, this layout supports employee and enterprise flexibility. Here, people enjoy the freedom to select their preferred workspace depending on what they want to do. So, they could book desks on the go or reserve an impromptu space for meeting a colleague. While traditional offices come with assigned desks and fixed meeting rooms, with flexible office spaces employees can choose the area that is best for the allocated task.

Best of all, dynamic workspaces may be altered easily based on changing business needs, economic conditions or dynamic return-to-office policies. This flexibility accommodates various working styles, such as hybrid work, optimising space and resource utilisation efficiently.

Benefits of agile workplaces and modular furniture

Additionally, an agile, flexible workspace acts as an adaptable environment facilitating more creativity, collaboration and innovation. It is designed to accommodate the fluctuating needs of employees and the changing nature of present-day work. Such workplaces are defined by technology-enabled spaces, open floor plans and movable fixtures. This fosters an ambience of clear communication, transparency and teamwork.  Finally, modular furniture is one more viable option to maximise the utilisation of office space. While movable desks or lounge seating that can be rearranged to provide additional seating space come to mind immediately, modular furniture also includes partitions and storage solutions. Given the ever-evolving office requirements of many MSMEs, some or all of the above solutions should come in handy for small and medium enterprises.

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Strategies For Growing Your Business And Increasing Revenue

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Overcoming obstacles and achieving success in business requires strategic planning and focused effort. In this informative blog post inspired by the timeless wisdom of Napoleon Hill, we will explore effective strategies to help you grow your business and boost your revenue. By implementing these proven tactics, you can navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship and pave the way for sustainable growth and financial prosperity. Let’s explore into the key principles that can propel your business forward and unlock its full potential.

Setting Clear Goals

For any business to be successful, it is necessary to have clear goals in place. Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals is crucial for guiding your business towards growth and increased revenue. By defining clear goals, you provide direction for your team and ensure that everyone is aligned towards a common purpose.

Identifying Your Target Market

Target market identification is a critical first step in setting clear goals for your business. Understanding who your ideal customers are, their needs, preferences, and purchasing behavior will help you tailor your products or services to meet their specific demands. Conducting market research and analyzing data will enable you to pinpoint your target market effectively.

Defining Measurable Objectives

An important aspect of setting clear goals is defining measurable objectives that allow you to track your progress and evaluate your success. By setting measurable key performance indicators (KPIs), you can monitor the performance of your business and make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency and profitability. Objectives such as increasing sales by a certain percentage or expanding into new markets provide tangible targets for your business growth.

Market research is necessary for defining measurable objectives as it helps you gather relevant data about your industry, competitors, and target market. This information is vital for setting realistic goals and objectives that are achievable within a specific timeframe. By analyzing market trends and consumer behavior, you can identify opportunities for growth and develop strategies to capitalize on them effectively.

Developing a Unique Value Proposition

Even in a crowded marketplace, it is crucial for businesses to stand out by developing a unique value proposition. This is a statement that conveys the benefits a customer can expect from your product or service, and how it differs from competitors.

Conducting Market Research

The first step in developing a unique value proposition is conducting thorough market research. This involves understanding your target audience, their needs, preferences, and pain points. By gathering insights into what your potential customers are looking for, you can tailor your value proposition to meet their specific requirements.

Creating a Competitive Advantage

Advantage

Creating a competitive advantage is crucial for sustaining long-term success in the business world. By offering something that sets you apart from competitors, whether it’s through pricing, quality, innovation, or customer service, you can attract and retain customers more effectively.

Value

Value proposition is the unique combination of products, services, and benefits that you offer to customers. By clearly articulating what sets your business apart, you can resonate with your target market and drive growth and revenue.

Building a Strong Online Presence

Website Optimization for Conversions

Now, with the increasing importance of online presence, it is crucial to optimize your website for conversions. This means ensuring that your website is user-friendly, visually appealing, and easy to navigate. Implementing clear call-to-action buttons and ensuring a seamless checkout process can significantly increase your conversion rates. Additionally, regularly updating your website with fresh content and utilizing search engine optimization techniques can help drive more traffic to your site.

Leveraging Social Media for Brand Awareness

Presence on social media platforms is crucial for building brand awareness and connecting with your target audience. With the growing number of users on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, leveraging social media can help increase visibility and engagement for your business. By creating compelling content, running targeted ads, and engaging with followers, you can build a loyal online community that supports your brand.

Leveraging social media for brand awareness also involves understanding the demographics and preferences of your target audience to tailor your content and messaging effectively. By utilizing analytics tools provided by social media platforms, you can track the performance of your posts and campaigns and make data-driven decisions to optimize your social media strategy.

Crafting a Compelling Marketing Strategy

Unlike other aspects of your business, your marketing strategy is the key to reaching your target audience and driving sales. It is necessary to craft a compelling marketing strategy that sets you apart from your competitors and resonates with your customers.

Identifying Your Unique Selling Point

An necessary part of crafting a compelling marketing strategy is identifying your unique selling point (USP). Your USP is what sets you apart from your competitors and why customers should choose your products or services over others. By clearly defining your USP, you can tailor your marketing messages to highlight what makes your business unique and valuable to your customers.

Creating a Content Marketing Plan

Plan to create a content marketing plan that showcases your USP and engages your target audience. Content marketing is a strategic approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. By creating high-quality content that aligns with your brand and speaks to your customers’ needs and desires, you can build trust and establish your business as an industry authority.

Selling your products or services becomes easier when you have a solid content marketing plan in place. Consistent and engaging content helps drive traffic to your website, generate leads, and ultimately increase sales. Remember to track the performance of your content marketing efforts to make data-driven decisions and optimize your strategy for maximum impact.

Leveraging Email Marketing

After mastering the art of leveraging email marketing, you can effectively grow your business and increase revenue. One of the key strategies in email marketing is building an extensive email list of engaged subscribers who are genuinely interested in your products or services.

Building an Email List

Any successful email marketing campaign starts with a strong foundation – a quality email list. You can build your list through various methods such as offering valuable content, exclusive promotions, or free resources in exchange for email sign-ups. Recall, it’s not just about the quantity of contacts, but the quality of leads that will drive engagement and conversions.

Creating Engaging Email Campaigns

Marketing your products or services through email campaigns requires careful planning and execution. Your emails should be visually appealing, personalized, and provide relevant content to your audience. Segmenting your email list based on demographics, behavior, or purchase history can help tailor your messages for better engagement.

Email marketing is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with your audience on a more personal level. By delivering targeted content directly to their inbox, you can nurture leads, drive sales, and build customer loyalty over time. Remember to analyze the performance of your email campaigns and make adjustments as needed to optimize your results.

Fostering Strategic Partnerships

Identifying Potential Partners

To grow your business and increase revenue, it is necessary to identify potential partners who can complement your products or services. Look for businesses that share a similar target market but offer products or services that are not direct competitors to yours. By partnering with such businesses, you can reach a wider audience and tap into new revenue streams. Conduct market research and network within your industry to find the right partners that align with your business goals and values.

Building Mutually Beneficial Relationships

On your quest to foster strategic partnerships, focus on building mutually beneficial relationships with your partners. Communication and collaboration are key to establishing a strong partnership that can drive growth for both parties involved. Create a partnership agreement that outlines each partner’s roles, goals, and expectations to ensure alignment and transparency. By working together towards common objectives, you can leverage each other’s strengths and resources to maximize growth and increase revenue.

An effective way to build mutually beneficial relationships with your partners is to offer incentives such as joint marketing campaigns, revenue sharing agreements, or exclusive discounts for each other’s customers. By showing your commitment to the partnership and providing value to your partners, you can cultivate a long-lasting and profitable relationship that benefits both parties in the long run.

Beneficial partnerships can open doors to new opportunities, expand your reach, and drive revenue growth for your business. By strategically identifying potential partners and nurturing mutually beneficial relationships, you can leverage the collective expertise and resources of your partners to achieve mutual success. Collaborate, communicate openly, and consistently evaluate the partnership to ensure that it continues to drive value and contribute to the growth of your business.

Optimizing Operations for Efficiency

Streamlining Processes

Keep your business running like a well-oiled machine by streamlining your processes. Identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in your operations to cut down on wasted time and resources. By optimizing the flow of work, you can boost productivity and reduce costs, ultimately leading to increased revenue.

Implementing Productivity Tools

On your journey to growth and prosperity, consider implementing productivity tools to enhance efficiency in your business operations. From project management software to communication tools, there are various resources available to streamline tasks and improve collaboration among team members. By leveraging technology to your advantage, you can save time and energy, allowing you to focus on strategic initiatives that drive business success.

Optimizing your operations with the right productivity tools can have a significant impact on your bottom line. These tools can automate repetitive tasks, track performance metrics, and facilitate seamless communication within your organization. By investing in the right tools and training your team to use them effectively, you can create a more efficient and productive work environment that sets the stage for sustainable growth.

This approach to implementing productivity tools not only enhances the efficiency of your business operations but also empowers your team to work smarter, not harder. By equipping your employees with the tools they need to succeed, you are investing in the long-term success and profitability of your business.

Investing in Employee Development

Many successful businesses understand the value of investing in their employees’ growth and development. By providing ongoing training and opportunities for learning, businesses can empower their workforce to excel and adapt to the evolving business landscape.

Providing Ongoing Training

Development through ongoing training is a key strategy for businesses looking to grow and increase revenue. Investing in employee skills and knowledge not only enhances their capabilities but also boosts morale and loyalty. Employees who feel supported in their development are more likely to stay with a company long-term and contribute to its success.

Regular training sessions, workshops, and access to online courses can keep employees engaged and motivated while sharpening their skills. It’s important to create a culture that values learning and improvement, where employees are encouraged to seek out new knowledge and skills that benefit both themselves and the company.

Encouraging Innovation and Creativity

Investing in fostering a culture of innovation and creativity can set a business apart from its competitors. Encouraging employees to think outside the box, experiment with new ideas, and take calculated risks can lead to groundbreaking discoveries and solutions. Creativity is a powerful driver of growth and revenue, as innovative ideas can open up new markets and opportunities.

To truly harness the potential of innovation, businesses should create a supportive environment where employees feel empowered to share their ideas and collaborate across departments. By recognizing and rewarding creative thinking, businesses can cultivate a culture of innovation that propels them towards success.

Managing Finances Effectively

Creating a Budget

The first step to effectively managing your finances is to create a budget. This will help you understand where your money is going and where you can cut costs. Be sure to include all expenses, both fixed and variable, as well as income sources. Review your budget regularly and make adjustments as needed to ensure you stay on track.

Tracking Key Performance Indicators

Effectively tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is crucial for growing your business and increasing revenue. KPIs can help you measure progress towards your goals and identify areas for improvement. Some common KPIs to track include revenue growth, customer acquisition cost, and customer retention rate.

By monitoring KPIs regularly, you can quickly identify trends and make data-driven decisions to optimize your business operations. This will ultimately lead to increased efficiency and profitability.

Identifying New Revenue Streams

Diversifying Your Product or Service Offerings

The key to continued growth and increasing revenue for your business is to always be on the lookout for new revenue streams. Diversifying your product or service offerings is a great way to attract new customers and keep existing ones engaged. By expanding your offerings, you can appeal to a wider range of customers and increase your sales potential.

Exploring Alternative Revenue Models

Any successful business understands the importance of exploring alternative revenue models. This means looking beyond traditional sales and finding new ways to generate income. From subscription services to licensing agreements, there are countless options to explore. By diversifying your revenue streams, you can create a more stable and sustainable business model.

It is crucial to stay open-minded and willing to adapt to changing market trends. By exploring alternative revenue models, you can stay ahead of the competition and ensure long-term success for your business.

Building a Strong Sales Strategy

Identifying Your Ideal Customer

For your business to thrive and increase revenue, it is crucial to identify your ideal customer. Understanding who your target audience is will help you tailor your sales strategies to meet their specific needs and preferences. Take the time to research and gather data on your customers’ demographics, behaviors, and pain points. This information will guide you in creating personalized marketing campaigns that resonate with your ideal customers and drive sales.

Developing a Sales Funnel

One necessary component of a strong sales strategy is developing a sales funnel. A sales funnel outlines the customer journey from awareness to purchase, breaking down the steps involved in converting leads into customers. By mapping out this process, you can identify potential bottlenecks and areas for improvement in your sales process. Implementing a well-designed sales funnel can help you streamline your sales efforts, enhance customer experience, and ultimately boost revenue.

For instance, a typical sales funnel includes stages such as awareness, interest, decision, and action. At each stage, you can deploy relevant marketing tactics and sales techniques to move prospects closer to making a purchase. By tracking the performance of your sales funnel and making adjustments as needed, you can optimize your sales strategy for maximum effectiveness.

Providing Exceptional Customer Service

Not only does exceptional customer service help build a positive reputation for your business, but it also plays a crucial role in retaining customers and attracting new ones. Happy customers are more likely to return and recommend your products or services to others, ultimately leading to increased revenue and business growth.

Implementing a Customer Feedback System

For implementing a customer feedback system, consider using surveys, feedback forms, or even setting up a system for customers to leave reviews online. By actively seeking and listening to customer feedback, you can identify areas for improvement and make necessary changes to enhance the overall customer experience. This proactive approach shows customers that you value their opinions and are committed to providing top-notch service.

Building a Loyal Customer Base

The key to building a loyal customer base lies in fostering strong relationships with your customers. By going above and beyond to meet their needs and exceed their expectations, you can turn one-time buyers into repeat customers who are loyal to your brand. Providing personalized recommendations, exclusive deals, and exceptional customer service can help create a sense of loyalty and keep customers coming back for more.

Additionally, consider implementing a loyalty program to reward customers for their repeat business. By offering incentives such as discounts, special offers, or exclusive perks, you can further incentivize customers to stay loyal to your brand and continue supporting your business in the long run.

Staying Ahead of the Competition

Conducting Competitor Research

All successful businesses understand the importance of conducting competitor research. By analyzing your competitors, you can gain valuable insights into their strategies, strengths, and weaknesses. One effective way to conduct competitor research is to analyze their online presence, marketing tactics, pricing strategies, and customer reviews. By understanding what your competitors are doing, you can identify areas where you can differentiate your business and offer a unique value proposition to your customers.

Staying Up-to-Date with Industry Trends

Trends in your industry can change rapidly, and it’s vital to stay up-to-date to remain competitive. One way to stay informed about industry trends is to attend conferences, seminars, and trade shows related to your field. Additionally, subscribing to industry publications, following thought leaders on social media, and joining professional networks can help you stay informed about the latest developments in your industry. By staying ahead of industry trends, you can adapt your business strategy, products, and services to meet the evolving needs of your customers.

Understanding the current trends in your industry is crucial for business growth. By staying informed about market shifts, emerging technologies, and changing consumer behaviors, you can proactively adjust your business strategies to stay ahead of the competition. Embracing innovation and being agile in responding to industry trends will position your business for long-term success and increased revenue.

Final Words

On the whole, implementing effective strategies for growing your business and increasing revenue is crucial for long-term success. By focusing on areas such as marketing, customer service, and innovation, you can position your business for sustainable growth. Remember to stay adaptable and open to change in order to keep up with evolving market trends and consumer preferences. With determination, perseverance, and strategic planning, you can achieve your goals and take your business to new heights.

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These strategies have enabled companies to stay competitive and adapt to changing market conditions, including the shift to online sales and the impact of the pandemic.

Some companies have also seen significant growth in revenue, with Red Violet's revenue increasing by 12% to $9.3 million in Q3 2020.

Title:

Content: Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT) CEO Derek Dubner on Q3 2020 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Nov. 10, 2020 8:02 PM ETRed Violet, Inc. (RDVT)1 Like
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Red Violet, Inc. (NASDAQ:RDVT) Q3 2020 Earnings Conference Call November 10, 2020 4:30 PM ET

Company Participants

Camilo Ramirez - Director, Finance & Investor Relations

Derek Dubner - Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Dan MacLachlan - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Scott Billeadeau - Walrus Partners

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Red Violet's Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. Later we will conduct the question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this call is being recorded.

I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference Camilo Ramirez, Director of Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Camilo Ramirez

Good afternoon and welcome. Thank you for joining us today to discuss our third quarter 2020 financial results. With me today is Derek Dubner, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Dan MacLachlan, our Chief Financial Officer. Our call today will begin with comments from Derek and Dan followed by a question-and-answer session.

I would like to remind you that this call is being webcast live and recorded. A replay of the event will be available following the call on our website. To access the webcast, please visit our Investors page on our website www.redviolet.com.

Before we begin, I would like to invite listeners that certain information discussed by management during this conference call are forward-looking statements covered under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied by our forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with the company's business. The company undertakes no obligation to update the information provided on this call.

For a discussion of risk and uncertainties associated with Red Violet's business, I encourage you to review the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Including the most recent annual report on Form 10-K and the subsequent 10-Qs.

During the call, we may present certain non-GAAP financial information relating to adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross margin, and adjusted EBITDA. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measure are provided in the earnings press release issued earlier today. In addition, certain supplemental metrics that are not necessarily derived from any underlying financial statement amounts may be discussed and these metrics and their definitions can also be found in the earnings press release issued earlier today.

With that, I am pleased to introduce Red Violet's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Derek Dubner.

Derek Dubner

Thanks, Camilo, and good afternoon to those joining us today to discuss our third quarter 2020 results. We sincerely hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy during this time. We are pleased to report today another strong quarter during an incredibly challenging time. These strong results demonstrate the applicability of our technology and solutions, across diverse markets, and industries as well as the need of organizations to integrate our solutions to enable their workflow and better data-driven decisioning.

The momentum we experienced exiting the second quarter continued throughout the third quarter. Generating a 31% sequential increase in revenue to $9.3 million, and a 130% sequential increase in adjusted EBITDA to a record $2.1 million. Further, the third quarter proved to be one of our best quarters to date, with record platform revenue of $9 million, driving record adjusted gross margin of 71%.

Given the current state of the pandemic, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the path we have traveled since the start of the crisis. In the second quarter, businesses faced unprecedented challenges to their survival as a result of pandemic related events, including a government mandated stay-at-home order, which created significant uncertainty. These impacts caused many customers to retract. Causing certain parts of our business such as our collections vertical to experience reduced transactional volume.

As a reminder, we cited in our last earnings call that in the face of these challenges, we maintained our long-term view and implemented a multipronged strategy including among other things, assisting our customers, focusing on the health and well-being of our team members, gaining market share and the continued advancement of our technology and solutions.

At the onset of the crisis, we committed to what we termed our partnership approach to assisting our customers through the economic downturn. We knew that ensuring the survival and health of our customer’s businesses would in turn ensure the future health of our business. We work with customers in a variety of ways, strengthening the enduring relationships that we have built over time.

What became obvious to most businesses is that to survive the downturn one must adapt to the current circumstance. As part of the adaptation process, we worked with our customers to understand their objectives and needs and we demonstrated the utility and efficiency of our products and solutions, especially given the competitive advantage of our cloud native platform. This exercise proved to be fruitful as our customers appreciated the goodwill and they were able to fine-tune their processes for better outcomes. Their reliance on our solutions is evidenced by the increase in our base revenue from existing customers to $5.8 million, 15% sequentially and growth revenue from existing customers to $2.7 million, 151% sequentially. We are very proud of these metrics as put simply, they show that customers prefer our solutions and are finding ways to utilize them more.

Turning now to our team. I want to thank each and every one of them as their execution against our planned strategy laid the groundwork for the acceleration of the business that we are experiencing. Today most of our Seattle team members are working remotely as are a handful of personnel in our South Florida offices. The rest of the team is working in office and has been since June.

With the significant precautions that we implemented prior to our return to office, we have managed to safely adapt while facilitating a highly productive in-office work environment. While we continue to monitor business conditions given the unpredictable environment sustained by the continued spread of the virus, we are actively recruiting for various growth positions across the organization, including in the areas of product development, sales and infrastructure to solidify various teams as we drive the expansion of our business.

Another facet of our strategy was to use the crisis as an opportunity to increase our market share. We posited early on that in order to cope with the economic downturn, businesses would seek to cut costs immediately and identify greater efficiencies to implement into their workflow to offset the negative, financial impacts to their business. We focused on these prospects, who as a result of the downturn exhibited a greater propensity to entertain switching providers. We made great strides in this area, adding over 380 customers to idiCORE in the quarter. This metric has always been a leading indicator of increasing revenues over the next six to nine months. And we believe the impact of the crisis on customers' psyches resulting in heightened focus on cost efficiencies will be long-lasting and will provide a tailwind to providers of solutions who address that need as we do.

Finally, I'd like to speak to the continued advancement of our technology and solutions. Through innovation and our customer-centric view, we maintain that we have developed the leading cloud-native technology platform in our industry. 2020 has rapidly accelerated the digital transformation and has challenged organizations to increasingly move to cloud-based solutions.

Our platform core addresses these challenges, as we are delivering essential products and solutions to a multitude of organizations. We provide our customers the speed, usability, throughput, accuracy and scalability that we believe to be superior to that of our larger competition. We have a robust road map of new technologies, enhancements, functionality, and products and solutions that will drive our business near and long-term. And given the substantial inroads we are making with new customers combined with the recovery of existing customers and pent-up demand, we are well positioned for the remainder of the year and throughout 2021.

Data is the lifeblood of this digital transformation, but not just volume of data as too much data creates noise and inefficiency. Too much data creates fragmentation and the inability to glean actionable insight.

Our mission is to continue developing and commercializing customer-centric solutions that solve for the data fragmentation problem, no matter the customer or the use case. Our goal is to ensure the applicability of our solutions across as many industries and transactions as possible to increase organization's output and efficiency. We are very early in this mission and are well positioned for the future.

With that, I turn it over to Dan to discuss the financials.

Dan MacLachlan

Thank you Derek, and good afternoon. During what has been a very unique and challenging time, I could not be more pleased with the productivity, professionalism and focus of the entire Red Violet team. Combine that with the strength and resilience our business model continues to show and the result was a great third quarter.

As customers adapted and became more efficient transacting in the COVID environment, our transaction volume returned to pre-COVID levels by the end of the third quarter. With the exception of collection customer volume, we saw significant improvement across the markets we serve. These improvements were evident in our growth revenue from existing customers that grew at a record pace in both percentage and dollars both sequentially and year-over-year. We continue to see that as customers adopt our solutions their business relies and thrive on our platform.

As a result, the third quarter proved to be one of our best quarter’s to-date with record platform revenue that was leveraged down the P&L leading to record adjusted gross margin of 71% and record adjusted EBITDA of $2.1 million. We remain confident in our ability to navigate these challenging times and remain focused on leveraging opportunities.

With that I'm excited to discuss our third quarter results. For clarity, all the comparisons I will discuss today will be against the third quarter of 2019 unless noted otherwise. Total revenue was $9.3 million a 12% increase over prior year. Platform revenue grew 27% to $9 million representing 97% of our total revenue.

With the exception of our collection vertical and specifically within our services revenue, we saw a nice recovery in transaction volume across the board. Including some pent-up demand as businesses adapted and became more efficient operating in the COVID environment. With 97% of revenue coming from platform, we generated extremely healthy margins that flow through the P&L generating $2.1 million in adjusted EBITDA, an 84% increase.

We continue to see a slower recovery in our collection vertical resulting from temporary government-imposed moratoria, forbearance programs and government stimulus. This was felt the most in our services revenue. Services revenue was $0.3 million for the quarter, a 74% decrease over prior year. We expect to see recovery in services revenue in early 2021 with strong tailwinds developing throughout the year as the moratoria are lifted and the forbearance program and stimulus subside.

Continuing through the details of our P&L. As mentioned, revenue was $9.3 million for the third quarter consisting of revenue from new customers of $0.7 million, base revenue from existing customers of $5.8 million and gross revenue from existing customers of $2.7 million.

Our idiCORE billable customer base grew by over 380 customers during the period to 5,758 customers. FOREWARN added over 4,000 users during the quarter. Our contractional revenue was 68% for the quarter led by a strong 116% increase in growth revenue from existing customers.

Our revenue attrition percentage was 10% compared to 6% in prior year. This increase was primarily the result of pandemic-related customer concessions we provided and transactional customers who temporarily paused volume during the second and third quarter. Sequentially, revenue attrition improved by one percentage point. Because revenue attrition is calculated on a trailing 12-month basis, we expect to see continued improvement sequentially over the next several quarters.

Moving on from our revenue metrics and down the P&L. Our cost of revenue decreased $0.4 million or 13% to $2.7 million. This $0.4 million decrease was a result of a decrease in third-party servicer costs associated with our services revenue partially offset by an increase in data acquisition costs. Adjusted gross profit increased 28% to $6.6 million producing an adjusted gross margin of 71%, a nine percentage point increase over third quarter 2019.

Sales and marketing expenses increased $0.3 million or 15% to $2.2 million for the quarter. The increase was due primarily to an increase in employee salaries and benefits. The $2.2 million of sales and marketing expense for the quarter consisted primarily of $1.3 million in employee salaries and benefits and $0.4 million or $0.5 million in sales commissions.

General and administrative expenses increased $0.6 million or 19% to $4.1 million for the quarter. This decrease was primarily the result of a $0.4 million increase in share-based compensation expense. The $4.3 million in general and administrative expenses for the quarter consisted primarily of $1.7 million of non-cash share-based compensation expense, $1.2 million of employee salaries and benefits and $0.8 million in accounting, IT and other professional fees.

Depreciation and amortization increased $0.4 million or 49% to $1.1 million for the quarter. This increase was primarily the result of the amortization of internally developed software. Net loss narrowed $0.1 million or 7% to $0.9 million for the quarter. We reported a loss of $0.08 per share for the quarter based on a weighted average share count of 12.1 million shares.

Moving on to the balance sheet. Cash and cash equivalents were $12.4 million at September 30, 2020, compared to $11.8 million at December 31, 2019. Current assets remained consistent at $16 million and current liabilities were $4.7 million, compared to $4.3 million. We generated $4.7 million in cash from operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 compared to generating $0.4 million in cash from operating activities for the same period in 2019.

Internally we track our operational cash burn versus burn on a monthly basis by calculating adjusted EBITDA and subtracting the cash we use for the development of internal use software and other capital expenses both found on our statement of cash flows. Based on this earn burn analysis, we earned $0.8 million in cash for the third quarter 2020, compared to burning $0.4 million for the third quarter of 2019.

Cash used in investing activities was $4.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, mainly the result of $4.3 million used for software developed for internal use. Cash provided by financing activities was $0.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, resulting from the net proceeds of $2.2 million from the CARES Act loan less $1.8 million of cash used for the taxes on the net settlement of approximately 122,000 shares of restricted stock units.

In closing, I'm extremely pleased with how well we performed across the board in the third quarter. And although the fourth quarter historically presents some seasonal headwinds from our transactional customers in the form of less business days, the fourth quarter is off to a great start and we are excited to close out the year strong.

With that, our operator will now open the line for Q&A.

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] And our first question will come from Pamela Carter from Carter Management [ph].

Unidentified Analyst

Hi. Yes. So it looks like you had some really strong growth in revenue from existing customers, as well as decent growth from existing customer base revenue. However, the revenue from new customers was down over prior year. Can you explain why that is? And if there is any concern there?

Dan MacLachlan

Yes. Hi, Pamela, thank you for the question. This is Dan. Yes. So as I discussed in my commentary earlier our gross revenue from existing customers was very strong both sequentially and over prior year. This is a healthy sign for the business, as it tells us customers who have been with us longer than six months continue to grow their volumes.

It tells us that our customers continue to rely on our solutions both in their everyday workflow and as a means to help drive their business as they get back to business. As for the new customer revenue, we are very pleased with how the numbers are trending. What we're really seeing in this metric for the third quarter is really a result of the second quarter COVID Trough, where we saw fewer billable customers added resulting in less revenue generated from new customers in the third quarter.

Looking at the onboarding of over 380 billable customers in the third quarter, which is at a higher onboarding rate than our 2019 average, it really tells the story and provide a very healthy leading indicator of future revenue. So we continue to see customers who adopt our solutions grow and scale and volume over time combining that with our low attrition rates and where we are very confident in the overall makeup of our revenue. And so we're confident today in how and where that revenue is growing and how it is trending.

Unidentified Analyst

Thank you.

Dan MacLachlan

Thanks.

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] And our next question comes from Scott Billeadeau from Walrus Partners. Your line is open.

Scott Billeadeau

Hi, guys. Good quarter. Thanks for taking my question. It's just kind of more of a technical one. In terms of your internalized software and depreciation. And kind of where are you that grew significantly in terms of what you're capitalizing kind of where is the run rate to expect? And maybe give us a little update on what the trend of that will be. Thanks.

Derek Dubner

Yes sure. So the last few years, we've been running about $6 million a year in capitalization of internally developed software. We've added additional resources and product development. But over time, some of that development goes towards kind of the maintaining if you will the system and so, you don't really capitalize that. So from a trending indicator standpoint, you'll probably see over the next year or two very similar capitalization of about $6 million. But as a result of kind of overall revenue and overall time, it's actually decreasing. But on a dollar-for-dollar basis, it will trend around $6 million yearly over the next probably one or two years.

Scott Billeadeau

Yes. So you'll start to get some -- you -- with a 40% increase you're kind of at where the number will be. So incrementally from here, you'll be able to leverage that number?

Derek Dubner

Correct. That is the unique fixed cost structure if you will of the model that provides us so much leverage.

Scott Billeadeau

Got it. Okay. That’s all I had guys. Appreciate it. Thanks. Good quarter.

Derek Dubner

Great. Thank you.

Dan MacLachlan

Thanks, Scott.

Operator

Thank you. And I am showing no further questions from our phone lines. I'd now like to turn the conference back over to Derek Dubner for any closing remarks.

Derek Dubner

Thank you. Hopefully as you can see from our results today and the progress we made this year, notwithstanding this rather unique environment that we're all in that we've built leading-edge technology and products and solutions that are essential to the success of many organizations.

With the secular tailwind of the digital transformation in place for many years to come, we expect that organizations are going to increasingly demand efficient solutions and there will be an increase in demand for fraud prevention, identity verification, general risk mitigation and consumer modeling. We have and continue to position ourselves to be the go-to provider for these solutions. I'm very optimistic about our future and I look forward to updating you on our progress on our next quarterly call. I want to thank our team members again, as well as our customers and those on the call today supporting us. It's much appreciated. Thank you and have a good afternoon.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect. Everyone have a wonderful day.

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Content: Stories
Losses 2021: companies and projects that did not survive the outgoing year
Stories
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• Online stores KupiVIP and Mamsy
In September, KupiVIP and Mamsy announced the shutdown, without specifying the reasons for the shutdown.
Both stores have been operating in Russia for more than 12 years.
KupiVIP specialized in the fashion segment, purchasing stock balances of fashion brands at discounted prices and selling them through its online store with discounts from 30% to 90%.
Mamsy sold mid-range clothing and goods for children and women.
Both retailers were owned by Oscar Hartmann (among his projects are CarPrice and Aktivo) and his partners.
In May 2021, it became known about Yandex ’ s plans to buy KupiVIP to integrate into Yandex.Market and enter the clothing segment.
However, in July, the company abandoned the deal to buy an online clothing store after assessing the risks.
The experts interviewed by the Vedomosti newspaper believed that retailers could not stand the competition with such players as Wildberries and Lamoda.
• SaveTime delivery service
Founded in 2018 by the Tashir construction group of companies, the service of express delivery of goods from SaveTime stores closed without announcing the reasons.
At the end of 2020, the service showed revenue growth of 286% compared to 2019, while it remained unprofitable.
Tashir invested 500 million rubles in its development.
SaveTime delivered goods from "Crossroads", "Vkusville", "Children's World", "Rive Gosha" and other stores.
In the first half of 2021, the project was actively developing: SaveTime worked in Moscow, and since the spring of 2021 - in St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod.
In the summer of 2021, it opened in Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg and Perm.
• Express delivery service 1520
The American express delivery service of 1520 products with the founders from Russia closed after a year of work, Business Insider reported.
In the comments to the last post of the service on Instagram, users write that they can not make delivery, and mention the company ’ s non-payment to its employees.
View this post on Instagram
Post from 1520 (@ 1520mins)
According to sources of the publication, 1520 spent all the money of investors and could not agree on the sale with a competing service Jokr.
After that, the management and investors decided to close the startup.
• MF kitchen delivery service
Healthy food delivery service MF kitchen has officially suspended its work since February 18, 2021.
The decision was due to problems in the operation of a number of IT systems and the intention to introduce a new menu and update the site.
The company expected to complete the work in 3-6 months, but still, according to its Instagram account, the service does not work.
View this post on Instagram
Publication from Delivery of proper nutrition (@ mf _ kitchen)
The MF kitchen project was founded in 2015 by Oleg Romanyuk.
In September 2017, the company that owns the MF kitchen brand attracted the first investments from the owner of the holding company "Akvion Capital Rus" Dmitry Lazarev.
Over the next few years, more than 90 million rubles were invested by Akvion Capital Rus in the development of MF kitchen.
At the end of 2020, the revenue of the service amounted to 85.9 million rubles, a net loss - 48 thousand rubles (a year earlier - 11.2 million).
• Openland Messenger
On the last day of October, the messenger for Openland communities stopped working.
It allowed you to create a chat community, establish professional contacts and exchange experience.
The core of the audience was entrepreneurs and IT industry specialists, mainly from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
The closure was announced by the co-founder of the project Yuri Lifshits.
He explained the reason as follows: “we managed to make a cool product, but we did not manage to win a serious share in the messenger market. ”
Openland appeared in 2018 initially as a service Statescraft – it collected housing statistics for city authorities.
A few months after the launch, Openland became a corporate messenger, and later access was opened to everyone.
In August 2018, Openland received $2.25 million from Gagarin Capital, Y Combinator, Soma Capital and others.
• Energy-saving startup Ecois.me
The Ukrainian company Ecois.me with the help of a mobile energy management system allowed to keep records of energy consumption in the house or apartment and reduce costs.
Prekt worked for about eight years, its closure in August was announced by the CEO and one of the founders Ivan Pasechnik.
The company's problems began two years before closing - Ecois.me announced the termination of trade due to insolvency.
The company could not cover its obligations, return money to customers, creditors and investors.
The company tried to sell, but the transaction did not take place.
• Manufacturer of cosmetics for beard and mustache "Borodist"
The Russian manufacturer of cosmetics for beard and mustache “Borodist ” has closed after eight years of work.
The project began with a community of beard and mustache fans in VKontakte - it was launched by David Shevchenko, and later Ilya Esennikov joined it.
Among the partners were Rive Gosh, Golden Apple and Chop-Chop.
For the past two years, the company has been operating without profit.
Gone from Russia
• Online retailer myToys
After 10 years of work in Russia, the online retailer of children ’ s products myToys, part of the German Otto Group, left the country.
During this time, the company has completed more than 4 million orders, delivered 12 million goods and created its own brand of children ’ s clothing Bjorka.
The revenue of the MyToys operating company MT Click LLC in 2020 fell by 24.8% compared to last year to 1.8 billion rubles, and the net loss increased 44 times to 1.5 billion rubles.
• Manufacturer of electronic cigarettes Juul
At the beginning of the year, the American manufacturer of electronic cigarettes Juul Labs closed all its retail outlets in Russia.
The company itself did not explain the reason for the closure of outlets, but the closure of stores in seven Russian cities occurred against the background of tightening anti-tobacco laws – a ban on advertising and selling nicotine-containing products via the Internet was introduced.
However, amid the news of the closure, Juul Labs spokesman Robin Kehley said that the manufacturer "will remain committed to the Russian market" and plans to maintain the availability of its products in Russia.
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KupiVIP and Mamsy shut down in 2021 due to competition, and SaveTime delivery service closed without announcing reasons.

1520 express delivery service closed after a year of work, and MF kitchen delivery service suspended work due to IT problems.

Openland Messenger stopped working due to market share failure, and Ecois.me energy-saving startup closed due to insolvency.

Borodist cosmetics manufacturer closed after eight years, and MyToys online retailer left Russia after 10 years.

Juul Labs closed retail outlets in Russia due to anti-tobacco laws, indicating a regulatory challenge for some companies.

The pandemic has affected the MLM industry in different regions, such as Europe, Asia, and the Americas, with varying impacts on sales, recruitment, and retention.

Title:

Content: Q3 2021 Global Fashion Group SA Earnings Call Transcript

60 minutes ago

Nov 11, 2021 / 08:00AM GMT
Christoph Barchewitz - Global Fashion Group S.A. - Co-CEO & Member of Management Board

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Global Fashion Group's Q3 results presentation. I am Christoph Barchewitz, and I'm joined today by my co-CEO, Patrick Schmidt; and our CFO, Matthew Price. I will update on how we are progressing against our strategic priorities. Matthew will take us through the financial results for the quarter and the outlook for the full year. After that, we'll open it up for Q&A.

To start with, I wanted to touch on a key point of difference between our markets and the markets in Europe or the U.S. We shared this bar chart last -- at Q2. It illustrates the percentage of the population fully vaccinated, updated to the end of September. Vaccination rates are really improving, which is great news. But for most of Q3, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines were under some form of restrictions. And especially in Lat Am, we are seeing second-order impacts from the pandemic, which is weakening consumer sentiment. As a consequence, some of our largest markets have yet to see the

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The pandemic had second-order impacts in some markets, and consumer sentiment weakened in the largest markets, including those in Europe and the US.

In contrast, the Asia Pacific market experienced growth despite the pandemic, driven in part by the gaming industry.

Title:

Content: Global Entertainment & Media Market is anticipated to grow USD 5,099 Million at a CAGR of 8.60% by 2030 - Report by MRFR

Entertainment & Media Market1

Global Entertainment & Media Market Research Report: Information by Type (Books & Magazines, Films, Social Media, Music & Theater, Animation, Gaming & Gambling)

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, April 19, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Market Research Future Insights

According to MRFR analysis, the “global entertainment and media market” is expected to register a CAGR of 8.60% from 2022 to 2030 and hold a value of over USD 5,099.2 million by 2030.

The entertainment and media market refers to the industry that creates, produces, and distributes content for various forms of entertainment and media consumption, including television, film, music, publishing, video games, and digital media.

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the entertainment and media market, causing disruptions in the production and distribution of content, as well as changes in consumer behavior. Many theaters, theme parks, and other entertainment venues were forced to close or limit capacity due to the pandemic, resulting in revenue losses for companies in the industry.

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The shift to remote work and increased time spent at home also led to changes in consumer behavior, with an increase in demand for streaming services and online content. This has resulted in a significant boost for companies that specialize in digital media, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Regional Analysis

Regionally, the impact of COVID-19 on the entertainment and media market has varied. The North American market, which is the largest market in terms of revenue, was hit hard by the pandemic due to the closure of theaters and theme parks. However, the increase in demand for streaming services has helped to mitigate the losses.

In contrast, the Asia Pacific market has experienced growth despite the pandemic, driven by the increased adoption of digital media and the growth of the gaming industry. The Middle East and Africa market has also shown resilience, with the expansion of mobile networks and increased access to online content driving growth in the region.

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Market Segmentation

The Global entertainment and media market has been segmented into based on type and application.

Based on Type - Books & Magazines, Films, Social Media, Music & Theater, Animation, Gaming & Gambling, Outdoor Advertising, Radio Broadcasting, Amusement Park/Facilities, Sports, Toys and Art
Based on Application - Wired and Wireless

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Key players

Some of the top key market players are:

• News Corporation (US)
• Advance (US)
• iHeartMedia Inc. (US)
• Discovery Inc. (US)
• Warner Media LLC. (US)
• Verizon Communications Inc. (US)
• Alphabet Inc. (US)
• The Walt Disney Company (US)
• Baidu Inc. (China)

global entertainment and media market - "Press Release"

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The North American market, on the other hand, was hit hard by the pandemic, with significant declines in sales and revenue.

Regional differences in vaccination rates and government restrictions have also impacted the MLM industry, with countries such as Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines imposing restrictions in Q3.

The pandemic has also led to a weakening of consumer sentiment in Latin America, which has negatively impacted MLM sales and recruitment in the region.

Digital media companies and streaming services have seen significant growth during the pandemic, which has changed consumer behavior and created new opportunities for MLM companies.

The pandemic has accelerated the shift to remote work and online sales, which has forced MLM companies to adapt their business models and strategies to remain competitive.

Social media has become a crucial tool for the recruitment and retention of MLM workers, with 4.7 billion users as of 2021, providing a vast pool of potential recruits.

Title:

Content: MenuWallOpinions
Articles

Social Media: The great connector and its hidden truths

File photo

Sat, 22 Apr 2023 Source: Maxwell Investments Group

The Internet has undeniably changed how we live, work, and communicate. Since its inception, it has played a pivotal role in transforming lives and societies across the globe.

From revolutionising access to information to connecting people worldwide, the Internet has broken down barriers and created once unimaginable opportunities. Its evolution from a static network to a dynamic hub of diverse content created by everyone has been astounding.

In recent years, the rise of social media has become a particularly significant phenomenon. Boasting an impressive 4.7 billion users as of 2021, which accounts for 59% of the world's population, social media has become an integral part of our lives and has an immense impact on businesses and individuals.

Initially, the Internet was primarily a static network where users could access information but had limited means to contribute or interact with the content. However, as the technology evolved and became more accessible, users began to create and share their content, giving rise to a more interactive and collaborative space. This shift has been most evident in the emergence and growth of social media platforms.

Social media platforms have gained traction at an exponential rate, offering a space for users to connect, share ideas, and communicate with others from all corners of the world. The statistics are staggering, with billions of users engaging on various platforms daily. This unprecedented level of connectivity has led to a profound impact on how we live, work, and even perceive the world around us.

The widespread adoption of social media has transformed how businesses and individuals interact, opening doors for new opportunities, marketing strategies, and revenue streams.

As a result, companies are increasingly leveraging social media platforms to reach, engage, and retain their target audience. Simultaneously, individuals use these platforms for personal growth, networking, and connecting with friends and family.

However, the rise of social media usage also comes with its own set of challenges and concerns. Privacy, fake news, and cyberbullying have become more prevalent, demanding greater attention from governments, businesses, and users.

The Internet's journey from a static network to a dynamic hub of diverse content, powered by the rise of social media usage, has indelibly changed our lives and societies.

As we embrace the possibilities and face the challenges of this digital landscape, it is crucial to remain vigilant and informed about the potential impacts and opportunities.

I. THE EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The rapid rise of social media has been nothing short of a global phenomenon, with individuals and businesses embracing its numerous benefits and applications. As a result, social media has become an integral aspect of our digital lives by allowing users to create, share, and exchange information, ideas, and thoughts through online communities and networks.

A. Definition and Purpose

Social media is a computer-based technology that facilitates sharing ideas, thoughts, and information by creating virtual networks and communities. By design, social media platforms are interactive and user-driven, allowing people to engage with others, share their experiences, and express themselves in various ways.

The ultimate purpose of social media is to connect people, foster relationships, and facilitate communication between individuals, groups, and organisations.

B. User Demographics

Social media platforms tend to attract diverse users, with some platforms skewing towards specific demographics. Social media users generally tend to be younger, better educated, and relatively wealthy compared to the broader population.

This is particularly true for platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, which have a younger user base. However, as social media continues to grow and evolve, it is increasingly being adopted by older age groups and users with varying socioeconomic backgrounds.

C. The Growth of Social Media Platforms

The growth of social media platforms has been exponential, with over 128 sites in existence today. Among these platforms, Facebook remains the largest and most influential, boasting over 2.8 billion monthly active users as of 2021. Other major platforms include Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Snapchat, each with unique features and a user base.

The rapid expansion of social media has been fuelled by advancements in technology, particularly the proliferation of smartphones and mobile internet access. As a result, social media has become more accessible, allowing users to connect and engage with others anytime, anywhere.

Social media's emergence has profoundly impacted various aspects of our lives, from personal relationships to business practices. It has revolutionised how we communicate, access information, and share experiences, ultimately transforming how we interact with the world around us. As social media continues to evolve and grow, it will undoubtedly continue to shape our societies and businesses in new and exciting ways.

II. SOCIAL MEDIA IN GHANA

In recent years, Ghana has witnessed significant growth in social media usage, with the number of users reaching an impressive 8.8 million. This surge in social media adoption has changed how Ghanaians communicate and interact with one another and has created many opportunities for businesses and the broader economy.

A. The Rise of Social Media Users in Ghana

The number of social media users in Ghana has grown exponentially, reaching 8.8 million people as of 2021. This increase in adoption can be attributed to the rapid expansion of mobile phone usage and affordable internet access, which have made social media platforms more accessible to a larger population.

As a result, social media has become an integral part of daily life for many Ghanaians, who use these platforms to connect with friends and family, share experiences, and access information.

B. WhatsApp: The Most Widely Subscribed Social App in Ghana

Among the numerous social media platforms available, WhatsApp has emerged as the most widely subscribed app in Ghana. With its user-friendly interface, free messaging and calling features, and end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp has become the go-to app for Ghanaians to communicate with friends, family, and business contacts.

In addition to its popularity for personal use, WhatsApp has also been embraced by Ghanaian businesses as a powerful marketing and communication tool. Businesses leverage the app to connect with customers, share updates and promotions, and provide customer support, ultimately enhancing their reach and engagement.

The widespread use of social media in Ghana has profoundly impacted the country's social, cultural, and economic landscape. As more Ghanaians continue to embrace these platforms, it is expected that social media will continue to play a critical role in connecting people, fostering business growth, and shaping the country's future.

III. THE BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The remarkable growth of social media has brought many benefits for individuals and businesses alike. These platforms have transformed how we communicate and share information and have become essential personal and professional growth tools.

A. The Personal Benefits of Social Media

For individuals, social media offers countless advantages, such as:

1. Staying connected with friends and family: Social media platforms enable people to keep in touch with loved ones nearby, bridging distances and fostering a sense of closeness.

2. Networking for job prospects: Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn have become indispensable tools for job seekers and employers, helping connect talent with opportunities and build professional relationships.

3. Self-expression and creativity: Social media platforms allow individuals to express their thoughts, ideas, and creative endeavours, allowing users to share their passions and interests with a global audience.

B. The Business Benefits of Social Media

Businesses have also reaped the rewards of social media usage, utilising these platforms for a range of functions, including:

1. Locating and interacting with customers: Businesses can harness the power of social media to connect with their target audience, engaging with existing customers and attracting new ones through targeted campaigns and content.

2. Promoting products and services: Social media offers a cost-effective and efficient way to promote products and services, allowing businesses to reach a broad audience and generate buzz around their brand.

3. Tracking consumer trends: Social media platforms provide businesses with invaluable insights into consumer preferences, enabling them to stay ahead of the competition and tailor their offerings to meet evolving customer needs.

4. Providing customer support: Businesses can leverage social media to offer swift and efficient customer service, addressing queries, concerns, and feedback in real-time and improving overall customer satisfaction.

C. The Blending of Social Interactions on E-Commerce Sites and Client Communication

The advent of social media has also led to a convergence between e-commerce and social interactions. Online retailers increasingly incorporate social media features into their websites, allowing customers to share product recommendations, reviews, and experiences with their networks.

This integration of social media and e-commerce not only enhances the shopping experience for customers but also helps businesses to foster a sense of community and trust, ultimately driving sales and fostering brand loyalty.

Social media has emerged as a powerful tool for personal and professional growth, offering many benefits for individuals and businesses. As these platforms continue to evolve and expand, their influence on how we connect, communicate, and conduct business is expected to grow even further.

IV. THE HIDDEN RISKS AND DARK SIDE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

While social media undoubtedly benefits individuals and businesses, it also harbours a darker side that cannot be ignored. When misused or overused, these platforms can lead to adverse consequences, both for users and society.

A. The Impact on Mental Health and Well-being

Increased time spent on social media can contribute to a range of mental health issues, including:

1. Anxiety: Constantly comparing oneself to others online can exacerbate feelings of inadequacy and anxiety, leading to a negative self-image.

2. Lack of sleep: Excessive use of social media, particularly before bedtime, can disrupt sleep patterns, leading to poor sleep quality and insomnia.

4. Depression: Overusing social media platforms can contribute to feelings of isolation and loneliness, increasing the risk of depression.

B. The Perils of Online Behaviour

Social media platforms can also be a breeding ground for harmful behaviours and practices, such as:

1. Trolling: Malicious users, or 'trolls', often target others online, posting inflammatory and offensive comments to provoke a response.

2. Privacy breaches: Sharing personal information on social media platforms can put users at risk of privacy breaches, leading to identity theft and other cybercrime.

3. Fake news: The rapid dissemination of false information on social media platforms can have significant consequences, influencing public opinion.

4. Cyberbullying: The anonymity provided by social media can encourage users to engage in harmful behaviour, such as cyberbullying, causing emotional distress and even leading to tragic consequences.

C. Baccarella et al.'s (2018) Honeycomb Framework

In their 2018 study, Baccarella et al. introduced the honeycomb framework to explore the dark side of social media. This framework consists of seven building blocks, each with its potential dark sides or risks:

1. Identity: While social media allows users to create and maintain an online persona, it can also contribute to creating fake profiles and catfishing.

2. Conversations: While online discussions can foster connections, they can also enable trolling and cyberbullying.

3. Sharing: The ease of sharing content online can lead to the rapid spread of fake news and misinformation.

4. Presence: The ability to track users' online activity can result in privacy concerns and stalking incidents.

5.Relationships: Social media facilitates relationship-building but can contribute to superficial connections and diminished face-to-face interactions.

6.Reputation: Online reviews and feedback can help businesses improve, but they can also be manipulated or falsified, leading to an inaccurate portrayal of a brand's reputation.

7.Groups: Online communities can provide support and connection but also foster echo chambers and radicalisation.

While social media offers many advantages, it is crucial to remain aware of its hidden risks and potential dark side. By using these platforms responsibly and educating users about potential dangers, we can mitigate the negative impacts and harness the full potential of social media for the betterment of individuals and society.

V. REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL MEDIA'S DARK SIDE

The dark side of social media is not merely a theoretical concept but manifests in real-world incidents with far-reaching implications. Here are a few examples that demonstrate the potential dangers of social media platforms.

A. Reddit: Threats, Bullying, and "Internet Witch Hunts"

1.Reddit, a popular online community platform, has often faced criticism for hosting controversial content and enabling aggressive behaviour. The site has become notorious for "internet witch hunts", where users band together to expose and vilify individuals for perceived wrongdoings, often without verified information. This can lead to harassment, public shaming, and, in some cases, irreversible damage to the targeted person's reputation and well-being.

2.The platform has also seen incidents of threats and bullying, with users posting harmful content and engaging in targeted harassment. Reddit has implemented policies to address these issues, but the sheer volume of user-generated content can challenge effective moderation.

B. Sharing Incorrect Content and the Risk to Reputation

1. Incorrect information can spread rapidly on social media, with potentially dire consequences. In 2013, a false tweet about an explosion at the White House caused a temporary stock market crash, wiping billions of dollars in market value within minutes.

2. Businesses can also suffer reputational damage when incorrect content circulates on social media. For example, in 2017, United Airlines faced a public relations crisis when a video of a passenger being forcibly removed from an overbooked flight went viral. The incident sparked widespread outrage and led to a significant drop in the company's stock value.

C. Relationship-Related Risks: Online Harassment, Stalking, and Cyberbullying

1. Social media platforms can facilitate the development of relationships but can also become breeding grounds for harmful behaviours such as online harassment, stalking, and cyberbullying.

2.The case of Amanda Todd, a Canadian teenager who took her own life after being tormented by cyber bullies, highlights the devastating impact that online harassment can have on an individual's mental health.

3. Social media stalking is another serious issue, with perpetrators using platforms to monitor, intimidate, and harass their targets. In a high-profile case in the UK, a stalker used social media to torment his victim for years, leading to her suffering from anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

These real-world examples underscore the importance of understanding and addressing the dark side of social media. By raising awareness of these risks, promoting responsible online behaviour, and implementing effective platform moderation, we can work towards creating a safer and more positive online environment for all.

VI. ROUNDING UP

The Internet of Things and social media has undoubtedly revolutionised how we communicate, connect, and engage with the world around us. With an astounding 4.7 billion users across more than 200 social media sites globally, it is evident that these platforms have become an integral part of our daily lives. Users spend nearly three hours daily browsing, sharing, and interacting on social media.

While the benefits of social media are undeniable, offering opportunities for individuals and businesses alike to network, share ideas, and stay informed, it is crucial to remain aware of the hidden risks and potential hazards associated with these platforms. As explored throughout this article, social media can have a dark side, manifesting in privacy breaches, cyberbullying, and the spreading of misinformation.

As users, we must educate ourselves about the potential dangers of social media and engage in responsible online behaviour. This includes being mindful of the content we share, our interactions, and our time on these platforms. By doing so, we can work towards creating a more positive, inclusive, and safe online environment for all.

In addition, governments, regulators, and social media companies need to work together to establish and enforce policies that mitigate risks and promote user safety.

This may involve investing in more effective moderation tools, implementing stricter privacy settings, and promoting digital literacy programs that empower users to navigate the online world safely and responsibly.

In conclusion, social media has indelibly transformed the landscape of communication and information sharing. By striking a balance between its advantages and addressing its inherent risks, we can harness the full potential of these platforms while minimising the negative consequences of their misuse.

I hope you found the article enjoyable.

I always appreciate the feedback. If you have any topics you'd like me to cover or share my thoughts on, don't hesitate to suggest them. You can schedule a time via my Calendly at calendly.com/maxwellampong or connect with me through various channels on my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/themax.

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Walsh S. (2022, August 12). The top 10 social media sites & platforms 2022. Retrieved from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media/biggest-social-media-sites/#close

Pew Research Center. (2022, October 7). Social media fact sheet. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/

Sasu D. D. (2022, November). Social media in Ghana - statistics & facts. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/topics/9778/social-media-in-ghana/#topicHeader__wrapper

Columnist: Maxwell Investments Group

Facebook, with 2.8 billion monthly active users, is a particularly important platform for MLM companies to reach new talent.

MLM software has also played a significant role in boosting online ranking and profits for these companies, with features such as user-friendly interfaces and easy setup.

Title:

Content: Multi-level marketing tasks can be done with careful analysis and proceeding with through reliable sources of action plans. MLM Software is designed for multi-level marketing and boosts up the ranking and profits online. Grow your business with an authentic and reliable source of action plans and approaches from smart choices according to the priorities and interest levels. Financial and investment issues can also be done careful analysis and to proceed with careful steps and according to the priorities and the inspirational levels to follow the useful guidelines. There are varieties of ideas and useful strategies that can be assistive and fast result printed to find the best and perfect possible solutions according to the needs and inspirational levels.

MLM software has become one of the ideal choices to get benefits and explore unique ideas for small-scale and large-scale business setups. People who are interested in multilevel marketing have the best option to contact a flexible cloud platform for MLM companies that have Atlantic and genuine resources regarding your business needs. Cloud platforms always facilitate the people through their MLM software that can be assistive and helpful for business communities to get instant benefits according to their desired goals there are different package plans regarding monthly subscriptions customers on regular basis success stories successful projects and regarding business concerns.

There is no doubt that Cloud Platform has a great future and great aspects that have some values and that can be chosen according to the needs and priorities levels of the people. To provide scalable and flexible cloud solution is the main priority to use the best opportunity to proceed with a simple and reliable source of action plans. To manage their network relationship, there are different strategies and useful inspirations that have some values and that can be considered important to get instant benefits with easy and quick accessibility resources through genuine resources.

MLM business scenarios are of different types that can be assistive and have versatile feature plans to get ideas and useful inspirations to approach from easy and smart choices. Proceed with careful steps and make sure which type of strategies and the parameters are the best to approach from easy and smart choices. Your MLM enterprise and landscape can be set according to the priorities and the interests levels of the people. Show your best confidence and interest levels to precede with easy and simple accessibility resources according to the needs and priorities levels.

Get the best chance and useful ideas that have some values and can be approached easily with smart choices according to the needs and inspirational values. There is an opportunity to use the most modern and flexible cloud platform through easy and simple accessibility plans with genuine resources according to the needs and inspirational levels. Show your best competencies and the skills that have some values and that can be helpful to approach from instant responding resources through fast and quick accessibility plans. Find the best and perfect possible solution according to the needs and priorities levels of the people.

Enjoy multitasking and multimode Marketing software that can be helpful to enable the business communities to achieve their objectives start. There are different types of Strategies and useful in inspirations that can be helpful for business communities to set their targets and to market their plans with the help of a can take and reliable sources proceeding through simple and online accessibility resources regarding business sales and volume can be helpful to take right time decisions and to implement strategies that can be helpful to get instant benefits.

Approach your network marketing sources through easy and simple accessibility of MLM software that has a user-friendly interface. Powerful cloud platforms have real-time value and have the ability to grow your business as per your needs. There are no hard and fast rules applied to assess the software because it's user-friendly and has an easy setup to quickly start configuration regarding your business needs. There is a payment integration plan which is easy and has an open architecture Concept for others.

MLM Software features explore the ideas and useful inspirations that have some values to access from easy and smart choices. Powerful management platforms have user-friendly platforms to get benefits from easy and simple accessibility resources with the easy and simple sources of acknowledgment. Grow your business and set your targets that can be helpful for you to proceed through genuine sources and that can be helpful to take full initiatives regarding online accessibility source of action plans.

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Cloud platforms have facilitated MLM companies with genuine resources, providing scalable and flexible solutions to adapt to changing market conditions.

Companies have leveraged online platforms to showcase their values and culture, attracting new talent and conveying what employees value and who they are.

Title:

Content: How do companies and organizations attract the best talent?
In today ’ s fiercely competitive landscape, attracting and retaining the best talent requires a strategic approach focused on company culture, brand identity and team satisfaction.
Camilo Concha, founder and CEO of Lending, shares his insights on effective recruitment strategies that have proven successful in his organization in a recent article in Forbes.
Importance of company culture
Concha points out that a strong sense of company culture is critical to making existing employees feel at home, and attracting new talent.
Concha emphasizes that a well-defined brand identity and a supportive work environment are key to explaining why potential candidates thrive within companies.
“Having a strong brand that clearly defines its top mission, values, ideals and culture allows current employees to feel at home, and future employees to feel welcome, ” Concha notes.
Knowledge of organizational needs
Understanding the specific needs of an organization is the first step in communicating with talented candidates.
Concha likens the institution to a living being with its own values, needs and desires.
By determining what is needed for a company to thrive and grow, leaders can better target their hiring efforts.
Take advantage of digital tools
In the digital age, showcasing a company ’ s values and culture through online platforms is essential.
Sharing quotes, personal stories, photos, and humanitarian elements of an organization can effectively convey what employees value and who they are, according to Concha.
Creative Recruitment Channels
Concha advocates using a variety of channels to find the right talent, including connections, events, referrals, and networking.
Interacting with people on a personal level helps determine who might best fit the company culture and bring valuable new experiences to the team.
Expanding Access
Lending has successfully expanded its team to include overseas employees and remote workers from across the United States, according to Concha.
This approach has allowed the company to tap into a variety of skill sets that might not have been otherwise accessible.
“Expanding your reach to outside or remote positions allows people with different abilities to join your team and expand your reach and connections, ” Concha says.
Keeping an open mind.
An open approach to recruitment is vital.
Concha highlights the importance of aligning potential candidates with the organization ’ s ideals, goals and priorities.
Concha stresses that allowing candidates to share their insights on how to integrate and promote company values can lead to seamless qualification and long-term success.
Concha concluded: “This is the success of your current and future employees! ”
"They are an unstoppable team and will continue to be so."
Source: Forbes

Recruiters have used various channels, including social media, to find the right talent online, with platforms like LinkedIn being used for professional networking and recruitment.

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Content: The performance of innovative and entrepreneurial companies plays a vital role in the growth of their respective industries as well as of the Maltese economy as a whole. In pursuit of consistent excellence, while raising the industry standard, awards celebrate those who have achieved remarkable results in spite of the numerous challenges experienced by the impact of COVID-19. Winning business awards from credible third parties can go a long way in solidifying your reputation as a trustworthy brand that delivers.

This year, Rocksteady Digital has delivered a series of successes and multiple prestigious awards for Broadwing Ltd. and the recruitment industry, including Best Social Media Campaign at the eBusiness Awards hosted by Tech.mt earlier this month, as well as Malta’s Best Employer Branding Campaign and Best Recruiting Campaign of the Year at the Malta Digital Communications Awards by the Malta Business Review – growing to become one of the most prestigious and sought-after awards in the industry.

Following an impressive pool of shortlisted nominees and months of careful research and evaluation by some of the most respected individuals in various business industries; Broadwing edged out as the worthy victor, taking home three signature keep-sake trophies, together with the prestigious accredited certificates, holding the right of being honoured as the best in Malta.

Broadwing Recruitment approached Rocksteady to develop a state-of-the-art website – providing several web enhancements, as well as, designing and developing a bespoke, smart, and flexible digital marketing campaign that would compete with Malta’s already booming employment market, as a memorable contender amongst its many competitors.

Designing and developing a bespoke, smart, and flexible digital marketing campaign

There is no doubt today that a strong web presence is an essential part of every communications campaign. It is vital that all online media work together to convey the same message and support each other, in order to create the appropriate engagement and momentum needed in this busy marketplace.

Social media has been one of the biggest game-changers in the market and provides a powerful tool to engage with your target audience, it has also become one of the greatest contributors to SEO. It is crucial to treat each platform as a separate tool and communications need to be tweaked to reflect the nature of the platform and its users.

Since inception, Rocksteady has consistently fuelled the staffing agency’s back office and assisting with building and maintaining healthy reputations, enabling Broadwing to attract and retain top talent.

Broadwing has achieved exponential organic growth in its social media following since its inception in 2018, and consistently reported quarterly growth while maintaining a perfect 5-star rating. The team has continuously and actively onboard new clients and have been able to increase their client base despite the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. This has been accomplished through consistent and targeted organic marketing and the launch of various sub-brands including Muovo, Check My Salary, Find A Job, and HR Talks.

There’s a lot more to a successful social media campaign than follower numbers, but a strategy to increase the clients reach across different audiences and demographics is important to both the campaign and the organisation.

Industries and their accompanying follower counts can and do fluctuate through many variable factors. A varied content strategy, targeted to several different audiences and markets will reduce this fluctuation and ensure positive follower growth. The use of third-party social media management tools not only help planning, scheduling and content distribution but also provide regular analysis and reporting. Data originating from various analytic packages (such as Google Analytics and Facebook Insights) assist and define ‘personas’ which will then influence the client’s approach towards the message creation.

Running performance analysis based on data from actual users around the world

Google has provided a number of tools over the years to measure and report on performance. The broadwing.jobs website has continued to improve in SEO ranking since its launch and is currently placing first on Google when searching for terms such as: “Recruitment Agency in Malta”. In addition, the Broadwing portal scores high on Google PageSpeed Insights, desktop and mobile, being optimised for quality of user experience to the long-term success.

Rocksteady was able to deliver and execute a strategy based on market research, big data, and business intelligence. From ideation to delivery, the tech-inspired agency fostered CX and digital transformation by producing designer-quality customer journey maps and personas, to deliver insights that matter to the business.

“We are currently in the process of further developing a smart integration between the Broadwing website and Facebook Jobs via their Beta API in order to automatically publish jobs on Facebook,” said Alan Cini, founder at Rocksteady Digital Agency Ltd.

“Integrating custom questions for each sector and job to automatically request additional information relevant to the specific vacancy, filter candidates and direct them through different journeys based on their answers,” said Ben Pace Lehner, founder at Rocksteady Digital Agency Ltd. adding, “This will significantly increase the number of direct applications received through Facebook while reducing time for administrators and recruiters to process applications and request additional information.”

Read how Rocksteady delivered a strategic and smart marketing campaign through means of creating a unique user-centric customer journey and applying smart data to deliver a higher marketing ROI.

A well-thought-out strategy is crucial to the success of any project and ensures that the business’ objectives are met. This project was positioned between the business’ operational goals and its online marketing strategy.

We would like to acknowledge and express our gratitude to the adjudicating committee and the public who took this opportunity and voted Broadwing Recruitment for the Best Social Media Campaign Award 2021.

Independent journalism costs money. Support Times of Malta for the price of a coffee.

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Social media has been a game-changer in the market for recruitment, providing a powerful tool to engage with target audiences and increase client base.

Some companies, like Broadwing, have achieved exponential organic growth in social media following since 2018, demonstrating the potential for effective social media recruitment.

Employee ambassadors have also been used to promote employer's brand on social media, increasing awareness and customer loyalty.

Title:

Content: Unleashing the Power of Employee Brand Ambassadors on LinkedIn

LinkedIn News

Employee brand ambassadors play a crucial role in the success of companies around the world. These dedicated individuals promote their employer’s brand, products, and services on social media platforms, acting as official spokespersons. In this article, we will explore the significance of employee ambassadors on LinkedIn and how they can maximize a company’s online presence. Moreover, we will provide valuable insights on how organizations can effectively support their employees in fulfilling this essential role.

Employee ambassadors are workers who actively promote their employer’s brand and core values both internally and externally. They serve as the face of the company, raising awareness of its mission, vision, values, and culture. These ambassadors engage with social media accounts, host events, attend networking gatherings, and present at conferences to spread information about their employer.

The importance of employee ambassadors cannot be overstated. They have the ability to disseminate positive messaging about the brand, increasing awareness and building customer loyalty. By establishing personal connections with customers, these ambassadors contribute to deeper engagement and trust in the company.

So how can you become an employee ambassador? It’s simple! Start familiarizing yourself with your company’s mission, vision, and values. Develop a professional LinkedIn profile that accurately represents you and your organization. Connect with potential customers, join relevant groups, and participate in industry conversations. Collaborate with industry influencers for co-promotion opportunities and share content on behalf of your employer. Engaging with customers, responding to inquiries, and monitoring feedback are also crucial aspects of being an effective employee ambassador.

While representing your company, it’s important to follow the rules and policies set your employer. Be honest and transparent in your posts, focusing on positive news and celebrating success stories. Respect confidentiality and maintain professionalism avoiding inappropriate language or imagery. Regularly monitor your posts and engage with comments and questions promptly.

By following these guidelines, you can unleash the power of employee brand ambassadors on LinkedIn, contributing to the creation of a positive image for your company on social media networks. Let your voice be heard and help your employer connect with more potential customers!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an employee ambassador?
Employee ambassadors are individuals who actively promote their employer’s brand, core values, and culture both within the company and to the outside world. They serve as the face of the company and engage in various activities to raise awareness and build customer loyalty.

Why are employee ambassadors important?
Employee ambassadors are vital because they disseminate positive messaging about the brand, increase awareness, and establish personal connections with customers. They serve as a direct link between the company and its clientele, providing valuable feedback to enhance the quality of goods and services.

How can I become an employee ambassador?
To become an employee ambassador, start familiarizing yourself with your company’s mission, vision, and values. Develop a professional LinkedIn profile, connect with potential customers, and join relevant industry groups. Engage in conversations, share content on behalf of your employer, and participate in networking events and conferences.

What are some important things to keep in mind as an employee ambassador?
As an employee ambassador, it’s crucial to follow your company’s rules and policies regarding social media usage. Be honest, transparent, and focus on positive news about the company. Respect confidentiality, maintain professionalism, and monitor your posts regularly, responding to comments and questions promptly.

Social media platforms have been used for recruitment messaging, with recruiters using Facebook to send messages to potential recruits.

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    Finding Success through Persistence and Social Media

    Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Jason J Behnke | Electronics Technician 1st Class Heavenly McDonaldmoore, a recruiter assigned to Navy...... read more read more

    TOLEDO, OH, UNITED STATES

    08.18.2023

    Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Austin Breum

    Commander, Navy Recruiting Command

    TOLEDO, Ohio (Aug. 14, 2023) – “What do I want to be when I grow up?” It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves at some point in our lives. For Electronics Technician 1st Class Heavenly McDonaldmoore, it was a question she found an answer to with a little help from a friend.

    “I graduated in 2010 and then didn't really know what I wanted to do,” McDonaldmoore said. “I worked at a gas station and then my friend and I decided that we were going to join the Navy together.”

    Hailing from Allentown, Pennsylvania, the notion of enlisting in the Navy was initially unfamiliar to her. However, the allure of global travel and the knowledge that a friend shared her interest prompted her to arrange a meeting with a recruiter.

    “I didn't know anything about the Navy. There's no Navy influence where I'm from,” McDonaldmoore said. “I just wanted to try something new for a little bit.”

    It turned out that McDonaldmoore scored high on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and she was offered the job of Electronics Technician. While her friend ultimately didn’t join the Navy, McDonaldmoore decided to press on.

    Over the next decade, she found herself studying electronics for the Navy, traveling the world aboard two aircraft carriers, and starting a family. In late 2020, she reported to Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) Heartland eager to start another adventure in the Navy.

    “I thought it was going to be really fun,” McDonaldmoore said. “After a couple months here, I was like, ‘oh man, this is not what I thought it was going be like.’ I really thought that people just walk through the door and it’s that easy.”

    It wasn't long before McDonaldmoore recognized that people don’t just walk into the recruiting station as she had a decade earlier. She soon learned that the job, especially in an area where there isn’t much of a Navy presence, required a lot more legwork than she initially thought.

    “It's crazy to me that I didn't know that we were generating our own market,” McDonaldmoore said. “You're kind of your own publicist, you're doing your own marketing, you're also the one that's doing the phone powering and telemarketing to these kids, and you're going to their high schools.”

    Although she had no issues going to schools and talking to kids, she found limited success in doing so.

    “I can start a conversation with students, but will it lead them to want to join the Navy by the end of it? Probably not,” McDonaldmoore said. “Nine, maybe ten times out of ten, they're just going to be like, ‘what a weirdo,’ because people don't do that anymore.”

    She soon found that through persistence, and the use of social media, she was finding the job of recruiting to be much easier.

    “I think that I probably use social media more than other recruiters,” McDonaldmoore said. “I think the biggest thing is not necessarily to be good at it, it's just to be really persistent. I sent so many messages to people on Facebook during my first couple of months that it blocked me from messaging people for like two weeks because they thought I was spam, but it did work.”

    McDonaldmoore believes that the world has changed significantly in recent years and that “a lot of the old school recruiting methods,” don’t work as well with the newer generation. She finds many young people are more comfortable being approached in the digital world.

    “Most kids aren't at the mall anymore, but a lot of them are going to be on social media,” McDonaldmoore said.

    McDonaldmoore has proven her recruiting ability and was recognized as NTAG Heartland’s Sailor of the Quarter. She will leave recruiting at the end of the year to start another adventure, this time aboard a destroyer.

    Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, two Navy Recruiting Regions, and 26 Navy Talent Acquisition Groups that serve more than 815 recruiting stations across the world. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 08.18.2023
    Date Posted: 08.20.2023 16:47
    Story ID: 451737
    Location: TOLEDO, OH, US

    Web Views: 10
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN

The key demographic characteristics of individuals who are most likely to join and remain in MLMs include young adults, unemployed individuals, those with low incomes, and limited job experience.

Many college graduates join MLMs due to job market pressure, and individuals with high school or college degrees are often participants in MLMs.

Urban residents, part-time workers, and individuals seeking supplemental income are also more likely to join MLMs.

Some MLMs may have a higher proportion of female participants, and individuals with strong social networks may be more successful in MLMs.

Gen Z, which makes up 25% of working Americans, prioritizes flexibility and values in their work, with 63% feeling it's very important to work for a company that shares their values.

Title:

Content: Culture

All About Gen Z: Preparing Your Workplace Culture for This New Generation of Workers

February 15, 2022 ·

Best practices from our HR experts

The newest generation to the workforce has come of age. Gen Z, born between 1996 and the early 2000s, now makes up about 25% of working Americans. By 2030, they're poised to represent 30% of all employees in the U.S. For business, addressing the needs and wants of this generation will be critical to success today and in the future.

Capitalizing on Gen Z workers may rely on understanding their expectations regarding personal and professional lives. This cohort has lived through tumultuous times — their earliest memories may include September 11 and the recession of the early 2000s. As they completed their education or began professional careers, they were poised to inherit a strong economy, record-breaking low unemployment, and boundless opportunity. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
40% of Gen Z view flexibility and adaptability as critical employee characteristics.

According to Deloitte, however, the hurdles they've experienced won't keep them down. They found 40% of Gen Z views flexibility and adaptability as the most critical employee characteristic for business. Another 29% say creativity is key. Meeting the needs of a wary but adaptable workforce means understanding where they are and where they want to go.

Generation Z characteristics

Gen Z is the most diverse demographic in American history. Racially, according to Pew Research:

  • 52% are non-Hispanic white

  • 25% Hispanic

  • 14% black

  • 6% Asian

  • 5% other or report two or more racial heritages

According to recent data, one in six Gen Z Americans identifies as LGBTQ. Half the demographic believes traditional binary roles and gender identity labels are outdated with most being comfortable with preferred pronouns. Ernst & Young (EY) reports of all the workplace groups, Gen Z is most confident significant progress will be made regarding social issues:

  • On LGBTQ rights, 85% anticipate progress

  • For gender inequality, 79% anticipate progress

  • For economic equality, 68% believe positive change will occur

Gen Z was the most educated generation, but the pandemic may have changed that.

Gen Z was also on track to be the most educated group in history. In 2018, Pew Research reported that among 18 to 21-year-olds who had graduated high school, 57% were enrolled in either a two- or four-year college. The pandemic may have shifted those numbers, however. Bank of America reports the pandemic, remote learning, and fear of taking on student debt may result in educational reversals for this generation.

Preparing for Gen Z characteristics

Diversity is built into the mix for this generation of workers. Preparing your workplace for Generation Z means creating a welcoming, open environment that seeks out diversity at all levels and welcomes all perspectives.

Building an inclusive culture will be easier for business with Gen Z staffers; they were raised on inclusion. Transparency may be vital in addressing their needs and outlining the steps your organization has taken and will continue to take to achieve parity in the workplace.

What drives Gen Z?

With a history of uncertainty and a world in constant flux, they rely on their own words to understand what makes Gen Z tick. This generation is looking for security but with an entrepreneurial twist. They're confident in their ability but seek out help and mentorship. The dichotomy of Gen Z may be their greatest strength.

Do-it-myself approach

Gen Z has an entrepreneurial mentality. A survey of over 1,500 Gen Z-ers by EY in 2021 found 45% report being very or extremely likely to start their own business one day. They've seen people their age (and younger) build successful companies and are confident they could do the same.

This is the side-hustle generation — half of the respondents to a Statista poll reported they participate in some form of freelance work. Whether delivering, driving, or freelancing, Gen Z shows they're a hard-working cohort.

Preparing for do-it-myself approaches

Capitalize on that entrepreneurial mindset by allowing Gen Z workers to take ownership of their tasks and role. The more autonomy you can provide, the more they'll thrive. To satisfy their side-hustle side, consider cross-training as a way to stretch their professional curiosity and wings.

Values-driven

EY reported 63% of Gen Z felt it was very or extremely important to work for a company that shares their values. They want to enjoy their work, be the best at it, and make a difference in the world. In addition, data collected in 2021 revealed almost half chose the type of work or companies they'd work for based on their personal ethics — 40% report being a volunteer or member of a charity, community organization, or non-profit.
The majority of Gen Z feel it's important to work for a company that shares their values.

What values do they want to promote? More than half said they were very or extremely interested in environmental issues. They put their money where their values are — 57% say it's very or extremely important to buy from brands that protect and preserve the environment.

EY categorized 22% of respondents as Authentic Activists, driven by an obligation to save the world and fearing what will happen if they do not.

Preparing for values-driven employees

Organizations that want to attract and retain Gen Z should support what inspires them. Whether it's global environmental issues or making a difference on the local level, your commitment to corporate social responsibility helps them find purpose in their work. Your Gen Z team will be engaged and satisfied when your values align.

Driven and supported

A Monster survey found Gen Z is an independent demographic, confident they can succeed. A majority (76%) say they're responsible for driving their career trajectory. Almost 60% said they'd be willing to work nights and weekends if it meant higher pay.

They're not afraid to leap if they have to. A study from August 2021 revealed 91% of Gen Z were interested in switching jobs. That high number may be pandemic-related. Business openings and closures may have temporarily put Gen Z's careers on hold, but recovery may mean getting back on track.

Data collected from over 7,000 Gen Z-ers found mentorship top of their list when it comes to work. A whopping 82% said they want their supervisor to help them set performance goals, while 83% want their supervisor to care about their life.

This demographic sees mentoring as a way to learn and get things done. They're accustomed to searching for information and answers online — asking for help comes naturally. Having someone available to support and train them is key to capturing and engaging Gen Z.

Preparing to support driven employees

Career planning is key to keeping Gen Z workers on the payroll.

This demographic will not be satisfied with stagnation. They want to accomplish today's goals with an eye for the future. As they develop their skill set, career planning is key to keeping them on your payroll, rather than building their competencies for the competition. Keep the development going as they make their way up the corporate ladder. The more you mentor, the more they grow, building skills and increasing value to the team.

Digitally dependent

Tech-savvy Gen Z are more than digital natives — these workers have virtually no memory of a world before smartphones. They've always had access to information and opinions from anywhere on earth. Always connected to entertainment, information, social and professional networks, Gen Z is linked 24/7.

It's no surprise the generation raised on tech values cutting-edge access in the workplace. Over 90% of Gen Z say a "company's technological sophistication" would influence their decision to work there. Unlike their coworkers, Gen Z may be more than digital natives — they may be digital dependent. They cannot foresee an environment where they don't have access to their smartphones and rely on them in almost every aspect of their lives.

When it comes to career development, they naturally look to self-directed, digital learning, and microlearning platforms to acquire new skills and competencies.

Planning for digitally-dependent workers

You may not be the most tech-savvy, but Gen Z is. Look to them for direction on where to streamline processes and make digital upgrades. Leverage their digital literacy to keep an eye out for what's working now and what's on the horizon. Tech doesn't have to be intimidating when your staff are digital natives.
Look to Gen Z employees for direction with digital initiatives and upgrades.

Don't just support Gen Z's use of smartphones — capitalize on it for your organization. Communication is faster and easier when you text. Access from wherever, whenever means they're always available to help. Let them learn at their own pace on their smartphones with digital classes tailored to their needs for their career trajectory.

What worries Gen Z

On the downside, like every one of your staff, Gen Z has worries and concerns. Addressing these can be challenging — some workers are not vocal about their needs, others seem to find everything wanting. There are many things companies can do to promote work/life balance and employee well-being.

It starts with a commitment to the whole employee. Responsiveness is key — meet problems head-on with solutions. Understand when workers are challenged in their personal lives, the fallout can spill over into work, as well.

Green concerns (money matters)

Like everyone else, money causes a lot of stress for Gen Z, with 81% reporting it's a significant source. A third of Gen Z worry about personal debt. Experian analyzed data from 2020 and found Gen Z carries a heavy personal debt load. On average, they have about:

  • $2,000 in credit card debt

  • $16,000 in auto loan debt

  • Over $6,000 in personal loan debt

Gen Z has the lowest overall percentage of student loan debt among the generations, accounting for less than 7.5% of all loans in the U.S. Their debt load is smaller than any other cohort, with an average outstanding balance of less than $17,500.

A 2000 CGK survey found financial adaptability rules for Gen Z. The pandemic taught them to be frugal. More than half, 54%, reported they're saving more money since the onset of the pandemic than they were before. Nearly 40% opened an online bank account.

Even though they're saving and investing earlier, they'll still be hit by lifetime earning deficits. Credit Suisse anticipates Gen Z should expect average annual returns of 2% on their investment portfolios, one-third less than their millennial counterparts.

Supporting Gen Z financial concerns

Financial wellness initiatives at your company benefit all staff and can help attract and retain Gen Z workers. When employees have control of their finances, stress levels that can spill into the workplace are eased. Help meeting financial goals and responsibilities is a perk all employees can use.
Easing the burden of student loan debts can help you retain key employees.

Many companies are working with staff to ease the burden of student loan debt. Debt-relief programs and tax incentives are on the rise. As a result, businesses willing to help may see an uptick in attracting and retaining staff.

If you don't already have a 401(k) plan for your business, you should consider starting one. Not only will the plan help workers invest for their future, but it also holds tax benefits for employers, as well.

So stressed out

Stress is a factor in everyone's life, but for Gen Z, stress may have become a way of life. Coming of age during a global pandemic with worries about family welfare and job prospects have 46% of Gen Z respondents telling EY they feel stressed all or most of the time.

It spills into the workplace, with 35% admitting they've taken time off due to stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic, but half gave a different reason for their absence. Their concern may be the stigma around mental health in the workplace — only 35% of those polled said they were comfortable enough with their supervisors to talk about the stress they feel.

With the world at their fingertips, many Gen Z-ers turned to their smartphone for support. The American Psychological Association (APA) survey revealed almost 75% of Gen Z felt they needed more emotional support in the past year. More than half said social media provides a feeling of support. The downside:

  • 45% feel judged on these platforms

  • 38% feel bad about themselves as a result of social media use

Preparing for high-stress employees

We all face stress throughout the day, particularly at work. When a business offers employees tools to manage stress, everyone can breathe easier.

Stress reduction and employee wellness translate to engagement and performance, but wellness is more than physical well-being. New attention focuses on mental health, stress reduction, and work/life balance. Offering services and resources to staff to help can be more than a benefit — it could be a lifeline.

Whether staff members leverage the resources today or know they're available in the future if need be, wellness programs are mainstream benefits companies offer to attract new hires and retain top talent.

Hard hit by COVID-19

Another Pew survey found that by March 2020, 50% of the Gen Z reported they or someone in their household took a pay cut or lost their job due to the pandemic. Moreover, Gen Z was disproportionately impacted, with jobs more highly represented in "high-risk service sector" industries.

Their need for job stability and an organization on sound financial footing may be a direct result of the pandemic and the insecurity it brought.

How to reassure job security

Reassuring your Gen Z employees and communicating your crisis plan can go a long way.

While no business leader can make guarantees, job security is top of mind for Gen Z. Anything leadership can do to reassure them will be helpful. The pandemic has been a hard-learned lesson for workers and business leaders. Having a Plan B in the event of a crisis, and communicating it widely among staff, could go a long way to boost confidence and security, particularly for Gen Z.

What comes after Generation Z?

Business leaders will soon see the influx of Generation Alpha. They're named Alpha — the first letter of the Greek alphabet — because these children are the first group born exclusively in the new century. Born between 2011 and 2025, they will be hitting the job market as entry-level part-timers in the coming years. Primarily the children of millennials, it will be interesting to see what this newest cohort brings to the workplace.

No matter what generation you're addressing, meeting staff members' needs, wants, and expectations are good for them and good for business. When values, purpose, and skills align, businesses thrive, employees learn and grow, and customers are well served.

Millennials and Gen Z prioritize mental health over corporate jobs, and many young people in Mexico start their own businesses, with 44 million micro, small, and medium enterprises existing in the country.

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Content: What are the limits you must set to avoid labor exploitation?

  • Labor exploitation is a recurring theme in corporate jobs, therefore, we must learn to set limits.

  • A large number of Millennial and Gen Z employees quit their jobs, prioritizing their mental health.

  • The INEGI indicates that there are about 44 million micro, small and medium enterprises in Mexico.

A TikTok user revealed her secrets to oppose the labor exploitation and how to learn set boundaries in your workspace.

Currently, many of the organizations face a big problem: staff retention. Much could be speculated about this, however, it could be simpler than it seems.

Work environment for new generations

For the new generations, it is not enough to have a job in an important organization. Studies such as Mazars indicate that the tranquility of a healthy work environment is as important as receiving a good salary.

This is what Mazars pointed out: “he qualifies the ‘human atmosphere’ as important as the salary they are offered to decide to take a position or not […] Zillennials prefer to work in places where there are ‘facilitating managers’, or Human Resources leaders, who create an optimal work environment, fostering relationships and trust between teams”.

This, in part, has caused an increase among entrepreneurs, since the fact that corporate jobs are increasingly stressful, many opt for the option of entrepreneurship.

The Business Demographics Study conducted by the Inegi declares that there are about 4.4 million of micro, small and medium enterprises, while a study by the Association of Entrepreneurs of Mexico (ASEM) in the latest Radiography of Entrepreneurship in Mexico 2020 mentioned that the majority of those who start a business are young people between the 26 and 35 years old, including 35 percent; they are followed by the adults among the 35 and 45 years, with 31 percent. This says a lot about the growing interest of young people in finding their own source of income.

On the other hand, we have that, according to the Millennial and Gen Z 2022 survey, prepared by Deloitte, according to the Mexicans surveyed, 32 percent of millennials and 37 percent of Gen Z have a second part-time paid job or full-time. In addition to this, 34 percent and 39 percent, respectively, indicated being stressed most of the time.

This, in a sense, reflects that economic problems and the speed with which the postmodern world operates do not give people space to take care of their mental health.

What are the limits you must set to avoid labor exploitation?

With the intention of contributing to this “abuse” ending, a user shared the way in which an employee should set limits in his work. The objective is to avoid labor exploitation that, at this point, is becoming more and more common.

This initiative is part of a wave of videos that promote mental health around work. The user named Ana develops content on this topic and recently she shared a video where she shows how you can prevent your bosses from taking advantage of you.

This was what he shared after, at the beginning of his video, a voice-over sounds that says “Ana, this has to be ready for tomorrow.”

“By tomorrow I can have A completed. Or a quarter of A, B, C and D. Or if you want everything complete it would have to be next week. so i would like tounderstand how you want to refocus the scope to have a first version for tomorrow”.

And although ideally this can work, many pointed out that the consequences of standing up for your rights could lead to dismissal, even if it was unjustified. However, this was what the user commented on in a second video.

@anna.lb7 Reply to @eileen0103 Too bad it seems so normalized (and accepted) to ignore mental health at work. #saludmental #trabajo #cuidadeti #confiaenti #amorpropio #saludmentaleneltrabajo #limites #valores #banderasrojaseneltrabajo ♬ Funny – Gold-Tiger

In this second video, he advises you to stand firm in your position and ask for a report on your performance, because in this way, there should be no impediment for you to continue with your work.

Now read:

The lies of the workers with their bosses can become labor fraud

Job rotation is no longer an option for millennials; 43% want to stay

“He wants to scare me into resigning”; points out work pressure in the call center

Only 75 private institutions are certified by the NOM of labor equality

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In Mexico, 35% of entrepreneurs are between 26-35 years old, and many millennials and Gen Z have a second part-time or full-time job.

Women are often targeted by MLM companies, such as LuLaRoe, and participants may have limited financial resources and be influenced by social media.

Title:

Content: Cult Classics

You need to watch the most compelling cult docuseries on Amazon Prime ASAP

“Oh my god, I’m in a cult”

What do you think of when you think of cults? Drinking kool-aid, singing hymns, maybe some weird mind control?

Well, while those elements certainly are present in several cults, some of the largest active cults are much more difficult to identify. In fact, you may not see them as cults at all. That’s what makes them so dangerous.

This 2021 four-part docuseries, now streaming on Amazon Prime, breaks down what looks like a fantastic opportunity for women and reveals the terrifying control that lies within, all wrapped in the guise of comfortable leggings.

LuLaRich follows the unstoppable rise and inevitable fall of clothing multi-level marketing company (and alleged pyramid scheme) LuLaRoe. Begun as a well-intentioned way for young women to start their own businesses, LuLaRoe quickly spiraled into a web of manipulation, nepotism, and shady legal practices.

Mormon couple Mark and Deanne Stidham founded LuLaRoe, and from the get-go, the pair established their family as unlike any others. When Deanne married Mark, she had seven children, four biological and three adopted from Romania. Mark had four children of his own. Together Mark and Deanne adopted three other children, bringing the total up to 14. (While having 14 kids is unusual enough, what is even odder is that two of their adopted children eventually married each other.)

When their startup company, which sold comfortable and loud-patterned clothes, took off in a major way, they wanted to support their family. So, they hired their children and relatives in high-powered positions.

Altogether, this is all a recipe for catastrophic growth. What makes LuLaRoe a likely pyramid scheme is how they made money not by selling goods but by recruiting others to be distributors. The company grew exponentially, and the executives weren’t able to keep up with the growth.

But what makes LuLaRoe a cult? Well, those involved are working to please and seek the approval of Mark and Deanne, even if that means selling breast milk to afford the startup package or getting a risky weight loss surgery at Deanne’s urging.

Sure, there’s no religious element to LuLaRoe (aside from the Stidhams’ Mormon teachings leaking into their business model), but that doesn’t mean they’re not a cult. Just one look at the loud, clashing patterns and huge parties run by Deanne’s nephew, and it’s clear this is a group that has complete financial control over its followers.

And that’s not all. LuLaRoe leaders urge everyone to make their social media page entirely about their business, promoting a lavish lifestyle to prove how successful they are. Every part of their life had to revolve around the company to make any profit. So, not only was LuLaRoe controlling its followers' financials, but they also had complete lifestyle control.

It’s clear Mark and Deanne didn’t set out to start a cult. They had only the best intentions, as their participation in LuLaRich underlines. But sometimes cults aren’t created; they just happen. And the worst impulses in the leaders’ personalities are brought out, whether that’s something deadly like a mass suicide or just profiting off a false idea of success.

Sure, LuLaRoe may not be your classic cult, but in a way, that’s what makes it even more insidious. Not many of us know someone who has packed up and moved to a reclusive commune, but people in multi-level marketing companies are everywhere. The line between a company and a cult seems to get blurrier by the day.

LuLaRich is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

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MLM leaders often have control over followers' finances, and participants may be urged to adopt a certain lifestyle, with nepotism being common in MLM companies.

The demographic characteristics of individuals who join MLMs may vary across different regions and cultures, with some studies suggesting that cult-like behaviors can be present in MLMs, and 70% of cult followers are women.

Title:

Content: 6 Misconceptions About Cults

Cults are the subject of countless news articles, documentaries, and debatably exploitative podcasts. Considering Americans’ obsession with true crime, it makes sense that these fringe groups, often led by charismatic prophets and that prey on susceptible people, have become sensational headlines.

But the truth is often more nuanced and frightening. Let’s dive into a few myths about cults, adapted from an episode of Misconceptions on YouTube.

1. Misconception: Cults are always run by men.

High-profile cult leaders like Charles Manson and Jim Jones certainly play a role in this misconception, but other factors contribute to the idea that only men lead cults. Cults are often linked to illegal activity in the public eye, and some crimes—particularly violent ones—are disproportionately committed by men.

But women have founded a number of cults. Valentina de Andrade, for example, was head of the terrifying Superior Universal Alignment UFO cult. The Rajneeshees—with whom you might be familiar from the Netflix doc Wild Wild Country—committed a mass (but luckily non-lethal) poisoning in Oregon. They were purportedly led by their guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, but for years had had most of their operations run by a woman named Ma Anand Sheela.

But let’s debunk this misconception by focusing on one woman-led cult in particular: Anne Hamilton Byrne and the Family.

Hamilton-Byrne started her cult career as a yoga instructor in Australia, catering mostly to middle-aged women in Melbourne. In the 1960s, she helped start a group called the Family based at Santiniketan, a property that also hosted religious and philosophical discussions. One of the members at Santiniketan managed a nearby psychiatric hospital, where many Family members worked. Several patients there were eventually recruited into the cult. The hospital is also where Hamilton-Byrne acquired a fair amount of LSD, which was administered to members. The theological teachings of Hamilton-Byrne’s group involved a combo of Eastern and Western religions, including Hinduism and Christianity. The kicker, though, was the claim that Hamilton-Byrne was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

These events are already disconcerting—but just wait for the next part. Starting in the 1960s, Hamilton-Byrne accumulated around 28 infants and young children. Some were children of members of the Family—most likely under the influence of hallucinogens—who had been coerced into giving them up. Some of the children were “adopted” using less-than-legal methods under the supervision of lawyers within the group. The children were kept secret for years. They also had their hair dyed blond to match their “mother’s.” The children were administered sedatives, and later LSD, and reportedly abused, all while under the watch of disciples known as the Aunties. Hamilton-Byrne was eventually arrested but convicted only of falsely registering the birth of three of the children, which resulted in a fine.

All in all, this yoga-teacher-turned-second-coming-of-Christ-turned-child-kidnapper definitely shows that women can be cult leaders. But on a final note, there’s some truth to the notion that a cult member is more likely to be female. According to research, around 70 percent of cult followers are women.

2. Misconception: Cults are always religious.

Cults, by many definitions, involve some type of religion or spirituality. For many years, that’s just what the word cult meant: a group dedicated to a religious belief. Writer Egor Kotkin broke down some of the Roman philosopher Cicero’s writing on the subject by defining religion and cult like this:

Cult = mythology + rites; Church = lore + priests; Religion = cult + church.

So religion is just a cult with some priests and some lore, according to that word-math. But where does the word cult come from? According to Merriam Webster, “Cult, which shares an origin with culture and cultivate, comes from the Latin cultus, a noun with meanings ranging from ‘tilling, cultivation’ to ‘training or education’ to ‘adoration.’ … The earliest known uses of the word, recorded in the 17th century, broadly denoted ‘worship.’ … By the early 18th century, cult could refer to a non-religious admiration or devotion, such as to a person, idea, or fad (‘the cult of success’). Finally, by the 19th century, the word came to be used of ‘a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious.’”

But in recent times, the word cult has expanded to have a broader meaning. Pretty much any group (usually still unorthodox or spurious) that has a very specific focus or lifestyle could be classified as a cult. We can even refer to a “cult of personality” without implying that adherents have a spiritual devotion to the person at the center. The themes of these cultish groups span far and wide, but let’s focus on some specific types of non-religious cults.

Doomsday cults are, not surprisingly, any group whose central ideology focuses on the coming end of the world. This belief is sometimes called apocalypticism, and it can take many forms. Obviously these cults can be religious in nature, but sometimes the doom that’s supposedly coming is a catastrophic natural disaster. Other times, a plague. Sometimes, it’s aliens. Sometimes it’s based on conspiracy theories—like the belief that society or the government is attempting to destroy the world, and only a select few can stop it (or protect themselves, at the very least).

The peculiar thing about doomsday cults is that, while 100 percent of their predicted apocalypses have failed to materialize, the cults persist. One might think that if your leader was predicting the end of the world on July 12, 2018, and that day came and went without incident, your resolve as a follower might start to falter. But the opposite seems to be true: A study conducted by Leon Festinger of the group the Seekers showed that not only did followers of doomsday cults maintain their beliefs after they were disproven, in many cases, those beliefs strengthened. While there have been criticisms of the study, Festinger attributed these oddly persistent beliefs to the concept of cognitive dissonance, which is essentially the unpleasant feeling of tension when one’s actions and beliefs are inconsistent. The individuals are then motivated to change their behavior or beliefs to return to some kind of harmonious state. In this case, it appears that resulted in doubling-down on their convictions.

Political cults are focused on very specific political beliefs, and usually try to influence elections and local government. Sometimes political cults are results of cults of personality. Commercial cults, meanwhile, are based around the idea of making money—a multilevel marketing pyramid scheme of sorts. Racist and terrorist cults are a real thing; the Ku Klux Klan is often described as a cult.

But some cults don’t fall neatly into a category. In 1954, Ernest and Ruth Norman founded a cult based on Ernest’s philosophy, which allegedly came from alien beings on Mars and Venus. The organization was called Unarius, an acronym for “Universal Articulate Interdimensional Understanding of Science,” and its followers were known as Unarians. The Normans shed their Earthly names and became Raphael and Uriel, respectively. Unarius sold its ideas through mail-order books, which eventually grew into an actual academy—the Unarius Academy of Science.

The Unarians believe there are aliens who have vast knowledge of both the sciences and spirituality, and they’re trying to educate us here on Earth. There’s even some talk that “space brothers” will come to Earth in 33 space ships that will stack atop each other, like some kind of giant alien game of Tetris.

The most fantastic part about this small, alien cult is Uriel. She quickly became the face of the group, speaking publicly about their beliefs, all the while dressed to the nines in fantastic dresses and wigs. It’s a bit of a tradition now for Unarians to be dressed flamboyantly and extravagantly in meetings.

3. Misconception: Cult members live in communes.

The ideal place for a cult is on a remote farm somewhere in the mountains, away from the influences of society. Everyone lives together, works together, sings songs together, and wears matching white clothes. Or so the media would have us believe.

It’s true that cults thrive by using isolation. Integrating an “us vs. them” mentality is crucial for retaining membership. If members feel separated from their peers, family, or society at large, they are more likely to stay in the group—so it would make a lot of sense to literally cut people off from society by having them live in a commune of sorts. But most cults don’t live together in some big, utopian/dystopian commune.

Most cult members live in regular neighborhoods and work normal jobs. They are, however, emotionally and mentally cut off from the world, even while living in it with everyone else. High-profile cult communes like Jonestown in Guyana are actually the exception, not the rule.

4. Misconception: All cults have a single leader.

While cults are often portrayed as being led by one chosen, charismatic figure, it’s usually not so simple. In the cases of the Rajneeshees and Unarians, the public face of a cult isn’t always the person running things behind the scenes. Other cults like the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments have a group of leaders. The idea of one big puppet master pulling the strings is often blown out of proportion by tv and film.

5. Misconception: Smart people don’t join cults.

The idea that “smart” people are immune to cults is definitely false.

A study published in the journal Psychiatry Research in 2017 looked at the demographics of former cult members, trying to identify common traits, tendencies, and lifestyles. It was found that more than 61 percent of former cult members had more than 12 years of education, which sits about even with the general population, if not slightly higher, according to 2015 U.S. Census data [PDF]. Other researchers have commented that a common denominator among people joining cults is idealism.

6. Misconception: People who join cults are depressed.

People join cults for any number of reasons. In the same study, many former members (67 percent) expressed feelings of dissatisfaction with their lives previous to joining. Some (32 percent) expressed depressive symptoms, or family conflicts (22 percent). Most former members described being welcomed into the group and experiencing feelings of acceptance and friendship. Who wouldn’t want that to be a part of that?

Cults often become much more sinister in their tactics to keep people in the cult, using various forms of peer pressure and intimidation. Most former members expressed fears of humiliation, exclusion, and even violence if they had decided to leave. Psychologist Steve Eichel describes it like this:

"A very important aspect of [a] cult is the idea that if you leave the cult, horrible things will happen to you. This is important, and it's important to realize. That people outside of a cult are potential members, so they're not looked upon as negatively as people inside the cult who then leave the cult."

Joining a cult doesn’t necessarily mean you’re depressed, and stigmatizing people who have fallen prey to cults is counterproductive to reintegrating them into society. So don’t write anyone off just yet.

Veteran single parents, particularly female veterans, may also be vulnerable to joining MLMs, with 42.8% of veteran single parents identifying as female and facing lower financial stability.

Title:

Content: Veteran Single Parents: Surviving but Not Thriving

by Sierra Smucker, Teague Ruder, Stacey Yi, Coreen Farris

This Article

RAND Health Quarterly, 2024; 11(3):9

Abstract

The demographics of the veteran population are changing. Veterans who served after September 11, 2001 (post-9/11 veterans), are more likely to be female and identify as a person of color than their older counterparts. They are also more likely to be raising children, many of them without support from a partner. This study provides a comprehensive look at the financial, physical, and mental health of veteran single parents; explores the differences across these factors by race, ethnicity, and gender; and includes recommendations on policies and programs that can better support veteran single parents and their children.

For more information, see RAND RR-A1363-6 at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1363-6.html

Full Text

The changing demographics of the military demand that policymakers pay greater attention to veteran parents, particularly mothers. Women represent the fastest-growing population in the veteran community (Holder, 2010). Currently, women make up about 10 percent of the overall veteran population, and that percentage is expected to increase by 50 percent by 2035 (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2017). Despite these statistics, few studies have focused on the impact of veteran status, gender, and parenthood on well-being outcomes and access to care (e.g., U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2017). This study expands our knowledge of the current experience of veteran single parents in the United States by answering the following research questions:

  1. What are the demographic characteristics of veterans who served after September 11, 2001 (post-9/11 veteran) single parents, and how do they compare with veteran coupled parents and nonveteran single parents?
  2. How do veteran single parents compare with nonveteran single parents and veteran coupled parents in terms of financial stability?
  3. How do veteran single parents compare with nonveteran single parents and veteran parents in terms of mental and physical health and health care access?

Summary of Findings

Our analysis revealed that nearly 300,000 veteran parents identify as single. There were over 2.5 million veterans between the ages of 18 and 59 who identified as a parent of a child under 18 years of age between 2016 and 2020. Of those 2.5 million veterans, about 12 percent (294,677) identified as a single parent. For comparison, nearly 11 million nonveterans, or about 18 percent of nonveteran parents, identified as a single parent during the same span of time.

These veteran single parents are three times more likely than veteran coupled parents to identify as female and two times more likely than veteran coupled parents to identify as Black. Among veteran single parents, 42.8 percent identify as female, compared with only 13.9 percent of veteran coupled parents. Demographic data also show that 24.0 percent of veteran single parents identify as Black, compared with only 11.9 percent of veteran coupled parents.

Veteran single parents have a median personal income that is $18,000 less than that of veteran coupled parents. Median personal income of veteran single parents was $42,000, compared with that of veteran coupled parents ($60,000). In addition, median household income of veteran coupled parents was $102,000, which is significantly greater than that of veteran single parents ($58,580). Veteran single parents are also more likely than veteran coupled parents to experience food insecurity and less likely than veteran coupled parents to own a home.

Veteran single parents are more likely than veteran coupled parents to be enrolled in higher education. Just over 13 percent (13.1 percent) of veteran single parents reported being enrolled in higher education, compared with 10.7 percent of veteran coupled parents. In addition, veteran single parents were more likely than veteran coupled parents to be currently employed and enrolled in school (8.7 percent versus 7.9 percent, respectively).

Black female veteran single parents are more likely than veteran single parents of any other race and gender intersection to be enrolled in higher education. Female veteran single parents are more than twice as likely as their male counterparts to be enrolled in higher education (19.1 percent versus 8.6 percent, respectively). Analysis of race and gender intersections revealed that Black female veteran single parents are most likely to be enrolled in higher education (24.1 percent), followed by 20.1 percent of Hispanic female veteran single parents, 17.8 percent of Other Race female veteran single parents, and 15.2 percent of White female veteran single parents.

One example of a policy that should help close the gap between veteran coupled parents and veteran single parents, but does not always succeed, is the G.I. Bill. Veteran parents are using their G.I. Bill benefits. Indeed, a higher percentage of veteran single parents reported being enrolled in school than veteran coupled parents (13 percent versus 10 percent). Black and Hispanic veteran single mothers reported the highest rates of school enrollment (25 percent and 20 percent, respectively). Veteran single mothers are also more likely than veteran single fathers to be enrolled in school while simultaneously employed (13 percent versus 6 percent). However, qualitative interviews with veteran single parents pursuing higher education revealed significant barriers to using G.I. Bill benefits. Almost all interviewees discussed the difficulty of affording child care, working, and managing academic workload simultaneously. Specific aspects of the G.I. Bill were also burdensome for veteran single parents, particularly requirements to attend one class in-person to receive full housing benefits.

Recommendations

To reach parity with veteran coupled parents, veteran single parents need greater financial support when transitioning out of the military and into civilian jobs or education. Without support from another parent, veteran single parents likely have even greater demands on their time (full-time child-rearing) and resources (only one income) than veteran coupled parents. The fact that parents from ethnic and racial minority groups and woman veteran single parents face greater hardship than their White and male counterparts after leaving the military suggests that broader systemic inequalities in the United States also negatively affect veterans. Policies designed to support veteran single parents can improve equity in services, support, and outcomes for all veterans. Our recommendations are as follows:

  • Target transition services for veteran single parents as a unique group. Veteran single parents might need additional guidance on career paths that allow them to balance family and career, affordable child care options, and information about how to apply for benefits, such as SNAP and other financial resources, as they transition out of the service. Although women are more likely to be single mothers than men are to be single fathers, half of all veteran single parents are men, so these efforts should be gender-inclusive and welcoming to single fathers. Research on nonveteran parents suggest that single fathers and fathers, more generally, feel alienated from professional services (e.g., education, health care) when seeking support for their children (Coles, 2015). Our veteran interviewees expressed similar barriers to support.
  • Provide federal financial support for child care for veterans. Although there are many benefits offered to veterans who care for others (e.g., U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] Dependent Parent Program) or family members of veterans (e.g., surviving spouse and child benefits), a limited number of programs and policies support veterans who are parents. Interestingly, there is a program that helps VA employees who are parents that earn below a certain income threshold for child care (VA Child Care Subsidy Program) but no similar program that specifically helps veterans with young children. Nongovernmental organizations like the Foundation for Women Warriors attempt to support woman veterans who need child care but are unable to extend these services to all veterans who need them. The demand for services from the Foundation for Women Warriors underlines the need for greater access to such services provided, ideally, by the VA and federal government.
  • Provide support for single parents in higher education. We found that a relatively high percentage of the most financially insecure families headed by veteran singles were enrolled in higher education. These statistics suggest a commitment among veteran single parents to improve their future income levels and career trajectories to benefit themselves and their families. However, juggling school and being a full-time parent presents high barriers to completing education and fully using G.I. Bill benefits guaranteed to veterans. Key components of the G.I. Bill make completing a degree difficult for veteran single parents. By adjusting in-person requirements, waiving withdrawal penalties, and increasing the affordability of part-time degree participation, single parents could benefit from higher education as much as veteran coupled parents and veterans without children do (see Yi et al. [2024] for a deeper dive on this topic).
  • Provide mental health care for veteran single mothers. Veteran single mothers reported higher rates of poor mental health than their male counterparts. Our analysis of survey data cannot tell us why this might be. However, given the higher rates of financial insecurity among women (especially women from minority ethnic and racial backgrounds) in our study, higher rates of financial insecurity might be related to poorer mental health outcomes for women. Other research also finds that woman veterans are more likely to have experienced military sexual trauma, depression, anxiety, and other common mental health disorders, which could contribute to this difference (Adams et al., 2021). Ensuring that single mothers have access to mental health support could help not only mothers but also their children.
  • Encourage single fathers to seek out primary care. Veteran single fathers reported lower rates of health care seeking than did single mothers. These findings follow research that suggests single fathers are less likely to seek out health and behavioral health services for their children (Coles, 2015). Although our data cannot determine exactly why this is, it might be that fathers are less likely than mothers to engage in help seeking. Existing research finds that men are less likely to engage in help-seeking behaviors than women, especially for mental health concerns (Nam et al., 2010), and fathers also struggle to engage support resources (Ghaleiha et al., 2022). Ensuring that veteran single fathers are encouraged to access primary care could improve their long-term outcomes and ability to care for their children.

Future Research

This analysis raises many questions about the experience of veteran single parents. One central question is: What is driving differences in financial well-being and physical and mental health among veteran single parents, veteran coupled parents, and nonveteran parents? Although the present analysis provided some explanations based on existing research, our approach cannot determine whether such demographic characteristics as age and gender or military experience are driving differences among groups. Going forward, we hope to develop analyses that include the same or similar data but use more-advanced statistical analyses to isolate outcomes most associated with veteran and marital status.

Our intersectional analysis highlighted the importance of drilling down into subgroups to understand the unique issues facing veteran parents. We found significant reported food insecurity among mothers who identified as Other Race (Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, or two or more races); over one-third reported that their children received free or reduced-price lunches in the past 30 days. We also found that Hispanic single mothers were struggling with mental health more than other groups and that Black single fathers were more likely to report issues accessing health care than other groups. Future research could continue to focus on these groups to identify their unique experiences and policies that would better meet their needs.

Finally, future research should unpack how different child custody or child support arrangements affect veteran single parents. It seems likely that certain custody arrangements and child support levels could influence the financial pressure faced by veteran single parents. Moreover, veterans might have unique child custody arrangements if they were single parents prior to or during their military career. Because about 5 percent of active-duty service members identify as a single parent, the experience of single parenthood in the military and as a veteran could involve compounding issues, especially if children were sent to live with another relative while the parent deployed (Military OneSource, undated). Future survey or qualitative work could better capture how child care arrangements mediate the outcomes documented in this study.

Limitations

Our analysis is limited in several ways. First, we did not adjust for demographic characteristics in our analysis. This means that the differences we saw between parents and veterans could be highly correlated with other factors that we did not account for. As we mentioned previously, we viewed this analysis as a first step toward understanding the unique circumstances that drive veteran single parents’ experiences and account for differences between their well-being and those of veteran coupled parents and nonveteran single parents.

Another limitation is our sample. Although the ACS and BRFSS provide one of the most representative samples of veterans, our analysis focused on averages from a broad period (2016–2021), which could mask more-subtle variation in results in specific years. For example, shutdowns related to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic likely excaerbated child care challenges during the study period. We were also limited by information collected by the ACS and BRFSS. We did not know, for example, whether individuals receive or pay child support while raising children on their own. We also did not know whether children were born before the person became a veteran or after. Having children while in the military or before military service has unique impacts on children, especially children with single parents (e.g., when a parent deploys). Qualitative data could get closer to unpacking these relationships. We also did not compare how the age of the child mediated parent outcomes, which limited our ability to understand differences in outcomes across newer and more-established parents.

Finally, we captured only qualitative data from a narrow group of veterans: veteran single parents who are or were previously enrolled in higher education. As a result, the qualitative component has limited validity outside that narrow group. However, understanding barriers veteran single parents face when trying to use benefits associated with military service sheds light on reasons why veteran single parents do not use their higher education benefits. As many of our interviewees attested, they often relied on outside help from family or charity to get through their education while raising children on their own. We can infer that there are many veteran single parents who do not have access to such resources and, consequently, never enroll in school. Future research should engage in more qualitative data collection across a broader range of veteran single parents.

References

Adams, Richard E., Hu Yirui, Charles R. Figley, Thomas G. Urosevich, Stuart N. Hoffman, H. Lester Kirchner, Ryan J. Dugan, Joseph J. Boscarino, Carrie A. Withey, and Joseph A. Boscarino, "Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Mental Health Among Female Military Veterans: Results from the Veterans' Health Study," BioMed Central Women's Health, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2021.

Coles, Roberta L., "Single-Father Families: A Review of the Literature," Journal of Family Theory & Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2015.

Ghaleiha, Amin, Carrie Barber, Armon J. Tamatea, and Amy Bird, "Fathers' Help Seeking Behavior and Attitudes During Their Transition to Parenthood," Infant Mental Health Journal, Vol. 43, No. 5, 2022.

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The attractiveness of MLM companies to potential workers can be attributed to various psychological factors, including economic freedom, autonomy, and flexibility, which are key motivators for joining MLMs.

Title:

Content: OmegaPro Super Training – Why Choose Network Marketing  With Eric Thomas

By Team Business For Home

According to an Omega Pro press release:

One of the pivotal reasons why OmegaPro has reached the heights that it has is in its core belief –

‘The best must only be trained by the best’.

OmegaPro understands the challenges of its community and the hardships one may face as a brand new entrant in the market or a veteran looking for the implementation of a more effective tool or strategy to expand the business to newer levels.

Educating yourself in multi-level marketing is hardly limited to extending the virtues of your knowledge. This business is unlike any other – you need the right amount of motivation, the right words of inspiration and the right tools to hit a home run.

The OmegaPro Super Training Series intends to do exactly that. Bringing in the best of the best to teach you, to challenge you, to understand your targets and your challenges to offer you the best dose of solution that is brewed from decades of experience in the broadest sense of the industry.

On 15th of April, 2022 – OmegaPro invited none other than The Eric Thomas to deliver the ‘Speech + Preach’ Super Training through a zoom webinar.

Eric Thomas, an OmegaPro frequent, is a critically acclaimed author, World-renowned speaker, educator and pastor.

ET, as he is better known, has taken the world by storm, with his creative, common-sense approach to living a successful, satisfying professional and personal life.

Through a significant social media presence and regular domestic and international tours, ‘ET, The Hip Hop Preacher’ has become a global phenomenon.

Beginning this training, ET fondly recalled the Rise Event – The OmegaPro Global Convention hosted in the magnificent Coca-Cola Arena back in January, 2022. He cherished his memories of being in a stadium jam packed with thousands and thousands members of the proud OmegaPro Community, being on the stage to preach his fundamentals.

You can watch, listen to and get inspired too here: The webinar is available in 4 Languages : English, Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Portuguese and Burmese.

ET reiterated to his audience as he proceeded towards his presentation that,

“This is the opportunity to liberate yourself. This is the opportunity to be free.”

This is the zenith of network marketing as a choice of career. A large chunk of the crowd associate this business with nothing but economic freedom but perhaps, forget the most important facet of it all.

Being a Network Marketer sets you free from your mundane schedule, your recurring 9 to 5, your lifestyle being solely dependent from one pay-check to another. This business brings you the Economy of Freedom, as ET echoes.

MLM is more than just this. If you just exist but not live, you need to consider this leap of faith. This is one of the only opportunities in life that comes with the ability to design your everyday life according to no one else’s but your own will. This is maybe the only profession that allows you to spend as much of your time with your loved ones without being penalized for it in some way or the other.

Network Marketing puts you in the position of the highest bidder and allows you to do your own bidding. Only you get to decide what you can and can not have. No one but you tell yourself what to do, what needs to be done. You set your own targets, your own deadlines and when you are a part of a community this diverse, you succeed.

The bottom line of any business is discipline. MLM sets you free but to be good at what you do, you follow a discipline. But, to be great at what you do, you must chalk out your very own brand of discipline.

ET touches upon almost every aspect of The Basics of Multi Level Marketing. He discusses the reasons why families choose this as a full time career, he explains the autonomy of the ‘Perfect Network’ for teamwork is the heart of this business.

Leaving the technicalities of Network Marketing behind, there is one thing that may be the one difference between the successful entrepreneur and the one who wonders why he is not just like the former individual. It’s all in the mindset.

The only mantra to a successful business is a successful, a champion, a never-say-never, a can-do mindset that in term blossoms the winning mindset and voila! That is the recipe to exceeding expectations in this industry.

Eric ‘ET’ Thomas ensured that with his Speech + Preach, he inspired thousands that tuned in and thousands that will watch him in his element, later.

About OmegaPro

With over 1.8 Million members joining the OmegaPro family since its recent inception in 2019 – this revolution of bridging the gap between the traditional and the digital is just getting started!

Driven by the virtue of innovation and an ambition towards unparalleled idiosyncrasy – OmegaPro is ‘Building wealth without border for people without borders’. For more information please visit: www.omegapro.world

The post OmegaPro Super Training – Why Choose Network Marketing With Eric Thomas appeared first on Direct Selling Facts, Figures and News.

Source:: https://www.businessforhome.org/2022/04/omegapro-super-training-why-choose-network-marketing-with-eric-thomas/

Economic freedom is a major driver, as it offers individuals the opportunity to design their daily life and achieve financial liberation.

Autonomy is also a significant factor, as it allows individuals to work independently and make their own decisions.

Additionally, the prospect of spending time with loved ones and having a flexible schedule is a major draw for many individuals.

However, irrational thinking, deception, and psychological manipulation are also used to recruit and retain participants in MLMs.

Title:

Content: Usually, speaking about the financial pyramid, it is understood the involvement of people in business, where the basis of income is the attraction of new participants with a financial contribution, said Roman Sidorchuk, Professor of the Department of Marketing at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, to the correspondent of IA REGNUM.
Pyramid
“For this kind of participation, mainly“ recruited ” people with a “disturbing ” psyche, who are dominated by an irrational type of thinking.
Given the fact that in these circumstances, behind the proposals of the organizers there is always a deception in the involvement of the participant, it is impossible to talk about marketing, which is usually guided by certain ethical standards (for example, the ethical code ESOMAR, the European Community of market researchers and public opinion).
Here we should talk about the methods of social engineering, when the goal is not to meet the needs of the consumer, as in marketing, but the psychological manipulation of people in order to commit certain actions.
In this regard, the methods of this kind of manipulation will constantly change, adapting to the interests of the potential audience.
The use of computer games is a convenient format for manipulation.
Moreover, people who are often fixated on computer games experience depressive and restless states, and become more malleable to the external influence of the gaming community, ” the expert believes.
As reported IA REGNUM, in Russia there is a new type of financial pyramids, said the head of the Department of combating unfair practices of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Valery Lyakh.
See also: Bank of Russia warned about the emergence of gaming financial pyramids

Present bias, cognitive adaptation syndrome, and

Present bias, cognitive adaptation syndrome, and