Ted Nuyten (Business For Home) rips off BehindMLM
The MLM blogosphere is populated by a handful of individuals who, either directly or indirectly keep regular contact and bring you their respective coverage of the happenings in the MLM industry.
It’s a wide-spread of viewpoints but together I think we do a pretty decent job of covering what needs to be covered. I can’t speak for other MLM blog owners in the niche but I do make the effort to check in with several MLM blogs every few days, mostly to minimise me missing something I might have otherwise, and of course for general research.
It’s always great to want to know something for an article and find another respected MLM blogger has already done the ground work and covered it.
When I do use another blogger’s information, I’m always sure to reference my source which, as is typical in the blogging world, includes a link back to the source material and full acknowledgement.
With the MLM blog niche being relatively small (I’m not talking about marketing blogs, which number in the thousands), I’m happy to say that the authors in it do a pretty good job of crediting eachother.
I even go so far as to nuke comments from readers that use uncredited source material that I’m confident came from another MLM blogger.
With all that in mind, it was disappointing to read a report over at Ted Nuyten’s Business For Home Blog this morning. A report that was mostly just straight up copy and pasted from an article I’d only just recently written here.
The article in question covers the recent closure of GoFunRewards in the US and appears on Business For Home under the title “Go Fun Places Shut Down”.
As I read through it I had a strong sense of dejavu and flipping back over to my own blog confirmed why.
I pretty much wrote what I was reading over at Nuyten’s blog.
Here’s a capture of the GoFunPlaces Shut Down article, as it currently appears on Business For Home:
With some minor editorial changes (the link to Kevin Thompson’s website and starting the article with “As of May 2012”), the exact same copy was published by myself here on BehindMLM a full day earlier.
No acknowledgement of where Ted Nuyten copy and pasted the text in his article is given, with readers given the impression that Nuyten wrote the article himself.
It is noted that back in February 2013 Ted Nuyten signed up as an affiliate for Empower Network:
Perhaps recruiting people into the gifting scheme has taken away more time from his blogging responsibilities than Nuyten anticipated, but that’s no excuse to drop the ball and start copy and pasting other people’s work verbatim.
I don’t mind people using my articles as a reference and whilst there are several autoblogs I’m aware of that scrape my RSS feed and republish it, they at least do link back to the source material.
Business For Home isn’t one of those blogs however, with Nuyten charging readers up to $4.95 a month or a once-off $77 fee for “Inner Circle” subscription access to his blog.
Lift your game Ted and please tell me this was just a once-off editorial mistake. As a fellow MLM blogger you owe me that much, and if not to me then at least to your readers.
Update 4th May 2013 – In a comment published below, Ted writes that it was indeed an editorial mistake that has now been rectified.
No harm no foul.
Business For Home has a pro-MLM bias to boot. Remember all the glowing Zeek articles, interview with Dawn with softball questions, and of course the “Top MLM Field Leaders in the World in 2012” vote that Dawn won.
The business model makes sense but the pro-MLM bias loses its objectivity, similar to MLM Help Desk. All the MLM companies wanting to vote or use Business For Home as ‘market credibility’ send their members to the interviews/polls/etc. and in exchange Business For Home increases readership and potentially earns new subscribers.
This was one of my criticisms with MLM Help Desk as well in that while Troy claims to be non-bias and was merely a consultant for Zeek, there was an undercurrent of quid-pro-quo resulting in increased readership.
I am not saying this is bad or wrong, just that it means the “other MLM bloggers” have a natural bias towards praising MLM companies (it’s good for business, it invites interviews with company execs/field leaders, it generates traffic when MLM companies and associates refer the blog).
This is why BehindMLM is unique and why the other MLM blogs rarely publish negative news or opine towards the negative until it’s blatantly obvious to senile grandma that there’s a problem.
Ted Nuyten is an MLM cheerleader. He hit TVI Express a couple years back because he can sometimes spot a pyramid scheme. However, since then, with all the Zeek fandom and all that, he’s lost my sympathy.
I’ve exchanged a few emails with him regarding Zeek long before the SEC shutdown. I’ll just say he blew me off, much like Dooly did to Oz back then. And I never did get an apology, unlike Dooly.
Yep, you are right I forgot to put a link in to your website, which I added now. My bad. If you had send me 1 email I had immediately done so.
However, it is also clear your website is against MLM and attracts a lot of haters.
That is the difference between Behind MLM and Business For Home.
I love the MLM, Network Marketing industry and put my reputation in it, you try to kill the industry working under an anonymous profile and a “MLM haters” attitude.
For your field work I have respect, it is often very to the point, your conclusions however way out.
@Ted
Glad to see it rectified.
This is a silly dismissive argument those who appreciate MLM articles with marketing BS use. Without MLM there is no BehindMLM.
Think about it.
The conclusions are based on the field work, you can’t have one without the other. Unless of course you ignore the field work and make up your own conclusions.
You’re not new to the game. Getting involved in aussie 2-up rubbish is going to come back and bite you on the arse.
The site itself is actually balanced between a range of viewpoints, but it will typically be more attractive to MLM critics than to MLM cheerleaders (due to different communication methods, among other things).
You will find several MLM professionals posting here from time to time, depending on the type of program. Some of them are using the site for “training purposes”, e.g. to get familiarized to the different types of “resistance” they can meet in the market.
You will also find examples where the so called “haters” are defending the same ideas as “cheerleaders”.
The main reason why this website is attracting more critics than cheerleaders is the communication style rather than the content itself. The typical methods used in MLM cheerleading won’t work very well here. And some will simply get a shock, e.g. “this website isn’t positive at all!”. 🙂
But some of the experienced network marketers have found other ways to use it, e.g. to measure the status of an on going program (e.g. on the way up / on the way towards a collapse).
And some of the experienced ones actually prefer to test themselves against a more balanced audience, they don’t like to surround themselves with the same types of people all the time (e.g. false positivity types of people).
Read my previous post. This website isn’t designed for people who want “expert opinions” more than to a certain degree. Analysing business models is only a type of “service”, and people can use it however they want. Normally most of them will draw their OWN conclusions.
This website will neither satisfy the needs of people too eager to act as “experts”, nor the needs of people too eager to look for “expert opinions”. It will partly be able to satisfy some of their needs “from time to time”.
If a conclusion is “way off target”, it will normally be corrected by other readers/contributors. Or you will find different viewpoints existing side by side, until it finally reaches a final conclusion.
This is one of the only blogs I watch now because so many of these “Bloggers” have sold out to companies and lost their edge.
I do not see this site as Anti-MLM at all. Those in programs that feel are attacked here always call foul. Case in point.
My company I call home was posted here several years ago. It showed the ups and downs but did not bash at all. I am with Skinny Body Care and if you do a search Oz laid out some compelling information but not once was it a bash.
You know my issue with you Ted we discuseded it and agree to dis-agree. When you started using your platform as a way to market EN was wrong to me as your list was built of the backs of industry leaders.
Several other “Bloggers” are now obviously sold out on certain companies and it is obvious they are in the “Spin” zone. Integrity always wins….Always.
Oz makes it so simple. Follow the money, it is that simple. That is his MO, and it works for me.
But then here comes spin, marketing bs, people in positions like Ted Nuyten that know the rights and wrongs yet places himself above the facts somehow. So many of them in this industry feel themselves above the law, and you can’t reason with them, reason being the key word, reason with facts.
So I sit back and take note of their cheering check waving conference calling event attending above it all attitude and I JUST DON’T GET IT.
Maybe it’s because there *is* a lot of hate about MLM, esp. when it had gone to the dark side (i.e. turned into a pyramid scheme, like FHTM, Equinox…) and all the pseudo-MLM (mostly Ponzi schemes and disguised Ponzis) that hide under its coattails.
Ted, I have no problem with your coverage, but face it, you’re a pro-MLM guy, and there’s a lot more Pro-MLM folks with big profiles (you, Dooly, Cook, Clements, and the various Lawyers like Thompson, Babener, Grimes and Reese, etc.) than us, so-called “against MLM”.
Heck, offhand I can only name maybe 3? Fitzpatrick, Taylor, and Maybe Barrett, though he’s more anti-quackery.
People tend to congregate to people who think alike and away from people who don’t. That’s way of life.
MLM does have flaws. You’ve seen what Zeek Rewards had done to the industry (and to your personal reputation, having featured it several times on your site, including that interview with Dawn “Burger Analogy” Wright-Olivares). And damages to Dooly, Nehra & Waak, and even Grimes and Reese.
Someone has the cover the “dark side”, and BehindMLM is one of the more neutral sites about MLM you can find. Or do you prefer the vitriol from Fitzpatrick, Taylor, or worse, the radical views of David Brear that MLM is a vast racketeering enterprise?
Or perhaps it’s easy to claim them to be “crackpots”, but it’s a lot harder to “pigeonhole” BehindMLM here?
BehindMLM is NOT against MLM. There’s simply a lot to hate about MLM and the various pseudo-MLMs that pretends to be MLM. Kevin Thompson had pointed out this problem a year ago in that paper about clearing up the gray area, and cheerleading (i.e. covering only the positive) does NOT help the industry.
The review was actually very neutral and balanced (I read only the conclusion). Some people will probably say it had some negative elements, compared to other MLM reviews. We will not “support” companies, e.g. help them to promote something.
“Potential pyramid scheme issues” isn’t too dramatic to point out in a conclusion or in the first comment. Comments about the price are also acceptable.
Experienced people would probably have preferred a few more comments from readers, a wider range of opinions. But we won’t “produce” comments either.
Skinny Body Care has strong selling product emphasis, but the danger is in exposure to guru’s like Dani Johnson who can quickly turn them into mean lean recruiting machines.
I know someone who was in this business and was and still is a Dani Johnson fan…who makes no effort to help people distinguish between legal or illegal.
It seems to be easier to suck people in with income promise and being able to tell their boss to go &*^% themselves, than it is to get someone sold on a product that they will buy on a regular basis.
So, RECRUIT!!… you can just turn to page so and so in the much applauded Dani Johnson script book…..read the lines therein to your phone leads which you have purchased… and proceed to burn your way thru the phone numbers until you get ahold of some potential “low hanging fruit”. RECRUIT RECRUIT RECRUIT!!
Then it becomes a problem.
I do not think this site even covers traditional MLMs. 90% of topics on this site about ponzies and traditional pyramid schemes
That’s because there’s a proliferation of them in recent years. Plenty of “traditional” MLMs are covered here, like Monavie, CeraCoat, as well as the nutritional support companies like StemTech, Mannatech, and so on.
This was published by David Wood on Facebook today:
Fast forward a few months: “From 2,500 joining a day to ELEVENTY BILLION joining a day – We can do this. I’ve invested in a spaceship!”
FTC, where you at son?
i love this website. and i think this help the MLM industry because inhere we can figure out what are the good and the bad. keep it up “Behind the MLM” website work. you are doing a terrific job.YEEEESSS.
Pfffffffffff. What a joke that Ted Nuyten !
That wasn’t a editorial mistake ?? Think, how can this becomes a… mistake !
But who cares. As long as there are people who don’t know the real Ted yet ? Good luck every one.
When Telex was gaining momentum scamming people Ted had a comment thread on page with nothing but cheerleaders.
When I added the the truth I was deleted, he is like a cancer in this industry, thank you Oz and friends for holding the course.
He is a bad dude!
I knew him personally and lives just 20 minutes away from me. He is a Big Prick!
Transparancy and Ethics are words wich do not exist at all in His list. He tricks people, as long as it is benefiting him.
My very strong advice, never follow him up. But if you do, you will stand all by your own and will work hard, to benefit only His wallet as a ‘sponsor’.
Sponsor… don’t let me laugh !!! He is a complete JOKE !
It sure seems obvious from his Onecoin/Onelife coverage that Ted Nuyten’s business model at businessforhome.org is:
“Pay me and I will put lipstick on it for you, until you stop paying me”
SD
Oz, he had another go at you over the weekend.
Feeling very challenged, I rather suspect.
Had my own little dig back on your behalf.
Yeah saw that. Not sure what bug crawled up Nuyten’s ass to provoke that outburst.
Ah well. Thanks for the support.
looks who talking!
Ted’s website is bought by Igor Alberts – an serial scammer OneCoin/Dagcoin.
Ted is a big looser – he never build an mlm group himself, he gets paid by the scammers…
Hey, I got a shoutout! Apparently I’m one of BehindMLM’s top 10 “network marketing haters”.
I wouldn’t even consider myself that much of a regular.
I note that Toxic Ted also singles out Melanie from Germany, who is pretty much a single-topic poster on the topic of OneCoin.
So according to Ted, if you hate a proven Ponzi scam, you hate MLM in general.
Ted also puts quotes in double quotation marks that, in reality, he has completely made up. (He claims that Oz said Vemma and Herbalife execs “need to be in jail”, in quotation marks, which as far as I can tell from a site: Google search, Oz has never said.)
He claims that Vemma and Herbalife “settled and won their cases” which is an inherent contradiction. Both companies paid massive fines. They surrendered. If you ever play Nuyten at chess, don’t let him resign in a hopeless position; he’ll go around claiming he won because you didn’t checkmate him.
Let’s be fair, Neuyten does perform something of a valuable service. He’s like a Bizarro World Oz. If he promotes something, you know it’s a scam. No help if you don’t know that, of course.
you are hurting his profits from promoting scams obviously.
@Malthusian
Oh dear! Will I become famous now? Will I be awarded a medal? Leave me one day, I still have to go to the barber and for the festive ceremonial I have to change my clothes.
@Ted Nuyten
In the published list of companies, I miss OneCoin / OneLife, the scam that you have supported for years!
Besides, Melanie is my real name. Since I do not cheat anyone, I do not have to hide behind a fake name! Anyone who can operate a search engine will find me in Germany, where I also warn against scammers.
share-your-photo.com/17108eba03
RE: Ted Nyuten/ Bullshit for Homies
Congrats my fellow “haterz!” Lol. At least 3 of us on that list comment almost exclusively on Onecoin fraud.
Coincidence? I dunno, but here’s what I wrote in a comment there – which Toxic Ted promptly censored and removed:
I’m feeling proud to be listed together with such outstanding people, against so called “industry” of lies, deceit, fake morals, misleading “facts”, over-hyped placebo products and over-blown-full-of-dreams business opportunities where a single income disclosure statement can prove how much that fake industry “helps” a regular Joe financially and personally, including destroyed marriages and family ties, ruined relationships; lost money, movable and non-movable property, debt and destitution; being hooked to unending spiral of faking it till you never make it, while top dogs cash in millions.
In the words of great Jack Nicholson, which I send to all deluded MLM fools: you can’t handle the truth that your “industry” is just another criminal enterprise, living of your own money and surviving for decades lobbying politicians again thanks to your own money and devotion.
As for the criminals and people that support these crooks like Ted the MLM / Ponzi shill Nuyten (BullshitforHome) and Troy Nobody-Paid-Me-To-Shill-Zeek-Honest Dooly, we are well aware how much you are pissed with Oz because BehindMLM has proven to be a great treatment for this awful MLM Ponzi / Pyramid disease, together with other contributors and commentators.
I wish I would have made it to the list of anonymous “mad hatters” but… real name, real face, real blog. I guess I was out of the list of candidates for anonymous haters. 😉
Oh well, congratulations to all the consumer protection advocates, keep up the good work!
@Otto
The email address of the advocate of every MLM fraud called Ted Nuyten is well known. You should immediately complain to him why your name was not mentioned! Maybe Ted Nuyten will give you a separate comment after that?! 🙂
In Germany we say: “honor to whom honor is due”. Of course, that should apply to you too! You have my full support. The scammers help each other, so we will do that too. Equal rights for all!
Ted, it is really simple.
The thing you can’t seem to ask yourself is WHY are there so many “haters”.
Remember Zeekler ? Maybe 777 ? Or how about the countless frauds using MLM to perpetuate themselves?
It isn’t just an accident. The DSA has proven through their actions they have no interest in effective self-regulation.
MLM, like any field that openly tolerates wide spread fraud, becomes hated because it becomes a hotbed and host for criminal activity.
Good people don’t like criminals- nor their hosts and enablers.
It is why MLM has so many “haters”.
MLM EARNED them !
Xorly
Now he has gone completely rogue with his European direct selling convention. He is paying commission to all distributors that sell the most tickets for this event.
It’s like an MLM inside the publishing/training industry. That not more people see the danger in this is crazy. He offers them publicity and even minutes during the seminar.
The biggest scammers in the industry just have to sell the most tickets and they get prime time in front of thousands of starters unaware of the past of these crooks. He simply makes them look credible by appearing as leaders on that 3 day convention.
No surprise neither I guess that among the speakers you have some of the biggest Onecoin scammers like the Dutch clown and his family, that used to support his website and still do today with the new scam they are in.
From the 30 speakers you have at least 5 that made their fortune stealing and scamming and this should be the example for the participants ? OMG
It is commission for any sale, not just the most.
This is standard for any paid events the world over – it is how events are promoted, so please don’t knock an industry that has worked this way for over 80 years?
No problem with commissions on ticket sales. But imagine reaching a point in your career where you have to share the stage with notorious Ponzi scammers.
And there’s Ted Nuyten selling it as MLM’s crème de la crème for a tidy profit.
I am not sure that this is standard as I have organised myself huge events and I have promoted and attended huge events inside the industry.
Try to get a commission for bringing 2 people to a Tony Robbins seminar or Go Pro of Eric Worre? You’ll need more than that.
The fact that here it is done for everyone and on top an extra for the ones that sold the most is really playing the game.
Not to mention that he now explained also to start eliminating all his contacts on FB that don’t promote or sell his tickets. The true face of a neutral journalist as he says so often, has changed into a shark that just sees the value of money.
It’s not about covering products companies leaders that move or switch, it’s about doing what he gets paid the most for, if it’s bad or good, true or not he doesn’t care we knew that already.