It’s no secret that TVI Express has had a rough year. Their first major hiccup was in Australia after the ACCC accused TVI Express of being a pyramid scheme and launched court action.

The case is currently being played out.

Meanwhile over the in the US, TVI Express received a confirmed cease and desist in at least one state – citing that TVI Express was engaged in unfair and deceptive acts or practices‘.

Despite these two major setbacks however, there are still those out there claiming that business in TVI Express has never been better. Depending on who you listen to… either TVI Express is on the verge of cataclysmic collapse or a massive global expansion boom.

So which one is it? [Continue reading…]

Polaris video and written course products have consistently avoided any particular political or religious belief system as a matter of company policy, and will continue to do so in the future.

-Gregory Strom, author of Polaris Global product line

One of the longstanding conundrums of Polaris Global has been the ongoing question over the direction the company is heading in.

Back in September 2009, Liberty League International became Polaris Media Group and a number of the executive branch quit. One of the common reasons cited was that they didn’t agree with the ‘new direction the company was taking’.

To date, this new direction hasn’t been specifically quantified but one thing Polaris Global has remained adamant about is that the company has nothing to do with Scientology.

Back in April this year I wrote a piece on how Polaris Global can restore some of its credibility. In this piece I raised the question that if Polaris Global are in the personal development industry and CEO Shane Krider uses company products, then surely these products must be in line with Scientology’s core beliefs and principles.

Shane Krider of course being a self confessed member of the Church of Scientology.

I haven’t seen this addressed anywhere other than in the Gregory Strom quote above, which clearly states that there is no religious influence on Polaris Global’s product line.

Last week saw the release of a promotional video for Polaris Global’s Beyond Freedom Evolution product line. Within the first few minutes of footage I began to see some nasty parallels that not only perfectly aligned with Scientology doctrine, but actively preached it. [Continue reading…]

About a week ago now it was revealed that TVI Express had been ordered to cease and desist operations in the US state of Georgia and possibly Hawaii. The reason for the cease and desist was because TVI Express was allegedly non-compliant with US state law regarding MLM business opportunities.

Turns out these orders are not only very real but serious enough that TVI Express has hired lawyers Grimes and Reese (who count Monavie and the Trump Network as clients) to ensure full compliance in the US. [Continue reading…]

this is… my last network marketing company.

-Donna Valdes, ex frontline distributor for LiveSmart 360

One of the biggest cliches that exists in the MLM industry is the stereotype known as the MLM junkie. The MLM junkie is a network marketer that jumps on board a MLM business opportunity during pre-launch or the early stages of a hard launch, cashes in on the hype and then jumps ship again to another company after the hype dies down.

MLM junkies are the scourge of those trying to bring repute to the industry and are often the posterchildren for critics of MLM. After all, what better indication of non-sustainability is there than repeated post-hype slumps?

Roughly two months ago LiveSmart 360 made a big deal about its 8 top earners taking home 35% of the commission payouts and treated them to a company retreat.

One of those 8 top earners was Donna Valdes, pictured here with her giant oversized fifty seven thousand, five hundred dollar cheque;

One month after taking home this financial reward for her efforts during LiveSmart 360’s pre-launch hype campaign, Donna Valdes announced she was leaving LiveSmart 360.

That’s right, Valdes quit her ‘last ever network marketing company’.

The obvious question: Why? [Continue reading…]

Last week in a letter sent out to his downline, US founding member of TVI Express Patrick Dejour announced that TVI Express had been issued a cease and desist in at least one US state.

Naturally this announcement meant turmoil for a lot of US based TVI Express members and many of them seem to now be hailing rival travel club Bon Voyage 1000 as the second coming of Christ.

As one BehindMLM reader ‘Douglas’ puts it;

BV1000 is the best by far.it does not compare with TVI express which is full of promises, ownership is not clear and no product at all!!! but BV1000′s products are accessible.

what a relief!!!

Broken Promises, non clear ownership and no product are apparently what seperate Bon Voyage 1000 from TVI Express and got them into trouble in the first place.

Right?

Maybe… but how about a bit more analysis of the differences between the two? I mean we wouldn’t want all these TVI Express distributors jumping ship only to find that Bon Voyage 1000 runs into the same problems a few months down the track now would we.

So exactly just how different is Bon Voyage 1000 from TVI Express? [Continue reading…]

Back in May this year, the the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) won a judgement in the Australian Supreme Court effectively prohibiting TVI Express from being promoted in Australia.

The ACCC claimed that TVI Express was nothing more then a pyramid scheme and after examining the TVI Express compensation plan, I came to the same conclusion.

Shortly after the Supreme Court decision, TVI stated that they would be ‘strenously defending‘ the ACCC’s claims. I’m not entirely sure what that means but as far as I know nothing has been done to combat the ACCC’s claims nor the legal action they took against TVI.

Now it seems a further nail has been hammered into the TVI Express business coffin with claims from the US that the state of Georgia has sent TVI express a cease and desist.

Allegedly the FCC aren’t too far behind. [Continue reading…]

One of the big assets you have when owning a MLM company is that you’re in possession of an active list of marketers. Additionally you’re in a position of trust and the financial success of your marketers is mutually inclusive to your own financial success.

Avant owner Brent Payne recently decided to capitalise on this financial relationship and under the Avant name launched a lead store for members of Avant.

As pointed out by BehindMLM reader ‘Hank’, one of the big questions raised by the launch of this new Avant lead store is whether or not it’s an association of Payne’s previous business lead generating venture ‘Extreme Leads Inc’.

Extreme Leads Inc was founded by Brent Payne and Shane Krider and marketed leads to members of their previous joint venture Liberty League International. For some reason Krider has been keeping up with the filing of annual reports for Extreme Leads Inc (of which Brent Payne is still listed as a shareholder), sparking speculation as to whether the company is still in business or not.

So, the big question – is the new Avant lead store linked to Extreme Leads Inc? [Continue reading…]

One of the more lucrative but often not talked about too much aspects of running a MLM business opportunity is the inhouse generation of leads.

Typically the MLM company itself, or a member of management who perhaps already owns an MLM lead generating business, will begin to cross market these leads to the wider member base of the company.

What usually isn’t revealed to members is the full extent of the nature of these partnerships, or the exact commissions being paid out so to leverage against the company’s member base.

This of course makes it hard to judge whether or not the leads being provided are of actual benefit to company members, or rather if they’re nothing more then an additional money spinner for those selling the leads. [Continue reading…]

A lot of MLM travel club business opportunities seem to have sprung up this year with one of them being LGN Prosperity.

With the tagline ‘for a wealthy and successful living’, LGN Prosperity claim to offer members ‘the ability to save up to $1200 on a 7 Night/8 Day Condominium Stay to almost anywhere in the ENTIRE WORLD!!‘

This promise of course is no different to the myriad of other travel clubs out there and is nothing new. They all claim to offer amazing discounts on worldwide destinations so these days you’ve got to offer something different to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

Do LGN offer anything different or are they just another run of the mill recruitment driven MLM travel club business opportunity?

Let’s find out. [Continue reading…]

One of the more worrying aspects of the MLM industry is people racking up long term ongoing debts they cannot pay.

As anyone in the industry will tell you running a MLM business successfully requires an ongoing monetary investment. Leads aren’t just going to fall into your lap and more often then not, be it via direct purchase, advertising or just talking to people – you’re going to be outlaying some money to get them.

Over time if you’re not successful with your MLM business though, these debts can rack up and cause a world of pain. Without money coming in it can feel like you’re digging yourself into a hole you’re never going to crawl out of.

Of course many when asked about this many uplines will simply advise their downlines that they’re not trying hard enough, following the business template properly or that it’s simply not their problem.

So… left out on the cold on your own by an industry that values success and ignores failure, what is the struggling MLM business owner to do?

For Ellery Bennett the answer lay in murdering his wife and then attempting to take his own life. [Continue reading…]