YTB Will Earn A Profit This Quarter

YTB International Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer, Scott Tomer, will announce today, July 31, 2009, at the Company's 2009 National Convention, that the Company expects to report a second quarter profit on earnings from continuing operations before income taxes when it files its Form 10-Q for the second quarter of 2009. The Company will file its second quarter Form 10-Q on or before August 10, 2009.

YTB: Media Darling

 

YTB Rolls Out The Red Carpet, The BBB Rolls Out The Warning

St. Louis, Mo., July 30, 2009 - As the national convention opens this week for YourTravelBiz.com (YTB), the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning consumers to be cautious when dealing with the troubled online travel company.

The company has been the focus of more than 140 complaints and reports to the BBB in the past 36 months, many of those from consumers who say they were misled by exaggerated promises from the Wood River, Ill.-based company.  YTB has an “F” grade with the BBB, the lowest grade possible. The convention began Wednesday and is scheduled to run through Sunday at America’s Center in downtown St. Louis.

YTB or YTB International has been targeted by law enforcement officials in California and Illinois in recent months. On May 14, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown announced an agreement forcing YTB to stop what he called the “deceptive marketing of its largely unprofitable travel websites” and prohibiting the company from charging consumers nearly $500 each to recruit others into “its endless chain scheme.”  At that time, Brown said, “YTB falsely promised customers they could get rich quick by selling travel online,” while, in reality, “customers were reeled into an elaborate pyramid scheme and most never earned a dime.”

On the same day the California agreement was announced, the Illinois Attorney General’s office filed suit against the company and three of its officers in Champaign County, alleging violations of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act.   Named were Lloyd Tomer, board chairman; Scott Tomer, chief executive officer and Kim Sorensen, vice chairman and president. That case is still pending, the office said.                                            

Michelle Corey, president and CEO of the St. Louis BBB, said that YTB continues to be plagued by problems nearly a year after the BBB issued a warning that outlined a series of concerns about the company. “Despite the California agreement, the BBB is urging consumers who are looking to become travel agents through YTB to approach this program very carefully,” she said.  “For many consumers, it simply has not been the pot of gold they said they had been promised.”

A recently published news account reported that YTB has faced difficult times in recent months, suffering a 44 percent decrease in active reps and a 29 percent decrease in travel agents during 2008.

A St. Louis man said he signed up for a YTB program last August after he was told it would make him a millionaire by age 30.  Instead, he said he paid out about $1,000 and “I did not see even one check for anything.”  He called the experience “horrible.  It was not as it was portrayed to be.”  He said he would advise anyone interested in enrolling as a YTB travel representative to steer clear.  “Don’t fall for it,” he told the BBB.

A woman from Tulsa, Okla. told the BBB in May that she paid YTB an initial start-up fee of $439 and monthly payments of $49.95 for a year.  Despite making travel bookings through the program, she said she was never paid.  She too said she believes she was misled.

The BBB offers several recommendations for consumers looking to become travel agents:

• Do not be fooled by promises of wealth, in exchange for little or no effort.
• Be skeptical of offers requiring that you purchase an identification card, and then claiming that the card identifies you as a “travel agent” in good standing who is “certified,” “accredited” or “endorsed” by the travel industry.
• Know exactly how you will be paid, how much and for exactly what work. Will you be selling travel to the general public, or asked to recruit others into the business?
• Contact the BBB at 314-645-3300 or www.bbb.org for a customer experience report on companies with whom you are considering doing business.

Just In From St. Louis

While Doug "TravelPro" Bauknight extols the virtues of YTB to Travel Agent Magazine by claiming

But YTB is still standing with $425 million in sales and a loyal cadre of travel selling agents. Worse, for our critics, YTB is growing despite the economy and despite its critics.

Not sure where he got the terms "growing" and "receding" confused. But according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, YTB has "grown" to nearly 1/3 of what it was last year.  According to recent financial reports, YTB has "grown" from 138,000 RTAs last year to 70,000 (and sources have indicated the actual number today is closer to 50,000).

According to YTB's own website which they state was accurate on April 24, 2009

Out of the hundreds of thousands of people who have participated in YTB programs over the past 36 months, we have had less than 110 complaints filed about YTB in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period.

But using Bauknight logic, YTB must have "receded" in this category, because now they only have 140 active complaints**.  Wow, 30 complaints in 97 days.  That is a complaint every 3.3 days!

But factual numbers and income disclosures aside, Bauknight claims, "YTB offers income opportunities to individuals that make a difference in people’s lives." Perhaps he is one of the "individuals"..one of the few!

Perhaps Mr. Dooley from Travel Agent might be interested in a factual counter point to the "growth" that is seen by this "TravelPro".

**More on these complaints tomorrow!

MLM: A Different Perspective

While I am not drinking the Kool Aid by any means (and I hear that most of it is in St. Louis right now in any event), the following was sent to me by someone involved in YTB and as much as I am opposed to it, I thought that yellow highlight had some merit. What do you think?

John,

I understand why you feel that way. We believe MLM is "better" than corporate america. Everyone will not win. However, a person does have an opportunity to make more than the top employees of the MLM company. Take any MLM company and you will find people who make more money than the CEO, CFO and COO of many of the companies they represent. I have made more than John Clagg, Andy Cauthen and many of the top management at YTB. If Coach, Kim, and Scott didn't have a position I would out earn them. If I take Brig Hart from Mona Vie he makes more than every one except the owner of the company. I can't find 1 State Farm Agent or AllState that makes more than the CEO of the company.

Everyone cannot win but MLM allows for everyone to play the game. The weeding out period determines who makes it and who does not. The thing I dont' like about MLM is the enticement and the lies. I had one guy on my team signed up his mentally challenged "baby's momma". I called the company and had her money refunded. THe problem with MLM is the low cost to get in. More people can join. The bad thing about MLM is the cost to get in. EVERYONE CAN AFFORD IT. Therefore , you allow ""anyone"in. I do know everyone can't afford a franchise but just about everyone can join a MLM company. Ask Warren Buffett why he acquired Pampered Chef. Take a look at their income disclosure statement.

CLIA Goes To Atlanta

Some things never change.  It can be YTB1.0, YTB 2.0 or YTB 300.0 some things will never change.  I received this email from an agent I personally know in the Atlanta area. He asked to remain anonymous.

Hey John:

I just finished with a two day seminar as part of CLIA’s TrainingFest 2009 and a small trade show. Included in the days were four seminars worth 60 credits towards completing my ACC. Attendance at the trade show garnered another 10 credits.

They said it was the largest attendance they have had this year since starting the tour. Guess who happened to be filling up 50-65% of the available seats? I will give you a hint, their group has three letters and I observed more than one passing out cards about their great opportunity. It became so blatant that one gentleman was told by an attendee to stop right away.

I heard another after telling who he was affiliated with refer to himself as a franchisee and that his company sold franchises. I asked when he had received his Federal Disclosure Document and if he had gone over it with his attorney before he signed up. He was excited about his upcoming convention in St. Louis. When asked if I had heard of this company, I just shook my head no and moved on.

You could say that “well at least they are trying to learn the business”, but I saw them do nothing but pester the cruise line reps about FAMs and never once heard any one of them ask “How can I help you increase your sales?” They also were the big cheerleaders with the Carnival reps took to the podium. To be fair, there are a lot of legitimate travel agents only interested in FAMs and collecting whatever free things the cruise line reps are handing out.

It was frustrating with the number of questions and the type of questions being asked that seemed to make each session drag and drag. Another travel agent I know well in this area just commented “Well these people are quite the cash cow for CLIA aren’t they?” I couldn’t agree more

Signed,
Anonymous in  ATL

Just Who Is In Charge?

Apparently, there is a higher being in charge at YTB. These are comments pulled from their public Facebook page.  Is it just me, or is this just too bizarre and too much like an episode of the Twilight Zone run amok?

Don't tell GOD how big your storms are. Tell your storms how big your GOD is! Please Lord, bless all the naysayers with a long life so they may live to see all of YTB's SUCCESS! In Jesus name, Amen.

NO WEAPON FORM AGAINST YTB SHALL PROSPER!
Let's keep the POSITVE ENERGY FLOWING to block out all the opposition and challenges. Why do we have the adversary attacking YTB? Because YTB is a GREAT, GOD-SENT COMPANY. It will just be a GREATER COMPANY when WE ALL OVERCOME THIS TOGETHER AS ONE! Thanks Coach for your dedication and committment to our FINANCIAL FREEDOM!
GOD BLESS YTB!

The three Hebrew children were thrown into the firey furnace and none were harmed. Coach, Scott and Kim are equally yoked, and with God's inspiration and the dedication of these great men we are greatly blessed. We have three of God's men ready to lead YTB through the fire. God's hand is definitely within this business!

YTB is what it is because of the great Christian Coach that we have leading us. When you do what is "right", God is on your side.

Hey Coach, as Larease would say your announcements are getting goodlier and goodlier and I'm so bless and thankful to God for divinely connecting me to YTB for my family and generation will reap the rewards, our company is off the charts, see ya at convention!

I am getting a free ticket for the event, but cannot afford transportation fom Canada and accommodation. What should I do? Is God speaking to someone to help me out?

I haven't met you in person yet, but I've heard your story about when your mother told you that you had a special destiny to help change peoples lives. Which you have gone way above and beyond in doing. I believe your mother is extremely proud of what you've accomplished I know there are many of us that believe it also. I want to start by giving ... Read Morethanks for your mother for having raised such a wonderful, and conscientious human being like yourself. I also want to THANK YOU for creating the tool (YTB) for us to do just that, CHANGE OUR LIVES in ways we could only dream of. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!!!

I can not tell you how amazing the Spiritual service was last year. We went expecting....I don't know what we were expecting but I was there more because of the comraderie and I didn't want it to end so we went Sunday. Little did we know that my husband would be saved at that Worship Service! That's where he came to know his savior, Jesus Christ. Needless to say, we can't wait for Sunday NEXT WEEK! Woo Hoo! YTB has changed our lives in inexplicable ways!

MLM Or Cult?

I am not sure where this came from or who is behind it, but it was sent to me from a former YTB Director.

Drbtherapy's Blog

Remember The Conference Center

A year ago all the buzz was about YTB building a huge conference center to revitalize Wood River and to accommodate all the traffic from the Red Carpet Days.

When I suggested that that deal must have gone away during the huge asset sale they had last year, I was rebuked. I was told that the land which was sold was "spare" land and that the construction on the conference center was stalled due to the economy. Granted, this info came from the the YTB-ites and not the company itself.

Well, it appears the deal did indeed fall through and the land was not the "spare" parcel but the actual conference center property.

As the The Telegraph so aptly states:

The development company is planning to build a 100-room franchised hotel - Holiday Inn Express - on a 14-acre site near the intersection of Illinois Route 143 and Illinois 255, along with a Country Kitchen and gas station. "It really is going to be a good thing," Mayor Fred Ufert said.

Ufert said plans have been in the works to bring a hotel to the city for some time.

"We've been working on a hotel project for awhile now," he said.

YTB International announced tentative plans last year about building a hotel and convention center near its headquarters along Route 143, but the development deal fell through. Aventurs purchased the acreage from the troubled travel company after the project collapsed.

Even their hometown newspaper knows that YTB is troubled!  And the irony of a Holiday Inn Express being built is not lost on me.  Well, I am not a travel professional, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

14 Day Explanation

In a memo sent to directors, Scott Tomer explains how the new 14 day period works. Essentially, after someone clicks on a link on the website, YTB will send them daily reminders of how wonderful the opportunity is.  From his letter:

In the campaign, we’ll be communicating with them a daily message that is short and to the point. In the first half of the campaign, we’ll prime them to buy with a discussion of the current economy, the benefits of owning a home-based business, what the experts are saying and the features to look for when starting one for themselves.

The last half of the campaign will focus on our product, the Internet Travel Center, and why it’s the right purchase for them. We’ll also showcase YTB as a company, why we’re reputable, that we’re publicly traded and have sound leadership. We’ll also discuss the trend we spotted in 2001, and what trend we see next. Not to mention, we’ll be showing the value of the product by featuring programs such as shopYTB, Great Escapes and many others.

5Linx & YTB: Sister Companies?

This article in Sunday's Washington Post had me shaking my head. Almost every one of the come on lines used is identical to YTB.  And not surprising, the failure rate seems pretty equivalent as well. Just a few excerpts from a very sad sad story. One that will ultimately ring all too familiar with many in YTB as well as many of the other MLM companies that are taking advantage of people in this economy!

• She pulls out her Success From Home magazine.
• Now 5Linx here is a ground-floor opportunity.
• We can teach you how to duplicate your efforts, how to create income that eventually will come in without your even having to do anything.
• Eunice signs the paper, putting the $500 signup fee on a credit card as Zinya suggests.
• Did she know there was a way to eliminate the need for a full-time job? Produce financial security for herself and her future generations?
• Much of the business growth among these companies has been fueled by their focus on groups united by religion, ethnicity, race or other affinity.  
• In a typical multilevel marketing model, less than one percent of people who become involved in sales and recruitment make enough to cover their investment in products and operating expenses, according to Jon Taylor, a former multilevel marketing sales rep and founder of the Consumer Awareness Institute, an industry watchdog group. Up to 90 percent of the commissions are distributed to less than 1 percent of all participants -- those at or near the top, with a big chunk going to company founders, Taylor says.
• She took $500 of her tax refund and signed up to become a licensed 5Linx telecommunications broker. She also bought the $49.95 -a-month platinum service package, which gave her a 5Linx Web site with her name on it and a business tracking system, an e-mail address and access to the online university where she could learn the business.
• Signed up her sister, her father and her then-16-year-old son as "business partners." They would boost her success if they got other people to sign up to sell 5Linx, too.
• Then she started going to regular sales training sessions, or "business opportunity meetings," laying out $10 to $20 a pop. All of this helped Zinya start racking up points to bring her closer to a $1,500 cash bonus.
• Zinya spent $119 to register for a national sales meeting in Miami, plus travel expenses-- a must-do, she was told, if she wanted to grow her business. She then went to a second meeting, in Kansas City. 
• By February, the kitchen table of their home was piled high with utility company shutoff notices. Zinya signed up her sons to receive free and reduced meals at their schools and asked the church for rental assistance when the family fell behind.  
• Cause look at me. I'm walking out of here with a silver Bentley!" She emphasizes the last two words by sliding her neck saucily from side to side. 
• According to the Federal Trade Commission, legitimate multilevel marketing companies make most of their revenues from selling products to people other than their pay-to-play sales representatives. Pyramid scams, on the other hand, pay newcomers from the money they get other people to pay to join in the "business opportunity." Little to no profit comes from selling actual products to people outside the organization.  
• For now, it's difficult for participants in these programs to gauge the odds of success. All they see are the silver Bentleys being delivered to top producers such as the Richardses. But that's enough to convince many that the opportunity is real. 
• "Someone tells you it's a pyramid scheme, tell them corporate America is, too," Dureke argues. "There are presidents and CEOs and vice presidents in companies all over the world. That's how it works. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."  
• Even while Zinya tries to find a job, she hasn't given up on 5Linx. She returns home exhausted one recent evening after a day spent striking up conversations with people on Metrobuses, at shopping malls, wherever she found herself. She still has spent more on her 5Linx business than she has made, but she is determined to make the next national sales meeting in Long Beach, Calif., in October. It might be just the break she needs. 
• The company is offering promotions to encourage the sales force, including $1,000 in cash to sign on five new sales representatives.  

70+ Pages Of Easy To Grasp Information

If you are interested in a presentation entitled YTB-2.0 Training Presentation created by Georgia at YTB, you can download it here. (9.4 Meg Power Point) Let's discuss any misleading or false information? Spelling errors? Ease of understanding?

YTB 2.0 Training Presentation

Convention Announcements

In a memo sent to Directors from YTB's HQ, it was confirmed that the following are two of the "big announcements" at the convention.

MARKETING TO THE END USER

Traditionally, YTB has focused our marketing efforts on our customers - Travel Site Owners and Reps. Beginning August 1, we will extend our efforts to the TSOs' customers as well -- the ultimate consumer of travel and retail products. As you'll hear at Convention, we will commence marketing on behalf of our TSOs. Deals and Steals will no longer be about travel only, although we'll continue to highlight great travel packages. In fact, you will have the ability to piece together highly targeted travel offerings to your customers. We will include a "Deal of the Week" and will focus on our most loyal customers like many of the top companies in the nation.

"WHILE YOU WERE GONE..."

Also at Convention, you'll hear more details about our efforts to reactivate former Travel Site Owners. At that time we plan to flip the switch back to the "on" position for anyone who used to have a travel site with YTB, but stopped paying the monthly hosting fee. This new initiative will not apply to those individuals who actually called in to cancel their account, but will affect all those individuals who simply stopped paying their monthly $49.95 fee. Additionally, Scott will describe a commission roll-up -- if products are purchased downline and the TSO due the commission has not reactivated, those commissions will roll up the ladder.

So, it has taken YTB--a "travel" company, 8 full years to determine that marketing to the end user of travel is a good idea. Really, who would have thought that in order to sell travel, you need to market to those who are interested in BUYING travel. What a concept!

As to the re-activation, it obviously has a lot to do with maintaining the 60% "TSO Only" requirement for California; but I also suspect that it may have something to do with the $1.9 million dollar loan that is due at the end of July which was extended for 90 days. This note is from the successor to the Meridian Bank which was seized by the Feds for questionable loans (hmmm) and non-conforming banking practices. My best guess is a huge push to reactivate the RTAs that stopped paying with a reduced monthly fee for a period of time--maybe $25. You think they can wrangle up 25,000 disgruntled RTAs and convince them they made a bad choice in leaving AND have them agree to pay YTB another $75 to make their loan?

Rounding out the "blockbuster" announcements will be:

• $99 monthly payment plan for those unable to afford a one time $500 payment
• 10% Performance Bonus for all existing Coach's Corner members
• $2000/month guaranteed director pay plus health insurance for as little as 75 TSOs
• A YTB Exclusive Las Vegas package for only $99
• Commissions are to be paid to TSOs for quotes generated by their websites.

Class Action Refiled--More Hurt

Late July and August must be Lawsuit Season for YTB. Let's talk about the latest one; a refiled class action suit reported by Travel Weekly. 

It seems that the judge who told the attorneys to get their ducks in a line back in June have done a favor for the class.  On July 15, 2009, a newly re-filed suit  (PDF 83 Kb) tightens up the language, and also names several more defendants and co-conspirators.

It seems they took some of the lessons learned from California, and combined it with more detailed information, added some more plaintiffs (on behalf of the class) and upped the ante to include suing on 8 separate counts. Three for $100 million each and five for $10 million each. All told, it seems like a $350 million dollar suit to me.

The opening introduction is powerful:

Defendants have perpetrated an illegal pyramid scheme that represents the largest fraud in the history of the State of Illinois and one of the largest frauds in this history of this nation, exceeded only by the likes of Bernie Madoff’s illegal Ponzi scheme. The defendant corporations have taken over half a billion dollars from their unsophisticated customers, selling them on the dream of cheap travel and million dollar pay-outs when the only way that Plaintiffs and their class could make a net profit was by recruiting others to join the illegal pyramid scheme. While the median travel commission of YTB Defendants customers was $0, the directors of YTB International, Inc. each paid themselves multi-million dollar salaries while also siphoning tens of millions of dollars from their publicly traded corporation to privately owned corporations that they owned and controlled. Plaintiffs and their proposed class ask this Court to end Defendants’ massive fraud and to enter a judgment that compensates them for the hundreds of millions of dollars that Defendants swindled.

Wow, maybe Coach and Bernie can share a cell sometime!

Some interesting points from this filing:

• Utilizing the California argument (which has subsequently been resolved) the IMRs (Reps) cannot be expected to sell sites without buying one; therefore it is not a free opportunity, but a forced one.
• The majority of the Reps are indeed RTAs as well, contrary to the allegations of TravelPro.
• They name CCMP, Inc (BerylMartin--owned by Tomers and Sorensen), Meridian Land, Winfield Development, Tim Kaise, Clay Winfield and Bob Van Patten as co conspirators and additional defendants. I wonder if Bob signed on to be a party to a $350 million dollar suit?
• Reps or RTAs truly never "sell" anything; but merely refer the business/lead to YTB and YTB affects the actual sale.
• They open the door for consumers and travel agents claiming that the pyramid scheme injured both parties by stealing market share from brick and mortar agencies putting many out of business and at the same time increased the cost of travel for consumers. (Note: not so sure YTB has put too many out of business, but I suppose you never know.)
• BerylMartin has been paid in excess of $7 million dollars to provide marketing materials to YTB. In addition they cite that the payment to BerylMartin (noting that the actual cost has yet to be disclosed) was in excess of $8 million dollars.
  

This suit also makes one wonder if the Brents had an idea this was coming down as their agreement had a hold harmless clause.

I Wonder What This Means?

When you dial 618-655-9477, a recording comes along saying that the number has been disconnected and is no longer in service? Hmmm.

UPDATE:

To all valued members of YTB:

The YTB phone system is temporarily down. Our provider is working to restore their service as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank you.

YTB Home Office

CNN Chimes In On Job Scams

CNN has an interesting piece on job and work at home scams that are prevailing today. Here are some of the warning signs according to CNN.

• No legitimate employer asks you for money. This is a foolproof tip off that something's not right.
• Legitimate employers are seeking candidates with specific skills, knowledge and education. Watch for ads, even for entry-level jobs, that use the phrase 'no experience necessary,' especially when there is a promise of big money.
• 'Work from home' is not a job title. If it appears in the ad header, there's a good chance it's a come on. Scammers can rarely resist including it in the header -- it's the bait of their 'hook' as they fish for desperate people to reel in.
• Palm trees, mansions, beaches and bikinis.Successful scammers often bag their prey by dangling enticing things in front of them -- much like kidnappers do.,'If you get into my car I'll give you this candy bar...'
• There are essentially two ways to get listed with the Better Business Bureau: Buy a membership or get reported for bad business practices. While the absence of a company's name in their listings is not unusual -- not every business is a paying member of the BBB -- a C, D or F rating and multiple complaints are a flashing warning signal.

What does it mean when the BBB "revokes" your accreditation. Maybe IATAN can clue us in.

Another Workaround

Well, I need to give YTB credit. They have found all sorts of ways to make silk out of a sow's ear. First they demoted all the Reps and stopped giving them information to prevent YTB from being charged with contempt. Then they artfully designed the websites to comply with the terms (not necessarily the intent, but that is the AG's problem) of the settlement, and now this.

One of the requirements for California is that 60% or more of the people under any person must be ONLY travel sellers. They cannot participate in both opportunities. On the surface this seems like it might force YTB into selling more travel and concentrating on travel. But, they have the workaround.

Rather than comply directly with this requirement, they are simply artificially inflating the number of travel sellers (RTAs/TSOs). There are many people that simply quit YTB without an official notice. Maybe they canceled their cards or disputed the transactions.

Well, now YTB appears to be turning on all of these sites back on (after all they never got an official notice to turn them off) and can re-assign them at will to the appropriate Power Team Leaders who may not comply with the 60% rule. Shrewd. Very Shrewd.

And the big announcement at the convention will likley be a discount for those re-activated sites to become re-involved now that things are "so good" for YTB.

Aisle 19 Discount On Convention?

Maybe YTB needs to keep competitive with the Craigslist sales for the convention. What once was $125 and promised to increase has now been dropped to $99. Please note all of the directors featured in this video who are no longer there. I saw Bill Hoffmann, and Ron and Phyllis Bush!

Whoop, There It Is

Wow. Just Wow!

NOTE: This was supposed to publish automatically earlier this morning. Maybe something is wrong with Blogger.

According to USA Today, YTB's preferred airline partner is looking to sell standing room only on its planes.

Spring Airlines, a 4-year-old carrier that calls itself China's first low-cost airline, is seeking permission from that country's aviation regulators to reconfigure its planes to allow some stand-up "seats." Standing passengers would pay less than their conventionally seated fellow travelers.

Four years old? I thought Spring was the oldest and largest in China. YTB could not have mis-spoke could they?

Let Me Explain This In Plain English

The total number of Affiliates for 2008 was 84,135 and represented 93.66% of all Travel Site Owners. The 2008 annual income ranged from a low of $0.00 to a high of $25,368.62, with the average being $143.37. The months active ranged from 0 to 95, with the average being 16. Affiliates earn 60% of the commission paid to YTB.

So, let me get this straight...after being in YTB for almost a year an a half, I can expect to earn somewhere close to $150 a year?

The total number of Referring Travel Agents (RTA) for 2008 was 5,691 and represented 6.34% of all Travel Site Owners. The 2008 annual income ranged from a low of $7.52 to a high of $26,966.10, with the average being $490.39. The months active ranged from a low of 2 to a high of 91, with the average being 18. RTAs have completed First Class Training (at a cost of $149) and qualify to earn 70% of the commission received by YTB.

But, if I give YTB another $150 and stick it out for two more months, I can earn almost $500 a year?

In 2008, the typical cost incurred by a Travel Site Owner in their first 12 months is between $799.45 and $1,718.34.

But in order to make that kind of money I will need to invest a minimum of $800?

For the prior quarter, 1/1/2009-3/31/2009, the median income was $0.00. In 2008, 43,670 (49%) of all TSOs received no income at all. For the prior quarter, 1/1/2009-3/31/2009, 76,194 (77.66%) of all TSOs received no income at all. In 2008, 87,708 (61.38%) of TSOs who were paying the required web site hosting fees at the beginning of 2008 cancelled their membership with YTB Travel Network during 2008. For the prior quarter, 1/1/2009-3/31/2009, 23,943 (24.7%) of TSOs who were paying the required web site hosting fees at the beginning of the prior quarter cancelled their membership with YTB Travel Network.

And, if I was in YTB at the beginning of the year, there is a good chance I could have earned nothing? And 49% of these people (the ones that are paying $799 minimum a year) earned nothing?  And that percentage is climbing--77% earned nothing so far this year?  And 61% of the people quit last year, and 25% have already bailed out in the first quarter?  Hey wait a minute...25% times 4 quarters that equals 100%. Sign me up!

Don't believe me, here it is from the horse's ass mouth!


Now, explain to me again how easy it is going to be to sell this YTB 2.0 again?

Say 'Bon Voyage" To Your Clients

As YTB re-stated in their December 15th revision to their terms and conditions, the TSO or the Rep ultimately does not "own" the client or the client list.

Of course no one "owns" a client and the client if free to do business with whomever they like.

But it seems YTB is kicking that up a notch and will now be directly marketing to the clients of the TSOs. What ever happened to the best way to market was face to face? The following was forwarded to me and is excerpted from a YTB newsletter.

Traditionally, YTB has focused it's marketing efforts on THEIR customers - which is us, the Travel Site Owners and Reps. Beginning August 1, YTB will extend their efforts to the TSOs' customers as well -- the ultimate consumer of travel and retail products. As you'll hear at Convention, YTB will commence marketing on behalf of our TSOs. Deals and Steals will no longer be about travel only, although they'll continue to highlight great travel packages. In fact, you will have the ability to piece together highly targeted travel offerings to your customers. YTB will include a "Deal of the Week" and will focus on our most loyal customers like many of the top companies in the nation.

Does this also now mean that YTB will be re-combining the two "separate" businesses because the Deals and Steals will no longer be about "travel only"?

Happy Fourth of July

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

A Happy & Safe Independence Day!

Sound Familiar?

Do any of these press releases ring a bell?

PTN Continues Growth Strategy, Acquires Leading California Agency
FRESNO, Calif., June 23, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PTN, Inc. (OTCBB:PTVL) is pleased to announce today that the company has entered into an agreement to acquire Cruise Adventures, which has operated its travel business for nearly 10 years, in the affluent River Park retail shopping area, and is among the leading travel agencies in the Central Valley of California.

This acquisition is important as we continue to build our Retail Division. Cruise Adventures has operated successfully for 10 years under the ownership of Industry veteran Craig Mungary. Mr. Mungary will also take control of the Retail Sales Division of PTN, Inc, which now includes, Pro Travel Fresno, Cruise Adventures and Laser Travel of Melbourne Australia.

We are running a pyramid and in an attempt to comply with seller of travel laws, we will buy a agency, call it a "leading agency" and everyone will think we are legitimate.

Pro Travel Network Announces Q3 Results for Fiscal `09
FRESNO, Calif., May 18, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pro Travel Network, Inc. (OTCBB:PTVL) (the "Company") has released its unaudited financial results for its fiscal third quarter which ended March 31, 2009.

The Company had total revenues of $1,181,960 for that time period compared to revenues of $2,672,811 for the quarter which ended March 31, 2008. Gross profit was $602,477 compared to $1,104,167 for the same period last year. The company did experience a comprehensive loss of $94,981 for the third quarter compared to a comprehensive gain of $241,088 for the third quarter of 2008. As a result, earnings per share for the third quarter were $0.00 compared to earnings of $0.01 per share for the third quarter of 2008.

Pro Travel Network President & CEO Mr. Paul Henderson commented, "The first three months of this year were not only challenging for our company, but for the nation as a whole. Financial markets were under incredible stress and while some were looking for a bailout, we were looking for growth opportunities."

Eeks, people are seeing this scheme for what it is and are dropping like flies. But we will blame it on the economy and hope that people don't realize that the the revenues from the first three months probably came from prior sales.

Pro Travel Network Wins Award for Sales, Professionalism and Marketing
FRESNO, Calif., June 10, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pro Travel Network (OTCBB:PTVL) has been recognized in the industry for its sales, professionalism and marketing by Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival's top "Pinnacle Award" was given to Pro Travel as one of the top marketers of the "Fun Ship" vacation experience.

Apparently the Pinnacle Award is exclusive to Pyramid Schemes. Maybe the award designer made a boo boo and got the words confused..PINNACLE and PYRAMID..3 syllables, each starts with the letter "P". Not awarded to any legitimate travel agency...hmmm. Hey Carnival, are we on to something here?

Pro Travel Network Undergoes Name Change to Reflect New Ventures
FRESNO, Calif., May 28, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pro Travel Network, Inc. (OTCBB:PTVL) (the "Company") has announced that effective Friday, May 22, 2009, the Company has officially undergone a name change to PTN Inc. This will serve as a parent company to five separate operating divisions that will be launched this year beginning June 1st.

Company CEO Mr. Paul Henderson commented, "PTN is a travel related company with several travel related offerings. With the launch of several new products on the horizon, we believed that rather than launching them under the Pro Travel Network name, we would launch them as fully separate operating divisions, since they have very little in common with our current Pro Travel Network model."

Oops, we got in trouble on infringing on the brand of a legitimate travel business called ProTravel International (#22 on the TW Power List). Well, in order to more accurately reflect what we do, let's eliminate "pro" and "travel" from the name. That way when we add more potions and lotions, it will be easier.

And the financial playbook seems to be the same as well. Lose $1.7 million but pull a $600K+ salary. Hire the a used car salesman for your COO. It's a perfect recipe for a travel agency!

Once Inside, Now Out Looking In

This was posted on a forum. It is reportedly from a former Power Team Leader in YTB, yet offers the same advice many have been saying for years.

As a former Power Team Leader with YTB, I can understand why YTB Travel is not a good fit for many who have joined this program. As a result, their level of discontent has risen to the level where the States Attorney Generals of California, Missouri and Illinois are preparing lawsuits against Your Travel Biz. The following is a former YTB affiliate’s “inside” opinion about these recent turn of events:

We became an affiliate with Your Travel Biz (YTB) because of the large demand for travel. Since YTB is a virtual company that “sits” on the Internet, we used Internet marketing tools to grow and run our YTB business, set up custom web and blog sites for exposure, and used lead generation tools to drive traffic to our sites. The good news is that we were successful.. The bad new was that we were notified by YTB’s Legal Department that YTB does not allow its YTB affiliates to have custom web sites, or blog sites so we terminated our relationship with YTB in July, 2008.

As for others who joined YTB, their chances for success was limited from the start. Unfortunately, the demographic, or segment of the population, that is attracted to MLM’s or network marketing companies are often from lower income levels who view companies like Your Travel Biz as their ticket to get rich quick. Obviously, most of the people they know seldom travel, don’t go on cruises, don’t sign up for golf packages in Hawaii, and don’t have the $500 to join the program. Once they go through all their friends, family or “warm group” they run out of people to talk to and quit the business. Tragically, it’s really that simple, and much has been written about this reality.

Since YTB does not advertise, it’s up to the YTB Reps to get the word out about their home based travel business. How many people can the average YTB Rep tell about their online travel business as compared to the endless TV commercials that run Travelocity and Expedia.Com commercials 24X7? At the end of the day, your family, friends and warm group know about your home based travel agency and may book travel with you if they can get a better deal. Two problems with this scenario…YTB does not provide the best deals on travel, the commission on any domestic airline flight is $3 regardless of the ticket price, and how often does your “warm group” travel? Business travel doesn’t count because it’s booked through their company. In this case, not enough people will ever know about your YTB Travel business, can’t find your YTB web site on the Internet, and YTB’s policy does not allow custom web sites that provide the exposure you need so people can find you on the Internet.

As mentioned, the airline industry pays very little commission to travel agents. Roughly, $5 per domestic ticket. At Your Travel Biz, a YTB Rep gets 60% of $5, or $3 in commissions for each ticket booked on their YTB Travel site. The commissions for cruises are much better; however, how many people do you know that are taking a cruise next week? Usually you find out about someone taking a cruise after they have already booked the trip. In addition, no one takes a boat from St.Louis to Kansas City..They drive, or fly…

Most every MLM or Network marketing company pays commissions on people you recruit and bring into the business. In the beginning it’s very exciting, but before long two drop out for every one person you bring in…The drop out rate is high because the failure rates in MLMs is estimated at 80%. This failure rate is documented by most MLM industry analyst Secondly, they target the wrong audience or people to bring into the business. For example, recruiting people who have limited or no computer skills, literacy issues, aren’t open to learning or taking direction, low committment levels etc….

Since the failure rate for MLM’s, Network Marketing companies and any type of home based business is very high, what are the reasons for this extreem failure rate? People do not have the training required to succeed, lack of information, don’t use business tools, have little or no experience, don’t know enough people to contact, aren’t committed to working extreemly hard, little or no understanding of the power of the Internet, have limited computer skills, are not comfortable selling things period, aren’t familiar with the benefits of their product offering, don’t enjoy or know how to recruit people into their business and so on and so on…..

Moral of the story? Many YTB Travel competitors are using YTB’s legal problems as a tool to recruit people away from YTB. Let’s say the YTB Rep leaves and joins their company. He’s still faced with the same challenges to succeed, because nothing has really changed that would alter his chances for success. In most cases, he won’t make money at his new company for the same reasons he didn’t make money at YTB. So, who’s to blame? Is it YTB’s fault, the YTB Rep’s fault, or a combination of both parties? I fall back to my statement that some people just don’t fit within an MLM, network marketing or home based business regardless of the type of company or products they offer.

Convention Fallout?

It seems there are some cancellations for the convention next month!

CONVENTION ROOMS

Call ASAP to transfer this prime room to your credit card for reservation! Please call before June 30th.  Must Transfer No Later Than Monday, Jun 29th.  Room details are provided below:

1) Call Shirley ASAP: Her Phone is #XXX-XXX-XXXX Home or XXX-XXX-XXXX cell.
Room at the Mayfair Hotel.  This hotel is across the street (1/2 block) from the Convention Center.  Queen/Queen Suite with sofa sleeper cost $129.oo per night . 

2) Call Ms. Zenaida XXXXXX ASAP: Her Phone is XXX-XXX-XXXX, E-Mail: zXXXXXX@comcast.net.  Excellent hotel and location: Drury Plaza Hotel, 4th and Market Streets, St. Louis, MO.  Daily rate: $119.00

3) Contact: Buddy XXXXXX, XXX-XXX-XXXX
I will be unable to attend the 2009 YTB convention and training coming up at the end of July do to a conflict.  I have two rooms reserved at the Renaissance Grand Hotel, Grand Tower.  The special YTB Convention room rate of $129 per night applies to both rooms.  A person can take either or both rooms.
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ROOMMATE NEEDED
1) Call James XXXXXX ASAP! XXX-XXX-XXXX (Leave Message & Callback Number), James already has a room close to the convention and is looking for a male roommate to split the cost.
2) Call Mike XXXXXX ASAP! XXX-XXX-XXXX (Leave Message & Callback Number), Mike already has a room close to the convention and is looking for a male roommate to split the cost.
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CONVENTION TICKETS
1) We are unable to attend convention.  I have two convention tickets that I paid $125 each for and willing to sell the two of them for a total of $150. Call me if you know anyone who could use them at this great price.
Barb XXXXXX
XXX-XXX-XXXX
XXXXXX@q.com
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2) Selling one (1) convention ticket for $100.  Call Mike XXXXXX ASAP! travelguidz (Leave Message & Callback Number),

Psst--why don't Mike and James hook up since they are both looking for the same thing.