For many years traditional retail companies have searched
for ways to attract new customers by using positive product experiences from
satisfied customers to attract new customers.
Companies like Avon, Stanley Home, Tupperware and Mary Kay used a type
of referral marketing that eventually evolved into what is known as Network
Marketing, Party Plan, MLM or Multi-Level Marketing. All of these versions of profit sharing are
not equal from my observation and study of network marketing.
As much as I try to remain objective on the subject I observe
that when money is involved, greed and avarice gets creative. Just look at Wall Street and the complex
financial instruments that came from the mortgage industry which was basically
a thinly veiled Vegas Style betting scheme using the public’s money by way of
mortgage financing options with bets for repayment of mortgages and bets for
failure of repayment. Wall Street played
both sides to “hedge” the bets, so Hedge Funds profited using the stunningly
complex and sometimes ridiculous financial instruments named credit default
swaps.
The same could be said for the Network Marketing industry as
the “creative” impulse spawned more and more ways of attracting new business and
creating wealth via aggressive recruiting.
What seemed like a logical way to capitalize on good products and good
will turned into a Vegas Style casino game of lure, recruit and close the
prospect, once you got them, you got them.
It would be remiss for anyone to say ALL network marketing
companies have this culture of borderline deceit but I have to say, I’ve seen
it all. Am I an expert? Absolutely!
One can only be an expert when they have accrued years of evaluation and
have actually participated in the market form.
It’s one thing to view anything from the outside intellectually, it’s
another to truly “know” it from the inside out as the experience of success,
failure and the tedium of sweating the details on a daily basis is what makes
someone en expert. In other words, you
have lived it, the good the bad and the ugly.
For years Steve and I were approached by the big popular MLM
companies of the day so Steve and I evaluated each company based on the products,
pricing, payment system, potential risk and culture. If any of these failed to meet our criteria
of sane business practices the answer was no.
So let’s just say there were hundreds of no’s.
That said in 1994 we
were introduced to a company with a new version of network marketing, the first
company to successfully use a binary marketing system for payment and had
progressive, proprietary products that were the real deal; they were amazing
for the time. The marketing structure
was safe, had little chance of financially hurting anyone and truly rewarded
those that promoted the products and marketing system. This is where the real story behind our
company Your Holistic Life started.
The History of Your Holistic Life
In 1991 my mom Emily Stoetzner was diagnosed with stomach
cancer. The emotional blow was
devastating as she was the pinnacle of health.
After stomach removal, followed by chemo and intense side effects, she
finally lost her life in 1994 the day after her birthday. This affected me, my dad and my partner Steve
profoundly. With the stress and loss, my
dad had a major stroke that robbed him of the ability to walk or speak
normally. The doctors placed him in
rehab and on prescription meds for 3 months with little improvement and I was
told he would not improve as the damage to his brain was permanent. I wasn’t convinced or should I say I wasn’t
ready to throw in the towel.
A friend introduced me to a network marketing company that had
several great products, one of which was an OPC based antioxidant product. At this time clinical studies on OPC’s were limited but
the indication was that OPC’s (oligomeric proanthocyanidin) crossed the blood
brain barrier and improved things like cholesterol level, blood platelet
aggregation and increased oxygen in the
blood both of which might help my dad.
I placed him on an aggressive dose and immediately he
responded with improvement in his speech.
After 3 months his walking improved drastically and he was speaking
almost normally! He even got a part time
job at my buddy’s gym in Simsbury Connecticut opening the gym at 5:00 am each
morning then he would work out after his shift.
My dad lived 13 more years golfing each day in Daytona Beach Florida and
lecturing on World War II. I guess the
doctors didn’t see that one coming. Of
course we became strong product promoters for this OPC product and yes we made
some good money promoting the product and system as there were no similar
products on the market, this company was the only source.
In 2003 Steve’s mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and
in 3 months she was gone too. His dad
fell and ended up in a wheelchair and needed constant attention so Steve took
care of him for 4 years. Of course
Steve made him take the OPC as it had a huge effect on his attention, mood and
health. Still our life was never the
same as we were caregivers 24/7. After
Lou died life wasn’t the same. We simply
didn’t know what to do with ourselves as we always took care of others. Now it was just us.
Curiously, things took a turn for the worse at that OPC
Network Marketing Company. Once they
became successful and the owners became wealthy things changed. Everything became about the money. There were yachts, amazing homes and sports
cars that were flaunted and the real injury was that costs were increased to
the distributors and products. What was
once a fair system with exclusive and fairly priced products became an
expensive nightmare. Steve and I were
devastated and felt betrayed and foolish so we quit that company despite still
making a solid income. We just couldn’t
be involved anymore morally or ethically.
In 2005 on a hiking trip in Sedona Arizona we had a heart to
heart. There was no other source of a
quality OPC product and we knew for our future health, considering our family
history of cancer and stroke, we wanted and needed a trusted source of
progressive nutritionals including an OPC product so we decided to form our own
company Your Holistic Life. For 2 years
I interviewed many manufacturers scrutinizing their credentials and ability to
deliver what we wanted. We funded
everything ourselves by me working as a Realtor selling homes and Steve
returning to Electrical Computer Engineering.
The 16 hour day was normal but at least we knew our company and products
from the inside out.
In 2007 we came out with our first group of proprietary
products including a premium OPC product that frankly eclipsed any other, a
Greens Product, Joint Support product and a Whole Food Multi Vitamin all of
which were sharply priced and a great value.
This is where things got interesting.
Steve brilliantly designed and built a retail ecommerce website,
established credit card processing and we threw up our first group of products
on the internet. We told a handful of
people we knew and overnight we had a decent group of customers giving us
amazing feedback on the products and value, especially our OPC-AX™ antioxidant!
In 6 months we grew despite no advertising or promotion and
we were stunned at even our modest growth.
We didn’t know these new customers so we contacted each one of them and
asked; where did you come from? 100%
answered that they were referred to our website and products by a customer that
was already using and loving the products despite no incentive to do so. That
was a revelation!
So out of respect for our referring customers we decided to
reinvent what we knew about referral / network marketing and add it to our company
as it made perfect sense. It took three
years, but Steve, me and his brother Len created our amazing referral and Wholesale
Membership system with no outside help or funding. This way no one could tell us to put profit
before people as we had complete control and ownership of our software and
systems. Normally this would cost
millions to accomplish but we had enough talent between the three of us to
sweat the details and do it ourselves while working regular jobs.
From our previous experience with Network Marketing we
clearly knew what we didn’t want.
We hated the typical MLM hype and BS promising people to become
millionaires, blah blah blah. We hated
how company’s forced distributors to buy tons of products each month for the
privilege of making a few bucks pushing products or the “dream” on other
people. So we set out to create a hybrid
business model based on quality value products paired with a Wholesale
Membership business model like Costco® but with an affiliate style profit
sharing system to reward people for referring others to the products. Our products were great values even at retail
price so customers were free to buy from our “Members” websites for retail
thereby earning the Member the retail profit, simple. So in 2011 we introduced our innovative
Wholesale Membership.
There was no selling, no taking people’s money, no buying a garage
full of stuff for people, buying hundreds of dollars each month to stay
“qualified” or delivering products. It
was simply a quiet online referral. In
fact 100% of our Members enrolled to get our products for Member Wholesale
saving them money like a Costco® membership.
The $19.95 to become a YHL Member simply made sense once a retail customer
had a great product experience so the company grew naturally and organically. Quality, Value and Savings are the backbone
of Your Holistic Life and no one is forced to push stuff on neighbors or their
family or buy tons of stuff each month.
We reinvented what a good wholesale buying system should be. We are the change the industry needed.
So the real take away here is this question; why did we
start Your Holistic life and who did we formulate the products for? Was it for a “market”? Was it to offer some hyped up miracle product
that would make us bazzillions?
The answer is we formulated the products for
US! Steve and I wanted a dependable
source for ourselves with the highest quality and efficacy so we could age
gracefully to complement our lifestyle of active fitness and quality food
choices. This is how Steve and I lived
our lives anyway but the missing piece was having products we could trust from
a good company, so we decided to trust ourselves and formed Your Holistic Life. It just happened that other people liked what
we did and voted with their dollars.
We have done no advertising or promotion beyond word
of mouth. We still represent
quality and value as the reason YHL exists.
We still stand by our standards of progressive formulations that are
different from what is offered in the stores and are much better values. One of the vitamins I recommend to everyone
is something we do not even carry, vitamin D-3.
There is nothing I can do to improve D-3 or provide a better value than
Costco’s brand so I stay out of that market, yet I recommend it.
Our #1 product OPC-AX™; a premium powder to liquid
antioxidant is quite another story.
Nothing on the market comes close, period. No other company produces a broader range OPC
based antioxidant for the price. The
taste is amazing so people love taking their morning “antioxidant cocktail” and
the formula is an example of pure brilliance and innovation. The retail price is $54.95 for a 2 month
supply and is a hit with our retail customers. Our Members buy it for $39.95 so it’s even a bigger
hit at wholesale!
So to anyone who says all network marketing company’s are pyramids and
don’t have “real” customers, I plainly say, that is a lie. There are many that offer progressive products and value. We have real retail customers who have no
interest in becoming a Wholesale Member so they buy for retail because the
quality and value are stunning.
Yet most of our Members come from being a retail customer first, then after
seeing and feeling the difference our products make in their lives, they enroll
as a Wholesale Member to save themselves money, just like a Costco® membership. I don’t see Costco® being called a pyramid.
So in many ways I am critical of many MLM companies who have
expensive products, deceptive recruiting practices and brutal buying
requirements. I simply do not think this
antiquated way of marketing is pertinent for today. But in my experience I have seen amazing
products from these companies and many are beyond the quality and innovation
you see in retail stores. Who am I or
anyone to say that marketing in a store is any better than buying online from a
referral you know. You just have to be
your own advocate and become informed.
That said the common sins of the network marketing industry were bound
to change. I know of one very big and
old network marketing company that has embraced the Membership business model
and offers quality products that stress no one’s budget but actually save
people money to give them access to non-toxic naturally based products at less
money than the toxic store bought brands.
So I observe that the industry truly is changing.
As for me, Steve and Your Holistic Life, we reinvest
everything into refining our products and expanding our product lines as
needed. We see the natural but steady
expansion of our company as the result of our personal desire, intent, care and
diligence so if we stay a small boutique company known for quality, innovation
and value, so be it, that suites us.
Ferrari’s may be nice
but at our age, naaah. I’ll take hiking
in Sedona eating amazing quality food (and drinking killer bourbon) as our
version of luxury. As for that Network
Marketing Company that emotionally crushed us, we thank you for pissing us
off. Your Holistic Life would never have
happened if you haven’t done that to us.
It was only a matter of time before someone reinvented the network
marketing business model into something that properly served customers’ needs and
gave them ultimate choice in how much they pay for products and IF they want to
refer others to the products and reward them for this good will. It was only a matter of time that it was us.
We believe in this new concept in Referral Marketing. We believe in our products of high value. We believe in offering choice to our Customers
and Members and we believe we can help change a market form that had a dubious
past into something that is new and fair.
We believe in Your Holistic Life!
By: Philip Stoetzner, Director of Product Development, Your Holistic Life
