From the president of Marketamerica.com!

Good afternoon, Market America:

This is JR Ridinger coming to you from New York City. It is hard to believe that it has been 2 months since that incredible convention, and now we are in the middle of Regionals. I know region 5 in Dallas and region 8 in Oakland, California had incredible events from the overwhelming response on Chatterbox, e-mail, and voice mail; and the momentum towards February’s World Conference in Miami is already building.

It is exciting to be able to offer people a solution and hope during all of the economic fireworks and turbulence. The timing has never been better to build the business, because we have people’s attention and we have a solution. We are Building the Economy of the Future, and collectively, we are able to build our own sub economy and ecosystem using our buying power and marketing plan. In any economic crisis, the deck of cards that everyone has gets reshuffled. If you don’t like the hand you have been dealt it offers a chance to do better. If you have a good hand you need to know how to protect your position and hold onto the cards you want, but there is still an opportunity to gain better cards from the reshuffle. I would like to take a few minutes to talk about the economic climate, what some of the causes and effects are, some of the opportunities, and how you can actually benefit from this. While some see a crisis; I see an opportunity. This is an opportunity to grow like never before.

The economic turmoil has been appropriately referred to as the perfect economic storm. In other words, there are separate economic problems (storms) converging at the same time to create a much more powerful storm. Let’s look at the storms and the come back to evaluate each one.

Storm 1: One storm is the price escalation of gas. Some say we are running out of oil and do not have time to find alternative sources. That is why the prices will rise to a point where the economy crashes.

Storm 2: Another storm is the decline in job security. Because of the slow down in the economy, there are fewer jobs, and unemployment will rise. Because of the
credit crunch and stock market slump, there will be many mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, and many people with “secure” jobs will be eliminated.

Storm 3: The real estate market is depressed, the mortgage market is frozen, and Wall Street and the stock market have failed, and had to be bailed out by the government to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

Storm 4: Consumer spending is down; people don’t have any money; and businesses will close as a result.


OK, let’s look at the cause and effect of each storm, and how this reshuffles the cards. Behind every crisis is the seed for an equal or greater opportunity. History has proven this repeatedly. In discussing this—bear in mind an important universal law: All bubbles will eventually burst when they over expand.

The economy and markets are really and ecosystem—an equilibrium equation—and when things get out of whack, they will always adjust and come back into balance over time. The important thing is to take advantage of the direction of change. I will discuss what the cause and effect of each one of these storms is and how the business can be the solution for people. It is too much for one voice mail, so I will address one issue a day—beginning today. So stay tuned each day for another dose. The bottom line is: if you have a regional in your area, get people to the Regional Convention!


We have a solution, and people need to hear about solutions and alternatives instead of being swept away by the press and the shadow of pessimism that is cast by this adversity. It is a shadow, not the final reality. There is an equal or greater seed for success and opportunity behind the challenges at hand, and you can leverage it to greater success, regardless of what has happened in the markets or in your own portfolio. To do nothing is to be the effect, and to be swept away by circumstance. That is not a smart thing to do! People need to be around positive, forward- looking, solution- oriented opportunists—not defeatists! Life will go on.

Let’s begin with STORM 1.

Storm 1-Rising Gas Prices: There is no argument that we need to develop alternative energy sources. Unfortunately, that won’t happen without higher prices because we only do what we are forced to do out of economic necessity. Hopefully we have reached that point. The truth of the matter is, though, that we are not out of oil. The increase in price is an effect of gas companies raising prices to profit from the crisis. They claim they are doing it to buy reserves, or for exploration, but the truth is that they are just gouging us. The bottom line is that they have increased prices to make record profits at our expense, while they continue to claim that oil may run out. That’s who we ought to be infuriated with, and maybe that is where the government should intercede! Regardless, the fear is that prices are so high, that people are cutting back on travel, and it is forcing the price of everything to go up. But consider this—at the same time, it is creating an economic incentive and reason to develop alternative energy sources and more efficient cars. Their bubble will burst, and the demand for gas will go down. Alternative sources will be developed, and gas prices, as well as dependency on gas, will change over time. In the mean time –what does this mean to you? What does it mean for the business? How do you turn this into opportunity? How can you be part of the cause for change rather than the effect of this? How can you take advantage of the effect to capitalize on it?

ANSWER: The gas crisis is causing people not to drive as much, and it is smart not to run all over town shopping at numerous stores. More people are shopping online, and getting things delivered. Yes, shipping costs are up because of the gas prices, but it’s still much greener and fuel- efficient to fill trucks to the brim with packages and have them delivered to your home than it is for everyone to get in their cars and go shopping from store- to- store. And if you use HOT DEALS on our portal, you can find many online deals that offer free shipping as well as special offers and discounts to offset those gas prices. Now that’s a way to benefit from the gas crisis!

Internet shopping is on the rise compared to the declining retail sales in brick and mortar. You are actually in the right place at the right time to take advantage of this crisis. You can compare numerous stores and brands online, and get the best selection at the best price, and have it on your door step practically overnight. You can literally compare 20 different products from numerous stores and vendors without driving and wasting gas or spending hours running around. You can even do it from home— at 2 a.m. if you like. People are looking to save dollars by not driving and by getting the best deal. This is much easier to do online than in- line at the store. OK—what about the cost of gas and travel to build the business? First of all, the cost of gas has been this high or higher in Europe for as long as I can remember—so what’s new? Maybe we just finally caught up to Europe and the rest of the world. Let me share with you an actual experience. Do you remember the gas crisis and OPEC Oil embargo in the early 80s (or was it the late 70s –I lost track of time!) I was in the business as a successful distributor and everyone was panicking. Not only was gas at a record $2 to $3 at the time, you also had to wait in line an hour to get it, and it was rationed! Back then, we couldn’t do conference calls (It was too expensive, and the technology wasn’t available.) and we couldn’t show the plan online or do webinars. We had to drive to all of our meetings. Unemployment and inflation were soaring at all- time highs, but we turned the lemons into lemonade. People were worried about job security, and people who wouldn’t have dreamed of job-hunting before, wanted a “plan B”—a secondary income to supplement their job in order to make ends meet, and to keep up with double- digit inflation and gas prices.

We grew faster than ever because we offered a solution to the economy. People were willing to do more to sustain their lifestyles. We turned the worries and economic woes into growth! And as far as gas and meetings, well that is where I came up with “Don’t invite people to meetings—BRING THEM—because 100% of the people you bring show up!” Have you heard this in the Basic 5? Well, that is where it originated, and it worked. In fact, it worked so well that I never stopped doing it— even after the gas crisis subsided. We would car pool to local and regional seminars. We trained people to believe that a ticket to a seminar was a ticket to beat the economy. If you got two people to the meeting, the extra money you would earn would offset the effect of the economy on you, personally. You know it is true! By doing more and getting people to do more, we made more money.

Today, we can also do more online presentations and webinars to cut down on the initial one- on- ones or driving to see someone. When we do second looks, we carpool or pick prospects up. And what about this one—we began to sell a gas additive that increases gas mileage by 5 -10%, and our sales for that product increased by over 200%. Do you realize the opportunity with friction free? Not only does it make your engine last longer and reduce the maintenance on your car, (all saving big money) but it also increases gas mileage by 15% or more. That is significant at $3 a gallon! Everyone in the business and everyone in your partner organization should be using it, and as they keep track of their increase in gas mileage, they will be compelled to tell all of their Preferred Customers about it, and undoubtedly the word will spread like wildfire.

Never forget the people power aspect of our business as a customer manager and product broker. Our business provides a service where a UFO can provide products to a customer. We deliver these products to our communities.

...Stay tuned for Part 2...