The Real Quixtar Blog

Independence Days

Kia — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:15:00 GMT

Since I was born in Canada, I grew up with "Dominion Day" and, later, "Canada Day" on July 1. That was the first half of my life. The second half, so far, has been here in the U.S. It's Independence Day, right? Why does everyone just call it the Fourth of July? Why not call it by name? We don't call Christmas the "25th of December." We don't call Thanksgiving "November whatever it is this year-th."

Independence should be proclaimed, rather than hidden by a number. Independence is valued here in the U.S. like nowhere else in the world, probably including Canada, which has always been proud to part of a greater Brittania. Officially, I'm still a Canadian (which is what I still tell people when they ask if I'm a Democrat or a Republican). But as time goes on and my accent disappears, I become more and more American. I guess I just need to bite the bullet (but not literally) and do the Citizenship test thing. I think I'm past the draft age anyway.

When I first came to the U.S., I thought Americans were perhaps a little silly in how much they waved their flag. Coming from a smaller (population-wise) country, America seemed so full of itself. Now that I've been here for more than 20 years, when I go back to visit family in Canada I now think maybe Canadians wave their flag (and wear it) even more than Americans ... maybe it's just a matter of perception, or maybe the equation really has flip flopped (along with the value of each nation's dollars) during the past few decades. Anyway, now I know why Americans were waving their flag so much. This IS a great country (despite what many people now say) built upon great principles.

Today I view myself as more American than Canadian, probably the way my parents came to view themselves as Canadians after immigrating from the Netherlands in the 1950s. They still were proud of their Dutch heritage and rooted for the Netherlands in international sports events, the same way I now have two countries to be proud of (although I tend to root for Canada more only because of their underdog status, even when it's hockey and they're not the underdog at all).

I tend to like movies like Braveheart and The Patriot that celebrate "independence from tyranny." The funny thing is, growing up in Canada, which remained loyal to England during the Revolution here in the colonies, the history we were taught was probably a little different than what was taught here. In fact, my childhood home was on the "Loyalist Parkway" and I first went to "Loyalist College" -- both honoring the formerly American colonists who remained loyal to the crown and landed on the Lake Ontario shores of Prince Edward County, just south of where I grew up on the Bay of Quinte.

While Canada's independence from Great Britain happened much later than America's, it was no less real. It was a lot more peaceful, to be sure. I think, in the end, the two countries have arrived at pretty much the same place -- free, democratic societies, with fair laws, tolerance for different viewpoints, and unlimited opportunity. Perhaps different tax scales. While many Americans have sought a better life north of the border (or said they would if political races didn't go the way they wanted), I would guess that more Canadians have moved here to seek a better life, given the fact that only a few countries like Mexico, China, Vietnam and Germany rival Canada as the origination of U.S. immigrants.

Anyway, it's time to go home for the week. We have the Fourth off (that's Independence Day, by the way) as well as the Seventh (that's "Extra Day for Alticor Employees Day"). To Canadians, I hope your Canada Day was sunny and bright and warm. I hope you enjoyed the music at the bandstand and the pancakes at the community breakfast and the fireworks near downtown. To Americans, I wish you the same tomorrow. Celebrate your independence! Celebrate your freedom and the great country you live in! Celebrate the promise of what's to come, without dwelling on what hasn't been.

Re-entry

Kia — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:12:00 GMT

I came into the office this afternoon to ease my re-entry. I'm not supposed to be back until tomorrow from vacation, but we made the strategic decision to drive from Orlando to Grand Rapids non-stop, which put me in my bed sometime between 3 and 4 a.m. and allowed me to sneak into the office this afternoon, where I've been greeted by some happy faces, piles of newspapers, magazines and email, a red blinking light on my phone, and a sea of red in my email inbox. And, of course, several unposted blog comments (which are now posted!).

We rented a condo in Orlando the past week and did the obligatory visits to Disney parks, Sea World and Cocoa Beach. Jack, my six-year-old, braved thrilling rides and got his first real Mickey hug. Conner and Dillon found many ways to make interesting noises in the van during long stretches of driving, which of course frayed my nerves and at times made me the "bad dad" who snarls at his kids. We ate at great restaurants (try Manny's Chop House in Winter Haven) and Kari and Amanda went antique shopping. We sat at the pool a lot, and Conner and I got burned just a little (me because I couldn't reach my back when putting on the lotion and forgot to ask someone to get me when I arrived at the pool).

Yesterday, after getting a very early start and having my family sleep in the van behind me, we stopped at a Waffle House in Georgia for brekkie. We don't have the WH up here in Michigan. We also don't have grits served up here very often. It was a good cultural experience for the family.

My son Dillon is really into Civil War stuff right now, so we stopped at the Chickamauga battlefield museum just south of Chattanooga on the way back home yesterday. There's a "driving tour" of the battlefield with lots of great monuments to check out. I'd loved to have spent more time there actually walking the fields and woods with the boys. But the two-hour break from driving was all we got. We plan on doing some of the more eastern Civil War destinations in the future, but the Chickamauga tour was actually quite educational and interesting. Even for Amanda, I think, who is not very much into that sort of thing.

We drove through a lot of cities I've never been to, thanks to Garmin Nuvi. Because of the side trip to Chickamauga, we were thrown off our plans a little to return all the way home via I-75. The GPS (we nicknamed it "Jenny") was bringing us up through Chattanooga from Fort Oglethorpe a different way than we had arrived. I assumed it was bringing us back to I-75, but it actually was taking us out the west side of Chattanooga to I-24 to Nashville, where we were "re-calculated" to take 65 up to Indianapolis and 69 to 94 to 131 to GR. Let's just say that by the time my thickness realized we were on a new path, it had become the shorter trip. SO, we ended up going to Nashville and Bowling Green and Elizabethtown and Louisville (I've never been to any of these places, but they sure look nice from the freeway). We went through Indianapolis, which I have been to before. And then through Fort Wayne, which looks really nice for a city you're passing at 75 mph at 1 a.m. It seemed to be very popular with truckers, since so many of them were parked along the interstate there. In fact, at that time of night, you kind of feel like an invincible Mario Andretti passing semi trucks one after the other, with no other passenger cars challenging your road supremacy.

Ok. Enough of my road ramblings. I'm back at my desk and wading through tons of communications coming at me from every direction (electronic, print, and in-person). Somehow, though, it still seems less stressful than navigating America by minivan with four kids in the back and the price of gas going through the roof.

Touring America

Kia — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:14:00 GMT

And the winner is ... another company won the "Innovations" award at the DSA conference for a brand bus they used to crisscross the nation in support of their representatives. Which is ironic, for reasons that will soon become apparent. I'm still proud that Opportunity Zone was a finalist and well-regarded by attendees. That was readily apparent from the roundtable discussions I hosted where other companies continue to ask questions about how we were able to launch the Zone and how we are able to have these conversations on company-hosted space. I'm used to some IBOs coming up to me at Achievers or other places and striking the Kia pose when they see me, but it kind of blew me away when a communications from a competitor company did so. Superdu!

Anyway, it was a great DSA conference and lots of good speakers presented and I met with some key vendors who have interesting ideas about ways we can better support IBOs with their services. Of course, in almost all cases we already have vendors doing the exact same things the vendors at the conference offer (and sometimes we already work with the vendor presenting at the conference).

Some of the booths at the DSA's expo were occupied by city convention bureaus, including St. Louis, Louisville, Fort Worth, Kansas City and Nashville. All of them have expressed gratitude for the business they generate from IBO-hosted events, and I let them know that there was potential that someday the company might host a regional event there too, which really perked their ears up. They had no idea that we were on the road! I told them that we have L.A., Greensboro and Orlando under our belts with another seven Spotlight events to go, and they were excited to hear that we might do this again in 2009.

What are the best cities for us to visit in support of IBOs? If it were up to this blog's audience to decide where to go to best support your sales and sponsoring efforts, where would that be? Let me know. Right now, I'm putting in a vote for Grand Rapids. Perhaps that's just because I'm ready to settle down for a minute and stay at home for a bit. No such luck. On Monday we load up the van and head out to Florida for more than a week.

SO, between now and June 25, it is unlikely that I will blog. Not impossible, but unlikely. Kari looks askance at me when doing "corporate" things on family time. :-Y I hope your summer is getting off to a great start. My last kid served his last half day of "time" yesterday. My in-laws are in town to help us celebrate my daughter's high school graduation tomorrow (big Open House, you're all invited). And then we hit the road. No matter how busy it gets here at the company, it always seems to pale in comparison to how busy life can be with four kids ranging from 6 to 18. Go figure.

Airports

Kia — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:41:00 GMT

I have spent a considerable amount of time in airports this past year. There have been a few times I've been fortunate enough to fly in one of Amway's corporate aircraft. In addition to a great on-flight experience, the nice thing about flying corporate is the time savings. Parking is right outside the doors of our hangar and there's no check-in process and security lines. Sometimes there are delays, but there are just as many times that we finish a meeting early and we're able to get in the air sooner than scheduled. How often does that happen when flying commercial?!

At this point I'm daydreaming about corporate flights because I'm sitting in the terminal at Gerald R. Ford International, Grand Rapids' airport. My flight that was supposed to leave at 7 a.m. was cancelled, so now I'm not leaving til 2 p.m. That leaves me here for several more hours. My daughter brought me here early this morning and went back home and to bed. My wife worked last night and is sleeping in a little before taking kids to church. In other words, being the nice guy that I am, I didn't want to wake them up to make the 20-minute drive each way to get me. There's a Starbucks here and free Wi Fi so I'm all set to wait it out.

Before this past winter, I've never had anything more serious than a flight delay happen. My luggage was delayed half a day once when I went to the Dominican Republic, but I survived. This winter, however, I had flights cancelled twice while on the road. The first time left me stuck at O'Hare in Chicago, where I was able to get the last room at the Hilton built into the airport at 11:30 p.m. Snow prevent us from taking off that day. Then, a month or so later, after traveling back from Prague ALL DAY, I was stuck in Minneapolis overnight because it was too snowy in GR. The worst part about that was that my early afternoon flight was cancelled and they put me on an early evening flight that was also cancelled ... by the time I had vouchers in hand and a room booked at the offsite hotel and all was said and done, it was too late to go to The Mall of the Americas, which I could see from my hotel window. I'd never been there, and that would have been just about the only redeeming factor of a forced overnight stay.

While I'm sitting here, I'm seeing others from Amway heading off to flights to go to the same destination as me. Their flight is not cancelled, but it's full. So here I sit. Waiting. By the time I get there tonight, I will have missed a committee meeting and the opening event of the conference. Ugg.

Ok... I have to keep reminding myself, free WiFi and a Starbucks ... free WiFi and a Starbucks ... it's OK that I'm still sitting here waiting for the airline that has charged us a pretty penny to fly like cattle in steerage to get me on a plane, because there's free WiFi and a Starbucks...

TV Ads Up and Running ...

Kia — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:56:00 GMT

But I haven't been watching a lot of TV, so I haven't seen one at home. I've only got the ones online. Here are the Amway Global "Now You Know" ads, version one, version two, and version three. The first is a 60, the other two are 30s. They're actually quite nice and feature a very recognizable voice. Can you guess who? Anyway, if you want to be surprised (sort of) while watching TV, the ad schedule is posted at Quixtar.com. So is the local ad schedule for target markets across the U.S.

I did watch TV last night. A lot of it. The Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins played into Triple Sudden Death Overtime and I stayed up til the bitter end early this a.m. Detroit lost (sigh), depriving us of a home Stanley Cup celebration (unless it goes to Game 7, which would cause much nail-biting). Detroit has a 3-2 lead in games, so they have two more opportunities to close out the series.

And when I'm not watching the Red Wings, I should be running, right?!

This weekend I leave for Phoenix, Ariz., to attend the annual national Direct Selling Association conference. I've gone the past few years since I'm on the national Communications Committee and my area oversees our national affiliations (including U.S. DSA membership). This year is a little special, however, since The Opportunity Zone is one of three finalists for the DSA's annual "Innovation Award." The DSA hands out just a few awards each year. We've won before for the company's community involvement, but never for innovation. So, keep your fingers crossed!

What makes O'zone innovative? Well, it's something a lot of Direct Selling companies would like to do, but haven't yet because of internal barriers. It takes a lot of internal sign-offs to create a place where people talk about all your dirty laundry. (Today's blog post is brought to you by SA8 Premium with BioQuest laundry detergent from Amway Global. SA8 will take care of those nasty stains.) Other major players in the Direct Selling industry deal with online critics and negativity just as we have. Again, when you're in a person-to-person business involving tens or hundreds of thousands of people (from Avon to Mary Kay, Herbalife to Nuskin, Shaklee to Tupperware), you will have critics. And as I've said before, if you've got something bad to say, you say it online these days.

Anyway, I sure hope we win. It will give me something to blog about. :)

Running with Conner

Kia — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:49:00 GMT

OK, after the first week, I was down about 5 lb., mostly through cutting out most snacks and making some healthier meal choices. Oh, and a bit of running. I've now done 3 miles a day for the last 7 days, except one day when I did the elliptical machine at the Alticor fitness center.

I would like to set the goal of doing the Riverbank Run here in GR, which is the national 25K championship race (15 miles for most of us), but that requires a whole different level of commitment which I'd really have to make sometime late this fall. A co-worker here ran it this year and started training seriously before Christmas (the run is in May).

The BEST thing, however, is that this weekend I went running with my 14-year-old son Conner twice. He is finishing 8th grade and did X-country and Track (1600m and 800m) this past year. He wants to try out for high school cross country this fall, but hasn't done the 5K distance in the past (Middle School cross country was 1.5 miles). SO, we've talked about running together at least twice a week. What's great about running with someone is that you push each other. I noticed a huge difference between running with and without him. Plus, you hold each other accountable. And, in this case, what a HUGE way to bond with your teen son.

I'm looking forward to getting back in shape and spending more time with Conner on the streets of GR. Maybe we both can train for the Riverbank Run. Hmmmm.....

Conner

No More Excuses

Kia — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:52:00 GMT

Annually Amway holds a "Weight Wars" challenge for employees, where teams (or, in the past, individuals) lose weight for six weeks and win prizes. I joined a team this year because I am at the heaviest weight I've been ... ever. Well, I was last week. Now I'm not. Now I'm four pounds lighter than I was at my heaviest ever.

I went running yesterday for the first time in months. Winters in Michigan get in the way, but we have a beautiful indoor fitness center with lots of cardio machines, so that's not a good excuse. I did have ACL surgery last spring, but I've recovered long ago and really had not excuse. We have been busier here at work than ever and I have accepted new responsibilities and I have had to travel alot and ... many other excuses.

My dad had a heart attack in his mid-40s. I'm 43. My dad had a belly. Mine's coming along quite nicely. There are many other similarities (except the fact that he had a heart valve defect ... but I doubt that had much to do with his attack) and I need to make the changes in my life that will keep me here for my family and friends and community and, for as long as they'll have me, my work here!

So, no more excuses. I will eat healthier. I will excercise more. I will adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Do you have excuses? And I don't just mean about your health or weight ... but about whatever it is that you wish you had or wish you were or wish you could do or whatever. Today is the day to stop finding barriers and instead find openings. Start turning closed doors into wide open passageways.

I really am sore today after running three miles and doing weights. But I will go back for more. I have a weigh-in on Thursday. :-)

Still Tops in Online H&B Sales

Kia — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:52:00 GMT

The 2008 edition of Internet Retailer's "Top 500 Guide" just came out and Quixtar continues to be the online sales leader for the Health and Beauty category. Web sales are reported at $861 million, giving us an estimated 35% share of the H&B business online. There were 24 online retailers listed in our category with sales representing 4.8% of all retail sales.

Overall, Quixtar dipped a little to #26 overall, reflecting our flat year and others' continued growth. Internet Retailer's ranking methodology involves contact with hundreds of online retailers and detailed surveys that need are filled out by company representatives. The magazine ranks based on sales figures provided by the companies and, where companies do not disclose, through analyst estimates. Quixtar received an "excellent" ranking for web site performance metrics, including a decent webpage download response time plus 100% "site availability" (based on 3,360 tests). Only five retailers ranked higher than Quixtar in overall sales received similar "excellent" ratings and only four could claim 100% availability.

The profile of Quixtar in the guide cites the web work of the past year with Avenue A / Razorfish, noting that "the home page now is more focused on the health and beauty products" and features bigger images and drop-down menus aiding the shopper's experience.

It's great to have a high ranking like this and I hope we're able to maintain that Health and Beauty leadership for years to come. It's more important, however, that we're the leader in helping people make money with their own independent product marketing businesses, and that's where our efforts are truly focused.

The Smooth Pour

Kia — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:57:00 GMT

I will do another blog post later wrapping up more of the Rock The Digital World conference I went to this week, but I wanted to do a quick post linking to a viral video from Coors. Whether or not you drink beer, you can appreciate the humor of the video and the basic (and oft repeated) message: the new Coors cans with a vented opening always result in a perfect pour. There's another version like this that has a couple hundred thousand views on YouTube that already is inspiring knock-offs. The same is true for the mashup commercials Coors has done featuring NFL coaches at post-game news conferences. Creative types are beginning to create their own (unapproved) versions using college coaches like Oklahoma's Bob Stoops. Very fun stuff.

Rocking the Digital World

Kia — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:35:00 GMT

I'm in NYC for a conference for clients of Avenue A/Razorfish this week. Avenue A/Razorfish is helping design the global Amway web experience. I expected the conference -- Rocking the Digital World -- to be a little more technology focused and have been pleasantly surprised that it really has focused on the end, not the means. The "end" being effective marketing to consumers, especially through brand engagement. A lot of that engagement is what I (and many others) have called "dialog." We're in a dialog about our brands online, and the winners are those who figure out how best to provide value by listening to the feedback provided by consumers and constantly tweaking your "offer" based on that feedback.

Famed author Guy Kawasaki just finished speaking and he was fantastic. He provided some great insights, including the advice to push out products that might have crappy elements, but move the needle forward. You can't wait until it's "perfect." Along with that instruction, however, comes the advice to "churn baby churn," which means you're constantly tweaking your product to make it more unique and more useful to consumers.

There also was a great interview with Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal. Charlene Li spoke about ways social media is changing our roles in our companies, sharing info from her book "groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies."

I really liked the presentation by Avenue A/Razorfish VP-Strategy & Planning Joe Crump about the DNA of digital brands. He cited seven key "genes" that are part of the most successful brands online, which include:

1) Authenticity: Impossible for consumers to mistake you for someone else

2) Adaptive: Changing to meet consumer needs based on their feedback

3) Relevant: Useful and appealing for individual users

4) Transformative: Raises expectations of your brand and the web

5) Fresh: Inspires a feeling or emotion

6) Immersive: People lose track of time within your online experience

7) Social: Your content is worth borrowing, sharing, or contributing to.

Crump left us with the line that "the secret is not good advertising ... it's good genes." I think he's right and I hope what we're creating here at Quixtar and Amway is "churning" toward this ideal.

There have been a number of great presentations from representatives at Ford, Levi's, AT&T and more, with plenty more to come in the next day or so. It also was very cool to see some of the interactive tools that are part of the expo area. Gave me some good ideas for how we create consumer experiences when we're on the road. I have to wrap up quickly so I don't miss the next session on "Social Influence Marketing" with representatives of Avenue A/Razorfish, Facebook, Kraft, Forrester Research and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. I'll try to recap some more "nuggets" tomorrow afternoon.

In the meantime, keep rocking the digital world!!

Super Heroes of PR

Kia — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:27:00 GMT

I'm a member and past President of the West Michigan Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, and I'm currently on the board again. On my wall are some of the direct mail pieces promoting the upcoming annual awards banquent, and the theme is all about "super heroes" which I think is totally appropriate.

Public Relations can be a thankless job, although it has become better understood over the past few years, especially when Al and Laura Ries wrote their book "The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR" in 2002. Some still view PR as the "publicity office" with the pure function of getting news coverage. Others view it as the office of spin, where every phrase is turned and crafted until all of it is pretty meaningless. Others view PR as the "feel good" office where the philanthropy budgets are administered. We do that here, sure, but that's just a piece of our story.

In the end, there are elements of all those things in good PR (if you were to use the term "message development" rather than "spin"). In my opinion, PR is the story teller of an organization, with the idea that the story never ends but evolves and grows with the participation of its key audiences. At any given point we can tell the story as it is today, knowing that in a year or two what we say now is totally irrelevant. That's why it's frustrating sometimes when people hold you to a statement made seven years ago. Unless it was a statement made about some foundational pillar of your business, it was a statement that reflected the reality of your business that day.

So, for instance, today we can say we're the #1 online retailer in the Health and Beauty category (based on sales)because that's how Internet Retailer has ranked us (again!). That may not always be the truth, but today it is. Keeping abreast of an ever-evolving business (you have to evolve to survive) and continue to tell the story without taking a breath takes super heroic powers, possessed by our PR staff.

As the PR lead, Anna is like the stretchy woman who has long arms and amazing flexibility. She has a great ability to juggle many things at once, and reach far back into her files to get the info we need to tell the story. Plus, she doesn't freak out. That's always a good thing when dealing with crisis situations.

As the lead for our corporate citizenship efforts, Leyla's superhero power is her huge heart (and the capacity to entertain children the world over). She oversees our One By One Campaign for Children, and you may have seen her in Los Angeles last weekend while running the donation desk at the Spotlight Event. She'll be at five or six of those incredible events this year, while overseeing our other sponsorships and affiliations as well. She's at the national Easter Seals convention this week, where IBOs Jim and Pam Pierce will be recognized for giving more than $1 million to Easter Seals over the past 20 years. WOW! Hopefully IBOs attending upcoming Spotlight Events are inspired by the Pierce's leadership and generosity when considering donations to Easter Seals.

Which leads us to the final PR team staff member -- Katie Pearsall Syckle. Katie has been the Matrix-y person on our team, diving into our social media and web efforts. She's the main moderator and whip behind the Opportunity Zone, the monitor of the web conversation about our brands, the owner of the Quixtar Newsroom. She's also leaving us to rejoin the creative team as editor for the IBO Support team, which produces Achieve, the Welcome Kit, events materials, and more in support of IBOs across the U.S. and Canada.

So, we're now looking for another Super Hero of PR. Knowing the culture within Quixtar, I'm sure we'll find another hard working achiever who will take over where Katie left off and continue to drive us forward in this brave new world.

There are others on the team, including Intern Charlotte and Contractor Lindsay who also are amazing. Elizabeth, meanwhile, is like Optimus Prime, transforming herself between advertising and sponsorships and events and other duties as the Lead for Advertising and Sponsorships. This week she was in Chicago for an ad shoot. While in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby she was nearly constant on the phone working with vendors and internal "clients" for whom she is the lynch pin. We're getting her a Super Hero sidekick soon.

The team is small but powerful. I'm glad they're on my side! (And yours.)

Kia's Kia

Kia — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:51:00 GMT

So, my 15-year-old Saturn SC2 has finally been put out to pasture. Well, not quite. A friend is taking it off my hands (one much better at handling minor repairs) and will probably drive it another 100,000 miles. So, Kari and I took off shopping for another vehicle.

Let me start by saying that, following Dave Ramsay guidance, we don't really like buying new cars. Too much depreciation taken on by the first-time owner. Not only that, a new car would like mean taking one of our four children out of private school. (Trust me, we've considered that!)

Anyway, we went looking for a not-too-old and not-too-expensive car that would serve us well for a good period of time. I'm not very brand sensitive, but have typically trended American. We test drove a bunch of cars in our price range and finally settled on a Kia Optima from Fox Kia. (All the Fox dealerships here in West Michigan are owned by Dan DeVos, one of Rich's kids. Trivia: "Vos" in dutch means Fox.)

So far, aside from the pin stripe I want to remove, I'm very happy with the car. It drives beautifully, looks classy (again, look past the pin stripe), and is very roomy. I have three sons and they all fit in the back.

So, although my blogging name of "Kia" had nothing to do with the car by the same name, I'm smiling a little bit on the inside that I ended up buying one. Not only is it a Kia, but it's an "Optima." Maybe I should have a blogger surname ... Kia Optima. Sounds kind of like a character's name right out of Transformers. Mmmm ... somehow the conversation keeps coming back to Transformation.

Twitter and Tumblr

Kia — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:33:00 GMT

In a meeting yesterday someone suggested that we start using Twitter more as a company. I explained that I still wasn't sure what the application would be. For instance, who is interested in me (as an example) that much that they would want to know where I'm at and what I'm doing at all times of the day (and night!). If I were a CEO or a rock star or Presidential candidate, maybe. Then again, maybe not. I really don't care where Bono is at all times of the day ... if it's important enough I'm sure I'll see it on the news or the next issue of People.

I guess there are some social networks of people that truly become engrossed in each other to the extent that they always want to know what's on that person's mind. I'm thinking it's maybe a 20-something thing or maybe high schoolers, although my daughter's not into that. She does text message alot, however. But that's another story and that's direct one-to-one communication.

At some point the perfect consumer or business application for Twitter will come to my mind. Perhaps if we have a road tour of sorts sometime soon we can Twitter where it is so that IBOs can step out of their doorways and wave as it goes past. Or maybe a Team Nutrilite athlete could Twitter about what they're eating or doing to prepare for an event on the other side of the world later this summer, although I suspect that Twittering might get in the way of their success on the track.

As a parent, I guess it would be cool to be able to track my kids wherever they might be via something like Twitter. I just don't think they'd use it in that manner. Like we gave my son Conner a cool cell phone recently so "he could call us when he needed to be picked up" or other similar situations. I think he's done that about three times exactly. Most of the time he's texting friends, shooting videos and snapping pictures with it. I know, cell phones have come a long way. Everything but calling mom and dad to pick him up. Sigh.

When I got home last night after having the conversation about Twitter, I found this LA Times column reprinted in our local paper and it made me giggle a little. It's all about Twitter and Tumblr, which I hadn't heard of. Apparently I'm not as up on social media as I thought. In any case, Mr. Stein seems to share some of my thoughts on these tiny snippets of thought shared broadly via these services.

There once was a time where correspondence ruled and the art of letter-writing was pursued. Presidents and important people published books containing just their correspondence. There also were (are) columnists who publish nice collections of their musings. I suppose this can happen with the better bloggers as well. I am waiting for someone to publish a book containing nothing but their twitters (and/or tumbls). I'm sure it will be a fascinating read.

Transitions and a Solid Base

Kia — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:08:00 GMT

I spent the morning on the campus of Grand Valley State University today with my daughter, Amanda, since that is where she's off to this fall. I had been to the campus a few times, but never had received the tour. Not only that, the college is constantly changing and growing since it is the fastest growing public university in Michigan, with some 25,000 students enrolled this year.

As a teen, Amanda is in a constant state of transition, of course. She's continually growing and expanding her horizons, and I'm excited for her and all the things she has yet to experience. It's also scary, since there are many unknowns as well. But I am confident in her and for her because of the solid base she already has in terms of her maturity, her relationships, and her faith. She has plenty of growth ahead of her, and I hope that GVSU is a great place for her to realize her full potential.

While driving back from the campus, we talked about what she'd like to do. As I've mentioned before, she's considering communications as a career and that's pretty much the only brochure she picked up on the way out of the Student Services building. That said, she's going in "undecided," as I think she should, because until she is on campus and in classes and expanding her horizons a little, she won't know what she doesn't know. But when she does find something that excites her, watch out world!

Our business is in transformation, as has been blogged about countless times already. The reality is that our business has always been transitioning since it started, whether that be through new products or new people or new markets or new processes or new business systems and tools. I guess it would be more accurate to say that we are trying to create a broader business transformation that results in more people making more money sooner in our business. That transformation should not affect the solid base we're built upon. That base has been articulated over the years as the "Founders' Fundamentals." The way Amway does business was defined from the beginning by its founders, Rich DeVos and the late Jay Van Andel, and those ethical and operational standards continue to guide the second-generation of the Van Andel and DeVos families as they lead the business today.

If you ever visit us in Ada, Mich., you would see the founding principles carved in stone outside Amway's World Headquarters. They say: Amway will always support the fundamental FREEDOM of people to determine their own future, allowing them the time and resources to protect and nurture their FAMILY. In addition, Amway will always offer HOPE to individuals and the opportunity to receive REWARD in proportion to their efforts.

Freedom, family, hope and reward are words that have been bandied about this company for decades. For some they have more meaning than others. They should be reviewed by all in our business on a fairly regular basis so that we can be reminded of what we're truly all about.

Blog Rankings

Kia — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:31:00 GMT

I was reading an article yesterday in the Wall Street Journal about Heather Armstrong, a blogger mom who has one of the top parenting blogs online. Well, maybe not a parenting blog per se. A blog she writes, as a parent. I think her blog's success is more a tribute to her entertaining writing style than her sound parental advice. I checked it out and, as the article indicated, her blog is laced with language and topics that aren't necessarily full family fare. That said, she's developed such a large audience for a personal blog that was started as a hobby that it is now her family's sole source of income (her husband manages advertising for the site). It also is, according to the article, #59 on Technorati's list of top blogs. Experts estimated that, based on traffic, the site earns Heather some $40,000 per month.

This came to mind today because I got an email from Wikio to tell me that www.RealQuixtarBlog.com was #140 in their ranking of business blogs. WOW! I don't know what that gets me. Certainly not $40K per month. But it is in some small way a tribute to the community being built here in this blog and within the Opportunity Zone. There are people out there who recognize RQB as a blog worth voting for ... through their links to posts. Wikio bases their rankings based on inbound links to a blog created within the past 120 days. That means, if I write something here that you're talking about on your blogs and you link back, you're voting for RQB as a relevant source of information for whatever it is you're talking about.

Ways I can increase my ranking, then, would be to blog often about relevant topics. Sigh. I knew that already. But, unlike Heather Armstrong, this isn't my sole source of income. But I'll try. To be more frequent and more relevant. But I'm still going to blog about my wife and children and what I saw on the side of the road and the weather and my travels and whatever else I want to write about. Because that's who I am. Whether that's relevant or not! :-)