Now for some former Weekenders reps this might not be seen as a good thing since Lia and her husband Gregg were leading the company when it closed it doors.

However, with Jockey P2P entering Canada this si a great move.

Lia is one of the few corporate officers who cut her teeth in the field and have an empathy for what distributors go through.

If you are a former Weekender Rep, who has been looking for a new home this might be a great place to start looking.

Never Give Up,

Troy Dooly

The post was written by a wonderful Canadian trainer, motivator and former Weekender Rep., Sheila Wray Gregoire. I truly enjoyed her post, yet, found parts of it to be based on opinion and not on facts (which she does clarify by stating her conclusion came from the comments on her original blog post.)

In Sheila’s post she states there are three reasons Weekenders closed their doors.

1. Home Parties are obsolete
2. It was too expensive to be a consultant
3. In home party businesses, you make money by selling to other consultants, not to customers.

I want to look at #1 & #3 since #2 is completely subjective.

First it should be made clear that the Clothing, personal care and accessories side of our profession as  grown in the last five years from 27% to making up 33.7% of the profession, while every other sector except services has fallen in size.

Second, and more importantly 66.9% of ALL sales are STILL made in the home. So to say home parties are obsolete and this is why Weekenders closed their door is based completely on opinion and not on the factial statistics of our profession.

Third, Party Plan/Group Selling makes up the second highest form of selling (28.9%) next to One-On-One selling (which makes up 67.1%.)

These three statistics are a clear indicator that Weekenders did not go bankrupt because they used a Party Plan business model.

Now let’s take a look at #3 “You make money by selling to other consultants.” Although this can be true of direct selling companies in the health and nutrition sector of our profession, with the home business plan model the distributors make their most money selling to the end user.

I can verify this statement by reviewing such public companies as Tupperware and Avon. Or by reviewing the number submitted by such great privately held companies like Mary Kay, Discovery Toys and Pampered Chef. When you review their attrition of distributors verse their retention of customers we see the majority of income is made selling to the end user.

One statistic that did come into play is the fact Weekenders waited years to change their focus from Professional Baby Boomer ladies and increase their focus to include Generation X & Y.

Shaklee made this change back in 2002 and has enjoyed continual growth all through the new century. We can also see other great companies who started targeting these two demagraphic groups such as Avon, AmWay, Mary Kay, Jockey Person To Person and many others.

Generation Y alone is 75 million strong. Had Weekenders increased their focus sooner there is a real possibility they would still be doing business as a network marketing company.

Debra Waller Chairman, CEO and Founder of Jockey Person to Person, and her team are welcoming former Weekenders reps with open arms.

Having done a little research on the company and its founder I can say this is a lady who walks her talk.

The team she has put around her is top notch and they have a love for their field force that reminds me of how Art Williams loved his team.

Here is a little about the company:

The company is less than 5 years old – Ground Floor Opporatunity with a company who has not hit critical mass.

Debra S Waller Founder walk her walk like another great MLM Corporate Leader Rita Davenport of Arbonne and has launched “Jockey Being Family” helping to provide successful futures for adoptive children.

As always do your own due dilligence before joining any Network Marketing company.

But if you want to stick with a product you know well, then Jockey Person to Person may be right for you.

Never Give Up,

Troy Dooly

850-650-0557

After investigating this situation over the last week, and talking to some of the top international reps, and not being able to find any public court filings as of yet, I am not convinced that Weekenders has really filed for bankruptcy. As a matter of fact they may have just dissed their reps so they don;t need to pay commissions earned. (Although I have not verified this yet!)

As a matter of fact according to one former Executive of Weekenders, the company has not filed for bankruptcy.

So, to all Weekenders Reps, I would call the corporate offices, I would contact the Distributor’s Rights Association and I would also think about contacting a good Distributor attorney to see exactly what your next move might be.

If you need some names of some excellent Distributor attorneys  please feel free to contact me.

My personal prayer is that soon we will hear from Bill Baily & George Raynault the two visionaries who founded this company over 20 plus years ago. (Both men had retired from the company in the last year or so.)

In closing I would also suggest that all US based Reps contact the DSA due to the fact Weekenders USA is a member in good standing and have publicly stated they will be held to this standard http://www.weekendersusa.com/_spring08/about/commitment_to_ethics.php

Never Give Up,

Troy Dooly

Network marketing in Canada has been growing for years, with new companies showing up on the horizon monthly. Sine the 80’s when Mary Kay and Primerica launched successful oporations, Canadians have become familiar with the industry and have gladly accepted all it offers, from high-quality products to high-income opportunities. Now we are seeing this trend is making its way into new immigrant groups and the younger generations. Which makes it even more frustrating to heard that Weekender’s has entered into bankruptcy.

However, unlike other Canadian companies like Avon, Amway, Mary Kay, XanGo, Primerica and new comer INVISUS Direct, which have created complete marketing and branding strategies aimed at the younger generation, Weekender’s seemed to continue focusing mainly on the Baby Boomer market.

Please do not get me wrong, Weekender’s clothes are some of the best I have ever come across, and my wife owns some. However, I would classify Weekender’s as a Hillery Clinton style wardrobe.

Back to the point at hand. When I stay that Weekender’s did not change their marketing strategies fast enough, here is my point.

Generation Y (those born between 1977 and 2002, also called the Echo-Boomers or Millennials) and Generation X (those born 1965-1976) are be far the fastest growing demographic groups in MLM at this time.  And it is these two demographic groups that are on the radar screen of all companies looking to jump start their aging field forces.

Although, Weekenders, developed a new line of clothing to attract those ages, it came several years after other companies had already changed their marketing to attract these age groups. Shaklee launched their Gen X marketing back in 2002 and have watched younger leaders put life back in an aging brand. Plus Gen X & Y lead the “Green” agenda worldwide and Shaklee is the first company in history to become a 100% Green company.

But, this editor, still has problems understanding how a company generating more than $30 million in sales annually, can just up and close its doors.

I predict that since the Weekenders main website is still up, that they will ask the Bankruptcy Court to set aside ALL distributor Agreements, and allow the company to market their clothing line direct to their custom base.

Although this will put 3500 independent reps out of business, some which have been with the company since it’s launch 30 plus years ago, and free up between $13.5 and $25 million earmarked for commissions to go back into growing the company, paying down debt and rewarding executives for restructuring the company.

We saw this happen to Excel in the early part of this decade, and it seems it may be happening again.

To all weekenders reps, if you are looking for a new home for you and your teams, please contact me personally and I will gladly give you the names of some company’s who love their distributors, and who would welcome you and your teams.

As a disclaimer, I do not have any monetary positions with any of these companies.

Never Give Up,

Troy Dooly

The Navigator