I was ready to put this issue to rest, until I ran across a new post, talking about why Weekenders closed their doors.

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.

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Ok, all of you Weekenders Gals who are looking for a new home. One that is close to what you had at Weekenders, Jockey Person To Person may be what you are looking for.

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

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Rumors have been running rapid over the last couple of weeks about the 20 plus year old network marketing company Weekenders filing for bankruptcy. However…

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