A year ago, we embarked on a voyage that I had no idea would go the direction that it has. We started promoting the ViSalus Sciences “Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge”. Just a few weeks into this voyage, we were completely sold on the products and the business opportunity associated with it. No real surprise there. I only promote products that I would use even if there was not a business opportunity attached. What we did not understand was the impact it would have on our lives.

The word ViSalus actually means, Life, Health, Prosperity. I had no idea when we started this journey the impact that it would have on these three areas of our lives. I thought we were just going to help people lose some weight and maybe make a little extra income. What we have found is how this so positively helps people. When your customers send you texts, Facebook messages, give you calls thanking you for sharing the 90 day Challenge with them. When they tell you how much better they feel and the positive impact it has had on their health. When your promoters share with you that they now can afford to do things that were never possible before. That is REALLY what this company is all about.

We discovered how passionate the founders of the company are about actually helping their promoters improve these three aspects of our lives. This audio message is just the latest in a series of messages that have truly changed how we feel about promoting any opportunity. It is nearly 30 minutes long but well worth the investment of your time. Whether you are interested in these products and/or the business opportunity, this audio can have an impact on you. Please listen.

Today, we really have a passion for helping others improve their Life, Health, and Prosperity. Join us on our journey!

Michael

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Customers are good!

In the majority of MLM or Network Marketing companies that I have been a part of, the vast majority are simply interested in “recruiting” new distributors. The entire marketing plan is basically, recruit distributors that use the product, who in turn, recruit more distributors to use more product. What you really end up with is a large wholesale buying club. With the economy in the dire straits that it is today, this business plan fails to make sense to the majority. This is true because the “typical” products that these companies market are priced at a premium. Premium items are the first to go from your discretionary spending.

The founders of ViSalus Sciences had found that out the hard way. The primary product was a relatively expensive (albeit phenomenal) Vitamin/mineral/essential fatty acid combo. Even with their patented products (how often do you see that!), the demand suddenly dropped with the onset of the recession. Fortunately for me (and all the other ViSalus promoters) with a few minor tweaks, they came up with the Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge. One of the main ingredients with the Challenge is that our “customers” can easily get their products delivered to them for free by simply getting 3 referrals. In addition to that, the Promoters (distributors) can also get their products for free AND the free products qualify them for their monthly auto-ship requirements! How cool is that! No longer do I have to actually “buy” something to get qualified for commission payments every month!

Has ViSalus been successful? Just look at the numbers, over 80,000 new people joining the Challenge every month, over 25 BMW bonus earners every month, upwards of 3000% growth in 2011. With a customer to promoter ratio of close to 7 to 1, yes, customers are GOOD! Their Vi-net website is in the top 10 direct selling companies (ranked by traffic on alexa) in the WORLD and are only doing business in North America. ViSalus is on track to be the first company of its type to reach $1 Billion in sales in North America alone. Currently doing business in the US and Canada, there are rumors of further international expansion on the way.

It’s amazing that most companies still limit there purchases to their distributors (and many are doing so poorly with cash flow that they are delaying payments to their distributors) while ViSalus apparently has plenty of cash flow and from personal experience, have paid their monthly commissions twice in the last quarter EARLY! Yes, Customers are GOOD. When looking at your next opportunity, do your due diligence and make sure that you are getting involved in a company that is growing and paying.

Take a few moments and look around on our ViSalus website. Fill out my contact form there and I’ll promptly send you out a sample of the wonderful Vi-Shape shake mix. It truly is the shake mix that tastes like cake mix! If you choose to only join the Challenge as a customer, that’s fine with me! Customers are good!

Michael

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Told You So

Just wanted to post a short video of Dana and I getting our BMW “Told You So” license plate at the ViSalus National Training last year. I should get around to editing video a little more often!  It you’d like to drive your own BMW and not have to worry about where the payment is coming from or get national recognition for your accomplishments, give us a shout! Proud to be promoters of the Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge!

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Setting Goals

During this time of year, most of us are trying to set new goals and/or set a New Year Resolution. Jim Rohn has been a favorite of mine for sometime and I received this today in my email so I wanted to share. Hope you enjoy!

Vitamins for the Mind
by Jim Rohn

Goals/Goal-Setting

The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.

Some people are disturbed by those tough days because all they have is the days. They haven’t designed or described or defined the future.

Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.

We all need lots of powerful long-range goals to help us past the short-term obstacles.

The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them.

Don’t set your goals too low. If you don’t need much, you won’t become much.

If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build, end up building us.

We all have two choices: We can make a living or we can design a life.

“Vitamins for the Mind” is a weekly sampling of original quotes on a specific topic taken from The Treasury of Quotes by Jim Rohn. The burgundy hardbound book with gold-foil lettering is a collection of more than 365 quotes on 60 topics gathered from Jim’s personal journals, seminars and books and spanning more than 40 years. Click here to order The Treasury of Quotes.

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Pregnant & Nursing Mom’s

This information comes from Ms. Audrey Sommerfeld and Dr. Michael Seidman both on he Scientific Advisory Board of Visalus Sciences.

The shake is fine for pregnant and lactating women to get added nutrition. We don’t recommend that they try to lose weight though as the baby needs the calories. This is why we don’t recommend Vi-Trim or Vi-Slim as babies don’t need hunger control or metabolism support. Neuro is low caffeine, but it depends on if the woman wants that or not.

Vi-Pak – Omega Vitals and Multi Vitamins are fine but the Anti-aging and Super Charged Antioxidant they should talk to their individual doctors (see below). Nutra-Cookie is fine for them to consume too.

Audrey

Soy:

Our soy has been specially processed to remove the isoflavones that can impact estrogen, so it is not a problem for those who worry about fibroids, on chemo, etc.  Here is some information on soy:

Of the concerns over soy, there are a few common ones. First,  is  referring to raw soybeans, that can contain a form of phytic acid that can block certain minerals  absorption. However, that is based on massive consumption quantities, and of the raw soybean and only occurs in those animals that lack the digestive enzyme phytase. It is only an issue for people who consume those foods to get minerals in their diet, and in massive quantities. The issue is in developing countries, and may have a genetic basis as well because they are lacking the digestive enzyme (which can be supplemented and therefore alleviate the concern).  It is not an issue for our products because of how we process the ingredients.

The second common concern with soy are due to  some of the components of soy, particularly the isoflavones genistein and dadzein which can affect and inhibit thyroid peroxidase which is necessary for the production of T3 and T4. Thus there is some evidence that it could lead to thryoid enlargement (Goiter) . Our soy has been processed to remove the isoflavones, so this is not an issue.

A third common  concern about soy is the effect it may have on estrogen levels in the body. This is again due to the isoflavones, which we have had removed. So this is a non-worry. We should note that many menopausal women do supplement with isoflavones, as it has been shown to help them experience fewer side effects of menopause.

Lastly, our Soy is not genetically modified (it is non-GMO). Many people worry about genetically modified soy, and if any of the ingredients got altered in the breeding process. We use the most natural form we can get, that has not been genetically modified.

Why use soy? It is a complete protein, easily digested, has no fat, low carb and more importantly, adequate consumption of soy can help the body lower cholesterol as well as c-reactive protein.

Supplements:

The U.S. Government did 2 studies (23,000 people) over a 2 year period of time to see how well Americans are at getting nutrition and eating healthy. Sadly, only 10% of Americans eat a healthy diet. They found 93% are deficient in vitamin E, 44% deficient in Vitamin A, and 1/3 in Vitamin C..just to name a few. The reason is it is hard to get enough nutrients from our food, especially given the American Diet today. The average American consumes 156 pounds of sugar each year, but only 28 pounds of lettuce, and much of our diet is high fat, sodium and processed.

The reason our Vitamins are unique is that they are chelated to make them more absorbable (this is expensive, so most companies do not do this). Then we have added nutrients that others dont’ include like green tea extract, alpha lipoic acid, and glutathione and glutathione precursors…powerful anti-aging ingredients. Our fish oil is distilled at the molecular level to remove toxins, and we add evening primrose, pumpkinseed, flaxseed to make a very robust 12:1 ratio of Omega 3:6. Meaning…you get high quality nutrients. This is one reason Dr. Seidman was awarded a patent, and has clinicals showing that the Vi-Pak help reverse age-related hearing loss by 7-12 decibels. I like to say if it can do that for my hearing..wow..think of what else it can help with. We have many of Dr. Seidman’s studies on our website:

http://visalus.com/about/scientific_advisory_board/

For the Vi-Pak, the omegas and multi are great for pregnant or lactating women. Some doctors do not want women taking the antioxidant if pregnant so it varies by doctor. The anti-aging tablet we also recommend they talk to their doctor about first as every pregnancy is different.

Dr. Seidman on Supplementing:

The pros and cons of supplementing with vitamins, minerals and similar substances are no less confusing. In spite of thousands of studies examining the effects of various supplements, experts still disagree. As a practicing physician and scientist, I believe I have a responsibility to present what I feel is a strong case for supplementation.

It is clear that proper nutrition is essential for optimum health. We need to eat from the basic food groups, and consume significant amounts of fruits and vegetables as part of a sensible diet. Unfortunately, the Standard American Diet, with its emphasis on processed and prepared foods and large amounts of fat, salt and refined ingredients, does not come close to meeting these standards. The majority of Americans are clearly not going to obtain adequate nutrition from this diet.

To complicate matters, more than 60 percent of Americans are now considered overweight or obese, and roughly the same proportion of the population is sedentary. Stress, another major health factor, takes a toll on nutritional status, as does aging. Additionally, while working for the CDC (reviewing grants), there was compelling data to support that 1/3 of the WORLD population has a micronutrient deficiency.

While genetics certainly play a role in health, we do not have the option of changing our genes, at present. Meanwhile, many of the health issues we face are social and lifestyle choices. The end result can be seen in these statistics: Cancer – the second most common cause of death in the United States – claims more than 550,000 lives each year. Yet two-thirds of these cancer deaths are considered preventable through lifestyle changes – quitting smoking and all tobacco use, consuming 5 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, reducing intake of meat, fatty foods and dairy products, exercising moderately and supplementing appropriately.

Here again, we have controversy over how to define “supplementing appropriately.” I think it’s important to remember that the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) – now known as the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) – were established in 1941 to meet the needs of most healthy people. While these recommendations are updated every ten years, they are neither minimal requirements nor optimal levels. In fact, they are simply educated guesses. Meanwhile, there is compelling science to suggest that many of the nutrients found in routine supplements could be taken at much higher doses with an excellent safety profile and significant health benefits.

Is it possible to get sufficient quantities of nutrients from a healthy diet? To answer that question, let’s use vitamin E as an example. Oregon State University’s Moret Traber dispels this notion when she states: “To obtain enough vitamin E from food to attain a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease, you’d need to consume 9 tablespoons of olive oil, 75 slices of whole wheat bread, 40 almonds or 200 peanuts each and every day.”

Since it appears to be difficult – at best — to get a beneficial amount of vitamin E from food, what should the supplement dosage be? There have been numerous studies to show that an increased intake of antioxidants, such as vitamin E, reduces heart disease and the risk of stroke, Alzheimer’s and cancer. Vitamin E has also been shown to increase immune function and reduce exercise-related free radical damage. When it comes to precise dosage, however, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. The DRI recommends 30 IU, a figure considered too low by many health experts. Indeed, some clinical trials suggest 800 to 1,200 IU may be required to affect cardiovascular health, particularly in patients who already have the disease.

Then how do we explain conflicting findings? For example, a meta-analysis by researchers at Johns Hopkins, which reviewed 19 previously published articles involving 135,967 patients, suggests that consuming more than 400 IU of vitamin E per day may increase the risk of dying by 6 percent (Miller et al Jan 4, 2005 Ann of IM vol 142 No1). While the media pounced on the ‘bad news’ aspect of the story, the truth is the research had shortcomings. First, it consisted largely of older individuals who were already suffering chronic illness of one sort or another, including heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, kidney disease requiring dialysis, as well as a group of smokers. It’s difficult to imagine that vitamin E alone could improve the health of these individuals. Second, the supplements used were synthetic, and there are studies to show that the natural forms are possibly more effective. Third, from a statistician’s viewpoint, mixing such a wide assortment of studies together can produce meaningless results. Finally, they eliminated 12 trials that had fewer than 10 deaths! This introduces a very serious selection bias against the benefit of vitamin E. Essentially they randomly eliminated 12 studies where the death rate was very low, you may call this science, but this is how science gets a bad name. Basically, manipulating the data to support their bias. As an aside, for our protection and safety, Visalus Sciences uses only mixed tocopherols, so it is an all-natural group of tocopherols, not just the d-alpha tocopherol, but the gammas, deltas, tocotrienols etc. There has been some science to suggest that it is much better to use mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols, which is precisely what we do at Visalus Sciences.

Note, too, that the Johns Hopkins researchers themselves pointed out that most of the patients in these trials had chronic illness and were over the age of 60. As a result, the authors observed that the study’s findings may not necessarily apply to younger, healthy individuals.

In fact, in some ways, this study’s conclusion is similar to earlier research that encouraged people to abandon butter in favor of margarine. Needless to say, that opinion was reversed when it was determined that the trans fats in margarine were far more toxic to us than butter.

Of course, not all studies are inconclusive. For example, the excellent work by Rimm et al, in 1998, looked at more than 80,000 women who supplemented with folate and vitamin B6. Researchers found a significant reduction in the risk of heart disease. They also found that combining these supplements with one drink per day reduced the risk even more. Further, they determined that low intake of folate and B6 led to high levels of homocysteine, which increased heart disease. This specific study was responsible for changing the RDAs of folic acid from 50 micrograms per day to the current 400 micrograms per day. We are now finding that despite appropriate diets 1/3 of the planet has a micronutrient deficiency, the most common now are Vitamin D, the B vitamins and others.

Studies like (the Rimm Study) these, cost millions of dollars and take many years to complete, are to be encouraged. But in the meantime, there is compelling evidence in smaller clinical trials that is relevant, reasonable and should cause us to change the way we think about diet and nutritional supplementation. For example, my colleagues and I have conducted studies with a number of antioxidants, including phosphatidylcholine (PPC), resveratrol, acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR), and alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), among others. Our findings: these supplements provided protection against free-radical damage throughout the body. In other words, supplements minimized – and sometimes even reversed – cellular assaults linked to deterioration of health and the aging process.

A final thought: Over the last 12 years, the average annualized mortality rates secondary to vitamins have been attributed to be one death per year, and herbs at three deaths per year. On the other hand, 400,000 deaths per year are attributed to smoking, and another 300,000 to poor diet. It should also be noted that pharmaceutical errors cause approximately 100,000 deaths per year. The bottom line is that there is an extremely remote likelihood that one would be hurt by taking nutritional supplements, and there is certainly compelling scientific data to support their use.

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New Year Resolutions and the Law of Diminishing Intent

Ever wonder why we start the new year off with all these great ideas of how we are going to change “this” year. Then, one, two, three months later, we are not doing any of those things? It probably has a lot to do with the Law of Diminishing Intent. Simply stated, the further away from the moment of inspiration, our intent tends to diminish. Over time, it returns to the moment before the inspiration occured. How can we overcome this?

One way is to reestablish our goals, resolutions, or whatever you want to call them on a daily or at least a weekly basis. It really helps a lot if you have a written list. When was the last time you actually wrote your New Year Resolutions down? Put the written list in a place where you will review it regularly. (preferably daily) Then take some kind of action on them on a daily basis. This will renew your original “intent” often, not giviving the law of Diminishing intent a chance to work.

If you have a goal or New Year Resolution of improving your health, losing weight, getting more fit, or in my case, uncovering those abs of yours, take a few minutes and write down your exact goals. Mine is to lose 3% body fat while gaining muscle mass. Getting an accountability partner will greatly increase your odds of keeping your intent. Find a program that you can follow and do it everyday! I use the Body By Vi 90 day Challenge and their online system called Vi-Net to help keep me motivated. Hopefully, you will find something that will work for you and keep you motivated while we keep the law of diminishing intent at bay.

Post your new resolutions or goals here and I’ll try and help you stay accountable!

Happy New Year!

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ViSalus Bimmer Club

I’ll be the first to tell you that I did not get involved in the ViSalus Body By Vi 90 Day challenge for the extra income. For me it was to try the products and see how it worked. I knew there was a viable business here but really just wanted to see my abs! (At 50 years old that becomes increasingly more difficult!) Anyway, while on my first challenge we did promote and it was easy because people kept asking me what I was doing to lose so much weight. I hadn’t really lost much weight but I did end up losing 2% body fat and a total of 10 inches so it was quite noticeable.

Fast forward 5 months and we are Regional Directors and our BMW Car payment is no longer a major expense. In fact, I just have to tell you that when you go to make a car payment and all you have to do is transfer money from your ViSalus pre-paid MasterCard Debit account to your checking account, if REALLY feels like you don’t have a payment at all! My goal now is to help as many people as I can to know how good it feels! If you want to get healthier, join us on the Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge and see how easy it is. The shake mix that tastes like cake mix! Lose weight, gain muscle, whatever your goals are these products support it. While you are at it, why not build yourself a team and drive your own BMW. Courtesy of ViSalus!

Michael Lindsay

(910)990-2056

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ViSalus Growth

Just a relatively short video from ViSalus going over the 3rd quarter 2011 Growth of the Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge. One interesting point that Blake Mallen makes is that ViSalus gave away $1.5 million in FREE merchandise to its promoters and customers. WOW, that’s more than some entire companies do in volume! While we are just getting started, there has never been a better time to get started! Get in contact with me and lets see if the time is right for you!

Hope you have a great week!

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Give More Than You Receive

If you have read many of my posts, you will know that I am a huge fan of Jim Rohn’s work. He is known as America’s foremost business philosopher. I never get tired of hearing him speak. Thankfully there is a huge amount of his work available even though he passed away last year. I still subscribe to his Newsletter and the following “Vitamins for the Mind” post arrived today. I want to share Jim’s work for others to see, as I think this post was meant for me this morning. Hopefully, you will get something out of it as well.

Vitamins for the Mind
by Jim Rohn
Career/Marketplace
My father taught me to always do more than you get paid for as an investment in your future.
Whether you stay six weeks, six months or six years, always leave it better than you found it.
Don’t bring your need to the marketplace, bring your skill. If you don’t feel well, tell your doctor, but not the marketplace. If you need money, go to the bank, but not the marketplace.
If you make a sale, you can make a living. If you make an investment of time and good service in a customer, you can make a fortune.
Don’t just let your business or your job make something for you; let it make something of you.
Lack of homework shows up in the marketplace as well as in the classroom.
Where you start in the marketplace is not where you have to stay.
The worst days of those who enjoy what they do are better than the best days of those who don’t.
We get paid for bringing value to the marketplace. It takes time to bring value to the marketplace, but we get paid for the value, not the time.
Here’s the major problem with going on strike for more money: You cannot get rich by demand.
“Vitamins for the Mind” is a weekly sampling of original quotes on a specific topic taken from The Treasury of Quotes by Jim Rohn. The burgundy hardbound book with gold-foil lettering is a collection of more than 365 quotes on 60 topics gathered from Jim’s personal journals, seminars and books and spanning more than 40 years. Click here to order The Treasury of Quotes.

I’m trying to write something that can be of value related to this post, but Jim pretty much says it all. I hope you enjoyed this post.

Michael

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Want to Promote Body By Vi?

Let’s see. You’ve been using the Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge products for a while now and people are REALLY starting to notice your success. So, now you are thinking “I wish I had watched the part of the DVD that explained how to become a promoter.” I’ve had so many people ask me that I thought it would be a grand idea to post the 2nd part of our Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge Party DVD here so that you could enjoy in the privacy of your own home. After watching, make sure you call us before you make a final decision so that we can help you determine your goals along with the correct promotional kit. I look forward to hearing from you!

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