The Facts Half-Truths About YTB

Last week, YTB released yet another website, www.TheFactsAboutYTB.com which purports to explain the truth about YTB. Sort of. As the title of this post suggests, it is full of half-truths and over the next few posts we will point them out--tab by tab. We will not even get into the discussion about why YTB needs a site such as this to justify their scam--that's a whole different topic. So let's start at the very beginning:

The Home Page
Well, considering that YTB has been touting that they are "all" about travel, apparently their founder did not get the message. Direct from Scott Tomer, "The purpose of the information in this site is to recruit you into the YTB business." Of course being the reactionary company that they are, this has been changed already to something more benign.

Scott proposed you ask the following questions of any travel company...as if these have anything to do with any type of legitimacy:

1. How long has the company been in business? (Valid question)
   
2. Is the company publicly traded? If not, do they have audited financial statements available for review? (Irrelevant. YTB was reverse merged and did not undergo any SEC scrutiny. Most successful travel companies are indeed private.)
   
3. How much travel have they sold in the last year? (Legitimate question. It is unfortunate that YTB cannot answer this themselves. Was it $414M, or $211M, or is their President still "gleaning" the numbers?)
   
4. Is the company a member of the Direct Sellers Association? (Who cares. The DSA is merely a lobbying organization for MLM companies and has NOTHING to do with travel.)
   
5. Do they have a protected compensation plan? (Again, irrelevant. And it is ironic that the "copyrighted" compensation plan that can "never be changed" and is on "file" with all of the "Attorneys General in all states" has indeed been changed numerous times--most recently when they eliminated the Rep override commission on travel sales.
   
6. Do they have online travel training available? (Perhaps legitimate. The question to ask is how valid is the training and what do you REQUIRE of your employees and to what level of achievement do you hold them.)
   
7. How large is their operation (corporate office and support staff size)? (This is irrelevant. 99% of the travel agencies and travel suppliers in the industry are smaller than YTB amd are 100 times more reputable.)
   
8. Is their corporate office open to the public? (Again, irrelevant. As a matter of security, most offices (excepting retail locations) are not open to the public. And YTB promotes working from home, so this is sort of a dichotomy isn't it?)
   
9. Does the company provide an income disclosure statement? (This is irrelevant. To be honest, what an agent makes is not really anyone's business. But since YTB is public and they are operating a MLM company they are required to provide this. It is a shame that more people will not read it and realize that the average Rep in YTB earned $97 in 2007 and that only 163 people out of 305,055 earned more than $20,000 last year.)
   
10. Has the company won any travel-related awards or recognition? (Perhaps a legitimate question.)

But, what about a few more questions:

1. What is your litigation history?
2. Have you ever been charged with a crime?
3. Do you vet any of your agents?
4. How much of your money comes from travel versus recruiting?
5. How much travel industry experience does your Executive Team and Board have?
6. How do you control the information that is passed out by all of yor Reps and RTAs?
7. Can you give me the phone number of Dr. Seligman?
8. Can you explain the "irregular accounting practices" that caused you to be delisted from the OTC?
9. Can you substantiate any of Candi May's industry awards?
10. Why has your stock fallen from $9 to almost a quarter in little more than a year?
11. Do you believe in insider deals and to what extent do you enter into them?

Stay tuned for more after Thanksgiving!

It should be noted that these "facts" are all "factual" as of November 19th as it states at the bottom of the page. I wonder how long until the "facts" change?

Ouch!

On August 3, 2007, Michael Brent sold 16.650 shares of his YTB stock:

3-Aug-07 16,650 YTBLA.OB Sale at $8.48 - $8.48 per share.
(Proceeds of about $141,000)

On October 1, 2008, Michael Brent sold 16, 667 shares of his YTB stock:

1-Oct-08 16,667 YTBLA.OB Sale at $0.60 per share.
(Proceeds of $10,000)

This is the stock of a company that:

• Claims they are poised to take over the travel world
• Is supposedly ranked #26 according to Travel Weekly
• Is facing a $25M lawsuit from the California Attorney General
• Is undergoing an investigation from the Illinois Attorney General
• Has seen a rapid exodus of RTAs and Reps
• Has lost their IATAN accreditation
• Has been "fired" by several vendors
• Has many complaints from the BBB
• Is mired in all sorts of insider deals
• Paid $6M (or maybe it was $8M, or maybe it was $2M) for a foam statue that no one wants
• Encourages deceptive recruiting, or at least looks the other way--Seligman anyone?
• Pays their average RTA slightly more than $100 a year
• Pays their average Rep less than $100 a year
• Collects 74% of their income from recruiting
• Claims they are not a pyramid scheme
  

Hmm..did I forget anything?

Just An Opinion From An Average Joe

Here is an opinion from an average Joe who was solicited to join YTB and his analysis of the pyramid scheme. He is pretty right on. Some of the comments from his blog, Your Daily Remedy:

First of all, let's think about the presentation. Why is she doing a FREE presentation? Well, it's because anyone who signs up under Heather, is money in the bank for both of them!


Well, if I made a Peach Pie with Nectarines instead, sure it wouldn't be a peach pie, but it sure would taste, smell, and do everything pretty close to what a normal peach pie would do. It may not be "technically" a pyramid scheme, but it damn sure acts like one.


In the presentation, it sounds like you'll be making EASY money for the rest of your life! Well if it was so easy, then why is it that something like 94% of YTB agents make less than $90 per year?


So in order to make any serious money (or even semi-serious money) you can't really rely on booking travel, unless you book a TON of it. People aren't going to find your webpage on google since there's about 200,000 other YTB travel pages (unless you get tons of people to shamelessly link to you). You might be able to convince your family or friends to book through you, but if you're like me, you like to check a few different websites to get the best deal. I usually check a few (including a friends YTB page), and although they're competitive, I can usually find cheaper rates elsewhere.


At the end of Sabrina's presentation, I remember she said something like, "you have an option now to change your life. In one year, you can be in the same place you are now, or you can make a change that will affect the rest of your life." Convincing indeed. But you have to keep in mind that 94% of us are not going to be any different except maybe a few hundred bucks in the hole, but we WILL be contributing to her retirement fund! That's not a knock on her, but she's not doing this presentation to change YOUR life...she's doing it to enhance hers.

In his blog, he discusses a Director from California (Jane Doe #45?) Sabrina Dagostino. This young lady is remarkable in all that she has accomplished in a few short years. From her site she lays claim to:

• Owning and operating a helicopter transportation system
• Owning and operating a full service real estate and mortgage office
• Co-owned and operated The OC Cruiser (a bus transportation company)
• Owned and operated a a waterfront Martini Lounge
• Holding an Engineering Degree
• Holding a Real Estate Brokers license
• Possessing a Law Degree and being registered to practice law in the state of California

All this at age 28. Not saying it is not true, just that it is remarkable. Maybe she knows Dr. Seligman. He exaggerates as well!

Uhm...Excuse Me Coach? I Have A Few Questions

NOTE: This post was intended to run on Tuesday, August 5, 2008. But now that the Convention is over, it is still appropriate and I wonder if any Reps or RTAs might have had the gumption to ask some hard questions.

To those that are headed to the Convention later this week and are seriously interested in selling travel, I offer these 14 questions for Coach.

1. Are there any plans to have the Certified Referring Travel Agent Training (CRTA) classes taught by anyone with some certifiable travel experience?
2. What is happening to my clients who are traveling August 6-10 since YTB has shut down the home office to allow all employees to come to St. Louis?
3. Do you feel that $8 million was really necessary for a 3 day centerpiece?
4. Why is the donation of Lady Liberty now in the hands of Beryl-Martin? I thought this was great publicity for YTB.
5. How many RTA websites are there right now in YTB? Kim was unable to figure it out with Nadine Godwin, I figured you might know.
6. Will Dr. Bob Seligman be addressing the convention?
   
7. Is it true that you, Kim, and Scott are the owners of Beryl-Martin Printing?
8. Of the reported 22,000 in attendance, how many Reps and RTAs (not spouses, guests, families and friends) are there?
9. When will we be able to concentrate on selling travel and being recognized as a legitimate company? It is tiring having to defend YTB all the time and Kim said he was working on "legitimizing" YTB last year. How is that coming along?
10. What are your plans for credentials now that IATAN has refused to grant us accreditation and it seems like CLIA is upping the requirments significantly?
11. Are there any plans to offer a more competitive commission split to be comparable to the majority of the host travel agencies in operation?
12. When will our finances be up to snuff to be admitted to one of the Big Board exchanges?
13. What really happened with Bob Dickinson?
14. What really happened with Ted Lindauer?
    

While these are somewhat tongue in cheek, each question does indeed pose a legitimate concern--or at least ought to pose a legitimate concern for anyone who is serious about doing business with YTB.

Does Dr. Seligman Have A Sister?

I learned my lesson about posting baby pictures a few weeks ago, so I am not going to go there again while addressing another inconsistency in the rhetoric from YTB.

Recently, there has been a flurry of comments about how many TTAs are flocking to YTB because they have all "seen the light" and understand what a great program it is. I cannot dispute that they have some TTAs in their mix--they probably do; but I think I can call into question the curriculum vitae (that Latin phrase was for Dr. Bob) of the agents they claim to have. Last week, on the blog called Just Picture It Now, there was an entire post devoted to Candi May, who was a hot shot travel agent in Kentucky for decades before joining YTB.

Some of the claims made by this blog include the "fact(s) that Candi May:

• owned several Brick and Mortar Agencies back in the day
• she was the one who was winning all the awards
• isn’t some rookie off the street who knew nothing about Travel

I am very friendly with the owner of the largest travel agency in Kentucky (actually they are also the largest in Tennessee and Southern Ohio as well) and as hard to believe as it is--they have never heard of someone named Candi May owning agencies in Kentucky. No one seems to be aware of all these awards she won.

And while we are dealing with the "unbelievable", there is this excerpt from the blog touting her credentials:

A former client then asked her to take a look at a business, not for her, but for him.

What she did do was look at the public numbers, she looked at our Founders, and she looked at what other successful people were doing in this business. She also went up to meet the Founders personally.

YTB was a company that was actually capitalizing on the very same market shift that was causing her Brick & Mortar business to loose all this business.

OK, so let me get this straight to be sure I understand....a client comes into her office and says, "Candi, I am looking at buying an internet agency to compete with you--do you have an opinion?" Well, my opinion would likely have been "Get the hell out of my office." But apparently, Candi's answer was to say, "Let me check it out and get back to you," as she purchased tickets to fly up to meet Coach and Scott herself just to offer an opinion to a client who was looking to compete with her. Yeah---right!

This blog entry really raised some flags for me--as so many of the other blog entries do--ADI acquisition, Dr. Bob, etc. So I sent Candi an email asking about her agency. While I will not repost her email here, her response did not confirm anything about her experience. She referenced an agency owned by a relative, and then included several links to companies that are no longer in business. Nothing about her and her awards, nothing about her agency awards.

On a follow up, she indicated that a major travel company (I am choosing to not name them) paid for her to fly to their headquarters and she spent many days having them wine and dine her in an attempt to get her to join their ranks--which she declined. This too sat funny with me since I could not picture this agency being a major player in the Kentucky market. Well, after a quick email, I can confirm that this major travel company (I know the CEO) indeed did not pay for anyone named Candi May to come to their headquarters. As a matter of fact, the only "Candi" they have in their system of prospects, was a "Candy" from Michigan.

So, do we have a long lost reunion coming up pretty soon. Is Candi May, the good Dr. Seligman's long lost sister? So now do we have the trifecta of wrong information? Seligman, ADI and now Candi May! Can anyone add some shred of truth to the claims? Candi may have been all that; but it seems like maybe not!

Can Someone Ask Doug To Read This?

I have been trying to solve the mystery of Dr. Bob Seligman for quite a few months. No one is able to verify any of his credentials. However, in my correspondence with Doug Bauknight, one of his favorite sayings (taken from Coach) was something along the lines of "if it ain't right, don't do it, if it ain't the truth, don't say it"--and I truly believed that Doug tried to live and operate by this rule.

I was surprised to read in his recent newsletter that he is promoting the Seligman audio call. As a matter of fact, he calls it "one of most powerful calls you've heard". With that endorsement, I am sure that Doug did indeed vet out this character and I invite him answer the question once and for all on this blog--just who the hell is Dr. Robert Seligman, PhD.?

Here is a copy of his most recent newsletter (I have taken out the HTML to make it more readable):

Want A Sneak Peak of The Convention? We don't know if you watch Good Morning America or not, but we wanted to give a "sneak peak" at what will be unveiled at the National Convention. Watch this news clip to see what Coach and Scott have in store for YOU! If you thought last year's Convention was amazing, you won't believe this year's incredible presentation. It's the MUST SEE, DON'T MISS event of the year!

Be numbered among the business builders, share the excitement, be a part of the awards and recognition, attend your choice of Training Seminars at YTB University on Wednesday and Thursday led by your field leaders, corporate team members, tax and legal professionals, and select vendors. YTB University is an EXCELLENT opportunity to learn how to build your YTB Business. NEW this year, you can register ahead of time for the classes held on Wednesday and Thursday with tickets to all the classes you want to attend. No more standing in line. No more disappointments that your class is full! But you need to register first! To get started, click the "Enroll in Courses" button found on the home page of your back office, or if you have already done so, you may view and edit your or your guests schedule by clicking the "View/Print Your Schedule" button.
Enjoy!
Doug & Ronda Bauknight AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agents / Network Marketers

YTB Travel Network YTB Announces New Board of Directors
It's been an incredible month with the Annual Report coming out on to start the month of April. Our stock listing moving to the OTC in the middle of the month. Now to close out the month, we find that Burt Saunders, a Florida State Legislator who was introduced at the National Convention was named to our Board of Directors. But news of former Carnival President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Dickinson to the YTB International Board of Directors as well is a MAJOR addition and adds tremendous credibility to our company! Robert was also recently interviewed in Travel Trade about his appointment to the Board of Directors. You can find the Press Release and we have also filed with the SEC as to their Compensatory Arrangements for being a Board Member.

Rick Ricketts Training Webinar
Rick Ricketts Join Rick and the Team at the Your Ticket to Paradise Center in Clearwater, FL. There will be a 9am-12pm training session & a 1pm- 4pm training session. Rick Ricketts Training Day Saturday May 3, 2008 Both trainings are the same. Seats are limited for this training. There are only 350 seats available each session, You can get tickets starting on April 22nd for this event. Learn How:
* To Create a Duplicable Recruiting System
* To make the First Contact in your warm & cold markets
* To Close! Director's will be teaching their own closing techniques...
You don't want to miss this informative Training from THE Leader in YTB, Rick Ricketts!

LIVE WEBCAST JUST ADDED!
Rick will be doing the AFTERNOON Training via a LIVE WEBCAST so if you can't make the training in person, you can still enjoy this informative information starting at 1:00 PM EST from the comfort of your own home! This Webcast does require Windows Media Player (Available for both PC and Mac) When: Saturday, May 3rd 1:00PM Eastern, 12:00PM Central 11:00AM Mountain, 10:00AM Pacific Get your folks to this webcast with this leader and member of The Circle of Champions to learn how to build your business!

Promote and Feature Your Director
ParadiseNetwork.com has been built with you, the agent, in mind. This is the way it has started and the way it will always be. Now you can let prospects not only read about but also see Directors they will be working with. Video interviews are now up and running of Level 2 Directors Tim & Georgia Dominey AND Level 1 Directors Terry & Pamela Graham. The time to make the switch from that 'other' marketing system to ParadiseNetwork.com is now! You can sign-up and get the first 10 days for 99 cents. Then it is just $9.95 a month after that.

CRTA Certification Classes
Get to a CRTA Training this month! Plug in and learn something new. There are RTA's who have been to dozens of CRTA Trainings and it's no surprise that they are building their business. Take a look at the schedule and get to a CRTA this month!

GEM Team Red Carpet Announced
YTB Red Carpet Day!
The next GEM Team Red Carpet Day is May 13 . While we know that some can only go & come the same day, BUT if you really want to get the full effect, Rick Ricketts will have his group over to his house on the Monday afternoon & night before (May 12th) for a cookout, & usually a trip over to the Coach's house (The Riverhouse!) This will be a GREAT Opportunity to meet both Rick and Coach on their "home turf"! (We've got to tell you, it's SOME turf!) Several hotels to stay at right there around the Convention Center in Collinsville, Il., which is where Red Carpet Day is held. There is no charge to attend Rep Carpet Day or for the luncheon. Please provide the following information when you request your reservations: RTA Name, YTB ID #, Your E-mail Address, Your Phone Number And any Guest's Name. (Bring as many Guests as you like!) Please send this information to redcarpet@ytb.com to attend. When your reservation is confirmed, you will receive an e-mail confirmation detailing the day's agenda, and directions from the Airport to the Office. If you are planning to come on Monday and would like to join Rick and Coach, please confirm you're intent to come @ ytbgemteam@comcast.net.

Tools and websites that work We have found a number of websites with Company Presentations we would like to share with you. Feel free to pass these around and have your prospects watch these in the comfort of their own home. www.Travelproincome.com
www.Travelproinsider.com
www.Paycationexperts.com

We have also found what is likely one of most powerful calls you've heard Bob Seligman, phD

We want you to succeed! We hope these tools are helpful, and we encourage your input and comments at any time. We hope to see you as a success in YTB this month!

Speak with you soon Doug & Ronda Bauknight AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agents / Network Marketers
YTB Travel Network

YTB Book of The Month
Each month we are going to recommend a book for you to read to help feed the mind and soul. We want you to be LEADERS and we believe it's important to always be learning and growing to help you take both your personal and professional lives to new levels. These books have helped us along the way and have impacted our lives with its message. It is our sincere desire that it will do the same for you. Order "Acres of Diamonds" Here Russell H. Conwell's "Acres of Diamonds" is this month's book of the month. Toward the end of his life, Russell H. Conwell (1843-1925) observed, "I am astonished that so many people should care to hear this story over again. Indeed, this lecture has become a study in psychology; it often breaks all rules of oratory, departs from the precepts of rhetoric, and yet remains the most popular of any lecture I have delivered in the fifty-seven years of my public life. I have sometimes studied for a year upon a lecture and made careful research, and then presented the lecture just once -- never delivered it again.

Brought To You By Doug & Ronda Bauknight

Doug & Ronda
"If You Had More Time and More Money...What Would YOU Do?" Just Picture It Now,
XXX XXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXXX, GA XXXX US
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit: http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?rEzsTEzMtCyMT...=

Just a few comments. There does not seem to be too much about travel in this latest newsletter; but he refers to himself indeed as a "travel agent". Apparently his wife is as well--well, I guess you got two ID cards when you signed up back in 2005.

For those who want to listen to Seligman, here is the link that was included in the newsletter:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DQWxF&m=1ZrqKdfV79nofP&b=vGrSXyA2VAUELjaVSc6L4g

There is talk about the prop YTB is using at the convention as being featured on Good Morning America. Not sure this is accurate. There was a local news show that highlighted the statue and it likely was aired during a GMA break, but it was NOT featured on GMA.

What happened to "if it ain't the truth don't say it."?

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey Joins YTB

Although his official biography does not reflect his latest business venture as a Referring Travel Agent, I have it on "unimpeachable" authority that he is indeed with YTB! Congratulations on scoring such a good recruit. I am sure he is up there with Dr. Seligman, Chris Paraldi (maybe they can chat gambling sometime), Phil Piccolo, the mythical Florida Senator, and the Director from Florida that was investigated and slapped down by the Florida Attorney General.

Folks, it has been proven all weekend that no one in YTB ever tell anything but the truth and that they are the bastions of integrity and honesty, so this news must be true. And just to make sure I properly identify my source, I am posting the proof!

Everyone please check back to AG Michael Mukasey's page in a day or so and I an sure the omission will be added. No doubt there will be a press release from YTB on this latest "acquisition" as well

from marchinek@xxxxxxxxx.net
to frenaye
date Sun, Apr 27, 2008 at 5:35 PM
subject YTB
signed-by xxxxxxxxx.net

hide details 5:35 PM (20 minutes ago)

Interesting information you claim about YTB! Have you seen the year end reports and the income reports that have the low,average and high income earned last year? I've been in YTB for a few months and the checks are coming in and it has already paid for my investment. The company has incredible training provided online, live and phone training. If YTB was a scam we would not be publicaly traded? YTB is also a member of the Direct Selling Association that prohibits pyramid schemes, and to my knowledge the Attorney General has joined YTB! Keep your comments coming, its people like yourself that will motivate YTB to prevail. Best of luck to you and your travel business.

Crystal Marchinek

Do You Know Who The President Is?

One of the keys to success in travel is relationships. It does not matter if you are physical or virtual; home based or corporate. In travel, I have found that most executives are very approachable. Look at Vicki Freed with Royal Caribbean--she will give out her cell number and a direct line to her office.

Relationships with clients are essential to survival as well. There must be a level of experience, expertise and customer service provided or the client is going to go away the next time. It is the old "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" mantra.

However, one MLM company just does not believe in relationships it seems. We have heard stories of their upline offering no support, we have been shown the level of experience their home office support has shown by a former RTA as well as from watching them operate under pressure. Their attrition levels in their 10K Filing support this and I imagine the quarterly filing (due soon) will further support this.

I would think that they might know who is running the show of their "suppliers"...but not so much. In a March 27, 2008 announcement to over 131,000 of their agents, they quoted the "president" of Trafalgar Tours in response to the new eLearning Program.

"The agents who complete the eLearning program sell
25% more than agents who have not taken the program."
- John Severini, CTC President, Trafalgar Tours

NEWSFLASH: Severini left Trafalgar in September 2007! While this might (and probably is) an oversight, it does pose a problem. When communication comes from HQ, it is taken as gospel. I can picture it now...131,000 people running around insisting that John Severini is president of Trafalgar. Why would I expect less? They feel Dr. Seligman exists. They feel the 2 Fly Free Program is exclusive. They feel that they can earn a lot of money in this program.

Come on, if you are going to play thye game, at least get the names of the players right.

What Are People Looking For?

When someone wants information on a topic these days, they usually utilize the Internet and a search engine. Google is a popular one. Yahoo is another one used by many as well.

While many people have subscribed to this blog and many more are just bookmarking it and checking back, we do get a ton of traffic from the search engines. Last week, I was watching the search terms used to find this blog and I thought it was interesting.

For the most part, they are negative terms. People are actually looking for specific bad things, like "is this a pyramid scheme". They are not looking for "is MLM a great opportunity". Both search terms likely would have eventually brought you here, but the list below shows the search terms people used to get here--so there is no influence of the blog. At least at this point.

Take a look at some of the top phrases entered into search engines last week:

• FTC YTB
• Dr. Bob Seligman
• Is Mike The Travel Guy RTA a pyramid scheme
• Ted Lindauer
• Travel MLM
• Fired YTB Lawyer
• CLIA and YTB
• MLM cult
• Opinion about MLM
• YTB and TICO standards

Wow, Seligman is apparently still trying to be verified. People are still very curious about Ted Lindauer and his firing and I suppose his subsequent reconciliation. But a lot of people are wondering if MLM is a pyramid scheme or a cult.

How does this happen? I am unaware of any traditional business model in any industry that garners those terms in their searches. "Is GE a cult?" got one return on Google. YTB got 4,630. "Is the IBM salesperson a pyramid scheme?" got one. YTB got 6,780. "Fired American Express Lawyer" got no responses. YTB got 1.

Very interesting. It seems that it is not only the folks on here that are questioning the validity of MLM in travel. It seems to me that there might be more of a pervasive attitude out there as well. I have said it before, but if I were involved with a travel MLM and had to spend most of my time and effort defending the shady business practices, I would move on. Well, maybe I would put some pressure on management to do something first--one would think that if they were truly vested and interested in the business they would welcome the opportunity to "legitimize".

More BS From Bob Seligman (no PhD)

I re-listened to the audio file and took a few more notes, and (surprise) discovered a few more discrepancies. I am sure if you listen to the 45 minutes you can find even more.

• Seligman claims he is a guest lecturer at Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford. My Harvard source is unable to locate the name anywhere associated with Harvard. A search of Wharton's site turned up nothing as did Stanford. Hmmm.
• Seligman said that he was knowledgeable of business practices because he is "a financial columnist" and "a published author". Well, guess what? Not much is coming up on that front either.
  
• Seligman also referenced General Electric and "his friend" "Jack Walsh". Well if he is referring to the former CEO of GE, it is Jack Welch. Now maybe his friend "Jack Walsh" is the guy that sweeps the floors in Fairfield.
• Seligman stated that Harvard Business School said YTB was "the business opportunity of a lifetime." Again, no real substantiation there. Looking at their website, there are few references to "MLM" or "Network Marketing" and certainly none to YTB. I have also been told (unsubstantiated) that Harvard Business School has derided MLM as an invalid business practice.
  
• Seligman says that he suspects that Coach, Scott and Kim are "smarter" than Barry Diller and have "outsmarted" him in travel because Barry Diller spent $5B for Expedia, but YTB offers the "same thing" for $500. He claims that YTB is "better" and "provably better" than Expedia. Uhm, OK. As my daughter might say, "whatever."
  
• Seligman claims that the average adult in the US spends an average of 6.5 hours watching television and 2 hours a day on the computer outside of work. His pitch was to cut an hour off of the television and concentrate on YTB and you can make 100X your investment. That "statistic" although he says is provable, this seems very excessive to me.
• Seligman, in his closing statement, said that Bill Gates is worth $50 Billion dollars and explains that it is "9 zeros folks". Uhm, maybe it was just a mispeak, but it is 10 zeros. One would think that the closing point in a presentation by a financial guru would not make that error!

A lot of people will say so what? Well, I think this is an issue. Regardless of who originated the Doctor, his credentials cannot be substantiated at all. These same credentials are being used by numerous Reps as they try to recruit people into the YTB program. Without knowing that the credentials are bogus, people will take him at face value. Anyone who may make a decision to join YTB based on this is being duped into the program. I am not sure, but if an RTA wanted to press the issue, I would bet some Rep might be on the look for this. What is more reprehensible is that YTB, by their silence, is endorsing this type of "marketing". GO ahead and tell them anything you like as long as you sign them up.

Just an interesting aside, I have said that I believe that Seligman is really a fabrication by a few Directors of YTB to enhance the recruiting efforts. After all, one would think a "published author" and "financial columnist" would have some information publicly available. The audio file is hosted at a domain called seligmanaudio.com. According to WHOIS, the owner is a company called Domains By Proxy which is a company that hides the identity of the true owner of a domain. Without a subpoena or a formal investigation, the actual owner remains unknown. Odd? Perhaps. The domain was just registered a few days ago.

The Good Doctor Seligman Exaggerates

In a comment several days ago, someone brought to my attention the fact that there was a new RTA beyond compare. Credentialed out the wazoo by the name of Dr. Bob Seligman, PhD.

Proud to be YTB said...I can't wait to hear how you're going to spin this...
You keep talking and YTB still keeps growing! :)
BTW... if you didn't check this out yet, I suggest you do.

• Dr. Bob Seligman, PhD (& RTA)
• PhD in Economics (Oxford)
• MBA in Finance (Harvard)
• Former Senior VP of Corporate Development for Fox, Inc.
• Reported Directly to Billionaire Barry Dillar(Owner / CEO of Expedia, Inc.)

Listen to the Audio: http://ytbreport.com/Investigate_YTB.php

Now, first off, if you use the prefix "Dr." you do not use the suffix "PhD" and vice versa. This was my first guess that this might be a load of crap. My second observation was that the comment looked like it was cut and pasted from the "doctor's" curriculum vitae, and if he was a direct report to the CEO of Expedia, I would think he would know the correct spelling of his boss's name.

So I listened to the recording and picked up some of his other qualifications:

• Executive Director of the Screenwriter's Guild
• Boeing Executive
• Bank of New York Executive
• General Electric Executive
• New York Life Insurance Executive
• Commander of Special Forces in Viet Nam
• 6 Voluntary Tours of Duty in Viet Nam
• Spy
• Government Contractor who developed the counter terrorism unit for the US Secret Service

On the call, the presenter said that the good "Doctor" is so humble that he made sure that his credentials were not common knowledge. Hmmm. Now this really intrigued me.

I figured a man with this much under his belt would have some info about him somewhere. One would think that you could find a doctoral thesis. A mention in the Screenwriter's Guild history. Maybe a listing on the alumni website for Harvard (yes, I have a friend who has access). Nary a mention of a Seligman at GE, Boeing, 20th Century Fox, Bank of New York, or New York Life.

He is not even listed in the UCLA alumni directory--which I have been told is pretty weak as it is so that is no surprise.

Based on his military record, I am assuming this guy "served" for 6 years in Viet Nam. He claims to have received all of his education after the service (right when he was designing the counter terrorist program for the Secret Service and was a spy...without a college education...uhm, OK whatever...)

But if he did serve in Viet Nam, he could very well be the author of a very interesting document. The name and approximate age matches. If this is the same guy, he forgot to list one of his companies--Phillip Morris. Well, here is a copy of a letter authored by a Robert Seligman which was admitted to court in the United States vs. Phillip Morris suit. This Robert Seligman (and it could be a different person) apparently was concerned about the information on pesticides in their tobacco products getting out and recommends clandestine drop boxes and eliminating any written documents--suggesting a coverup. (I have to say, if this is the same guy, he is a dope. What guy with a spy background would write a letter suggesting that there be no written communication?) Again, not sure if it is the RTA Seligman or not, but it is interesting reading for sure.

So in essence, I am, yet again, calling BS on YTB. A person as credentialed and educated as he says he is HAS to have information out there. Even "Proud to be YTB" has several Google returns. So what is the deal? Is he fabricating the story to YTB? Or is YTB fabricating the story to the Reps and RTAs? Or both? I have no idea, but I am 99.9% sure that this "Doctor" is a complete fabrication. Is it a coincidence that the word Seligman is a German word meaning "blessed man"? But at least he will have one Google hit after this post!

Search engines, alumni directories, company histories, professional "data gatherers" in the Washington, DC area all came up blank except for the tobacco thing.

And as to the Harvard credential, we checked under Robert, Bob, and Bobby and even a few alternate spellings of the last name and zilch came up. They checked records in their business school as well as the others and again zilch!

So, Proud to be YTB challenged me in his comment...."if you didn't check this out yet, I suggest you do.". Well, I did. Now, I offer a challenge to you---document it!

It appears that there is yet another scam artist in the midst of YTB. Perhaps he is spending the weekend with Coach and Phil in the Mansion on the Hill!

PS--Isn't it ironic that the seal of Harvard University says "Veritas". Veritas, from Latin meaning honesty and truthfulness.