Three years and nearly 1500 posts later, it's time for me to retire this weblog. It's been fun and informative, and I've very much enjoyed the comments and e-mails from others. Please feel free to contact me for any reason. I wish everyone the best!
About Me
24 comments:
So sorry to hear about your decision. I've enjoyed reading your site over the past several months.
Oh, that's not so good news. I enjoyed reading your blog a lot. It actually inspired me to start my own. Well, I'm going to miss it. I'd like to thank you for all the information and posts. I guess from now on, you'll have a sea of extra time left to spent with your family now. Enjoy! :)
As with Patrick, I was inspired to post more adoption stories at my blog, along with our usual family trivia. You were always up to date with your posts and I hope to continue in the same vein. Best wishes to you and your family.
You'll be missed! Thank you for the many informative and entertaining posts.
Crap.
Liked your blog. Will have to fill void with someone else's.
Thanks for the time and love you've provided.
Sorry to hear this, I have enjoyed reading your current stories...Stacey (Mom to Ryleigh as of Feb 2006)
no! say it ain't so! Yours is one of the sites I check regularly for news re: China and adoption.
Thanks for all your work.
Wendy
Noooooooooo!! I check this site each and every day! You have done such a nice job over the years. I am going to feel lost! Thanks for your hard work.
I, too have thoroughly enjoyed your blog. Only an occasional commenter here but wanted to take a moment to say thanks for all of your effort. Appreciate so much what you have provided for the China adoption community and to our family personally.
Warmest regards,
Karen in NC
Walter -
I too love your blog, but I can't say I'm surprised to hear that you're retiring it. How very, very sad.
I knew from the moment you announced that you bought into that Pharmanex MLM that it would soon consume all your time and you'd no longer have time for the blog. It's been less than 2 months, and already Pharmanex has obviously taken over your life.
That's how MLM companies work: They suck up all your time with motivational babble full of empty promises and false dreams of wealth. Eventually, most MLM-ers end up alienating all their friends, family and anyone else who doesn't contribute to their profit margin. Oh sure, a few make money for a while, but it's still a huge lose-lose deal for everyone involved in terms of relationships. No amount of cash can make up for the devastation MLM causes.
I only hope, Walter, that you come to your senses before it's too late and you destroy your life and all your dearest relationships. Especially your relationship with those two beautiful Chinese girls of yours. To be the child of a hard-core MLM parent is a terrible way to grow up.
You've done so much good through your blog. It's a shame it got overshadowed by Pharmanex. Deny it if you want to, but in your heart you know I'm telling it as it is.
You've been a real friend to the adoption community and your blog was one of the best resources on the internet. You will be missed by many.
We will be praying for you and your family ... and I hope you'll ditch this new "career" of yours and get back to doing good in the world, as you have for the past 3 years with your blog.
God bless you.
P.S. to Walter and anyone else who is involved in MLM ... there are two inexpensive books by Athena Dean that descibe how her life, and the lives of her husband and children, were ruined by their involvement in MLM companies. Get these books and read them!
Anonymous,
While I find your comments understandable, they are from a limited perspective. Let me comment on what you said.
<< I knew from the moment you announced that you bought into that Pharmanex MLM that it would soon consume all your time and you'd no longer have time for the blog. It's been less than 2 months, and already Pharmanex has obviously taken over your life. >>
I need to clarify a couple of points. First, there have been about a half dozen times over the last two years when I've contemplated stopping the weblog. My personality is such that when I get interested in something, I want to spend all my time doing it. Over the years, I've spend considerable time and resources in such hobbies as chess, digital photo editing, movie making, riding roller coasters (once I rode 89 different coasters in a single year!), religion, history, languages, video games, weblogging, Magic the Gathering, etc. Once I find a new hobby, I generally jump in with both feet. So, the fact that I went three years with this weblog is really much longer than I would have expected. I kept going because I knew it provided a service and I enjoyed hearing the great feedback from readers.
Second, Pharmanex is definitely not consuming all my time. I still spend as much time with my family. (One of our favorite family activities is to go on walks.) I volunteer at church. I'm helping with scout camp in a couple of weeks. My wife and I have a very large group of friends, and we visit with friends (go out to dinner, etc.) about twice a week. And these are friends we had before joining Pharmanex. My wife always hated getting an invitation from someone to come over for a Pampered Chef or something like that, when that person hadn't given her the time of day before then. We vowed never to be like that. We haven't burned any bridges or alienated any friends.
<< They suck up all your time with motivational babble full of empty promises and false dreams of wealth. Eventually, most MLM-ers end up alienating all their friends, family and anyone else who doesn't contribute to their profit margin. >>
I know a lot of people who have had bad experiences with multi-level marketing. That's why I avoided it for 15 years. I say this: ***The industry deserves the reputation it created for itself.*** I abhor the "fake it until you make it" philosophy. I think it is destructive when people are taught to only associate with others who "share the dream." I have a real problem with MLM companies where the only people buying the product are new distributors getting "in" the business.
Yet I'm involved with Pharmanex. Why?
First, I am extremely impressed with the concept of MLM. There is no question that you can create a significant income-generating asset in the form of a MLM organization. It is NOT FOR EVERYONE (despite what some might say), just like opening a Subway restaurant is not for everyone. But for some, it is a great opportunity, especially for those who are willing to treat it like a business, i.e., for those who don't spend more time or money than their budget allows. Any business can burn you. At 45, my neighbor completely blew his retirement savings opening up a Dollar Store that folded. He'll now be working for the rest of his life.
Second, the skills you learn doing direct sales and multi-level marketing are fantastic business skills. My boss, who doesn't know I've joined Pharmanex, has commented on my performance at work recently. It's because you learn how to talk to people, how to sell, how to have better confidence, how to motivate others, how to focus, etc. It's great real-world training. If I stop now, I'm ahead in the skills I've learned.
Most important, I LOVE PHARMANEX PRODUCTS. Sorry to use an overworked phrase, but they have literally changed my life. I've struggled with fatigue for many years, really struggling to get through the day. My daily routine was to drink a Monster Energy drink first thing in the morning, and then drink two or three 20 oz. Mountain Dews to get through the day. I hated it because the caffeine really made me edgy. I started taking Pharmanex LifePak, and after about 6 weeks my wife commented that I didn't seem to be dragging in the evening any more. She was right, I did feel a lot better, and so I started backing off on the caffeine to where I now don't drink ANY. I'm actually saving money taking the supplements because I'm not spending 4-5 dollars a day on soda. I then started taking Pharmanex Cordymax, which is an energy supplement that helps your body process oxygen. After a couple of weeks I had even more energy. I started mowing the lawn again. (The last couple of years, I always paid someone to do it.) To give you an idea of where I'm at now, I recently returned from the Czech Republic. I flew from Prague to Amsterdam to Minneapolis to Appleton. I stayed awake the whole time, watching movies and working. When I got home I unpacked, went to the gym and worked out, came home and mowed the lawn (which is a hour job), and then took a shower and went to a family event (an old fashioned silent movie with piano accompaniment). When I finally went to bed, I had been up for 24 hours. And I woke up 8 hours later feeling great. So, even if I decide that Pharmanex is no longer a business opportunity for me, I will be taking the supplements forever.
I really do feel for those who've had bad experiences. If I conclude that it is not right for me, I will walk away in an instant. If I can't do this business with integrity and transparency, will no longer do it.
-- Walter
Thanks for all your hard work and time spent making your site so wonderful! I will miss it!
I'll miss your site -- I check it every few days. Thanks for all of the hard work these past three years.
Walter,
Thank you so much for the past 3 years of information. Yours was the only blog I read regularly and I always found your content interesting and educational. I really appreciate all of the work you put into it.
I wish you luck in everything in the future and with your family. =)
Kimberly
Walter,
I've been a loyal reader of your blog for almost two years now and it will be greatly missed. I've found many helpful resources, not to mention great pics for the wallpaper on my computer through your site. Best wishes to you and your family.
Not that I'll be as good or as faithful as Walter, but I will try posting some of the same adoption stories and news over at my blog.
Will miss your site and wish you would reconsider. It is very informative to the adoption community. By the way, sorry someone above had to ruin your departure with such a bitter manifesto against MLM's. What you do is your own business.
Thanks so much for all you have done!
Your blog is much appreciated and will be missed.
I keep checking to see if you've missed doing this and changed your mind, and you haven't! I sure miss your updates- I found so many helpful bits of info and links here. Thanks for not taking it off line altogether so I can still refer back!
I can't believe Walter hasn't posted anything here in over five months and this site still gets over 300 hits a day. Remarkable.
Yes, I'm envious :-)
Well, it's been a year since Walter dumped this blog in favor of the Pharmanex MLM. I can't help but wonder how things are going, insofar as MLM companies in general have a well-deserved reputation for sucking up all your time with motivational babble full of empty promises and false dreams of wealth, and ruining the lives of the participants and the people who love them.
So, Walter, how many friends and family members have you alienated by pushing this stuff, and how many have you dragged into this arrangement?
How is your finanacial situation? Have your dreams come true yet? Has your schedule become totally overwhelmed with Pharmanex, Pharmanex, Pharmanex, to the exclusion of many of the activities and time with your loved ones which you once enjoyed?
It's not too late to admit your mistakes, make amends to those around you, and get back to living a normal life.
Oh yeah, and bring back the blog which we all loved so much!
Oh, and to anyone else who is involved in MLM ... there are two inexpensive books by Athena Dean that descibe how her life, and the lives of her husband and children, were ruined by their involvement in MLM companies. Get these books and read them!
God bless you all.
I totally understand why people feel the way they do about network marketing. There have been some companies that have done a good job wrecking the reputation of the industry in which they belong. A lot of blame falls on those companies. And of course, some of the blame falls on those people who thought all they would need to do to become rich was to fill their garages with water filters and find others to do the same.
On the other hand, there are plenty of great companies out there. I happen to belong to one of those companies. I have lots and lots of customers (i.e., people who buy without ever wanting to be a distributor), and those customers have been fiercely loyal. And if you do network marketing right (treat it like a business, manage your expenses, etc.), it is a wonderful opportunity to be in business for yourself.
I’m only looking for the right people . . . people for whom this is the right thing to be doing at the right time in their life. For that reason, I sponsor less people, but those who get involved are much more engaged. No one gets arm-twisted into my group. And because of that, I’ve maintained all of my friendships and haven’t alienated anyone.
My financial situation is exactly where I was told it would be. I’m making the equivalent of a half-time job, but I’m able to do it in 5-10 hours a week. Plus, it continues to grow every month. It has been well worth the time.
As far as the time issue goes, obviously you can’t get something for nothing. I’ve kept the important things in my life, and given up some activities. It is well worth it, both in the short term and the long term . . . the short term because the skills I’ve learned in network marketing have helped me in my corporate job, and in the long term because I don’t worry about getting laid of when I’m 47 like a lot of my friends and colleagues who have lost their jobs to over seas workers.
Network marketing is definitely not for everyone. But for those with drive, ambition, and a willingness to learn some new skills, it is an excellent opportunity.
Anonymous,
I don't understand why, after all this time, you feel it necessary to badger Mr. Reade about the business he has chosen for himself. Obviously, it's not for everyone and I think you've made it clear it's not for you. But please, this is America, a capitalist society and if Walter is doing what he wants with his time, and is making money at it, then more power to him. It's not a whole lot different than most any other company that franchises.
Also, you mention that Walter should get back to blogging. Perhaps you should visit my blog, where I've posted over 550 items in the past year while China Adoption News has remained fallow. Now, China Adoption News has still gets more hits than I do (144 over the last 24 hrs, vs. about 35 for my blog), but maybe I'm just not marketing myself well enough. So, tell your friends. There, that's my bit of advertising.
Glad to hear things are going well, Walter. Best to you and yours.
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