Avon Calling In China

Avon Products Inc., the world's largest door-to-door cosmetics distributor, said this month that Avon Products (China) Co. Ltd. received the first direct-selling business license in that country after an eight-year ban.

Avon China now can roll out its previously tested single-level direct-selling model nationwide. The permit was issued in February.

China banned direct sales in 1998, saying it was hard for consumers to tell the difference between legitimate sales networks and fraudulent pyramid schemes. However, the government issued rules to regulate direct sales in December, clearing the way for Avon and other companies to apply for licenses.

MLM Company Hebalife Annouces Sports Sponsorships In France

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) announces a series of sponsorships in France, including main sponsorship of the Gerardmer triathlon, associate sponsor of the Ironman France, and official partner of the two-day Strasbourg Europe Races.

Herbalife is already nutrition partner of the French Ski School at Val d'Isere for the four-month 2005/6 season.

In total, the sponsorship deals will enable the company to take the brand to an audience of more than 50,000 athletes and sportsmen and several million spectators at the events and via media and broadcast coverage.

Warning Over Latest MLM Fad

Jon Christian Ryter -- AutoSurf or AutoScam?, Part 1:

"The Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] issued a blunt warning last week to website owners seeking increased traffic from autosurfers, and to network marketing entrepreneurs looking for a leg up on the latest moneymaking multilevel marketing scheme—autosurfing is high risk. The SEC put the paid autosurf website industry on notice that the government is taking a very close look at them. In issuing its warning, the SEC noted that there are dozens of autosurf websites on the Internet and that while most of them are legitimate, some of them—those, the SEC said, that promise their members astronomical profits—are likely pyramid schemes and, as such, are scams that the government intends to shut down."

Research Appointment At MLM Company Immunotec

"Charles H. Roberts, President and Chief Executive Officer of Immunotec Research Ltd., is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Wulf Droege, one of the world's leading scientists in aging research, as Senior Vice-President of Research & Development. As head of Immunotec's R&D department, Dr. Droege will spearhead its research initiatives in the areas of immune system optimization and anti-aging."

Mannatech Lawsuits Are Consolidated

MSN Money - Associated Press Business News: Mannatech Lawsuits Are Consolidated:

"Network marketing company Mannatech Inc. on Tuesday said a consolidated complaint was filed on Friday, as part of several securities lawsuits filed against the company and some of its directors and officers.

The complaints, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, allege that the company artificially inflated the value of its stock by knowingly allowing independent contractors to misrepresent the effectiveness of the companys products, according to filings the company previously made with the Securities and Exchange Commission."

USATODAY.com - Multi-level marketing sounds great, but ...

USATODAY.com - Multi-level marketing sounds great, but ...

Article in "USA Today" about the advantages and disadvantages of MLM and Network Marketing.