Abstract:
A method and computer program product are disclosed for amassing contact information of DS prospects commonly acquainted with an DS member. The method requires a DS member to provide a list of contacts, those contacts are solicited by a DS employee, and the DS member is compensated for revenue generated from contacts joining the DS company. Unique multimedia presentations are shown to each contact who responds to electronic solicitation from the DS company, which presentations are personalized for the contacts. In some embodiments, prospects in the list are assigned value identifiers and into a hierarchal direct sales (DS) structure for solicitation by DS personal trained to commence cold contact with third-party prospects to build a commission downline for current the member with whom the prospects are commonly acquainted. Unique standardized valuation identifiers are generated by the disclosed method and computer program product for estimating commercial viability of each DS prospect.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to direct sales, and more particularly relates to a method of gathering information relevant to soliciting new members into a hierarchical direct sales business structure. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Direct sales (DS) business structures assume responsibility for the sale of select consumer products, services, and/or opportunities to both revenue-sharing members of the direct sales structure and third-parties. Direct sales structures reward members who successfully recruit and retain new members within the structure by remitting commissions to the recruiting members in accordance with a predetermined commission criteria adopted by the direct sales structure (also known as a multilevel marketing structure). Companies adopting, or assuming, an DS structure motivate their members with the commission criteria to profit not just from the sale of DS goods to others, but also from sales effectuated by newer members brought into the DS structure by older members. 
         [0005]    DS structures necessarily organize their members into hierarchical pay grades, tiers, or levels, and distribute commissions made on the sale of consumer products by trickling the commissions up to members in higher levels who were responsible for bringing subsequent members into the DS structure in lower tier levels. 
         [0006]    In accordance with their business objectives, DS structures will often provide their members with printed instructions and/or training in effective methods of both selling consumer products and recruiting others into the DS structure. Typical methods of recruiting others include conferences in which potential members, or contacts of members, are given the opportunity to socialize with experienced members, experience multimedia presentations of various species, hear testimonials of successful members, and become acquainted with the particular implementation of the DS structure assumed by the company or organization offering the one or more consumer product(s) underlying the DS structure. 
         [0007]    Many companies implementing DS structures have enjoyed remarkable success, but other DS companies have struggled due to the inability and/or reluctance of many members, and potential members, to participate in the DS marketing programs. Many members and potential members are hesitant to recruit their personal and professional contacts into the DS structure. Members may lack the ability to successfully recruit their contacts, or may be disinclined to strain relationships they have established with their contacts by subjecting those contacts to the rhetoric necessary to successfully recruit them. These members may be similarly disinclined to solicit sales of the consumer product(s) marketed by the DS structure from their personal and professional contacts. 
         [0008]    Many members of DS structures come to exist for a period of time only, and increasing the lifespan of a DS structure becomes difficult without realizing new member recruits making monthly consumer product purchases. These members may discontinue or dishonor obligations incidental to their membership in the DS structure, such as membership fees or obligations to purchase DS products. These problems inherent in traditional DS structures have caused DS structures to suffer low member retention rates, inefficient new member recruitment drives, and unproductive solicitation of new sales from member contacts. 
         [0009]    Time has shown that the most effective new members in DS structures are the personal and professional contacts of current members. All parties benefit from the recruitment of these individuals into the DS structure, the older member, the DS structure itself, and the new members. A constant flow of new members who are personally acquainted with old members revitalized the DS structure; but, for the reasons expanded upon above, it can be difficult to incentivize members to invest the effort continually to accomplish this. 
         [0010]    Furthermore, the presentation given to prospective members is static and uniform across prospective members of all income levels and all relationship types to the DS member. Current DS companies do not personalize presentations to the DS members. 
         [0011]    What is needed in the art is a method shifting solicitation responsibilities from older members, who have traditionally been pushed to assume those responsibilities, to committed individuals trained in sales techniques working under the supervision of the DS structure itself. A method of incentivizing DS members to help with this transition and a means of trading future financial compensation for itemized personal information from a member&#39;s about their contacts is needed in the art. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for a method of amassing third-party contact information from direct marketing members. The present invention has been developed in response to the present state of the art; and, in particular, in response to the problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solved by currently available methods, systems and apparatus, and that overcome many or all of the above-discussed shortcomings in the art. Accordingly, the present invention has been developed to provide a method for amassing third-party contact information from direct marketing members. A method is disclosed of amassing contact information and company valuation estimates of prospective direct sales (DS) members, wherein the prospective DS members are personally acquainted with a current DS member, the steps of the method comprising: incorporating a member into a hierarchal DS structure such that the member is positioned to be remunerated by the DS structure in the form of commissions on sales realized from additional members joining the DS structure after the member is incorporated; and requiring the DS member to provide a list of personal contacts as a condition of continued incorporation, the list comprising one or more of the names, telephone numbers, email addresses, income, religious affiliation, health, age, gender, native language, and mailing addresses (collectively the “contact information”) of one or more of family members, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and neighbors (collectively the “personal contacts”). 
         [0013]    In the method, the list further comprises a numerical valuation estimate exclusively associated with each personal contact, the valuation estimate for each person contact comprising a value representative of the strength of the DS member&#39;s belief that the personal contact will form a good DS member in the future; storing data in the list in a database; generating a standardized valuation identifier for each personal contact by standardizing each valuation estimate; plotting the standardized valuation identifiers as a bell curve on graph; digitally contacting each personal contact via one or more of email, text message, and facsimile with a message seemingly from the DS member informing the personal contact of imminent future contact by an DS employee; systematically initiating telephonic contact with the personal contacts in sequence beginning with those contacts at the high end of the bell curve progressing to those at the low end by an DS employee; soliciting the personal contacts to join the DS structure; incorporating one or more of the personal contact(s) into the hierarchal DS structure in a downline of the member, wherein the personal contact(s) are remunerated by the DS structure in the form of commissions on sales realized to additional members joining the DS structure after the personal contact(s) are incorporated; generating a unique productivity value for the DS member in response to the number of personal contacts joining the DS structure; and directly associating the DS member&#39;s downline commissions with the unique productivity value. 
         [0014]    The method may further comprise paying residual commissions to the DS employee responsible for initiating telephonic contact with the personal contact who incorporated. 
         [0015]    The method may further comprise creating a DS compensation criteria with both the DS member and DS employee in the same upline revenue stream. 
         [0016]    A computer program product is also disclosed comprising a computer readable medium having computer usable program code executable to perform operations for amassing contact information for commonly acquainted DS prospects, the operations of the computer program product comprising: incorporating a member into a hierarchal DS structure such that the member is positioned to be remunerated by the DS structure in the form of commissions on sales realized from additional members joining the DS structure after the member is incorporated; requiring the DS member to provide a list of personal contacts via a web browser as a condition of continued incorporation, the list comprising one or more of the names, telephone numbers, email addresses, income, religious affiliation, health, age, gender, native language, and mailing addresses (collectively the “contact information”) of one or more of family members, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and neighbors (collectively the “personal contacts”); wherein the list further comprises a numerical valuation estimate exclusively associated with each personal contact, the valuation estimate for each person contact comprising a value representative of the strength of the DS member&#39;s belief that the personal contact will form a good DS member in the future; storing data in the list in a database; generating a standardized valuation identifier for each personal contact by standardizing each valuation estimate; plotting the standardized valuation identifiers as a bell curve on graph; systematically initiating contact with the personal contacts in sequence beginning with those contacts at the high end of the bell curve progressing to those at the low end by an DS employee, wherein the contact is seemingly from the DS member; incorporating via a web browser one or more of the personal contact(s) into the hierarchal DS structure in a downline of the member, wherein the personal contact(s) are remunerated by the DS structure in the form of commissions on sales realized to additional members joining the DS structure after the personal contact(s) are incorporated; generating a unique productivity value for the DS member in response to the number of personal contacts joining the DS structure; and directly associating the DS member&#39;s downline commissions with the unique productivity value. 
         [0017]    In some embodiments, the contact information is stored in a B-tree data structure on a computer readable storage device in contact the with computer program product. 
         [0018]    The computer program product may further comprise splicing together multimedia segments exclusively associated with information in the list to form a multimedia presentation personalized for the contact, and showing said multimedia presentation to the contact. 
         [0019]    The computer program product may further comprise adding a multimedia segment to a multimedia presentation in response to one or more values in the list satisfying a predetermined criteria. 
         [0020]    A method of amassing contact information and company valuation estimates of prospective direct sales (DS) members is disclosed, wherein the prospective DS members are personally acquainted with a current DS member, the steps of the method comprising: requiring the DS member to provide a list of personal contacts as a condition of continued incorporation, the list comprising one or more of the names, telephone numbers, email addresses, income, religious affiliation, health, age, gender, native language, and mailing addresses (collectively the “contact information”) of one or more of family members, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and neighbors (collectively the “personal contacts”); wherein the list further comprises a numerical valuation estimate exclusively associated with each personal contact, the valuation estimate for each person contact comprising a value representative of the strength of the DS member&#39;s belief that the personal contact will form a good DS member in the future; digitally contacting each personal contact via one or more of email, text message, and facsimile with a message seemingly from the DS member informing the personal contact of imminent future contact by an DS employee; systematically initiating telephonic contact with the personal contacts in sequence beginning with those contacts at the high end of the bell curve progressing to those at the low end by an DS employee; incorporating one or more of the personal contact(s) into the hierarchal DS structure in a downline of the member, wherein the personal contact(s) are remunerated by the DS structure in the form of commissions on sales realized to additional members joining the DS structure after the personal contact(s) are incorporated; and compensating the DS member a commission for each contact who incorporated into the DS structure. 
         [0021]    The computer program product may further comprise systematically mailing post cards to each contact on the list, or systematically mailing letters to each contact on the list. 
         [0022]    Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present invention should be or are in any single embodiment of the invention. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, discussion of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment. 
         [0023]    Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the invention. 
         [0024]    These features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0025]    In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0026]      FIG. 1  is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating the relationship between entities in an DS structure working together to amass third-party contact information of commonly acquainted prospects into a direct sales structure in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 1B  is modularized representation of a list in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 1C  is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating the steps of a method for amassing contact information in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0029]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating the relationship between commission tiers and remuneration to members and employees of an DS structure incorporated by amassing contact information of commonly acquainted prospects in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0030]      FIG. 3  is a process flow chart of a method of amassing contact information of commonly acquainted prospects into a direct sales structure in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0031]      FIG. 4  is a second process flow chart of a method of amassing contact information of commonly acquainted prospects into a direct sales structure in accordance with the present invention; and 
           [0032]      FIG. 5  is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating another embodiment of a system for performing operations for amassing contact information of commonly acquainted prospects into a direct sales structure in accordance with the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0033]    Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment. 
         [0034]    The described features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention. The apparatus modules recited in the claims may be configured to impart the recited functionality to the apparatus. 
         [0035]      FIG. 1  is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating the relationship between entities in a DS structure working together to amass third-party contact information of commonly acquainted prospects into a direct sales structure in accordance with the present invention. The entity-relationship  100  comprises a direct marketing corporation (i.e. DS corporation)  102 , a DS member  104 , a contact list  106 , individuals  108   a - f , and corporation  110   a - c.    
         [0036]    Each of the entities in the relationship  100  form part of a DS structure, which markets a consumer product, service or business opportunity. The consumer product may comprise any valuable item which can be purchased, tangible or intangible. Examples of consumer products may include fruit drinks, vitamins, cleaners, cars, computers, tools, and the like. The consumer product may be intangible, and/or comprise video, audio, digit text files, or the like. 
         [0037]    For the purposes of this patent, the term “DS structure” or “DS” denotes a direct sales business structure that incorporates its members in hierarchical pay grades, or levels, and remunerates commissions to members in higher levels for the sales of consumer products realized by members in lower levels whom have been incorporated into the DS structure as a result of the efforts of members in the higher levels. DS structures are well-known to those of skill in the art. 
         [0038]    The members  104  may comprise any person, company or organization that is potentially a customer of another person, company or organization. The member  104  may purchase one or more consumer products and become “incorporated” into the DS structure, or the member  104  may purchase the consumer product and not become incorporated. For the purposes of this patent, the terms “incorporate” and “incorporation” denote the act of formally enrolling an individual or organization into an DS structure such that the individual or organization receives commissions on downline sales (sales realized as a result of the efforts of contacts of the individual or organization which are later incorporated), through a mutually recognized business relationship with the DS structure. 
         [0039]    It is the object of the present invention to protect a process of:
       (a) Paying DS members  104  to provide a list  106  of personal and professional contacts  108 , and the contact information of those contacts  108 , the list uploaded into computer readable memory;   (b) Soliciting contacts  108  provided in the list  106  with a two fold approach: (i) first, directly soliciting each contact  108  via electronic communication (e.g. email, SMS message, and the like), and (ii) requiring, or prompting electronically, a human being to initiate personal contact with the contact  108 ; and   (c) Directing, in the electronic and personal communication (using hyperlinks, QR codes, and the like) the contact  108  to a URL on the Internet resolving to a personalized graphic multimedia presentation created in response to computer readable information in the list, which streams over the Internet to the contact&#39;s  108  computer or DPD.       
 
         [0043]    Using the steps of this method, the present invention teaches more efficient means of bringing DS members into a DS structure and converting contacts  108 ,  110  into members  104 , after which time the process repeats. 
         [0044]    Contact may be initiated with contacts  108  using any or all of many different methods, each realized by automated computer-run processes, including mailing electronic communications, printing direct mail pieces such as post cards or letters, or initiating telephonic communication reliant in whole or in part on IVR systems. Human solicitors may also initiate contact with the contacts  108 . 
         [0045]    Like the member  104 , the prospective member  108   a - f  may comprise any person, company or organization that is potentially a customer of another person, company or organization. The prospective members  108   a - f  may purchase one or more consumer products and become “incorporated” into the DS structure, or the prospective members  106   a - f  may purchase the consumer product and not become incorporated. 
         [0046]    The contact list  106 , in this embodiment, comprises information about the prospective members  108   a - f  with whom the member  104  associates personally or professionally. The contact information may comprise information about individuals and organizations not associated with the member  104 . The contact information may include one or more of: age, address, gender, credit rating, email, telephone number, income, education, and purchasing practices. In some embodiments, the contact information is written down by the member  104  and transferred to the solicitor  108  on a printed medium or using programs well-known to those of skill in the art, such Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, Yahoo! Mail, and the like. 
         [0047]    The personal contacts of the member  104   a  are solicited by the solicitor telephonically. In various embodiments, as further described below, a personalized multimedia presentation is displayed to a contact  108  responded to electronic solicitation from the solicitor. This multimedia presentation may contain an invitation to the contact  108  to attend a meeting, seminar, conference, or recruitment drive sponsored or hosted by the DS company. 
         [0048]    In some embodiments, the DS structure may automatically make commission payments to members incorporated into the DS structure via means well-known to those of skill in the art, including PayPal®, credit card credits, direct bank deposits, and the like. Commission payments to members may be made in accordance with a predetermined DS criteria. In some embodiments, the predetermined DS criteria is dynamic, and optimized automatically through analysis of historical DS sales data to maximize profits to the DS structure and/or DS members. 
         [0049]      FIG. 1B  is modularized representation of a list  100  in accordance with the present invention. The list  106  comprises information identifying contacts  108   a - b . This information comprises names  142   a - b , a type of relationship  143   a,  a valuation estimate  144   a , a description of contact history  145   a,  a picture  148   b  of the contact  108   b,  and a file attachment  149   b.    
         [0050]    In the present embodiment, the contact list  106  comprises valuation estimates  144  of the DS member  104 . These valuation estimates  144  comprise numerical values assigned by the DS member  104  to the personal contacts  108  (i.e. prospective members  108 ) identified by the contact list  106  representing the DS member&#39;s  104  own assessment of the likelihood that the personal contact  108  exclusively associated with the valuation estimate will become a commercially viable member  104  of the DS structure  102 . 
         [0051]    The list  106  may comprise pictures  148  or attachments  149  that contain information relevant to soliciting the contact  108  into the DS company. Because contacts  110  may be corporations, and members  104  are compensated on commission, members  104  may be motivated to provide many different types of pictures, video, or multimedia to a company  102  solicitor. 
         [0052]      FIG. 1C  is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating the steps of a method  160  for amassing contact information in accordance with the present invention. Fundamentally, the steps of the method disclosed circles around these four shown steps further described above and below: (1) requiring a member  104  to provide a list  106 ; (2) compensating the member  104  for revenue generated from this list  106 ; and (3) soliciting these contacts  108  using, in part, a multimedia presentation. 
         [0053]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating the relationship  200  between commission tiers and remuneration to members and employees of a DS structure incorporated by amassing contact information of commonly acquainted prospects in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0054]    The system  100  includes an employee  212 . The employee  212  may consist of an individual or comprise a DPD, a company or organization which solicits prospects  108 , an individual, or any combination of the above. In the shown embodiment, the employee  212  comprises a DPD controlled by a DS structure interested in soliciting potential DS members and/or prospects  108 . 
         [0055]    In some embodiments, the employee  212  is configured to interact with a prospect  108  through a web browser, graphical user interface (GUI) coupled to a DPD or the maintenance server  102 . The solicitor  108  is configured to retrieve and/or receive the contact information  116  from, or through, the maintenance server  102 . In some embodiments, the solicitor  108  may be configured to receive the contact information  116  as an email attachment using variations of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) FTP, Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Post Office Protocol (POP), or other protocols well-known to those of skill in the art. 
         [0056]    The employee  212 , in some embodiments, may comprise a computer program running on one or more data processing devices (DPDs), such as a server, computer workstation, router, mainframe computer, or the like. In various embodiments, the DPD comprises one or more processors. The processor is a computing device well-known to those in the art and may include an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”). 
         [0057]    In the shown embodiment, the employee  212  electronically with the member  104   a  using variations of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Post Office Protocol (POP), or other protocols well-known to those of skill in the art. 
         [0058]    Prospects  108  incorporated by the employee  212  join a tier of the commission structure  200  with residual commissions flowing upward toward the member  104  ultimately responsible for identifying those subsequent prospects and their prospects into the DS structure. 
         [0059]    The member  104  is compensated not just for revenue realized on contacts  108 ,  110 , but also on revenue realized from the contacts those contacts  108  later bring into the DS company, and so on. 
         [0060]    In various embodiments, the solicitors or employees of the DS company derive revenue from tiers, levels, or generations, in the member&#39;s  104  downline. 
         [0061]      FIG. 3  is a process flow chart of a method  300  of amassing contact information of commonly acquainted prospects into a direct sales structure in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0062]    The method  300  proceeds as shown. A contact  108 ,  110  is incorporated  302  into the DS structure, and required, in accordance with the present invention to provide a list  106  of personal and professional contacts  108 , and the contact information of those contacts  108 , the list uploaded into computer readable memory. This information may comprise name, address, email, telephone number, mailing address, income information, and a valuation rating of the member  104  uploading the list  106  comprising this information. 
         [0063]    The member  104 , in some embodiments, is required to rank the contacts  108  identified in the list  106  in order of most likely to be responsive to solicitation by the DS company  102 . In other embodiments, the member  104  is required to assign a numeric valuation rating to each contact  108 . 
         [0064]    List  106  information is stored  308  in database form, and used to standardize the valuation estimates provided by the member  104 . The contacts  108  are solicited directly via electronic communication (e.g. email, SMS message, and the like), and by requiring, or prompting electronically, a human being to initiate personal contact with the contact  108 . 
         [0065]    Electronic and personal communication (using hyperlinks, QR codes, and the like) is directed to the contact  108  to a URL on the Internet resolving to a personalized graphic multimedia presentation created in response to computer readable information in the list, which streams over the Internet to the contact&#39;s  108  computer or DPD. 
         [0066]    Information provided in the list  106  may be passed as parameters in computer function or class to determine if the information satisfies predetermined criteria. If the information satisfies a predetermined criterion, multimedia segments a spliced by computer into the multimedia presentation, which is shown to the contact  108 . 
         [0067]    Using the steps of this method, the present invention teaches more efficient means of bringing DS members into a DS structure and converting contacts  108 ,  110  into members  104 , after which time the process repeats. 
         [0068]    After contacts  108  are incorporated into the DS company, a valuation identifier is assigned is exclusively associated with each contact  108  who incorporated with the DS company. 
         [0069]    Members  104  of the DS company may be compensated a flat fee for generating the list  106 , and/or may be compensated a flat fee for each contact  108  identified in the list  106 , and/or may be compensated a flat fee for the amount of information the member  104  provides about each contact  108  in the list  106 . 
         [0070]      FIG. 4  is a second process flow chart of a method of amassing contact information of commonly acquainted prospects into a direct sales structure in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0071]    In various embodiments of the present invention, the contacts  108  are contacted  418  electronically and referred to a multimedia presentation on the Internet using a hyperlink or QR code. 
         [0072]    The presentation is personalized for the contact  108  who is viewing it. The presentation, in some embodiments, incorporated the contact&#39;s  108  name into text in the presentation. A computer in logical connection with the computer readable storage storing the database inserts text and/or video into the presentation in response to identifying a type of relationship the contact  108  has with the member  104 , with a different text or video insert for a brother, sister, wife, friend, neighbor, coworker, co-parishioner, and the like. 
         [0073]    In various other embodiments, different sections of text and/or video are inserted into, or removed from, the multimedia presentation in response to the computer determining the contact  108  is in a certain income level or whose valuation estimate exceeds a predetermined threshold on the bell curve. 
         [0074]    As mentioned above, contact may be realized by automated computer-run processes, including mailing electronic communications, printing direct mail pieces such as post cards or letters, or initiating telephonic communication reliant in whole or in part on IVR systems. 
         [0075]      FIG. 5  is an entity-relationship diagram illustrating another embodiment of a system for performing operations for amassing contact information of commonly acquainted prospects into a direct sales structure in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0076]    The member  104  may upload the list  106  via a computer  502   a  into computer readable storage  504 . Digital contact  510  is initiated by the server  506  with contact  108   a  and  108   b.  Contact  108   b  rejects the electronic contact  510  and is struck from the list  106 . Contact  108   a  accepts the electronic contact and provides a second list  106 . In various embodiments, contacts  108  may provide lists  106  without incorporating into the DS company. 
         [0077]    The electronic communication sent to each prospective member  108  may contain an invitation to the contact  108  that he/she attend a meeting hosted or sponsored by the DS company for recruiting new DS members  104  into the DS company. 
         [0078]    The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.