Medical Intelligence At Your Fingertips

Resolution Regarding Membership Expansion Through Award Program

• Based on a four-month study and continued membership survey, MWSearch has resolved to adopt a simple award program instead of the referral business model published in the white paper attached below.
• The purpose of the simple award program is to promote membership expansion, introducing MWSearch services to more people so that more people will enjoy the benefits of the intelligent medical search service.
• The simple award program is: Any member with fully paid membership status is entitled to receive an award when he or she recommends the MWSearch service to a new member. The award will be automatically tallied by the registration process where a new member will indicate a current member's USERID as a reference USERID (signifying the current member recommended MWSearch to the new member).
• All MWSearch paid members are automatically qualified to participate in the award program. Each time a USERID is cited as a reference USERID by a new member, a $6 cash award (equivalent to 20% of the current annual membership fee) is deposited to the member account owning the referenced USERID. The total accumulated award for each member will be sent, within 30 days after the end of the calendar year, to each member with membership in good standing (membership fee paid up to the time the total award is sent). 
• Each member may inquire the status of his or her award account through e-mail and request applying the award towards membership renewal if the amount of award is greater than the annual membership fee.
• This resolution is adopted November 5th and will be effective January 1, 2003. MWSearch reserves the right to increase the award amount, modify or suspend the award program at any time with a notification published on the MWSearch web site.

=============Attachment: White Paper Regarding Membership Referral Business Model============

Research Study on Business Plan for Membership Expansion and Member Benefits      (This white paper is a documentation of the research work conducted by MWSearch)

The logic behind the new business plan for membership expansion and member benefits 

• MWSearch is a useful tool for finding relevant medical information quickly. It helps users to learn medical concepts and terminology so that the user's search will be fruitful.
• MWSearch users would like to have the search service always available, kept up-to-date and dependable when in need. 
• MWSearch has been offered for public use since 1996. Although it enjoyed membership from over 40 countries but its total membership is not a very large number compared to the world population. Its membership is far behind AOL, MSN and Yahoo.
• MWSearch is based on a medical knowledge base which is an intellectual property as a result of research and development.
• MWSearch's intellectual property requires R&D to expand the knowledge base and keep up with the advancement in medicine, biotechnology, general sciences and healthcare systems.
• R&D requires funding which will be a continuous expense for MWSearch.
• Funding can come from grants, advertising revenue or membership dues.
• Seeking grants is a time consuming process and is very unreliable as a sustained funding source.
• Advertising revenue requires a large sales force and will tarnish MWSearch's unbiased position and clutter its web pages.
• Raising membership dues puts heavy burden on users especially some international members. Small membership dues and small number of members can not produce sufficient funds for maintaining and improving MWSearch.
• MWSearch needs a business model to raise funds, to enhance MWSearch, to serve more users and offer more benefits to members.
• MWSearch has conducted a research and examined various business and marketing models and concluded that a unique Direct Memebership Referral business model  can work for us. There are pros and cons for direct-sale, multi-level network marketing practiced by many companies such as Amway, Avon, Tupperware, Nu Skin, Melalueca, Stampin'Up etc. By eliminating the bad elements and keep the good elements of the current practices, a unique Direct-Referral Model is defined below.  

The success factors of the Direct Membership Referral business model ( See Research and References) 

• Let product users spread the word and give rewards to users who make successful referral - Our members volunteer to refer MWSearch to people who may have a need for using MWSearch. No sales pressure nor arms twisting. The award is a membership benefit. Every member is entitled to receive award. (Voluntary Participation) 
• Put funds raised back into R&D to keep the product current and competitive - The business objective is to develop and maintain a best medical information search tool, independent and bias free. (Best Useful Product)
• Make the business a cooperative effort but provide members support and a convenient means to refer new members and receive rewards - A membership cooperative system for increasing members and introducing our products. (Profit Sharing Coop Operation)
• Company is well organized and has efficient facility (now mostly on-line) to support the Direct Membership Referral business model - The most efficient Internet marketing system with high yield and low capital investment. (Global Operation with No Geographic Limitation. Eliminate Local Market Saturation Phenomenon) 
• No pressure, self employed business practices with a fair reward system to reward founders and hardworking participants -  The Direct Membership Referral model gives  no false promises. It is a purely voluntary, supplemental home business. (Noble Goal with Practical Reward) 
• No risk supplemental business opportunities for members to refer and teach products to new members and to receive substantial rewards because of personal effort and organizational skills - No purchase quota nor sales quota. The only obligation is to answer questions from new members about the product. (Every Member Can Be A Spokesperson) 
• Income to every member is largely related to one time diligence and is sustained through maintaining an organization sharing the objective to introduce MWSearch to new members - The size of the organization is only bounded by legal rules. So far we have not found any FTC ruling about the size of the organization. The proposed implementation below is set at six level. Modification will be made according to legal counsel. (Direct-Referral Is A Unique Model for MWSearch Based on Entrepreneur Spirit, Legal Grounds and Ethical and Moral Principles)

Research and References

At a time, Internet commerce has been hurt by the dot.com melt-down and investors' confidence have been demolished by the scandals of       ENRON, Global Crossing, WorldCom, Tyco etc. Any legitimate Internet business must examine its business model and its means of attracting investors. Some have remarked that the investors themselves were at blame when they engaged in the hyped business. No matter who is to blame, the facts of today are: the stock market is spiraling down, venture capitalists are not investing in risky start-ups no matter how good an idea or how open and clear the business plan is, and the general public is very skeptical about any new business. 

Even though Medical World Search has a history of seven years but it is still a "start-up" business considering its ultimate goal of serving the entire world with medical information service as an independent source free from bias from any advertiser or sponsor. Ironically, this business objective does not sit well with venture capitalists and their argument is that MWSearch needs a lot of R&D money but does not guarantee any financial return. We would like to prove them wrong. That is the fundamental reason MWSearch is searching  and researching hard for a business model to realize its noble business objectives. We have compared the conventional business models such as (1) retailing through stores, (2) retailing through distributor chains, (3) cooperative (COOP) business, (4) direct sales and (5) multi-level marketing models. In doing so, we have discovered that none of the existing business model is good for us unless we have capital to build a sales force and to do marketing and advertising; or we become a cooperative organization  such as a union. Throughout our study, we have found that there are two golden rules for business success, one is to have a good product that customers desire to have and two is to have a good marketing method to make the good product known to people. We have concluded that we have a good product which can be improved to be better. We just need to develop a unique marketing model for ourselves that does not require a huge initial capital and yet can create a self-sustaining cash generating business operation.

The multi-level marketing advocates always paint the most attractive picture and makes the biggest claims, but the model has a lot of issues and uncertainties as a legal, ethical and even profitable business practice. We have kept an open mind in our research study and found numerous articles analyzing and criticizing MLM. (We have included some of the most critical references here.) However, in our study, we have also found that by keeping the good elements of some of these networking marketing methods {such as entrepreneurship, fair incentives, efficient organizations, self-motivation, supplemental business not disrupting main family income, and social networking} AND eliminating the bad elements of some the practices {such as obligated monthly purchase, preaching distorted promises of huge income (quitting job and retiring early etc), changing policies mid-stream cheating out of the promises, high pressure recruiting and sales techniques, exploiting close family and social circles to satisfy personal greed rather than a genuine care,  ignoring marketing reality such as market saturation (neighborhood), competitive price of similar goods and quality and usefulness of the product} can make an excellent business model. 

Based on our research, we have concluded that it is possible to derive an unique business model for MWSearch.  In this white paper, we are trying to establish the feasibility of a Direct Membership Referral business model from legal, financial and ethical points of view. Hence in the above, we list the success factors our Direct Membership Referral model will be based on; and in the following we describe how MWSearch will be implementing this business model.      

     References (We have researched the most critical articles about MLM and network marketing in order to eliminate all the bad elements and to keep all the good elements for defining the Direct Membership Referral Model. A few references criticizing MLM are included here for members interest. There are also many success stories about MLM. Since we have defined a unique model not patterning any MLM model, we do not need to reference them here. However, a search on the Internet will find them easily if you are interested): 

     1. MLM, Multi-Level Network Marketing - Tutorial and Guide  2. Multi-Level Marketing Plans - FTC Suggestion 3. What's Wrong with Multi-Level marketing? 4. FTC Sues National Internet Scam 5. Ex-MLM Exec Director Tells It All But Still Is Selling (Watch Out for Hidden Advertising on the Page) 6. A MLM Litigation Lawyer's Letter on FTC Rules 

Can MWSearch practice the Direct Membership Referral business model and succeed? 

The answer is:

• MWSearch is a product that can be continuously maintained to be superior than ordinary search engine with R&D effort. 
• The Direct Membership Referral business model is very simple and does not require salesmanship, has no pressure but offers reward for your caring of others and MWSearch. 
• MWSearch is equipped to automate the referral support, reward and accounting system so that the operation is friendly to all participants.. 
• The market size for MWSearch is almost unlimited, billions of people in 140 countries all require medical search service, healthcare professionals, physicians, nurses, technicians, librarians, medical students and the general public. We will not reach market saturation for a long long time and we can compete with other general search engine so long we can focus on our objectives and  make improvements with our special product.  
• MWSearch has advantages over other Coop or direct-referral businesses in that there is no manufacturing and inventory burden nor risks or expenses from product spoilage and shipping.  So, THE CONCLUSION IS WE CAN SUCCEED.

How will MWSearch implement this business model and When

• The launch date is January 1, 2003 (MWSearch's annual membership is defined by the calendar year, Janurary 1 to december 31st).
• From now to December 31/2002, all fully paid members are eligible to become the founding members of MWSearch as long as the 2003 membership dues is paid before Jan 1, 2003. Members who have paid dues multiple years in advance are automatically qualified as founding members as long as they sustain their membership in good standing. Anyone who does not wish to participate only need to send an email to state so.
• Founding members' USERID will be granted a founding member status which can be selected by any joining new member as a reference member. The new member makes the selection of a reference member and is considered as a referral made by the founding member or any member selected. This is a big benefit for the founding members since they may receive rewards on day one of launch of this model. Of course, founding members also have the advantage to build their referral organizations earlier in 2002. The more members in an referral organization the more rewards the organization will generate for the members in the organization.
• From January 1, 2003, all paid members will enjoy the following benefits under only one obligation that is being a paid member:
  • For each new member who puts a reference member ID in his or her membership application and payment form (the person who introduced MWSearch to the new member), the reference member shall receive a cash reward equivalent to 20% of the annual membership fee payable in the first month of the next calendar year. The new member shall be considered first level member of the reference member and can receive rewards if chose to participate in this membership benefit program.
  • Each reference member shall also receive rewards of 15%, 10%, 5% and 1% of cash reward equivalent to an annual membership fee when his or her second, third, fourth and fifth level new member joins and pays annual membership fee citing his or her first, second, third and fourth level down-line member as reference member. (this process is stopped at 5th level, under the current implementation, legal counsel is being sought to define the legally acceptable higher limit of the levels, MWSearch is not obligated to increase the level limit however)
  • There is no limit of recruiting how many first level members, however, we shall use 6 and current annual membership fee $30 as the example to illustrate the reward benefits below.

• A dues paid reference member shall receive $36 reward in the first month of the calendar year (6 x 20% x $30) if he or she has six first level dues paid members in prior year.
• A dues paid reference member shall receive $198 ($36+$162, 6x6x15%x30) reward in the first month of the calendar year if his or her six dues paid first level has six first level dues paid members in prior year.
• A dues paid reference member shall receive $846 ($198+$648, 216x10%x30) reward in the first month of the calendar year if all his or her dues paid first and second level have six first level dues paid members in prior year.
• A dues paid reference member shall receive $2792 ($846+$1944, 1296x5%x30) reward in the first month of the calendar year if all his or her dues paid 1st, second and 3rd level have six first level dues paid members in prior year.
• A dues paid reference member shall receive $5124.8 ($2792+$2332.8, 7776x1%x30) reward in the first month of the calendar year if all his or her dues paid 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level have six first level dues paid members in prior year.
• If any level has more than 6 members, it will produce more reward for the immediate upper level but not for higher levels, hence any individual can gain more rewards than his or her upper level. (Fair reward for direct personal effort)
• If any reference member loses his or her lower level (membership dues elapsed) will receive reduced reward accordingly.
• All rewards shall be paid out annually in January (all reward receivers must be in good membership standing, that is dues paid for the current full year, to be eligible for receiving rewards)

 This Direct Membership Referral business model gives more than half the membership fees back to the members and uses the proceeds to sustain R&D and operation of the company.

How does a member become a founding member? How does a new member select a reference member?

• It is very simple. Click the button, Reference Member, and fill out a simple form and acknowledge that you wish to be a reference member to enjoy the above benefits. (Announcement will be made on the MWSearch main web page)
• This is strictly voluntary, any member can remain to be a member and not want to be a reference member. 
• The selection of a reference member is voluntary. Any new member of course can apply for a membership with or without selecting a reference member. The membership fee is the same whether a reference member is selected or not. The selection of a reference member is strictly voluntary. 
• Anyone signed up before 12/31/2002 to be a reference member will be granted the founding member status who will enjoy automatically referral reward if any new member selected the founding member as the reference member.
•  In all new member application form, a field for filling in a reference member ID is provided. All participating founding members' USERIDs will be available for selection to be a reference member.
• Any member will be able to check his referral portfolio anytime on the MWSearch web site.

What does MWSearch have to do in R&D to Benefit members?

• Enhance the MWSearch thesaurus knowledge base to keep pace with advances in medicine, general sciences and technology.
• Offer health news search with topical filters for members to select automated news feed or to search manually.
• Improve web user interface and organize selected information for health professionals and general public separately.   
• Make Boolean search more friendly and efficient for drilling down into medical knowledge domain to find relevant information.
• Provide intelligent search interface to more health and medical focused databases to make archive search more effective and efficient.
• Invite and publish high quality essays, white papers and investigative reports on health and medicine related issues in the form of 'Medical Digest'.
• Organize CME and other medical/health educational courses per membership request.
• Develop multilingual intelligent medical search engine by extending knowledge base and search domain to be multilingual.
• Add more administrative and accounting functions to the automated Direct Membership Referral business processing system to benefit member participation and support membership expansion.
• Offer other membership benefits such as discount in product and service purchases   

Future of Medical World Search

The future of Medical World Search is in the hands of its members. With healthcare as the top-priority issue in the world, the membership can expect to grow to 100 million. In the Direct Membership Referral model, one should note that it only takes a membership structure of  11 levels to produce over 72 million members (6**11 - 1)/(6-1). At $30 membership fee, MWSearch will have a revenue of  over $1B annually to run the company and offer services to its members. The participating members will have received more than $1B rewards annually. The future of Medical World Search will be indeed very bright. 

Terms and Agreements 

This document is a Specific Terms and Agreement added to the MWSearch General (User or membership) Terms and Agreement published in the MWSearch web site. All membership applicants must agree that they have read the MWSearch General Terms and Agreement and this specific one stated herein. Completing the membership agreement form indicates that the applicant agrees with the General and the Specific Terms and Agreements published in this web site.

Contact Information