After illness a friend introduced me to safer, non-toxic household and health products.

[bids]

Hi, I am a Mum with four boys. I worked as a Paediatric Occupational Therapist until I had too many children!

Last year I was seriously ill, when I was recovering I wanted to do as much as I could to be healthy. Also to protect the health of my children.
The changes I made included a healthier diet and eating organic as much as possible, yoga, exercise (not enough), alternative therapies, seeing Dr Ali from the integrated health centre, and a switch to using safer products and taking multi-vitamins and anti-oxidants from a company an old school friend told me about.

My friend knew I wanted to stop using bleach and other harmful chemicals, so she told me about a company which was new to the UK.
The company is committed to protecting and enhancing health. Their products are based on natural ingredients many include tea-tee oil.

I have been using the products for a year now and my family, friends and I have felt so many benefits from them that I want to share this with others.

I have posted a small ad about them, healthy homes.
Please join me to find out more about the products and how they can help protect your family's health, next week in south and east with a Mum from Canada who has used the products for 10 years.

I am always interested to know what has worked for other people...

[fostermum]

hi bids,like you i used natural products,which do cost more but at least i know im doing a bit for the earth,vinigar,lemon juice,tea tree,and many other oils work well for me ,not forgetting dear old bicarb

[bids]

Hi fostermum, I agree those things really do work.
The products I am using are very cost effective, and they use the natural ingredients you listed.
An all purpose surface cleaner works out at 99p a bottle, you buy the concentrate which makes 4 bottles.
Getting rid of those chemicals has rescued my hands from misery, dry and chapped, often with very sore split skin around thumb nail, plus a thumb nail which was split half way down and would not mend. I wore a nail plaster for two years as nothing else would help before. Now it has healed.

A small problem on the scale of things but irritating on a daily basis. I had tried so many different hand creams, cleaning products, nail treatments and multi-vits, they made little difference. When I found these products I was amazed at how quickly I felt a difference.

The first thing I tried was the washing up liquid, after a couple of days use (no gloves), my hands felt softer and soothed. tea-tree oil is a wonderful healer.

I think the multi-vitamins have also helped with my nails.

[Tania2]

Hi girls i too try to be as chemical free as possible so i use enjo. I live in Australia so i dont know if you can order it on line but i dont use anything but this. Try looking at the site www.enjo.com.au. it should be able to explain it better than what i could. Trust me it really works and its very quick and easy.

[bids]

I'll look that up thanks! I want to go to Australia!

Have to say I am totally converted to melaleuca's wellness products as they have given me and my family so many health benefits.

Many of the products have tea-tree oil in them, The wonder from down under!

Melaleuca (latin for tea-tree oil) has grown over 20 years from a few products with tea-tree oil.
It is operating as a catalogue company here but will go online as it is in other countries. It has been in Australia for 4 years I think.

Look up website for more info:

www.melaleuca.com

I can help anyone interested become a customer, and follow up with as much support and info as is wanted.

I am showing products with friends and the company on the 26th in Putney, also Woodbridge on the 24th, Norwich 25th and Sevenoaks 27th please come and have a look!

See small ad healthy homes for more info!
Protecting and enhancing health.

[jasper]

Is this a free for all for thse who want to advertise their products?

[bids]

Hi Jasper,
I did not intend it to be that. Just wanted to share some thing that has helped me.

Also am interested to know what else others have tried and found useful.

This time last year I was having part of my lung removed. Being a non-smoker I wanted to do what I could to protect my health. This included getting rid of chemical cleaners.

[charleypops]

Come on Bids - you're just flogging stuff for Melaleuca

[bids]

Hi charleypops,

I cannot deny that I am promoting them, but only because after using them for a year I believe they are worth shouting about.
I am genuinely interested in talking around the subject and finding out what others have found to help them.
There are other ways I have been helped through yoga, neck and back treatment and detox diet.
I have not used mumsnet before, or talk, so I wanted to try it.

[beansprout]

Bids, I appreciate what you are saying and am glad you have found something that has worked for you, but this is not really what MN is about. Although I can see that you feel we probably fit the demographic profile you are trying to reach. This is a genuine community of people who support each other/chat etc and not really somewhere ready made for people to push their products. Good luck with your sales job though.

[bids]

Hi Beansprout,
Thank you for your kind message!
I do not want to mis-use mumsnet. It is a fantastic web-site.
I wish it had been around 13 years ago, also last year I'm sure I would have also found it very supportive.
I do not want to be regarded as a sales person, first and foremost I am a Mum.

[NotQuiteCockney]

I think bids has also paid to place an ad, properly, in the right section.

[mamadadawahwah]

Dear Bids, thank you for your post. I am sorry you have met with the hostile and quite frankly, unhelpful comments, that you did. I have only joined mumsnet recently and it appears to be a common occurrence. Dont let it put you off. I think you are well within the confines of Mumsnet to be stating what you did. If someone dosent tell us about alternatives, how will we know. Anyway, last year my dearest friend developed an unknown disease after having treated wood in her house. She didnt know it was treated. It was used in her kitchen for something or other. Anyway, 2 months later, she totally shut down. She is actually in a wheelchair at the moment. Her doctor said that what she has could have been triggered by isocyanates, whatever they are, but apparently they were in this wood which was painted. She has eliminated all chemicals from her home including of course cleaning products and is starting to feel a bit better. though she can detect when she goes out, if anyone has been using chemicals. so she dosent go out much.

The cleaning industry is a big one. We (and especially the americans) have this "thing" about being clean. Two showers a day, white teeth, gleaming floors and windows, etc. It is so cheap to keep the house clean. We dont need £3.00 bottles of fridge and window cleaner liquid. As said in this poste earlier, bicarb lemon juice, tea tree oil and vinegar will lift most dirt.

Thank you for your post and I will check out the site you mentioned. I think you posted because you wanted to let us all know that there is an alternative to unhealthy cleaning products. WE dont need to smell/eat bleach when we clean our countertops and neither do our kids.

[tarantula]

mamadadawahwah I dont think that bids has met with a particularly hostile reception at all. I think most of the comments were very mild and there were quite a few comments to begin with on how people here use alternative products and old fashioned solutions. I mysself do. However as bids only seemed to be interested in talking about the products she was promoting she did put quite a few people off, myself included. I am more than happy tho to discuss any alternative solutions to cleaning rather than paying out a fortune for cleaning products that harm and pollute but like a fair and balanced discussion.

[charleypops]

Bids has ONLY EVER posted promotions for the metaleuca stuff - never engaged in any chat other than liek here

[KateandtheGirls]

Yep, Look at this.

[bids]

Hi there,
Sorry have not been here the last few days, as you know have been racing around the country, plus attending school swimming gala, taking 7 year old to the doctor trying to keep up with everything.

Last couple of weeks was really busy preparing for our presentations so I did not have time to really engage. I was very concerned about the reaction I was receiving on this thread, but I will not let it put me off.

Thank you notquitecockney for pointing out that I have paid my money to post an ad.

Also thanks to mamadadawahwah for your message.
It is reassuring to know that I am not alone in receiving a this sort of reaction.
I am glad your friend has noticed a difference to her health since changing what she was using to clean with.
I understand that sensitivity to chemicals, pollution and pesticides has a layering effect. When something like a reaction to the chemical your friend experienced occurs it takes the person beyond their tolerance and affects their health, as in multiple chemical sensitiviy, and allergies such as asthma and ezcema.
Research is also showing that environmental sensitivity to chemicals is linked to ADD and ADHD in children and adults.

The rise in the number of chemicals we use in our homes is alarming. In one study conducted over a 15 year period, women who worked at home had a 54% higher death rate from cancer than those who had jobs away from the home. The study concluded that the increased death rate was due to daily exposure to hazardous chemicals found in ordinary household products.

Last year I had the middle lobe of my right lung removed, due to a lump discovered after recurring puemonia. It was cancerous, but had not spread. I was lucky not to have to have radiotherapy or chemotherapy. I am not a smoker so afterwards decided to do what I could to be as healthy as possible. With four children it was a very scary time, before surgery and then before all my post op scans I was terrified of dying and not being their Mum for long enough.

It makes sense to take responsibility for your health and do what you can to protect it.

[moondog]

bids, I think what you have to say is interesting.
Even if you are selling stuff, surely we are all consenting adults who can make up our own minds about whether or not we want stuff?!
I agree that the consequences of using chemicals are very worrying. I had a very bad fungal nail infection that lasted for nearly three years, despite various drugs from the doctor. Tea tree oil fixed it (and I used to be very suspicious of that sort of 'alternative' stuff)
I for one am on a one woman mission against disposable nappies (implications of use are v v v worrying and) and junk food! I have endorsed various products at various times on MN.

If you use MN for general discussion and other things, you will soon get a feel for how it works, and what is/isn't considered good etiquette, just like I (and everyone else, I'm sure) did.
Good luck with your new career. Will be seeing you.

[bids]

Moondog,
am feeling better about MN now thanks to messages like yours.
I agree tea tree is magical stuff!

By the way I do not actually sell the products, just tell people about them and if someone wants I set up an account for them with the company from whom they buy direct.

I get commisions on people I introduce, if someone who is a customer then wants to tell some friends they can also get commissions.
The company calls it consumer direct marketing. You also get commisions on customer referrals by those you introduced, with a potential of earning commisions on more than 70,000 customers.
Lots more great aspects including a residual income, it will be my pension.

After our presentations around the country my team of 3 Mums has grown, we now have other impressed customers like ourselves who want to tell others about the products in order to benefit from profit share.

This team includes a physiotherapist who works in a back care and detox shop, an aromatherapist, 2 kinaesthesiologists, (?spelling), a beautician, a payroll charity fundraiser and an NCT fundraiser (through the company money can be raised for charity and we are setting up 2 charitable funds one for Cancer research UK), 2 healers, housekeeper, my Mum and sister and some Mums with a bit of spare time who have a wealth of experience and skills in many fields for example in childcare, accountancy, sales and marketing, IT, gardening and fashion.
Anyone can do this whatever age (over 18 years), there is no risk involved and no need to buy anything more than you would use personally.

We are looking for others to join us, only around 10,000 customers in the UK at the moment, launching in Ireland in February. Also operating in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan,
Japan, Hong Kong and Korea. I can help set up accounts in all these countries.

The company will be going to Europe in the near future.

I hope you understand that whilst helping myself I could also help others with exceptional and safer products, and the opportunity to earn a second stream of income. Also the chance for charities and not-for-profit organisations to earn commissions on consumers.

I hope this explains a little more about why I felt I could offer something to other Mums.

I will post details of some web-cast presentations coming up soon.
I really hope some of you might like to find out more..........

[beansprout]

This is SUCH a sales job......

[bids]

Beansprout I'm sorry that is how you feel. Almost as I posted it I regretted it as I knew it would attract more negative attention.
As moondog said we are all consenting adults who can decide what is or isn't for us.
I have had e-mails from some Mums on MN who want to find out more.
I am using MN elswhere to 'chat' where I feel I can offer some support. (Not related to anything here, only my experience of cancer). It is reassuring to know that there are some threads where comments remain positive.
Perhaps if I'd used MN this time last year when I needed some support I would have had a better experience.

[ghosty]

bids, I do admire your determination!
I have been a member of Mumsnet for nearly 3 years and have run my own successful network marketing business at home since June 2003 (definitely not melaleuca .
I don't want to put you off but I think it would be better to keep your sales pitch on your thread that you have your advert .... Jimjams and I have an advert going and we only ever mention our business on that thread ....
The etiquette of mumsnet is difficult to explain but when I started my business I felt that although there were thousands of potential prospects on here I didn't want to alienate anyone as I regard this site as a personal life line and also I have lots of respect for the people who post here. It was only when Mumsnet set up the paying advert section that I felt comfortable with telling people about what I do.
I too want to help people (with their health and their wealth) but this kind of thread is only going to alienate people from you and from the wonderful business system that you and I represent. There was an incident recently when another network marketer (from another company) poached email addresses from Jimjams and my thread and sent unsolicited emails to them. It really upset me that she did that as all it did was make people have the wrong idea about network marketing.
There are too many negative opinions about network marketing/direct selling as it is and it is time that people like us use our integrity and give the business a good name.
Kind regards
Ghosty

[bids]

Ghosty,
I do appreciate your words of wisdom. I have certainly learnt something from this thread. I agree with you about the need to use integrity to give these sort of networking a better reputation.
I am now sorry that I started this thread but I had hoped it would be helpful to some people. As you say all I have achieved is to antagonise and alienate which was not my intention and it has made me feel sick every time I see another comment about my (unintended) misuse of MN.
I would like to say a big SORRY to all I have offended.
And thank you ghosty for your advice.