2.  What does it mean for the two companies, going forward?

The relationship is synergistic because it combines the strengths of the two companies and the combination is catalytic when it comes to growing the business in the online shopping arena.  To Shop.com it brings a profitable model turning their traffic (5 times Market America's) into a very profitable model.  Instead of visitors coming to the Shop.com site to get advise and find what they want and Shop.com getting paid for the click and then the customer leaving the site to order directly from the merchant, Market America will capture the customer and retain the customer with tender loving care and process the order.  This of course allows for one stop shopping and the assistance or guidance of a personal 'Shop Consultant' that is assigned to each customer.  It's all about customer retention , satisfaction, service and loyalty.  Market America focuses on one-to-one marketing making relevant offers based on the customers profile and history AND they pay the customer to shop and to invite others to shop! For  Market America it  brings 5 times the traffic and customer acquisition.  It ads to the Market America site the best Internet shopping  and the technology and experts to provide an addictive online shopping experience.  It combines-a shopping experience like none other which is competitively dangerous.  It capitalized on the social shopping trend-takes it to a new level!  it creates a better social shopping experience  and adds economic glue to social shopping.  It pays people to be social shoppers!

3. Why was this acquisition sought after?

Market America established a "deal incubator"  entity to evaluate emerging technologies that could be tested or applied in the Market America ecosystem of 180,000 online entrepreneurs, 6 million customers, and a community of merchants, vendors, partners and affiliates in a live online ecosystem where proof of concept and valuations could be established.  Market America assembled relationships with other venture capital or equity groups as well as putting up millions in its own seed money. When the deal flow started, the first deal presented was Shop.com and it was the perfect match for Market America of all things.  It became apparent immediately that it was the perfect match for Market America.  Each company had strengths the other didn't and combine those strengths in a synergistic way actually multiplying and leveraging the strengths of each company.  The combination is revolutionary enough to change the way people shop by creating an addictive shopping experience.  The elements each company brings when combined not only capitalizes on the emerging paradigm shift to social shopping , but it is taking social shopping to a new level.  It simply provides a better shopping experience which could be addictive in a positive sense.  People cannot live without once they experience it.  It combines cutting edge technology and people power.  It brings Shop.com's best Internet shopping technology with:¨      Search + Intuitive navigation and narrowing¨      50 million products and 3000 name brands¨      Appealing merchandizing displays¨      Trend shopping-stylist or designer¨      Best Comparison Shopping-best deals: reviews + recommendations Then add Market America's people power with Shop Consultants and customer retention and one-to-one marketing and you have a powerful shopping environment and engine unlike any other.  It ads new meaning to the old cliché "high tech - high touch".  This may be the first time that true " high Tech- high touch" has become a reality in the marketplace.

4.  How do you feel this positions you to take on the likes of Amazon?

It is definitely a David and Goliath story or analogy but we have the sling shot and stone do it.  First, we can learn from their mistakes.  However, it is the customer who ultimately decides and that is what we are betting on!  Now there is a alternative with a better social shopping experience.  When you add people power and the Paid to Shop program which Amazon doesn't have, I think we have a real opportunity and chance to compete or offer consumers a great alternative.  We have more choices and options  and you can get anything you want including most everything on Amazon.  So if it is a better experience and you get paid to shop, why wouldn't consumers choose Market America/Shop.com over Amazon?  At the end of the day the space is huge and there is room for  more than one giant and it can only be healthy for the market place and online shopping industry.  I mean the competition of Apple and Microsoft have certainly made things better.  This can only have an effect to make things better for the consumer.

5.  What kind of impact does MA feel this transaction will have on your bottom line?

Market America is already respectably profitable.  We are annualizing  at $460 million wholesale which translates into $600 million retail.  Just converting Shop.com's traffic and retaining the customers in our model will take us into Billions.  Then when we add Market America's widely accepted brands that are unique and exclusive with respectable profit margins and a loyal repeat following  to the Shop.com's site and traffic , we can expect a spike in profitability and new customer sales revenue compounded by accumulating repeat sales.  Additionally there are significant  cost savings in technology development for Market America.  From a high level it is simple: 5 time traffic = more customers = more  profit!  The technology will power Market America's site and we expect it to significantly increase sales with our existing customer base of 6 million customers.  Our MA brands, such as Motives Cosmetics and Isotonix are widely accepted and have  a loyal following.  Immediately after the announcement of the deal our traffic jumped 248% and Shop.com saw a 60% increase - an indication of how this could impact things.  Additionally, this allows us to market our products in United Kingdom as well as introduce our UnFranchise business opportunity there  and we anticipate 60 million in new sales there alone the first year.

6.  What is the ma cashback program?We pay people to shop.  Simply go to the site and click on the Paid to Shop button and it explains it simply and quickly.  Experience it immediately and invite others.  We pay a minimum of 2% and up to 50% on purchases.  Then if the customer like s the experience they  receive .5% on the purchases of everyone they invite to shop forever.  That puts economic glue in Social Shopping!

7.What is the future of Social Shopping?

It's a smarter and more fun way to shop so it has to flourish.  It parallels the growth of social networking and social media. Social Shopping : uses like minded people together to make decisions.  Involves friends and others in the shopping experience.  In social shopping we are able to aggregate information about products, price and deals and then share it with others.  Combine that with a recommendations engine customizing offers, reviews, comparison shopping, interactive social networking and people power with a Shop Consultant and paid to shop program and you take Social Shopping to a new level.  Social Shopping occurs naturally with social networking and media.  People want to know what others think and they want to involve their friends in the shopping experience.

8. Can you discuss any of the terms of the transaction? Not really...the agreement prohibits it.  Besides the valuation and numbers are convoluted today because they are not based on sales or profits but on potential.  You can look at what is happening comparatively though.  Just look at the chart and diagram (include powerpoint) of what others have been paying for comparative shopping sites if you want to evaluate the potential.  More importantly here is what the combining of Market America's and Shop.com's strength does:·        It makes us an online shopping experience like none other·        Takes Social shopping to a new level giving the best customer experience = addictive like social networking·        Driven by people power and entrepreneurial passion at the grass roots level. The real value and  proof will be in the results and numbers generated by this synergistic combination and we know we will make waves in the online shopping space.

9. I went on your site and couldn't figure out how to get cash back? Click on Paid to Shop/ Cash back button- it will explain everything.  There is even a 30 second video stream assisting you and quickly explaining what to do.  It captures your email and you can begin to experience it. Every product that has cash back has a green tag on it with the amount of cash back.  So start shopping and earn cash back and at check out tell us how to reach you to pay you.  From then on It remembers you and there is a convenient screen that  you can access anytime to see how much cash back you have.But the catch all is that you have your personal SHOP CONSULTANT to help you-so no  worries-there is a real person there to help you.Your cash back credits are online real time for you to see.

10.  What is Social Shopping?Social Shopping happens naturally when people share their feelings about products, brands, and prices through social networks like Twitter and Face Book.  Marketamerica.com has a network of 180,000 social shopping consultants who lead people to the best prices, best products and now with Market America's acquisition of SHOP.com, the best shopping experience on the internet.  Through Social Shopping we are positioning ourselves to dominate the online shopping marketplace.

Social Shopping : uses like minded people together to make decisions. Involves friend and others in the shopping experience.  Aggregate information @ products, price and deals and then share it with others. Combine that with a recommendations engine customizing offers, reviews, comparison shopping, interactive social networking and People power with a Shop consultant and PAID to shop and you take Social Shopping to a new level.  We will address this phenomenon and expand on it and trend shopping in the next blog post. So stay tuned!