December 2008

Why am I promoting Zrii?

by Dr. Terry A. Rondberg

Throughout my career as a chiropractor and chiropractic activist, I've taken many bold, controversial actions. I've stood up for what I believed was best for chiropractic and the patients we serve. I've almost always angered my enemies (as if I care) and occasionally caused even my friends to shake their heads in disapproval or puzzlement.

That's why I'm not really surprised that my recent promotion of the nutritional drink called "Zrii" has caused some people to call me everything from an "evil vendor" to a traitor to the cause. As always, I'm going to stick to my guns and my principles and continue to promote it since I truly believe that it can greatly improve everyone's health AND generate income for those who choose to sell it to others.

I do, however, want to explain why I'm promoting Zrii and, hopefully, dispel some of the rumors that are flying around about the product and the way it's marketed.

When I was first told about Zrii, I was skeptical, just as many of you probably are. Actually, that's a very smart reaction. We really have to been skeptical nowadays, considering the hype that accompanies just about every health-related product on the market.

Yet, I also remember seeing that same skepticism on the faces of people who were being introduced to chiropractic for the first time. If only they knew the real story, I'd think. The facts would be enough to overcome their doubts.

Somewhat reluctantly, I decided to at least find out the facts about Zrii before I dismissed it out of hand. I started doing a bit of research and learned that Zrii was developed and being marketed by several high-profile and respected businessmen. These guys were already millionaires many times over and they didn't need to get hooked up to any phony product just to make more money. If they were putting their names and their reputations (not to mention their dollars) behind Zrii, it probably was legitimate.

Then I learned that Zrii was the only outside product to win the endorsement of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing.

In the past, that wouldn't necessarily have endeared me to Zrii. For the longest time, I'd held a grudge against Deepak Chopra. Chiropractors have been talking about innate wisdom and healing from the "inside-out" for more than a century, and been labeled quacks the whole time. Chopra comes along and starts saying the same thing and becomes the most famous (and wealthy) natural health guru in the world. I resented him on behalf of our entire profession since he was simply "stealing" the chiropractic message!

Of course, as we all now know, he wasn't stealing anything. He was delivering a message far older than chiropractic itself, a health philosophy that dates back some 5,000 years. As the Chopra Center explains, "Ayurveda reminds us that health is the balanced and dynamic integration between our environment, body mind and spirit."

It goes on to say: "Ayurveda is a healing system that treats the whole person -- the integration of body, mind, and spirit -- rather than simply treating individual symptoms."

Sounds a lot like chiropractic, doesn't it?

That got me interested in learning more about Zrii, so I read about the main ingredients, which are among the most common and powerful of the Ayurvedic herbals. Instead of marketing hype, I read medical research on several of the ingredients, published in major medical journals. I was getting more than more interested!

Finally, I decided to try the stuff and have several relatives serve as guinea pigs as well. For more than two months, I took Zrii regularly and at the end of that time I realized that the chronic pain in my knee was gone! I'd suffered from this problem for a long while, as a result of my old habit of running, and even chiropractic hadn't been able to resolve it completely. Now, for the first time in years, my knee was pain free and flexible.

Skepticism doesn't die easily, though. I had to consider that maybe it was just a coincidence or the placebo effect. One person's experience doesn't translate into proof. So, I checked in with my two guinea pigs. Both of them said they experienced "miracles" (their own word) after taking Zrii for two months.

This is the type of story we hear all the time from chiropractic patients about chiropractic, and I was finally convinced enough to actually sign up as a network marketer for Zrii and start promoting it to my chiropractic colleagues.

After all, here's a non-medical, non-drug nutritional supplement that's perfectly congruent with the chiropractic principles. Health from the inside-out! Just like chiropractic, it doesn't claim to "cure" anything or even treat symptoms. It simply (again, like chiropractic) works to strengthen the body's own innate response to environmental, physical, mental and emotional stresses than can result in a health problem.

Thousands of DCs market beneficial products to their patients: cervical pillows, backpacks, vitamins, exercise equipment, etc. These products aren't chiropractic, but they work in concert with the adjustments to enhance health. Zrii is a perfect addition to these offerings.

Of course, if we're really altruistic (and rich) we can choose to buy Zrii and give it away to our patients, friends, relatives and acquaintances. If you win the Powerball, you can do just that. But in the meantime, it would make more sense to make Zrii available to others the same way you do for any other health-related product: sell it at a reasonable price.

I understand some doctors think it's wrong to "sell" anything from their office. That's fine, I suppose, although it puts the burden on patients to go out and try to make decisions as to what might help them augment their adjustments or prevent subluxations. Making a few select items available to them is "added value" service that helps them and ensures your practice growth.

If you think that "selling" somehow soils chiropractic, keep in mind that BJ Palmer was a consummate businessman! He started a radio and a television station, ran a research clinic, opened a sanitarium, developed and marketed chiropractic instruments and adjusting tables, wrote books and had his fingers in numerous other for-profit businesses. If he can do it and not sully the name of chiropractic, we can as well.

What, then, is so wrong with selling or promoting Zrii? The only other objection I've heard is that some people still have a bad feeling about "multi-level marketing" programs. Unfortunately, there's a lot of baggage left over from the days when a handful of MLM companies were found to be selling products that didn't even exist.

Still, some of the best-known companies in America, including Avon, Mary Kay Cosmetics and Tupperware, use what is now called network marketing.

Once we can get over the emotional reaction to MLM or network marketing, we realize it's just another business model very similar to selling on commission or for a marked-up retail price. Doctors make a reasonable profit on the products they sell. They don't have to develop a "downline" (people who sign up under and are mentored by the doctor, who then receives a small percentage of their commission as well as his or her own) if they don't want to.

So you see, I didn't go into the Zrii thing lightly. I did my due diligence and even took the product myself. I have no qualms about chiropractors helping patients by making products available to them, as long as the products are health-related and don't compromise chiropractic principles.

Every year, I'm approached by many people and companies who want me -- either personally or on behalf of the World Chiropractic Alliance -- to endorse, promote or sell their services and products. I've scrutinized them all very carefully, rejected most, and selected relatively few to pass on to you. In the end, it comes down to this: would I be proud to put my name on the product? In the case of Zrii, the answer is a definite YES (although I do think the logo would look odd if it read Zrii Rondberg).

If you're interested in joining me to market or promote this wonderful product (or if you'd like to try it for yourself before you make a commitment) e-mail me at oneworld@zriioffice.com  or visit www.oneworld.myzrii.com .