Kimkins.com Part I - The Kimkins.com Business Partnership Case Study
SEPTEMBER 2007 UPDATE: We now have real pictures of Kimmer. As many people suspected, she is a morbidly obese woman — not the svelte 118-pound diet success she has claimed to be. See the pictures here: Kimmer surveillance picture, Kimmer at the Kimkins.com mail box, more surveillance Kimmer photos.
If you have been in a supermarket checkout line this month, you may have seen a headline on the cover of Woman’s World about an Internet diet phenomenon called Kimkins (the cover breathlessly reads “Better Than Gastric Bypass!”). This cover story helped to fuel over $1 million in sales revenues this month alone for the website Kimkins.com.
Kimkins.com is the home of the Kimkins diet and its mysterious creator, “Kimmer.” Depending on whom you’re talking to in the diet world, Kimmer is a weight loss messiah or a dishonest charlatan. I think maybe she’s both, and I have a unique insight into the controversy.
You see, at the 2006 launch of Kimkins.com my wife Catherine was a 50% partner. The other 50% was owned by the woman known to the rest of the world as “Kimmer.”
The partnership became a series of twists, surprises, triumphs and disappointments that provided a challenging but worthwhile business education to us both — and it’s one hell of an interesting story to boot.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to present the Kimkins.com story in installments as a case study in business partnerships. Tentatively, the road map looks like this:
- Kimkins.com Part I - The Kimkins.com Business Partnership Case Study (this post)
- Kimkins.com Part II - What is the Kimkins Diet and How Did Kimkins.com Get Started?
- Kimkins.com Part III - Kimmer: Who Is She Really?
- Kimkins.com Part IV - The Kimkins.com Early Days
- Kimkins.com Part V - Celebrities on Kimkins?
- Kimkins.com Part VI - The Partnership Buyout and the Post-Buyout Backstabbing
- Kimkins.com Part VII - Business Lessons Learned
- Kimkins.com Part VIII - What Now for Kimkins.com?
Stay tuned for a fascinating inside look at a viral marketing success story that may be a house of cards waiting to tumble.
Next: Kimkins.com Part II - What is the Kimkins Diet and How Did Kimkins.com Get Started?
June 30th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Messiah or charlatan… I don’t think the people who have found success on this program much care. Myself included.
That said, I will still be interested to hear what you have to say about how things developed. I’m fascinated by the viral marketing phenomenon that has gotten Kimkins this far.
June 30th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Dugg it:
Is Kimmer of Kimkins.com a weight loss messiah or a dishonest charlatan?
Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
June 30th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Thank you for starting this!!! I wanted to start a site myself but just haven’t had time. There’s SO much dirt here to be uncovered and I really think this is going to be HUGE blowup of the diet industry when its revealed. I’ll share your link with others and wait patiently for the rest of the story. I hope some big news agencies pick this up too.
July 1st, 2007 at 3:59 am
Well you know? I’ll be the first to say that I gave this diet a try.. .uh. that was BEFORE it was plastered on the pages of Women’s World. You know, I have to say… when I saw it on the newstands I realized just how “out there” of a diet it really is. They’ll publish ANY diet that has *dramatic* results…. is that “success”? Depends on how you define success for yourself.
As for me, I *do* care about the stuff that’s out there, for mass consumption, for desparate dieters to flock to yet another form of instant gratification rather than finding *true* success in a more balanced lifestyle. And if there’s a backend story to all this hype, I for one, can’t wait to read more about it.
Chris R.
July 3rd, 2007 at 11:47 am
Looking forward to the information you have to share. Having read about Kimmer and the “Kimkins” plan for years on a popular low carb site, I’m anxious to finally hear the *real* story!
Hope you have pictures!
July 3rd, 2007 at 5:25 pm
[…] This post is second in a series (you can find the first post and the table of contents here) about the multimillion-dollar Internet diet marketing phenomenon that is Kimkins.com — and its controversial diet guru, a mysterious woman known to most people only as “Kimmer.” My wife Catherine was a founding partner of the Kimkins.com startup, and I’m sharing the story of this business venture as a case study in business partnerships. […]
July 5th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
[…] This post is third in a series (you can find the first post and the table of contents here, and the second post here) about the multimillion-dollar Internet diet marketing phenomenon that is Kimkins.com — and its controversial diet guru, a mysterious woman known to most people only as “Kimmer.” My wife, Catherine MacDonald, was a founding partner of the Kimkins.com startup, and I’m sharing the story of this business venture as a case study in business partnerships. […]
July 5th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
[…] Yesterday, Catherine wrote to Women’s World seeking their comment on the Kimkins/Kimmer controversy, and asking what fact checking they did, if any, about “Kim Drake” (aka Kimmer/Heidi Diaz) and her weight loss claims when they were writing their recent cover article. […]
July 6th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
It is interesting - I have followed debates on this on various low carb sites for a couple of years. I always felt the plan too restrictive for permanenet success and maintenance. (I have lost and kept off weight on ordinary Atkins.)
My question is, if you are calling this person’s identity into question, how about telling us who YOU are?
July 7th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
[…] Read my series about Kimkins.com, the mysterious Kimmer, and the growing controversy here. […]
July 8th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Not sure how this woman is going to hide and continue to pull of this shame if what you say is true. If in fact there is some validity to what you say and there becomes a big enough push to have the “real” Kimmer step forward, what if in fact we see that she is all that she claims to be, are you not setting yourself up for a lawsuit? Defamation of character,- maybe? Then again, if she is a fraud, I would think she possibly could go on hiding for as long as she and perhaps buy time to try and loose all that weight. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. I think uncovering a weight-loss fraud is harder to find when you’re pitting it against a public who in many cases is desperately looking for a weight loss guru. Best of luck.
July 8th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Yup I am a low carb friends fanatic, I love them, even if I don’t post their much I have been with them for years like 5 already. I always get the help and support from them for freeee. And yes I would come across kimmer and she always seemed like a fake to me. You should see how proud this women and Men are posting their before and afters. SHe is a total froud. We have people in this board loose a big deal show their before and after, you don’t see them charging money on their own website for info we already have. Sooner or later the truth will come out. jijijiji cant wait.:)
July 9th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
[…] EDITED TO ADD: People have expressed curiosity about when Part IV of the Kimkins series is coming out — look for it in the next couple of days. I’m still pulling the details together and want to make sure it’s absolutely accurate. […]
July 11th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
For anyone who wants their money back at this point here is what you can to do.
Since Kimmer has everyone paypaling their payments, go to your paypal account. Open up a dispute on Kimmer. There are a few ways to get your money back and you have to check one of them. I suggest the first one.
Item dispute: I did not receive an item I purchased or the item I received is significantly not as described.
This I believe is how she has to give the money back. Those that are banned did not get what was described. The ebook has never materialized. Therefore grounds for money back. I am sure there are many other reasons to get your money back and I suggest that any of the ones banned or unhappy with her site do this right away. Contact and complain to paypal. She may even be investigated. Kimmer is really taking a huge chance not returning peoples money and it would be in her best interest to do it because the law does not look kindly on someone committing fraud to get peoples money.
July 13th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
[…] Read my series about Kimkins.com here. […]
July 15th, 2007 at 9:43 am
These installments are way too slow. Even the thread at LCF is losing steam.
July 16th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Having been on so many diets, my head spins just thinking about it, this plan does appear to be unhealthy in the extreme. I cannot believe that someone could stay on such a thing for any length of time without consequences.
As for the person in question, there is something seemingly obvious. The pictures I saw did not appear to be of the same woman unless she has had plastic surgery.
I have serious doubts about that person having done what she said about the diet. If she has, why not come forward and stop all the speculation? Where is she? If I had lost all that weight, I would be shouting from the rooftops and being on every talkshow I could find. Maybe not but I certainly would want people to know about it.
Just my opinion for what it’s worth.
July 18th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
[…] I had intended that Part V of this series would deal with an issue that arose during July and August of 2006. The issue, and the doubts it engendered, impacted the contractual relationship between my wife, Catherine, and her business partner Heidi Kimberly Diaz (”Kimmer” of Kimkins.com). It does not, however, have much direct bearing on the current controversies and questions surrounding Kimmer and Kimkins.com. Upon review and careful consideration, I have decided that I do not have enough documentation and source material to discuss that particular issue publicly at this time. Instead, Part V will shed light on the guerilla marketing tactics that resulted in the “celebrities on Kimkins” rumors. […]
July 18th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
[…] This post is part of a series about the Kimkins diet and its controversial, secretive creator, Kimmer, aka Heidi Diaz or Kim Drake. My wife Catherine was Heidi’s founding partner when Kimkins.com started and the business partnership taught her some harsh lessons. Meanwhile, the Kimkins controversy is ongoing and new developments happen daily. You can find the first post in the series, along with the table of contents, here. Over the past few days, with Catherine’s permission I’ve been able to delve into her email records (thank God for Gmail) to establish a more accurate chronology of the dates of start-up. For the better part of a year, Catherine has tried to put the details of the failed business partnership out of her mind while she works on more productive things, and so her memory was less than clear on the date of startup. Here’s what I’ve established: […]
July 27th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
[…] This is part six of a series of posts about successful fad diet site Kimkins.com and its mysterious and controversial creator, “Kimmer,” or Heidi Kimberly Diaz. My wife Catherine was Heidi’s business partner in the founding of the Kimkins.com site. You can find the first post and table of contents here. […]
August 1st, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Have you looked very close to those testimonials? I have to say that I’m a portrait artist…no matter how much weight you lost you don’t change features that much…some of these testimonials (not all but alot) have moles missing, noses that look nothing like their nose a few months ago, forehead changes, hairline changes, different lips…did they all get plastic surgery too? I’m not buying that alot of these testimonials are real! I think they are made up and written by someone at the website. Has anyone else noticed this too? And the style of writing is similar. I joined kimkins to find out what is what, but now that I did, I feel scammed…and the diet is just a knockoff of Atkins….it Kimkins were a song, Atkins would be able grab the rights off it.
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:17 am
I just want you all to know that my bloodwork, since starting Kimkins, has never been better!!! Ive lost weight in a healthy manner and dont plan on ever going back to an unhealthy way of eating. This program teaches you how to eat for the rest of your life, who needs pre-processed crap that most of the world wraps its arms around. I will gladly post before and after pictures of myself, for heavans sake Ive met some of these women and there is a cruise next year…….do you think it can be hidden there??? You all are INSANE!!!!! Irregardless of whether Kimmer is real or the diet worked for her, its a great concept and its working for people who have had so much difficulty in the past…ITS INSPIRATIONAL!!!!
August 4th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Get this, I emailed Kimkins support and requested a refund since the diet amounts to just about 3 sentences…and the site is full of fraudulent pictures and testimonials. Her reply was to ban me - can’t even access the site at all…says “blocked” and then she says to file a claim with Paypal. I did that….so I don’t know if Paypal is going to back up a fraudulent service that will eventually be shut down….as I’m going to file with the FTC and BBB and with the state attorney in her city ….. internet fraud is a serious thing. I paid $59.95 for lifetime membership, she has no customer service….there was supposed to be so much stuff that you would get for our money…the only thing I got was ripped off!
August 10th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Well,
I got to know this diet from my friend long ago and I DID lose weight and today I am pretty healthy (from 91kg to 68kg since this Jan.-February). It is not an easy diet, true. But works and is fast. I asked from my doctor about it before and he was positive with it as long as I don’t go long time (like years) on “losing” and go maintaining (like I am doing now, after the 5th month).
I never talked to kimmer directly but talked to other moderators there and they were very kind. I really didn’t need to know who kimmer is. She showed a way, I checked it, did it and it worked. If I get to know her, of course it would be great. but after reading about these posts I just couldn’t “not write” here.
It all sounds to me like Catherine and her husband are crying, because with their planning and business mind, all they got from this project was $bit and the fact that kimmer (or whoever name) turned it into a M$ business without them; and even today these two are trying hard to boost their new business from these posts; and other people like Jimmy, … that got enough from it (or not) and later wrote a post that blah blah i did mistake (where were you during first two months of high $?) or maybe were pushed by their new “sponsors” probably (by looking at his new web look).
Please leave these people alone and go put time to think about your own mistakes. To me this is a working diet and a successful business scheme. This is something that would be interesting to learn about.
August 11th, 2007 at 9:29 am
[…] Slamboard, which provided new insight into Kimkins and the Who Is Kimmer? question, says this on the appointment of Kimkins poster girl Christin to Director of Public Relations at the sinking Kimkins ship: Today the Kimkins.com camp announced the appointment of Christin Sherburne as Director of Media & Public Relations. […]
August 19th, 2007 at 4:07 am
[…] Read my Kimkins.com series here and see all the Kimkins-related Slamboard posts here. […]
September 4th, 2007 at 3:13 am
your name is going to be released very soon.
you are doing alot of damage to people who are seeing suucess with this diet plan.
You cannot cry over spilled milk forever without sitting in something sour yourself. When people asked you to reveal your identity you wouldnt.
If anyone chooses to read epuppetry.com and all of its various shared links to its domain they will find very quickly that you have been mounting an attack for vengence to get what you believe is due you. A great deal of the anti-kimkins websites all come back to you, so when you claim to the thousands of people that there are numourous websites of members who have been lied to, you should really be saying you have planted numerous websites to make it appear that way.
Such a very sad person that this is what you have allowed your life to revolve around. You really have no idea what you are doing because you are doing all of this only for yourself without regard to the affect it is having on morbidly obese woman and men who have been regaining their lives from this plan.
You may be very good at linking lots of links to create the appearance of authority on technorati, you may even be very good at creating more and more blogs to help assist with your alibi, but you are not very good at covering your tracks or your identity.
September 4th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Hey there Kimmerooni glad you could take the time to post! Nutjob!
September 5th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Dude post the damn pictures…we don’t want to wait anymore!
September 6th, 2007 at 6:27 am
[…] Read more Heidi Diaz (Kimmer) and the Kimkins diet saga here and here. […]
September 6th, 2007 at 6:28 am
[…] Read more Heidi Diaz (Kimmer) and the Kimkins diet saga here and here. […]
September 6th, 2007 at 6:29 am
[…] Read more Heidi Diaz (Kimmer) and the Kimkins diet saga here and here. […]
September 6th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Holy Christ - that ass of hers is HUGE!
I guess “maintenance” is out of the question
LOL
September 15th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
People don’t you get it! This is the only diet that has work for me, and many other ladies I am currently connected with on Kimkins. We have become a family, helping and supporting each other. The money I have spent has been well worth it for the access to the website and commradery alone. To not have to go through this dieting experience alone. To have the support of soooo many others that are in the same boat as me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to look at the scale and see you are well over 100 lbs overweight. And know you’ve got to get it off or you’ll probably die soon. Everyone in my family is skinny. Where am I going to get this kind of help? I’ve lost 30 lbs since June 28th ‘07. I feel great. All my #’s the the doc cares about are great, NOW! They were not even good 3 months ago. My doc is thrilled that I’ve found something that works for me. One of the other ladies said her doc even teared up, because she had been so worried about this lady and she has lost over 50 lbs now. WE DON’T CARE WHO KIMMER IS, THIS DIET WORKS, THE SITE IS GREAT, WE HAVE MORE THAN GOTTEN OUR MONEYS WORTH!
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:36 pm
I lost 62 lbs in 4 months on this diet. It does work. My before and after photos are real. I think her being dishonest is wrong and I will not tell any others about her but the diet does work if your serious about it. I had no medical problems either. I am just now learning about this on the news so I cant say what I dont know. What I do know is how she went about it was wrong but The diet did work for me and I am great full I found it. I am waiting to see what else comes out of this.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Those bastards owe me money, they refuse to pay. Good job Shoemoney
Bah, anyway, anyone else have probs with these douches?
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:15 pm
[…] Diaz’s after photos have been proven to be a hoax, swiped off of a Russian mail order bride site. Since KTLA began its expose, both the photo and Diaz’s testimonial have mysteriously disappeared from the site. A private investigator, hired by Diaz’s former partner-turned-disgruntled-informer, have revealed Diaz to be ironically, a morbidly obese woman. It’s always tragic to hear of people shilling snake oil weight-loss cures, but the fact that it is an obese woman conspiring to make money off the insecurities of other fat women particularly sickens me. […]
November 12th, 2007 at 11:16 am
LETS JUST PUT HER OUT OF BUSSINESS AND GIVE OUT THE DIET PLAN TO THE INTERNET. WE WOULD NOT NEED TO PAY THE 59.00 IF SOMEONE WOULD EXSPOSE HER PLAN!
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:07 am
[…] My core readership for the last year has been been people with an interest in the Kimkins scam. I published Part I well over a year ago. I think I would be doing a service to those people by stating that it is very unlikely that I will have anything else to say on the subject. […]
August 12th, 2008 at 2:04 am
[…] Kimkins.com Part I - The Kimkins.com Business Partnership Case Study (this post) […]