Multi Level Marketing Supplements: The Cure or the Problem
To make sure no one is too “butthurt” from reading this; I want to start by saying that this article is not attacking any one company or…
To make sure no one is too “butthurt” from reading this; I want to start by saying that this article is not attacking any one company or organization that uses the network marketing business model in selling products of any variety. While the article will reference some supplement companies by name, images and links; they are used because the information they displayed was easier obtained and easy to understand for the lay person than from other sources available.
What is Multi-Level or Network Marketing?
I am not going to get really deep into the nuances of this but will give you some solid introductory information that clears up what’s going on.
It’s a Direct To Consumer Sales Business. (Wikipedia Direct Sales)
The setup of a direct sales company is pretty simple and not too far from how most companies are set up. They have a product and they want to sell it. The biggest difference is that they do not use traditional advertising and retail promotion like most other companies that sell stuff.For example; a company like Macy’s has stores, paid commercials and print media along with their executive team. Everyone else that works for Macy’s is an employee of Macy’s that get paid either a salary, hourly wage to sell products only in the Macy’s stores. A Direct sales company doesn't do these traditional commercials and print advertising and instead has their executive team, maybe some salaried Headquarter employees and then everyone else is an Independent non-salaried participants, referred to as distributors (or associates, independent business owners, independent agents, etc.), are authorized to distribute the company’s products or services. Usually with a payment system based solely on the 100% commission of sales. In Direct Sales Companies the HQ takes care of all of the back of house needs like development, manufacturing,packaging, pricing, shipping, advertising programs, Website, supply chains and even business development assistance. The Sales reps uses the information they learned from the company to get their own sales.
Single Level vs. Multi-Level/Network Marketing Strategies
Single level marketing simply means your income is based only on your direct sales to consumers. Think of it like a Car Salesman who are usually 100% commission/1099 independent contractors of a dealership. Their income is based off of their ability to sell a car using what the dealership and HQ have provided for advertising, sales and the car themselves.
Multilevel Marketing(MLM) is known by many names like network marketing, Referral marketing, pyramid marketing, Party Plan Marketing, but simply means that a sales rep can earn income from more then just their direct sales commissions. An independent sales rep can recruit a team that works for and/or along side of them to sell the same products then, the HQ will reward the Sales rep who did the recruiting with a percentage of their teams commissions and some bonuses. So, you make sale your get your commission then your friend who you recruited makes a sale and then you get a commission from that as well. If the friend you recruited also recruits someone you will get some commissions from that person as well and so on and so forth.
Direct sales using single and multi-level strategies have been around for years and is nothing new to our society. However, In recent years it has been gaining exposure for better or worse within the Health and Fitness industry as the involvement of supplements has grown into a multi billion dollar industry in itself.
The Good Multi-level Marketing Supplements Brings to the Table
Building a self made Career alongside the fitness industry
You are not just a sales rep, the way the companies are set up you are essentially starting your own business from the ground up.
There are various disciplines and specialties within the fitness industry and supplements is one of those specialties that spreads across all of them. Depending on your level of involvement or qualifications there are some limitations for someone with only a hobbyist or enthusiast role in the fitness industry. If you enjoy helping people then this is a very easy way to break into the health and wellness industry with a very low barrier.
A lot of the supplement companies that offer a multi level marketing approach offer some business development and coaching strategies to help you start off and build you up from a salesman to a business owner.
Additional Income Stream for fitness professionals and…anyone else.
If you are already a professional in the fitness industry who is at the top of your income generation ladder you can provide an additional or more inclusive service to your clients without having to re-strategize your entire business model.
The barrier to entry is low and there are many different companies you can choose from to start selling their products.
Diet Control outside of the Gym
The majority of the hours in a week will be spent in areas outside of the fitness facility (unless you work there). If you are attempting to control your intake or help clients get their nutrition in order, knowing at least some of what they are eating can help you and them create some better habits and adjustments. Most of these companies that sell supplements in this way often package them with guides and some basic knowledge about nutrition.
If you don’t agree with the nutrition recommendations the company offers you can simply market the supplements and pair them with your own philosophies.
Fitness can be expensive at least they give you discount codes.
When you are associated with a multi level marketing supplement company you can have access to some exclusive pricing tiers and discount codes to get their products cheaper. If you are looking for some budget friendly options that you can use this can be a nice way to keep your stock full and your own cash in your pockets.
If your clients are going to use supplements anyway then this is another option for them to save a few dollars and use a product that you have some experience with.
If your focus is not about generating profits but, instead breaking even and just offering some cheaper supplements then this might be a good way to do that.
A focus on Conscious Eating
One of the biggest mistakes someone can make is believing they do not have to think about what they are eating. Mindless consumption can be a huge detriment to your diet and if you don’t know how much you are eating then you are just throwing darts in the dark.
Believe it or not, a lot of these companies provide a beginners guide to forming a nutrition plan around eating foods that provide good energy and nutrients to support an active lifestyle or alter some common poor eating habits. Regardless of your stance on nutrition and specific diets, the simple step of having a plan can help develop some good patterns that lead to a consistent and conscious approach to eating that actually has a purpose besides just eating food.
Community Support
If you are going to start a journey on your own then it can be difficult to push past some of the more challenging times that are inevitable along this journey. The nature of multi-level marketing is to try and spread on a referral basis through your network. You tell a friend, they tell a friend and soon its a group of “friends” all together on the same journey. Having a good support system can keep you on a path to success regardless of the specifics of your journey. While not all of the people associated with selling supplements are qualified to instruct you about nutrition, they are normal people that might have a supporting perspective on mentally overcoming tough times.
The Bad Multi-level Marketing Supplements Brings to the Table
They are Independent Sales representatives/product distributors… not health coaches or nutrition experts.
Question: Are you alive and have access to someone or a network of people that also have access to a network of people? Perfect! You can join the supplement independent distribution sales network. It is a weird conundrum that we have advanced level degrees for dietitians and even certifications for nutritionists that give people advice on food intake but, if you want to sell supplements and pair it with free nutrition guidance(that you didn’t make) the same way a dietitian would… it’s not considered a problem. I am not saying that everyone who sells supplements needs a degree but, there should be some limitations on the information they are allowed to provide outside of closing a sale. There can be some serious consequences giving someone a product they are not supposed to have or giving someone information that you are told is correct and helpful but ends up only hurting someone. For example giving someone a stimulant who might have a blood pressure or heart issue is not a good idea no matter what supplement it is but, they don’t say that when marketing their programs direct to the consumer. It’s just a sugar free pre-workout or mid day energy booster that that can give you that extra push. Even better, those cleasne days would be detrimental to someone who has a blood sugar disorder along with their weight problem.
It’s not that the products are bad but the people often times marketing the products only know what is told to them by other reps and the head quarter team which makes their knowledge very general and limited.
Some Companies are NOT calling their products supplements
It’s clever marketing because they know most people don’t know about food labeling, FTC regulations, FDA involvement etc. So, they use attractive buzzwords to make you think they are something special.
Every single product that is offered from these companies(regardless of the words they use) are processed and manufactured dietary supplements. 0% of them are not processed and 0% of them are naturally available. All of them are made.
Not calling them supplements is an unfortunate tactic to trick you into thinking you are buying something that is closer to medicine then it is to a dietary or fitness supplement. The most common term I see when they are trying to avoid using the word supplement is calling their products “Nutritionals”. It is the same thing so don’t be fooled by some very clever marketing.
When you see these types of words or misleading verbiage think of it like a realtor using “Cozy living Space” instead of saying this place is really small. Or a Car salesman telling you they have certified pre-owned cars…when it means they have used cars they gave a thumbs up to sell; it just sounds a little better.
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Their Supplements are not as High Quality and Special as they say.
Did you know the supplement industry is largely unregulated or controlled. The only thing that is really considered controlled is the information they market, display on the labels and advertising but, even that is limited. Every single company wants you to believe that their products contain the highest quality, most pure versions of whatever ingredient concoction they are selling. Truth is that that highest quality ingredients are the highest quality in terms of price too. So, if they have a supplement that contains the really high quality ingredients but the price is really low compared to other similar ones, I would question what you are getting. Check out this article about the Ingredient quality in Advocare’s Spark.
Hiding Behind Proprietary Blends and complexes.
The hard truth is even if these companies buy the best quality ingredients to put in their products, there is no testing done to ensure what you are actually getting. A Proprietary blend or complex is a way to hide the actual concentration of ingredients from being displayed on the label. Most of the companies will say that these proprietary blends are their way of protecting the intellectual property that makes their products unique and special. It sounds harmless and understandable but often a tool to to manipulate the products while still being within the legal constraints from the FTC and FDA.
Displaying a “Proprietary Blend” on a label means they are allowed group multiple ingredients together and present an amount as a whole instead of an itemized list and each ingredient amount in concentration. It’s a widespread practice among supplement companies. Check out this Article about “Pixie Dust” by Bryan Krahn.
Promoting Restrictive Diets and “Cleanses”
This is the biggest issue I have with these type of supplement companies. They don’t just build up your trust saying they have the best magic products to fuel your “healthy weight loss” but, they also promote very restrictive diets that when paired with their supplements will “melt the weight off” or “flush the Fat away” in a short period of time. These cleanse diets are often a way to promote the effectiveness of their products in helping you lose weight. They are always Low Calorie and include taking the products as a staple item in the short term diet.
Restrictive diets are just plain dumb if you are looking for long term success. They don’t teach long term progress with diet and you can develop a negative attitude towards certain foods. The restrictions themselves are what give people the negative attitude toward food hurting them or making them fat instead of developing a relationship that teaches you food is a fuel.
For example according to the Isagenix 30 day Cleanse system Shake day videos, Cleanse day Videos and supporting documents
for weight loss: Drink (2) IsaLean Shakes or soup[~240 calories each] and 1 400–600 calorie low glycemic Meal a day along with half your body weight in water and 2 servings if you are hungry of their other products that have calories from 0–150 calories to sustain energy and control hunger. On Cleanse Days they recommend you use their 20 calorie product 4 times a day, half your body weight in water and some 150 calorie snack wafers.
That means on days where you eat they recommend anywhere from 880 calories-1080 calories not including the optional snakes that you can eat IF you get too hungry.
Eating like this is not a sustainable system and once you are done with such a restricted form of eating have you really gained any information that can help you when you start eating normally again or will you fall back into bad habits?
Promotion of Yo-Yo Dieting but calling them contests and challenges.
They use short term diet plans, weight loss contest and challenges as a way to attempt to increase the use and sales of their products for the short term and hope to snag a few people into automatic recurring order fulfillment programs or become consistent users. It is unfortunate that the focus is on a short term end goal using a method that is in no way sustainable once the contest or challenge is over. Yo-Yo diets have been around for years and are not an effective tool for continued or sustained weight loss. Losing a few pounds is easy with restrictive diets, it’s the regaining those pounds that hurts the person once the challenge is over.
If there is one thing that the general public should know by now is that constant and consistent fluctuations in your weight due to dietary practices is not a way to good health or even optimal function for daily work and life. If you lost 20 lbs during the challenge but over the next 3–6 months put 15–18lbs of it back on because you don’t have good habits; then you just wasted all your hard earned money, time, effort and gains. Lets say you kept the weight off for a year after the challenge was done but, then gained it back when you “fell off the wagon”; isn’t that still a waste of time? And now you are going to spend more of your money on another challenge that is going to have you lose the same 20 lbs you lost last year. Wouldn’t it have been better to lose that weight and never gain it back because you knew how to eat food to support your activity and get you to your goal?
I understand you might need a motivational “jumpstart” when on your fitness journey, just make sure you learn something otherwise you will be sad when your bad habits take over again.
All Your Progress is a product of just using the supplements. without them you would be nothing.
The companies and independent distributors tell you the supplements for lack of better words are the answer and each individual sales rep will promote them as being the miracle solution to their customers weight triumphs and without them they didn’t get results.
The results are not from the supplements! As you saw from above they are literally nothing special. What happens is, when someone starts one of these challenges they literally start to change everything about their eating and exercise all at once. From the types foods they eat, the size of the meals, the frequency or lack of frequency of eating and their exercise routines. That is a lot of changes and effort from you and only you that has zero involvement of taking the the supplements. The supplements are only one small piece of as very large puzzle of changes; yet the opposite is advertised.
You have to ask yourself, if the supplements were the magical miracles their results showed them to be then the need to change everything else about your lifestyle would be a useless waste of time right? Wouldn’t the company also want to promote that all you have to do is drink some shakes and lose weight. They don’t because they know that’s not how it works. They need you to make 99% of the changes that will get you the results you want and then fill in the last 1% with their products and then take all the credit.
The Compensation Policies promotes Forced Sales driven instead of trustworthy help driven approach
Multi-Level marketing means that there are different earning levels of Independent distributors based on the amount and frequency of their sales and people that became distributors from their referrals. The more you sell and the more people you have using and distributing products the more money you can make from your network.
As an example This Isagenix video starts by asking you if an extra $500-$5000 dollars a month would help you out and for most of us that would be a nice secondary income or even sole income. For fitness professionals looking to get more money this might seem like a nice attractive way to help your clients and earn some cash without training more hours. The unfortunate truth is that while they advertise $500 a month income as a popular possibility their own reports for 2014 show : 82.5% of people using and promoting the products don’t even qualify to be classified as anything more than a loyal customer meaning they don’t make an income of any kind. 12% of people that Isagenix’s considers more than a loyal customer earned less than $500 A YEAR and out of the 5.3% of people that earned more than $500 a massive 85% of them never earned more than $5000 a year. The actual average income ranged form $700-$2,100 a year. This low rate of success with income doesn’t necessarily make it a bad opportunity but, it does mean it might take way more effort than you are willing to give when it’s only supposed to be a secondary income.
The other issue with their compensation system has to do with the conflict of interest that comes with being a fitness professional. When someone entrusts you to help them with their fitness it is a personal journey and a certain level of trust is required from the participant in order to see results. Without this trust the professional will have a hard time getting the person to buy into their system. That is across the board but the difference is a fitness professional is selling a personal service for fitness and not a product for fitness. When you are directly selling supplements to your own clients you break that barrier of trust that you have their best interest at heart because you are pushing a product that you promote as essential, to go along with your service.
Like the video says, in order to maintain active status with the company you have to have a certain level of personal volume monthly. That personal volume requirement means that there is additional pressure for you to sell products regardless if it is going to help your clients or not. If you choose to recruit a team you need a certain number of business volume in order to collect your commissions. If you don not sell then you do not get commissions and those minimal sales volume requirements is where you now become the salesman first and practitioner of fitness second. Its like when you go to a new shop for an oil change the person who changes your oil suggests you change every fluid in your car regardless if its needed. This minimum requirement provides incentive to simply push one product and not worry if the clients actually need them or not.
The personal volume rule also means you have to use the products or at least purchase the products yourself in order to be considered part of the company. That literally breaks the age old “don’t get high on your own supply” rule and some companies even advocated an automatic recurring order every month to ensure you always meet your personal volume requirement regardless if you need them or not. It’s just bad flow of money.
Recruitment activities: Free Bootcamp, Fitness classes and nutrition clubs.
If you are already a fitness professional then offering a free fitness class or bootcamp to promote your business and offer some supplements it’s not only acceptable but a good idea for marketing in general. that’s not the problem.
If you are an independent distributor who is not a fitness professional then you should not be doing these. For one, it is vastly outside of you scope of practice as a supplement sales person to train and give nutrition advice. Two, the focus is of these classes is not about providing a great fitness service and improving low levels of fitness; its only recruiting more people to join your supplement sales team through “freemium marketing”.
If you are someone looking for help with your fitness this is not the best route for you to go because the fitness classes they offer are to sell you supplements once its over. If the instructors don’t know what they are doing then the free service is just going to be a wasted hour when you could have used it doing something more productive outside o just being tired from moving. Its not about fitness at all its only about getting people together.
High Profile Legal Issues, guilty by association.
There are a lot of multi-level marketing companies that are pushing supplement sales. Some also sell other products and not really publically known while others companies like Amway, VEMMA, HerbaLife, Isagenix, USANA, Shaklee,Le-Vel Thrive,doTERRA Essential Oils and Advocare are way more popular and in the public eye and social media spaces.
The Companies themselves do not take any responsibility to the successes and failure that their independent product distributors have. Often times they only classify people who make a certain amount as distributors in their reporting regardless of your intentions when you choose to become a sales rep. So, you could be trying to grow your business and lose money your first year and companies like Isagenix will display you as “a loyal consumer” who simply wanted to make use of the discounts instead of a business developer who just didn’t do well. Clever reporting.
That’s not the real problem. The real problem is that this type of business model (multi level marketing) has been routinely on the bad side of the law and regulations being exposed as pyramid schemes from investigations, class action law suits and settlement payouts. A pyramid Scheme is where only the top level members of the company make money and, everyone else collects money but never makes a real profit and can actually end up losing more money trying to maintain their active status with the company. Remember if you don’t make over a certain amount in a year they don’t even consider you one of their “business development reps”. Here are some recent examples of bad business in Multi Level Marketing.
The Bottom Line
If you enjoy the products on a personal level over all the other supplement products available to you, then You are more than welcome to continue taking them.
If you understand that you are not a health coach or nutrition expert and, you are only a supplement sales person the same way an employee of GNC is, then keep on selling them, I hope you do well.
If you are a fitness professional and want to earn a secondary income pick a different avenue that is already in your field of expertise by offering a new kind of service like small group training, digital coaching or add specialty programs to your business like Crossfit Games Training, Obstacle Race Training, PowerLifting or whatever you consider your expertise.
If you really want to sell supplements or make some money selling supplements It would be best if you could find a company that does not have these mandatory entry prices and mandatory monthly minimum sales volumes that can alter your morals as a fitness professional. You could find a manufacture that has private white label productions and make your own, use affiliate discount codes from some of the big players which is already popular or my personal favorite is Join www.TheTrainersEdge.com. Which allows you to still recommend certain supplements without having any of the mandatory ties to push products and meet minimums. Oh and its also FREE.
Originally published at FitleteNation