I am always on the lookout for a solid multilevel marketing company as there are way too many that have mediocre products and a huge focus on recruiting others to make money.
In my early days of trying to find a way out of the rat race I thought that joining an MLM was the only way out up until I found out about this thing called affiliate marketing.
Within all that learning, I realized a lot of things about MLM and now I would like to share some of them before we get into this review.
First things first, MLM is very much only possible if people are able to get others to join.
Without this happening, the company will not strive and will ultimately get shutdown.
Secondly, there is always going to be controversy due to the business model.
Being that it is “multilevel”, you can expect others to call this a “pyramid scheme” or “ponzi scheme”.
Although there are many of them out there, those with actual products are less likely to get shutdown.
That doesn’t mean they are in the clear of anything though as tomorrow you can have any MLM go under water if something doesn’t sit right with the FTC.
Lastly, MLM is a hype based business that is sold on exactly that.
Sure the products can be fair but the only reason anyone will join is because of the opportunity that was presented and not because of the amazing products.
Trust me, I have had my share of MLMs and they are all the same.
So when your up-line (the person trying to get you to join) tells you that this is different, just remember what I said.
Now let’s see if there is anything that this company has to offer so that you can decide if this is a real opportunity or if it’s just another that will leave you with the 99% of its members not making anything worth reporting.
What is Youngevity?
In terms of background, there is a lot to like about Youngevity. While the world of MLM has no shortage of supplement companies that always seem to be popping up, Youngevity may have established that trend rather than followed it.
The company was founded in 1995, which means a couple of good things: one, that you probably don’t need to worry about them closing anytime soon.
The company has been around long enough that we can assume its continued existence for the ongoing future unless something changes to put it into question.
Then there is also just the fact that there are clearly people out there that like what they are selling. Pretty simple, but also critical if you want to make it work with the company, right?
It’s almost always a good thing when an MLM has years of experience behind it.
The company also has the benefit of being founded by someone in the medical community: Dr. Joel Wallach.
It’s also always a positive when the person running the show has a background or authority in the business that they have created.
However, it is only fair to mention that Wallach is as much a con as he is a pro. While he may be a doctor, he is also a very controversial one who consistently makes claims that are dismissed as false by the rest of the medical community.
One of the most notable of these claims unfortunately pertains to his business.
Wallach maintains that 90% of people are vitamin deficient, a statistic that he seems to have gotten form a magazine article…from the thirties.
Hey, he doesn’t have to know everything to make a good vitamin, right? Still, when an CEO is controversial it can be a little bit bad for business which is something for you as a potential affiliate to keep in mind.
Overall, the background of the company seems to be more a positive than a negative. That in mind, let’s now take a look at what it takes to join up.
Getting Started
Getting started at Youngevity is fairly straightforward, and also very typical of most MLMs. No interview, no application even. If you want to join up, all you have to do is pay their entry fee of $25 and start working towards moving some products.
In terms of MLMs, this is a pretty enticing starter package opportunity.
While $25 to start up certainly does fall within a range of what one would typically expect to encounter, it’s also a good deal lower than many of the other companies that are out there.
The lower the starting cost, the lower the overhead, the easier it Is to start making a profit. If you are new to MLM and not wanting to take a big financial risk, Youngevity may be a good option for you to consider.
Of course, none of this really matters if the products that you will be selling aren’t good, right? Let’s now take a brief overview of the Youngevity product line.
What You Will Be Selling
As mentioned earlier, Youngevity is in the vitamin and supplement game. Their leading best selling products focus simply on providing users with all of the vitamins and nutrients necessary to a healthy lifestyle.
Very much like Melaleuca and the many other companies that are selling the same exact stuff.
They also feature a variety of sprays, drops, and other wellness products.
There are pros and cons to this product line. On the one hand, supplements are already somewhat controversial in the world of medical science.
There is a good deal of question regarding if vitamins absorb into the human system in pill form the same way that they do through diet.
Add to this controversy the fact that the person responsible for this particular line of supplements is a little bit controversial himself and you may have a hard time moving product.
Still, there is a big market for supplements. People that like them, like them because they feel that they are seeing results from using them, not because of research.
In other words, in spite of the controversy, you shouldn’t have too much trouble convincing people that supplements are worth their time.
The other positive that comes with selling supplements is that by virtue of the products nature it is fairly easy to get people to buy.
Assuming that people are into the way that the products work, they are probably going to be using them pretty regularly, which means that it may be easy to build a list of repeat customers.
The more people that you can get to come back to you month after month for supplements, the easier it will be to make a stable income.
Compensation Plan
The compensation plan has some good components to it, as well as some bad ones. On the positive side, they keep things pretty simple.
This is nice to see considering how many MLMs out there are creating convoluted multi-tiered pay plans that are hard to understand and even harder to take advantage of.
At Youngevity it is simple: you earn up to a thirty percent commission on whatever you sell.
The bad news is that the company puts a big emphasis on recruitment. This is a fairly standard component of the MLM, really, but it is also the most controversial aspect of it.
Not only do you get bonuses any time that you convince someone to sign up and start selling Youngevity, but you also are going to get small bonuses every time that they make a sale.
This means that theoretically, sales personalities might actually be more financially motivated to recruit than they would be to sell.
In terms of what you can actually expect to make, this can range pretty radically from person to person. Some people do pretty well with MLMs, but there are also lots of people that aren’t even making their initial investment back.
Whether you succeed or fail financially at Youngevity is going to depend entirely on your skills as a salesperson, and on your ability to self motivate.
You can read more here to get a better understanding of how all the breaking down is done within the Youngevity compensation plan.
So is Youngevity a Scam?
With the many claims and lack of proof that these products in fact work, you will always have things go back and forth with companies like Youngevity.
“The products are awesome”
“I didn’t see a difference”
Whether it’s a placebo or not, you just need to understand that everything done with this company is for the sole purpose of making money.
Recruit others, make money.
And yes, it is really that simple.
So whether or not Youngevity is a scam is really based on your outlook of MLMs as a whole.
I personally don’t see anything wrong with this but if you are looking for just products similar to this, you are better off getting them elsewhere.
Conclusion
Youngevity is for recruiters.
If you are looking to start a network marketing business then this is definitely one to consider.
If you are looking for products, this is not for you.
For the most part, most people that are involved or are looking to get involved with MLM are doing one thing and that is to make money.
I don’t care what they try to say about the products, the somewhat hidden agenda is always going to be to make money.
If you can understand that much then this is something you might want to get into.
Now if you are looking for a real way to make money online, you might want to look into selling other people’s products without having to pay for any inventory.
With programs like the Wealthy Affiliate, you can learn how to do such a thing and skip the whole recruiting side of things.
Other than that, I hope this Youngevity review has given you more than enough information so that you can make a smarter decision.
Remember now, this is not for everyone but if you have quite the network, this might just be for you.
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