WorldVentures
MLM's

Is World Ventures a Pyramid Scheme? – What You Should Know

WorldVenturesWorld Ventures claims to be a community of fun, freedom, and fulfillment. But is there more to the story than just this? What’s the deal with all the members trying to recruit other people to join? Is World Ventures a pyramid scheme that you should avoid?

In this review I will be going over how this business model works and whether or not it’s a pyramid scheme. I am not affiliated with this company in any way so I’m not going to try to make it seem better than it really is. In fact there is a major downside to this type of business that I will be going over… Which is something that members aren’t going to tell you more than likely.

World Ventures Review

World Ventures Is a travel MLM company that plans what they call “dream trips”. Basically it’s a company that plans vacations for people… That’s pretty much it.

They have two different memberships that you can join at, which include:

  • Gold Membership: $200 + $50 per month
  • Platinum Membership: $300 + $100 per month

Now whether their memberships are worth the price is a debate for another day. From what I have seen and reviews I have read it seems that the prices are pretty darn steep when you look at what they provide you. Their “dream trips” don’t really seem to save you much money, and personally if are going to go on vacation I would rather plan my own trip… Because I think I could save more my own.

But anyways, I’m not here to review the actual membership services that World Ventures provides, I’m here to review the business opportunity which many people are calling a pyramid scheme.

World Ventures is a direct sales business. This means that they rely on independent representatives to sell their memberships. This is what they push members to do to help cover their own membership cost. The membership cost is obviously very expensive and the solution they give you is to recruit in other members to help cover your costs and more.

Anyone can become one of these independent representatives and earn money doing this. As an independent rep you will earn commissions from the initial sale as well as the monthly membership that your referrals pay. But there’s much more to it than just this… Independent reps can also earn commissions from independent reps beneath them, and beneath them, and beneath them, and so on.

A Look at How You Make Money

If you join World Ventures and decide to start promoting the business to other people in order to make money you will first be able to earn in two different ways: through direct commissions and personal sales bonuses. Direct commissions are commissions from the membership sales you make directly to customers. So when you sell a membership you get paid a commission and you also get commissions from the monthly membership price that the particular customer pays. And the personal sales bonus comes in when you make three sales within 30 days.

But there is a heck of a lot more to the compensation plan than just this. There are many different promotional levels, or what I call ranks, within the compensation structure. When you first join you will be considered an Enrolled Rep and once you become active you will be considered an Active Rep, and at both levels you will only be qualified to earn direct commissions and personal sales bonuses.

But as you move up the ranks you will be able to unlock more parts of the compensation plan. As you can see in the table below, once you reach the rank of a Qualified Rep you will be able to earn many more commissions and bonuses…

And there’s plenty more where this came from. This is just to give you an example, but there are many more ranks including Senior Rep, Director, Marketing Director, Regional Marketing Director, and National Marketing Director, all of which unlock more of the compensation plan and allow you to earn more.

If you see people in this business making tons of money, this is why. They are able to do this because of the recruitment based structures that are in place. World Ventures has both a uni-level and a binary compensation structure in place. I’m not going to be getting into how these work too much, but the basics of them are that you will earn commissions from the independent representatives beneath you. So you can earn commissions from the people that you directly recruit in (level I), from the people that they recruit in (level II), from the people that these level II people recruit in (level III), and so on.

While you definitely can make money by selling products directly to customers via direct commissions, the big money is made with recruitment of other independent reps. It’s all about building up your downline and having commissions flow up to you from many different independent reps beneath you. And of course this is the reason people were calling this a pyramid scheme.

So Is It a Pyramid Scheme?

It can be difficult to determine what businesses are pyramid schemes and what aren’t. MLM’s can be legitimate. There is nothing illegal about having a recruitment based compensation plan like this. The problem comes in when the business relies too much on recruitment of other independent representatives rather than membership sales to the general public.

I have seen a lot of really “shady” MLM businesses over the years that rely on recruitment a heck of a lot and still operate legally. Because of this and because of the fact that World Ventures has been around for quite some time, I wouldn’t call it a pyramid scheme.

They do have a legitimate business that sells legitimate travel deals and while the business does place a great deal of emphasis on recruitment of new members, they seem to know what they are doing and seem to be operating within the legal boundaries.

Might Be Legal But Is It Worth Joining?

Now just because I say that this business is not an illegal pyramid scheme does not mean you should go out and join. Remember at the beginning where I said there is a major downside to this type of business?

The downside is that with MLM’s like this it is very difficult to make money. They have a pyramid -like structure where money flows from the bottom of the pyramid up into the pockets of those at and near the top. What this does is creates a very uneven income distribution where those of the top or reaping most of the rewards, while those at the bottom are having money that they could be possibly making taken away from them and given to those above them in the form of commissions.

And as we all know with a pyramid -like structure such as this, the overwhelming majority of people are at the bottom. This means that the overwhelming majority of people will find it more difficult to make money with a compensation structure such as this. So while the business opportunity may seem incredible, and they might make it seem like the best path to financial freedom, this is a major downside. This is the reason that MLM businesses have such high turnover rates… THEY ARE NOT EASY!!!

I review MLM opportunities like this quite often, Zija InternationalRodan and Fields, Youngevity, etc…. and when I do find ones that disclose their income statements, I always find that the vast majority of people make a very little money.

Conclusion on World Ventures – Join or Not?

Whether or not it would be worth it to join is completely dependent on you. There are people that really excel with MLM businesses like this but as I said most people do not. The bottom line is that to really excel you are going to have to recruit in lots of people and do so continuously. If you think you have what it takes to do this then go for it but if you don’t then this might not be a great choice for you.

Personally I would never be any good with MLM opportunities such as this which is why I avoid them altogether.

If you are like me and don’t think that an opportunity like this is right for you then you might want to take a look at how I make money online. You can read my “make money online guide” where I explain what it is I do, how it all works, etc. for more info.

And of course leave any questions or comments you may have below. I’ll get back to you when I can 🙂

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Zija International
MLM's

Is Zija International a Pyramid Scheme? – What You Should Know

Zija InternationalSo I’m guessing that you were possibly approached by a member of Zija International and asked to join in. Or maybe it is someone that you know that was asked to join in the business. Things seemed a little bit suspicious to you because maybe the person was being a little too pushy or whatnot, and now you are wondering is Zija International a pyramid scheme where people make their money just recruiting others into the business beneath them… Is it?

In this review I will be answering exactly this. And by the way I am in no way affiliated with this company so I’m not going to be trying to make the business opportunity sound better than it really is. There is a serious downside to joining this business and I will be focusing largely on this issue, which anyone trying to recruit others into the business will not sell them.

Zija International Review

Zija International is a MLM company that sells natural health products. I’m not here to review the products, but I will say that I actually like them. Moringa is in ingredient in many of their products and I am actually a big fan of this “superfood” and take moringa supplements regularly. I am also a fan of essential oils and many other of the natural health products that they sell.

However… The business opportunity seems to be what many are worried about and are suspicious that it is possibly a pyramid scheme. Why does this question even come up? Well because as I mentioned above, Zija International is a MLM, or multilevel marketing, company where distributors can recruit in other people to join the business and earn commissions from their efforts.

A lot of their business model is based on recruitment, which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a pyramid scheme, but it should raise an eyebrow and deserves a little extra research and looking into.

The Compensation Plan.. How You Make Money

In their compensation plan there are eight different ways that you can make money as a distributor, however I will just be going over some of the main ways to do so which show you what it’s all about.

The first way that you can make money as a distributor is through retail sales.

Retail Sales

There are two ways you can make money from retail sales. One, you can purchase Zija International products yourself at a discount and sell them directly to customers at the retail price, which means you will profit the difference. Or, you can refer customers to the Zija website and earn the same profit from the difference between the discounted distributor price and the retail price.

Team Commissions

The “backbone” of the compensation plan are the team commissions. Team commissions are all about recruiting in other distributors beneath you and building up your downline.

These team commissions are paid out through a binary structure, where you have a left leg and a right leg. How it works is you will get paid commissions based on the sales by those made in your “lesser leg” which is the leg with the lesser amount of sales volume. In the little diagram below is an example of how you could earn $50 in commissions from the sales of your lesser leg, assuming that you are what they call “active 150” and will earn 10% commissions.…

And then there are six other ways you can earn which include: leadership check match pool, diamond leadership pools, one time bonuses, multiple business centers, special incentives, and team Benz car bonus. All of these other six ways to earn are based on recruitment as well. They are all about building up a team of distributors beneath you.

There are also many ranks within the compensation plan including builder ranks, leadership ranks, senior leadership ranks, diamond executive ranks, and the senior diamond executive ranks. The rank that you are at makes a big difference in how much you will be able to learn. The higher the rank the more earning potential. And moving up the rank is all about building up your team. I don’t know if you can read it, but in the table below you can see that the qualifications for each rank require a certain minimum number of RV be met, which stands for Rank Volume and is the commissionable volume that gets passed up to you from your downline. Other requirements for moving up the ranks include having a certain number of people or groups of people in your downline.

Pyramid Scheme?

What separates a legitimate MLM business from a pyramid scheme is the amount of focus that they put on recruitment.

If you are looking for legitimate opportunities you want to look for companies that reward distributors for selling products on their own. Of course Zija International does do this, but do they put enough focus on this? When and MLM opportunity begins to focus too much on recruitment and not much of their revenues are coming from product sales to the general public then they start to cross the line and become a pyramid scheme. This is why you see more and more MLM businesses lately requiring distributors to make 50% or more of their money from retail sales to the general public.

Whether Zija International is a pyramid scheme or not is something that the FTC can determine. In my opinion it is definitely on the “Shady” side of things. Not only can distributors make money in the form of commissions from the products that they are recruits make, but they are also able to earn commissions from the products that they are recruits purchase for their first orders, through what they call “fast start orders”.

The Problem With MLM’s Like This

MLM opportunities like this often advertise themselves as the key to financial and time freedom. But they leave out the big downside to everything and this is what I’m going to be going over here.

The downside is that, although they have tons of potential to earn massive amounts of profit from building downlines of distributors, they also make it much more difficult for the majority of distributors involved.

If you think about it all makes sense and this is the reason MLM’s have such high turnover rates.
In MLM’s there is a pyramid-like compensation structure where the money that is made by those at the bottom gets sucked away from them and paid to those above them in the form of commissions. So those high up on the pyramid with a good-sized downline benefit from this structure but those near or on the bottom find it more difficult. And if you look at a pyramid structure you can see that there are always going to be way more people near or on the bottom of the compensation plan than at the top, which means the overwhelming majority of distributors will find it more difficult while the few will reap most of the rewards.

This is how it is for all mlm’s, Rodan and Fields, Hempworx, Youngevity, you name it. This is always true at least to some extent, but it depends on how deep their structures go among other factors.

Conclusion on Zija International – Good Opportunity or Not?

Whether this is a good opportunity or not for you really depends on you. You have probably seen video presentations from distributors trying to recruit others into their team and making the opportunity sound really awesome. People like this probably do make a heck of a lot of money like they claim to but not everyone can expect to have such success.

It takes a rare type of person to really be successful with MLM businesses like this. You have to be a very good communicator, have that salesperson type of personality, be self-motivated because you will be working as your own boss, and so on. Personally I would be no good with an opportunity like this because there’s no way I’d be able to recruit a bunch of other people in, which is absolutely necessary if you want to take full advantage of the compensation plan.

But anyway, in closing: Zija International has some pretty nice products that I really like but their business opportunity is something that I’m going to take a pass on. Is it a pyramid scheme? Probably not because I have seen and looked into many different MLM’s like this that focus on recruitment just as much as this one.

Before you go you might also want to take a look at how I make a living working online since you are looking for a work from home opportunity where you can be your own boss. You can read my guide here where I go over what exactly I do, how it all works, and what I considered the best way for beginners to get started.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please leave them below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can 🙂

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Hempworx
MLM's

Is Hempworx a Scam?.. Pyramid Scheme Maybe? – My Review

HempworxHempworx claims to provide “the most powerful and potent hemp products on the market”. But are these products really any good? Or is this whole business just some big  pyramid-like marketing scheme that doesn’t live up to the hype? Is Hempworx a scam?

There has been a lot of attention surrounding this business lately so I decided to finally get to writing my review of it. And as a disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Hempworx in any way. So I’m not going to be trying to make this sound better than it really is. I’ll be reviewing both the products that the company sells as well as the business opportunity that they present. But mostly I’ll be focusing on the business opportunity because I know there are a lot of people out there wondering if this is a pyramid scheme or not and this is something that I want to address.

Hempworx Review

Hempworx it is a MLM (multi-level marketing) company that sells cannabis based products. In particular their products have what is called “Cannabidiol” or CBD. As they stay on their website, CBD is one of over 85 cannabinoids that is known in the cannabis plant. Cannabinoids such as this are increasing in popularity a lot recently due to many of the health benefits they have been found to have.

While there is a lot of hype surrounding this new emerging industry, much of it is well deserved. The health benefits of cannabinoids are becoming more and more well documented and proven with scientific testing.

Hempworx’s products consist of skin creams and drops that contain this CBD. Skin creams are supposed to revitalize your skin health and make it look younger and healthier, and the drops are supposed to be ingested, in drinks or however you want to ingest them really, to improve your overall health.

Are The Products Worth The Price?

This is debatable, but in my opinion they are definitely overpriced. If you go to purchase through the website you will see that it cost $69 plus shipping for all of the products below… And for the 750 mg bottles cost an extra $20. It is common to see inflated prices like this with new emerging markets that have a lot of hype surrounding them… They capitalize off of all the excitement.

Now will these products work? Or they really what they say they are? Well… Although there is more and more scientific proof of the health benefits that these can provide, it is still all pretty new. But if you want to know my opinion… I’m all for cannabis-based products.

Another reason why these prices might be so high is because this is a MLM business, which are well-known for having overpriced products like this.

The MLM Business Opportunity… Pyramid Scheme?

Since you are reading this there is a good chance that you were approached by an affiliate of Hempworx and asked to join the company, even there is a reason for this. The reason is because affiliates of the company and recruit in other affiliates to join and make money off of their efforts.

MLM businesses have pyramid -like compensation structures where there are multiple levels and affiliates are able to earn commissions from the people that they recruited in, the people that those people recruited in, and so on. You will also be able to earn retail commissions from the products that you personally sell. How it works is like this: you will be able to receive a 25% discount on the products, which you can buy in then sell at the normal retail price, earning a profit.

Below is a chart of the commission structure for what are called “jump start bonuses”… Which as you can see goes 10 levels deep. This means that you can earn commissions from the people that you directly recruited in (level 1), from the people that they recruited in (level 2), from the people that those people recruited in (level 3), and so on all the way down to level 10.…

So they give the example if you were at the rank of “Executive”and were selling the Spray Package. As you can see you earn the highest commissions from the levels closest to you and as you go down the pyramid -like structure the commissions get lower and lower. It’s kind of like a trickle effect where the money trickles up the pyramid from those beneath you and into your pockets.

There is also a binary compensation structure in place but I’m not going to get into that here. It’s the same sort of deal where you earn commissions from the people beneath you.

And one thing that is very important to know is that there are many different ranks in this commission structure. The more products you and your team (a.k.a. your downline) sell the higher you will move in the ranks, which will allow you to unlock more of the compensation plan. When you just start out you will not be able to earn anywhere near 10 levels down as was shown in the example above as if you were at the Executive rank.

As you move higher and higher up the ranks the focus begins to shift more towards recruitment and less on your personal sales.

Sounds Awesome… But There Is a Downside

MLM’s sound awesome. They sound like an incredible way to make money, but there is a big catch. The catch is that they make it much more difficult to make money for most of the people involved in them. The reason is because of their pyramid -like structure, where the money gets taken away from those at the bottom and paid to those above them in the form of commissions. So pretty much the people low on the totem pole earn less money than they could potentially be making if there wasn’t a MLM structure and the people high up earn more money. And of course there are always a lot more people on the bottom of a pyramid -like structure which means that the overwhelming majority of people will find it more difficult to make money with.

Which is why mlm businesses always have very uneven income distributions. I review opportunities like this all the time… Rodan and Fields, American Income Life, you name it… its always the same deal when it comes to this.

Is a pyramid scheme? Legally probably not but this is arguable. What determines if a MLM is actually a pyramid scheme or not is how heavily they rely on recruitment. If they rely mostly on recruitment and much of their products are being sold to new business affiliates, then they are more than likely a pyramid scheme. But if they focus enough on selling products to the general public than they are not.

Pretty much what it all comes down to is how and where they make their revenue. The more revenue that a MLM business makes from sales to the general public, the more legitimate they are.

Conclusion on Hempworx – Good Opportunity or Not?

I would love to try some of these products but I’m not willing to spend the money to do so. It would just be too expensive to purchase these month after month.

And as far as the business opportunity goes, this depends on you. Its not a scam in my opinion but this doesn’t mean its a good opportunity, as you can tell from what I discussed about mlm’s above.

For me there is no way it’s worth it because I just don’t have that salesperson type personality where I would be able to recruit people in left and right. Because the bottom line is that make good money with this you are going to have to recruit others in, and you are going to want to do this consistently. If you don’t you will not be taking advantage of the compensation plan, instead it will be taking advantage of you.

So join if you want but just know that MLM business opportunities like this or not easy to make it in, which is why they always have extremely high turnover rates.

Something else that you might be interested in taking a look at since you are looking to make money with your own home-based business is how I make money online. You can read my make money online guide here where I go over what exactly I do, how it all works, and what I considered to be the best way for beginners to get started.

Leave any comments or questions below and I will get back to you as soon as I can 🙂

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is Rodan + Fields a pyramid scheme
MLM's

Is Rodan and Fields a Pyramid Scheme? – Read Before Joining

is Rodan + Fields a pyramid schemeSo I’m going to take a wild guess here… I’m guessing that you were asked to join Rodan and Fields by someone or maybe someone you know was asked to join. And because of this recruitment style of business you are now wondering is Rodan and Fields a pyramid scheme? Its a logical question to ask and in this review I’ll be answering it.

I’ll be breaking down the compensation plan and going over how you really make money. And by the way, I am not promoting this business nor am I affiliated with it in any way, so I’m not going to try to make it sound better than it really is.

Rodan and Fields Overview

Rodan and Fields is a mlm (multi-level marketing) company in the skincare niche. There products seem to be good but this is not the point of my review. Here I’m going over the business model.

As with any mlm, there are multiple levels of compensation and consultants are able to make money by recruiting other consultants into the business. This recruitment structure is why so many people are wondering whether or not its a pyramid scheme and this is exactly what I’m going to get into.

First you must know what a pyramid scheme is…

What Is a Pyramid Scheme?

A pyramid scheme, which are illegal in the US and many other places, are recruitment style businesses that are basically based on endless recruitment of new members. So for example you buy in, then you recruit others to buy in, then they recruit others to buy in and so on.

But determining what a pyramid scheme is or not is harder than it seems. Many pyramid schemes are what you call “product based pyramid schemes”, meaning they do sell real products. And the fine line comes with how many products are being sold. If a business relies on recruitment of new members more than product sales to the general public, than they are pyramid schemes. This is why you see some mlm opportunities implementing rules that 51% of your sales must be to retail customers, not recruits.

So whether a mlm opportunity like Rodan + Fields is in fact a pyramid scheme all comes down to the products they sell to the general public. Recruitment is legal. There are plenty of legit mlm’s out there and all of these rely on recruitment. But as long as they don’t rely on it too much they are good to go.

A Look at The Compensation Plan

The Rodan and Fields compensation plan provides 5 ways to make money. These include the following…

  1. Retail Profit – You can buy products at wholesale prices and sell them at retail, earning retail profit
  2. Consultant Commissions – Commissions made from selling to consultants (ex: The $45 business portfolio that is required to become a consultant)
  3. Personal Team Commissions – Commissions made from the sales your team (aka your downline) makes
  4. Generation Commissions – Commissions made from sales other teams in your downline make
  5. Performance Bonuses – Bonuses for achieving higher ranks

The only way you earn from selling products to the general public is with retail profits. Every other way to earn is based on recruitment. With consultant commissions you are making money from products bought and sold by consultants you recruited in. With personal team & generation commissions you are making money from the money your downline makes. And with performance bonuses you are making money by achieving higher ranks which can only be achieved with recruitment.

You will be able to make up to 15% on the people you personally recruit in and then 5% on the people that they recruit in. With the generation commissions you can earn down to 5 generations deep. Generations are like teams so you will basically be earning from teams that were developed in your downline.

Moving Up The Ranks

In order to make good money you have to move up the ranks. You will see why in a minute.

To do so you have to recruit in new consultants, make retail sales or purchase products yourself, and have enough preferred customers & consultants purchasing products beneath you.

If you really wanted to, you could literally move up the ranks by buying products yourself and recruiting in other consultants alone.

Pyramid Scheme?

They do have legitimate good products that consultants sell, they do rely on product sales for revenue, and they do encourage retail sales. However, I don’t see any safeguards in place to ensure that real retail sales to the general public make up most of the revenue. It seems to me that one could solely rely on recruitment and buying products themselves to move up the ranks and make good money. This is what I don’t like.

I’m sure there are many people out there that are making plenty of retail sales for Rodan and Fields and doing great things, but I would like Rodan and Fields to step up to the plate and ensure that consultants can’t just endlessly recruit new consultants to get by. But they don’t and for this reason I don’t really care for the compensation plan. It might not be a pyramid scheme but it is on the shady side.

The Downside to MLM’s That No One Ever Tells You

If you are getting recruited into a mlm opportunity all you are going to hear about is how great it is and how much money you can make. But you won’t hear the dark secret that is the downside to every mlm that exists… which is that they make it MORE difficult to make money.

Let me explain:

With a mlm commissions are flowing from the people on the bottom to the people on the top. So those at the bottom are having money taken away that they could potentially be making and this money is going to those above them. This makes it more difficult for those at the bottom to make money and is more rewarding for those higher up that have recruited many consultants beneath them and are reaping the benefits.

And of course, with the pyramid-like structure that mlm’s have there will always be many more people at the bottom struggling than at the top. This is how it works and how it will always work. They are very enticing because they have lots of potential to make good money but in reality they make things more difficult and that is why most people fail miserably with opportunities like this. MLM’s have extremely high turnover rates for a reason.

You can see this is the truth by looking at Rodan and Fields income disclosure statement here in which over 90% of consultants earned on average less than $1000 annually…

Conclusion on Rodan + Fields

The reality is simple. With mlm’s like this it is difficult to make money. Its the same deal for all of them… It Works, Herbalife, Youngevity, etc. If you are good at recruiting then you might be one of the few that make very good money with it but this is easier said than done.

Join if you want to but this pyramid-like payment plan is exactly why I stay away from mlm’s.

Please leave any comments or questions below and I’ll get back to you soon. Also be sure to check out how I make a living online if you are interested in working from home.

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American Income Life
MLM's

Is American Income Life a Pyramid Scheme? – What You Should Know

American Income LifeAmerican Income Life is a life insurance provider that anyone can join and make money with. Their business model puts a lot of focus on recruitment of new agents and because of this I have seen people ask if they are a scam or even is American Income Life a pyramid scheme or not?

In this review I’m going to be explaining how American Income Life works and whether or not they really are a pyramid scheme. I am not affiliated with this company at all so I’m not going to be making things seem better than they are. I’ll be giving you the truth of the matter.

American Income Life Review

American Income Life is a life insurance provider but I’m not here to talk about how good their insurance is. I’ll save that review for another day. Instead I’ll be talking about the business side of things… in particular the part that has to do with all the AIL agents running around recruiting in new agents.

You see AIL is a mlm company, which means that their compensation plan is organized in a pyramid-like structure where members can get paid from the work of members beneath them. That is why you see people going around recruiting in new agents, because they make money off of them, and the agents that they recruit in and so on.

I have read about some pretty shady practices going on when it comes to recruiting in new members. Of course I haven’t actually had any experience with this, but apparently there are some agents out there that set up fake job interviews for new agents just to recruit them in. This is a shady and very unnecessary process since in reality anyone can join as an agent…. you don’t get “hired”. This is just a ploy for the interviewer, who is an agent themselves, to recruit in new agents.

 A Look at How You Make Money

Unfortunately there is almost no information on the compensation plan in place. I know it is a mlm company and I know that you can make money off of recruitment but I was looking for more info. I’m interested in knowing how many levels this pyramid-like mlm structure has, how many ranks it has if any, what types of bonuses they pay, etc. But I couldn’t really find anything which is somewhat strange.

But anyways… I’ll give you a basic overview of how a mlm like this works: MLM stands for multi level marketing and this means there are multiple levels in the compensation structure. As an agent of the company you are able to make money by selling the life insurance to customers or you can also make money by recruiting in new agents and earning commissions off of the money that they make. Then depending on how many levels there are, you can also earn commissions from their recruits, and the recruits of those recruits and so on.

Pyramid Scheme?

I know it sure sounds like a pyramid scheme, after all… it has a pyramid structure and everything. But in the eyes of the law it isn’t a pyramid scheme and I’ll tell you why.

The reason is because the money is all coming from selling life insurance to real customers. Yes… you can make money from your recruits, their recruits and so on, but the commissions you will make come from them selling life insurance. So somewhere down the line the money is always coming from product sales.

Now if agents were forced to purchase products and you could earn money from this then it would be a different story. But its not like that so this is in fact legitimate when it comes to legality.

However…. here is something that you don’t get told about mlm opportunities like this…

The Reality That Comes With The MLM Structure

MLM structures like this may be very appealing to some because you can go out, recruit a bunch of other agents, and then make a ton more money than if you were just making money off of only your sales right? This is true, but what every opportunity like this out there isn’t going to tell you is that they are much more difficult to make money with when you are starting out.

With a mlm compensation plan like this the money is flowing up the pyramid and into the pockets of those above you. This means that money you could be making is being taken away and paid to your upline in the form of commissions, which is good for your upline but bad news for you. And of course with a pyramid-like structure there are always going to be many more people at the bottom having money sucked away from their earnings than at the top, where the rewards of the mlm structure are reaped.

This goes for any mlm out there… It Works, Herbalife, Youngevity, etc.

This is what they don’t tell you. Sure there is a lot of potential to make a lot of money… but mlm’s like this have extremely high turnover rates for a reason. And that reason is because they make it more difficult to make money for the majority of the people.

Conclusion on American Income Life – Good Opportunity of Not?

Whether or not a mlm opportunity like American Income Life is right for you really depends on what you are like. For most people, I would say that this isn’t a great job, but then you have those people with great communication skills that can easily recruit others in. You are going to need to recruit if you want to take full advantage of the compensation plan so if you don’t think you can do this then its probably not a great opportunity for you. If you do think you have what it takes then go for it.

Personally I’m not going to get involved. I would be horrible with mlm’s like this which is why I avoid them. It takes a certain type of person to really excel with these types of jobs.

Something else that you might want to look into if you are looking for a work-from-home job is how I make money online. I make a living online and I enjoy what I do. Here is a guide I wrote on what I do, how it all works, and how others can get started if they are interested.

Questions, comments, concerns? Leave them below in the comment section and I’ll get back to you soon ?

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MLM's

Is Amway a Ponzi Scheme? – What You Should Know

AmwayAmway has a direct sales recruitment styled business model where independent business owners (or IBO’s) can make money by recruiting other IBO’s into the business. Because of all the recruitment that goes on, I have been seeing people asking is Amway a Ponzi scheme? And if this is what I want to address in this short post.

I will be going over the compensation plan that Amway has in place and will try to explain it as best as possible to make it as easy to understand as possible. I am not affiliated with Amway in any way so I am not going to be making this business seem better than it really is. I will be going over the truth of the matter.

Amway Business Opportunity Review

Amway was founded way back in 1959 and operates in over 100 countries. It is one of the biggest direct selling companies that I know of it. I’m not going to get into all the products and everything, I will save that review for another day, but if you don’t already know Amway has many products in the beauty, nutrition, and home products categories.

The point of this review of course is in the business opportunity that Amway offers. Amway does not sell products and stores, rather they have massive teams of direct sellers running around all over the world selling their products for them. In addition to this they also use a MLM compensation structure which means that IBO’s can recruit in other IBO’s and make money off of what they do. This is the part of the business model that is so alluring. Because you can recruit in other IBO’s to join beneath you and earn money from their work.

The MLM part of Amway is what has so many people questioning its legitimacy and asking whether or not this is just a Ponzi scheme

A Look at The Compensation Plan

When I first started looking into the Amway compensation plan it seemed to very confusing, like many MLM compensation plans are. But it is actually very simple and non-complicated. I think I was just expecting it to be complicated so it seemed as if it was at first. But anyway, here is how it works… Here is how IBO’s make money with Amway.

There are three basic ways to make money with family, making retail sales, signing up preferred customers, and recruiting in new Amway IBO’s beneath you.

Retail sales

When you become in Amway IBO you will be able to buy products at a discounted price. What you can then do is turn around and sell those products at a higher retail price. You will keep the difference between the two prices.

Signing up preferred customers

You will also be able to sign up customers that choose to purchase Amway products on a recurring monthly basis, which are called preferred customers. You will make commissions from their purchases on the recurring basis that they purchase.

Recruitment

And of course the “Ponzi scheme” part of it all… The part where you can recruit in other Amway IBO’s and make money off of what they do. I will get into it more in a second, but basically the point of recruiting in other IBO’s beneath you is to earn more points and to have higher group volume numbers, which you will earn commissions off of.

Its All About Points & Group Volume

For each Amway product that you purchase for retail reselling you will earn PV, which stands for point value. You will also learn PV from the products that your preferred customers by. And… You will also earn PV from the products that the IBOs in your downline buy for resell.

The more points you earn the higher commissions you earn. This is called a stairstep breakaway compensation plan. Here is a table that shows the amount of points earned on a monthly basis and the corresponding commission percentage, or what they call performance bonus.

The commissions that you earn will come from for group volume, which is the volume of products sold from you and your downline. So pretty much the compensation plan is all about getting more points and more group volume. And of course the more group volume that you get the more points you get, so you can see that it really favors recruitment of other IBO’s.

Ponzi Scheme?

Amway is not a Ponzi scheme because it is not some made-up enterprise that claims to be making money in a way that it really is not. Amway does sell real products and this is how they make their money. Yes, recruitment is a big part of the business but this does not make it a Ponzi scheme.

Amway more closely resembles a product based pyramid scheme, which are pyramid schemes that sell legitimate products as a cover-up for their real purpose. I’m not saying that Amway is one of these, I am just saying that it more closely resembles one.

I don’t in fact think that Amway is a pyramid scheme nor a Ponzi scheme because it has been around for so long and continues to operate legally. There is no way that a massive company like this would be able to fly underneath the radar for so long and not get caught.

It is also worth mentioning that there is no cost to join Amway and there is no minimum purchase requirement.

HOWEVER… This does not make it a great opportunity that you should jump on.

The Reality of the Amway Business…

When you look into MLM opportunities like this they always seem so amazing. It is very luring to think about all the money that you can make by recruiting in other IBO’s and earning money off of what they do. However, what none of these MLM opportunities tell you is that they are harder to make money with. Let me explain.

With MLM’s like this commissions flow from the bottom of the pyramid to the top. The amount of money you make is largely dependent on how big your downline is. And with a pyramid -like structure such as this there are always going to be many more people at the bottom with little to no downline, then at the top receiving tons of commissions from the work of their group. These people at the bottom will have money being taken away from them and paid to their up-line… Which makes it harder for them.

I review mlm opportunities all the time and it is always the same story when it comes to this. There is a long list… Herbalife, It Works, Shakelee, Youngevity, and many money… and they always have a very uneven income distribution with very few making the majority of the money.

So while there is a lot of potential to make tons of money on opportunities like this, they are much more difficult than they seem and their structure pretty much ensures that most people are going to struggle and fail, which is why MLM’s like this have such high turnover rates.

Conclusion on Amway – Good Opportunity or Not?

Not a Ponzi scheme or a pyramid scheme… but is it worth joining?

MLM’s like Amway are good opportunities for some people but I would say they are not for the majority of people. It takes a certain type of person to be good with a business model like this at relies so much on recruitment. The bottom line is that if you want to make good money with this you’re going to have to recruit and if you do not think you would be good at recruiting, then this might not be a good fit for you.

Personally I avoid MLM’s for this very reason. I wouldn’t be any good at recruiting so they just would not be worth it for me. But the decision is up to you if you want to join.

Something else that you might want to look into if you are looking for a work-from-home job is how I make money online. I make a living online and I enjoy what I do. Here is a guide I wrote on what I do, how it all works, and how others can get started if they are interested.

Questions, comments, concerns? Leave them below in the comment section and I’ll get back to you soon ?

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is multilevel marketing a scam
MLM's

Is Multilevel Marketing a Scam? – What You NEED To Know

is multilevel marketing a scamMulti-level marketing opportunities have business models that reward members for recruiting in other members. Can this actually be a legitimate? Is multilevel marketing a scam or are there opportunities like this out there that are not scams? And if they are legitimate are they worth getting into or is it just going to be an uphill battle to make money that will never pay off?

In the multilevel marketing industry there are plenty of scams. However, not all mlm’s are scams. In this short post I’ll be going over the difference between the two, the most common type of mlm scam that exists, why legitimate mlm’s still might not be a good choice to get involved with and more.

What Is Multilevel Marketing (MLM)?

MLM is a business model where there are different levels within the compensation structure. The salesforce of MLM opportunities are independent contractors (which can be anyone) that go out on their own and are responsible for when they work, how they work, etc. Members are able to recruit in other members beneath them and earn commissions multiple levels down based on what their recruits do, and what the recruits beneath them do and so on.

MLM opportunities often refer to the people below you as your “team”. They will often push you to push your team to go out and do the same thing,… recruit, which in turn will make you money too. Then those new recruits are encouraged to do the same and the cycle continues.

The size of the MLM and the amount of focus placed on recruitment can vary a lot, and this is what separates a legitimate MLM from a scam pyramid scheme MLM.

Scam vs Legit

Pyramid Schemes

The most common type of MLM scam is a pyramid scheme. Why? Well because it is the easiest to pull off since the structure of an MLM already resembles one.

In pyramid schemes the majority of the focus is placed on recruitment instead of product sales to the general public. This is something you want to look at when researching a MLM opportunity. If they don’t talk much at all about you actually selling products to the general public and only talk about you recruiting others in, getting them to buy “starter packs” or something like that, and earning commissions from what they do… this is a red-flag.

Where the legitimate mlm ends and where the pyramid scheme begins is somewhat of a blurry line. The most basic way of putting it is that a legitimate mlm will bring in revenue from actual sales to real customers whereas a pyramid scheme will rely on recruitment. However, there is much more to it than this. The lines are blurry because it can be hard to determine how much they are allowed to focus on recruitment, what revenue is coming from where, etc.

You can read some good information the FTC provides on this topic here if you’d like.

Legitimate MLM’s

MLM’s can still exist legitimately if their compensation plan relies on sales to the general public. You can still earn commissions by recruiting in people beneath you and earning a piece of what they make, as long as they are making money from selling to real customers. If the money comes from the sales to real customers in the first place then its legit.

But as I said, this is somewhat blurry. I have seen plenty of legit MLM’s that have been operating for years that do require members to purchase “starter kits” of some kind. This is allowed as long as they are necessary for business and are used to make real product sales.

I have reviewed plenty of legit mlm’s in the past that do require starter kit purchases, some of which include Beauty Counter, Life Matters, and PUREhaven Essentials. In all of these cases the starter kits are a big help to getting your independent sales business up and running. They are required for good reason.

Even If a MLM Is Legit… It Might Not Be a Good Idea

Even if a mlm opportunity is legitimate it doesn’t mean you should join. These are not great opportunities for everyone and I’ll go over why.

Mlm’s give members lots of potential to make money but also make it harder to make money when starting out. The reason for this is because of their pyramid-like structure where the money flows up from those at the bottom into the pockets of those above them. What this means is that money that those at the bottom could be making from product sales is getting taken away and given to those above them. So you will earn less commissions than you possibly could if there wasn’t a mlm system in place. This makes it harder for beginners to get started. And of course because of the way pyramids are structured, there are always more people at the bottom than at the top, which means most people will be struggling.

This pretty much means that you have to recruit others in to make good money. Now of course, like I said, mlm’s will vary in how much they actually take away and distribute to those above so the amount of recruitment needed to somewhat “break even” can vary. But either way… if an opportunity is a mlm and rewards based on recruitment, this basically means if you aren’t recruiting you are just making it harder for yourself and not taking advantage of the compensation plan.

The Reality of MLM’s

Because of the way that MLM’s make it harder for beginners to get rolling, there is almost always an extremely high turnover rate when it comes to these opportunities. People get started thinking they are going to be able to make a ton of money, they find out how difficult it is and they quit.

MLM companies will often times provide income disclosures where they will show a table of all the members and how many percent of members made how much money. You will usually see the overwhelming majority of members making very little money while the top few percent are the ones really reaping the rewards of the mlm system. And this is the way MLM’s will always work because, like I said, there will always be more people at the bottom than at the top.

Should You Try Out an MLM Opportunity?

If you are looking into joining a mlm then you have to know that recruitment is a must. I’ve said it multiple times and I’ll say it again…. how much a specific opportunity will rely on recruitment will vary, but in the end there is always some focus put on recruitment which you should take advantage of if you want to make the most of it.

Because most mlm’s that I’ve seen focus on recruitment to a pretty high degree, you are going to have to be good at it. The personality needed to really excel in this field is that salesperson type personality. Personally I don’t have it which is why I avoid these but I know some people that do and do great. It all depends on you.

If you are hesitant and not sure if you have what it takes to recruit then chances are you probably don’t.

As always, leave any questions or comments below and I’ll get back to you soon 🙂   Also, since you are looking into mlm opportunities you might be interested in taking a look at how I make a living online. I work for myself online which is probably something you’d be interested in. You can read a post that goes over what I do, how it all works, and how others can get started that I wrote Here.

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MLM's

Is It Works a Ponzi Scheme? – 3rd Party Review

Is It Works a Ponzi SchemeLet me guess… Someone is trying to get you or someone you know to join It Works and you are hesitant to do so because of the recruitment structure this business has. It is true that they rely on recruitment of new members to a good degree but is It Works a Ponzi scheme? Or are they still a legitimate opportunity that you can make good money with?

In this review I’ll be going over the truth of the matter. I’ll be telling you things that distributors aren’t going to tell you because they don’t want you to know. This is an independent 3rd party review… I am in no way affiliated with this company.

It Works Review

It Works is a health and wellness company that sells a variety of products. Their most famous product, the one that really got them going, is their body wrap, but they also sell healthy greens, essential oils, and plenty of others.

The MLM (multi-level marketing) compensation plan is where people get suspicious of their operations. Why? Well because distributors can recruit other distributors in beneath them and earn money from what they do, and what the people beneath them do and so on. Sounds a bit like a Ponzi scheme doesn’t it.

Well the truth is that it is not a Ponzi scheme for one good reason that I’ll go over. However, there is something that I’m going to explain to you that will show it might not be that amazing opportunity you have been waiting for.

Why It Works Isn’t a Ponzi Scheme

Its pretty simple. In a Ponzi scheme there is no real value being provided. The older investors get paid off from the investments of newcomers. Its just a big exchange of money for nothing real. They might disguise themselves as a legitimate company that provides some sort of product or service but in reality there is nothing.

It Works on the other hand does actually provide products… real tangible products that you can touch and know are real. So while they do have multiple levels and rely on recruitment to keep their business alive, they are not a Ponzi scheme.

The MLM Compensation Plan

Distributors can make money with It Works in 2 main ways: retail sales and recruitment.

Retail Sales

As a distributor you can sell products and earn the difference between the wholesale price and the retail price. This is pretty simple. You buy products yourself at the wholesale price and you sell them at a markup.

you will also be able to earn commissions getting people to join It Works and sign up for the monthly autoship service.

Recruitment… The MLM Part

This is where the compensation plan can get very confusing. There are lots of ranks, bonuses, levels, and fancy shmancy confusing things that are supposed to be confusing and make it look better than it is. I’ll do my best to break it all down into a simple, easy to understand overview.

Ranks & Levels

There are 3 different management levels: Executive, Ruby, and Emerald. However, when you join as a distributor you will have to try to move up to these ranks. The higher you move the more of the compensation plan you unlock and the more money you make.

When you join as a distributor you will have to recruit in at least 2 people beneath you (called legs) and get them to achieve a group volume (GV) of at least 400. This number 400 has to do with the volume of products that they bought, sold or had others buy/sell that they recruited in. 

Then if you want to move up to the next level of Ruby you will need to have at least 3 “legs” beneath you, one of which has to achieve the rank of executive. And then if you want to move up to the rank of Emerald you need to have at least 4 legs, 2 of which need to be of the Ruby rank.

And all the while when you move up you are unlocking more and more of the compensation plan. Here is a chart that shows this.

So if you make it to the rank of Emerald you will be able to earn commissions from distributors 6 levels beneath you. This means you will earn commissions from your recruits (level 1), their recruits (level 2), the recruits of the level 2 distributors (level 3) and so on… all the way down.

There is also more to the compensation plan. They have Diamond leadership ranks and generation payouts but I’m not going to get into all of this. Why not? Well because its the same basic thing. You recruit more people in, increase the group volume (GV), move up the ranks and earn more.

Pyramid Scheme Maybe?

It Works could better be compared to a pyramid scheme because with a pyramid scheme there is this same recruitment structure and there are product-based pyramid schemes that do sell real products of value.

The difference between a legitimate mlm and a product-based pyramid scheme is how much they rely on recruitment. They both sell products but the pyramid scheme sells most of its products to new recruits rather than to the general public.

It Works does force distributors to purchase products in order to be “commission qualified”. However, it does seem that much of their product sales do come from selling to real customers that aren’t being recruited in. And for this reason I wouldn’t call them a pyramid scheme. I would say that they are a bit on the “shady” side compared to a lot of other mlm’s I’ve looked into though.

Why Its So Darn Hard to Make Money With It Works

MLM opportunities have insanely high turnover rates for a reason… because they are hard to make money with.

Why?

Well because their compensation structures ensure it. Their pyramid-like compensation plans lead to a massively uneven income distribution. Those at the bottom have money taken away from them and it goes to those above them. The money that new recruits could potentially be making is being sucked away and given to their upline in the form of commissions.

And of course their are always many more people at the bottom than there are at the top, which means that most people will struggle and experience the bad side of the mlm structure rather than the good side. This is what they don’t want you to know.

With a compensation plan like this that relies so much on recruitment, it is a must to go out and recruit others beneath you. If you don’t you just won’t make it. And the reality is… like I said… most people are going to be at the bottom and will never make it.

Herbalife, Yougevity, Shaklee… This is how it is for all of the mlm’s out there.

Final Thoughts – Good Opportunity?

They definitely aren’t a Ponzi scheme, they don’t seem to be a pyramid scheme although they are leaning close to being considered one… but they are difficult to make money with. Unless of course you are able to recruit in people left and right and build up a massive downline, which is easier said than done.

The fact of the matter is that very few people actually make good money doing this. Here is a 2016 income disclosure statement from the company. I know its a bit outdated but they have the same structure so things wouldn’t really have changed, if even at all…

As you can see over 95% of all distributors were making much less than $500 per month on average…. MUCH LESS.

These numbers speak for themselves. Join if you want but this is the exact reason I stay away from MLM’s. They have lots of earning potential but most people fail.

Something else that you might want to look into if you are looking for a work-from-home job is how I make money online. I make a living online and I enjoy what I do. Here is a guide I wrote on what I do, how it all works, and how others can get started if they are interested.

==> How I make a living online here

Questions, comments, concerns? Leave them below in the comment section and I’ll get back to you soon ?

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Is Herbalife a Ponzi Scheme
MLM's

Is Herbalife a Ponzi Scheme? – No Its Not, But…

Is Herbalife a Ponzi SchemeThere is a lot of controversy surrounding Herbalife’s business operations. The recruitment style business model that it uses to bring in new distributors is something that often gets it to be associated with a Ponzi scheme. But is it really? Is Herbalife a Ponzi scheme? Or is this just a rumor created from people trying to smear the companies name that have their own hidden agenda?

In this short review I’ll be going over why people call Herbalife a Ponzi scheme, how it is similar, and the truth of whether it is or not. I am not affiliated with Herbalife in any way so this is going to be an unbiased 3rd party review. I often review mlm opportunities like this so its something I have some experience in.

Why Herbalife Is Called a Ponzi…

If you Google “Herbalife Ponzi” you will find a lot of results. There is no shortage of people calling this place a Ponzi scheme and of course the last thing that you want to do is get involved in a scheme like this where you will more than likely lose money.

Herbalife is nutrition focused mlm company that has been around since 1980. They sell all sorts of health products (which are good quality by the way) and rely on a direct sales from distributors to keep their business running. Basically what this means is that they do not sell in retail stores. Instead, independent distributors go around selling the products.

Anyone can become one of these independent distributors and I’m guessing the reason you are reading this review in the first place is because maybe you got asked to join, or maybe a friend/family member.

As an independent distributor you can make money in 2 basic ways: by selling Herbalife products yourself and by recruiting in other distributors and earning commissions from what they do. This recruitment side of the business is why people are calling it all a Ponzi scheme.

Compensation Plan Explained 

There are actually 4 ways to earn money with Herbalife in total but as you will see they do fall into 2 main categories as I just mentioned. These ways to earn include Profit on Retail, Profit on Wholesale, Royalties and Bonuses.

Profit on Retail

As a distributor you can buy products at 25% discount when starting out. You will then be able to turn around and resell these products at a retail price. As you sell more you will be able to move up the ranks and get up to 50% discounts.

Profit on Wholesale

When you recruit other distributors in you will make money from what they do. This part of the compensation plan pays you commissions based on the wholesale products that your personal recruits make.

Royalties

Here you are able to earn up to 5% commissions from distributors in the first 3 levels of your downline. The people that you personally recruit in make up your level 1, the people that they recruit in make up level 2, and the people that they recruit in make up level 3.

Bonuses

Here you will be able to earn from 2-7% of your total organization (downline) volume.

Summary

So as you can see the Profit on Retail is the only part where you earn by selling products, everything else is based on recruitment. The amount you can earn ranges a lot. It is largely based on what rank you are and the rank is based on your personal sales volume and organizational volume.

Recruitment is a necessary step to move up the ranks.

I know this really might sound like a Ponzi scheme but let me explain what a Ponzi actually is and you will understand why it is not one.

What Is a Ponzi Scheme Exactly?

A Ponzi scheme is an investment scheme that lures in new investors with the hopes of making easy money. They can be very elaborate and appear to be completely legitimate but if you look inside their operations you will see that they provide no real value and that people are making money only by newcomers investing money.

They are basically a big flow of money from new investors to older investors.

I get why people call Herbalife one. I mean after all… recruiting in new distributors and earning from them is a big part of the business. However… Herbalife does provide value.

Herbalife is not a pyramid due to the simple fact that they do sell real products and this is what their earnings come from. Even when distributors are earning money from other distributors they are still only earning from the products that those distributors are buying and selling. So it all comes down to product sales in the end.

Now you could argue that some of the product sales are not legitimate. Some distributors feel forced into buying products just to move up the ranks and such. This is unfortunate and I get that some people do actually do this, and I get that the compensation plan can somewhat indirectly push them to do so… but they are not forced to do this and Herbalife does not advocate it.

I’ve Seen Worse

MLM’s (multi-level marketing) businesses can operate legally. They are allowed to have a pyramid-like recruitment structure. The big key to staying legitimate is to make sure that most of the revenue is coming from real product sales and not just from endless recruitment.

The truth is that I’ve seen much worse than this. I have reviewed plenty of mlm’s over the years. Shaklee, Youngevity, Plexus, Total Life Changes, and many more. There are others out there that operate completely legally and have much more recruitment focused compensation plans than this.

Herbalife actually does pretty good to ensure that they are not a Ponzi or pyramid scheme in any way. They…

  • Require no minimum purchases
  • Have a 12 month money-back guaranteed for the International Business Pack if you quit
  • Don’t require distributors to purchase any sales (although some feel indirectly forced to)

They have been around since 1980 for a reason.

Not a Ponzi But…

Ok, so they are not a Ponzi (nor a pyramid scheme for the same reasons) but there is a downside to this business model.

MLM’s like this often have a lot of potential to earn great money but the income distribution is very uneven and only a small percentage of people will ever make really good money here.

The reason is because potential profits are taken away from those at the bottom  and given to those at the top. This is great if you build up a big downline and can earn from those beneath you but if you do not do this then you will just constantly be passing commissions up to those above you…. commissions that you would be able to keep for yourself if there wasn’t a mlm business model.

And of course there are always many more people working at the bottom of pyramid-like structures like this so this means that most people are, in a way, getting screwed over. This is something that many don’t really think about when joining.

Conclusion on Herbalife – Is It a Good Opportunity or Not?

The answer to this questions all depends on you. This type of business is where people with “salesperson” type personalities thrive. Recruitment is a big deal and if you aren’t going to be the type of person that can go out and easily recruit others into your downline then its probably not the best idea.

Something else to consider is the age of Herbalife. They have been around forever. This means the market is much more saturated with distributors. They aren’t this “hot” new company that everyone is looking to get into. This can make it more difficult to recruit people in but on the flip-side they have a long standing reputation which helps them.

Anyways… its your decision to join or not. Personally I’m not because I would never be any good at recruiting people in, which is why I avoid mlm’s in general, but some people love this type of business.

Something else that you might want to look into if you are looking for a work-from-home job is how I make money online. I make a living online and I enjoy what I do. Here is a guide I wrote on what I do, how it all works, and how others can get started if they are interested.

==> How I make a living online here

Questions, comments, concerns? Leave them below in the comment section and I’ll get back to you soon ?

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Profitable Morrows
Investing, MLM's

Is Profitable Morrows a Scam? – A Few Red Flags

Profitable MorrowsProfitable Morrows is a wealth management company that claims to provide very high returns on investments… as much as 4.5% daily. But is this the real deal? Or is Profitable Morrows a scam that you need to avoid?

In this review I want to go over a few things that everyone should be made aware of beforehand. This is not exactly the type of place that you can trust. Things just don’t add up or make sense to me and for that reason I’m led to believe that it more than likely is a scam.

Profitable Morrows Review

Profitable Morrows is a wealth management company that offers exciting global investment opportunities run by the CEO Aaron Cooper. The company is registered in Australia but there is something strange about this that I’ll be going over.

The investment opportunity that Profitable Morrows provides is promoted as being a sure way of making tons of money. They claim that its as easy as registering, investing money and making profits.

Investment Plans

There are only 2 investment plans that you are able to choose from, the Daily Plan and the Fixed Plan.

The Daily Plan runs for 34 days and claims to provide a massive 4.5% interest daily. After the 34 days are up you will supposedly have a total ROI of 153%.

The Fixed Plan runs for 12 days and promises a 112% ROI.

Let those numbers sink in for a second. How can this possibly be real? These are insane returns and to be able to promise fixed rates of return like this is something that you normally see in Ponzi scheme investment programs or things like this.

What Do They Invest Your Money In?

For them to be able to provide investors with such massive returns they must be investing in something magical wouldn’t you say? What could this possibly be?

They tell you that their financial portfolios consist of investments in strategic assortments of high yield assets. Ok this is all fine and dandy but what are these “high yield assets”?

The only thing they tell you on their site is that one of their most profitable areas of investment is in Australia’s tourist sector. They tell you that tourism is booming and about how Australia is ranked as the 8th most popular tourist destination.

I don’t doubt that tourism is a big business in Australia and that the industry is booming…. but 4.5% daily??? Come on now. There is absolutely no way that you are going to make even close to this much investing in the tourism sector.

Referral Program

You can earn up to 15% commissions by recruiting in new investors.

Their commission structure goes down 3 levels and the amount you will earn depends on your rank, which are either a standard affiliate or a representative.

Standard Affiliate

  • Level 1 – 10%
  • Level 2 – 1%
  • Level 3 – 1%

Representative

  • Level 1 – 15%
  • Level 2 – 2%
  • Level 3 – 1%

What this all means is that you can recruit people in and earn money from what they invest (level 1), then you can earn money from the investments of the people that they recruit in (level 2), and then you can earn money from the investments of the people that they recruit in (level 3).

There is nothing wrong with having a referral program like this. However, this is a necessary characteristic of a Ponzi scheme, which this has the potential to be.

Who Is The CEO Aaron Cooper?

The CEO’s name is Aaron Cooper, or at least that’s what they tell you.

Profitable Morrows Aaron Cooper

The problem I’m having here is that there is no information on this guy whatsoever. All you know is what they tell you his name is, his picture, and that small quote they show you…. that’s it.

I tried searching for more info on this guy but came up short. There is nothing on Google or anywhere that I can find on this particular Aaron Cooper. I also tried doing a reverse Google image search to see if this same picture was being used elsewhere, because scams will often take images from other places online and use them as their own, but I found nothing here either.

So pretty much there is nothing known about the CEO here. And after reading over some other reviews it seems that no on knows anything about him.

So the question is how can you trust this place if the guy in charge is a complete ghost?

Something Strange I found

One thing that I found very strange has to do with their company registration. On the website they tell you that they are a registered financial company in Australia. I went to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s website and looked it up. Everything looked good here as you can see.

However, when I went to look up the ACN number, which is the Australian Company Number, I could not find anything. 

I really don’t know what to make of all of this. Its very strange and things aren’t adding up. At the very least this is a red warning flag for me that something strange might be going on.

Ponzi Scheme or Not?

The question of whether or not its a Ponzi scheme is debatable but very likely in my opinion. Things just don’t add up.

First they tell you that you can earn 4.5% daily, which any veteran investor knows is absolutely insanely high. Then they tell you that one of their most profitable investments is in the tourism sector, which doesn’t add up. Then there is no information about the CEO that is supposedly running this company, which is common sign of a scam. And lastly their ACN number can’t even be found in the system.

So what the heck is going on here?

The bottom line is that you just cannot trust this place, especially with all the similar ponzi schemes floating around out there like Ryna Holdings & Resonance Capital.

Final Thoughts

Like I said, you cannot trust this place. They are holding big secrets because what they tell you does not make sense. Because of this lack of transparency you cannot trust what they say.

If this is in fact a Ponzi scheme then I would advise that you avoid it. With Ponzi’s only those at the top of the pyramid make money while the majority of investors lose money. This is how it always works and how it has to work due to their structure. So while some people might make money with this it is not a smart investment.

But if you do decide to invest just make sure you don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.

As always, leave any comments or questions below. One more thing: You might be interested in taking a look at how I make money online. If so you can read my guide to making money online here. In it I go over what I do, how it all works and how others can get started doing the same.

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