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[Chris Nwakobi Contribution Level: 2]

We have restaurants everywhere, some thrive, others stay afloat and yet some fold. When you choose a nutrition/wellness product or company to join and market, you must first believe in it and have testimonies of what it has done for you and not anyone else. It makes you more believable if you are really honest to yourself and people will join you.

Secondly, do not push products first, show people value and then they will be on your team wether retail or downline.

Chris Nwakobi
“We Become What We Think of Most of the Time”
Tel: 916-983-2232
Skype: idegroupllc
http://idegroup.successin10steps.com/

[Lana Robinson Company: Global Domains International, Inc Contribution Level: 4]

You can absolutely make a residual income in the health and wellness industry. Sure, there are competitors selling products in WalMart, Target, Costco, you name it. Getting back to the 'free sample' discussion... that reminds me of one of my neighbors. I gave her a free sample of our company's eye cream and asked her to get back with me in 3 days to let me know what she thought. Well... she didn't get back with me. Finally, 5 days later I was able to speak with her (went to check the mail the same time she did) and she told me that she loved it so much and that she went to Target and got something that was less expensive. SERIOUSLY! Well, then I thanked her and told her that she may have to use more of the stuff she bought at Target when she applied it because there's wasn't as concentrated, blah blah blah. I told her to read her label and see why kinds of chemicals and dyes were in the Target stuff.... blah blah blah... Of course, all this happened during my pre-Magnetic Sponsoring days. Now I don't give out free samples. Period. If someone wants to "try" my product they can buy it -- it they don't like it they have 45 days to return it for a full refund. This lets you know 1) if they are serious about wanting something to solve a problem they have and 2) not wasting your time. And I don't bother my neighbors anymore. I go with a targeted market - 1) someone who has already bought a product like I market and that has already shown an interest in improving their health and 2) someone who filled out their name and email address on my capture page for one of the various products I market for my company... and it's working wonderfully.

[Tim Flowers Contribution Level: 2]

Hi Mark,

We've been friends for a while so I seen several of your posts here and elsewhere which tend to attack, mildly or not so mildly, the health & wellness industry. May I ask why you focus on that category as opposed to telecom or air/water purifiers?

I think your product, legal services, is viable enough to stand on it's own, without having to question another product category.

But to answer your question, most reputable health and wellness companies offer a wide variety of products that make it possible for us to find a solution for just about anybody. The exception would be some of the super-juice companies that only have one product which they hope will appeal to everyone. So basically, if my prospect doesn't want my aloe vera drink, I can offer skin care, vitamins, or even toothpaste. If YOUR prospect doesn't want legal services, what do you do? Can you offer that prospect anything else or do you just have to move on to someone else? With health and wellness products, I rarely have to "write off" a prospect. I've always got something new to present.

Tim Flowers
Greensboro NC USA

[Mark Fuller Contribution Level: 3]

Hi Mark, We've been friends for a while so I seen several of your posts here and elsewhere which tend to attack, mildly or not so mildly, the health & wellness industry.

Tim, stating that the wellness industry in genral provides services that fail to establish a need is constructive criticism that is held by many who have a negative view of MLM. To be brutally honest, their arguments are solid. It would be no different that MLM expert pointing out that many marketers have incorrectly marketed legal plans.

Case point: Just a hour ago. I tried an sample of wellness product that promised a benefit. I am still not experiencing any positive effects. I should feel more energetic, but I don't feel it.

May I ask why you focus on that category as opposed to telecom or air/water purifiers?

I am looking of other categories to market with my other brands. The vast majority of people sending me information happend to be from health wellness. Correct me if I am wrong, most MLM industries are from the health wellness prospective. I am only stating my observation of the products most wellness markters have shared with me. Since, I am looking of other opportunities it is important that I be candid. IN order, for me to find the right opportunity, I need to state exactly what I want.

I think your product, legal services, is viable enough to stand on it's own, without having to question another product category.

The legal services that you are talking about is essentially legal insurance. Using the word legal service to refer to legal insurance creates the assumption that it is needed by people who have legal emergencies on a monthly basis. The essence of the service that I have satisfies the insurance need of legal represenation during legal emergencies, at no additional cost. Trial representation under pre-existing conditions are covered at a discount off the hourly rate.

My focus has changed from legal insurance to providing identity theft information. PPL is not my focus on Betternetworker, I rarely discuss it. However, PPL has marketing issues as well. The very fact that it is called legal services creates a misperception of what PPL essential is.

But to answer your question, most reputable health and wellness companies offer a wide variety of products that make it possible for us to find a solution for just about anybody.

I agree.

So basically, if my prospect doesn't want my aloe vera drink, I can offer skin care, vitamins, or even toothpaste.

However, the prospect will only buy the toothpaste under two conditions:

1. It is of equal quality of retail but at a lower cost.
2. It is of greater quality of retail and higher cost. The prospect determines that the quality of the toothpaste justifies the price.

The problem is showing people the need and quality of most wellness products. They're of course some exceptions to this observation. I really don't like hype. If you show me samples and the product proves itself, I will be your customer if the price is right. It is that simple.

[Mark Fuller Contribution Level: 3]

Hi Mark, We've been friends for a while so I seen several of your posts here and elsewhere which tend to attack, mildly or not so mildly, the health & wellness industry.

Tim, stating that the wellness industry in genral provides services that fail to establish a need is constructive criticism that is held by many who have a negative view of MLM. To be brutally honest, their arguments are solid. It would be no different that MLM expert pointing out that many marketers have incorrectly marketed legal plans.

Case point: Just a hour ago. I tried an sample of wellness product that promised a benefit. I am still not experiencing any positive effects. I should feel more energetic, but I don't feel it.

May I ask why you focus on that category as opposed to telecom or air/water purifiers?

I am looking of other categories to market with my other brands. The vast majority of people sending me information happend to be from health wellness. Correct me if I am wrong, most MLM industries are from the health wellness prospective. I am only stating my observation of the products most wellness markters have shared with me. Since, I am exploring additional opportunities, it is important that I be candid. IN order, for me to find the right opportunity, I need to state exactly what I want.

I think your product, legal services, is viable enough to stand on it's own, without having to question another product category.

The legal services that you are talking about is essentially legal insurance. Using the word legal service to refer to legal insurance creates the assumption that it is needed by people who have legal emergencies on a monthly basis. The essence of the service that I have satisfies the insurance need of legal represenation during legal emergencies, at no additional cost. Trial representation under pre-existing conditions are covered at a discount off the hourly rate.

My focus has changed from legal insurance to providing identity theft information. PPL is not my focus on Betternetworker, I rarely discuss it. However, PPL has marketing issues as well. The very fact that it is called legal services creates a misperception of what PPL essential is.

But to answer your question, most reputable health and wellness companies offer a wide variety of products that make it possible for us to find a solution for just about anybody.

I agree.

So basically, if my prospect doesn't want my aloe vera drink, I can offer skin care, vitamins, or even toothpaste.

However, the prospect will only buy the toothpaste under two conditions:

1. It is of equal quality to toothpaste that is sold at retail, but at a lower cost than toothpaste that is sold at retail.
2. It is of greater quality to toothpaste sold at retail but at higher cost. The prospect determines that the quality of the toothpaste justifies the price and purchases them.

The problem is showing people the need and quality of most wellness products. They're of course some exceptions to this observation. I really don't like hype. If you show me samples and the product proves itself, I will be your customer if the price is right. It is that simple.

[Terry Schmeltzle Contribution Level: 2]

I found that being the only kid on the block with a trademarked product and one that has credentials with peer -reviewed studies and that product,not it's ingredients, has made it to pub med, is not too hard to overcome objections pretty easily. The one thing that is hard to overcome are those that don't get it. Your health is your wealth and those that have a realization of this are the only ones that will want your product.

http://www.2busy2work.com/

[dBrose Group Contribution Level: 2]

Wow...what a thread. A great deal of good information and input. I will agree with original poster about the idea that most people cannot show how their product is different than another company or from what they can buy in stores.

This is very similar to a long running thread I'm in on another popular forum concerning "natural" household cleaning products. Bottom line is that while many MLM's have all natural products, I buy mine at my local grocery store. The line I buy is plant based all natural and clear of harsh chemicals. Bonus is that its made right in the metro that I live in. So why do I need an MLMer to buy that? I dont.

One great thing about MLM is that it's always been a way to introduce new items into the market. Look at tupperwear and such. Have to give credit where credit is due. They were an industry developer. The problem is that unless a company can protect its unique product, they will soon be out priced or out delivered. That's business.

I've been in some good companies in years past. One company was the leader in bringing a trend to the market. Problem was that the product core was based on an available source. They could not protect what they had. The industry bloomed under them and they lost their positon as the exlusive provider.

There after, I left MLM and turned to internet marketing. Told myself I would never go back to MLM again.

Then, years later, I found a company and a product that did hold a patent on their product. A product that cannot be copied, it might be simulated, but never copied. That became a huge selling point to me.

I did not have to worry about a fruit or berry product with the same compostion showing up in a store or another company. This took that worry out of it for me. You cant patent a fruit, berry or soy. I just ran across a new company this weekend at a trade show based on a New Zealand Shell fish. Cool, but how can they protect their source? They cant. They may have a good run for awhile but soon the product will be in GNC.

Then, I needed to see the evidence that it worked and how it worked. I found that as well.

Yes, the Health and Wellness is huge, huge enough for anyone to do very well at it. It does not need to be a boom industry to do well. Needing it to be a boom industry is just as bad as someone taking a fruit or berry juice picked under a blue moon on some distant exotic land and expecting a miracle cure for whatever they are suffering from.

Thats the part of the industry I do not miss.

[Kerry Erasmus Contribution Level: 2]

Hi Guys
A few things to remember:
* Show me a product or service that has no compitition and I will show you either a bad idea or a product, or if its not bad, it WILL have high compitition the next day. (That's life in business)
* Giving out say supplement samples only reveals the fact that you don't know how supplements work, they are not a drug or quick fix, no one will reap benefits in a week or so. Don't believe the stories.
* Price, well if you have a good product it should be easy to show someone why he/she is infact paying more for his so called cheaper alternative. Just read the ingrediants and compare the amounts they get and actually need.

[Sidney Juachon Contribution Level: 1]

This is what I learned from Dr. Charles King, a professor of marketing at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Harvard Business School Ph. D. graduate. I'm sure that you all have heard this before but I just want to put more emphasis on it.

It doesn't matter what your product is, whether it's in health, technology, candles, educational, or greeting cards.

Dr. King mentioned the following factors:

Your product is assumed to be consumable. If it isn't, you're unemployed until that next sale comes in.

Your business must be a huge expanding market. If you're marketing a product that is on the decline, you can still be good at it, but if no one wants it, you're not going to make any sales in it.

Your product must be unique. If you have this type of product, they will have to come and see you or visit your site to get it since it won't be available from anyone else. This assumes that your product is part of a huge expanding market.

If your product is not unique, you better have a retention strategy.

You either market by price or convenience.

If you can find the product that does the same job as the product you're selling at WalMart, Costco, or Sam's Club, you're basically challenged on how to market your products in either price or convenience because a company like WalMart has the financial muscle to purchase large amounts of inventories and sell it at a much lower price than their competitors and that may be you. In addition, these stores have positioned themselves in several areas such that any store is reachable within a reasonable driving distance.

If they breached the barriers to entry in your market, which WalMart is capable of doing, it's time to change your business rules or you better package that product you're marketing with relevant items that differentiate you from your major competition. Whether you like it or not and I know several people who hate WalMart, it is what it is.

Here's an example what WalMart did to KMart. WalMart pulled this tactic when they first opened a store for the first time in the same city where a KMart was located. WalMart bought 3,500 boxes of large sized detergent soap at a discounted price and announced that sale on that weekend and sold it for less than half the price that KMart is charging for (at that time, $1.99 vs. $4.00). All 3,500 boxes sold out by the end of that weekend while KMart hasn't sold a box.

That's what will happen to you if you market a product that any of these stores offer because people will not pay for it if they can get the same product somewhere else, cheaper and more convenient.

Therefore, you must make the product you sell as unique as possible.

People will buy into what makes their life better. They won't buy into anything or anyone because you're good looking or the product is hyped up.

Do you think there are still issues with many wellness/nutritional opportunities?

If you can build some credibility with your prospect, have a story such as "I lost 40 pounds in two months" and you can show them that they can lose it too (provided that they qualify and follow instructions), and back that up with a 90-day empty bottle guarantee, it makes it an offer that a serious prospect finds it challenging to back out of.

However, you can only tell your story. You don't want to say that this will work for them because nobody knows if it will do. Same thing goes with any product.

One other thing I didn't mention...get as many people as you can to work with you promoting nutritional products. You can't do it alone. The Pittsburgh Steelers nor the Arizona Cardinals didn't make it to the Super Bowl with only one person. Michael Jordan didn't win six NBA championship rings alone. It took more than themselves to take it to that level.

So to summarize what I said here's what you should know:

Make sure the product you're associated with is part of a huge expanding market. The more unique it is, the better. Otherwise you're competing on pricing and convenience with others and you better have a retention strategy to keep those customers. By having your own story, you can tell them what it did for you. Use facts. Don't make any predictions that it will work for them or your credibility will be at stake.
Make sure you back your product up with a 100 percent money-back guarantee. Also, get as many people as you can to promote your product. The how part starts with http://myaplan.magneticsponsoringonline.com but you may need to do more beyond that.

Do all that and you'll reduce the number of issues that will come up with any opportunity you might consider joining.

The above statements remain my suggestions.

Sidney

[Ken Seavert Contribution Level: 2]

Ideally if it costs more there should be good reason. By the way, not that is ideal but, I would rather pay more for the opportunity to make money with a product than go buy a comparable product from Wal-Mart for the guarantee of a lower price.

This is where I disagree. The price is targeted toward the customer not the distributor. Overpriced vitamins are perceived as a scam.

For the people who determine the cost the distributors are customers. As another note I know I can get a cheaper vitamin than I use, but I buy it based on value received not on price. "overpriced" is a misperception that "cheaper is better". Customers and distributors even, see two prices and think they are paying more for the same thing. A product can and should cost more than others if it provides more value. A new BMW costs more than a rusty geo. It is the distributors job to convey that if this is the case. There are many perceptions of the average joe that are less than rational to say the least that is why a great distributor must be a great communicator.

If your product doesn’t have a reasonably quick impact people tend to shy away from giving samples.

Actually, that leads me to another problem with the industry, distributors claim that their vitamins do not produce immediate results. The results will not be seen until several years. Customers want things that can produce results NOW!

I know what you mean. It is much easer to sell a cure rather than a prevention. Don’t get me wrong I believe prevention is entirely necessary but you have to have a hook, something to grab your customers. I guess the term "immediate" is a bit relative to the person. I wouldn’t consider waiting a month to see results after using the product having to wait too long. But if your angle is well take this and you wont get sick, well i may have to wait quite a while to test that out. Still this could just be a problem of the marketer not knowing how to market or just a matter of a product not being of enough value.

There are many things that could be considered problems but always remember that most if not all of these are not characteristic of industry, but of company or more often, individual distributors. it is our job to represent this industry how it should be represented. To set an example and take what you perceive as a problem and create a solution.