$40 For a Bottle of Juice?

The #1 Problem With Network Marketing Companies

Hi everyone. In this article I will explain the number one issue with network marketing companies, in particular those that are built around “consumable” products.

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I know there are many solid, legitimate companies out there that are based on these kinds of products. There are also hundreds if not thousands of hard working, well meaning distributors who believe in what they are doing. I do not mean to disparage any particular company, or opportunity. Rather, this is a “call it like I see it” article. Or even more to the point, a “call it like my wife sees it” article!

Like many people, we believe in the power of entrepreneurship and owning businesses as a means towards financial freedom. We also recognize that for the return on investment it is hard to beat network marketing companies as a wealth vehicle. I’ve read many times that network marketing has created more millionaires than any other industry, and my wife and I intend to be the next millionaire couple to contribute to that statistic!

We were researching different businesses to buy, when we came across a couple of network marketing opportunities. As it turned out, the first one that really captured my attention was what I will teasingly refer to as a “bug juice” company. You know the kind. They have a magic juice that will make a blind man hear and a deaf man see, and they sell each bottle for the low low price of only $40. Oh and by the way, for an additional fee you can get your own business, and resell these $40 bug juice bottles to your friends and family, and earn a commission on each bottle of juice sold.

This particular company, or at least the man I spoke with, was promising to put people in my downline if I would just sign up today. By next week I would have eight or ten people selling bug juice for me! I would be rich, rich, rich!

I mean to tell you I was all hyped up and ready to sign. Then I heard this dreaded phrase, which so many other bug juice sellers have heard before:

“I’m not paying no forty dollars for a bottle of juice that’s worth five dollars!”

Whoa. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I tried to explain to my wife that this bug juice was different. Each drop was the equivalent of a whole bottle of antioxidants, so the forty dollars for a jug of juice was a bargain!

But my wife wouldn’t hear it. She has spent most of her life studying health and nutrition, so the idea that we would be selling over priced fruit juice really bothered her. In fact I think the S-word (scam) may have been uttered once or twice.

We went back and forth on it for the better part of an hour, without making any progress towards a resolution. The best I could get her to agree to was – “You do it if you want to, but I don’t want any part of it!”

Boy was I upset. I tried to explain, “But baby, they will put people in our downline. Try the juice it will make hair grow on your chest. I mean my chest! It is awesome.”

But to no avail.

We were at a standstill.

I thought about it and thought about it, and realized that I had heard a similar argument years before. I was briefly involved with the grandpa of network marketing companies. You know, the one who is now advertising all over the television about what a great company it is. And it is a great company, with great products. No doubt about that.

They had me start with my warm list. They drew all the diagrams with circles and lines and explained about PV and BV and XYZ, and how it all added up to my being rich rich rich if I could just get my mom and my dad and my Uncle Johnny to buy their products, instead of shopping at the grocery store.

One of my friends, who I was trying to get into the company, said something similar to what my wife said all these years later.

“Why should I go to their presentation to learn why I should spend five dollars on a bar of soap?!”

Five dollars for a bar of soap, forty dollars for a bottle of juice?

That’s the heart of the issue. Most network marketing companies have products that are overpriced, in order to support their pay plan. Your juice may be the best damn juice in the world, but there are always going to be a certain number of people who won’t buy it because it is over priced.

If you are shopping for a business opportunity, or a network marketing company, ask yourself this question:

Would I pay that much, for that product, even if it wasn’t offered through this network marketing company?

If your answer is yes, then you may have found the right company for you. Any money you make from reselling the product will just be a bonus. Who knows, you may even find a company your wife will like too.

And that’s the way it should be.

Have fun, and good luck!

James Hagarty