Okay. Yeah, I know. Multilevel marketing is for suckers. I've said it many times. I've tried to talk people out of "throwing their money away." So what am i doing here now promoting a multilevel marketing product? Why did I "throw away" a thousand bucks to get in the door? I'll give you the nice, well reasoned arguments and the things that helped me decide, but I'll start with the thing that stopped me in my tracks when i was about to roll my eyes and dismiss this whole thing as another get-rich-quick con. My boss is rich. Maybe not Beverly Hills wealthy, but certainly Bakersfield rich. His businesses will have pulled down seven figures by the time it's all totaled for this past year. Needless to say, he's not hurting. He doesn't need a second job, he doesn't really need the first one. He could hire other people to run his businesses and still make good money. and yet, he jumped on Nerium. He bought in and is signing up others to do the same. That caught me off guard. Why would he jump in when he doesn't need the money? He said he's always looking for good investments, and Nerium was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
That made me take a good, hard look at Nerium. What was it? Is it really all it promises to be? Is the residual system set up in a way that the average person can make money? Well, good questions, Self! Let's see if we can answer them!
What is Nerium?
The Nerium molecule is an accidental discovery of Nerium Biotechnologies (convenient naming, no?), that is extracted from oleander leaves (science! I love it). What they were looking for was a cure for skin cancer. What they got was pretty miraculous, just not
that miraculous. Everyone who was tested came back saying that their melanoma didn't shrink, but their wrinkles were going away and the sun damage was getting better and age spots were fading. What they found was the most effective anti-aging treatment on the market. It's like when Pfizer was testing possible heart medications and discovered Viagra. Imagine if Viagra had been sold via multilevel marketing. There would be Viagra parties everywhere...nevermind, I don't want to imagine that. But nevertheless, it would have made many people very, very rich. Nerium is the only multilevel product I've ever seen that I thought, "That would sell great in a store, why are they selling through multilevel marketing?"
There's some good before and after pics here by the way:
http://www.nerium.com/Results.aspx?ID=spiffMLM was not their first choice, or their second. They wanted to go through a department store like Macy's or Nordstrom's, or possibly through a cosmetics company, but every negotiation broke down. They wanted too big a bite, to charge too much for distribution, or too much control. Then Jeff Olson talked them into allowing him to set up their distribution network for them. Thus, Nerium International was born. which brings us to the next question.
Can I make money at this?
I have no illusions about Nerium making me fabulously wealthy. I do know that if I work it the way it is laid out for me, I will earn back my initial investment in about a month or so. I hope to get Lexus qualified in two months, and I think that, before a year is out, I will be making as much from Nerium as I am from my job. My boss is building a distribution network that he is going to take into Latin America (when Nerium is approved there) and he is going to be one of the ones who gains incredible wealth. That’s great for him; he has the resources and contacts to do that. I am going to be one of the ones who simply applies the business model and makes money and gains a degree of financial freedom I haven’t had before. I will do well because the program was designed for people like me: people who have limited time and money, people who already have a job, people for whom $1,000 per week would be life-changing. The fact that the product works incredibly well just makes it easier. I always shied away from multilevel marketing before because it seemed I was leveraging my friendships and not giving anything in return. Nerium takes that pressure off because it is a genuinely good product with a money-back guarantee and everyone gets to try it free for a week before they even decide. The business model works and the comp-plan is generous. “What’s the catch?” I hear you say, “There’s always a catch.” the only real fine print on this one that i can find is that in order to start qualifying for the bonuses, you need three sellers under you. But if you have only one or two, you still get commission on their sales. If you get your three partners in less than 30 days, you get double commission for life. The system is set up so you are rewarded for helping your people do well. There are built-in incentives for your customers to help you (if they get three referrals their product is free). i could go on, but you can read about the details at
spiff.nerium.com
Sorry, little bit of a manic rant there. This blog will be where I keep you up to date about my progress and what goes well and what doesn't and what I learn. If anyone is interested in either just the progress or the business, let me know at [mikeharkleroad @ gmail.com]
