Youngevity is a multilevel marketing company that sells a wide range of products for health and wellness, but many of them are focused on delivering some of the 90 “essential for life” nutrients their founder claims the human body needs.
They’re not just another dime-a-dozen health MLM, the Youngevity company stays well involved with generous charity and non-profit campaigns.
So have I been involved with these guys? This explains everything:
All good? Let’s continue…
The company was founded by Joel Wallach, a former veterinary doctor who became a naturopathic doctor and studies the human body’s needs when it comes to trace vitamins and minerals.
Youngevity was his solution for providing people with the nutrients he deems vital for health and wellness, though its product offerings have grown considerably beyond that category, thanks to numerous acquisitions and mergers in the company’s history.
Youngevity also operates a nonprofit charity branch called Youngevity Be The Change that provides funding to other nonprofit organizations like the American Red Cross and the Make a Wish Foundation.
Youngevity donates some of its earnings to this nonprofit, and members and customers can also donate directly to support its cause.
Over the past several years, Youngevity has gradually increased its brand awareness. Analysis of search engine traffic shows a slow, upward trend in search volume, with no precipitous drops. It’s not the most popular health and longevity MLM in the game, but its growth looks healthy.
Products
Unfortunately, Youngevity falls into the trap of offering such a tremendous range of products (cosmetics, supplements, jewelry, coffee, etc.) that it can be hard to see the special appeal of the brand.
Its core products are focused around the “90 for life” philosophy, which posits that there are 90 vital nutrients your body needs for optimal health.
These vital nutrients come from the founder’s personal research in naturopathic healing, and manifest themselves in the products available in the health and wellness category. The bulk of them are the vitamins and minerals you’ve already heard of. Three more include omega three, omega six, and omega nine fatty acids, alongside twelve essential amino acids.
These nutrients are incorporated into supplement capsules, sports drinks, or meal replacement shake powders to be sold as the various products that Youngevity offers.
The products are sold in “Paks,” prepackaged solutions to particular problems like high blood sugar, athletic performance, weight loss, and digestion.
Some of these categories run the risk of running afoul of Food and Drug Administration rules about what can and cannot be advertised on product marketing materials. The Blood Sugar Pak, for example, might run the risk of being categorized as a medical treatment for a condition (type 2 diabetes).
The specifics on why Youngevity’s products are superior to your standard, run of the mill supplements is sparse. The company claims they use “plant derived minerals” from a particular kind of soil, but their explanation of why shale soil is a better source for minerals delves into pseudoscience pretty quickly.
These minerals are claimed to carry a “natural negative electric charge” which gives them special medicinal properties. In truth, where a mineral is derived from has no bearing on its electrical charge; this is solely a function of the basic chemistry involved with the compound in question.
As you might expect from a large, somewhat disorganized MLM, the products are pretty expensive. Other companies offer similar products (multivitamin drinks, omega 3 supplements, meal replacement shakes for weight loss) at lower prices, and the ingredients don’t distinguish themselves from the competition.
For the above reasons, it’s going to be difficult to make a good sales pitch. You’d need to find a good way to distinguish these products both from each other, and from other competitors.
Compensation plan
The compensation plan is fairly standard. The company pushes its distributor packs pretty heavily, but the cost to join is only $25. You can easily rack up hundreds of dollars purchasing a “CEO Mega Pak” which includes marketing materials and product samples, but that sounds like a method that primarily makes the company money, not you.
As is typical with large MLMs, there is a minimum monthly product volume you must keep up to remain an active distributor eligible for earnings. In the case of Youngevity, it’s 50 product volume per month. Moving up is based mostly on racking up paying customers who order from you, or better, downline distributors.
Once you have three preferred customers or associates in your downline, the earnings start to look better.
In addition to the 30% wholesale discount that you automatically get for being an active distributor, you can earn commissions as deep as four levels into your downline, and the commission percentages (6-8%) are very competitive. Many other MLMs only offer 2-5% commissions on sales of this level.
Hard data on the earnings of the typical distributor are difficult to come by. The company does not produce an income disclosure statement, and based on its relatively unimpressive structure, it’s not likely that the earnings for your average member look very good.
However, it’s a reasonably popular company, and the compensation structure is decent.
Recap
It’s tricky to square some of the facts about Youngevity. Their product selection is so broad and so varied that it’s difficult to see any specific pitch or “hook” that would allow you to effectively sell their products to a large number of customers (or have a good reason to start using them yourself).
On the other hand, search traffic for the company looks favorable, and their compensation structure does reward building up a solid downline.
If you can find a good hook that allows you to effectively market the broad range of products that Youngevity offers, you can take the plunge.
Otherwise, there are better opportunities out there that have a more clear angle for sales.
You might like our coaching because it shows you the good life without selling health products to your family and friends.
http://bodynutrition.org/youngevity-review/
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