Is Forever Living Products a Scam or Pyramid Scheme?
In short, no! Scams or Pyramid Schemes don't last for long as they are simply created for one person, or a few people, to make some money before getting out.
Pyramid Schemes work by getting new members to pay in order to join up with promises of commission if they get others to do the same. There is often no product involved (which in most countries makes the scheme illegal) or the product is essentially useless – like some fairly pointless 'report'.
Scams or Pyramid Schemes collapse within a few months. FLP has been around for three decades and you do not pay anything to join. The only payment you will need to make is for the purchase of product which you can use yourself or resell at a profit.
FLP uses Multi-Level-Marketing.
What is Multi-Level-Marketing (MLM)?
For some people this has a bad name but only because many Pyramid Schemes try to disguise themselves as MLM organisations. It's important to know that MLM is:
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legal
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a sensible way to distribute products
In traditional organisations the route a product takes to market looks like this:
Manufacturer -> Distribution -> Wholesaler -> Retailer -> Customer
That's a lot of people who want a margin and it's why a product which costs $1 at the factory gate can retail at $10 to the end customer.
In MLM the route looks like this:
Manufacturer -> Distributor -> Customer
This advantages of a good MLM system are:
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There are less people in the distribution chain so the end retail price is lower
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The customer deals with a person who is knowledgeable about the product they sell
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It works well for products which are so good that they are recommended by word of mouth and that are consumable so there are regular repeat sales
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The system rewards people who sell products and help others establish their own business selling products
The FLP Business Plan
The FLP Business Plan works on two principles:
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You get paid to sell the products
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You get paid if you introduce another person who also starts selling the products
You are not reliant on one product. The FLP range includes:
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Aloe Vera drinks and skin care products
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Bee hive products
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Nutritional supplements
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Weight Management Systems
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Cosmetics
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Cleaning products
All these products are consumable which means you get regular repeat sales from the same customers. In other words once you have established a customer base you will have established a regular income without having to endlessly find new prospects as is the case with some MLM schemes.
How to normally works
FLP products are very good, I mean very, very good top quality products with a noticeable difference compared to what you can purchase in the shops.
People often start buying from me for their own use but after a while they naturally find that they are recommending it to friends and buying on behalf of friends.
STOP! - at this point they should be a distributor earning 35% on all the products you are selling to friends.
Before they know it their customers are recommending the products to their friends and buying on their behalf.
STOP! - at this point these people should be your distributors. They will be able to earn 35% on all the products they are selling and you will earn a percentage of their sales as well.
This is the principle of the FLP system. Because you introduced these people to the products then you should be rewarded. If one of these people goes on to establish a business selling tens of thousands of dollars in product that was down to you so you should receive financial recognition. It would not have happened without you.
Unlimited Earnings
Your friends and their friends and whoever else becomes a distributor will form your 'network'. As this grows and expands you will earn commission on the product sales of your entire network and since this can become incredibly large, so can your income.
Note: you do not get paid for persuading people to join. FLP is about it's products, this opportunity comes second.
What you are rewarded for
How you decide to use this opportunity is very much up to you. Many just sell FLP products which provides them with a welcome second income. But some build networks which create enough wealth for them to stop their traditional day job … and then some.
The system is designed so you are rewarded if:
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you help your people choose the right products so they will become regular customers (and FLP will provide you with full training to do this)
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you help other people who want to become distributors through support and training (much of which is provided by FLP)
FLP rewards people and networks that sell products.
The Feel Good Factor
The real bonus of the FLP Business Plan is that you benefit if you help someone else. Imagine meeting someone who really wants to quit their day job? If you help them do it you will help yourself as well.
Now that's a good feeling!
FLP Opportunity examples
Here are a couple of worked examples which show ways you can earn. Note, I'm using dollars but it could be any other currency and that there are a number of ways to earn with this being only one of them.
Early Days Network
This is how all FLP distributors who want to build a business start out.
You sell $500 of product every month and you have signed up 3 distributors who each sell $500 of product every month. You are paid:
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35% on your sales: 35% of $500 = $175
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5% on the sales made by your 3 distributors: 5% of 3 x $500 = $75
Total Monthly Income: $250
So far all you have done is found some regular customers and helped three people establish a business ...
Growing Network
If you help your new distributors to do exactly the same as you then, for this example, each one signs up 3 distributors which means your network is now 12 people (your three original distributors (first line) plus their three each (second line))
You are paid:
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38% on your sales: 35% of $500 = $190
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5% on the sales made by your 3 distributors: 3% of 12 x $500 = $180
Total Monthly Income: $370
Remember so far all you have done is found some regular customers and helped three people establish a business ...
Developing Network
Things usually start to go beyond your control here! If the 9 distributors that your original 3 distributors signed up each do the same then you will have a third line of 27 distributors (9 x 3). This means your network now contains, in total, 39 distributors.
You are paid:
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43% on your sales: 43% of $500 = $215
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5% on the sales made by the networks of your original 3 distributors: 5% of 39 x $500 = $975
Total Monthly Income: $1,190
Remember so far all you have done is found some regular customers and helped three people establish a business ...
Mature Network
If we go the next step where each of the 27 distributors signs up 3 of their own then we now have:
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3 original distributors
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their 9 distributors
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the 27 distributors below them
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the 81 new distributors
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This makes for a total of 120 distributors in your network.
You are paid:
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48% on your sales: 48% of $500 = $240
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5% on the sales made by the networks of your original 3 distributors: 5% of 120 x $500 = $3,000
Total Monthly Income: $3,240
Remember so far all you have done is found some regular customers and helped three people establish a business ...
Exponential Income
You can carry on doing the math but it's fairly obvious where it's heading! At the next step you would be earning over $9,000 a month because you sell $500 a month and helped 3 people establish their own business. And by this time your network is expanding with little or no effort from you.
This type of income growth is known as exponential because it rises so rapidly.
FLP rewards people for selling a little and helping other people do the same while building a business. This system sells over $2 bn of FLP products every year.
It works because the products are so good people want to buy them from you and because the opportunity to find customers is so large in two ways:
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the product range is extremely wide from aloe vera drinking gels for every day health through to cleaning products used by restaurants and bars.
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many of the products are popular with both humans and pets (such as the drinking gel, shampoos, etc)
My Role in your Future
If you have read the above you will see that I have a vested interest in making your FLP business a success. Looking for a part time income selling the products? No problem, I will be here to answer your questions, suggest ways to present what you sell, help you find customers and recommend training events in your country. Looking for full financial freedom? Great, I'll be here to help you build a solid customer base and expand your network so your income can really take off.
Is it easy?
For some people, yes, it is incredibly easy because they naturally recommend good products to friends and colleagues and they instantly know people who would benefit from using the products.
But if you want to grow your business and your network fast you will have to put some work into it – and for that both myself and Forever Living Products are here to help.
FLP offers regular training sessions for both the products and network building in over 130 countries around the world and I am your support at all other times.
So to be clear:
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FLP will reward me for helping you grow a stable business
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FLP will reward you for helping others do the same
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FLP will NOT reward you, me or anyone for creating a huge network of signed up people who do nothing!