Herbalife Review: MLM Business Overview

Posted in Herbalife

Herbalife Business MLM Overview

Herbalife is a multinational network marketing company that currently has its headquarters in Torrance, California. The company, which then-24-year-old Mark R. Hughes began out of the trunk of his car in 1980, today operates in more than 73 countries and has an almost 2 million-strong force of distributors.

Herbalife’s flagship product is its Formula 1 weight loss shake. In addition to a wide range of supplements to assist with healthy weight loss, the company also sells a complete line of nutritional supplements as well as personal care products for the face, skin, body, and hair. In addition, the company has branched out into fragrances as part of its overall personal care line.

Scientific evidence indicates that Herbalife products are a safe and effective tool when used as part of a balanced weight loss plan. The company itself promotes healthy weight loss as opposed to extreme measures and offers recipes on its website to help customers maintain a balanced diet while losing weight.

There was some controversy surrounding Herbalife in the past. False claims were made in the middle of the last decade slamming the company over alleged lead content in its products. Those claims were shown to be false when the person behind them, a felon convicted for stock fraud, was found to be fabricating the stories in order to profit from low Herbalife stock prices.

The other major controversy seems to have been resolved when the government of Israel, which had been concerned about allegations that Herbalife’s products might be toxic to people’s livers, sent product samples to 3 different laboratories to be tested. All of the results came back indicating that Herbalife products are safe.

Herbalife is currently publicly traded although there are rumors that the company may take itself private again in the near future.

Herbalife Products

Herbalife is well known for the slogan the company used in the 1980s and 90s: “Lose weight now! Ask me how!” And today the company’s product line still features its signature weight loss products. Customers can purchase any one of 3 different packages that include Herbalife’s Formula 1 shake and additional supplements to target specific issues that can come up while dieting, from lack of energy to feeling hungry between meals.

In addition to its weight loss products, Herbalife offers a full line of nutritional supplements and personal care products. The personal care products range from NouriFusion, a line of topical cleansing, toning, and moisturizing products designed for a variety of skin types, to the Hair Essentials line of shampoos, conditioners, and even hair spray. In something of a twist for a company focused almost entirely on supplements and nutritional products, Herbalife also offers 4 different perfumes: Heart, Soul, Woman, and Man.

Herbalife Opportunity and Compensation

According to the company, Herbalife paid out more than $2.4 billion in commissions, discounts, royalties, and bonuses to its supervisors (people with active downlines) in 2007. It’s true that the Herbalife compensation plan is one of the best in the network marketing business with commissions of up to 73% on retail and wholesale product sales.

The easiest way to build a successful Herbalife business is to recruit and train a strong downline. However, the company’s main product line of nutritional supplements lends itself to repeat sales, and distributors can earn a recurring income from those as well.

Recommendations

Herbalife is a strong company that has built a positive reputation as a brand that people can trust. With a sales force of almost 2 million and operations all over the world, it’s clear that this company is definitely doing something right.

On the other hand, the fact that there are already so many Herbalife distributors and supervisors might make some people hesitate to become involved with the company. Most communities in the Western world likely already have at least a few Herbalife distributors, which can make it difficult to break into the business on a local level.

However, Herbalife does allow distributors to have their own business websites, and there don’t seem to be many limitations on the use of those sites other than an insistence on using the correct Herbalife logo. There is even a company, the Herbal Nutrition Network, that offers retail websites to Herbalife distributors.

The fact that distributors can work their Herbalife businesses online opens up a huge potential market for people just getting into this business. By creating a strong personal brand and using SEO and other Internet marketing tools, new Herbalife distributors can position themselves to take advantage of the growing market of people who are searching the Internet for just the kind of weight loss and nutritional products that Herbalife has to offer.

And because the company offers a comparatively wide range of products, people with expertise in fields ranging from fitness to hair care can position themselves to profit with their Herbalife businesses.

The bottom line is that Herbalife remains a strong, viable opportunity for people who are willing to go the extra mile and use Internet resources to take their businesses to the larger market. But just like any other network marketing opportunity, people who are looking for a get-rich-quick scheme should not look to Herbalife to make that particular dream come true.

Maniac Melissa says…

Imagine sitting in front of your computer to sell your MLM! Or not sitting in front of your computer – that’s the beauty, right, of doing your marketing online?

Herbalife lets you do that!

The product line is very cool. One of my friends used Herbalife when she wanted to get back to a size 4 dress in time for a party she knew her ex would be at. He was definitely eating his heart out when he saw her!

The good thing is that Herbalife seems like a healthy product. All you have to do is open up an Herbalife container and smell. It’s got to be healthy if it smells like that!

I’ve also heard that Herbalife makes it easy to market with their ready-made websites. I know someone who’s a fitness coach and sells Herbalife on the side. It’s really working for her. She finds herself selling people on her fitness products and then selling Herbalife, and vice versa, all the time.

It’s great that Herbalife has a clue about Internet marketing, isn’t it?

For my money, this is an opportunity that is worth checking out.