17 Aug 10 The 5 Most Popular Network Marketing Companies - Network Marketing's Industry Leaders
In this article we take a quick look at the network marketing industry heavyweight contenders. You should know the features, advantages, and disadvantages of the most popular network marketing companies. The measure used to determine the most popular is simply Internet search traffic volume.Popularity of Internet searches certainly isn't a reason to join a company, although we do believe it is wise to understand the strengths and limitations of the most popular companies in the network marketing industry.
The basis of our analysis is Mark D Worthan's Best-MLM-Opportunities.com which uses Google search data. His rankings are based on Google Trends, a service of Google Labs comparing various keyword searches across time. The service determines a ranking of the most popular searched-for MLM companies. The results fro the most recent data, along with our analysis of each follow:
1. Amway ' Amway began when its founders became distributors of Nutrilite vitamins in 1959. Amway is famous for "legitimizing" the MLM industry in 1979, when the FTC found that Amway does not qualify as a pyramid scheme. This was based on the finding that the Amway compensation system was based on product sales vs. recruiting payments. The company's sales were $8.4 billion in 2009. Amway North America was closed in the early 2000's and most North American distributors joined sister company Quixtar, but still order products from Amway Global. At that time, the average monthly earnings for "active" Independent Business Owners was reported to be $115. Advantages of Amway/Quixtar are its widespread name recognition. Its main disadvantage, as reported by many distributors, is its compensation plan which makes adequate earnings difficult for most IBOs.
2. Herbalife ' Herbalife was founded in 1980 and achieved net sales if $2.3 billion in 2009. Over the years Herbalife has faced occasional legal challenges over the safety of its products, although none has yet been upheld. The company reached settlement with the California Attorney General in 1985 for $850 million when charged with making inflated product claims. The company's product formulations were modified to eliminate Ma Huang in 2002 when several US states banned the use of ephedrine alkaloids. In 2007 a scientific study at the University Hospital of Bern Switzerland and Israeli hospitals found a link between consumption of Herbalife products and hepatitis. These items and other media and legal settlements seem to be the company's main disadvantages.
3. Mary Kay ' Mary Kay started in 1963 as a skin care and cosmetics products company, based initially on a tanner's formulations. Worldwide revenues were $2.5 billion in 2009. Representing a well known brand is Mary Kay's main advantage, although the company is mostly limited to women. A significantly high annual turnover is experienced for both US (68.6%) and Canadian (85%) consultants. Earnings figures reported for Canada were that of 29,675 consultants, only 1878 earned more than $100, 276 of the 553 Sales Directors earned more than $17,471 and 15 of the 23 National Directors earned more than $100K, indicating a steep climb to significant earnings potential.
4. Pampered Chef ' Pampered Chef was founded in 1980, using in-home demonstrations to market cookwares via the party plan business model. The company was acquired in 2002 by Berkshire Hathaway Corporation. Earnings figures are unknown.
5. Monavie ' Monavie is a beverage company distributing products made from blended fruit juice including freeze-dried acai powder and puree. The company was founded in 2005 and was recently ranked eighteenth on Inc. Magazine's 500/5000 ranking of the fastest growing private companies in the US. The effectiveness claims of the product's key polyphenol antioxidants have been refuted by the FDA, Linus Pauling Institute, and European Food Safety Authority who all claim that these compounds once digested have little or no health value. A Newsweek report stated that only 10% of distributors made more than $100 per week and the 2008 dropout rate was around 70%. Despite these and some clinical reports of adverse effects, the company remains highly popular within the network marketing community, ranked #9 in MLMInsider.com's most recent popularity vote. This is possibly attributable to the company's excellent management team and lucrative compensation plan, although a recent mlmwatchdog.com video reports a precipitous drop in company popularity in the last year due to some tweaks to the compensation plan.
These companies are all well established and represent good business opportunities, although they may not be in our personal top 5 list. We find that few people take the time to look at what companies are available in the home based business realm. If evaluating home business opportunities, it is advisable to get familiar with the industry, establish some selection criteria and make an informed, unemotional choice. One thing to note is that strong emotions often come into play in the "buying" process of selecting a home business opportunity and after the fact justification of decisions made emotionally is very common.
About the Author:
Jim Green is an attraction marketing specialist and assists clients in marketing and generating leads for the MLM network marketing company of their choice.
