MLM Companies with Momentum
Most new network marketing distributors I know make the decision to join a particular company based on emotion, oftentimes fueled by questionable information. But when a distributor is looking for a new opportunity, shouldn’t they be most interested in a company’s momentum – their recent and ongoing growth?
MLM Companies Currently Experiencing Momentum
I analyzed the ongoing growth and recent momentum being experienced by various MLM companies and found some surprising results. First the chart with companies in alphabetical order:
And here are the results sorted by rank:
| MLM Nutritional Product Company | Momentum Score |
| Xango | 9.5 |
| Vemma | 9.0 |
| Zrii | 6.0 |
| Agel | 5.0 |
| Shaklee | 4.8 |
| Max Intl. | 3.8 |
| Herbalife | 2.0 |
| USANA | 1.3 |
| Forever Living Products | 0.3 |
| Life Plus | -1.0 |
| Pharmanex | -2.3 |
| Tahitian Noni Intl. | -2.3 |
| MonaVie | -3.0 |
| Mannatech | -4.8 |
| Waiora | -6.3 |
Measuring MLM Growth & Momentum
If a distributor joins with a company whose market share is shrinking, they’ll find it increasingly difficult to win team members, make sales and otherwise succeed. So, I decided to look at growth & momentum. Since no network marketing companies regularly publish audited revenue numbers, we can’t use those. Plus, revenue lags momentum in this industry so it would be a late indicator.
I think the best indicators of most trends today are found in online data. Here’s why:
- Most people use the internet to research products & companies they are interested in.
- There are very reliable 3rd-party services that monitor website and search traffic over time.
Every online data source has some flaws, but intelligently combining reliable sources provided me with some interesting findings. I wanted to see which MLM companies are experiencing momentum built on long-term growth.
Methodology
First, to ensure I was comparing apples to apples, I had to focus my scope of companies to the largest segment in network marketing-namely those companies marketing primarily nutritional products. So I didn’t include those focused on technology or broad consumer product lines. I’ll try to find a good way to tackle those segments later. I chose 15 popular nutritional product MLMs.
I looked at website and search traffic growth over the past 3 months. You wouldn’t want to measure just 1 month since a lot can happen online to cause only a momentarily spike in a site’s traffic. But 3 months gives a good view of immediate trends = momentum.
Besides just immediate trends, it’s important to look at what companies are growing overall. A few companies I looked at were actually decreasing over the past year so their short-term growth looked more like an element of recovery than momentum building on long-term growth.
Reaching back to my past statistics training, I combined the 3 month and 1 year website traffic & search data for each of the 15 companies by standardizing their growth percentages and then giving a slightly higher weight to the 3 month score. I used data from the following services: Alexa, Compete Inc, and Google Trends.
Conclusion
I’ll admit, I was fairly surprised at the results. At the top you have some more established companies like Xango and Shaklee generating buzz and building momentum, next to, and sometimes above, newer companies like Vemma, Zrii and Agel. I wonder why.
Could it be new product launches, company marketing & support, distributor excitement and activity, the elusive “critical mass?” What do you think? Like any research, there is more to dig into here. Maybe I can expose the drivers if I look at search engine keywords, traffic patterns, product launch activity, etc.
Whatever the drivers happen to be, this seems to be the type of data I’d be relying on if I was considering joining an MLM company and building a successful network marketing business – partly because it’s the sort of market growth data that successful traditional businesses rely on when they launch into new markets.
Actual revenue growth or decline versus the prior year would make this assessment of greater value. The fact that the searches and/or website traffic has increased or not does not necessarily equate to increased or improved sales.
For example, some of the companies you list above strongly and adamantly discourage their representatives from promoting much or relying heavily on the Internet and their main approach to network marketing remains on the ground aka belly button to belly button…home parties, hotel/motel meetings and so forth. A strong “ground game” for any one of the companies listed above may not really show up in website traffic or searches but may in the end do a great deal for company sales. Great graphic and very interesting article no less. Thanks!
@Kevin Mallory
Kevin, while some companies discourage their distributors from using the internet, people in general use it extensively to look into opportunities. So I think searches and traffic provide a good measure of interest of people outside of a company wanting to look into the products, services or opportunity.
How do we know what you published is the truth? How do we know you don’t have a motive behind what you publish or what you have researched…or what you have printed here? If no names are mentioned…same difference. One cannot be sure you are a network marketer somewhere in one of the company’s listed.
@Jane
Hi Jane. I appreciate your skepticism. It’s good to be a critical thinker. The reason I don’t publish my name is simply that I make my living in a completely different industry and having my name associated with network marketing would not help my business. So I do this as a hobby, as stated on the site. Let me know if anything I say seems biased or inaccurate. I intend to be completely fair. At the same time, I don’t mind criticizing bogus information or practices, or trying my hand at introducing better ways of thinking or analyzing this industry. Thanks again for your comment.
The chart is VERY misleading and people are making an improper conclusion. First, growth and momentum should NOT be based using online traffic tools. They are inconsistent… I know this personally as I track all of my websites and I use different online tools. But before we get into the difference of tools, I’m in business to make money. I get paid if people order product. PERIOD> I don’t get paid if there is more web traffic to a site.
The rise and fall of VOLUME should be the main factor of growth and momentum. If the company is public, they must post with the SEC their sales figures quarterly so that is pretty easy to find out. If they are privately owned, you are left to go with what the company has decided to tell someone.
Waiora is privately owned. Applications are up over 30%. My personal business is growing past that from this time last year and considering that I have the largest international organization, that is quite a feat. NCD has taken this company to incredible heights, WaiFit is exploding new enrollments… the comp plan is very, very, fair paying up to 50%.
I know of a company that doesn’t allow any online marketing, and they are exploding as well. According to this chart, they are sinking too.
This reminds me of the list of the top paid distributors that was so heavily weighted with Monavie reps…. and everyone was out there spewing that Monavie MUST be paying people more… since there were more Monavie reps on the list. When further revelations showed that Monavie just provided the list creator with the info. In fact, this same blog tore apart that list in the blog post below the “Growth and Momentum” post.
Anyways, if this was created by a Xango rep,…. then shocker! Xango is “growing” and in the lead. Is everyone so gullible?
Donna
@Donna Valdes
Hi Donna. Thanks for your thoughts. It is true that changes in order volume and new distributor sign-ups would be optimal ways of judging a company’s growth. However, that information is not available across the board so we have to look at other data. My calculations purposely avoided including promotional traffic. As you point out, some companies encourage it and others discourage it.
However, I think it is very useful to look at what the general population is searching for. That measures general interest. And the way that changes over time can be a good reflector of growth. A less effective method for analyzing an opportunity is to rely on anecdotes. While the anecdotal personal experiences you mention to support your preferred company are compelling, they are isolated stories and may not be at all indicative of general trends.
Finally, I’m not at all involved in network marketing, except for the little bit of fun I have analyzing and commenting about it. My real business is completely unrelated. I’m sorry if you don’t like what my recent analysis showed. I can’t control who shows up where. The data determines that. But stick around a bit and maybe your preferred company will be placed differently the next time I run the numbers.
you mention nothing about a company called Univera. Are there any figures on this company. Thanks
@Leonard Jones
Sorry Leonard, but I’m not doing analysis on individual companies, just general trends, practices, etc. Thanks.
You need to either re-read your own data or perhaps correct this sentence:
“At the top you have some more established companies like Xango and Shaklee generating buzz and building momentum, next to, and sometimes above, newer companies like Vemma.” Huh? VEMMA is #2 at the top of the list in a virtual tie with Xango, so it is obviously generaitng buzz and momentum, yet you talk about Shaklee, which is further down the list, being above VEMMA? I must be missing something….
By the way, you would be right on the buzz and momentum regarding VEMMA…The Verve product was just… etc. etc. etc. [edited due to overt promotion - not the purpose of this site].
@MLM Expert
Hi Vemma Guy, thanks for the comment. The sentence you were struggling with was intended to contrast the fact that some companies that have been around for a while are above newer companies. That’s why I used the word “like,” meaning “similar to.” So if I clarified the sentence for you it might say something “like” this,
“At the top you have some more established companies like Xango and Shaklee generating buzz and building momentum, next to (especially if you are focusing on the comparison between Xango and Vemma), and sometimes above (if you are focusing on the comparison between Shaklee and Zrii or Agel), newer companies like Vemma, Zrii and Agel.”
I sort of think the original sentence was better.
On another note, Vemma Guy submitted a fairly insightful comment about how certain historical trends could help indicate a company’s future potential. But it was so interwoven with a sales pitch that I couldn’t include it. I will, however, look at the data for a future post.
When was this research taken?? Because the September addition of the Inc. 500 magazine (The annual report of the fastest growing private companies in America) states the ONLY nutritional beverage to rank was MONAVIE! Placing #1 in the Food & Beverage category, #3 in Revenue and #18 OVERALL!!
GO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT YOUR STATS.
@To set the record straight
Mr. Setting-the-record-straight, I appreciate your enthusiasm, especially when expressed through ALL CAPS. Very powerful. Also powerful is research and accurate assumptions. From your comment it appears you think that to compile their “500″ list, Inc. magazine independently looks at every single possible private company in all categories, gathers accurate internal & private data and then ranks those companies. In reality Inc. can only include those companies that submit their own information. The vast majority of companies do not choose to expose their internal numbers and thus are not included in the list. You can see their methodology here: http://www.inc.com/articles/2009/08/methodology.html. You might also consider that this year’s rankings are based on last year’s numbers – so the list is a bit dated as soon as it is released.
How about Send Out Cards (SOC)? I realize they are not nutritional but how about doing a comparison of non-nutritional companies too. SOC is 158 on Fortune 500 list this year and has been doubling every year.
@Tracy Monteforte
Tracy, I’m not going to be looking at individual companies, just general trends and practices. Sorry. I am looking at doing some more analysis on other segments, like non-nutritional companies. I’ll try to remember to include SOC.
Why would you rank Pharmanex seperately from parent company, Nu Skin? That paints a very innacurate company picture. It’s our exclusive anti-aging technologies that are going through the roof. We have been ranked 4 times in the last 6 months by Forbes as a top stock pick as well Motley Fool, Investors Business Daily, and others…[promotional content edited out]. The big guys on Wall Street see it.
@carolann eddington
Carolann,
Thanks for the comment and question. I mentioned in the article that in order compare apples to apples I couldn’t include MLM companies with broader product lines. But you make a good point. Nu Skin and Pharmanex are difficult to separate and place in this type of analysis. Also, as I mentioned in the article, I couldn’t compare things like revenue and stock price since most MLM companies are private. Congrats on a growing stock price though. Sorry I had to edit out some of your sales-y points. That’s not the purpose of this blog.
Would be pleased to see a table of comparison in terms of sales and number of countries in operation. This will give a fair, proper comparison.
Thanks.
Regards,
Alexander
@mlm classifieds
Hi Alexander,
I agree that a table showing revenue and how sales are trending for each MLM company would be optimal, but unfortunately that data is not available since most network marketing companies are privately owned.
The Analyst
Dear MLM Analyst,
I tell you one instance about online campaigns. From January to June 2009 I saw a massive online campaign for Vemma in India. Later on I found out that this campaign was done by a Leading Vemma distributor to launch himself in the Indian Market. You will be surprised to know a fact that India is one of the most promising and upcoming MLM market in the world. We have more than 10,000 local MLM companies which are selling Suit Length to Insurance thru MLM. One of the biggest Indian MLM company has successfully managed to get more than 8 Million sign ups in last 10 years time. I am giving this statement just to make you aware how many people are into MLM alone from India. When Vemma campaign was online most of the network marketers saw that online and tried to find out Vemma online thru searches. During that time for sure their website must be having loads of Visitors. Though the fact is they never had more than 1000 signups even after a 3 month long massive international leader tours along with online campaigns. And I personally never met any guy who id doing this company. So instead of following the easiest way of finding the truth you should opt for a bit harder route and that is to ANALYSE their balance sheets!
Nothing personal but still if we can show some real facts about MLM to the non mlm people, It will be a great help to the industry. You can also get some feedback about Indian MLM market with this website – http://www.mlmtribune.com.
Good Luck!
@Deepak Sharma
Dear Deepak,
Thank you for your insights. I agree that analyzing all MLM companies’ financial statements would be the optimal way to judge growth, but as I mentioned in the article, it is not feasible. Most Network marketing companies are private and so do not make that information public.
The Analyst
Dear respectable MLM Analyst,
With due respect to your daring analysis, can we know your sources and how do you give your ratings (momentum score)? In this new and ever evolving economy, facts are the only fundamentals to establish such statements.
I believe any reader/leader would need to know how you came to your concluding analysis.
Thank you very much.
Regards,
Dennis Joshua
A Networker, Webmaster and Online Entreprenuer since 1999
@Free Classifieds Directory
Dear Respectable Dennis,
Here is the reply I gave to a similar comment on the original MLM Momentum blog post:
Thanks,
The Analyst
Hello “The Analyst”
I’m delighted to see this kind of analysis applied to the sector, even if it did appear that my own company is not doing too well
I only wish that more of these companies were publicly traded so that we could access more data.
You’ve provided an excellent tool as an adjunct to due diligence. Of course we also need to look at audited average earnings statements, credentials of founders and chief officers, and actual practices/methodologies, etc, etc, in order to make a choice. That can be difficult for someone without a strong business background.
Emotion does come into the equation because without some emotional motivation to build any business, stamina can be severely tested. We need to have passion and commitment about the product or service we’ve chosen to promote.
So it’s a combination of comprehensive due diligence as well as the taking of a personal inventory that is likely to yield the best results.
Anyway, I am one more person thanking you for taking the time to research and present this excellent analysis.
Warm wishes
Christine