Introduction
Welcome to the controversial land of MLMs!
A place where up is down, right is wrong, and triangles determine whether or not you’ll get screwed (I joke… if you get it, you get it)
Or do I joke?
In this article, we’re going to break down our Top 5 MLMs that we believe will give you the best chance of making some real money in 2024.
These ones are NOT pyramid schemes, meaning you can actually make money by selling the products, as opposed to just selling the next dummy into your scheme.
Before we get started, it’s important to know that MLM is one of the first introductions to Entrepreneurship that people get.
The industry overwhelmingly targets women, but there are some opportunities in this list that apply just as well to everyone.
So while the industry has definitely been absolutely destroyed with lawsuits and government rulings recently, we’ll do our best to help you avoid catastrophe.
The purpose of this review is to actually give you a no-nonsense breakdown of some MLMs and products that actually aren’t a scam.
It’s my hope that by the end of this article, you have a good idea of which one might be for you, and whether or not there are any alternative businesses that might be a better fit for you.
Each review will have:
The star rating (out of 5)
The compensation type (unilevel, binary, stair step, matrix, etc)
The price to get started
Our star system looks at 3 things:
#1 – The value of the training & products
#2 – The value of the community
#3 – The value of the mentorship
We take those 3 factors to make a Star Rating out of 5.
We end each review with one positive and one negative takeaway… so if you’re a skimmer, make sure to read those ones!
So that being said, let’s get right into it.
#5 - Zinzino
Overall Rating
Course Length
Unilevel Compensation
Price
$60 - $949
- Health & wellness is an evergreen niche, which means you’ll always have people to sell the product to as long as the MLM keeps a good reputation
- A lot of training & support for distributors, so that you can always stay up to date on new products and how to sell them
- A fair amount of negative customer feedback about product effectiveness, which means you might be selling people a “lemon”
- Relatively high “AutoOrder” costs between $44-$109 per month, which means if you aren’t selling well, you will go negative relatively quickly
Overview
Zinzino is a serious contender in the MLM space, for various reasons.
It’s primarily known for its compensation plan, which is one of the best out there. You can earn through direct sales commissions, recruitment (recurring income), and can earn luxury rewards as you progress through ranks.
Like most MLMs, in order to turn this into a legitimate business opportunity, you will need to recruit friends, family, or strangers into your network.
Zinzino publicly encourages potential partners (AKA you) to really understand the business model if you want to succeed. Let’s discuss why:
For some quick math, their BalanceOil+ sells at $70 for a 40 day supply of a 110 lb person.
Let’s be generous and say you’re earning a 20% commission on each sale, that would be $14/sale. At that number alone, you would need about 350 sales per month to earn a $5,000 per month paycheck.
So, this is why recruiting is one of the most important aspects of turning this into a legitimate business. So if the idea of recruiting is not for you, then I’d give this MLM a pass.
The Bottom Line
- There is a decent market size for this type of product. Health testing and supplementation is a huge industry.
- To make a real high 5-figure or low 6-figure income with this business, you 100% need to recruit and build a large network.
Conclusion
As far as MLMs go, Zinzo is on the list for a reason – it sells a valuable product that people can actually benefit from. That being said, there are much larger and more trusted brands that sell the same products, so your market saturation is high.
This fact, plus the fact that you will need to recruit heavily, is the reason it’s the last on our list!
#4 - Vector Marketing / Cutco Knives
Overall Rating
Course Length
Unilevel Compensation
Price
$4,000
- Provides a base salary for doing product demonstrations, which means even if you fail miserably, you’ll at least have some money to help break even on initial investment
- Cutco products have a lifetime guarantee and are decent products, so you’re at least selling something with value
- Flexible work schedule, which is good if you’re a student or can only work 1-2 hours per week
- High initial investment costs, which means if it doesn’t work out, you’ll be out potentially thousands of dollars
- Selling luxury items requires significant skill, which means if this did work out for, it’d probably be years before you turned it into a real business
- Relies heavily on personal sales & recruiting, which runs the risk of straining personal relationships
Overview
Vector Marketing (sometimes referred to as Cutco sales) is a network marketing opportunity where you sell your friends & family on luxury knife sets.
I write this review having sat through some of these demonstrations before.
They’ll give you a script and a kit to demo with where you cut leather in half with a scissor and then try to sell it to your grandma.
The main downside to Vector Marketing is the startup costs.
While $4,000 by itself isn’t necessarily “too much” to invest in starting a business, it is quite a bit of money to spend on a luxury knife that you’re going to just try and resell to someone else.
With other programs in that category, you’re buying a skill or knowledge set – but with Vector Marketing (and most MLMs!), you’re basically buying inventory, and then hopefully they have a good sales training you can take advantage of.
To me, thats a big risk, which is why it’s low down on this Top 5 list.
The good news is that if you do end up being an absolute pro at selling these knives, they have increased payout rates and bonus incentives for being the top.
That being said: if you don’t have a pre-existing network of high net worth friends and family to sell to, I wouldn’t approach this MLM with a 10-foot pole.
You’re better off with a different MLM, or maybe even a different business model altogether.
The Bottom Line
- This MLM has quite high earning potential if you prove to be a top performer. Selling high-end luxury items naturally results in higher commissions.
- The upfront investment cost to simply do demonstrations, combined with the difficulty of selling luxury items to consumers (especially in a recession / high inflation economy), makes this a hard MLM to endorse right now.
Conclusion
Vector Marketing has a good reputation as far as their Cutco products go, but the initial investment doesn’t make sense unless you have pre-existing sales expertise.
This can create a huge strain in your personal relationships as you shamelessly guilt family into buying the thing so that you at least aren’t out $4,000
#3 - Pampered Chef
Overall Rating
Course Length
Unilevel Compensation
Price
$99 - $200
- Reputable brand with good products, which means you’re selling something that people will have real lasting value with (I actually still own some Pampered Chef products!)
- Strong community and team-building elements, which means you can build friendships with others that share a same “upline” as you
- A ton of pressure to recruit, meaning your “manager” is going to be hounding you to recruit friends and family to be sellers, which could strain relationships
- Limited earning potential, which means this could work as a supplemental income source, but you won’t be laughing your way to the bank (think maybe $1K-$2K/mo if you’re slinging product all day every day)
Overview
The Pampered Chef MLM is a network marketing company that relies heavily on recruitment. This means if you want to make serious money with it, you will 100% have to recruit people into your network.
Simply selling products is not going to be a strong enough way to make money – if you aren’t going to recruit, you’re honestly better off getting a regular Job.
Again, let’s go back to math. For this example, I went to the Pampered Chef website and found the two most expensive things I could find: a $380 knife set and a $350 blender.
Pampered Chef offers newcomers a 20% commission rate, so for each knife set and blender you’re making $76 and $70, respectively.
Let’s say you want to make $5,000 per month as a business owner. That means you’d need to sell 65 knife sets or 71 blenders every single month.
This doesn’t even get into the fact that at those price points, you can buy super high power / high quality blenders (like a Vitamix/Blendtec) – so why buy from Pampered Chef
Point being, if you wanted to make that same $5,000 your other route could be to recruit 15 friends & family that each sell 10 blenders per month (begs the question if your friend group overlaps at all, who’s selling who the blender?).
My point is that in order to make a real living with this MLM, you need to do a combination of high volume of personal sales, and having a ton of people recruited under you.
If that sounds like a fun challenge, this might be a good fit for you!
If that sounds like a living nightmare, you might want an alternative to MLMs altogether.
The Bottom Line
- The products are halfway decent, not a bad purchase depending on your price range/budget
- Making money with Pampered Chef through anything outside of direct recruiting isn’t really practical.
Conclusion
If you’re actually excited / into the idea of building networks and growing to be the figurehead of a local gang of Pampered Chef dealers, this might be a good fit for you.
If you were a highly extroverted college party-goer that thrives on talking to people and also really likes the idea of selling bakeware, I’d recommend giving it a try.
If that description makes you wanna crawl up in a hole and hide… then perhaps Program #1 and #2 below will be better!
#2 - Enagic
Overall Rating
Course Length
Unilevel + Stairstep
Price
~ $5,000
- High product price means high commissions when you sell a product, so the potential earnings are high
- Their water filter systems are generally considered to be good, though some question the science behind “Kangen Water”. There’s a solid niche of interested buyers
- Steep initial investment cost, which means if you don’t sell any inventory, you’re out quite a bit of money with nothing to show for it
- Water filtration market is highly saturated, which means you’re going to need to get innovative with how you sell
- Difficult to sell a high ticket product like that regularly, which means earnings will come and go
Overview
The Enagic MLM is centered around selling water filtration systems from Japan. It focuses on a concept of “Kangen Water”, which is water at a specific pH level, among other things.
While the science behind “Kangen Water” is far from proven or widely accepted, it fits nicely into a popular online health niche of people being overly prepared or afraid of the government / health authorities / science in general.
The up-front investment is the most expensive of this list, which poses a significant financial risk, despite a big potential upside.
This high-investment, high-saturation situation creates a big pressure on sales, forcing many to recruit others in hopes they might be able to sell.
The Bottom Line
- Potential for high commissions if you can grow large organic social media accounts focusing on lifestyle improvements such as water filtration systems
- Huge investment cost up front that most people never make back
Conclusion
If you have a passion for health and longevity, and see value in the concept of Kangen Water, then you might be able to sell this product really well.
If you’re looking for some sort of opportunity and this just happened to be one you came across, I suggest continuing your search.
#1 - Prosperity of Life
Overall Rating
Course Length
Australian 2-Up Compensation Type
Price
$163 + $153/mo
- Highest commission opportunity of the entire list, which means if you really go all-in on becoming a life coaching consultant, you could make a lot of money
- Offers personal development products, which means you might be helping real people become better versions of themselves
- Gives training as well as pre-made templates for things social media marketing, which means you should be prepared to get traffic to your offer from Day 1, and don’t need to rely on only selling to friends and family
- Prosperity of Life claims not to be an MLM, which isn’t true, and is a cause for concern that they would try lying about the type of business they are
- Some high profile cases of people spending $70K+ and not making a single dime back, which means you run a risk of really losing out financially
- Ongoing hidden expenses for things like website hosting, training portal, and more
Overview
Prosperity of Life is one of the more interesting MLMs out there, simply because it breaks the mold of what most MLMs try to do.
They teach you legitimate social media marketing and advertising techniques, instead of simply relying on you to sell to friends and family.
That’s likely driven by the high price point of the program: if you don’t have a super wealthy network, people probably aren’t paying $15,000 for a life coaching program – so instead they teach you social media marketing to broaden your reach.
They’re also one of the highest-ticket MLMs we’ve seen. Meaning it takes you less sales than something like Pampered Chef in order to make money.
Again, imagine you want to make $5,000 per month – well in that case, you would only need to potentially sell 1 unit of their $8,000 “M2 Live Event”.
The issue lies in the fact that getting qualified prospects that actually want that and can afford it isn’t exactly a piece of cake.
That being said, if you find a winning formula, it might work for you!
The Bottom Line
- They teach a lot of methods to sell/build your network, so you aren’t reliant on friends and family
- Prosperity of Life tries to distance itself from the fact that it is an MLM, which in our opinion highlights the fact that they think there is something inherently wrong with what they’re doing
Conclusion
With high earning potential comes high risk. On one hand, you’re selling someone something potentially valuable, but on the other, you’re potentially putting serious financial strain on them – so you had better be confident what you’re selling is actually valuable!
Alternatives
So… Are MLMs Even Worth It?
Key Takeaways
MLMs are not by their nature the worst business model to ever plague the earth, despite the fact that some claim it is.
The reason it’s gotten such a bad reputation is that a select few actors/companies have done some really shady stuff over the years.
Some of them promise unreasonably high commissions, or sell products that aren’t even good.
Usually, the sketchier companies are ones where you can only really make money by recruiting, so one thing that helps pass the “sniff test” is by looking at opportunities that pass the 80-20 rule: 80% of your profits come from actually selling products, and only 20% from recruiting.
Specifically, you want to watch out for:
- Companies claiming that / making it seem like it’ll be a piece of cake for you to start making $50K+ per month
- Companies that have upsell after upsell of products
- Companies that make it seem like if you don’t buy an upsell, you’re wasting everything else you’ve spent
- Companies where you make most of your money from recruiting
Below is a list of pros and cons that cover off on MLM/Network Marketing in general. Some may agree with this list, others will tell me to f*** off – I’m just here to give you my honest opinion based on thousands of public testimonials and hundreds upon hundreds of hours reviewing MLMs.
MLM/Network Marketing Pros:
- Low barrier to entry for complete beginners
- Sometimes have valuable products to sell
- Potential for a lot of money if you’re a first-joiner of an MLM that gets popular
MLM/Network Marketing Cons:
- Rife with scam and outlandish claims
- A lot of big investments to simply by inventory
- Highest failure rate out of nearly any business model we’ve seen
- Relies heavily on selling friends and family
A Story About The Pitfalls Of MLMs
I have two things I’d like to discuss here.
Thing #1: History Of Lawsuits via the FTC
The FTC has a knack for launching investigations and lawsuits that rattle the world of direct marketing and MLMs.
You might be asking yourself: eh, so what – the FTC sues some big dogs, what does that have to do with little ole me?
I’m glad you asked!
Before these lawsuits, MLMs operated in a bit of a gray area.
Recruiters could make whatever claims they wanted, without really ever discussing the financial risks and incredibly low success rates.
(yes, you can have whatever opinions you want, but MLMs boast some of the lowest success rates out of any business imaginable)
Let’s pretend rewind the clock to pre-2017 and say, for example, you were a newly minted “distributor” for a fictitious Health & Lifestyle MLM – we’ll call it “Awsum Life MLM”.
You’re putting in the work doing sales, growing your network, & more.
You’re slinging products left and right, recruiting dozens upon dozens of people into your network as they see your success.
You rise through the ranks, eventually becoming one of those people you see actually making 6 figures per month.
Then one day, thanks to some less-savory management types over at Awsum Life MLM accidentally piss off the FTC, and next thing you know:
You aren’t able to recruit the way you’ve been recruiting due to a lawsuit.
You aren’t able to sell products with the same claims any more due to a lawsuit.
If you’re lucky, all the people you try selling to haven’t heard about the pending lawsuit and allegations, so you’re at least able to still move products.
If you’re even luckier, the business that you’ve just busted-your-behind to grow for 2-3 years is actually still around and legally able to operate (See Thing #2 down below for more on this).
With some of the more recent high-visibility cases, entire livelihoods and businesses were wiped out in a matter of days.
Now tell me: is that something you actually want to invest your heart and soul into? A business model that is one bad press release away from being wiped off the face of the earth?
And it’s not like this is some sort of one-off thing that happened to one or two MLMs:
Between 2017 and 2021 alone, there were over 30 class action lawsuits filed against popular MLMs, not to mention legitimate rulings or complaints by the FTC against big players like Herbalife, LuLaRoe, & others.
I know a lady that was making almost $100K/mo selling LuLaRoe leggings. After one bad press cycle and diminishing product quality, her entire business vanished.
What’s the point with all of this?
It’s probably a really bad idea to pursue an entire category of business that has a giant bullseye on it’s back from the Federal Government.
Think about it: if I’m going to spend months, if not years of my life building a business that will provide me the lifestyle I’m really looking for… why would I choose one with so much risk and with such little legitimate financial upside
So my main gripe with MLMs/Network Marketing/Direct Sales opportunities is that while it’s possible to make some short term cash if you really work hard, your business could be wiped out instantly by the government.
You can obviously make money with it… and not ALL MLMs will get the swift hand of justice… but do you really want to risk it when you could just do something with MORE upside potential and LESS risk?
Thing #2: Control
Time for another story.
A few years back, I sold women’s health products online.
It took me MONTHS of trying & testing different ads to find something that would work.
I would take my paychecks from work, pay my bills, and funnel the rest into testing.
I spent weeks testing different variations of my landing pages.
Finally, I found a formula that worked, and I was able to sell products at a profit!
Guess what happened next
The business shut down!
Just like that, months of hard work and determination vanished.
I realized in that moment that I would never pursue another business model that left so much of my fate into the hands of another.
Between the FTC lawsuits, the ability to have my products TAKEN from me, & everything else, it just wasn’t for me.
Don’t get me wrong – I still make over $20,000/mo online by running ads that ultimately help other people… but it’s structured in such a way that I control everything.
So, That’s Why I Don’t Really Like MLMs
#1 – Too much trust placed in a Lawsuit magnet
#2 – Lack of control over my business
Conclusion
So, all that being said, I present you 3 options if you’re still 100% bought-in to joining an MLM.
Option #1: If you’re OK with paying a higher price for a product that has less risk of lawsuit and actually provides some value, I’d go with Prosperity of Life or Enagic
Option #2: If you want to get your feet wet without fully committing, go with The Pampered Chef or Zinzino
Truth be told, MLMs can definitely work.
I have friends with rather large ($200K+/mo revenue) businesses built off the backs of Network Marketing.
So it works…
What you’re really paying for when you join ANY MLM is the right to sell their products. As long as you understand you are just paying to be an employee, then go for it.
Option #3: If your goal is to reach $10K/Mo as quickly as possible, I would recommend checking out the Digital Rental Method business model.
This is the model that helps me make over $20,000/mo. It’s not 100% passive income, but it’s pretty close, and it’s a legitimate way to make money by actually helping people.
You may have to talk to some actual real-life humans to hit that $10K/mo, but hey – at least you know it’ll work. Also, you can’t live your entire life hiding behind a screen.
If you haven’t read my post about the Digital Rental Method, it basically means renting websites to local businesses across the country that need help growing.
Why I Choose Digital Real Estate Over MLMs In 2024
With Digital Real Estate, we focus on targeting niche services in local cities across the country (or the world). We’re not trying to “work” grandma into wanting to buy our luxury knife sets…
Let me show you.
You see this search term?
Colorado Springs has a population of maybe 500,000 and growing.
There are dozens of concrete companies that serve the local population.
Making this ad profitable is A LOT easier than making this one profitable:
There’s much less competition.
You’re not going up against every Direct Sales agent working the same territory as you
Even better: you’re going up against some random guy that owns a competing concrete company that’s never run an ad in his life.
So “winning” and sending the best leads to your client is easy.
My mentor calls it “knocking out 3rd graders”.
With the Digital Rental Method, you can create $500 – $2,500 per month semi-passively in 3-6 months.
And the cool part is that every time you make another “rental property” and “rent” it to a local business owner, that number doubles.
And to be honest, 3-6 months is A LOT LONGER than most people take. Some people do it in as little as a week!
Let’s look again at my concrete ad.
See where it’s positioned? #1
The top most ad gets most of the clicks.
This is my “digital real estate” property.
This concrete site makes me $1,500/mo, and I haven’t touched it since I made it!
OK, so maybe you need to get in there for an hour once per month to make sure everything is working as expected…
No business is truly 100% “passive” as much as a guru might try to tell you it is – so that’s why I call this “semi-passive” income.
The best part is living life on my own schedule. If I want to grow the business more, I can go out and prospect more customers and build more rental properties.
If not? Hello Hawaii!
Don’t believe me?
Check out my call tracker for the concrete site:
Tell me: what concrete contractor in a small town isn’t going to pay me for sending him 56 potential jobs in a month?
Let’s low-ball it and say they close only 10% of these (actual client closes closer to 40%). If we average out to $2K per job and they close 6 of them, that’s an extra $12,000 in their pocket.
You think he’s willing to pay me a measly $1,500 if he’s making back $15,000?
Absolutely.
And with his real numbers, it’s a lot more than 6 jobs.
All you need is to pick a niche (similar to choosing the type of MLM you want to have), get a proven ad campaign (my mentor gives out 30 of them), and then go around the country getting 1 client per city until you’ve had your fill – pretty easy!
This business scales nicely, which is why I love it.
The best part for me? You’re helping someone put food on the table for their families, provide an education for their children, & do whatever else makes their lives just a little bit easier.
You’re really helping them.
Here’s all the reasons why digital real estate is the best:
Look, local businesses aren’t going anywhere. It’s not like an MLM product where all of a sudden they stop selling it.
What do I do with the profits?
Build out more and more of these properties in different cities, and find someone to fill them.
You’re in complete control of how much time (& money) you choose to make.
That means you can go on vacations as you please, or do whatever else it is you would do if you only had to work a few hours per week.
And since you may be asking: “what happens if you lose that client?”
I just go find another one and forward the phone calls to them instead (just like how a landlord would go get another renter).
If you’re interested in learning more, click here to see which Digital Real Estate program I recommend most.
You won’t really find this level of coaching anywhere else. The program is lead by two founders that each bring their own high-level skills to the table.
With most programs, you’re lucky to get 1 with hopefully-high-level skills.
If you’re not afraid of working hard at a proven system, and are willing to be coached to success, then I look forward to seeing you in there!
It’ll change your life!
(just like it changed mine)
