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Should I get involved or not?

Does anyone have any verifiable stories, good or bad, in connection with this product?

A really influential guy in my church has approached me about this.

I trust his intents in inviting me-- probably will say yes.

Just wanted to run it here first.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/150499

BUSINESS
A Drink’s Purple Reign
Devotees claim MonaVie cures their ills and makes them millionaires. But is it just hype in a bottle?

www.PurpleHorror.com

Usually not a good thing when a site named like this is devoted to a product.

From the newsweek article

Quote:

Meanwhile, most of the million-strong sales team is really just drinking the juice, according to MonaVie's 2007 income disclosure statement, a federally required printout of their distributor earnings. More than 90 percent were considered "wholesale customers," whose earnings are mostly discounts on sales to themselves. Fewer than 1 percent qualified for commissions and of those, only 10 percent made more than $100 a week. And the dropout rate, while not disclosed by MonaVie, is around 70 percent, according to a top recruiter.

also from newsweek... pretty damning when you look at past history of its founder

Quote:

Larsen, for his part, realizes that his sales team can get him in hot water with the Feds. A 20-year-veteran of the multi-level marketing industry, he left a senior post at another juice company in 2002, a year before the FDA destroyed the company's "bogus products" that were being falsely promoted to treat "cancer, arthritis and attention deficit disorder."

but this guy in my church, he wouldn't involve me in something bad like what your sites are saying. He's in it too. He's a good guy.

Is it possible that things have changed or that this time it will be different with me getting in with him?

Caveat emptor, Jermyn. Buyer beware.

Your friend's probably a stand up guy, but unless he's signing you up with his own money you are the one who stands to lose ... or gain.

Part of friendship is having the confidence to question and be skeptical about business propositions, especially multi-level marketing. If your friend isn't open to the questions raised then he's probably into something he hasn't thought all the way through.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson (Post 867011)

I've seen it with Amway and about a dozen other MLM setups.

Look at it as a business. If I bought a subway franchise I would own it.

If you get involved in a MLM they can pull the plug on your income stream in a minute... which they do... I knew a evangelists wife who made 100k a year selling energy pills from church to church, in fact they had their yearly rally at General Conference. However the company changed policies and cut her off.. so all she had accomplished was giving several years of her life cutting her husbands ministry in the throat by making pastors very hesitant to call him and she up'd her lifestyle to have it cut in a second. Plus the pills weren't safe anyhow.

If your looking at it as a business just do simple math with your friend. Ask him how much he grossed on the sales and ask him how much product he bought to keep his distributor status. Thats your net. The article says all but 1% make 100 or less a month net. Waste of time on a hourly basis.

Hes most likely a great guy whos excited by the moon beams and rainbows he was sold. You pick up on his excitement as a new convert also. But just look at it as a realistic business... MLM's are hard work and will always warp your social interactions because you can't just be friends with people anymore.. they are always prospects to pitch.

You want a business opportunity? Get your florida Health, Life and Annuities Insurance license and find a good insurance call center to work in locally. I'll PM you what I make on a weekly basis working 60 hours a week in a W-2 callroom setting. I get insurance benefits, disability from AFLEC if I get sick and have a great place to work. Plus if i quit or get fired I own my license and can take it anywhere along with the other 30 states I now have non-residential status in and call sell into.

Have a vocation or licensed profession, don't get sucked into biz-ops that aren't proven.

I would not get involved with a MLM scheme.