My Take On The Isagenix Business Opportunity

Isagenix is a health and wellness multilevel marketing company that claims to have some of the greatest products in the industry, and an amazing business opportunity for distributors.

But I’ve heard this all before, so I decided to take a closer look to see if this really is the case, or if it’s just another MLM scheme. And in this article, I’ll show you what I found.

Overview of Isagenix

Isagenix was launched in 2002 by co-founders Jim and Kathy Coover.

The company sells health and wellness products through the network marketing business model. So, instead of selling products through regular retail channels (online or offline), the company’s distributors promote the products and earn commissions when people buy.

This makes it similar to affiliate marketing, which is what I do to earn a living.

The difference, however, is that network marketing is a lot more about recruiting and building a team of distributors under you. That way, you’re not just earning commissions on product sales, you’re also earning a cut of what your referrals make.

Which sounds good, and I guess it can be, but it also has its drawbacks.

In any case, Isagenix says they are “not like other MLM companies” in the way they do business. So they kind of distance themselves from the MLM model because there’s a lot of stigma around it, many people feel it’s a pyramid scheme.

I don’t believe network marketing/MLM is a scam in and of itself, there are some great companies in the space. But I’m not sure about Isagenix being a whole lot different to most MLMs either.

Because, for starters, their products are on the expensive side, like most MLM companies I’ve reviewed. Which means they aren’t as easy to successfully promote online.

And second, the path to making the most amount of money is to recruit as many people as possible into the business opportunity, which mostly involves talking to people you know.

These are the hallmarks of virtually every MLM company I’ve ever reviewed.

Now to be fair, there may be other ways in which the company differs, and I’m not suggesting Isagenix is a scam or pyramid scheme either, but let’s call a spade a spade.

Isagenix is a multilevel marketing company – plain and simple.

Isagenix Health and Wellness Products

The Isagenix products are very similar to many health and wellness mlm companies I have seen, they all claim they hold the key to our optimal health, wealth and weight loss.

Good or bad, this is basically what they all say.

They also claim to be backed by science and that their products are of the highest possible standards in the industry.  Maybe they are amazing, I haven’t tried them myself so I can’t speak from experience.

I couldn’t find any genuine third party organisation reporting on the significance of health and weight loss benefits of using their products though. As in, someone that is not on the payroll or affiliated with the company in some way.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t great, but this is something I look for.

I did find an article written by Choice, where an accredited dietician claims there are very little health benefits in comparison to less expensive alternatives in the marketplace.

The author in the Choice article claims there is nothing new about the products and that they are expensive and says the reason people are losing weight is because they are replacing food with shakes and anyone would lose weight under those circumstances.

Again, I am not saying the products aren’t amazing, but it definitely pays to do your homework from sources outside of the company and it’s reps before making decisions about your health.

On the flip side, there are quite a few positive reviews that claim the products are great. And the one I just linked to is quite convincing, it goes into a lot of detail about the products, the ingredients, potential benefits and so on. So it may also be worth checking out.

I also found this Youtube video which contains some helpful information:

At the end of the day, there is often a strong divide with these companies. Some people absolutely love them and if you say a bad word you are labelled a ‘basher’ or something. Then there are those who flat out say the products aren’t worth it.

This can make it difficult to know what to believe.

Which is why I recommend that you do your homework, well beyond my review, to decide for yourself. Because if you just go off what the distributors or company says, you’ll be convinced the products are the best thing in the world. Or if you just read one or two negative reviews, you’ll probably be convinced the whole thing is a scam.

So I personally think looking at both sides is worthwhile.

That’s what I try to do.

Also, I’ve published an in depth article about selling Isagenix products online, that walks you through the products in more detail and elaborates on the potential of selling these online. So I recommend checking that out if you want to learn more.

The Isagenix Compensation Plan

Isagenix provides you with the opportunity to promote their products as a distributor. And the ways in which you can earn are outlined within their compensation plan.

In this section, I’ll break the compensation plan down so you know how to get started, the different ways you can earn and the costs involved.

​Getting Started

The basic idea is to buy some products and if you love what you experience, share it with friends and family to make sales and grow your team.

The cost to start a business is only $29 which is actually pretty cheap I will admit. Apparently this gives people their own website and the ability to earn commissions. You also get some basic training and mentoring from your upline as a distributor. 

Becoming Commission Qualified

To maintain an ‘active’ status which allows you to make commissions on your downlines activity you will need to have at least 100PV in your account each month. Based on their current price list, this equates to purchasing at least $148 per month on auto-ship.

Ways You Can Earn

There are various ways you can earn with the company and I’ll break these down for you now.​

Retail Commissions

You can buy at wholesale and sell at retail or have people buy directly from your replicated website and earn the difference between your wholesale pricing and what the customer pays at your online store. There is also a $4.95 handling fee subtracted from you commission if you go the direct website route.

You can earn retail commissions at any level of this company and to do so you won’t need to buy any product yourself. Just pay the $29 (or $39 without an auto-ship) and you can buy at wholesale and sell at retail.

It is important to understand that anyone can sign up for $29-$39 though, and with the immediate savings I doubt many are going to be paying retail.

Make no mistake, the majority of your income will come from building your downline. 

Building Your Downline

This is the bread and butter of the compensation plan and where the majority of money is going to be made. In a nutshell, if you recruit people you make money on the volume of business your organisation does. The more you recruit and the more volume your organisation accumulates, the more you will rank within the company and the more commissions you make as a result.

It works on a binary ‘cycle’ system where you have a left and right sales team. Every time your better performing team reaches a certain level of GV (group volume which is just points associated with products) and your lesser performing team reaches a certain level of GV, you reach 1 cycle.

By reaching 1 cycle you get paid a ‘team bonus’ and this can happen many times over based on the sales within your organisation.

Since most people wanting to be in business will need to buy product each month to accumulate their own required PV (personal volume) to stay active, you’ll make money on those product sales in the form of GV (group volume).

Bonuses & Incentives

There are various performance based incentives in place for people which is nothing new. There’s all kinds of fancy names and different ways to earn, but the nuts and bolts are there is the three above main ways to earn like in any mlm. Retail, downline commissions and bonuses.

Isagenix Seminars

The Isagenix seminars and conventions may present valuable information, but from what I have seen, it looks more like going to a party. Which is common among MLM companies, these events are all about learning and networking, but they’re also designed to get you pumped.

Which is cool and all, but to be honest it’s a bit of a turn off for me. 

I personally like to get my hands on real nuts and bolts training and business building strategies as oppose to watching people dance on stage. 

I was in MLM once and I really didn’t like this, it almost felt like I was part of some kind of religion or something. Where instead of learning real business skills, it’s all about motivation.

I’m not saying it’s like that with Isagenix, I haven’t joined this company, but it does look similar to what I’ve experienced in the past.

In any case, these seminars are deemed as key to growing your business. And they aren’t free, you often need to pay to attend, as well as for accommodation etc. So you should probably factor this into the starting and running costs if you want to get involved with Isagenix.

Final Thoughts

If you love the Isagenix products and you genuinely believe they are worth buying, then becoming an Isagenix distributor could be a great way to get those products cheaper and make a few extra bucks on the side, promoting products you like.

And, yes, you could even make a full time income doing this.

However, most people don’t get to that point. So you should know that becoming successful with Isagenix will take time and consistent effort. It’s also a business model that mostly suits those who love networking and selling face to face.

Which means you need to be comfortable with talking to strangers (often) about joining your business opportunity, and facing a lot of rejection along the way. That’s just the way network marketing is, regardless of which company you join.

Also, unless you want to speak to everyone you know about your business, in an attempt to recruit them, you’ll need to learn how to do internet marketing. Because you absolutely need to generate leads on a consistent basis if you want to be successful.

In any case, whatever you decide, I hope you found this helpful.