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Introduction: The Advantages of A Network Marketing Business in the Wellness Industry

You are about to launch or have already launched your new network marketing business in the Wellness Industry. Because of the nature of your new business, you have certain advantages over the legion of other entrepreneurs who start up new businesses each year.

What are the principal advantages you have with this kind of business? Here are just eight of the most important ones:

1. W—Wellness Advantage. You are part of the “Wellness Industry”—one of the most robust and promising sectors of the economy—with a prospect of becoming the next trillion-dollar sector.

2. E—Easy to learn. The skills and procedures needed for success are easy to acquire and put into practice.

3. L—Leveraged income = residual income. By empowering partners in your business, you can generate residual income from the very beginning—using a system that works for you 24-hours a day.

4. L—Low overhead. Your new business is relatively inexpensive to launch. You can begin immediately, with low overhead and low start-up costs. Your long-term investment will largely be in time and energy.

5. N—No time clock. This is an ultimately flexible enterprise. You control your time involvement, with complete freedom and flexibility to accommodate and balance your various personal, family, and professional needs.

6. E—Expandable. You can start part-time, if you choose. You can follow your own preferred growth pathway. You can proceed systematically at your own pace and then advance to allow your business to become your dominant full-time career.

7.  S—Self-directed. You are your own boss. You are the president of your own company—with the opportunity to expand and grow in almost unlimited scope, based on your personal commitment, creativity, and leadership.

8.  S—Satisfaction of helping others in a noble cause. You can have the satisfaction of knowing that you are adding value to the lives of those you serve.

Let’s discuss each of these eight advantages to your new business—including the pros and cons.

 The Wellness Advantage

First of all, you have what I call the “Wellness Advantage.” Most probably your business operates within a unique and vitally important emerging sector of the marketing world that has compelling potential—the wellness sector. The wellness sector is part of the larger health arena of the economy.

There are three mega-players in the health arena: (1) the pharmaceuticals, which provide an endless flow of medical products through health-care providers and retail outlets; (2) the health-care providers themselves (doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics); and (3) the food industry.

The total health care bill in the U.S. amounts to around $1.4 trillion dollars annually. The food industry adds another $1 trillion dollars a year to the bill. At the current rate, health-care costs could double over the next decade—a frightening prospect. The majority of our health-care problems derive from life-style factors—poor diet and nutrition, lack of exercise, and inadequate rest. Unless something is done to improve lifestyle patterns in this country in a major way, health care costs by the middle of the century could absorb literally all of our financial resources. That would be a tragedy of immense consequences—and it doesn’t need to happen.

You are the Solution

The good news is that you are doing something about it. One of the most promising economic developments of our day is the emergence of a fourth industry related to health—the wellness industry. In many respects, the current mainstream health sector of the economy is really a sickness sector, since it is reactive—responding largely when we get sick. The wellness industry, on the other hand, is a proactive sector of the economy; its main thrust is to prevent illness before it happens and sustain healthy life-style patterns of behavior. The wellness industry includes a variety of initiatives to support health and wellness through the application of such initiatives as more prudent dietary choices, the use of scientifically-validated food supplements (including vitamins and minerals), increasing exercise opportunities, weight-loss programs, fostering proper rest, and the like. You play a key roll in this new emerging wellness industry.

“Intellectual Distribution”

As with any emerging industry, the wellness industry is driven by education—the need to explain itself to its end-users so that they understand the benefits of the products being presented. Since wellness products, by and large, are not yet impulse items like those found on the shelves of retail outlets, a special kind of distribution methodology is needed to increase market share and bring these kinds of products into wider circulation among the consuming public.

This kind of distribution methodology is something called “intellectual distribution” (to use a term coined by the economist, Paul Zane Pilzer). It contrasts with the normal “physical distribution” that is the mainstay of commercial practice. Physical distribution is simply handling the delivery of relatively familiar products to retail shelves, whereas intellectual distribution adds the dimension of educating the end-user about correct applications and associated benefits. That is why direct sales of the type featured in multi-level marketing plans are a perfect fit for this kind of product.

Clients Rather Than Customers

In this context, it is important to understand the differentiation of terms: a customer is someone who buys products or services; a client is someone who engages the professional advice or services of another person—in most cases in relation to new or emerging products or services that require applied knowledge for maximum benefit. Thus network marketing companies don’t have “customers” in the traditional sense, but only “clients.” Such companies, if they remain focused on their mission of intellectual distribution, are committed to educating their clients concerning the improvement of life style using wellness protocols and products.

The point is this: you are an “intellectual distributor.” Your business is “intellectual distribution.” You are teaching people and groups in the market place why they need important new wellness products and how they should use these products for maximum benefit. You are playing a key role in the emergence of a vitally important new economic development, the “wellness industry.” You are stepping out in front of a parade that has the potential to revolutionize the way people live and conduct their daily lives in the interests of well-being and happiness. No wonder you are excited about your new business!

The Bottom Line: One Trillion Dollars

As yet, the wellness industry is still somewhat in its infancy—constituting only around $200 billion in revenues per year in contrast to the trillions of dollars associated with the health-care industry, pharmaceuticals, and the food industry. The health food supplement segment of the wellness industry is currently only a $30 billion dollar per year segment (out of $200 billion)—but with enormous opportunity for growth.

This emerging wellness industry is on the threshold of an explosion that could make it the next trillion-dollar industry, according to economist Paul Zane Pilzer. What enhances the explosive potential of the wellness industry is the urgent state of affairs in America and many other developed countries concerning the rapid decline of general wellness among all age groups. For example, fully two-thirds of adults in America are overweight—and nearly half of these are clinically obese. The number of those victimized by these conditions has nearly doubled over the past two decades. Degenerative diseases are on rise in epidemic proportions, including heart and circulatory illness and diabetes. Adult-on-set diabetes is now taking its toll among youth in frightening measure for the first time in history.

Surely wellness advocates in the direct-selling industry (especially network marketing) have a productive and fertile arena in which to add value to today’s population. They can offer their clients helpful choices to improve life style and wellness dramatically. Once such clients have had fulfilling experiences in applying such products, they will typically become loyal consumers of wellness products and services long into the future. Thus, the wellness sector of the economy is the most promising of all—for it offers what no one can effectively be without: a healthier body and a healthier mind. That is now your business; that is now your opportunity.

The Flip Side of the Coin

Be aware, however, that there is a flip side to this attractive coin. It’s easy to get excited about the “wellness advantage” that serves as the framework for your new business. This segment of the economy is truly promising. At the same time, it is prudent to be aware of the special challenges associated with this kind of business:

• Education. You need to gain knowledge. Otherwise, you will not be able to serve effectively as an “intellectual distributor.” You need to understand the science behind the products you represent and the special techniques for applying these products for maximum benefit.

• Consistency. You need to ensure that your growing product array is consistent with the “wellness” concept—not ever straying too far away from the commitment to add wellness value to your market place. If you become a committed wellness expert, you should stay in that arena and not become distracted with widgets of another ilk.

• Competition. You may face considerable competition. Because wellness is a fertile field, there are many players at work to satisfy the demand. Therefore, know your competition very well—and be able to defend your product line as superior on the basis of its proven qualities and benefits.

The second article in this series features items 2 and 3 above in the list of advantages of an MLM business in the Wellness Industry: 1) "E" - Easy to Learn, and 2) "L" - Leveraged income = residual income (W-E-L-L-N-E-S-S).

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