Hey there sea changers, and welcome back to my series of MLM reviews. Today we are going to a take look into another supplements program with my ViSalus MLM Review. The online sale of supplements can be an extremely lucrative opportunity with many making a good living selling items via online stores and affiliate marketing. Added to this obviously is the array of supplement based multi level marketing programs that are available.

So, what is the ViSalus MLM program all about? Let’s have a look and find out…

What is MLM?

Multi-level marketing (MLM) programs are the traditional mainstay of the ‘party plan’ world of products such as Tupperware, Mary Kay and Amway etc. and, of course within the supplements market. And as MLMs have become more popular in recent times – mainly due to the fact that much of the sales and marketing is now being managed online – more and more companies are starting to get in on the action.

The ‘multi level’ aspects of MLM come from its hierarchical nature in which you make commissions based not only on those that you sell to, but also the sales of those whom you ‘sign’ into membership arrangements as well.

In short, the process works as follows:

1. You join the program, either via referral from another person (known as your up line) or directly through their website.
2. You promote the products of the company via parties, workshops or online.
3. As you make sales, you offer incentives to your customers to sign up as a member of the program (there are different names for this but they all mean the same thing).
4. That new member is then placed ‘underneath’ you in a hierarchical arrangement (known as your down line).
5. You, and a number of levels of your up line, then gain extra commissions for everything they sell as well.
6. If they manage to refer their customers into memberships, they also become a member of your down line allowing you to make up line commissions as well.

The number of levels of your up and down lines will vary depending on the program you have joined. Commission rates will also change as your down line grows or contracts and many will also offer other incentives such as total company sales percentages and/or access to membership prizes as your own business grows.

Who are ViSalus?

ViSalus was founded  in 1997 by Nick Sarnicola and Blake Mallen.  To be honest, there is no other information in regards to the company on the website (I located the founder details on Wikipedia).

ViSalus is based in Los Angeles, CA in the United States.

What do they sell?

Focused on their “Body by Vi Challenge”, they offer a range of supplements and meal replacement products aimed at health and weight loss.  Most are purchased as part of packs as displayed below:

Individual items appear to fall into the low to medium price range of around $8 to $100 per product.

MLM Program outline

The ViSalus MLM program calls their members ‘Distributors’ who are part of what appears to be a simple program with a common retail and downline commission structure and a good number of bonus options included. I couldn’t find their compensation plan on their website however it did pop up on a simple web search so here are the basics as I have found them…

Sales discount: 25% (for direct sales profits)

Base Commission rate: 10% to 25%

Down line commission rates: 5% to 8 levels (level 1 down line is 5% – rank Associate and above)

Minimum monthly spend to qualify for commissions

To qualify for downline commissions, Distributors are required to meet monthly BV targets of at least 200 per month. This can be made of personal or customer sales. Base 25% direct sales commissions however can be earned without the need to meet or maintain sales targets.

Payment terms: Monthly.

Application required?: Yes, Application form on website.

Purchase requirements to join: Yes

New Distributors are required to purchase a Starter kit as follows:

Marketing materials provided: As per starter kit above.

Within most MLM programs, rankings and commissions are determined by the total bonus volume (PV) generated by the Distributor and their down line within a calendar month with points assigned to each product. These point allocations can range from 40 to 80% of the retail price of each product (before tax and shipping) and vary from item to item and currency of sale.

In the case of the ViSalus MLM program, BV is calculated as follows:

All volume is imported at 100% Bonus Volume (BV). When the 15% Personal Customer Commission level is achieved, Bonus Volume (BV) is imported at 80% for upline team commissions. When the 20% Personal Customer Commission level is achieved, BV is imported at 60% for upline team commissions. When the 25% Personal Customer Commission level is achieved, BV is imported at 40% for upline team commissions. First $200 in personal Bonus Volume (BV) is not applied to Personal Customer Commissions. (See Personal Customer Commissions below).

How can I get paid?

Ok, so from what I can garner from the compensation plan, there are 10 ways in which Distributors can make money when they promote and sell ViSalus products items. These are fairly straight forward and there are a few of the extra bonuses found in many other MLM arrangements. The 10 payment options for the ViSalus MLM program are outlined as follows:

1. Direct Sales

Direct sales are the base commissions earned by the general day to day retail sales that Distributors can generate via parties, popups, social media or online via their personalized website.  The commission is earned via the difference between the discount price offered to the distributor and the retail price for the customer.

Distributors do not need to meet sales targets to earn direct sales commissions.

2. Personal Customer Commissions

Personal Customer Commissions are a sliding scale paid on personal, retail and preferred customer sales over $200 in BV cumulative per month. There are four tiers of personal commissions based on sale volume as follows:

As above, to qualify for the first 10% level, Distributors are required to meet a minimum sales target of 200BV or above.

3. First Order Bonus

The first order bonus is paid to sponsors who are able to recruit new members who make purchases at sign up and is paid to the first four Active upline Associates as follows:

Power Seller Bonus payments are made in addition to Personal Sales Commissions.

4. Rising Star Weekly Enroller’s Pool

The Weekly Enroller’s Pool is special company revenue sharing  incentive reserved exclusively for Rising Stars – i.e. New Distributors who reach the rank of Director within their first 30 days in the program.

The bonus pool is 2% of the total company Bonus Volume (BV) from the previous four weeks and paid as follows:

5. Fast Start Bonus

The Fast Start Bonus is paid to Distributors at Director level and above based on the products that are sold within each Executive Success System (ESS)in their team.  This bonus also increases with rank as follows:

6. Team Commissions

Team  Commissions are ViSalus’ version of the traditional unilevel commission structures prevalent within many MLM programs. Within the ViSalus MLM program, commissions are paid to 8 levels based on the rank of the Distributor as follows:

Distributors must be at rank of Associate and above to qualify for Team Commissions.

7. Leadership Depth Bonus

The Leadership Depth Bonus is paid on top of the Team Commissions above for Distributors at rank of Ambassador or above.  Here they earn an extra 4% commission once their downline reaches level 9 to 19 and 2% for every level at 20 and above.

8. BMW Bonus

The BMW Bonus is a common bonus option for many MLM programs for members higher ranks.  In this case, those at Regional Director and above qualify to join the prestigious Bimmer Club and become eligible for a monthly BMW Bonus that goes toward a ViSalus–branded black BMW.

9. Leadership Pool

The leadership pool is another common MLM bonus aimed at higher ranks where, like the rising star pool above, 2% of total company Bonus Volume (BV) is distributed via a points scale as below:

10. Ambassador Star Bonus

The Ambassador Star Bonus is paid to higher ranks who promote ongoing personal development and education and is paid to Star Ambassadors based on Vi-Net® Pro/SUCCESS Subscriptions within their organization as follows:

Ranking structure

ViSalus, as with most MLM programs, uses ranking structures on which to base commission payments and other bonuses upon. Rankings for the ViSalus MLM program are as follows (note personal and team sales qualification targets as well):

Again, as is common with almost all MLM programs, rank progression is determined by both the number of members within the Distributor’s down line, and the total sales made by those members per month. Ranks can rise and fall based on the ability (or dis-ability) to reach the required member and sales targets.

What is good about it?

So, after a good look around the site and looking at all the options I could find, I do like the following:

• Commission rates for entry level sales are good.
• Program is simple and easy to follow.
• Commissions can be earned without the need to meet sales targets

What is no so good about it?

There are also some things to be aware of including:

• There are some joining costs.
• The founders have been involved in a number of legal proceedings concerning fraud, pyramid selling and heavy handed sales techniques via the use of robocalls.

How much can you make?

ViSalus does not provide an income disclosure statement on its website however as with most MLM programs, it has to be assumed from the compensation plan that the percentage of members making the upper rank levels – and hence earning a living – is very low (usually less than 1%).

My final thoughts

Look, MLM is not an easy platform to make money in and there is not much that I have seen here to put this program above the many others I have seen. However, the program is pretty straight forward with common commission arrangements and the ability to make sales online or via kiosks etc. So if you are interested in the weightloss supplement niche with a large customer list at your disposal and the ability to generate good sales via online processes, then the25% base commission rates might just appeal here.

Once you have joined, there are not the usual financial pressures of needing to make minimum personal purchases in order to qualify for commissions as long as you can make them within your down line. Although from what I can see, I think if you are going to succeed within this MLM program, you will need to have a good array of demonstration stock on hand.

Apart from their documents legal issues, I was unable to locate any negative reviews in terms of products etc. although there were some negative comments (not as many as most others however) about the quality of customer service and the MLM program itself – although it was not really anything that is uncommon in regards to MLM programs or products within this niche.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my honest review and appraisal of the ViSalus MLM program. I hope it has been of assistance but as usual, if you have any questions or experience with this program please do not hesitate to reach out by commenting below – especially if any of my information is inaccurate.

Are there any other programs you have been looking at but want to know more about? If so, please comment below and I will do my best to get some details for you.

Do you want further assistance with any of the above or need help to build your own weightloss/supplements based website?

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Until next time

Have fun

Paul

Note: If you make a purchase from this page, there is a very good chance that I make a commission from it – these commissions do not increase your sale price. This may include sales made via Wealthy Affiliate.