How To Know If You're Part Of A Fitness MLM Scheme

If you get a message out of the blue from a friend or co-worker touting a diet plan or work-from-home opportunity, it's a sure bet you're being asked to join a wellness MLM. Coaches and consultants are urged to start building their network of sellers through people they know personally (via HuffPost). You might get invited to a party or presentation, where an upper-level consultant will share stories of weight lost, health conditions cured, and sellers going from pinching pennies to buying dream homes. "Anyone can do this," the presenter assures you. "Invest in yourself. Believe in your future."

Before you commit to joining an MLM, be aware that it's not the same as opening your own business. A HuffPost report on MLMs reveals that consultants are subject to the company's rules about how they can operate, down to the language they can use to sell the products. Because consultants' income comes primarily from commissions off their own sales teams, you'll also need to put in the time and energy to build a network. You'll be the one reaching out to old college roommates, and then pushing them to get customers. 

Exercise physiologist Chrissy Giorgetti has spoken to numerous Beachbody "fitness coaches." They report being required to send out 60 "cold messages" to potential recruits every day, and to tout the products on social media. "I think the worst part of it, though, is that they call themselves coaches," she writes. "There is no certification process for becoming a Beachbody coach."