Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello all! My last thread was about how I'm new to San Diego...being that I'm new I dont know many people I'd like to find out some info from ya'll. I'm going to be signing up as an Arbonne Consultant very soon and would like to get a feel for how many people know what Arbonne is, how many like Arbonne products, if you or people you know are interested in having Arbonne parties, or if you have ever thought about selling Arbonne. If anyone here does sell Arbonne I would love to chat with you!
If you dont know what it is, it's a Health and Wellness product line (thats making it very basic just so you have an idea of what it is).
I'm really trying to get a feel for this before I jump into it. Your responses would be much appreciated!! Thank you all in advance!
Hello all! My last thread was about how I'm new to San Diego...being that I'm new I dont know many people I'd like to find out some info from ya'll. I'm going to be signing up as an Arbonne Consultant very soon and would like to get a feel for how many people know what Arbonne is, how many like Arbonne products, if you or people you know are interested in having Arbonne parties, or if you have ever thought about selling Arbonne. If anyone here does sell Arbonne I would love to chat with you!
If you dont know what it is, it's a Health and Wellness product line (thats making it very basic just so you have an idea of what it is).
I'm really trying to get a feel for this before I jump into it. Your responses would be much appreciated!! Thank you all in advance!
First off, you're not going to get much support and/or credible information from people that have not only never heard of Arbonne, but also have a jaded view of network marketing. This is true both online and in real life. Anyone that thinks that Avon is a pyramid scheme or something similiar, obviously has incorrect information about the business model of network marketing. I guess Warren Buffet and his company, Berkshire Hathaway, are uninformed too because they purchased Pampered Chef, another direct sales company which uses the network marketing business model a while back.
I can't emphasize this enough: you must be the type of person that has the ability to listen to cr*p and let it roll off of you or you will be dead in the water before you even start.
***I have never been with Arbonne, but I am very familiar with direct sales and the business model of network marketing and how the industry works. I've been involved since 1994. These are my comments; I hope they are helpful to you:
Before you sign up with Arbonne, make sure that you are a person that can live with delayed results as you will put in much time, effort, and money into your business before you start seeing results.
To answer your question about Arbonne, there are successful Arbonne distributors all over the country. Have you done network marketing/direct sales before? That's going to be a big factor in your success or lack thereof. You're going to find that people are going to be buying "you" (not Arbonne) as it pertains to both the business as well as the products. It is irrelevant how many people have heard or not heard of Arbonne, as there are always people coming and going, interested and not interested in anything. You will have to hold the torch of excitement until you can light the fire under those who want what you want.
Becoming successful with Arbonne or any other health & wellness company that uses network marketing as a business model is going to require product and business training (a lot of it). Talking to another Arbonne associate will not cut it because there are successful and unsuccessful Arbonne associates, real estate associates, pretty much any business that is 100% commission-based. Just because someone else is successful and someone else is unsuccessful really doesn't mean much because in this industry, because in this, it's all about you.
A good number of successful people in network marketing have done it for years before they join this company or that company. This is something that most network companies don't divulge. They make it sound like "anyone can do this." Actually, they can't. This is what leads to so many people dropping out and then telling the whole world about their negative experience with the network marketing model. Direct sales/network marketing is NOT for those who can only grasp the idea of working for someone else and getting paid for x number of hours worked. In direct sales/network marketing, there is no such coorelation between number of hours worked and dollars paid.
You have to have the type of personality that can hear "no, I'm not interested" and withstand being jacked around all the time by people who have no interest in your product or business, but don't want to hurt your feelings by saying, "no" and not let it bother you. You have to have a bit of street smarts and be able to read people, especially women, because women are the buyers - PERIOD. You have to be the kind of woman that can and enjoys building relationships with people, especially women. The relationships have to be built first, and then the business will follow.
Selling Arbonne will be a slow process at first, but if you stick with it and keep building your network of associates and customers, you will start earning credible money. Initially, you will have to have another source of money coming in or you will constantly hamper your business growth if you don't have money to buy products, business tools, or enough money for an advertising budget. If your sponsor or someone else is telling you otherwise, don't believe them because think about it logically. If you would start another business (any type of business), you need some money to get it going, to keep it going while you build it and income starts being generated. And even then, as a new business, you need to reinvest your earnings so that you can keep growing your business. That's how this works as well.
My best recommendation is to make sure that your sponsor is successful or at least works with an upline who is successful and/or becoming successful, knows how to market and is willing to teach you. If the extent of their marketing is to make a list of 100 people that you know and then contact each and every one, etc., my advice is to run. Yes, you can contact people you know (if you haven't burned them with other businesses you did in the past), but that should not be your only marketing arm. Make sure that your sponsor has other ways of marketing your Arbonne business in order to expand and grow.
Make sure that your sponsor or upline is a good people person and a good trainer who has time to train your properly. Make sure that YOU have time to be trained properly as your sponsor or upline are not magic workers. Both components have to be in place for this to work.
There are women out there in San Diego and elsewhere who are looking for both health & wellness as well as business, because there certainly isn't much else around for people nowadays regardless of education. Women know this too well, especially the ones that have put their careers on hold while raising their kids and when they try to integrate themselves back into the workforce, they're met with a brick wall.
San Diego is a good place for direct sales (I have a good number of associates and clients that live in San Diego) because people there value looking good and will spend time and money on health & wellness & beauty. There are also a good number of entrepreneurs there as well.
Find a company that has a product that is consumable. Get involved with a trend that will last a while (health & wellness & beauty), and get a good sponsor. Check the credibility of the company. Check out the Direct Sales Association. Direct Selling Association | Ethics, Trust, Confidence..
I know people who have been with Arbonne, some are still in it, some are not (some that do indeed live in San Diego). Neither San Diego nor Arbonne has anything to do with success or lack there of. It has to do with a career that is 100% commission based and time-consuming with sometimes little financial results.
Success or lack thereof has to do with the associate/distributor and how business-minded, assertive, teachable, patient, the associate is. Since direct sales is primarily made up of women, there are a good number of them that don't give enough time and effort to make their businesses work because women give everyone else in their lives time and attention before they give their own business attention (and funding). Many women don't devote enough time and financial resources to their business in order to make it successful. I will tell you 100% that if you want to make Arbonne a career that pays like a career, you will have to work very hard for an extended period of time, invest time and money and sometimes barely see any results at the beginning. However, if you can stick with it like a traditional business sticks with it before they see big profits coming, you can and will become successful.
Make sure that your significant other (if there is one) is supportive of your decision to join Arbonne, otherwise, you can kiss your success good-bye. I can't emphasize this enough. If you have someone breathing down your neck constantly about how much time and money you're spending on your business, it is something that will wear you down through time and when things come to a standstill or break-through point in your business (which is how it happens as your business grows, there will be ebbs and flows), it is very easy to give in to someone that is putting the screws to you and you just want the pressure to go away. I've seen it happen many times in my own business as I've worked with others. The discouraging person can be man or woman; I've seen it both ways.
The nice thing is that you don't have to mortgage your house and other assets so that you can start a business like you would have to buying or starting a traditional brick and mortar business. It's easy to get in and easy to get out. This is why so many people start and quit constantly. This is a direct sales business, and the product you're selling is yourself, that's the best way I can explain it to you. Customers will buy product because of you, how you market it to them, present it to them, sell it to them. Other business associates will join your organization based on how much they trust you to know what you're doing and how to help them become successful as well. That's what it boils down to. I wish you the best.
The Arbonne market is saturated here in Phoenix AZ. I am not sure how the San Diego market is. Close friends of mine have been deeply involved for the past 5 years, and you should know that Arbonne declared Bankruptcy in January. In the event that you already do know that, then you should probably rightfully fear it. One acquaintance who had risen far up the ranks and was a VP just lost her little white mercedes this year, followed shortly by her home to foreclosure. She had no college education and had bounced around from flight attendant, to realtor, to Arbonne. (standard procedure)
At 22 years old, I really think you should strongly consider a college education and long term career goals. The problem with any MLM (which Arbonne is) has basis in the fact that absolutely any Jane Doe can jump in, and will if she smells easy money. It is mathematically impossible for anyone but the top 1 or 2% to make money. Arbonne was forced to post the % of their consultants at each level that are making a positive income after expenses, due to legal threats. Take a look. That percentage is pretty dismal. And even if you do reach a VP level and drive the white mercedes, you face the constant possibilty of demotion as people below will pass you if you do not continue to recruit.
Just some things to consider....
Last edited by HonestOne1; 12-13-2010 at 01:13 PM..
Wow...thank you all for responding. Just to clarify some things, I'm not looking to do this for easy cash nor am I looking at this as a career. I have sold products like this for another company before and it was going well however I had a job that I was more worried about that was paying great. I just recently moved to San Diego to help a couple friends and this is the most important thing to do in my life right now. So I'm not looking for a career as I have more important things to take care of right now rather than having the "normal" job. I do have a great sponsor who has been with the company for 5 years and is doing very well for herself. As for school, that is another great part of my life right now...I have the flexibility to sell Arbonne for extra cash and flexibility to go to school. \
I'm simply looking to find out how many people on this site know what it is and if they did I wanted to know their thoughts on the product line.
Thank you all for your responses it's much appreciated!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
