From: abulloch@garnet.berkeley.edu (Anthony Bulloch)
Newsgroups: alt.business.multi-level
Subject: Re: Is NuSkin a MLM?
Followup-To: alt.business.multi-level
Date: 19 Aug 1992 06:29:35 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Aug18.152553@ties.bell-atl.com>                         
df2tg2n@shoes.bell-atl.com writes:

>>I have some friends who sell NuSkin products.  I believe it used to be
>>called something else.  They insist it is an incredible business
>>opportunity (for them, they don't try and sell me).  They also insist that
>>people just above them make tons of money which they hope to do by
>>recruiting others.
>>
>>What is this?

Yes, Nu Skin International is an MLM. It has always been called Nu Skin.
(MLMs do sometimes go in for name-transplants, but mostly only when they're
trying to salvage something from a failure; Nu Skin has known only
success, apart from a small blip in 1991.)

Personally I agree that this is one of the best business opportunities
around, but then I would think that as I am a Nu Skin distributor myself...
[It is often the mode in this business to behave as if one's own MLM
were the *only* possible venture that anyone could consider. Understandable,
since 'enthusiasm' (or should it be Enthusiasm?) is thought to be a
critical factor when communicating with others - maybe it's just my
natural English reserve and distaste for anything that isn't understated,
but it does seem to me that the most hype is expressed by those who have
not yet made it and who wouldn't know Willie Loman if they met him.]

The history of Nu Skin is a remarkable story: from $5,000 working capital
8 years ago to annual sales of $500 million in 1991, and all done without
any debt. There was a pause and a shake-out last year, while the wild
claims of some distributors caught up with them (and the company, who had
let all that ride for a bit too long, in my opinion), and while the
Attorney General of Michigan made his own wild claims and made them last
for the duration of his campaign for Governor (they turned out to have,
surprise surprise, no substance, but AG Mitchell burnished his image
as a Consumer Advocate meanwhile). Now even AGs are pointing the other way:
a few weeks ago the AG for Florida stated, in a public address, that Nu Skin  
is so good a company that it is now the criterion by which all other MLMs
wil be judged....! Apart from these distractions the growth has
been pretty spectacular. Nu Skin opened in Canada in 1990, in Hong Kong
and Taiwan in 1991, will open very soon in Australia, New Zealand and
Japan, and in the course of 1993-4 in 30 or so more countries in addition
(including Europe). They have just (June 18) opened a brand new division
devoted to sports nutrition and weight management (real middle-of-the-
road stuff, no dieting, and based squarely on the latest university research
and high-technology) and seem, yet again, to have their finger on the
pulse of the great American middle-class. They are said to have more
divisions planned in the years ahead, including travel services, as well
as other (sub-)markets targetted such as oral hygiene, men's products,
fragrances, sports equipment etc. which are each multi-billion $$ areas;
so distributors who stay with the company can expect ever new markets to
explore. Nu Skin put a lot of emphasis on building a business plan which
rewards tenacious and creative distributors, and has the reputation of
having paid some of the highest commission cheques in the history of MLMs.
Certainly there are many for whom the company's history of growth has
brought great wealth, and they are mostly not the 'insider' people.
My own sponsor, for example, went bankrupt in his own realty-based business
6 years ago, joined Nu Skin, struggled on meagre commissions for three years
and then reached success - his current monthly commissions exceed $200,000...
(The average monthly income of the top category of distributor, the so-called
Blue Diamonds, is $74,000.) So you can see why the new generation of
distributors looks with a mixture of hope, envy and ambition at this
company: and it seems not too outlandish to anticipate, on the basis of
the track record so far, that many new fortunes will be made in the coming
years.

Of course that is based on the hope/expectation that the company's touch
will continue to be sure, but that's not unreasonable as a hope. Most
active distributors discover, after a while, that they are dealing with a
_very_ shrewd company, with, as one analyst put it in 1990, a Fortune 500
management. They're based in Utah, yet manage to remain diverse, with
people of all ethnic groups and religious persuasions (or none); it seems
typical, somehow, that at the same time as they are preparing to introduce
ethnic hair-care products they are also making sure that all products
are kosher and will carry the Circle U Kosher approval. I find them
impressive, and I know of only one other company from my own experience
that exhibits the same rare combination of vision, breadth and intelligence.
(Please note: I say from my experience - I know that there are other
top quality companies out there, but I have no experience of them, and I
do know from personal observation and direct report that there are many 
companies in MLM that are cynical, sharp and even quite crooked.)

Well, this turned out to be a rather long reply to that simple question,
What is this? Some recent posts to this group urged distributors from
companies other than Amway to speak up - I guess I did.

Anthony Bulloch
abulloch@garnet.berkeley.edu

Newsgroups: alt.oobe,alt.config,alt.dreams,alt.paranormal,alt.consciousness