Let me say upfront that I am not a distributor for Shaklee Products. But I do believe it is important for people to understand the products they may be selling within the Shaklee business and that they get this information from a third party observer.

As is the case with most “old school” MLM companies Shaklee is very product driven. It is a company that is well known for having a high standard in all their products. That being said, before you join the company as a distributor it is important to know a little bit about Shaklee products, whether you would be happy to promote them and whether you would use them yourself. In any MLM you must be passionate about your product and company or you are very unlikely to get anyone else to be interested.

Shaklee’s mission is to provide healthier and more environmentally friendly products for people.

Nutrional Shaklee Products

Shaklee started as as nutritional supplement company, so there is still a big focus on nutrition within Shaklee’s Product Range. The nutrition products range from sports drinks to vitamins, etc. They have a strong focus on health. For example their “Performance” sport drink has no sucrose, artificial sweeteners or caffeine.

Weightloss Shaklee Products

Shaklee’s main weight loss products is the Cinch program. They claim that this product helps you lose fat and maintain muscle. As with nearly every weight loss program out there Shaklee has examples of people who have been wildly successful with it, but there are others out there who didn’t see the same success.

Beauty Shaklee Products

The Shaklee beauty range is very in keeping with the brand. It focuses on vitamins for the skin. The idea is that if you are giving your skin the correct vitamins it can help maintain the health of the skin, thus making the user more beautiful. Undoubtedly, it is very important to use good skincare products and Shaklees focus on natural health and beauty puts it a step above your average beauty products.

Home Cleaning Shaklee Products

As with all Shaklee products the cleaning range is very “green”. The focus has been to get the same cleaning power without the toxins and chemicals you might find in most household cleaners. As is the case with most green products, you are simply not going to get the same results as with your generic store bought cleaners. These days you can also find a lot of natural and chemical free products in your local supermarket that will be a lot cheaper.

Shaklee products focus on being “naturally safe, proven effective.” As a distributor you have to remember that there must be a significant mark-up on products to provide enough profits for the company and the distributors. This means the products will be more expensive than their grocery store equivalents. If you are successful in your business and love the products this will not pose much of a problem, but as you are growing your business and using the products yourself this expense may prove to be difficult to manage.

Shaklee products definitely have a strong reputation, but as an older network marketing company Shaklee’s training is very outdated and Shaklee reps are getting left behind in today’s internet marketing world. Shaklee doesn’t show their reps how to actually market Shaklee products, and there is very little help on growing your team. To learn how to market, create cashflow and leads for your Shaklee business visit the exclusive Shaklee Training Center.

Shaklee Reviews – the Company

Shaklee is one of the older network marketing companies that is still existing. It was founded in 1956 by Forrest C Shaklee as a way to market his multi-vitamins. The company has grown over the years and now has over 750,000 distributors around the world. It has changed hands several times over the years (now owned by Roger Barnett), but has retained the same principles and values, and kept its network marketing model. It is rare in the network marketing field for a company to maintain such stability over such a long period of time and provide an income opportunity in the long term to its reps. However, one of the major differences between Shaklee and other more modern network marketing companies is it takes much longer to grow a substantial income. With any MLM older than 10 years you have to consider the possibility of market saturation. Will everyone you approach already have heard of Shaklee? Is all the money only being made by the people who got in early?

Shaklee Compensation Plan Review

In other Shaklee reviews I have seen people call this “too complicated to describe”. If the compensation plan is too difficult for you to understand consider that it may be difficult to describe to others you are trying to get to join the business. There are several ways to earn, the most basic being when you sell products to customers or to other distributors you get to join the business you earn a percentage commission. To maximize the bonuses and get the highest percentages you have to be ordering a certain amount of products yourself every month (100 points volume or around $135 according to Shaklee literature). You also need to get others to do the same. What can be difficult is convincing others that they need to order a high volume of products. This kind of compensation plan is all about volume. In order to make any decent money you need a HUGE organization. If you are looking at Shaklee reviews considering if this company is a good match for you, consider what you are looking for. If you are looking to replace your income it will require a lot of work and a true love of the company.

Shaklee Products Review

This area is by far the strongest point for Shaklee. Their products are completely focused on being “naturally safe, proven effective”. The strong reputation of the products has kept Shaklee going for many years when other aspects of the company have let it down. The products started with the multi-vitamin range but have since branched out to skin care, weight loss, and home cleaning. They are always all natural and “green”.

Shaklee Training

This is probably the poorest area for Shaklee. As an “old-school” MLM company they have focused on the “ask your friends and family” technique. They suggest that you simply switch all your home and health products to Shaklee and convince a few other people you know to do the same. The problem is in most of their literature they suggest that you convert 6 others to using over $100 of Shaklee products a month. This is frankly unrealistic, and you are far more likely to drive away all your friends and family than get six distributors this way. If you do get the distributors you need to then get them to do the same. This means you need to be able to provide better training than the company is providing.

It is of course possible to become a success in the Shaklee opportunity and various Shaklee reviews will demonstrate that the company has a good reputation. Consider what you are looking for in a company and if Shaklee is definitely for you then make sure you get great training so you and your team can be successful. Start by visiting the Exclusive Shaklee Training Center with in-depth marketing and MLM training.

When you are looking at any business opportunity it is important to find out if the opportunity is genuine and legal.  These days people tend to be very wary of business opportunities as so many people out there say they have the real deal, and some opportunities are definitely scams.

So which is Shaklee, scam or opportunity?  Let me state upfront that I am not a Shaklee distributor or in anyway associated with the company. Well the definition of scam is to obtain money by means of deceit or through a fraudulent business opportunity.  By this definition Shaklee is definitely NOT a scam.  There are three ways to identify if a business is genuine or a scam.

1.    Is there a solid product that is worth the cost?
In Shaklee’s case they have built their company based on the quality of their products.  Their products focus on being healthy and environmentally friendly.  This focus is what Shaklee distributors point out when questioned on the high cost of the products compared to their supermarket equivalent.  Inherent in MLM is the need for the products to have a very high profit margin so there is enough profit to pay both company and distributor.  If you feel that these are products you would genuinely use and be happy to pay a bit more for the products then you might be used to then it passes the first test.
Please note: If a company REQUIRES product purchase to participate in the income opportunity this is Illegal, and would constitute a scam.  Most companies, Shaklee included, incentivise their distributors to buy the products by having some sort of points earned or higher commissions if you are purchasing the products yourself.  Also, frankly if you won’t buy the products why would you assume you could get anyone else to?

2.    Are Incomes and Income claims guaranteed?
You may be unsuccessful in any business venture.  Any company or distributor that guarantees your success again, is acting illegally.  Remember that a Scam uses deceptive means to obtain money. Shaklee does not guarantee incomes.  As with any company their literature is ripe with possibility.  They illustrate what kind of income is possible, but always state that this will not be the case for all distributors.  If anything Shaklee and their distributors are simply guilty of painting a great picture, and not talking enough about the work involved.  In Shaklee you can only make big money once you have over 100 people in your downline, and frankly this will take a ton of work.

3.    Can someone new to the business make a decent income?
Often when incomes are represented for a company they can seem very high and very achievable.  Even when given specific incomes from a specific person it is important to note that this person may be in the company a long time.  Remember some MLM companies reach a saturation point where it becomes difficult for new members to achieve a big income.  A company where the people at the top earn all the money when the new people earn none are generally considered a scam. I won’t speculate if you can make a decent income in Shaklee because I believe that is completely up to your own work and getting decent marketing training (which you will have to get outside of Shaklee as their training is very outdated).  The point is, as a very product driven company it is always possible to make a decent income from retail sales as well as bringing other people into the business.  Just remember that Shaklee is a 50 year old company, and you will be fighting challenges that the original Shaklee distributors did not have to face.

So Shaklee, scam? No. Opportunity? Only if you are willing to put in the work and have the drive to be successful.   While Shaklee does not have as much leverage or income potential as some of the newer network marketing companies, it certainly can be an opportunity if you love the products.