Is Team National a scam or not? This MLM company in the money savings niche has been going for over 20 years, but is it worth joining and can you make money with it?
Let’s take a closer look and find out…
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Company Name: Team National
Founder: Dick Loehr
Price To Join: $795 for 2 years
My Rating: 7/10
~ Team National Reviews ~
What Is Team National?
This company was started back in 1997 by founder Dick Loehr and is now run by his daughter, Angela. The catchphrase of the company is “Best Opportunity In America”. But what is the opportunity and does the company live up to its own slogan?
In the two decades since commencing business, this network marketing company has generated over a billion dollars in sales. Not may have achieved that. The company operates in the discounts and savings niche, providing memberships where people can save money on all sorts of things.
So, with Team National, not only can you save yourself money, but you can also earn extra money in the process.
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The Products
There aren’t really any physical products attached to this MLM company. What they offer are memberships which can be used to save money in thousands of places across the United States, some of which include:
- Financial services
- Vehicles
- Travel insurance
- Health benefits
- And heaps more…
Let’s now take a look at what memberships Team National offer and what you get with each one.
- Factory Direct – Save up to 65% on all sorts of factory direct items, with a main focus on products for the home.
- Group Buying Power – This membership includes things like vehicles, financial services, health plans and travel.
- Business Exchange – Receive savings on any business that is currently listed in the exchange. The businesses change fairly often.
- eCommerce – there are over 100 retailers in this membership and discounts go as high as 30%.
The MLM Business Opportunity
While this MLM business opportunity might be a little more lucrative for members on the retail side, there is still a huge emphasis on recruitment to make money. This means that you have to actively be expanding the Team National business to put yourself into a position for higher earnings.
I’m not a fan of the MLM business method because it puts everything in favour of the company and takes away many advantages from the workforce of distributors. The distributors do all the work while the owners of the company and others right near the top make most of the money.
Getting involved in MLM is not really a business opportunity. You’re really just paying for the right to be an unpaid sales rep. You never own the business, the company does.
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The Team National Compensation Plan
Like any business in network marketing, the compensation plan essentially means there are two main ways to make an income, and they are:
- Direct sales
- Earning from your recruits
Recruiting is always the main emphasis, as companies structure their plans to make recruitment necessary to move up the ranks, earn bonuses and increase residual commissions. They want it this way so the distributor base has to expand the business for them in order to earn bigger dollars.
Team National use the binary formula, where you will develop both a left and right leg to your downline, with one leg being more prosperous than the other. You fill the first two positions with your direct recruits, then they bring in two people each and so on. You can actually earn to infinity with your downlines. Most plans halt you earnings at a certain level (such as 10 levels deep). There are no restrictions like this with the Team National plan.
You can actually make good money with this one, but only if you can constantly recruit active people into your downline.
Below is a video that explains the compensation plan in more detail.
Is Team National An Illegal Pyramid Scheme?
An illegal pyramid scheme is what’s called a naked pyramid. The naked pyramid has no products and relies solely on new investment money coming in to pay the profits of those who have previously invested in the scheme.
Team National is a little bit borderline, as it doesn’t really have any products, but rather sells memberships for discounts on products and services that other companies offer. I wouldn’t say it’s an illegal pyramid, but it’s definitely more in the grey area than most other typical MLM ventures.
Target Audience
This one definitely targets anyone looking to save some money on shopping and services, as well as having the opportunity to spread the word and make some money as well. People like MLM ventures because the hard work of setting up a business has already been done for them.
What I Like
- The product (memberships) is easier to sell because of all the discounts members receive
- There are thousands of places across America where the membership can be used to save money
- The memberships have been well received and often offer deep discounts on some products and services
- Your get your own website which members can use as a portal to the discounts. When they purchase something through your website, you earn affiliate commissions – It’s another way to earn
- You can save yourself a lot of money for just being a member
- The company has been operating since 1997
What I Don’t Like
- It’s restricted to the USA only
- This system still relies heavily on recruitment to make decent money
- Most people fail at MLM because they can’t recruit another active people
- Less than 1% of people who join Team National make a fulltime income from it
- In their 2015 Income Disclosure Statement, 82% of TM distributors had a yearly income average of just $0.36
How Much Does Team National Cost?
To join and receive your discount membership, you will need to pay $795 for 2 years membership. Alternatively you can pay $2195 for a lifetime membership. So Team National is not cheap to get involved with.
Is Team National a Scam?
No, it’s not a scam. Overall this MLM company seems a little better than many others. Not only can you get deep discounts in many places as a member, but you have the chance to earn both affiliate commissions (through the replica website they give you), as well as earning from direct sales and your recruits.
Still, as mentioned above regarding their 2015 Income Disclosure, over 82% of members/distributors earned only 36 cents per year on average, so that doesn’t sound very exciting. This really rams home the fact that you have to recruit like crazy to get into the bigger money with Team National.
I think if you go into this one focusing on the discounts you can get first and foremost, and making that work in your favour, then any money you earn from the business side can be considered a bonus. I think that’s probably the best initial approach with TM, because recruiting is really, really hard for most people.
MLM Is a Tough Business Model – Try Affiliate Marketing Instead
The problem with MLM is that making money all revolves around recruiting others into the same scheme you’re involved in. It’s far more than just selling products. The compensation in these schemes is designed to make you have to recruit to earn, and that’s where some 95% of people come undone. It’s hard work.
I much prefer affiliate marketing. There’s none of that recruitment stuff in order to earn, although there are affiliate programs where you can recruit as well. I don’t even have to leave my home to make money, and if I travel overseas, I still make money because my online business isn’t tied to a location.
Out of all the things I’ve done in life to make money, this is one of the best: Not just for the income, but the kind of lifestyle I get to lead.
Very effective training is what put me in this position. If you’re serious about making some good money, then give affiliate marketing a try. Anyone can do it. If you click on the banner below you will get to read my review of affiliate marketing and the training that led to my success and the success of tens of thousands of others.
Darren Burton
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