As editor of this site, I often receive requests from people to review their products. In most cases, it is actually an attempt for a product purchase or “recruiting” me into their company. What they don’t know is that it is my job as a direct sales business coach to know what’s out there so that I can better serve my clients. What they don’t know is that I can see right though the smoke screen of promises. Also, what they don’t know is that one of my idiosyncrasies in direct selling are these companies that make claims on their products (which is illegal), and the products are not what they claim to be. I will list five lessons learned with my brief stint with Neways International, one of many Network Marketing companies.

1. Free Website Warning! I should have known something was up when the sign up was free with a free website. Now, some companies use free website promotions for the consultants as an incentive to join. So, there's nothing unusual there. But, with Neways, you have the choice between setting up a retail website and a wholesale website. I started out with the retail website only to discover later how expensive the products were. No wonder they give the consultants a free website! Since this was not working, I decided to switch to the wholesale site. I would only make 10% commission if someone purchased something, but hey 10% was better than 0%, right. I got a lot of hits, but still no purchases. So, now it's time to purchase products myself. Oh, did I not tell you that you get a free website and not anything else? So here I am promoting a product that I know nothing about. What a hypocrite! My upline (the person that signed me up with Neways) had a contest, and I won the famous Endau Natural Progesterone Cream. This leads me to Number 2.

2. Bogus Products! Well, being that I'm Estrogen Dominant, meaning because of the environmental toxins and other reasons, my body has too much estrogen. I've been using natural progesterone for years. So, I was elated when I was the winner of the contest, and it was a tube of Endau Herbal Harmonizing Cream. I start using the product as instructed, and nothing. It was like using unscented lotion. I've used plenty of natural progesterone creams in my day, and I know what symptoms disappear from me when I use the cream. Using this cream, I think I got a few new symptoms! The first warning sign was when I saw that the product was preserved using four different types of parabens. Paraben is a shortened name for some synthetic preservatives that are commonly used in most beauty and personal care products. If you see the words methylparaben, butylparaben, ethylparaben, and/or polylparaben, then the product contains this synthetic preservative. Endau Harmonizing Cream contains all four- while most products will only contain two. Although the verdict is still out as to whether or not parabens cause cancer, there have been studies that show that parabens mimic estrogen in the body-thus contributing to estrogen dominance. Now (scratching my head), let's get this straight. Endau is supposed to correct estrogen dominance, among other things, and parabens can contribute to developing estrogen dominance. Endau contains four different parabens...do you get the picture? The second red flag was raised when other consultants on my team were not having good success with this renowned Endau. And my upline sponsor had to constantly adjust their dosage in order to get it to work (as far as I know, it never did). It leads me to wonder if they came to the same conclusion as I did, and left Neways. These companies probably rely on the placebo effect, and once that wears off, you’ll find out if the product really works.

3. Price Gouging! The expense of some of the products in network marketing companies is outrageous. In some of these emails for product reviews, many of these representatives claim that the product will “rid” fibromyalgia. And when I check out these sites, the prices are horrendous! Now, I know that I’m not the only one that has experienced job loss and financial insecurity because of the limitations this illness cause. And I am aware of many who are on disability because of being unable to work. In my experience, most people with pain disorders cannot afford these expensive "cures" for incurable diseases-which leads to my 4th lesson learned.

4. False Hope! It's cruel to give sick people a false sense of security. While some supplements can manage some symptoms, it's unfair to promise a cure or remission from a disease, and charge an arm and a leg for the products that's suppose to do it. This money could be better spent on real medications that will help improve their condition. IT IS ILLEGAL TO MAKE CLAIMS ON A NUTRITIONAL PRODUCT. I had to place emphasis on that sentence. As a direct sales marketing coach, I see so many companies claiming to “cure” fibromyalgia among dozens of other diseases. I’ve seen ads from representatives from Shaklee, Neways, Mannatech, and many other nutritional companies claiming to rid a person of fibromyalgia. Texas decided to take a stand against these companies because the Texas Attorney General has filed a suit against Mannatech for making such claims. I guess what they say about Texas is true; “Don’t Mess With Texas!” This type of behavior has also caused the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to crack down on these companies. I must say that there are legitimate direct sales and network marketing nutritional companies that have good products, and Nature’s Sunshine is one of them. But, beware of the scams and those that make claims. My advice before signing up with a company or purchasing their products, is to research the ingredients that will help improve your condition, and then see if the products that you're interested in using contain those ingredients. You may find a winner.

5. Weird Ingredients! My final lesson learned is watch out for products that have unknown or strange ingredients. I hate to see companies that claim that some seaweed from the bottom of the sea cures all of these incurable diseases. I have a friend that sold and used the Royal Tonga Limu supplement. She claimed that if I drank two shot glasses per day of this green elixir, that it will cure me of my fibromyalgia- just like it did all of those other Royal Tonga distributors. She also claimed that it cured her high blood pressure. So, after choking this stuff down a few days, I noticed that a boil appeared on my leg. I had to go to the doctor for antibiotics before it got infected. To this day, I think I ingested some parasite from this seaweed concoction! Later, when eating breakfast with my friend, I saw her taking some medicine while we ate. So, I asked her, “what medicine are you taking?” She says, my blood pressure medicine.” And she proceeded to take a bite into her sausage biscuit!

Yes, with Neways and all of the other network marketing companies like theirs, I had to Speak On It. For more product reviews and companies exposed, please visit my product review blog Speak On It-A Direct Selling Product Review. http://www.speakonit.wordpress.com