I’m approaching 40. And most of my friends are +/- 5 years from that age. And I’m noticing something I’ve never seen anyone write about: it seems that you might be able to track a woman’s age and/or stage in life by the type of MLM for which they become a consultant.
My Assumptions
- Most women who subscribe to MLMs are married, especially the ones attractive to the younger age groups.
- These generalizations may not apply to those who subscribe to an MLM to manage a specific health condition; that is, the age may not match up with the standard adoption age range.
- Most MLM consultants join to gain the discounts for themselves and do very little to sell the product or to develop a sales team under their management.
21-30
For the young adult ladies, generally 30 and under, the top MLM/consultant choices appear to revolve around millennial ideals focused on sustainability and reduction/rejection of traditional medicine and household chemicals (some might call these moms “granola”), those generally suspicious of anything overly processed.
- Jamberry Nails – rejecting the inhaled and absorbed chemicals of the nail salon
- Young Living or doTerra (Essential Oils) – rejecting prescription management
- 31 Bags – for carting kid stuff and being cute
- WildTree – spices and freezer meals and likely responsible for the rise of grapeseed oil
31-40
Moms whose kids have reached an age where basically they can make their own cereal on Saturday mornings and beyond. These women have finished having kids and pushed through the toughest, most high-maintenance formative years, and are finally getting to think about themselves again – their appearance, their health, the way they used to be able to take care of their appearance. The MLMs for this age bracket can generally be perceived as enabling an attempt to reclaim some of the ease, glamour, of those pre-kid years and maybe even a bit of the pre-married years.
- Mary Kay / Arbonne / Forever Living / Younique / Lipsense / Melaleuca – easy, streamlined, time-efficient application
- Young Living / doTerra – essential oils as alternatives to traditional, synthetic oral medications and treatments
- Premier / Cookie Lee / Lia Sophia Jewlery – inexpensive but rich-looking pieces, multiple pairings for variety
- Pampered Chef – cooking stones and single-purpose meal prep tools
41+
The closer a woman gets to 40, the more likely she is to turn her focus to slowing the progress of time with products designed to keep her looking as young as she is and to manage some of the physical changes that menopause brings on. I find it interesting that, in large part, women in their 40s finally become focused on their skin – the foundation of the makeup that used to be so prominent in their “appearance” arsenal. In addition, food-based MLMs fall out almost completely.
- Rodan and Fields / Arbonne / BeautyCounter
NOTE: as a purchaser, Thirty-One handbags and organizers have been part of a few recent purchases, but I have not been tempted to buy out of any of the ingested or topical application products, mainly because so few disclose their ingredients. You can claim all you want that it’s natural, not tested on animals, gluten free, vegan, but none of that means that it’s actually safe and appropriate or that it’s ingredients can be verified to be beneficial.
50+
What comes next? What do imagine attempting to sell your friends on when you’re all 50? Because, let’s face it, that’s as far as 90% of MLM adopters get – selling to their close friends who’ll buy a little bit to be nice but not much more after that.
