AdvoCare: Do The Math!

Let’s look at some numbers.

Why?

Because they are important.

So important, in fact, that the FTC has made it law that MLM’s like AdvoCare have to produce numbers that accurately reflect the income of the people selling their products. These numbers must be substantiated, and made available via an Income Disclosure Statement.

For this article we’ll be referencing AdvoCare’s 2014 Income Disclosure Statement. http://advocarecorporate.s3.amazonaws.com/microsite/downloads/pdf/incomedisclosurestatement.pdf

Now, when you look at that document, it seems reasonable, if not boring. They are just a bunch of numbers with no real meaning – no real reference point – and that’s by design.

If you’re looking into the “business side of things”, you’re most likely going to gravitate towards the different “pin levels” and their associated income.

You’re also likely to gloss over the “% of Actual Distributors” column, as well as the little asterisk (*) after it.

Let’s focus on the “Gold 3 Star” level for right now. This is the first level where the average annual income becomes something you might realistically quit your day job for (Of course, the reported income does NOT include your expenses for operating your ‘business’. Things like tickets for Success School, mixers, product samples, advertising, travel, etc. That’s what the * is about).

Now, look at the percentage of ‘Active Distributors’ who reach that level; 0.31. Make sure you notice where that decimal point is – that’s less than one half of one percent. This percentage really doesn’t mean much without a reference point; 0.31% of what?

We don’t know because AdvoCare doesn’t make this number public. The fact that they don’t should cause a huge red flag to wave before you.

Since we need a reference point to understand what that 0.31%actually means, we’ll use the number 60,000 since that’s what was reported in the court case of Advocare International v. Karen Ford, et. al (page 23). http://600commerce.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Advocare-International-LP-v.-Ford-et-al.-No.-05-10-00590-CV.pdf

This means that there are only 186 people out of all of AdvoCare’s active distributors who could realistically quit their ‘real’ jobs and work AdvoCare full time.

Let’s look at some other numbers for a moment and compare them to AdvoCare’s.

According to the website http://www.ncaa.org/, the probabilities of student athletes competing in athletics beyond high school – competing in college and professionally – are pretty slim; “…of the nearly eight million students currently participating in high school athletics in the United States, only 460,000 of them will compete at NCAA schools.”

If our math is correct, that means that 5.75% of student athletes reach the college and/or pro levels. This means that there is a better chance of playing pro sports than there is of getting any higher in AdvoCare than the bottom two levels.

Let’s go a little further.

Out of 482,629 H.S. baseball players, 6.9% will play in college with 8.6% of those college players being drafted by the MLB.

Out of 1,093,234 H.S. football players, 6.5% will play in college with 1.6% of those college players getting drafted by the NFL.

We can list very similar figures for women’s basketball, hockey, soccer, etc. (see the NCAA website for more), but you get the picture.

Out of six categories listed on the NCAA website, the one with the lowest percentage of players being drafted by a pro-league is women’s basketball with a 0.9%.

Are you grasping the weight of all of this????

You have a better chance of playing women’s basketball as a professional athlete than you do at earning a reasonable living pushing AdvoCare.

Let’s go back to AdvoCare’s Income Disclosure Statement.

‘Ruby 6 Star”, where the average annual income (before expenses) is $105,477.00, is the first level where the income looks like something where you’d question someone for maintaining a ‘normal’ job along with their AdvoCare ‘business’. If you reach this level you should be counting yourself as one of the very elite as only 0.06%are at this level; only 36 people. Read that again, “Only thirty six people”!!!

Most parents who are encouraging their child’s dreams of playing pro-sports will tread cautiously and insist that they maintain their grades, pursue other career avenues, and always have something to fall back on. Why? Because they know that the odds of playing in the big leagues is remote at best.

Here’s the kicker: No one will tell you to maintain a second career while you work AdvoCare. In fact, the mantra “All In” is often parroted as a motivator to give up everything else and make AdvoCare king in your life.

Common sense has to go completely out the window for someone to put all of their eggs in the Advo-basket. Heck, even placing some of your eggs into that basket should be reason enough for your family and friends to beat you over the head with the giant red flags that have been waving all over the place.

Open your eyes to the truth,…….. please!!!

#Advocare