Family IQ: Expensive family counselling + MLM?
Every family has its problems and often we’ve got no idea how to deal with the problems our families face or even how to approach them.
Counselling can work but often there’s several obstacles that get in the way. Individual schedules, an unwillingness to participate as a family unit, general un-coperativeness and frustration…
…the list could go on forever.
So what if there was a way to at least recognise areas for improvement within your family?
What if there was a way to do it right from your home… and what if it was packaged as a MLM business opportunity?
Today we’re going to take a look at the ‘Family IQ’ MLM opportunity, which claims to have products that do exactly just that.
The Company
Family IQ’s mission statement
is to empower individuals and parents to boost their personal, partnering, and parenting abilities as a way to build stronger and more efficient families and relationships.
Founded in 2001 by Mark Hobbins, Family IQ have been apparently retailing their family, personal and parenting solutions for around ten years now.
Back in November last year, Hobbins then decided to team up with Rod Stinson and combine Family IQ’s products with a MLM compensation plan.
Stinson appears to be a MLM marketer who’s been at it for a while now, focusing his efforts on lead generation for various opportunities.
The Family IQ Product Line
Family IQ offer a range of online based products designed to counsel, aid and train people to fix problems they perceive to be in their own lives and that of their loved ones and/or families.
Specifics on the product line tend to be a bit vague however I have found that Family IQ’s products include
- Family IQ assessment test ($1200 retail)
- activity sheets (free to Family IQ members)
- general assessments ($4 retail)
- articles (free to Family IQ members)
- audio mp3s ($10 retail)
- help with creating a family ‘brand’ and ‘logo’ (must hand over your email details to access it, ie. become a lead)
- learning style analysis (no price given)
- online courses ($40 retail)
- parent coaching (no price given)
- seminars ($50 retail)
- workshops ($100 retail)
The Family IQ Compensation Plan
The Family IQ compensation plan combines direct commissions on product sales, a Fast Start Bonuses and a unilevel organisation structure.
Fast Start Bonuses
Within the Family IQ compensation plan are two Fast Start Bonuses made available to all members.
Family IQ’s Daily Fast Start Bonus pays out an immediate $1000 on all sales of the ‘Family Builder Package’ (see ‘Joining Family IQ’ section below).
The Weekly Fast Start Bonus is a direct commission on the sale of the ‘Family Builder Package’ ($1495 retail). With the Family Builder Package basically being an entry way to joining Family IQ as an Independent Business Owner, essentially the weekly fast start bonus pays you for recruiting Family IQ members.
The payouts are $50 on levels 1-3 and $24 on levels 4-9 for a total of $295 on any given leg of your unilevel organisation.
To qualify for the Weekly Fast Start Bonus, members must sell 1 Family Builder Package (or effectively recruit one new member to Family IQ) every 90 days.
Direct Retail Commissions
Family IQ pay out a direct commission on all of their products sold at a retail level (to customers who are not members of Family IQ).
The direct commissions are paid out monthly and vary from product to product up to 50% of the retail price paid (members are paid out the difference between the wholesale price and retail price of a product).
The Unilevel Organisation
In order to pay residual commissions, Family IQ use a ‘unilevel organisation’ structure. What this means is that for each member you recruit to Family IQ, a new arm is started in your unilevel organisation.
Then, as these members recruit their own downlines, your unilevel organisation grows vertically. For each new member you personally recruit to Family IQ, your organisation will also grow one arm vertically.
Unilevel residual commissions are paid out up to nine levels deep within your organisation. The amount of levels deep you are paid out on depends on how many people you’ve recruited to Family IQ, the amount of people they’ve recruited as well as a minimum business volume quota in product sales.
Requiring a maximum of three ‘qualified enrolment legs*‘, unilevel residual commissions are paid out on either three, six or nine generations deep.
- 3 Levels – To qualify you need just one qualified enrolment leg. Payout is a 6% commission on levels 1-3 of your unilevel organisation.
- 6 Levels – To qualify you need 2 qualified enrolment legs. Payout is a 6% commission on levels 1-4 and 5% on levels 5-6 of your unilevel organisation.
- 9 Levels – To qualify you need 3 qualified enrolment legs. Payout is a 6% commission on levels 1-4 and 5% on levels 5-9.
*A ‘qualified enrolment leg’ is any arm in your unilevel organisation that is at least 3 generations deep and generating a monthly minimum of $632 group volume.
Joining Family IQ
Those wishing to join Family IQ in a nutshell have two options, they can join as either a ‘preferred customer’ or ‘Independent Business Operator’.
Preferred Customer
Whereas usually being a preferred customer means an autoship component + entitlement to retail discounts, being a preferred customer in Family IQ means you essentially join the business.
The Preferred Customer joining option will set you back $179 and comes with no minimum monthly autoship requirement ($79) and entitles you to everything in the compensation plan except the weekly Fast Start Bonus.
Note that with the monthly autoship requirement there is a catch. If you want your residual income (in the form of unilevel monthly commissions), after accumulating $1316 in personal sales volume, preferred customers must maintain a monthly minimum personal sales volume of $79.
This requirement essentially operates as a defacto monthly autoship for preferred customers.
Independent Business Operators
The other option to join Family IQ is to join the company as an Independent Business Operator (IBO).
As an IBO you must purchase either the Family Builder Package for $1495 or the Family Builder Plus Package for $3995.
Now there’s a whopping $2500 price difference between these two options and you’re probably wondering what you additionally get in the Family Builder Plus Package.
The answer? Life Coaching.
Life coaches provide a safe and supportive environment to help their clients achieve unparalleled success and improved effectiveness.
FamilyIQ Life Coaches have expertise in assisting individuals uncover the underlying obstacles and impasses in accomplishing their goals. Maintaining focus and motivation are also a large part of the coaching experience.
Each session will identify roadblocks to success and build skills to overcome those roadblocks. The FamilyIQ Life Coaching Package consists of seven one-on-one coaching sessions with seven subsequent follow up sessions with the chosen life coach.
I’m not sure whether these are online sessions or actual face to face sessions, but given everything else in Family IQ seems to be online based, I wouldn’t at all be surprised if these were just skype like sessions or some such.
Beyond that, both IBO options grant you full access to the Family IQ compensation plan as well as a bunch of Family IQ products.
Conclusion
With an entry point range spanning $179 to a massive $3995, Family IQ appear to be casting their net as far and wide as possible to cater to anyone looking to join the business, regardless of their financial situation.
That said, let’s have a closer look at these options.
As a Preferred Customer, sure you qualify for retail and commissions but with the comparatively low-priced entry point, you get no Family IQ products.
So what’s the problem with that? Well, it means you’re out there trying to sell products you yourself haven’t even tried yet. Products which, unlike consumables, are claiming to have some pretty serious impacts on people’s lives.
With some products topping a $1000 price tag, would you buy a potentially life changing product on the recommendation of someone who they themselves haven’t tried it (but will no doubt tell you how great the product is)?
Not likely.
This essentially means that you’re setting yourself for a pretty steep uphill battle entering Family IQ as a preferred customer. Your next option of course is a huge jump up to $1495.
This I believe is a more accurate representation of what it costs to get started with Family IQ.
Moving up, then you’ve got the Family Builder Plus Package for $3995. As I mentioned earlier, the only difference between the Family Builder and the Plus package is life coaching.
Now my only problem with this is that Family IQ claim these life coaching sessions are done by qualified life coaches.
Qualified by who, the company itself?
Naturally this isn’t an accredited program or course so who knows what training these life coaches undertake.
What I do know is that they most likely paid a hell of a lot of money to gain this ‘qualification’ (which is pretty much useless outside of the Family IQ business) and most definitely earn some sort of payment for each session they complete.
Now I’ve got nothing against these life coaches earning money, I only question their training and the validity of their claimed certification.
As far as the compensation plan goes, no real red flags there so that’s good. The Weekly Fast Start Bonus does directly reward you for recruiting but it’s an entirely optional component of the compensation plan and is directly linked into a product sale.
The generation bonus also does require three levels of recruitment but again it’s entirely optional.
Additionally with self development products like this and the high entry points to join Family IQ, members will really have to push the value of Family IQ’s products.
$3995 and $1495 are simply too high priced entry points to play a recruitment game in my opinion. At those prices you’ve really got to believe in the value of the product or as a marketer you’re simply not going to get anywhere.
And this brings me to my final point of analysis, the value of Family IQ’s products.
Looking at the commissions paid out, it’s easy to see that these entry levels and the products they come with are grossly overpriced.
The Family Builder Package pays out $1000 of $1495 instantly to the member who sells the package, leaving $495 to cover residual commissions and the actual price of producing the products themselves.
As a customer, I want value for my money and knowing that 67% of the money I am paying for a product is being handed over directly in commissions doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in what I’m buying into.
I’d much rather the money I’m paying more accurately reflect the value of what it is I’m purchasing. Unfortunately of course that doesn’t pay out big upfront commissions to Family IQ members and thus we have the problem of evaluating an accurate appraisal of the true value of Family IQ’s product line.
Having been around for 10 years now, there most likely is some benefit to be had in using Family IQ’s product line. That said from a MLM business opportunity prospective, serious consideration will need to be taken in how you’re going to effectively market their apparently overpriced product line.
Doing it on the cheap and joining as a preferred customer won’t work as nobody is going to buy lifestyle products from someone who hasn’t used the product themselves.
If you’ve got a spare few thousand lying around, have a family that needs some help (or you need some help yourself) and think you can market the value in Family IQ’s products then by all means this might be a perfect fit for you.
If even one of those criteria doesn’t describe you however, then you might want to give Family IQ a pass and keep looking elsewhere.
Apparently, Oprah Winfrey is recommending this one going forward, that will help with sales.
Yeah Hobbins has been on Dr. Phil and some other shows too.
Still seems like one guy’s version of how to fix all your intra-personal and family problems though. And then there’s the whole certified life coach issue…
“Life Coach” has been used to push some shady deals before.
I believe Bob “The Secret” Proctor have a life success consultant program, and certifies certain coaches. One of them has been linked to Tarun Trikha and TVI Express, one lady by the name of Clarissa Calingasan. Apparently she had spoken at several TVI Express seminars in the Philippines as she is Filipino-American.
Back to FamilyIQ: the problem is certification of the life coaches (seems anybody can get a certificate proclaiming so. Didn’t Penn and Teller did a show on this?)
This is too much like amateur psychology. It *may* just do more harm than good. I honestly don’t know. I don’t want amateurs playing with my head, and I don’t see why I would trust any one else’s recommendation other than my doctor’s.
Self-help is fine. A little counseling is fine. PAYING for online counseling sessions is fine if there are follow-ups, case files, and all that. SELLING such sessions as an MLM opportunity? Why?
One other thing to mention, I was talking to a distributor this week, and they told me that worldwide financing has started, interest free, pay in installments and the distributors still receive their commission, I have not heard of that before, that has to be the way to go in high ticket businesses. Fair play to them. (Sounds like I am a rep)
Upon another look, something’s not quite right with this business model, then I realized what it was.
This is NOT a repeat business.
I mean, how much training and diagnosis does a family need?
Amway and Avon survived for so long because they sell CONSUMMABLES, that must be replaced, thus ensuring repeat customers.
Family counseling is NOT a repeat business. It may repeat a “few” times during a child’s rebellious years, but that’s a limited phase. So the pressure to recruit more customers is higher for FamilyIQ than a business about consummables.
Furthermore, this thing about “preferred customer” encourages “self-consumption”, and does little to enforce the Amway safeguard rules like “10 retail sales” and “70% sales to ultimate users”. Most of these products cannot be “returned” or “bought back” any way (but there seems to be no inventory loading either, as most of these products are delivered virtually).
I have no doubt it is legal, but I have doubts about its long-term profitability to the participant.
I believe the repeat business is the licensing of Family IQ’s system.
You can promote their system without being licensed, so that acts as their monthly autoship.
As far as the actual products go then yeah, unless you want to sit there and do the same tests multiple times they’re not repeat consumables.
Did someone say “grossly overpriced”? The value of any product is determined by the consumer who make the purchase.
How much is it worth to have peace in your home? Some will pay thousands for a car with a symbol, but complain about paying a measly $1,495 for a healthy family, because the IBO gets 67%.
Honestly, with all the consumption junk out there, it’s about time something like this comes around where you can’t find at your local store.
This could potentially open doors for other unique products and services to join the network marketing industry.
By the way, there is no perfect business, but I’m sold on FamilyIQ.
Grossly overpriced not in terms of the product value, but rather the huge commission that adds no value whatsoever to the product itself, yet I still have to pay just so that whoever is selling the product to me makes thousands of dollars in commission.
Paying an inflated commission to a salesperson is of no value to the consumer, regardless of what the product is.
I am a member of Family IQ and am also a Certified Parenting and Life Coach. I truly and respectfully do not know where to begin as there are many things listed in this review that are just not accurate, and frankly, not true.
I have been with Family IQ for 10 months and have been able to replace my exec leadership role salary through this process. It delivers what it promises provided folks do the work and engage in the methods that are taught to attract prospects and convert them into clients.
The training, support and no competition products and comp plan are great promotional tools as well. And the endorsements by Dr. Phil, Tyra, Datelinea nd Oprah don’t hurt either and they only back the real deal.
Regarding the entry fees…they offer an everyone approved financing, everyone is approved and Family IQ backs the loans and the risk. Folks can join for only $300 and have full access to the program and commissions. In addition, “Life Coaching” is not part of the Family Builder program/package, it is a separate program with a separate cost,and is not part of the MLM side of the house. That is also available for everyone approved financing.
How is the company not caring about the financial impact?
They provide the best support out there with weekly live calls with Rod Stinson and with Mark Hobbins and Q&A live and they answer your questions and teach you new methods. This is a true “feel good” and only positive can come from it.
Lastly, the information about coaching is not accurate as well. I pride myself on helping others through my coaching and am thrilled to have the arsenal of tools available to me to help my clients further. Life and Parenting Coaching provide options to folks that may not want or be able to afford traditional therapy.
In addition, if focuses on the challenges of today and moving foward. Coaching is one of the #1 new careers out there, and the Family IQ training program is intensive, includes practicuums and is over a 3 months period. It is the best and most proessional training programs out there and I would recommend it highly.
The costs for the assessment is not $1200, it is $40.
Respectfully, please do your homework before sharing information that is not accurate, it is not fair to the audience nor to the company. For a real look at Family IQ, feel free to check out my site at (link removed).
Not trying to sell you, just to educate you further to the correct information. Thank you for the time. Take good care and best wishes. Deborah
Certified by who, FamilyIQ? Does your certification actually mean anything or is it even recognised outside of the FamilyIQ business opportunity?
Is that with a loan? The ‘Family Builder Package’ or ‘Family Builder Plus Package’ purchase was mandatory if you wanted to join FamilyIQ as an IBO as far as I could see.
And what’s with the ‘everyone is approved’ comment. Why is there even an approval process if everyone is approved.
Finance is finance, and unless the interest rates are crushingly high to reflect the risk, everybody is most certainly not getting approved.
Yeah but does your ‘certification’ hold weight outside of the company itself? Is it formally recognised by any body or organisation that carries with it a level of responsibility in the counselling sector?
You’re claiming certification with none of the legal or ethical responsibility.
The ‘Family IQ Assesment Test’ is clearly listed at a retail price of $1200 on the FamilyIQ website (scroll down), so I’m not sure what you’re talking about.
Respectfully, I’d ask you to do the same.