Zurvita Review: Health, business and… god?

When it comes to business, specifically MLM, ‘god’ isn’t something I’d normally associate with the industry.

Sure, people believe in god that work in MLM but as far as the various MLM businesses go out there – most of them keep religion and business seperate.

Not Zurvita.

A quick browse over to the Zurvita opportunity website and listed as one of the three ‘core principles‘ of the company is to

 create a company that glorifies God

Fair enough but how exactly do you glorify god in running a MLM? With this question in mind I continued my research into Zurvita.

Here’s what I found.

The Company

Zurvita was founded by Mark Jarvis (photo right) back in March 2008. Along with the whole god core principle thing, Jarvis himself seems to heavily involved in something called ‘Zurvita Ministries’.

Listed as a ‘director’ (and founder?), Zurvita ministries carries the same name as Zurvita the MLM company with Jarvis having a hand in both. Zurvita Ministries also enjoys tax exempt status, but what bearing that has (if any) on Zurvita the MLM company I’m not sure.

Regardless there seems to be a strong religious foundation behind Zurvita. Normally someone’s religious orientation is there business but with Zurvita’s core principle listed ‘as is’, there seems to be some blurring of the lines between business and religion here.

Finally, Zurvita appear to be a publicly listed company under ‘Zurvita Holdings Inc (ZRVT).

If I’m reading this chart right, August 2010 Zurvita shares were trading at 40 cents a share, whereas today they are sitting at 1.2 cents a share.

I’m not a financial advisor or stock expert, so make of that what you will.

The Zurvita Product Line

Zurvita have three main products that members can sell.  Zeal, ‘healthcare’ and ‘business solutions’.

Zeal

Zurvita’s Zeal is billed as an ‘all in one natural nutrition drink‘. At a glance, there’s a whole bunch of ingredients listed but with the inclusion of guarana, it comes off as your standard energy drink on the market, but probably with more vitamins and such thrown in.

Zeal can either be purchased as a 30 day canister powdered supply for $69.95 ($2.33 a day) or as 24 single serve bottles for $99.95 ($4.15 a day, note that this is not a monthly supply).

Zurvita Health Plus

Zurvita Health Plus is like health insurance, but not really. Rather Zurvita acts as an affiliate of OptumHealth Allies (parent company United Health Group). Rather than offer you blanket health insurance, instead through OptumHealth Allies, you are offered

savings on a wide range of health care services. With OptumHealth Allies, you pay reduced rates for many out-of-pocket health care services you would otherwise purchase at full price.

OptumHealth Allies gives you access to providers and services at preferred rates. You can typically save 5-50% on many services that you purchase out of pocket.

OptumHealth Allies gives you access to a nationwide network of more than 500,000 practitioners, facilities, retail chains and online providers.

So in other words, when you need to, visit one of OptumHealth Allies discount partners and you’ll receive a discount ranging from between 5-50% on ‘many services‘.

For some reason Zurvita Health Plus is not available in Florida, Washington or Montana, but they do not disclose why (I’m assuming it has something to do with not being actual health insurance).

Zurvita Health Plus is a membership program and retails for $29.95 a month plus an initial $15.00 signup fee. Membership covers you and your immediate family and is available only in the United States.

Zurvita Business Solutions

Zurvita Business Solutions offers two services to businesses. The first is providing energy through ‘Zurvita Energy’.

Through Zurvita Energy, Zurvita claim to have partnered ‘with some of the largest providers in the country‘ in order to provide ‘an energy solution unique for each customer‘.

Again this is only open to US residents and due to different service providers servicing different areas within America, you have to provide Zurvita some basic information before they get back to you with a quote.

Not being in the US I’m unable to evaluate Zurvita Energy any further, suffice to say that if they are offering genuine energy discounts to US based businesses it’ll be an easy sell, and if not members will have a hard time selling the service.

The other service Zurvita offer to businesses is an online business directly named ‘Z Linked’.

For a fee, businesses are given a directory placement on Z Linked where they can display information about their business. Their address, logos, videos, contact details and an automated Google Maps locator… all the standard stuff.

Unfortunately, despite claiming a strong SEO presence, the Z Linked domain carries with it a pretty low pagerank of just 2. PageRank isn’t the sole method to determine domain authority but it’s a pretty good start. With PageRank scaling from 0-10, a score of 2 indicates it will be difficult to rank against competition for generic search terms, even with a geographical location added.

For the purposes of this article, I decided to go easy on Z Linked and stick with exact business name searches. I selected a few random businesses taken from the Z Linked page and used google.com with search result customization turned off.

All searches were exact business names as found in the Z Linked directory.

A search for ‘a2z printing inc’ failed to show any Z Linked listing on the first 10 pages of Google (I didn’t go any further than that as it’s pretty much conclusively useless after that point).

A search for ‘Robert Allen Enlightened Wealth Institute’ also failed to show any Z Linked directory listing within the first 10 pages of Google.

And finally a search for ‘Power of Freedom, Inc.’ again failed to rank on the first 10 pages.

Three businesses completely picked at random all failing to rank for exact business name terms leaves me concluding that Z Linked is pretty much useless.

If Z Linked can’t rank for even exact business name searches, it’s got no hope in hell of ranking for much more competitive terms such as ‘service + geographical location’.

Good luck selling a business directory that doesn’t rank to businesses!

Z Linked starts off at $249 a month for SEO targeting of 4 search terms and 10 zip codes. Note that Z Linked do utilise paid search positions so with such a steep minimum monthly cost, if a localised PPC campaign was effective I imagine this is what a sizeable chunk of the monthly fee goes towards.

If your niche is even remotely competitive though, don’t expect to rank as you’re not going to get much bang for your buck at $249 a month in paid PPC on top of everything else Z Linked offers (they’ll want to make a profit too!).

Z Linked also make use of business listing on Google maps, but this is a free service anyone can do themselves. Google map listings do often appear at the top of localised search results, but it’s hardly worth paying $249 a month for when you can easily do it yourself for free.

Zurvita Membership Levels

Within the Zurvita compensation plan are three member levels, each entitling Zurvita members to different commission payouts and additional bonuses within the compensation plan itself. These levels and the relevant qualifications needed to maintain each level are as follows;

Managing Consultant

• a minimum of 3 enrolled Independent Consultants on level 1 of your Unilevel organisation
• generate 7 bonus points personally (through sales).

Senior Consultant

• Have at least 3 Managing Consultants in your unilevel organisation. These Managing Consultants don’t have to be personally sponsored by you but must be in 3 different legs of your Unilevel.
• generate 14 bonus points personally
• generate a minimum of 80 points within the first 6 levels of your unilevel organisation (your own personally generated points count towards this total)

Executive Consultant

To qualify for promotion to Executive Consultant, you must have 100 Independent Consultants each with a minimum of 3 bonus points they’ve personally generated. In addition to this qualification criteria you must also

• Have at least 3 Senior Consultants in your unilevel organisation. Again these don’t have to be personally sponsored Senior Consultants but they must be in three different legs of your Unilevel.
• generate 21 bonus points personally
• generate 500 or more team bonus points within the first six levels of your unilevel organisation (your own personally generated bonus points count towards this total).

Joining Zurvita

Those wishing to join Zurvita can do so in one of three ways.

The Builders Pak

The Builders Pak retails at $499 and 5 canisters of Zeal and 3 cases of 24 single serve bottles of Zeal. Purchasers of the Builders Pak also automatically qualify for a 25% personal monthly residual commission on all sales of Zeal and Health Plus as well as the starting rank of Managing Consultant.

One month of the ‘Wellness Pak’ is included with the purchase price.

The Quick Start Pak

The Quick Start Pack retails at $199.95 and includes one canister of Zeal and 2 cases of 24 single serve bottles of Zeal. Purchasers of The Quick Start Pak qualify for a minimum 15% on all sales of Zeal and Health Plus and also receive their first month of the ‘Wellness Pak’ free.

The Wellness Pak

The Wellness Pak constitutes Zurvita’s autoship option and retails at $69.95. Purchasers of the Wellness Pak receive one canister of Zeal and are entitled to a minimum 15% commission on all sales of Zeal and Health Plus.

The Zurvita Compensation Plan

Foreward: In the compensation plan documentation I reviewed for this article I saw no mention of Zurvita’s business solutions. As such I’m not sure how they integrate into the Zurvita compensation plan or how Zurvita members receive commissions on sales of the business services.

Given that they are monthly subscription service I assume members receive a cut of this but without proper documentation I can’t be sure. /end foreward

Bonus Points

Sales of Zurvita’s flagship product Zeal carries with it bonus points.

• For each new ‘Wellness Pak’ sold, 2 points are awarded.
• For each new preferred customer (all other Zeal sales), 1 point is awarded.

Qualifying Revenue

Various components of the Zurvita compensation plan rely on what is called ‘Qualifying Revenue’. Qualifying Revenue is a monetary amount awarded on the sale of Zurvita’s various products. The Qualifying Revenue for Zeal and HealthPlus is as follows;

• Zeal Family Pak – $220
• Quick Start Pak – $200
• Zeal Single Canister – $60
• Zeal case of 24 single serve bottles – $85
• Zeal Wellness Pak – $70
• Zurvita HealthPlus – $30

The Unilevel Organisation

At the heart of the Zurvita compensation plan appears to be a Unilevel payout plan running infinite levels wide and deep.

For each new member you recruit to Zurvita they are placed underneath you in a new arm of your unilevel organisation. In turn, as these recruited members enrol their own new members these members then make up your level 2 and onwards members of your unilevel organisation.

Personal Monthly Recurring Income

Zurvita offers a Personal Monthly Recurring Income (MRI) on all Zeal and Health Plus sales.

If you personally purchased the Builders Pak or generated $500 in personal qualifying revenue, you earn a 25% commission for that month.

If you fail to do either of the above, instead you earn a 15% commission for that month.

Overrides

As you grow your Unilevel business, Zurvita also payout what they call ‘override’ commissions depending on your member rank.

These overrides are paid out of sales of Zeal and HealthPlus and are as follows;

• Managing Consultant – 5% override paid out over levels 1 and 2.
• Senior Consultant – 5% override paid out over levels 1 to 4.
• Executive Consultant – 5% override paid out over levels 1 to 4 and 10% paid out on levels 5 and 6.

Unlimited Income

In addition to the PRI and overrides offered by Zurvita, Senior and Executive consultants are also offered a potentially unlimited income stream.

The ‘unlimited income’ stream is an additional 2% commission paid out on zeal sales offered unlimited levels deep within your unilevel organisation.

Senior Executives are offered 2% on these sales whilst Executive consultants receive an additional 2% income stream on top of the Senior Executive 2% offered.

To qualify you must be the upline Senior Consultant or Executive Consultant at the time the Zeal order is placed.

Executive Bonus MRI

As an additional MRI bonus for Executive Consultants, the Executive Bonus MRI consists of two bonuses, both of which are tied into your unilevel organisation.

The first bonus pays out a 1% MRI on Zeal sales between the first Executive Consultant in your unilevel organisation and the levels within that consultant’s own organisation down to the next Executive Consultant within that arm of your unilevel organisation.

To qualify for Executive Bonus MRI 1 you must have at least three enrolled Executive Consultants with two of them being in the same arm of your unilevel organisation.

The Executive MRI Bonus 2 pays out in much the same manner. Bonus 2 pays out an additional 1% MRI on all Zeal sales between the second Executive Consultant used above and third Executive Consultant within the same leg.

To qualify for Bonus 2 members must have a minimum of 6 enrolled Executive Consultants within their Binary Organisation. 3 of which must in separate legs and 3 must be enrolled in the same arm of your unilevel for the bonus to activate.

The Builders Bonus

The Builders Bonus is a weekly bonus paid out to Zurvita members and triggers each time a Builders Pak or Quick Start Pak is sold.

For each Builders Pak sold, Zurvita members earn a $125 commission paid out weekly.

Note that if you yourself didn’t sign up with the Builders Pak, or failed to make $500 in personal qualifying revenue yet, this commission is reduced to $75 per Builders Pak sold.

For each Quick Start Pak sold, members will earn a $50 bonus.

Monthly Bonuses

The Global Bonus Pool

The Global Bonus Pool is a recruitment based incentive offered in the way of a  monthly payout to qualifying Zurvita members. The Global Bonus pool consists of $125 for every Builders Pak and $40 for every Quick Start Pak sold respectively.

To qualify for a share in the Global Bonus Pool, Zurvita members must have purchased either a Builders Pak or Quick Start Pak or have $500 in personal qualifying revenue.

A share is then earnt in the Global Bonus Pool for every 4 Builders Paks or 10 Quick Start Paks sold. If you fail to meet these requirements a combination of Paks sold in the first three levels of your unilevel organisation that adds up to $2000 in generated revenue, will also earn you one share too.

The Global Bonus Pool is divided amongst qualifying members each month with a guaranteed minimum payout of $200.

 

Executive Consultant Bonus Pool

For Zurvita’s Executive Consultants, an additional monthly bonus pool is offered. The Executive Consultant Bonus Pool consists of $25 for every Builders Pak sold and $10 for every Quick Start Pak sold.

Shares in the Executive Consultant Bonus Pool are tied in with the Global Bonus Pool. For example, if you earn 3 Global Bonus Pool shares and you’ll receive 3 Executive Consultant Bonus Pool shares.

There is no monthly minimum guarantee payout with the Executive Consultant Bonus Pool.

Team Bonuses

There are two team bonuses offered in the Zurvita compensation plan.

If you maintain 400 total team bonus points over a period of 65 days, you will personally receive a $10,000 payout. After the 65 day qualification period, the timer is reset and you can qualify for the Team bonus again and again.

Note that no more than 50% of the 400 points can come from any one leg in your unilevel organisation.

The second team bonus offered is a 1 million dollar team bonus. To qualify your unilevel organisation must have generated the sale of 10,000 currently active wellness paks (this includes  the Builder and Quick Start Paks).

In other words your unilevel organisation needs to have generated 10,000 active monthly autoship accounts. Preferred customers do not count towards this bonus so you’re looking at 10,000 active Zurvita members on autoship.

The maths behind the 1 million dollar payout is that, by this stage you’d have already received over $500,000 in $10,000 bonus payouts so Zurvita will pay you out an additional $500,000 bonus to make up the million.

This payout is paid in increments of $100,000 over 5 months in which you must maintain 10,000 active wellness pak autoships to qualify. Miss a month and you lose $100,000, but if you get you’re autoships back up to 10,000 by the next month you’ll continue to get paid again (forfeiting the $100,000 lost).

Finally no more than 50% of your 10,000 Wellness Pak autoships can come from any one arm of your unilevel organisation.

Car Leadership Program

For those Zurvita members who generate a significant MRI income, Zurvita offers a car allowance towards a new or used (maximum 3 years old) black Mercedes. There doesn’t appear to be any limitation on the model of Mercedes this bonus pays out, providing the car is black.

The Car Leadership Program payouts are as follows;

• $2,000 a month in personal MRI pays out $400 in car allowance per month
• $4,000 a month in personal MRI pays out $600 in car allowance per month
• $,8000 a month in personal MRI pays out $1,200 in car allowance per month
• $16,000 a month in personal MRI pays out $2,400 in car allowance per month

There is no grace period offered on the Car Leadership program so if your monthly personal MRI drops below the minimum $2000 to qualify for the program, you’re on your own.

Conclusion

The Zurvita compensation plan is a pretty solid offering and appears to be a good balance of recruitment incentives with a strong retail focus. Zurvita most definitely have a retail product that is available to purchase without joining the company so full marks there.

Obviously however there is some food for thought to be considered within the context of ‘god’ in the Zurvita business. I’m not sure if religion plays any role in running your own Zurvita business (moreso if you’re successful at it) but the core principle to ‘create a company that glorifies god’ and what this specifically means business wise is a bit ambigious.

For those looking for a global opportunity, Zurvita also falls short in that it’s HealthPlus and Business Solutions are only really retailable in the US. Thus as a Zurvita member you’re limiting yourself to a US based customer base.

Finally there is a bit of confusion on my part as to the Zurvita Business Solution services offered by Zurvita. Firstly in whether or not these products can actually be marketed by Zurvita members or if they are only marketed by the company itself, and secondly, if they are able to be marketed by Zurvita members, how the business service divisions fit into the Zurvita compensation plan.

As a retailer of nutrition drink Zeal and HealthPlus, these two products go together reasonably well due to the health connection. Zurvita Business  Solutions however sticks out like a sore thumb.

In terms of marketing this is definitely something to think about as it will inevitably mean the diversification of your marketing campaign(s) as a Zurvita member. Those interested in Zurvita’s health products may or may not be interested in Zurvita Business Solutions and vice versa.

Thus when you’re approaching leads to market Zurvita too, things might get a bit awkward when as an alternative you have to cold pitch a completely unrelated product or service on the offchance that your lead, who expressed an interest in something entirely different you were offering, might be interested.

If you don’t mind mixing a bit of religion in your business and are confident you can retail health along with unrelated business solutions, coupled with the Zurvita compensation plan this might just be the business for you.

That said, that stock price is looking a bit depressing. Not being a financial expert though I’m not entirely sure what effect that can have on the Zurvita business as a whole. You’d probably want to get someone with finance smarts to look into that as if the last twelve months is anything to go by, that stock price won’t be going up anytime soon.