My Life Review: Legacy business model that doesn’t quite work
My Life launched in 2013 and are based out of Florida in the US.
Heading up My Life is Founder and CEO, Andre Maronian.
Maronian made a name for himself in the MLM industry as an affiliate of ACN. In 2007 Maronian left ACN to join 5 Linx.
Maronian left 5 Linx in 2011 and joined Invado, an MLM company that operated in the e-commerce, energy and travel MLM niches.
In a 2011 marketing video pitching Invado, Maronian (right) stated:
We have an unconditional relationship with Invado. We know where this company is going five or ten years from now.
There is no questioning in our mind where we’re gunna be.
By early 2013 Invado had collapsed, with Maronian going to launch My Life later in the year.
Read on for a full review of the My Life MLM opportunity.
The My Life Product Line
The My Life website lists the following products:
- My Tech Support – “a matrix of Self Help Resources, Remote Support, and Onsite Technicians, which give you effective options for addressing your technical challenges, from big to small” ($14.95 a month)
- My Credit Score – “a one-stop solution for the credit information you need to become – and stay – an informed consumer” (no pricing provided)
- My Green Clean – “some of the world’s most powerful green solutions” (ranging in price from $19.97 to $7.99)
- My Trust Alarm – “utilizes trusted technology for providing security systems to protect lives and property every day” ($39.95 to $53.95 a month)
- Pure Green Coffee Pills – “green coffee bean weight loss supplement” ($24.97 for a bottle of 60 capsules)
- My USA Pack & My Canada Pack – “valued customers can bundle numerous products and services together for one convenient bill and even greater savings” (no further information provided)
- My Datacloud – “a backup solution that will have you resting easy; knowing all of your data is safely, securely, and automatically backed up by our trusted brand” ($19.95 a month)
- My ID Protect – “helps halt fraud before real damage is done and gives you the tools to proactively defend your identity” ($14.95 a month)
- My GrowMax – “make your lawn greener than you have ever seen it or make your homegrown food, grow faster, healthier and tastier than you have ever seen. Guaranteed!” ($34.97 for a 1 quart spray bottle or $109.97 for a 1 gallon refill)
- My Auto – a “fuel treatment (that) contains organometalic compounds and mineral oils that increase the surface area of fuel droplets to increase the burn rate, creating a more efficient use of fuel” (no pricing provided)
- My Life Discount – “our dining, shopping and entertainment discount program” ($19.95 a month)
The My Life Compensation Plan
The My Life compensation plan pays affiliates to sell products to retail customers.
My Life affiliates are also paid to recruit new affiliates, both directly and through a residual commission and 2&10 bonus.
My Life Affiliate Ranks
There are seven affiliate ranks in the My Life compensation plan.
Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- IBO – sign up as a My Life affiliate and pay $30 to $45 a month
- Independent Life Rep (ILR) – pay $399, or recruit six affiliates or sell $690 worth of products
- Certified Life Rep (CLR) – sell $100 worth of product as an ILR
- Life Coach – not provided
- Executive Team Coach – not provided
- Regional Team Coach – not provided
- National Vice-President – not provided
- International Vice-President – not provided
Note that Life Coach and higher rank qualification criteria is not provided on the My Life website or in any of their official marketing presentations.
Retail Commissions
Each My Life product is assigned a Personal Commission Volume (PCV) value.
When a My Life affiliate sells a product to a retail customer, they earn 50% of the PCV value if they are an IBO or 100% of the value if they are a ICR.
Recruitment Commissions
If a My Life affiliate qualifies as a CLR within 30 days of joining the company, the affiliate who recruited them is paid a commission.
How much of a commission is paid out is determined by the recruiting affiliate’s rank:
- CLR ranked affiliates earn $50
- Life Coach ranked affiliates earn $100
- Executive Team Coach ranked affiliates earn $130
- Regional Team Coach ranked affiliates earn $200
- National Vice-President ranked affiliates earn $250
- International Vice-President ranked affiliates earn $270
When personally recruited affiliates recruit new affiliates, the following residual commissions are also paid out:
- Life Coach affiliates earn a $50 residual recruitment commission
- Executive Team Coach affiliates can earn up to $80
- Regional Team Coach affiliates can earn up to $150
- National Vice-President affiliates can earn up to $200
- International Vice-President affiliates can earn up to $220
Residual Commissions
In addition to a PCV value, each My Life product also has a Leadership Commissionable Volume (LCV) value.
When a My Life affiliate sells a product, the LCV value is paid out based on the following percentage ratios:
- direct upline – 6%
- Life Coach – 6%
- Executive Team Coach – 12%
- Regional Team Coach – 12%
- Regional Team Coach 1 Star – 6%
- National Vice-President – 24%
- National Vice-President 1 Star – 10%
- National Vice-President 2 Star – 6%
- International Vice-President – 12%
- International Vice-President 1 Star – 6%
Note that the above are coded percentages, meaning an affiliate is paid their rank percentage minus and lesser rank percentages that have already been paid out.
Eg. After the direct upline commission is paid out, 94% of the LCV commission remains payable.
The next upline affiliate is a Regional Team Coach 1 Star. They are paid 36% (6 + 12 + 12 + 6), with 58% of the LCV commission remaining.
The next upline to qualify for a commission has to be at the National Vice-President rank or higher.
Let’s say an International Vice-President is found. They are paid 52% of the LCV commission with 6% remaining. That 6% is paid to the first International Vice-President 1 Star affiliate found further up the upline.
If the affiliate found was an International Vice-President 1 Star, they’d have been paid 58% with no remaining percentage of the LCV commission remaining.
Note that once an order is coded to affiliates, it remains coded for the life of that product order (including any monthly reorders).
2&10 Bonus
To achieve 2&10 a My Life affiliate must generate 10 BV and have two recruited affiliates qualify at the CLR rank in a month.
The 2&10 Bonus pays My Life affiliates who achieve this and also get their downline affiliates to achieve the same.
How much of a bonus is paid out is determined by an affiliate’s rank and the number of downline affiliates who achieve 2&10 Bonus qualification in any given month:
- Life Coach – 1 recruited affiliate achieving the 2&10 Bonus pays $100, 3 affiliates pays $1000 and five affiliates pays $3000
- Executive Team Coach – 2 recruited affiliates achieving the 2&10 Bonus pays $500, 5 affiliates pays $1000, 6 affiliates pays $2000, 8 affiliates pays $4000, 10 affiliates pays $6000, 15 affiliates pays $10,000 and 20 affiliates pays $15,000
- Regional Team Coach – 3 recruited affiliates achieving the 2&10 Bonus pays $750, 6 affiliates pays $3000, 10 affiliates pays $7000, 15 affiliates pays $14,000, 20 affiliates pays $20,000, 30 affiliates pays $30,000, 40 affiliates pays $50,000 and 50 affiliates pays $75,000
- National Vice-President – 10 recruited affiliates achieving the 2&10 Bonus pays $4000, 20 affiliates pays $13,000, 30 affiliates pays $13,000, 60 affiliates pays $20,000, 75 affiliates pays $35,000, 100 affiliates pays $50,000, 150 affiliates pays $100,000, 200 affiliates pays $150,000
- International Vice-President – 50 recruited affiliates achieving the 2&10 Bonus pays $5000, 100 affiliates pays $15,000, 150 affiliates pays $40,000, 225 affiliates pays $75,000, 300 affiliates pays $120,000, 400 affiliates pays $180,000, 500 affiliates pays $250,000 and 750 affiliates pays $500,000
An affiliate can increase their 2&10 Bonus payout by 10% if they qualify for a 1 Star rank and 25% if they qualify for a 2 Star.
Joining My Life
Basic affiliate membership with My Life costs $30 to $45 a month.
Although not explicitly clarified, the $30 to $45 a month fee appears to be a required autoship order.
My Life affiliates can also purchase the Independent Life Rep rank for $399. The $30 to $45 monthly fee is also payable at the Independent Life Rep rank.
Conclusion
My Life offers an eclectic mish-mash of products that follows on from the mish-mash of products Andre Maronian marketed in ACN, 5 Linx and Invado.
The retail viability of the products without the attached My Life income opportunity is questionable. First and foremost is the fact that pretty much everything My Life offers is sourced and/or provided by a third-party.
In some instances you can even visit a My Life affiliate store and actually be redirected to a third-party company website.
Not there’s anything wrong with reselling products or services, it’s just that one can’t help but wonder if the offering is there out of genuine demand or to sell the income opportunity.
My Life’s income opportunity presents several glaring compliance issues of its own.
First and foremost My Life affiliates are paid to recruit new affiliates who qualify at the CLR rank within 30 days. This, along with getting recruits to sign up for a monthly autoship order, appears to be the meat of the My Life MLM opportunity.
I believe the $30 to $45 monthly “overhead” quoted in official My Life business presentations is actually a required autoship order.
Forcing affiliates to purchase product for commission qualification is a big no-no. Vemma did the same and was sued by the FTC last year.
The reason mandatory autoship triggers regulators is because it detracts focus from selling products and services to retail customers. More often than not mandatory autoship serves as commission qualification, with affiliates able to focus on recruiting affiliates on autoship to earn commissions.
Any products or services offered by the company become irrelevant, serving only to facilitate commissions paid on chain-recruitment.
The mandatory autoship component of My Life fits this criteria. One way to check for this would be to ask a potential upline what their retail PCV versus their own purchase PCV was for the past few months.
What you want to see is a healthy mix of retail volume and personal consumption volume, preferably with a (heavy) weight towards retail.
A lack of retail volume in favor of a lone autoship order would be indicative of a product-based pyramid scheme.
Pay to play is also a problem in My Life.
In addition to mandatory autoship, My Life affiliates are able to buy the CLR affiliate rank. This ties into the 2&10 Bonus, which specifically pays affiliates whose downlines qualify as a CLR within 30 days.
In addition to qualifying for the 2&10 Bonus, Andre Maronian concedes that buying into the CLR rank offers a direct financial benefit to a My Life affiliate:
You can get to ILR by skipping these two streets (recruitment and BV qualification) and say, “Look, I just wanna get there right away.”
Now why? Because you make more money.
In MLM income potential should always be tied to an affiliate’s sales performance, not how much they spend when they sign up.
This is known as “pay to play” and, like mandatory autoship, is frowned on by regulators.
Personally I get the vibe that My Life is stuck in the past, a product of legacy influences of Andre Maronian.
That’s not necessarily a criticism on his part. As evidenced by both ACN and 5 Linx, at one time the mish-mash model was successful.
That time however I feel has passed, with MLM opportunities these days unable to ignore retail sales and not be focused on a particular niche.
This is full of half truths. I am a proud and profitable MyLife business owner.
Yet you didn’t even point out one.