Is Team National A Pyramid...Or Is Team National A Real Business?

Recently, Team National (or National Companies, aka "Big N") has emerged as a very popular home based business opportunity. As the idea of having a successful home-based business has grown in popularity, Team National has positioned itself as a very popular (and somewhat controversial) leader in the network marketing arena.

There are also some very real concerns about starting or participating in a Team National business. I'm about to go through and give an unbiased review of the pros and cons of developing a business and see if we can find out whether Team National is a great opportunity...or a great scam.

Team National - The Good

National Companies is a company developed and chaired by Dick Loehr. At its heart, Team National provides savings benefits packages that allow clients to access discounts to furniture, jewelry, travel, insurance, communications, and more. Located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Team National offers people the chance to save money, and also to recruit other people to build a business helping people save money.

The best that Team National has going is the compensation plan. With its binary matrix, it allows distributors the potential to earn a sizable commission off of each benefits package sold. It can pay high, and motivated distributors definitely have the potential to earn decent money.

Team National - The Bad

The first big strike against Team National is the cost of the packages. For a 2 year membership, it costs over $899.00. For a lifetime membership, the package costs a cool $2,199.00. If you buy a lot of jewelry and insurance, then it might be a great deal. However, most people joining a business opportunity are not looking to spend that kind of money just to get into business, especially with no guarantee of profit.

Another concern is regarding the true savings that are offered in the benefits package. In an interview with a Team National representative, I was told that the package did offer some savings, but he found that he could always find a better deal just by shopping around. So if you don't like to shop and compare, then the benefits package is probable a great investment. But if you're truly looking to get the best bang for your buck, there might be some question as to how much you can truly save.

Team National - The Ugly

The truly painful thing about starting or growing a Team National business is their marketing plan. Like many network marketing companies, Team National advocates that you chase your "warm market", friends and family. They teach their distributors to use a "baseball" marketing plan that goes like this:

• 1st Base - Call up a friend or family member, and send them to the 10 minute "Sizzle Call", where they can hear a bunch of hype about making millions of dollars marketing the benefits package.
• 2nd Base - See if your poor prospect is still interested. If so, 3-way them into a phone conversation with your upline, where you prospect can hear another testimonial about how they can get rich.
• 3rd Base - If you prospect is still taking your phone calls, then you can schedule a home-viewing, where you can go over to their house, show them a DVD presentation, and do another 3-way call to your upline for extra "validation".
• Home Base - Closing time! This is where the deal is done.

Growing a Team National business can be a great opportunity. They have a decent (not great but decent) product, but there are plenty of companies that have great products, and many people that market good products never make a dime. There are also plenty of terrible products that generate millions of dollars in revenue (anyone remember the pet rock?) The difference is the marketer, and their ability to target their market effectively.

In closing, I would say that starting and developing a Team National business is lucrative if someone knows how to effectively use the telephone, the Internet, and other effective marketing tools. It is not a scam, but like any business, success will be determined by the skill-set of the marketer. Team National is definitely not a lottery ticket or a stock option - meaning, you do not just buy in and wait for a payout.

If someone does not have the first clue on how to market effectively, then I would suggest they either learn how to be an effective marketer, or else just use the benefit package to save a few bucks.