Several years ago, there was a networking boom in our city. There’s the usual pyramid networking and then there is direct-selling or multi-level marketing, popularly known as MLM.

I got my taste of pyramiding when i was introduce by a friend into a cellphone acquisition pyramiding. At that time, Nokia has released plenty of cellphone models and everyone seems to want a new Nokia.  I will put 6,000 pesos initial, i will get a cellphone worth 12,000. The first time i put in the money, i did get the cellphone. So emboldened, i enticed my relatives to put in their money also. Four of them took on the offer. Two got their cellphones, but the the other two got delayed. And delayed.. And delayed… When i went to their office, i realized something was wrong because there were plenty of people complaining also about not getting their phones. So i went to my friend. She was all frazzled and agitated because there were plenty of us in her downline. Well, in the end, i got one cellphone more, and the other, “na TY”. My friend disappeared, as expected.

I am a health conscious person and a herba-phile. So when my colleague gave me an enthusiastic testimonial about Forever Living products, I got  hooked. So i promptly attended a seminar in their sales office… It was a gruelling 4 hours seminar. Plenty of testimonials and showing copies of their monthly checks with amount ranging from 20k to 100k. So, at the end, I signed up and paid for my starter kit. The kit contains a mix of products that I can either use or sell. Well, I used all of it. I even tried the aloe shampoo.

I am suppose to introduce the products to others and make them sign up as well. That is what this thing is all about. But i just didn’t have the time (or the drive) to do it. So i ended up as a product user only. Eventually, the high price of the products made me consider other emerging herbal products in the market.

My wife got involved with Tupperware, Amway and Herbalife. But only as product user. We collected enought Tupperwares to give away for weddings, birthdays and Christmas. Our Amway starter kit expired unused. The products are for American market or the A-class user. Surely, the local brand cleaning products are as effective as that of Amway’s. Herbalife?? Hmm, my wife never really shed a pound of her “love bulge” drinking the overrated choco-milk. I told her to stop the Herbalife and we will just spend the money intended for it at Mandarin restaurant.

What keeps me and my wife getting entangled with MLM is the promise of financial rewards while benefiting fromt he products. 

The fact that you can earn while using it, or that you can get money by promoting the product and getting ‘downlines’ is one reason plenty of people from all walks of life gets involved into it. The testimonial of a taxi driver becoming a millionaire all of us, unfortunate souls, aspire to achieve.

That is the allure of these MLM companies.

But of course, it boils down to hardwork to get the financial rewards the company promises.

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Fallback Plan

How many OFWs have fallback plans when their contract are finished or their  company closed?  Lucky are those high-salaried OFWs, no problem with excess money to build an apartment, set-up a business, or just emigrate. For us in countries the Philippine government has imposed a travel and work ban, It is kind of chilling to think into the future. What if we cannot  come back to our destination? What if the company decides not to hire anymore Filipinos because of the ban?

Finding a job in the country which pays equal or higher than the overseas job is difficult. The small savings our family makes on our remittances negated by the plunging forex. Our family cannot be sustained by our dollar remittances. And it takes more years for us to achieve financial independence on OFW salary alone (with the exception of the highly paid).

Not that i am parroting their usual sales pitch, but MLM networking seems to offer a good opportunity to earn extra for both the OFW and his spouse back home.

The formula seems simple. Use the products, recruit downlines that will use the products and recruit more downlines.

Here comes DXN Ganoderma products.

Of course, not all MLM companies are the same. Some have brushes with the law, others turning out to be downright scam, but still, the ones we still see today are the ones that embodies that beneficial nature of MLM networking. One of that is DXN.

Like other MLM companies, there are also plenty of testimonials on both the health benefits of the products and the financial rewards for promoting DXN.

When i was still inthe Philippines, i have been buying Lingzhi coffee. I refused any offer to be part of the DXN network. I just like that coffee, period.

Keeping healthy while working in Africa is a tricky business. I have been very sickly 3 months ago and nearly called it quits. Fortunately, a timely vacation after two years saved the day for me. During my vacation, I was glad that my wife continues to use Lingzhi coffee. She doesn’t really know what health benefits she can get from it, other than the idea that Lingzhi is a ‘herbal coffee’..

When i came back to Nigeria, i was surprised that my Pinoy housemates were DXN users. Curious, they gave me the mandatory orientation on the products, company and networking. 

Since I am now using DXN products (RG-GL and Spirulina), why not join and get something from DXN? So i decided to sign-up.  My upline in Nigeria is a fellow Kagay-anon named Jeon, himself a long-time Gano user and nearing his ’star’ rank.

Aside from the health benefits, I am interested to give MLM networking via DXN another try.  It also made me think that DXN can also become my Plan B after overseas work. Hmmm.

I will be using DXN products while in Nigeria. If I do get the health benefits that its products claimed, they can be sure I will be part of their die-hard representatives.

Who knows, our group might end up establishing the Naija Pinoys DXN Team.

And when i decide to call it “quits” on overseas work, this DXN will be one of my fallback plans.

No bi so?