FreeLife International, a well-known and reputable health and wellness company, was launched in 1995 by co-founders Ray Faltinsky, CEO of the company, and Kevin Fournier, president of the company. Faltinsky earned a Ph.D. from Yale University and it is widely reported that he became infatuated with the use of nutritional supplements after his mother was supposedly cured of osteoporosis through the use of natural products.
Both Faltinsky and Fournier had prior experience in the direct selling industry prior to launch. At the end of its first year, FreeLife became the youngest company to appear on the cover of Success magazine and Fraltinsky would be named to the prestigious Direct Selling Association Board of Directors later in 2003.
In the year 2000 INC. Magazine announced that FreeLife was ranked #296 in the INC. 500 of the fastest growing private companies in the United States. In 2001, after years of exhaustive research, FreeLife launched its exclusive product “Himalayan Goji Juice” derived from Himalayan Goji berries. During 2005, 2006 and 2007, the company achieved unprecedented growth, and in 2007, the Himalayan Goji berry was hailed by Time magazine as “The Breakthrough Superfruit of the Year.”
FreeLife continued to produce products based on the original Goji berry, such as the antioxidant-rich GoChi juice, launched in 2008, which was credited by a well-known scientific journal for having verified effects on the immune system. Later in 2009, they launched a new weight loss product called TAIslim, which is said to shed belly fat, control appetite, and improve metabolism.
However, not everything the company has done has resulted in such braces. In 2009, six former company distributors filed a class action lawsuit naming FreeLife, two of its officers and a marketing spokesperson for allegedly misrepresenting the value and health benefits of Goji juice.
The lawsuit resulted in the company disassociating itself from the aforementioned spokesperson and rewriting much of the advertising material for its product. As we know all too well in the MLM industry, compliance is a big deal and it’s not difficult, especially in the field of health and wellness, to find some claim or the other that might be a bit exaggerated or unsubstantiated.
With that said, FreeLife is a legitimate MLM business model and uses a family-friendly compensation plan built around a one-tier structure with lots of bonuses and extra benefits built in for those who successfully build their business.
As of 2009, FreeLife is open in 27 different countries and continues to grow. As with any MLM business, I would encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to do their due diligence before choosing a business, and once you get involved in a particular business, learn about the invaluable marketing strategies available to you today. FreeLife, as well as most network marketing companies, will recommend starting with your warm market; however, with the advent of the Internet and all of the thousands of materials available, it is important for distributors to incorporate a variety of marketing techniques to ensure maximum beneficial results from their home based business.
