Everyday I get questions and comments on this blog asking if I’ve heard about Beachbody’s Coaching program. It usually goes something like this: “Hi, you should check out Beachbody’s coaching program. You can get 25% off all their products and earn money in your spare time. Check out this link to learn more about signing up . . . “
In case you haven’t noticed or been pestered like I have, Beachbody has a coaching program. It works much like a MLM (multi-level marketing) campaign. In other words, if you sign up as a Beachbody “coach” you receive a commission for both your sales as well as those of other people you recruit to join under your name. I wouldn’t call it a pyramid-scheme or a scam. It’s perfectly legit. In fact, my sister is a coach and she loves it. But something about the whole thing just seems a little off.
Now, I’m all for earning money in your “spare time” as well as encouraging other people to get healthy while holding yourself accountable to a higher standard of fitness. This seems to be what Beachbody had in mind when they created their coaching program. However, there are several problems I have with the whole scenario which is why I’ve decided that being a Beachbody Coach is NOT for me.
1. I haven’t even completed the entire P90X program yet. Apparently, the only qualification needed to be a coach is a credit card number. If someone is giving me advice about getting into shape, and especially advice on one particular fitness program, I would hope that person would have at least finished the program successfully. No? It seems strange that there’s all these people out there giving advice about P90X and other workout programs that they haven’t even done themselves. I’m sure there are plenty of legit Beachbody coaches out there. I just wish Beachbody would raise their standards a little higher.
2. I don’t use any Beachbody products. I don’t need a 25% discount on products that I don’t use or need. I purchased P90X legitimately through Beachbody and I think it’s a great program. However, I’m not really interested in anything else that Beachbody sells. It seems like the only people that get excited about Beachbody products are the ones that make money selling them to you.
3. Being a coach costs too much money. Sure, I understand it’s a business and all that. But I don’t want to run a business. I already have enough stuff to do. If I’m going to “earn money in my spare time” it has to be passive online income. And I already know how to do that.
I understand that Beachbody and P90X in particular has a lot of name recognition and they spend a lot of money on advertising. So, I guess it makes sense that in order to join their affiliate program there would be some kind of fee. But the thing is, as long as you really know what you’re doing you don’t need to be a Beachbody coach to encourage people to get into shape with P90X and make a little money on the side. And NO, I’m not talking about selling pirated or bootlegged copies of P90X! Grrr!
The cost to enroll in Beachbody’s coaching program is $39.95. After that, it costs $14.95 per month to stay enrolled. Yes, this includes your own personal website. But how will people find your website? That’s going to take a lot of work–including additional time and money. In addition, you need to purchase at least $50 worth of products (supplements, equipment, whatever) from Beachbody every month. This sounds a bit much for someone who just wants to generate some additional income in their “spare time.”
4. I like doing my own thing. You might have noticed I have some Amazon links on this website. Some point to Beachbody products. This is my own little way of earning a passive income. If someone purchases a product with my link, I earn a little commission for my time. Beachbody still gets the sale. And someone gets into shape. It’s a Win-Win-Win. Trifecta! And I like being able to give people my honest opinion. If I was a Beachbody coach, I would feel obligated to put many Beachbody products up on a pedestal where they don’t belong.
Don’t get me wrong–I have a lot of respect for Beachbody. I’m only 30 days into P90X and my body is already saying “thank you!” And I’m happy to encourage anyone else that comes along to give P90X a try and to help them along with their journey if they have questions. But I don’t have to be a Beachbody coach to do it. So please–stop pestering me!
Do you have more questions about P90X? Check out my archived list of P90X Articles as well as P90X Questions. If your question isn’t answered there, please submit it using the comments form below or use my contact page.
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