Multilevel marketing a la The Donald

Published 7:43 pm Friday, November 20, 2009

It’s like “The Apprentice” meets Amway.

Donald Trump is synonymous with luxury high-rises, his TV show and his distinctive hairstyle. Now he’s putting his name on a vitamin and health products business whose salespeople make money by recruiting more salespeople.

The ubiquitous Trump is partnering with Ideal Health, a 12-year-old Massachusetts-based nutritional products company, and renaming it “The Trump Network,” though the partners won’t specify what their financial relationship is.

The products will be sold via multilevel marketing — a method of selling products through a network of distributors.

In multilevel marketing, sellers receive commissions for the products they sell, along with a cut from the products sold by other salespeople they have recruited.

Associated Press