Networking - Moving & Living Abroad

Could Network Marketing Be the Second Income You’ve Been Looking For? (I’m Finding Out — and I’m Taking You With Me)

By expatover55.com | Last updated: April 2026 | 14 min read

I want to have an honest conversation with you today.

Not a sales pitch. Not a breathless promise of passive income and financial freedom while you sip cocktails on a terrace. After nearly 40 years of expat life, I can smell that kind of thing a mile away — and it always leaves a bad taste.

What I want to do instead is tell you about something I’ve recently started exploring myself. Something I’ve been cautious about for a long time. Something that — if I’m being honest — I had written off entirely until I took a proper look at it.

I’m talking about network marketing. And I’m at the very beginning of this journey.

I haven’t made a fortune from it. I can’t show you a screen of impressive earnings. What I can do is share why someone like me — a sceptic, a Brit who has lived in Spain for nearly 40 years, a person who rolls their eyes at anything that smells of hype — decided to give this a genuine look. And invite you to explore it alongside me.

Why I Started Asking Different Questions

If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time, you’ll know that one of the threads running through everything here is this: a pension alone, in 2026, is a fragile thing to build a retirement on.

I’ve watched it happen to people I know. They arrive in Spain — or Portugal, or Thailand, or wherever — with what feels like a solid financial plan. And for a while, it is. But inflation nibbles. Currency fluctuates. An unexpected cost appears. And gradually, quietly, the comfortable margin they planned for shrinks.

I’ve been thinking hard about this for myself. Not from a place of panic — my situation is stable — but from a place of clear-eyed honesty. A pension that feels fine today may feel tighter in five years. And I’d rather build a second income while I have the energy and motivation to do it properly than scramble to find one later.

So I’ve been exploring options. Fiverr and freelancing — I’ve written about that. Affiliate income from this very website. And now, something I resisted for a long time: network marketing.

What Made Me Look Again

I’ll be honest about my starting position: I was sceptical.

Like most people my age, I had formed opinions about network marketing long before I looked at it seriously. The pushy friend at a dinner party. The Facebook post promising “financial freedom” with a photo of someone’s car. The vague sense that the whole industry was built on recruiting people to recruit people, with a product somewhere in the background that nobody really wanted.

Those impressions aren’t entirely wrong — about some companies. But I made the mistake of judging an entire business model by its worst examples.

What changed my mind was a conversation with a fellow expat — someone I respect, someone who is not given to hype or silliness — who had been quietly building a network marketing income alongside their retirement for a couple of years. Not life-changing numbers. But meaningful ones. Consistent ones. And built, they told me, almost entirely from genuine conversations with people they already knew — spread across multiple countries, because that’s what an expat life gives you.

That’s when I started paying closer attention.

What Network Marketing Actually Is (Stripped of the Hype)

Before we go further, let me explain the model clearly — because the terminology can muddy the waters.

Network marketing (also called multi-level marketing, or MLM, or direct sales) is a business model where you earn income in two main ways:

1. Selling products or services directly to customers, earning a commission or margin on each sale.

2. Building a team of other distributors, and earning a percentage of their sales as your team grows. As your team develops and becomes active, this creates something that genuinely resembles residual income — money that doesn’t depend on you working every single day.

What it is not:

It is not a pyramid scheme — though the two are frequently conflated. The legal distinction matters: a pyramid scheme generates income purely from the act of recruiting, with no underlying product of real value. A legitimate network marketing business generates income from selling genuine products to genuine customers. If someone asks you to pay to join and there’s no real product behind it, walk away.

It is also emphatically not passive income in the beginning. Building a team takes consistent effort over time — typically years, not months. The residual element comes later, once you’ve done the foundational work.

Why This Model Makes Particular Sense for Expats Over 55

Here’s what struck me most when I started looking at this seriously — and why I think this community specifically is worth thinking about it.

Our networks are global by nature.

Think for a moment about who you know. Former colleagues across different countries. School friends who emigrated. Family spread across continents. Fellow expats in your current home. People you’ve met travelling, at events, in online communities like this one.

Most people in their 20s have a network that is rich but geographically concentrated. By 55 — and especially if you’ve lived abroad — your network spans the world. In network marketing, that geographic spread is not just nice to have. It is a genuine strategic advantage. You can build a team and a customer base in multiple countries simultaneously, which reduces your dependence on the economic conditions of any single market.

The company I’m exploring operates across a very wide range of countries — almost globally, with some exceptions including Africa. That reach matters to me specifically because of the breadth of my own network.

We have credibility that money cannot buy.

When someone in their 30s recommends a business opportunity, people listen politely. When someone who has lived and worked for decades — who has real-world experience of what works and what doesn’t — recommends something, people take it seriously.

Trust is the currency of network marketing. And trust, at our stage of life, is something we’ve been quietly accumulating for years.

We are not desperate — and that changes everything.

This is subtle but important. A 28-year-old building a network marketing business needs it to work immediately, to pay rent, to replace a salary. The pressure of that desperation causes people to push too hard, too fast — damaging relationships and producing disappointing results.

Most of us over 55 who are looking at this are seeking a supplement, not a salary replacement. An extra £500 or £1,000 a month — not a fortune, but enough to remove the financial anxiety around inflation, currency fluctuation, or the occasional unexpected expense. That is a far more achievable target, and a far less pressured place to build from.

We have something to share authentically.

The best network marketing is not selling. It is sharing — genuine enthusiasm for something you believe in, with people you actually care about. By our age, most of us have long since learned to be honest about what we think and feel. That authenticity, which younger people sometimes have to work hard to project, comes naturally to us.

The Honest Challenges — Because I Promised Honesty

I told you this wasn’t a pitch. So here is what the less flattering research tells me.

Most people don’t make life-changing money from network marketing.

Reputable network marketing companies are required to publish income disclosure statements, and the honest reading of most of them is this: a minority of distributors earn significant income, a larger number earn modest amounts, and some earn nothing at all.

The reasons are complex — many people join without fully committing, or join with unrealistic expectations and leave before they’ve built anything — but the headline is true, and ignoring it would be dishonest. Going in with realistic expectations is not pessimism. It’s the only basis for building something that lasts.

It takes longer than most people want it to.

The residual, compounding nature of network marketing income is its most attractive feature — and its most deceptive, because it implies that the income comes easily once you’ve “set it up.” It doesn’t. Building a team of engaged, active distributors takes consistent effort over an extended period. People who expect significant results in three months are almost always disappointed.

Talking about a business opportunity feels awkward at first.

There is no way to soften this. Particularly for British people, who are culturally trained to find anything resembling promotion deeply uncomfortable, the initial conversations can feel forced. I suspect this will be true for me too as I get started.

What I’ve been told — and what I believe is probably true — is that the discomfort diminishes significantly when you genuinely believe in what you’re sharing. It stops feeling like selling and starts feeling like recommending. But I won’t pretend I know that from experience yet, because I don’t.

Not all network marketing companies deserve your trust.

This is the most important caveat. The industry contains both legitimate businesses and exploitative operations, and distinguishing between them requires research. I’ll talk about what to look for in a moment.

What to Look For Before Saying Yes to Any Company

Whether you’re following along with what I’m exploring or doing your own research, here are the questions that matter most:

Is the product genuinely good — independent of the business opportunity?

Would you buy this product if there were no income attached to it? Is there real demand for it from people who aren’t distributors? A business built on products that only distributors buy is not sustainable.

Is the company established and reputable?

How long has it been operating? Is it a member of the Direct Selling Association in its home country? Can you find honest, verifiable information about its leadership and track record? Companies that have operated for 10, 20, or 30+ years have survived economic cycles and earned the right to be considered seriously.

Is the compensation plan fair and transparent?

Can you understand how you earn — really understand it, without needing a 45-minute presentation? Is commission primarily earned from actual product sales, or primarily from recruiting? Rewarding recruitment over sales is a structural warning sign.

Does it work across borders?

For expats specifically, this is critical. A network marketing business that only operates in one country limits you to one market. A business that operates internationally means you can serve customers and build a team across your entire global network — which, as an expat over 55, may span multiple continents.

Does the culture feel honest?

Is the community of people in this business realistic and supportive? Or is it dominated by lifestyle imagery, inflated income claims, and pressure to recruit quickly? Culture filters down from the top of any organisation — pay attention to it.

Where I Am Right Now

I want to be specific with you about where I actually am in this process, because vagueness would undermine the trust I’m trying to build here.

I have been researching and evaluating a specific network marketing company for the past [X weeks/months]. I have looked carefully at the product, the compensation plan, the company’s track record, and the culture of the people involved. I have asked hard questions and pushed back on the easy answers.

I am at the point where I believe this is worth pursuing — which is why I’m writing about it here. But I am right at the beginning of building something, not reporting back from a place of established success.

What I am committing to is this: I will document this journey honestly on expatover55.com. The early awkwardness. The first small wins and the early stumbles. What works for building a team and customer base as an expat with an international network. What doesn’t. Real numbers when I have them. Honest reflection throughout.

If that kind of transparency appeals to you — if you’d rather follow someone who tells you the truth as they go than someone who only shows you the highlight reel — then I think you’ll find this series of articles genuinely useful.

Who This Might Be Right For

I’m not going to suggest that network marketing is for everyone, because it clearly isn’t. But based on everything I’ve researched and everyone I’ve spoken to, here is my honest sense of who it tends to work for:

It works well for people who:

Are genuinely interested in the product and can imagine recommending it authentically

Have a broad, real network of relationships — especially across multiple countries

Are patient enough to build over 2–3 years rather than expect results in 2–3 months

Are looking to supplement their income, not replace it overnight

Are open to learning new skills — particularly around communication, relationship-building, and simple online marketing

Want something that provides both income and a sense of community and purpose

It works less well for people who:

Are primarily motivated by money and have no real interest in the product

Need significant income immediately

Are deeply unwilling to have any conversations about a business opportunity with people they know

Expect the “residual” part of the income to arrive without significant upfront work

Be honest with yourself about which list resonates more. There’s no wrong answer — self-awareness here is a genuine advantage.

What Comes Next

Over the coming weeks and months, I’ll be writing a series of articles following this journey in real time:

The company I’ve chosen — what it is, why I chose it over the alternatives I looked at, and what the product actually is

Getting started practically — what joining involves, what the initial investment looks like, what the first steps are

Building a team as an expat — how to use an international network effectively and ethically

Honest income updates — what I’m actually earning, at what stage, and what’s working

The lessons along the way — including the uncomfortable ones

If you’d like to follow this series as it develops, [subscribe to the expatover55.com newsletter here] and I’ll let you know when each new article goes live.

And if something in this article has already sparked a question — or if you want to know more about the specific opportunity I’m exploring before I write the next piece — I’d genuinely welcome a conversation.

👉 [Get in touch here / find out more about what I’m exploring] (add your contact link or enquiry form)

No pressure. No script. Just an honest conversation between people who’ve lived enough to value that.

This is the beginning of a series. Bookmark this page or subscribe to follow along as I document this journey in real time.

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