Online Advertising Income

The most generous looking plan – is not necessarily the best plan

Some time ago I started looking into various Multi Level /Affiliate/Network Marketing programs. The choices were bewildering and at first I wasn’t sure what to base my selection on. But after a while some patterns did begin to appear. There were a number of programs that interested me that had some things in common. For one, the services were internet related; such as web hosting or web marketing tools. They also required members to contribute in the order of $10 t0 $35 per month, whether the service was actually used or not.

Selection Criteria: Quickest payback (this didn’t work!)

I found about a half dozen of these that looked interesting and I needed some criteria to narrow down the search to a final pick. At that point one thing I observed was a fairly wide spread between the programs in terms of compensation per individual sponsored. For instance - some plans paid as low as $1 per person, while others paid as much as high as five times that amount, or $5 per person sponsored. So the math was pretty simple. With a plan costing roughly $10 per month paying the low end, you’d have to sponsor 10 people just to cover your costs. But with the plan paying $5 per person sponsored, your break even was five times faster, or as few as two people sponsored. Assuming all other things being equal (which they were not, but I didn’t know any better at the time) you can imagine what plans I started with. Of course, I chose a couple that appeared to break even and deliver profits significantly quicker than the others.

I found though – that things are not as they might seem. I tried three different programs this way, and “struck out” three times in a row. A month, then two months would pass by, and I had not a single soul in my down line, with very few warm prospects. I cut my losses and regrouped. Something was obviously wrong. I had to go back to square one. And I found that like many things in life, the most obvious path is not always the right one. What I discovered painfully was that just because a pay plan looks better, if you don’t have people in your down line, it doesn’t really matter. You’ll be spinning your wheels. What mattered more, is finding a plan which would lead to successful sponsoring of people.

New top criteria: Super Supportive People in your up line (this worked!)

First I looked for a program with a product that was either unique or superior, to set it apart from the others. That became the first criteria (Product). I looked for compensation structures that lead to spillover. That became a second criteria (Structure). The key though, was the people who sponsored you or who ran the company. Your immediate “up line”. The programs I joined initially had weak up lines - people who were only interested in what you could bring to the table and/or sold you even more of their programs. You don’t need this. What you need is people who are dedicated to your success, who are able and willing to help you build a down line. It doesn’t matter how lucrative a pay plan looks – without this support from above, or incredible marketing skills – you are doomed to fail without the right combination of superior or unique product, structure and most importantly – great people in your up line.

"With.....Revolutionary Matrix - I had 57 individuals in my down line after about five weeks.
With...... Chews4Health - I had 29 people in my down line in about three weeks."

Fortunately I figured this out and was able to find two programs like this. And it resulted in a world of difference. In less time – I had way more peopled sponsored than I did with the first few programs I tried! With the one program – a web hosting company called Revolutionary Matrix - I had 57 individuals in my down line after about five weeks. With the other, a nutritional food supplement called Chews4Health - I had 29 people in my down line in about three weeks. These may not be record breaking results but they are far superior than I had with the first few programs I joined. With these programs the company owners or my immediate up line are VASTLY more supportive than at other companies. They provide their down line with free training webinars, free advertising, leads and even sponsor people and place them in my down line. Now that’s support that makes a world of difference.

So there you have it. The most generous looking plan – is not necessarily the best plan. Rule number one with selecting the right MLM/Affiliate network marketing programs– don’t worry about which one appears to pay the most. Find the one with the better chance of you sponsoring people. And THAT is based on the support you will get from your up line. Check on this before joining any plan. Speak to current members to see what they say.

For more information on these two programs and network marketing in general – visit my blog; http://OnlineAdvertisingIncome.blogspot.com and listen to my weekly podcast at BlogTalkRadio www.blogtalkradio.com/Lou-Paquette