Author Archives: Roope Kiuttu
Hello! I am Roope "Robert" Kiuttu, the founder and owner of YourOnlineRevenue.com. I created this website back in 2015 to help you to make money online. You can ask me anything and I'll be happy to help you out. I help people daily to make more money online and I love seeing people succeeding. If you want to get my 1-on-1 support and help to make money online as well, get started HERE.
Today we are going to take a closer look at one of the biggest MLM-companies in the world. Even though it has been already around for over 37 years, there is a lot of controversy around this business. Is Herbalife a Ponzi Scheme? You will get an answer to that and your other questions in the next 3 minutes.
Name: Herbalife
Website: Herbalife.com
Founded in: February 1980
Field: Nutrition and Personal care products (MLM)
Overall Rank: 40 out of 100 (Check Out My #1 Recommendation. 98 out of 100)
Herbalife is a leading network marketing company that sells products for health & wellness, and personal body care products. The company was founded by entrepreneur Mark Hughes in 1980, and it claims to have employed around 7,800 people worldwide. Herbalife is a direct-selling company, which means you cannot buy its nutritious snacks, protein shakes, vitamins, energy products, skin and hair care products in stores. However, these products can be ordered directly from a Herbalife member or purchased via online retailers.
In July 2015, the company claim to be operating and distributing its products in about 95 countries around the world through a network of over 3 million Herbalife independent distributors. These Herbalife Independent distributors tend to earn a profit on product sales, and additional commission from a multi-level marketing compensation structure. In 2014, Herbalife reported net sales of US$3.825 billion. The goal of Herbalife is to improve the nutritional habits of the world, one person at a time, and to offer people a way to work for themselves while offering great nutritional products.
Herbalife has a huge selection of products for weight loss, energy, fitness, and complete body nutrition. They obviously have tons of products, but I will just list a few;
Yes! There have been a lot of success stories over the years by consumers using certain products, and as well a few cases where the products did not settle well with the consumer. But let’s not forget that our body reacts differently to certain things, therefore not everyone will probably experience good results.
Prices of Herbalife products really depends on what type of products you are looking to buy. The majority of the people I know are looking to lose weight, and on the average spend about $200- that will get the Advanced Program and an extra shake. To view prices for Herbalife products, you can simply create an account on the Herbalife website or contact a Herbalife Independent Member in your area. Alternatively, you can check prices for certain Herbalife products on Amazon.com.
Herbalife Advertisement
MLM-products are 99,99% of the time overpriced. Why? Because there are so many hands between you and the producer who want to take money in-between. If you want to buy exactly similar nutrition products, they may be 2 times cheaper (it, of course, depends on the country).
Some MLMs have totally crazy prices and you need to pay even more than 10 times more than in a supermarket. Herbalife’s prices are not so crazy but, of course, they are still overpriced because this is an MLM-system. That’s why I prefer affiliate marketing over MLMs because I can offer people products for the best price and sometimes even with a discount. If I would be a network marketer, I should sell those overpriced products which is against my conscience.
Herbalife independent members buy Herbalife products in bulk, and can then either consume them or resell them to earn income. However, to earn income; they are paid based on the usual multilevel-marketing model. This means that they earn commissions, which comes not only from the products they sell but also from bonuses related to sales by new members they recruit (passive income).
There are two Herbalife Member Packs:
As you advance as a distributor of Herbalife, you gain access to product discounts from 25% to 50% and commissions that are paid when distributors in your downline make purchases from the company. In other words, the more Herbalife protein shakes, skin care products or nutritional supplement that members you signed up buy, the more money you will eventually make and move up in rank as well. That motivates Herbalife distributors to sell more.
However, you have to understand that it is not that easy because you and your recruits will need to buy a whole lot of these products and supplements worth several thousands of dollars’ before these bonuses kicks in and there comes even a bigger risk- if you do not drink or resell the products you buy, or return them within a specified window of time (usually 90 days for the first purchase), you will be stuck with them.
I find it deceitful that most recruiting distributors, usually don’t explain to the new recruits how difficult and expensive it is to advance in rank. Instead, most recruits are simply made to think that with hard work they can make a lot of money from Herbalife. Sadly, it is always a different story.
Herbalife is a Pyramid Scheme
Pros:
Cons:
Overall, I conclude that Herbalife is a legal and ethical multi-level marketing company that offers health-related products to the end consumers. The company is undoubtedly one of the biggest network marketing companies in the world.
However, its MLM operating module still affirm that it’s a big deal making a living out of it. You should also be aware that there is a massive failure rate because of the competition, skill-set, and exposure that most recruit lack. But still, let’s not forget the company has survived for decades in an industry where most companies don’t even last a year, so they must be doing something right.
I don’t recommend selling Herbalife products at least in U.S. and most other countries because they are just too overpriced. You can get much better products on the supermarket or from a direct retailer. I was in Indonesia and some people were selling Herbalife products. There buying them would have been more reasonable because it was so hard to find any other protein supplements in town. Still, the prices were huge if compared to other prices in Indonesia.
If you are interested in becoming your own boss and making money online, I recommend Wealthy Affiliate. It is an online “university” and a community of online entrepreneurs. They have a step by step training how anyone can start making money online. I know people who have started without prior knowledge and are nowadays making +$10,000 per month income.
Wealthy Affiliate is not an MLM-system. You don’t need to buy your own products or invest ANY money if you don’t want. You will have 20 interactive video lesson (with tasks), 2 websites and my 1-on-1 mentoring for free.
I hope that you enjoyed our Herbalife review. Now I would like to hear from you.
Have you been in touch with Herbalife? What kind of experiences did you have?
Is Cash4offers Legit? You will get an answer in the next 3 minutes by reading our honest review. We will explain how it works, why it’s not worth your time and what would be a better alternative to make money online.
Name: Cash4offers
Website: www.Cash4offers.com
Founded in: January 2005
Field: Survey Sites
Overall Ranking: 20 out of 100 (Check Out My #1 Recommendation, 98 out of 100)
Cash4Offers is a site that pays its users taking surveys and completing small tasks. The company has been around since January of 2005, and have not had many reviews that call it a scam. Cash4Offers appears to pay its users.
Ways to make money in Cash4offers are very typical to survey sites
You make money with Cash4Offers by taking surveys, playing games, reading emails, and making referrals. There isn’t really much else to do. The hard part is qualifying for a survey. Reading emails payout 1 to 5 cents an email, however, these come maybe once a day, or sometimes a couple times a day. $0,05/day income doesn’t sound very interesting. Work for 100 days and you may earn one kebab!
Most of your income will be through surveys. You can earn money from referrals, meaning you would earn a percentage of whatever they make. The site also offers a bonus of $5 to everyone who registers.
The amount of money you can make through Cash4Offers really depends on how much time you can commit to trying to qualify for surveys. However, it is very unlikely that you will make any money. The reason is because most of your earnings will come from surveys, but it’s almost impossible for you to qualify for many surveys. Because surveys will be your main source of making money, it’s unlikely that Cash4Offers will be a significant source of extra income.
That’s why I always say that online surveys are not worth it. You need to spend so much time but you earn so little.
Cash4offers ads sound appealing but the reality is a bit different
The payout threshold is also $35, but $25 of this must be from surveys. The wait for your first payment may also take up to a month to be delivered. After that, your payments will be delivered in 72 hours. While they do offer that $5 bonus, it’s very unlikely that you will be able to make enough money to actually cash out before you realize that all the time you’re wasting on their could be put towards something that could actually be making you money. It’s not really worth the time.
It’s also a long wait just for the first payment, which you most likely won’t reach before quitting the site. That’s why they offer a $5 bonus. Most of the users will not stay on long enough to actually receive their payment, so the company doesn’t lose any money; they just keep getting richer. You will never become rich filling online surveys but with affiliate marketing, it’s possible to make a fortune online.
Cash4Offers has a customer service team that replies to all questions within 24 hours. This is pretty good compared to many money making sites out there. There aren’t many bad reviews for the customer support at Cash4Offers, except for the occasional unhelpful representative.
Pros:
Cons:
Cash4offers is not a scam. However, it’s not a good way to make money online. Your payout will be so small that even a 7-year-old boy could make more money than somebody who is filling out surveys here. I recommend that don’t waste your valuable time on looking for good survey sites. I have reviewed about 30 different such websites and none of them is very profitable.
But I have a few recommendations if you are interested in making a big money online and set your own hours. Wealthy Affiliate is my #1 recommendation. It is a training center and a community of online entrepreneurs.
They provide a proven step-by-step training how you can create an online business without prior knowledge. Some of my friends are doing +$10,000 per month after going through their training and putting it into action. I am not yet making so much but my online income is steadily increasing. And I am sure that one day I will make $10,000 per month online thanks to the training in WA.
You can have 10 interactive video lessons, 2 websites and my 1-on-1 mentoring for totally free. You don’t need a credit card or to pay a single penny. You can create a free account and start learning.
Cash4offers at a Glance…
Name: Cash4offers
Website: www.Cash4offers.com
Founded in: January 2005
Field: Survey Sites
Overall Ranking: 20 out of 100
Have you tried Cash4offers or other similar sites yourself? Where they just waste of time?
Today we are going to take a look at MLM-system that has been around already for over 54 years! Still, some people ask, Is Mary Kay a Ponzi Scheme? Check out what one woman in our team writes about Mary Kay.
Name: Mary Kay
Website: www.marykay.com
Founded in: September 13, 1963
Field: Cosmetic and personal care products
Overall Ranking: 30 out of 100. (Check Out My #1 Recommendation. 98 out of 100)
Mary Kay is a multi-level marketing/direct sales company that sells cosmetics products, which was founded by Mary Kay Ash in 1963. Mary Kay has helped women discover products that they love with its irresistible makeup, innovative skin care and unforgettable fragrances, and also at the same time offer business opportunity for women to discover making extra income.
In 2015, Direct Selling News reported Mary Kay to be the sixth largest direct selling company in the world, with a wholesale volume of US$3 billion. Presently, Mary Kay claim to have 3.5 million Independent Beauty Consultants with more than 200 premium products available in more than 35 countries around the world.
Products are distinctively made by Mary Kay Inc. researchers for Mary Kay target markets. They seem to have a huge, reputable research and development wing. According to their market research, there is a 90% product satisfaction rate but Mary Kay still made provision for fulfillment assurance on all items purchased -which involves replacement, exchange, or complete reimbursement if clients are not satisfied with the product.
Mary Kay offers a wide range of Women’s cosmetic needs in these categories:
It may come as a surprise to you, but Mary Kay did also offers a palette of products for Men.
Men can choose from these categories:
Interestingly, the rates seem quite affordable. Let’s take a look at a few right here:
But, of course, you could get the same kind of products for 2-3x cheaper. MLM-products are always more expensive because there are so many middlemen who want to get paid. I prefer affiliate marketing because there you can sell products even for a cheap price and still earn $10,000/month. Sometimes you can even give bonuses and discounts when selling good products.
Mary Kay Men’s Products
Like most Multi-Level Marketing companies, Mary Kay made its fortune by simply selling cosmetics through a multi-level marketing model- whereby Mary Kay distributors usually called “Beauty Consultants” can potentially earn income by directly selling to people in their respective communities, and also receive a commission on sales made by the people they recruit into their distribution network.
Unlike some of the other annoying MLMs, with Mary Kay you do not have to fill a specific ‘matrix’ to build your downline. Only the number of your active recruits and their total sales volume is of paramount importance.
Let me briefly explain the three pay levels:
1) Earn from Direct Sales: Beauty consultants are encouraged to have ‘cash & carry’ items and host a few parties for customers or potential customers to sample, and subsequently buy the products they are interested in. As a beauty consultant, you would order at wholesale price and sell at retail price.
You earn 50% on each sale you make. That tells how much “extra” they have on their prices!”
2) Earn from commissions on Team Orders: As a beauty consultant, you must have at least ONE active downline and be promoted to Senior Consultant in order for you to qualify for team commissions. You are eligible to earn at least 4% commissions on all your downline’s sales, however this can reach as much as 13% as you move up the ladder.
3) Earn Team Building Bonuses: These are set dollar bonuses, ranging from $50 to $3,000 depending on satisfactory performance displayed and leadership level. You can get a full detail of this on the official Mary Kay Website.
To become a Mary Kay Consultant, you must sign an agreement and pay $100 for your “starter kit.” However, in order to be active, you must place a $200 wholesale Mary Kay product order with the company every 3 months, although 50% discount is guaranteed but only for the 3 months.
It’s not very expensive to get started but more expensive than, for example, in Endless Xpressions where a starting cost is $10. There is also the best opportunity which is 100% free to start.
Although Mary Kay usually tell you that when you join, they have free trainings and events but I have heard a lot of complaints about the so-called “free” training and company event. As soon as you join, you will get to know that they are not that free. For local meetings, you will be charged a fee from $5 to $10, while Company events usually cost a fee of $75 which covers the travelling cost and hotel accommodations.
Personally, I think it’s misleading to the Mary Kay reps if these events are being promoted or regarded as free but they are still required to pay to attend these events.
Pros:
Cons:
Mary Kay is not a Ponzi scheme. They have been around for years, always recruiting and pushing their products which seems to be solid. If you have natural sales skills and looking for an opportunity to earn money, then Mary Kay may be okay for you, however it is just best you know that Mary Kay is not for everyone.
I don’t personally recommend Mary Kay to anyone because I know there are much better and valuable ways to make money from your home.
There have been numerous cases of Mary Kay consultants not being able to make a sustainable income while most even struggle to break even. Many of them quit and are stuck with Mary Kay products worth hundreds of dollars they are not able to sell. So, please if your financial situation demands that you need a steady, and reliable source of income, a Mary Kay consultant career may not be the best choice for you.
If you are looking for much more legit way to make a living, have a look at Wealthy Affiliate. It is not an MLM-system but it teaches how you can create an successful online business. Of course, you can promote MLMs through their tips if you want but you don’t need to. I am not promoting a single MLM through Wealthy Affiliate but I am still making money every month.
Wealthy Affiliate teaches you how you can create your own website, attract thousands of visitors and monetize your website. You can be promoting cosmetics or anything else. You don’t need to have your own products because can just promote other people’s products are earn commissions.
It’s 100% free to get started. You will get 10 interactive video lessons, 2 websites and my 1-on-1 mentoring for FREE.
Do you have experiences about Mary Kay or other similar MLM-systems?
MMM Global is a company with huge promises. They promise you a big profit with even 5-15 minutes of work per day. Is MMM Global a Ponzi Scheme or can you really make big profits? This is what we have found out.
Name: MMM Global
Website: www.mmmglobal.org
Founded in: 1989
Founder: Sergei Mavrodi
Field: Ponzi Scheme Company
MMM Global claims to be a community of people providing financial help to each other and they are fast to defend that they are not a multi-level marketing (MLM) or high-yield investment program (HYIP).
The original MMM was one of the largest Ponzi schemes of all time, orchestrated by convicted fraudster Sergei Mavrodi who eventually escaped prosecution by being elected to the Russian parliament and hence obtaining immunity. The scheme collapsed in the 1990’s, with estimates ranging from 5-40 million investors losing up to US$ 10 billion. In July 1994, the offices of MMM was closed by the Russian police for tax evasion, as they owed more than $25 million in taxes. Unfortunately, it was reported that at least 50 people who invested in the scheme committed suicide.
However, in 2015, the scheme resurfaced in a few emerging markets across the world (notably South Africa, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria), promising investor returns of up to 240% per month. They are known for using poetic language about selflessness, helping others and destroying the world’s unjust financial system, with a now popular theme of “Together we can change the world” which probably strike a chord with their target audience and users who fall victim to Ponzi schemes.
First let’s take a look at what a Ponzi scheme is, right?
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scheme whereby the scheme pays money to exist investors from contributions made by new investors. However, the scheme often collapses when it goes short of new investors since it relies on money from them to pay existing investors. When a delay in payment begins to occur, it usually triggers a panic, where all investors suddenly ask for their investments & promised gains. Until then, they realize that nothing will be paid to them.
So, now that we fully understand what a Ponzi scheme is, let’s take a look at how MMM Global works…
Most participants tries to explain that you simply give some specific amount of money to the community when you join which is popularly referred to as “Provide Help” and that eventually the community will eventually return back the money you deposited, plus a lot more which they refer to as “Get Help”. There is no form of investment or business transaction that occurs, you simply “Give Help” by paying some money to someone you don’t know and wait for a specific number of days to have your money back with even a greater yield.
They also claim that there is no central or middle account, where all the money flows to (hence it cannot be stolen), all the money donated are distributed to all the participants in the community, and that MMM only provides the technical basic program, which helps millions of participants worldwide to find those who need help and those who are ready to provide help for free. This has always been a major force toward the sustenance of the scheme.
I always recommend my readers to build a real online business where they can provide value for their followers. It’s an opposite of the Ponzi scheme. I have a step-by-step training so you can create a successful online business as well.
It is very simple to join, and once you join you must ‘Provide Help’ to others by depositing a certain amount starting from $10. When you want to ‘Get Help’ you just withdraw the available funds in your account, which must have been provided by other new investors. At this time, expect that your initial investment must have been doubled in value with accumulated interest. I call this magical cash gifting at its worst.
However, to always keep the first investors happy, the scheme has to find some new investors. From this set of new investors, the scheme tends to pay the first group of investors with their first returns and probably siphon some money for his own personal use.
While the second set of investors will be expecting a payout, the first group will also be expecting more returns. Hence, more new investors will be needed to pay the first two sets. This keeps recycling itself, with a constant stream of new investors always needed to pay existing members.
Eventually, the losers in the scheme are the ones that “Provide Help” at the beginning but are not able to “Get Help” when they request, and the winners of the scheme are those that have gone through the process over and over again.
MMM Global has lots of testimonial on their website but I guess that they are fake
There was nowhere I could find any meaningful training that new investors must undergo prior joining the Marvo scheme. What I was able to find are encouragements and rewards if you share MMM cash gifting scheme with others on YouTube and Facebook and recommending people to join on other social media platforms.
Pros:
Cons:
I must say am still quite surprised that people are still investing in schemes devised by Sergei Mavrodi, who has been convicted for involvement in Ponzi scheme since the 1990’s. Unfortunately, even the authorities are not able or don’t want to do much about stopping these schemes right now.
People are stuck in this schemes with the hope of making tons of money. Investing in a scheme that offers returns of up to 240% per month is indeed a big risk. Though you might make money from it, but there is a high possibility that you will lose all of it. Even, MMM Global admits that there is no guarantee that you will make money, and there is a possibility that you might lose all of it. But, because there are people who actually make money out of the system, everyone wants a piece of the pie, and this is the reason MMM Global is still alive after all the scandals that happened about two decades ago. I wonder why we forget the past so soon!
My sincere advice to everyone is to please stop risking your money on such systems.
If you are interested in making money online honestly, I have a great opportunity for you. It’s not a Ponzi scheme, “get-rich-scheme” or something like that. It is a step-by-step training that teaches you hand-by-hand how you can make money online. It’s also 100% free to join. You will get 10 interactive video lessons, 2 websites and my 1-on-1 mentoring you free.
Have you encountered other Ponzi schemes? Which one?
Today we are going to find out Is the Infinity Downline a Scam. Another name for this program is National Wealth Center and it has been around already since 2008. Here is what our YourOnlineRevenue-team member found out about this program. Enjoy!
Name: Infinity Downline
Website: www.nationalwealthcenter.com
Founded in: 2008
Field: Affiliate Marketing
Overall Rank: 10 out of 100 (Check out my #1 recommendation)
Infinity Downline doesn’t actually have a home page. It takes you to a website called National Wealth Center which appears to offer many packages, but no information about those packages. The Infinity Downline is what you get when you order the self-development package.
Infinity Downline lets you make money by referring other people who join and buy the packages. Their compensation plan is based on the idea that you first pay $25, and then the people who sign up after you will pay $25, and you’ll be making that. But it’s circular, because you have to pay a monthly fee of $25, and you only make money by signing other people up.
So you have to keep getting other people to register in order to make any money. It’s possible to make money with this, but you won’t be selling a service. You will literally just be selling a membership that lets you sell memberships. That’s not a very stable business plan. I recommend learning a few skills to build a real online business.
Infinity Downline claims to have unlimited customer support, which in theory sounds nice. They say it’s unlimited support but only within reason. One of the things that is disconcerting about the website is that when you want to join or do anything, it takes you to the other website.
Neither of them has SSL certificates, and I haven’t seen anything that has a section for you to actually be trained, aside from the video that’s shown on the compensation plan page. They claim to offer other videos to those that sign up. They also have a contact section, only a for, on the other website.
There doesn’t seem to be testimonials of any kind on either website. They also don’t mention what payment methods they payout through. The fee you have to pay is almost monthly, and there are reviews online claiming to have referred people and never been paid. It’s safe to say that Infinity Downline is a pyramid scheme. Don’t fall for these scams but learn to make money online by providing real value.
The only way you can make money is if you sign up more people than you. It isn’t designed for the people at the bottom who just come in to make money. It is rather designed for the creators, who will continue to make money for everyone who signs up in hopes of making money.
National Wealth Center has also some conferences in the U.S.
Infinity Downline presents itself as a course database of videos and training, for things like self-development all the way to SEO and marketing. They sell monthly memberships to them, some packages costing as much at $7,500 dollars. However, they don’t say much about the courses.
They turn all the attention to being able to make money for selling these courses to other people, who of course also only want to make money. But the whole time you will still be paying $25 dollars to the person above you. The person at the top is making the most money. It’s a pyramid scheme because they aren’t selling self-help tools or videos, they are selling a way to make money, and the only way to do it is through signing up others who also want to make money.
They also spice it up with the many “perks” to get you more interested. They say things like “unlimited customer service” although they do not have a contact page or a phone number. Somebody could call the Infinity Downline also a ponzi scheme. Or what do you think?
Pros:
Cons:
Yes, it is. If company’s idea is just to make money from the downlines, it lacks a solid foundation. In general, I don’t like the idea of MLM-programs (pyramid schemes) because products are overpriced. There are so much hype and so little value. I know that there are many people who have become rich with MLMs but probably it’s not a way that I want to make money.
My recommendation is to make money by providing value for other people’s life. You can sell tennis rackets, fitness nutrition, online courses, laptops, diapers, food or literally anything. You don’t need to make your own products because nowadays you can sell other people’s products through affiliate marketing.
What do you think about the Infinity Downline? Have you encountered some similar pyramid schemes?
One year ago in March 2016 happened something interesting! A new company called Click Intensity was created. Lots of big-mouth promises about easy money and getting rich quick. What happened then? Is Click Intensity a Scam? Read this honest review by our YourOnlineRevenue -team member.
Name: Click Intensity
Website: www.ClickIntensity.com
Founded: March 2016
Field: Make Money Online -Programs
Verdict: Scam. (Read About My #1 Recommendation to Make Money Online)
Click intensity is a relatively new company and starts off marketing itself as a company that pays you to complete tasks and to advertises for other companies. However, it very quickly turns into you earning commission for just signing people up to buy their $25 silver coin pack, which gives you a share in the company. From there you wait until the share becomes $30, and you make that back.
It works by you signing up, completing tasks, and also giving you the chance to advertise for other companies. However, you make the most money by getting other people to sign up. 10% commission is given for every new level 1 member you can get to join and buy a silver coin pack. Which is where the company makes most of its money. But they really push you to keep buying shares in the company, convincing you to buy until you have 4000 shares, claiming that’s going to make you the most money.
They also do not offer any training once you join, on how to grow your business or properly invest. They have videos on their YouTube channel, but outside of that, you’re kind of on your own.
Click Intensity doesn’t say exactly how much, however, they do push you to buy shares, pushing the fact that you won’t get fully paid for the system unless you invest $100,000 into it. This seems like a red flag to me, because you are constantly buying without being paid. In their videos, they also state that do not even know when you will be recompensated or if you even will be.
The fact is, when you’re investing in the company, if the company is profitable, then you will be too. But if they fail, then your investment is lost. They do not provide training on this at click intensity or educate their clients about this matter. They just want you to keep buying and spending money. In their videos, they also state that they do not even know when you will be paid. So you could be throwing $100,000 at a company, and never get any return.
I have been quite a successful investor during my life. I can say as an advice that doesn’t put your money into a company that’s not providing real value. Click Intensity is just trying to pump up money by selling big hopes for their members. But where is the value? That’s a crucial question.
You can also make money by just getting other people to invest. However, there is a $25 dollar fee to be able to do this. But why would you sell a scam? That would not be an honest way to make money online.
Typical Big-Mouth Promises of a Pyramid Scheme
Click Intensity does not appear very reliable. For one reason, they do not have an approximate timeframe for when you will be paid. This is bad business practice. Because they don’t say, you’ll be paid a week after your investment, they can get away with never actually paying you for anything you bought, sold, or completed.
They also do not have any contact information, and their support page no longer exists anymore. This means that even if you were to invest, there would be no one to talk to if there were problems. Click Intensity is very unreliable for these reasons. Even if they only had an email at the bottom of the page, that’s something that people can attempt to contact.
They literally have no way to get in touch with them unless you try to bring them to legal action and they are forced to face you. That’s not what a reliable company does. A reliable company will answer all your questions, and address your concerns, mostly because they have nothing to hide.
Pros:
Cons:
Yes, it is. Click Intensity is a Ponzi scheme that provides no value for the money that you invest. I always recommend staying very far away from such companies. Do your research so you won’t fall into this kind of scams.
If you are still interested in making a living online, I have a good training for you. It’s completely free to start and doesn’t require any prior knowledge. It won’t make you rich quick but it will teach real skills how you can build your own online business.
Have a look at this step-by-step training to make money online. You will get 10 interactive video lessons, 2 websites and my 1-on-1 mentoring for FREE!
Does it sound too good to be true? => Try Out Yourself! 😉
Have you run into pyramid schemes? What about some of your friends?
Today we are going to take a closer look at ACN. It has been in the business already since 1993 but there are lots of negative reviews and complaints on the Internet about their company. Is ACN a Ponzi Scheme? Let’s find out!
Name: ACN (American Communications Network Inc.)
Website: www.acninc.com
Founded in: 1993
Founders: Greg Provenzano, Tony Cupisz, Robert Stevanovski and Mike Cupisz
Field: Multi-level Marketing (MLM)
ACN is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company that offers an opportunity to earn income. ACN provides telecommunications, energy, merchant services, and other services, through a network of independent sales agents known as Independent Business Owners (IBOs) who work on a commission basis.
These Independent Business Owners are able to recruit new people as sales agents and are also eligible to earn residual income and bonuses through the acquisition of individual customers, as well as customers recruited by other IBOs under them. With its business model in place, ACN claims to have helped people around the world achieve financial independence while saving them money on services they already use.
ACN also claim to be one of the biggest telecommunication, energy and vital services for both businesses and homes because they offer numerous products and services for both distributors and consumers. ACN focuses on products and services that are essential to consumers, which they seem to be doing right. ACN do not require its distributors to purchase services they do not already use on a regular basis because the company prides itself in helping people save money on everyday expenses such as:
Certainly, most of these plans come with a great value, For example; the XOOM Energy was recently ranked 500 positions on the list of America’s Fastest-Growing Companies. Also, the Flash Wireless service offers an economical $36 plan for minimal usage: you get to the text, talk, and surf the internet.
Services may be bundled, resulting in enticing rewards for customers. Bundles can bring about $200 to $500 in rewards to customers, depending on how many services are selected. However, the bundle rewards offers are limited, so you should always check the ACN website for updates.
In my opinion, the problem with MLM-systems is that the main focus is not usually in the product but in the system. They concentrate more on recruiting rather than thinking about their products. Of course, they always say that the products are the best in the world but most of the time they are just much more expensive than their counterparts.
With affiliate marketing, you don’t need to sell overpriced products that you can choose whatever products you want to promote. You have more freedom and more possibilities.
Since ACN is a Multi-level marketing (MLM) which can also be referred to as network marketing company, like other MLM businesses there is no new selling strategy. They simply start with a single independent sales agent whose job is to sell the company’s product and also recruiting sales agent.
You basically earn commission on the basis of the quantity of product sold and also for signing new sales agents. However, the chance of earning additional money comes from the commission of the total sales of agents you recruit. The additional sales agents recruited also carries the responsibility of recruiting other agents, this results in multiple levels and an endless stream of sales agent recruiting agents.
The basic commission is a percentage of your customers’ monthly billing amounts. Commission starts at 2% and can go as high as 8% of the total of all your customers’ monthly bills. Let me explain better with this example; if the total monthly billing for all your customers is $10,000, you earn 70%, or $700 commission each month.
Also, depending on the number of sales agents you recruit, you can also earn between ¼ and 6% of the total of their customers’ monthly bills. Lastly, you can earn a bonus of $90-$275 monthly when new agents you recruit are able to generate a roster of six to eight customers within 30 days of becoming an agent.
MLM-conferences remind me of revival meetings.
Unlike some Multi-Level Marketing companies that do not require you to “buy in,” ACN does. ACN offers two options which carry with them different expectations and opportunities. Firstly, you can decide to pay a startup fee of $99 and become a customer representative of the company- you opt out of recruitment expectations and focus mainly on making money by selling products. Secondly, you can decide to enter as a team trainer by paying $499, which carries with it bigger expectations and opportunity to earn a higher income.
But the truth be told, ACN is in a market that is super saturated with numerous MLM companies that offer similar products & services, and therefore, recruiting numerous agents is where the significant amount of money can be made. For people like me, I have a problem with that, I prefer simple things like; make a sale and earn a commission, but no downlines and massive recruiting. However, if you are passionate about recruiting and creating a downline, you might just like ACN but if otherwise, you will definitely have a tough time building this business.
Pros:
Cons:
I will like to start by saying, I think ACN is not a scam, being around for over 23years and operating in all continents of the world (except Africa) can be considered highly remarkable. It is no doubt one of the most recognized multi-Level Marketing companies and has won numerous reputable awards for itself.
On the other hand, there are many divided opinions and negative reviews about ACN, it also has a higher signup cost compared to other Multi-Level Marketing companies, and if you do not have the right set of skills to sponsor people or have access to lots of potential leads, you might want to think twice before spending that much on application fee.
I don’t personally like MLM-programs because many times they have overpriced products compared to ones that you would be in a normal supermarket. They must be expensive because there are so many people who want to get their salary.
I prefer affiliate marketing over MLM for many reasons:
1.You don’t need to recruit other people
2.Products are not overpriced. On the contrary, you can sometimes offer a good discount.
3.You can sell any products you want.
4.Your earning potential doesn’t depend on your downlines
5.You can earn a huge passive income
If you want to learn how to become a successful affiliate marketer, I recommend joining Wealthy Affiliate. It is world’s biggest community of successful affiliate marketers with more than 800,000 members. They have a step-by-step training that’s proven to work. In addition, you will get 10 interactive video lessons, 2 websites and my 1-on-1 mentoring for free.
Have you experience of ACN or some other MLM-programs? What kind of experiences did you have?
If you have seen some “Make Money Online” -scams, you have probably heard a term “Ponzi Scheme”. But What Is a Ponzi Scheme and How Does It Work? Today I am going to explain you in a simple manner and give a few tips how you will never fall in them.
Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation where the founder pays very high returns for initial investors. The money comes from new investors and they are paying for those who joined the program earlier. When new investors stop coming in, the system collapses.
Normally when you invest in a stock market, you can expect on average 6-8% annual interest. But Ponzi schemes promise you much higher returns, for example, 200-300% ROI. High returns entice new investors to join. And when the first investors start seeing their income, they recommend the program for others and the system grows.
Many times a Ponzi scheme is hidden under a business that looks legitimate but really is not. For example, Click Ad Xpress, Fort Ad Pays or Lotto Magic promises to give you a product but actually all returns depend on new investors.
Here simple video explains very well in 83 seconds how a Ponzi scheme works
Ponzi schemes started in the 1920s by an Italian guy called Charles Ponzi. He said that by buying postal reply coupons and redeeming them in the United States they would make a huge profit. He promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days, or 100% profit within 90 days.
When new people joined, he was able to pay high returns for the first investors. Investors had already invested more than 20 million before it collapsed after a year from starting the “business”. 20 million in 1920 equal to more than 250 million in 2017 because of the inflation. It helps you to understand that Charles Ponzi’s scheme was a big thing back then.
Ponzi Scheme Works Like Pyramid Schemes
But after all, Charles got arrested by running this system and cheating other people. That’s what happens to most Ponzi scheme founders after all. Many times they take the money the investors have give and try to disappear. But often police finds them and puts them into a jail. Now, for example, Bernard Madoff is sitting in jail for the rest of his life (or until 2139) because of his Ponzi scam back in 2008.
It gives us a lesson that doesn’t ever create a Ponzi scheme. For me, it’s even hard to understand how some people can become so immoral that they start cheating people with Ponzi schemes. That’s why the Book of books says:
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Money itself can be a neutral thing but if you love it more than anything else, your values are not very good, in my opinion. That’s why I recommend making money online by providing value for other people.
Nobody wants to get scammed. That’s why I have written you 5 principles how to avoid scams online. If you follow those rules you will never get scammed. But let’s concentrate today on Ponzi schemes. How to avoid them.
1.If somebody promises very high returns on investments, be careful. I am not saying that high returns on investments are not possible. I, for example, made a 1500€ profit with 500€ investment with bitcoins which is not a Ponzi scheme. Some of my friends have made even tens of thousands of euros in a short period of time with bitcoins. High returns are possible but you must be are careful when somebody is promising something like that.
2.Investigate what is the business model/system all about. Is there a real business or are they just promising something that isn’t real? The business where you are investing must provide some kind of value.
3.Read reviews. Nowadays we don’t need to trust only what our friend says because we can check the information also on the Internet. Google the system and write, “Is xxxxxx a Scam?”. Then check 5-10 ten articles to find out the answer. But remember that people may be promoting Ponzi schemes so you need to be careful with some reviews. That’s why the free trial of the system gives a better picture.
I would like to hear from you also. How could you avoid Ponzi schemes? Leave a comment below.
Let’s take a short summary what are the characteristics of a Ponzi scheme:
1.Promises ultimately high return on investments
2.Not a real business model = Doesn’t provide any real value
3.New investors high returns make possible
4.System collapses when nobody joins the system again
I am glad that I have never fallen into a Ponzi scheme. The first real “make money online” -program that I found was Wealthy Affiliate and it turned out to be a legitimate system. They teach how anybody can build a real online business even without former experience. I saw there people who were making more than $10,000/month online and living like a king in China.
My first thought was that it must be a scam. But when I got to know these people personally and saw more and more examples, I realized that Wealthy Affiliate training works. Nowadays I am making money online every month and I planning to become a full-time online entrepreneur soon. Then I will also move to Asia like my mentor in Wealthy Affiliate (nowadays he lives again in U.S). If you are interested in making money online, I recommend taking a closer look at WA.
Have you ever seen Ponzi schemes online?
This is the day of eCommerce when even brick and mortar business owners have an online presence. The snag with that is that there are bazillions of websites. Shoppers have their choice of sites, and they ruthlessly exercise that choice. Another snag for the small business owner is getting visitors to view their website. Add to this the fact that every day new business owners, whether eCommerce owners or multi-level marketing owners have the same goal: traffic. How does one get traffic?
Traffic exchanges are one way to have one’s business be seen by large groups of persons. They are generally free to join. They offer many different advertising packages. They also offer users a way to make a little money aside for the return, if any, from ad packages. Users will view other business owners’ ads, click that they have seen it, and rack up pennies towards their future income. Their ad is simultaneously being seen by other advertisers. To illustrate the subject, let’s examine Ad Click Xpress.
After reading this Ad Click Xpress Review you will know for sure if you want to join their program or not.
Name: Ad Click Xpress
Website: www.adclickxpress.is
Founded: 2012
Field: Online Advertising
Overall Ranking: 0 out of 100. (Check my #1 Recommendation, 98 out of 100)
ACX is a traffic exchange offering ten dollar advertising packages. For this ten dollars, advertisers receive 600 credits (this means eyeballs on advertisers’ pages when the page is clicked upon) and banners. When the ten dollar ad pack matures, advertisers will be paid $15. Advertisers may take the money and run, or they may put the money back into further ad packages.
When the math is done, it pays to buy perhaps ten ad packs. As each day passes, withdraw a certain amount and buy another ten dollar ad package. Business persons can see how they can make a decent income as well as advertise their business. First page ads, full page ads and any number of clicks on their pages will net the business owner lots of eyeballs on their business offerings.
BUT read further. ACX is not as good as it may sound at first…
As described above, buying ad packages and buying more upon maturation is one of the ways business persons make lots of money in traffic exchanges. However, most all traffic exchanges offer a certain percentage of the take when business persons have people sign up beneath them. Most offer ten percent when the people beneath you buy ad packages in addition to signing up other people. Add all this to the pennies obtained through clicking on other business peoples’ pages, and the business owner will have a nice income.
ACX works in a similar way like Fort Ad Pays and another similar site. They are called revenue share websites. Everyone buys a package and gives some money for those who are already in the pool. But what happens when nobody enters again? The system collapses.
I have read testimonials of Ad Click Xpress and other members who said that they earned thousands of dollars but they couldn’t withdraw their money. Ad Click Xpress showed that they have earned already, for example, $5,000 but when they clicked “Withdraw”, they realized it was only imaginary money. The money that you would earn from ACX doesn’t seem to exist.
So, your earning potential according to several testimonials is close to 0. You are risking every penny that you give them.
It’s hard to believe their big-mouth promises after reading a few testimonials from their old members
The cons are pretty serious:
An honest review simply puts forth the evidence. In the end, it is the business owner who must decide if any company is worth their hard-earned ten bucks. I must say that don’t use it for Ad Click Xpress. It’s called a Ponzi scheme because new “investors” pay the original people who set it up. If you put hundreds or thousands into it, you’ll lose money you can’t afford to lose. My advice: don’t go there.
If you are interested in making money online, I recommend joining Wealthy Affiliate. It is an online business training platform and a community of online entrepreneurs. It’s the best where I learned to build my first online business. I am making more and more money each month with their principles and my current goal is to become a full-time online entrepreneur in 2018, thanks to WA.
The concept what Wealthy Affiliate teaches is the following:
1.Create a website about a subject you like. Can be anything from tennis to dogs, from diapers to programming or from cooking to bodybuilding.
2.Write reviews about different products. For example about tennis rackets, gym equipment, different food recipes and anything that you can imagine.
3.Leave affiliate links. When somebody clicks your link and buys a product, you earn the commission.
4.Repeat the process. Write more reviews, leave more links, get more visitors, get more sales and generate a full-time income.
It’s a simple process but you need to learn a few thing to become a succesful affiliate marketer.
Have you tried Ad Click Xpress or another online advertising platform?
