Valentus is an MLM business opportunity that allows internet marketers to promote the various health products, referred to as Prevail Beverages. The opportunity allows you to promote one or more of the 4 products offered by the company in order to earn commissions from the sales. But even ore importantly, the business side of the opportunity also provides an MLM commission structure that allows you to build a downline and profit from their sales, as they become a part of your team.
As with an MLM opportunity, there is a hierarchy that determines your pay. The higher up the scale you are, the more you make because your rank is determined by the size of your downline, and a number of sales you accumulate. Your position in the hierarchy also determines the amounts of other bonus you may be entitled to as well. When asking Is Valentus a Scam, the details of the opportunity will make it clear if it is or not.
Name: Valentus
Website: www.valentus.com
Founded in: 2014
Field: MLM-System for Health Products
Overall Ranking: 30 Out of 100 (Check Out a Better Opportunity, 98 Out of 100)
The Prevail Beverages offered under the Valentus program includes coffee drinks that promise to boost your energy, help you lose and manage your weight while improving your body’s immune system.
Prevail Slim Roast
This is an Italian roasted coffee that fits in the dark roast family. Each serving contains 3 grams that are mixed with milk and hot water. This drink is supposed to help you lose weight and detox your body.
Prevail Energy
This powder is concentrated and mixed with water, but it has a fruity flavor as opposed to a coffee flavor. The label states that it does not contain artificial additives so it is considered a natural product.
Prevail Immune Boost
This concentrated power I also mixed with water, but the ingredients include properties which are strong anti-oxidants, which are vital for immune system support, development and function.
Prevail Trim
This power is mixed with water and is used to lose weight. Instead of burning fat, this product helps trim your body by detoxifying the cells in your body. Cell detoxification is very beneficial for losing weight, although it is not focused on frequently, as many people do not understand how detoxification affects the body.
There are many health products on MLM-field. One of the most famous is Herbalife. Do you know why health products are so popular? Because it’s so easy to say people “This is the healthiest product on the planet!” Anybody can say it and it’s hard to prove it would be a lie. Usually, you don’t see the effects on your body immediately and it’s a sum of many things how your body will look like.
There are 13 levels of membership with Valentus. As with all MLM structured companies, the amount you earn with the business opportunity is based on which level you are established at. The lower the level you are on, the lower your commissions are. In order to move up the ranks of the ladder, you must accomplish a certain amount of personal sales volume you accumulate as well the amount of volume your downline group accomplishes.
The beginning level, which labels you as an independent distributor, does not entitle you to any commissions on sales until you are able to advance to the first rank, the Silver level. The silver level has standards of accomplishments that must be made and maintained in order to advance to the second ranking, the Gold level. Many people get stuck at this stage because maintain the personal volume may require you purchasing your own products. This causes new affiliates to reinvest their small profits back into the business just for the possibility of making more money with no guarantee.
As the level move up through the rankings, the commission earned is increased, but the personal volume, group volume, and number of new additions to your downline constantly increases as well. So not only do you have to initiate the momentum at the very beginning and maintain it, you must steadily increase that momentum in huge increments in order to achieve the accolades that would allow you to earn a substantial income from this opportunity. No only that, but as you climb into the higher rankings, your downline must duplicate your momentum and success.
If you want to succeed, you must always pay the price in advance. But I don’t think that Valentus would be worth it.
For example, in order to achieve rank 9, which is the Blue Diamond level, you are required to maintain, not just achieve, a high level of personal sales volume, while your downline group maintains a volume 2500 time higher than yours on a weekly basis, and you a have 3 downlines who have reached Emerald status, and 1 person who has reached Diamond status. But in order for your 2 Diamonds to reach their status, they must have 3 Emerald in their own separate downline, while reaching personal sales quotas and group sales volumes as well.
All the while, the 1 Emerald affiliate requirement you need in order to reach Blue Diamond status must have 3 Ruby affiliates in their downline. So even if you are reaching your sales volume personally and in your group, your downline status can prevent you from moving up the ranks. That added layer of difficulty means that your business is not only built on your own determination and ambition but that of those who are in your downline.
There are 4 different ways you earn commissions on sales, volume and/or production, and each commission rate is set based on your level of ranking.
The first type of commission you can earn is based on retail sales. You are only eligible to earn this commission if you generate a certain level of sales and maintain it.
The second type is called the Fast Start Bonus, which is awarded when someone buys a pack that is beneath your purchased level pack. So if someone buys a pack that is at a higher level than you initially purchased, then you are ineligible for the commission.
The third type is called the Legacy Enrollment Bonus, which requires you to purchase the Business Builder Kit in order to earn the commission from the sale of the same kit. You also have to sell 3 kits before you scan earn this commission.
The fourth type is called the Dual Team Cycle Commissions. Your business must be well developed in order to earn this commission, as it requires that you have built a strong, performing downline with two legs. Each leg must hit certain benchmarks to get a cycle. Once you get one, you earn a $20 commission.
Because this business is structured where you will come in someone else’s’ downline who is building their own team, the training offered by Valentus may be different from one team to another. Valentus offers standardized training in the form of videos, reading materials, and phone conferences. On top of that, each team may have their own training materials distributed and conduct their own conferences. So yes, training is available, but the quality of it will depend on the team you join.
Pros
Cons
Valentus is not a blatant scam. On the other hand, their system is not something that I could honestly recommend. Selling coffee that is supposed to dramatically improve your health doesn’t sound very convincing. In addition, I am a big fan of MLMs because the focus is more on the system and recruiting new people rather than concentrating on the quality of products.
I prefer affiliate marketing to MLMs because of many reasons. Here are a few of them:
1.With affiliate marketing, you can sell products for a better price (no downlines)
2.You don’t need to learn complicated commission systems
3.You can choose from millions of products what to promote
4.You don’t need to recruit new people
Some people don’t start affiliate marketing because they simply don’t know how to start. That’s why I recommend Wealthy Affiliate because they teach you all the steps you need in order to become a successful affiliate marketer.
You don’t need to pay expensive membership fees to get started. You will get +12 hours of interactive training and 2 websites for totally free. If you become a premium member, you will get my 1-on-1 training to make you successful.
Do you have personal experience of Valentus? What about other similar MLM-systems?
By reading visitor’s comments makes my day. I will be more than happy to respond you personally within 24 hours (usually much faster).
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
Name: Endless Xpressions
Website: www.endlessxpressions.com
Price: Around $49 to get started
Founder: Kristine Street
Overall Rank: 40 out of 100 (Check Out My #1 Recommendation. 98 Out of 100)
Endless Xpressions is an MLM company that is selling women’s products. They have several different products which include
Endless Xpressions differs from many other MLM companies that I have reviewed because they have some useful products (unlike Elite Marketing Pro, Phoenix Power Rising, and many others).
Their products are not ultimately expensive and this opportunity seems much better than most of the MLM systems.
Making money in Endless Xpressions is simple (but not easy!).
There are two ways
In Endless Xpressions, you will earn 30% commission for all the products that you sell. If you sell, for example, a bracelet for $10, you will make $3.
When you sell ten bracelets for $100, you earn $30.
NOTE: You Need to make at least one sale per month to continue with Endless Xpressions.
Like in all of the MLM systems, you can also earn commissions from your downlines.
In this system, you will receive 5% on your first level of downline and 3% for the second tier.
Let’s say for example that the person you invited sells the products for $100. Then you will earn $5 as commissions.
The more people you invite and the more they sell, the more you will earn.
A positive side in Endless Xpressions is that the reward system is quite simple. You don’t need to learn complicated systems how to earn from the sixth downline like in some other MLM systems.
Endless Xpressions is mainly targeted for the women. Of course, men can also join the system and make money, but most of the products are targeted for women.
If you believe that you have excellent sales skills or if you are willing to learn, you can try it.
First, you can explore their products on their website. If you are not into women’s clothes, jewelry, and other related products, I think that this is not for you. But if you are using that kind of products yourself this could be one option to make money.
But remember that earning money in Endless Xpressions requires lots of work and selling.
Endless Xpressions is quite a new company (founded in 2014), so people don’t automatically trust them as much as the older and bigger companies like Amazon and Ebay.
You don’t need to pay millions to get started. There are three options: Basic Kit, Middle Kit, and Full Kit.
I will explain they mean and what you will get with each of these kits.
1.Basic Kit.
Basic Kit the cheapest way to get started, only $10. But in this kit, you only get the website and not any products that you could sell. According to my logic, you are forced to start from the second or the third one to make some real money.
2.Middle Kit
If you start with the Middle Kit, you will be given the website and products to sell. The cost of the Middle Kit is $49. Not too expensive if you compare to many other MLM systems where your monthly fee can be even $200.
3.Full Kit
If you want to get the fastest start with Endless Xpressions, Full Kit is for you. It costs $99 and you will get the website, products to sell and other materials to help you to get started.
If you start in Endless Xpressions I would recommend starting with the Middle Kit or the Full Kit because with the basic package you get only the website but not the products.
To the question if they have any training in Endless Xpressions, they have answered:
“Yes, we have a Corporate Facebook group designed to help representatives, share graphics, documents, training, announcements and more! We also will be holding corporate training calls and offering more training tips in the future.”
In reality, it means that their FB-group equals more or less to their “training.”
To succeed in MLM business, you need to become a good salesperson. You will need to sell lots of products or convert many people to join the system and earn money when they make sales.
If you don’t have much prior experience of selling it can be quite challenging. I know that you can learn anything you want, but I just want to make clear that any MLM system is not a fast way to riches.
One drawback in Endless Xpressions is that they don’t provide comprehensive training on how to sell the products more efficiently.
There are some resources to help you to get started but probably, not enough for the beginners.
For the beginners, the idea goes like this: we throw you into the sea and let’s see if you can swim (=sell). Most people sink (=end their business), but some persistent learners manage to learn without the excellent training.
Do you know why I don’t like most of the MLMs?
The products are overpriced! If you go to the local store, you can find an entirely similar product for $5 while MLM system is selling it for $50. They are selling ordinary stuff with the luxury prices.
I was surprised that the prices in Endless Xpressions are not so high. You can find the products for entirely reasonable prices.
There are no handbags for $100 or $200. Of course, some are more expensive than the others, but that is just natural.
Pros:
Cons:
Endless Xpressions is not a scam, and it surprised me positively. After reviewing many of the MLM scams, I was expecting something worse, but after researching their system I found out that it’s not so bad at all.
Still, Endless Xpressions is not a way to easy money, and you need to be ready to sell a lot.
I believe it could be quite challenging to earn a full-time income with Endless Xpressions but selling their products as a hobby can be an option.
I prefer affiliate marketing because the potential to earn passive income is much higher, and I can sell whatever products I want. In other words, I don’t need to have own products.
There is also a step by step training on how to get started in affiliate marketing and I believe it’s easier for the beginner that “jumping to the sea” with MLM system.
If you are interested in learning to make money online you can start the training for free today.
Name: Endless Xpressions
Website: www.endlessxpressions.com
Price: Around $49 to get started
Founder: Kristine Street
Overall Rank: 40 out of 100
VERDICT: OK system but not the easiest way to make money.
I hope you find this review useful and it helps you to decide whether or not to try Endless Xpressions.
Do you have experience with Endless Xpressions or with the other MLM systems?
Leave the questions and the comments below and I will be more than happy to respond.