Here are some great explanation of some affiliate marketing comp plan models that you may find useful ….enjoy.

An Explanation of Affiliate Marketing Compensation Plans

While the vast majority of affiliate programs have compensation plans as straightforward as a flat commission on all referred sales, the occasional affiliate marketing program will seem like a twisting maze of conditions and requirements than leaves you scratching your head and wondering what terms like forced matrix, stairstep breakaway, and override commission really mean. Sometimes it’s tempting to ignore the details of these complex compensation plans and trust that promoting your affiliate link as much as you can will make you rich. The truth is, though, that while it isn’t impossible to earn a decent living without a complete understanding of how the money is coming in, a thorough understanding of the mechanics of your compensation plan will reveal where to direct your effort to realize the most profit for the time you invest in your online business.

Unilevel
A unilevel plan is one of the easiest compensation plans to understand. When you introduce a new affiliate to the program, they become your direct referral, or sub-affiliate. There is no limit to the number of sub-affiliates you can have. In addition to the commission you earn on your personal sales, some programs will pay you a (usually smaller) commission on the sales of your direct referrals, often called a second-level or second-tier commission. If your direct referrals also introduce new affiliates to the program and you earn a commission on their sales, a third-tier commission is being paid. Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of levels a compensation program could pay you on, but in practice most online affiliate programs only pay a commission on one or two tiers. This is largely to separate affiliate programs from the often-maligned multi-level marketing.

Forced Matrix
One of the biggest problems with unilevel plans is that anyone who becomes successful recruiting direct referrals will quickly have too many to communicate with regularly. Since regular interaction with your upline is a key to success for many affiliates, some program managers choose to implement a forced matrix program. In a forced matrix plan there is a set number of direct referrals you may have. If you continue to recruit new affiliates after you have reached that limit, they will “spillover” to become sub-affiliates of your direct referrals. Since you are restricted in how many direct referrals you may have, forced matrix programs generally pay on more tiers than unilevel plans.

One of the goals of a forced matrix is to create an environment in which every new affiliate has a mentor immediately above them with the time to offer training and guidance. This is partially successful, but can be disorienting for new affiliates who are recruited

in to the program by someone who has earned their trust only to be handed over to another program member who may or may not maintain that same rapport. A forced matrix plan also produces freeloaders who wait for spillover affiliates and fail to do any recruiting of their own.

Payline/Powerline
Whether it’s called a powerline, payline, or something entirely different, this plan is often made to sound far more complicated than it really is. Imagine a forced matrix where you are limited to only one direct referral. If you recruit a second sub-affiliate, she spills over beneath the first. A diagram of your downline will resemble a straight line. If there is a limit on how many levels down you earn a commission, you quickly run out of motivation to recruit new affiliates. The solution is usually to pay you a commission on all sales made by anyone in your downline for an infinite number of levels.

Breakaway
If you are participating in a payline program that pays a 10% commission, some quick calculations will quickly reveal that once the 10th affiliate is referred to the program and makes a sale, the company is paying out the entire price of the product or service in affiliate commissions. Since that business model will quickly destroy any company, payline programs that pay on infinite levels must have some sort of breakaway, sometimes called stairstep breakaway. When one of your sub-affiliates meets a certain criteria (usually personally recruiting some number of new affiliates) they break away from your line and start their own payline. When this happens, you no longer receive a commission on the activity of their direct referrals.

Override Commission
If that were the end of the story, there wouldn’t be much incentive to mentor your sub-affiliates and teach them how to recruit people to the program. Therefore, breakaway plans almost always have an override commission. Whenever one of your referrals breaks away, you still receive a small commission on their activity. Usually breaking away also signifies a graduation on the part of your sub-affiliate to a point where they will require less guidance from you.

If none of these concepts sound like a perfect match for a compensation plan you know about, it’s because most affiliate program managers customize these elements to create a unique compensation plan. Examining a compensation plan will provide clues about the objectives of the program manager and what direction they plan to take the affiliate program in the future.

Author

Clay Mabbitt

Affiliate Marketing · affiliate marketing program · Comp Plan · compensation plans · income streams · MLM · network marketing · tier commission · unilevel plan

This is for my Biz Opp’ers who use Craigslist for lead generation. I built a multi-6 figure income  with one ad placed 3 times every Monday morning, in 1 city, in 3 “Job” sections.

I went through a few testing ads to get my ad to the point of 20-60 quality leads per week, week in and week out. Believe me, in the Netowrking industry and direct sales I have learned, usually the hard way, that I would rather have quantity over quality….ANY DAY! The real trick is achieving quantity of quality (I will save that for later).  I used to call my leads live on a conference call, with my team listening on mute, 1 hour a day, 4 days a week. I had more results, show ups, sign ups, and money than 98% of the company with one hour a day…How is this possible??? I had a killer ad that people wanted to respond to, they begged me to call them back, my leads told ME why they were qualified for a call back… I had so many, I gave them all the 3 strike rule. You don’t answer 3 times…to the trash.( I would tell them in the voice mail too, sometimes a lead would call back and beg for another chance to hear about my business)                 This is a classic case of work smarter not harder. When you achieve more in less time and effort than 98% of your peers, they notice. (Then you can spend the rest of your time duplicating your team)

Typically most netowrkers are in such lead poverty that they have no choice but to chase their 2 prospects…because that is ALL they have.                                                                                                                                                                                            Before I place an ad on Craigslist, I always see what my competition is posting, if I wouldn’t respond to their ad, neither will the people I want responding to mine.
Listen up, this will help your response on Craigslist posting. There are 4 things my Ad ALWAYS has…in order….
#1. Validate…If you think there are lame ads on Craigslist, then first things first…your ad should begin with validating the opportunity seeker that there is garbage out there. Psychologically your telling them you are not one of them.It builds trust
#2. Get to the Point !!!...If you get to the point you build trust and the prospect will keep reading (if they can’t stand the nonsense of the same ad they read from your competition, you won’t get them to the call to action)
#3. What’s in it for them?…I always include 2 things in my ad…Tell them the “Duties” of the position and what they will get out of it . Your ad will also get flagged less. You want Craigslist to think it is a job, and you do not want to mis-lead people of job when it isn’t.

#4. Call to Action.…What do you want them to do? I use a 800 number with a recorded message or a lead capture page or both. I tell them to click or call. (Your capture page can’t be lame and it should always be relevant to the ad) My 800 number message has a 2 min recording of my voice telling them what they read in the ad in different words. This filters my prospects and they become more qualified and that equals QUALITY. If you do not get at least 7 out of 10 messages….your ad needs to be changed.
Now keep in mind if you are offering an opportunity to make money working with you, do not make your capture page or message all about your product or something else, trust me I learned from experience, make it about the money!
Be realistic, sound realistic, and speak realistic.                                                                                                                                                  I had an ad  titled “Make 20k a month” …Nothing….when I changed it to “6 Figures” I increased my quality  and quantity 10 fold. Funny thing is…30% or more of the leads made 6 figures or more…Awesome!
In closing…. here are some of my posting strategies that keep me in the clear….When you are posting for Biz Opp in the job section on Craigslist, you have to ride the fine line. Craigslist does not want you to say you are a biz opp in their “Job” section and you are not hiring so you do not want to attract wage earners, you want people who want what you do…20k a month or more (hopefully WAY more), so add in your ad “Qualifications”, tell them what you need from them to qualify. Use the word “Position”. And lastly, I copy and paste a different success quote at the bottom of my ad below my signature. This keeps your ad from being a “Duplicate ad”. I have had people call me just because they like the quote I used. Simply Google “success quotes” and you will have more than enough.

I know there are plenty of classified sites on the web today, but Craigslist is the 90 pound Gorilla. Craigslist out pulls any other classified site on the planet. Learn to master it and you will not want for leads again. Everyone has a money making business or idea, however not everyone knows how to market their business or idea, that is why they chase 2 leads…it’s all they have! When you have more leads then you know what to do with, then you run your business from inspiration not desperation.

For those of you who would like me to share with you my best Craigslist ad I am using now, send an email to me personally at Cameron@Sharpmastermind.com.  Some of you might be asking why I would share my best ad…what if you copy it?…well…there is plenty to go a round in my world and I can just write another ad Plus, if I can assist you in getting more leads, higher quality and quantity or prospects, and make more money…I know you will do the same for others.  See you on the other side of success, it’s just around the corner, thanks for reading

Business Leads · Free Leads · Getting flagged on Craigslist · lead generation · Leads · Posting on Craigslist

Step 1
Create a landing page or capture page. Getting fresh, free online leads is simple if you have a capture page or landing page. Ask for the name, phone number, and email address of the prospect, and as leads come in, contact them by email or phone call (for you brave souls). Keep your page concise and relevant to you ads. One of the biggest mistakes I see made are people creating irrelevant info in their capture page, follow a theme as you guide your lead to a conversion.
Step 2
Promote your capture/ landing page. Instead of sending traffic to your website, send people to your landing page. This will help to get better results and you can see and track your advertising. You can put your capture/landing page on a flyer, car window, business card …everywhere (of course after you have tested it) Think Guerrilla!!
Step 3
Get leads to your page from posting on craigslist.com. Have a compelling ad and post in the free sections. Put the link to your landing page in the ad, and use an auto responder email campaign to qualify your leads list. I test my ad till it brings in 10-15 leads every time I post my ad.  Your auto responder emails should provide value, content, and build a relationship of trust. People like doing business with people they trust…this makes asking for money a cinch…because they want to give it to you
Step 4
Get free verified phone leads. Do an online search for free verified leads or visit paid leads sites because many times they have free leads for new users as an introductory offer. Call these leads or email them your capture page.                  In closing: Most people are so caught up in selling, throwing up on prospects, telling them what YOU want them to do, etc…If you are not building a list and providing value upfront to that list, your missing the BIG picture.  Lead poverty means you chase your lead and treat it like a little pet….Lead abundance is having so many leads… you can’t possibly work with them all…Imagine what that would FEEL like.

Affiliate Marketing · Capture Pages · Free Leads · Leads · Leads List · Leads System · MLM Leads · Sales

Leads are common concern for any direct seller, network marketer, or business owner. The number one question asked to me in my years of experience was…”Where do you get all these people to talk to?” Of course I keep some lead generation strategies “under my vest” however, I will share with you some simple effective lead generation ideas that if you pick 12, and stay consistent, you should have more leads than you can keep up with. I have ’d some of my favs. Happy lead generation
Guerilla Marketing and Business Lead

- Posting in online and offline classifieds
- Road signs
- Rat Droppings (Flyers, Post it Notes, Business Cards, Book /Magazine Inserts, Post Cards)
- Leaflet dispensers at targeted locations
- Special reports
- Online catalogues
- E-Newsletters
- Traditional newsletters
- Viral marketing
- EBooks
- Position yourself / your company as an expert
- Internet advertising (PPC)
- Fax marketing
- Chamber of Commerce
- Public relations (PR)
- Attend industry seminars
- Gather and use testimonials
- Offer a free consultation
- Offer a free trial
- Promote an industry event
- Write articles online
- Form alliances with your peer group
- Create a giveaway e.g. calendars, mugs, posters…
- Write for the local newspaper
- Syndicate a column
- Write letters to industry magazines
- Conduct industry research
- Speak at the local college, business, chamber, etc
- Write a how-to pamphlet
- Offer a referrals fee
- Sign your car
- Make up t-shirts
- Do a stunt (e.g. Richard Branson)
- Cross-promote with other businesses
- Create a contest
- Direct mail new clients
- Networking offline
- Networking online Social Media
- Referrals
- Speeches
- Cold calling
- Trade shows
- Blogging
- Christmas cards
- Birthday cards
- Thank you cards
- Freebie pens / t-shirts / mugs
- Teach a class
- Send letters to papers as expert
- Free tele-conference
- 3-foot rule
- Podcasting
- YouTube
- Press release

Business Leads · lead generation · Lead System · Leads · MLM Leads

Lawrence Stepanowicz…Article Author

Leads are the lifeblood of MLM and Network Marketing, so it helps to know what you’re buying. Here are the 10 most important qualities of a good MLM lead.
Leads are the lifeblood of Network Marketing. Whether it’s a warm market list, leads you’ve generated through your own advertising, or leads purchased from a third party source, it takes leads to make your network work.
Here are what I consider to be the 10 most important qualities of an MLM lead. They’re in no particular order, and not all criteria can be controlled by you or your lead source. Sometimes a desired quality can mean a tradeoff in other areas; a point worth remembering as you search out your leads.
So what should a good MLM lead be?
1. FRESH. Fresh leads are the best leads and real-time leads are premium leads. It makes sense that the most advantageous time to connect with someone is as soon after they express their interest as possible. Using real-time leads gives you the fastest way of being able to do this.
2. NON-INCENTIVIZED. What does that mean? A good MLM lead is a person who is interested in a home business and has not supplied his contact information in exchange for the chance of winning a contest or getting a certificate good for a ‘free’ vacation or some other reward. You want leads to be people who want information, not freebie seekers or contest junkies.
3. OPEN. A lot of people are interested in a home business. But if you’re in Network Marketing, that isn’t enough. A good MLM lead must be open to the concept of Multilevel Marketing, not someone looking to provide a service out of their home.
4. GENUINE. A good MLM lead should be someone who is honestly interested in Network Marketing. In an industry that holds the promise of wealth and freedom, the curious, the frivolous, and the time-wasters abound. Many are called, but few are honest about wanting to do something in MLM!
5. NOT OVERSOLD. If you use exclusive, real-time leads, this isn’t a problem. But with larger lists consisting of older names, good leads are people who have not been turned-off by having been contacted too many times. This is one thing a lead source can easily control.
6. REACHABLE. Deliverable by mail or email isn’t enough. Good MLM leads can be reached by phone. A few will give false information. Others can never be reached. Many never really wanted to hear from you at all. A good MLM lead is a lead that wants to hear from you, a lead that wants to know more.
7. TEACHABLE. Not everyone who joins an MLM company knows what to do. In fact, virtually all require some kind of training. A good MLM lead is teachable and willing to learn.
8. CAPABLE. Good MLM leads are willing and able to invest in the business. A good MLM lead is not part of the something for nothing or get-rich-quick crowd. They are realistic. They have dreams, but they are not idle dreamers.
9. TIME WISE. It seems no one has much time to do anything extra, these days. A good MLM lead is willing to set aside time to work his business on a regular basis, knowing he will eventually earn back his time and then some. He knows that wise use of his time today will pay dividends tomorrow.
10. DECISIVE. Good MLM leads are ready to act. Some may want to look a little deeper into a given opportunity, but a good lead won’t keep putting off a decision he will never make. He’s willing to walk the walk, not just listen to you talk!

For a Free LIVE Web Demo (weekly) with my personal lead gen team…send me a note Cameron@sharpmastermind.com                                                                                                                                                                     We discuss Article Saturation, Social Media Marketing, Craigslist Marketing, Free Craigslist Leads, Landing Pages, and How to Pick a Networking Company for You. (and More)

Business Leads · lead generation · mlm lead · multilevel marketing · network marketing · network marketing companies · network marketing company

When choosing the right company to work with, have your end (or Exit) in mind. What are you going to do when you reach success. Make the decision like your life depends on it….beilieve me…it does. I have seen in even recent months good friends choose bad company’s. And I say bad because the company was a hypey smoke and mirrors company with no substance behind the product, strategy, and exec team. Just a jazzed up few people that got paid to move there team(s) and they tell you it is the next greatest. These people are no different than car salesman.

Business Leads · lead generation · Leads · MLM Leads · multilevel marketing · network marketing · network marketing companies · product strategy · Top 10 MLMs

How to Select a Network Marketing Company

Not all Network Marketing companies were created equal, and selecting the right one (for you!) may mean the difference between success and failure. It did for Darren Falter, and the following article is adapted from his book, How to Select a Network Marketing Company. It has sold over 40,000 copies in soft cover in 10 countries and is in its fifth revision.

Falter was introduced to Network Marketing while a full time university student in 1990. Between 1990 and 1994 he worked hard at several opportunities but failed at them all. What saved him, he said, is that he never blamed his failure on the industry. He continued to believe in Network Marketing but by 1995 he was “fed up”: “Up to that moment I had tried so many different strategies with so many different types of businesses, selling so many different kinds of products (that) I decided that if I was going to be successful, I had to select the best home-based business.”

Borrowing “quite a large space” in his parents’ basement, Falter compiled a list of over 200 top home-based business programs and amassed “files full of substantial information” on each. He eventually narrowed this list down to the five best programs and then picked one of the five and, “for the first time in my career, I launched a successful business that took me to a solid income that provided financial security for my family for years.”

To find the right company, Falter endorses two basic rules:

First, do your own research. Don’t trust someone else’s facts and figures.

Second, do not make decisions while you are in an emotional or hyped up state.

Questions we will be looking at in this article are:

Which product or service industry is the most profitable?

Should I go with a new idea, or with something tried and true?

During which phase of growth should I join a company?

Which distributor compensation plan is best?

How can I tell if a company’s management team has high integrity, and that they are experienced, competent and committed?

How can I find time to study and compare all of these companies?

And finally, which company is right for me?

Please bear in mind that while no scrutiny system is perfect, a good system is better than taking the first opportunity that presents itself and certainly better than a stab in the dark. To make the task manageable, we break our quest down into four components:

1. Product / Industry

2. Timing

3. Compensation Plan

4. Company / Management

In this issue we will look at product, industry and timing. In the following issue we will examine the compensation plan, company and management.

Product / Industry

This includes Buying Clubs, Catalog Shopping, Household Products, Lead Generation Programs, Jewelery, Gold, Silver and Collectibles, Legal Services, Nutritional Supplements and Health Products, Personal Care Products, Telecommunication Services, Water Filters, Travel Programs and others. After reviewing over 200 Network Marketing companies, Falter found that the overwhelming majority fell into four categories:

1. Nutritional Supplements        71%

2. Personal Care / Skin Care    14%

3. Household Products       6%

4. Telecommunications                5%

This gives a good idea of the trends in Network Marketing. To further evaluate an opportunity, goods and services can be checked against the following seven criteria:

1. Emotional, Ideally the product or service should trigger an emotional reaction, which in turn creates an emotional bond to the product. It is easy to see how nutritional and skin care products may do this, if they make you feel better and look better. Telecommunications would however have limited emotional appeal.

2. Consumable, The product or service should be used regularly and replaced on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis. Vacations, exercise equipment and such are not “consumed” on a weekly or monthly basis and so do not generate residual income. Falter considers this to be the most important of the seven qualities.

3. Unique, The product or service should have a unique twist, something that the competition doesn’t have or can’t get.

4. Traditional, although a product should be unique, it must not be so unique that people cannot recognize it or identify with it. Once you have to explain what it is, you are edging into dangerous territory.

5. Valuable, The product or service must be worth its price, yet allow for a healthy profit margin. If everyone (distributor, company, customer) benefits, you’ve got a winner.

6. Timely, The product or service must be in high demand, RIGHT NOW.

7. Stable, The product or service must also be in high demand LATER. Will the product or service be in high demand in 20 years? If the answer is yes, you have a winner. If demand increases with time, all the better.

Now check the product you are considering against these seven characteristics. Your objective is to get seven yeses.

Finally, keep your focus and don’t get sidetracked by personal biases, personal likes and dislikes; in the end what matters is what other people want.

Now double check your research results:

Make a list of the top twenty most successful companies and find out which products they are marketing.

Make a list of the top twenty income earners in Network Marketing and find out in which industries they are earning their millions.

This should give you a good idea of what works well in MLM. (This sort of information can be found in MLM books and trade journals.)

Timing is everything

According to Dr King, professor of marketing at the University of Illinois and co-author of The New Professionals (about the rise of Network Marketing as the next major profession), a company goes through several major growth phases as it matures into a stable, long term opportunity. The first growth stage is known as the “formulation stage”. This is the start-up phase when companies are most vulnerable and over 90% go out of business within 12-24 months.

The second phase of growth is referred to as the “concentration phase”. During concentration, the company is getting its ducks in a row and working out the bugs. Similar to the formulation phase, the concentration phase is still considered a start-up phase and it is a risky time to get involved. These two phases are often referred to as the “pioneering phase” and most experts agree that the risk to reward ratio is too high to consider getting involved.

If and when a company reaches around $50 million in annual sales, the company experiences a phenomenon known as “critical mass”. This figure should not be taken too literally but it is a real phenomenon and will occur slightly before or slightly after the first $50 million, bringing with it the beginning of the company’s “momentum growth phase”. During this phase, if the foundation was properly laid, a company can go from obscurity to becoming a household name with 4-6 years.

According to Bruce Hedges, (Who Stole the American Dream? Pp131,132), when critical mass hits, suddenly everyone wants what you’ve got, growth goes into overdrive and sales begin to explode!

The last stage of a company’s growth is the “stability” or “maturity” phase. This is a great time to have a large downline but a tough time to build one. Growth in the stability phase is significant, but slower. However, it is now clear that many companies have learned how to maintain healthy growth during the stability phase.

One way they do this is by continuing to diversify the product line. Sometimes companies will go through second, third, and fourth momentum cycles as a result of this type of innovative marketing. Also, entering new international markets every year can keep a company profitable for decades. When a mature company expands into a new country, this creates a true ground floor opportunity without the risk associated with start-up programs.

As Network Marketing continues to evolve, distributors will realize that getting in early will become less and less important. An entrepreneur’s primary concern will be selecting a company that has long term stability, not short term “flash-in-the-pan” profits. But although selecting a company in the stability phase will be a much more inviting option than it once was, there is still no better time to build a Network Marketing business than during the “hyper growth” momentum phase.

One further note: just as companies have momentum phases, so can entire industries, and indications are that the Network Marketing industry as a whole is entering a momentum phase (but now is not the time to elaborate on this).By Steve in Guru Advice

Business Leads · distributor compensation plan · lead generation · Lead System · Leads · mlm lead · MLM Leads · multilevel marketing · network marketing · network marketing companies · network marketing company · Top 10 MLMs