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Casper
Member
Joined: 27 Aug 2007
Posts: 274
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# Posted: 17 Oct 2008 02:44
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Hey everyone we have all heard that to generate a decent income in MLM you have to have people sign up under you but is there a MLM out there where you can bring in a decent income just by promoting the products & without having to have people sign up under you.
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alexa
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Joined: 8 Sep 2008
Posts: 95
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# Posted: 17 Oct 2008 06:14
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It's a little bit of a contradiction in terms, Casper, because in order to build up a retail based business which is enough to support yourself, you need customers who re-order every month. And with MLM companies customers who re-order every month are going to sign up and become distributors because they'll save money by doing so. So I don't really think it's possible, no. You would end up sponsoring people even if you didn't set out to do that. Nobody's going to pay retail price for ever when they could be buying at distributor price. Well, almost nobody. Certainly not enough people for you to make a living that way.
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mountainmom5
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 1177
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# Posted: 17 Oct 2008 08:55 · Edited by: mountainmom5
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Yes Casper there is and I know of one... took me awhile to find it, but it's there..can't give out the link in the post here but if you want it, shoot me a pm .
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 896
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# Posted: 18 Oct 2008 06:12
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Hi Caspar,
It kind of depends on what you mean by decent income.  It will depend on the amount of commission per sale and the number of customers you get. High cost items will give larger commissions, but you may not make as many sales. Lower cost items will require many more sales, but may be easier to sell.
Also, like Alexa pointed out, most MLM's require people to 'sign up' to get the wholesale prices and many require those same people to make monthly purchases to continue getting the wholesale price.
I promote the AIM products on my parasite site because they are brilliant products for that niche. My visitors have the option of purchasing the products at the retail prices or wholesale prices. What I like about it is that there is no charge for them to get the wholesale price.
They simply have to purchase 50 'points' worth of products (1 or 2 items in most cases) and they become a free member. They are NOT required to make monthly purchases, and they get the wholesale price on any future purchases with no minimum requirements. And, of course, I get the commission on all their future purchases, too, because they become my customer.
I'm not pushing the distributor side of things yet, although that's how you eventually make the 'most' money. Here's the way I am approaching it.
The products are really effective. If some of my customers begin buying regularly, then I let them know about the business opportunity, to see if they are interested.
That's not the 'typical' way of 'doing' MLM, but I'm approaching it in that low key way because that is what suits me, my business model, and my personality the best. I'm fortunate that the layout of this company's plan works well for my approach.
There are probably other companies that would be similar in nature. AIM's been around for about 25 years or so, which adds to my comfort and confidence levels.
Basically, it sounds like you are looking to only make income on one level rather than multiple levels. You may also want to look into affiliate programs that have lifetime commissions like SBI.
Basically, once you get a customer and make a commission, that customer is permanently assigned to you, so you will always make a commission on their purchases even if they don't come through your website or promotion. That's another option.
Hope this helps you to know what to look for, etc.
Blessings,
Angie
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westfam11
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Joined: 8 Aug 2007
Posts: 430
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# Posted: 18 Oct 2008 09:54
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Casper: Hey everyone we have all heard that to generate a decent income in MLM you have to have people sign up under you but is there a MLM out there where you can bring in a decent income just by promoting the products & without having to have people sign up under you.
Cooperative Marketing is a great alternative to having to sponsor people. The company gets the customers for you, you purchase them and receive the lifetime commission rights to these customers.
You will make an income without every sponsoring anyone, you just buy more customers and it grows every month.
pm me if you want more info.
Becky
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pcwork
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Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 1627
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# Posted: 18 Oct 2008 20:36
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Depends on the quality of the product or service being sold. There is always a lot of demand for good products
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Casper
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Joined: 27 Aug 2007
Posts: 274
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# Posted: 18 Oct 2008 22:59
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pcwork: Depends on the quality of the product or service being sold. There is always a lot of demand for good products
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HomeBizMama
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Joined: 12 Sep 2008
Posts: 53
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# Posted: 19 Oct 2008 01:46
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westfam11: Cooperative Marketing is a great alternative to having to sponsor people. The company gets the customers for you, you purchase them and receive the lifetime commission rights to these customers. You will make an income without every sponsoring anyone, you just buy more customers and it grows every month.
I AGREE! By focusing on customers instead of sponsoring others, you'll more likely have a better chance of getting a decent monthly recurring income rather than relying on your referrals to commit and remain under you.
Good luck with MLMs. I never had any luck with them but love the idea of residual income!!!
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 896
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# Posted: 19 Oct 2008 01:52
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Some people don't want to or can't afford to buy customers at $50 each in hopes that they will re-purchase often.
You can generate your own customers for free by getting targeted traffic from the search engines looking for whatever it is you are selling (the solution to their problem).
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LauraLicata
Member
Joined: 1 Jan 2008
Posts: 273
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# Posted: 21 Oct 2008 19:24
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happywife: Some people don't want to or can't afford to buy customers at $50 each in hopes that they will re-purchase often. You can generate your own customers for free by getting targeted traffic from the search engines looking for whatever it is you are selling (the solution to their problem).
You are right about that Happywife. It helps to know a little about marketing as well to get that targeted traffic.
I am lucky enough to have my customers paid for me but because of my own marketing skills I have made enough money to be able to purchase more customers as well.
The main point is to get your name and your website noticed. Write articles, blog, make a Squidoo lens and post on forums with your keywords in your signature!
There's a little more to it but those are some of the basics.
Take care,
Laura
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getagrip
Joined: 20 Feb 2006
Posts: 1508
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# Posted: 21 Oct 2008 23:47
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The majority of them require you to sign up people under you to generate decent commissions, although there are some exceptions.
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simapr
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Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Posts: 54
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# Posted: 25 Oct 2008 17:05
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It's absolutely true that you shouldn't sell something that you don't believe in.
People are looking for answers to problems. If you don't have some form of testimony, then you really aren't of any help to these people.
Having real compassion for people will take you far. People recognize a fake attitude, but when you generally develop an interest in the people you're selling to, they become more than just a client. And they appreciate that.
This builds trust and a lifetime customer.
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WARRANTIES4LESS
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Joined: 20 Feb 2008
Posts: 221
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2008 22:30
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Interesting,
Direct sales and MLM are different, yet the same, they both require sales in order to earn commissions. I prefer the power of leverage you have with the MLM strategy for you cannot hope to make as much selling yourself verses having a team selling for you.
I prefer the MLM leverage, yet I also like direct sales, so MLM is a combination of both, in fact, many companies use both models, direct sales and MLM, like Avon and Fuller Brush, as example. Many companies operate with both concepts, in fact, I see more and more infomercial type companies now going MLM, and vice versa.
Success to all, Mike
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residualcash
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Joined: 27 Oct 2008
Posts: 8
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2008 03:07
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In a sense, you are asking the wrong question. The very nature of mlm and network marketing is building a business sharing the program with others. The great failure rate is contributed to the lack of knowledge that people have in marketing their biz online, and not having to worry about friends and family.
The solution to your challenge is learning how to market online to be successful in whatever you decide to do. Of course an ideal program does just that, as marketing education reaches across all networkers needs and gives you a greater opportunity to find success since you have a larger audience that can potentially be attracted to the product benefits of a program that involves networking and online marketing education.
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alexa
Member
Joined: 8 Sep 2008
Posts: 95
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2008 09:43
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WARRANTIES4LESS: Direct sales and MLM are different, yet the same, they both require sales in order to earn commissions
Exactly so. MLM companies are a subset of network marketing companies (all MLM companies are network marketing companies but not all network marketing companies are MLM), and network marketing companies are themselves a subset of direct sales companies (all network marketing companies are direct sales companies but not all direct sales companies are network marketing companies.
This is so in law, and in reality too.
Here's the hierarchy:-
- Direct sales companies, some of which are ...
-- Network Marketing companies, some of which are ...
--- MLM companies.
A lot of prospects, and even some people who have been distributors for a long time(!) haven't quite worked this out!
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timflowers
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Joined: 10 Nov 2008
Posts: 12
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# Posted: 28 Nov 2008 23:41
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Most mlm's have products that are significantly more expensive than the stuff you find in discount stores. While the quality is usually higher, it can be difficult to sell something that wholesales for double the retail price of something reasonably comparable at WalMart.
I was a distributor for Shaklee a few years ago and I retailed products but I had to sell them at my cost plus shipping, and even then customers balked. For example, their fish oil capsules wholesale for $26 and retail for $31, not including shipping and tax. That's a small profit margin for distributors, and your potential customers can buy fish oil at a discount store for under $5. Yes, Shaklee's is much better, but can you convince a customer of that?
MLM products cost more to help pay multiple levels of compensation. If you aren't interested in recruiting, I'd search for something that isn't MLM, but keep in mind that your long term income potential will not be as good as it could be with MLM. Recruiting and building exponential sales volume with residual income are what makes MLM so powerful.
Tim Flowers
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jaynen
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Joined: 27 Nov 2008
Posts: 21
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# Posted: 29 Nov 2008 13:29 · Edited by: jaynen
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ACN: Although it is difficult to make a significant income with residential accounts, something that is very often looked over with the ACN opportunity is business customers. Businesses can have phone bills in excess of $20k per month, which ACN's comp plan pays 10%; and that's real residual monthly income not dependent on new recruits or new sales, simply maintaining your customers.
Pre-paid Legal: You can make a good income without recuiting anyone by selling "Group Memberships" to businesses; much like other insurance agents. I'm not sure how the residuals work, but I know that there is residual compensation in addition to the up-front bonuses.
Nouveau Riche: Quality real-estate education product, $8,000 per sale; price-tag is up there, but you can definitely make a six-figure income. There is actually no multi-level component to this company; if you introduce someone, you simply train them and take a portion of their first couple of sales, then they're off to build their business. I made the most money so far with this company, but my ACN business is where I see the long-lasting gold.
Casper, it's possible to make money with personal sales, but the high six-figure incomes come from building a team; even with Nouveau Riche which isn't multi-level, when you are training people you are making multiples of what you would make from your personal sales.
The biggest part of having success is your philosophies as well as the training and support. When you look to join anything, see if you can work with a six-figure income earner; not necessarily directly, but where are they. Although your broke friend might be the one you sign-up under, does the organization they're a part of have an active six-figure income earner that you have access to?
I'm sure you know how to Google these companies, if you do decide to take a closer look feel free to PM me; I am not active in Pre-paid Legal, but have access to six-figure income earners, our ACN organization is one of the strongest in the company, and I did over $100k in my first month with Nouveau Riche.
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It's not what you do, not too much of how you do it, more so the support/leadership you have, and mostly your attitude and drive to succeed.
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WARRANTIES4LESS
Member
Joined: 20 Feb 2008
Posts: 221
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# Posted: 29 Nov 2008 17:51
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Agreed,
As if it is not already difficult for most to make it in sales, it is nearly impossible to sell an overpriced product, and sadly, this is usually the case with MLM products. Even if quality was better, just look at the industry during this recession, what do people eliminate from their budgets first, eating out at restaurants, and second is going to no name products, and this usually hits the MLM nutritional deals the hardest. Sadly, the third to take a hit is travel, so this too hits the MLM deals hard.
It is all about value and saving money in a deep recession, and there are not very many MLM deals which offer true savings. As the example with Shaklee demonstrates, the margins are too small on MLM retail prices to so called wholesale. What a joke, most are 10% and they expect the average person to sell this as a wholesale price, no wonder MLM has such a bad rap.
Personally, I think more people would stick with it if the retail profits were much higher, and then reduce the multi level payouts, maybe less people would quit if the adjusted the front end profits and increased them to true retail to wholesale spreads of 40% plus. MLM will not work for most, and this is sad, but there are a few which have realized this industry flaw and do offer a larger commission, and this is what I look for in a company more than anything, value.
I just added a new service which costs $199.00 and pays out $160.00, now that is a spread anyone can live with. lol Another pays $500.00 on a $1795.00 sale, again, higher than normal, and then retail sales make sense, and you can live off of selling with a decent profit level, but not if it is just 10% like most. Shaklee has great products, but like was mentioned, way overpriced in the market place like all the others in the nuritional arena.
I wouldn't waste my time on a 10% retail profit, but if they had a good overriding residual, and was a product that offered true value and exclusive, then I will look at it. The lowest profit spread I work is a $129.95 and you earn $30.00 and a bonus of $20.00, but because it is show and tell, and sells itself when people see it, I sell when in crowds, and do very well. It has to be a product of value with a solid retail profit before I would use my valuable time to retail it. And my best profit is for a product which sells for $500.00 and I earn $500.00, can't beat that. lol
Success to all, Mike
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