Affiliate or MLM?

[mymenlistcom]

What is better an affiliate program or a MLM (Multi Level Marketing) Program?

[basschick]

why wouldn't you have an affiliate program with a 2 or 3 tier webmaster referral program, which pretty much takes care of both?

[mymenlistcom]

why wouldn't you have an affiliate program with a 2 or 3 tier webmaster referral program, which pretty much takes care of both?

Lets say we have an affiliate with 3 tier down...

Now, I am Member#1... I refer Member#2... Member#2 refer Member#3...
Member#3 refer Member#4... and Member#4 refer Member#5

Now... I will not be able to make money for Member#5 cos the affiliate program has 3 tier down only.

Now... Member#5 own this crazy really busy website and send 1000 new members to the site

Cos I am Member#1 I will not be able to make 1 penny from Member#5, but I am the reason cos Member#5 is here... should I get pay for that too?

In a MLM you will get pay less money for commission but you will get pay for everyone that is signed to the site related to you.

I rather make 1000 sales for $0.50 = $500
than 3 sales of $10 = $30
big difference here $-470.00

what do U think?

[basschick]

oh, that stuff. it was tried in the 90s and wasn't effective. it was, however, a great incentive for members to spam - most webmasters are business people who actually read and understand at least part of the terms. members didn't care. i wouldn't touch this method with a ten foot pole.

[mymenlistcom]

oh, that stuff. it was tried in the 90s and wasn't effective. it was, however, a great incentive for members to spam - most webmasters are business people who actually read and understand at least part of the terms. members didn't care. i wouldn't touch this method with a ten foot pole.

well that stuff as you called it, was the stuff that made Mary Kay and many other multimillionaire companies to be who they are today. Its no about just the webmaster making money, what about if we can motivate the members also to send more members, they will do it anyway, people always talk about the things that they like and the best marketing is word is mouth.

I guess you rather would have the $30... well... I'd rather have the $500

[gaybucks_chip]

I guess you didn't read Basschick's reply, and/or you didn't really want an answer to your question.

MLM was tried and didn't work because people couldn't follow the rules.

Affiliate programs do work, which is why so many of them are successful.

If you want to try it, then go ahead, but don't post asking which is better and then tell the person who is knowledgeable and trying to give you helpful information that she's wrong.

[mymenlistcom]

I guess you didn't read Basschick's reply, and/or you didn't really want an answer to your question.

MLM was tried and didn't work because people couldn't follow the rules.

Affiliate programs do work, which is why so many of them are successful.

If you want to try it, then go ahead, but don't post asking which is better and then tell the person who is knowledgeable and trying to give you helpful information that she's wrong.

Oooo!!!... excuse me, I thought this site was to talk about different points of view... well... I guess that I have to be sorry now for trying to make a little conversation point?

[basschick]

dude, no one said it wasn't.

but surfers don't follow the rules that affiliates do. mary kay didn't get rich working online where it's easy for someone to send out spam for your program, which could end up costing you tens of thousands in legal fees even if you're found innocent.

in any event, several programs tried this before in online porn and discovered that surfers felt it was a great idea till it started to seem like work. in the end, they didn't actually send as many sales as affiliates, but they did send a LOT more chargebacks. these days only a small percentage of chargebacks is enough to lose your ability to process visa - visa is 75% of my current sales.

btw, i have a few buddies who work as affiliates and make tons of sales per day - lots more than $500 a day.

Oooo!!!... excuse me, I thought this site was to talk about different points of view... well... I guess that I have to be sorry now for trying to make a little conversation point?

[mymenlistcom]

dude, no one said it wasn't.

but surfers don't follow the rules that affiliates do. mary kay didn't get rich working online where it's easy for someone to send out spam for your program, which could end up costing you tens of thousands in legal fees even if you're found innocent.

in any event, several programs tried this before in online porn and discovered that surfers felt it was a great idea till it started to seem like work. in the end, they didn't actually send as many sales as affiliates, but they did send a LOT more chargebacks. these days only a small percentage of chargebacks is enough to lose your ability to process visa - visa is 75% of my current sales.

btw, i have a few buddies who work as affiliates and make tons of sales per day - lots more than $500 a day.

Well, I read before that I have to agree with you if i want to ask a question here... but I am sorry, but I can't, I have been reading a lot and looking for information about MLM and affiliate programs and I have found a lot of new online companies that are using MLM and they are becoming one of the biggest companies on the internet. I know that many of these companies don't sell porn or adult products, but I think that the result can be the same.

I think that the spam and the chargeback problems are not related to the MLM question, because members can spam and also chargeback with affiliate programs (you will get chargebacks when the product that you are selling is not as good as you say). One solution to spam is, if you let your member send invitations to other people using your own site, just place a unsubscribe list or a block spam button to the invitation mail.

Also, I think that you are missing the point about the $500, I am trying to say that you can be making more in a MLM program than an affiliate.
:bullcrap:

[hotboyluke]

Let us know how that works out for you!

[gaybucks_chip]

Seriously, you either don't have any idea of the ramifications of the potential downsides that Patti has pointed out, or you're convinced that they don't apply to you... but it's a free country and you're entitled to try what you want to do, and equally entitled to make the same mistakes that many before you have already made.

All Patti was trying to do is to prevent you from wasting a lot of time and money and end up on TMF and out of any online business. But perhaps people on this board, whom you sought for advice, who have 10+ years of experience in this industry, are completely wrong and full of shit, and you, with apparently no such experience, are correct. In any case, good luck with that and let us know how it goes.

And fwiw, next time you want validation of your own viewpoint instead of a genuine answer to a question, you might try posting your question in the tone of "I'm going to start an MLM program, what do you think and what sort of pitfalls might I have" rather than "Please tell me which one is better."

[GTP]

Seriously, you either don't have any idea of the ramifications of the potential downsides that Patti has pointed out, or you're convinced that they don't apply to you... but it's a free country and you're entitled to try what you want to do, and equally entitled to make the same mistakes that many before you have already made.

All Patti was trying to do is to prevent you from wasting a lot of time and money and end up on TMF and out of any online business. But perhaps people on this board, whom you sought for advice, who have 10+ years of experience in this industry, are completely wrong and full of shit, and you, with apparently no such experience, are correct. In any case, good luck with that and let us know how it goes.

And fwiw, next time you want validation of your own viewpoint instead of a genuine answer to a question, you might try posting your question in the tone of "I'm going to start an MLM program, what do you think and what sort of pitfalls might I have" rather than "Please tell me which one is better."

Really well said Chip

BTW in some countries the "classic" MLM system is illegal. In the USA it isn't but it was really controversial.

Anyway I suggest to read
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing#Criticism_of_MLM (and related links)
skepdic.com/mlm.html
vandruff.com/mlm.html

[basschick]

are you sure it isn't illegal in the u.s.? i know that pyramid stuff was illegal here for a time, and there were special things you had to do in order for it to be legal.

Really well said Chip

BTW in some countries the "classic" MLM system is illegal. In the USA it isn't but it was really controversial.

Anyway I suggest to read
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing#Criticism_of_MLM (and related links)
skepdic.com/mlm.html
vandruff.com/mlm.html

[Matt 26z]

Sounds like you are talking about multi level affiliate webmaster referrals rather than you doing surfer membership referrals.

Back in the 80's and 90's these MLM programs were really shady. I got suckered into one that I read about in the back of a magazine. I sent them $50 and two months later got back 100 fliers and address labels to stamp and send out.

The funny thing about the ad fliers is that they didn't sell any products. The pitch was exactly what I bought into... $50 to "Work from home stuffing envelopes!" I imagine they had a whole network of people selling this home business that had no actual product line.

Obviously things are different online now, but don't think for one second that getting active affiliates in your downline is easy. And those numbers you were throwing around at the beginning of this thread would require you to get some of the biggest affiliates to sign up under you..... not gonna happen.

[GTP]

are you sure it isn't illegal in the u.s.? i know that pyramid stuff was illegal here for a time, and there were special things you had to do in order for it to be legal.

According to what I read pyramid is illegal in U.S. but some MLM are not illegal. Anyway I suggest to check with a lawyer before doing anything like that