BLINKeTV Review: $299-$1299 binary-based scheme

BLINKeTV identify themselves as

the most awaited and exciting launch by SPAKEBOOK, a Mediaway Limited company, incorporated in London, United Kingdom about 9 years ago, providing advertising and brand promotion services worldwide.

MediaWay (“mediaway.co.uk”) is a legitimate web, print and video marketing company operating out of the UK, however this is not the MediaWay BLINKeTV are talking about.

Their MediaWay (“mediawayuk.com”) exist in the UK in name only, with the corporate address provided on the MediaWay (hereafter referred to as (“MediaWayUK”) website belonging to ServCorp.

As per their website, ServCorp sell mailing addresses (virtual office space) worldwide.

Furthermore the domain “mediawayuk.com” was only registered on the 21st of July 2014, with any claims that the company is nine years old appearing to be bogus.

SpakeBook meanwhile appears to be some sort of brand promotion service, unrelated to the BLINKeTV MLM business opportunity.

Of note is that while the BLINKeTV and MediaWayUK domain registration are set to private, the SpakeBook domain registration isn’t.

The owner of the domain is listed as a “Mark Stuart”, with an address in the US state of New Jersey.

Further research reveals this address to belong to Raymond Consulting Corporate, who claim to have

rich experience in global market, international operation, equity investment and oversea profound knowledge of Chinese enterprises.

There is no mention of BLINKeTV, MediaWayUK or SpakeBook on the Raymond Consulting Corporate website.

Another red flag is that the domain registration for the Raymond Consulting Corporate website is again different.

As per the BLINKeTV website, a “Kennedy Price” is identified as the company’s CEO.

Price is also credited as the CEO of MediaWayUK and SpakeBook, with his SpakeBook corporate bio stating

Mr Kennedy Price has to his credit, a 24 years of advertising experience in various top-notch organizations worldwide.

He is a LLM in Media Law and also renders his legal expertise to selected companies worldwide.

Further research nothing on this individual outside of promotion of BLINKeTV, SpakeBook and MediaWayUK.

Generic Anglo-Saxon names, dodgy company registrations in the UK and anonymous domain registration…

All the hallmarks of Indian scammers are there with further research revealing BLINKeTV promotions claiming ‘package upgradation (sic) coming soon for Qbule affiliates‘:

Qbule was a Ponzi scheme launched in early 2014, modeled on the Speak Asia survey-based Ponzi scheme.

Speak Asia was shut down by Indian regulators in mid 2011, Qbule meanwhile had collapsed by the end of 2014.

Both schemes operated out of India and primarily targeted Indian investors.

Additionally most of the BLINKeTV promotional material available has been published by individuals bearing distinctly Indian-sounding names.

India also appears as the first country of operation on the BLINKeTV website. Other countries and continents listed include Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, the US, Cambodia, and Europe.

That’s enough for me to flag the individuals Kennedy Price and Mark Stuart, as represented on the BLINKeTV, MediaWayUK and SpakeBook websites, as likely not existing.

BLINKeTV is probably being run by an individual or individuals out of India, who for one reason or another do not want you knowing who they are.

As always, if an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money.

The BLINKeTV Product Line

BLINKeTV has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market affiliate membership with the company itself.

BLINKeTV do run a separate e-commerce site they call BLINKeShop, however this has nothing to do with the BLINKeTV MLM business opportunity.

The BLINKeTV Compensation Plan

The BLINKeTV compensation plan rewards affiliates for recruiting new affiliates.

Commissions are paid out in points (dollar equivalents are quoted below), with points able to be converted to cash.

Note that 20% of all points paid out must be spent in BLINKeShop, an online e-commerce site BLINKeTV operate.

5% of all points paid out are also withheld for “social causes”.

Recruitment Commissions

Recruitment commissions are paid out when BLINKeTV affiliates recruit new affiliates.

How much of a commission is paid out depends on how much the newly recruited BLINKeTV affiliate spends on their membership:

• Basic ($299) and Premium ($499) – $20
• Business ($999) – $80
• Elite ($1299) – $40

Why the recruitment commission on the recruitment of an Elite affiliate is less than that of a Business affiliate is unclear.

Binary Commissions

Residual commissions in BLINKeTV are paid out via a binary compensation structure.

A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, split into two sides (left and right):

Positions in the binary are filled via affiliate recruitment, either directly or via the recruitment efforts of an affiliate’s upline and downline.

As positions in the binary are filled, recruiting activity generates point volume between both binary sides.

Points are generated via the recruitment of new BLINKeTV affiliates as follows:

• Basic and Premium – 100 points
• Business – 400 points
• Elite – 200 points

Commissions are paid out using a 1:1 matching ratio between either side of the binary, requiring a minimum 100 points on either side to be matched before a commission is paid out.

For every 100 points matched on either side of the binary a $20 commission is paid out, with commissions calculated daily.

Note that BLINKeTV cap binary earnings based on how much an affiliate spent on their membership:

• Basic and Premium – $400 a day
• Business – $600 a day
• Elite – $500 a day

Finally, note that in order to qualify for binary commissions, a BLINKeTV affiliate must have personally recruited at least two Basic or higher affiliates.

Bonus Binary Commission

A bonus binary commission is available via the “Swift Bonus”.

The Swift Bonus pays out a $25 commission if a BLINKeTV affiliate generates 500 points on both sides of their binary within 30 days of joining the company.

This is a once-off bonus that is only paid out once if an affiliate meets the qualification requirement within the specified timeframe.

Performance Bonuses

Upon BLINKeTV affiliates meeting specific qualification criteria, the following performance bonuses are awarded:

•  5000 points matched in the binary on five separate days = $5000 bonus and an “Apple Mackbook (sic) AIR laptop”
• 12,500 points matched in the binary on four separate days = $2000 a month for 12 months and “a trip to Europe”
• 25,000 points matched in the binary on three separate days = a “Mercedes Benz E-Class”
• 60,000 points matched in the binary on two separate days = a “Porsche sports car”
• 100,000 points matched in the binary on any given day = $10,000 a month for twelve months and “a world tour for family”

Additional recruitment-based performance bonuses are also available:

• have at least 2 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $2000 in binary commissions = luxury pen
• have at least 4 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $5000 in binary commissions = mp4 player
• have at least 8 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $10,000 in binary commissions = mobile phone
• have at least 16 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $25,000 in binary commissions = tablet PC
• have at least 32 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $50,000 in binary commissions = laptop
• have at least 64 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $100,000 in binary commissions = trip to Asia
• have at least 128 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $250,000 in binary commissions = trip to Europe
• have at least 256 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $500,000 in binary commissions = $5000 car upfront
• have at least 512 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $1,000,000 in binary commissions = $10,000 cash
• have at least 1024 affiliates in your binary team and earn at least $2,500,000 in binary commissions = $25,000 car upfront

Note that the above bonuses are quoted verbatim from the BLINKeTV compensation plan, no further specifics are provided.

Joining BLINKeTV

Affiliate membership with BLINKeTV is tied to the purchase of one of the following affiliate packages:

• Basic – $299
• Premium – $499
• Business – $999
• Elite – $1299

Note that these affiliate fees are annual in nature, with the primary difference between the four options being income potential through the BLINKeTV compensation plan.

Two other membership options also exist, Free and Starter, however they have nothing to do with the BLINKeTV MLM business opportunity.

Conclusion

There’s a whole lot of jargon on the BLINKeTV website pertaining to internet marketing and advertising.

The reality of the income opportunity however is that none of what’s presented on the BLINKeTV website has anything to do with the business opportunity.

This is a stock-standard binary-based recruitment scheme, a business model favored by pyramid schemes of Indian origin.

Affiliates sign up and pay their fee, with commissions then paid out only if an affiliate recruits new affiliates into the scheme.

A token purchase through the separate BLINKeShop store is required each month, but otherwise BLINKeTV is a closed-loop recruitment scheme.

My gut tells me the use of the “MediaWay” name is not co-incidental, with BLINKeTV’s owner(s) looking to “borrow” the legitimacy of an otherwise established company.

I’m also thinking that whoever is running BLINKeTV was also either ex-Qbule management or heavily involved as an investor.

As with all pyramid schemes, once the recruitment of ne BLINKeTV affiliates dries up, so too will the commissions paid out.

No new affiliates paying membership fees means no binary volume, which in turn means nobody getting paid.

Once affiliate recruitment slows down and then stops, the company-wide binary stalls and the scheme collapses.

From what I’ve been able to gather those behind Qbule left a significant amount of investors in the lurch.

Granted BLINKeTV is using a different business model, one can still nonetheless expect the same to happen when it inevitably goes under.