ViewTrakr Review: Recruitment and video sharing
There is no information on the ViewTrakr website indicating who owns or runs the business.
The ViewTrakr website domain (“viewtrakr.com”) was registered on the 22nd of June 2012, however the domain registration is set to private.
The only name I was able to attach to ViewTrakr was “Duane Stamp”, as provided in the ViewTrakr Terms of Service:
Pursuant to the DMCA, ViewTrakr has designated an agent to receive notification of alleged copyright infringement occurring on the ViewTrakr website. If you believe that copyrighted work is being infringed on our website, please notify our designated agent, preferably by email, at:
Administrator: Duane Stamp
(email address removed)
Other than the title “administrator”, Stamp’s role within ViewTrakr isn’t immediately clear.
That said, back on the 2nd of April a trademark application for ViewTrakr was filed in the US state of Texas.
The trademark was granted on the 22nd of July (85893036), with the application listing Duane Stamp as the “correspondent” for the filing.
Stamp provides an address in Texas and also associates himself with the company name JurisWord LLC.
This led to Stamp’s LinkedIn profile, where he credits himself as a “Managing Member” of JurisWord and describes the company as offering
legal services for ecommerce and web-based businesses and entrepreneurs.
JurisWord also have a website (“jurisword.com”), on which they provide the following description of the business:
JurisWord is the general counsel legal and business consulting service of JurisWord LLC. Our expertise is providing high quality– and cost-effective– legal services to small and mid-sized businesses.
Stamp is one of two staff members of JurisWord listed on the website.
Given the above it’s unlikely that Stamp owns or runs ViewTrakr, with ownership of the company remaining unclear.
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 ViewTrakr Product Line
ViewTrakr has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market ViewTrakr membership (the income opportunity) to non-affiliates.
Bundled with affiliate membership is access to a video hosting and sharing platform, to which affiliates can upload videos to and create capture pages from.
The ViewTrakr Compensation Plan
The ViewTrakr compensation plan primarily rewards affiliates for the recruitment of new ViewTrakr affiliates, additionally offering two profit sharing pools at the upper end of the compensation plan.
Commission Qualification
All ViewTrakr affiliates must pay $25 a month in membership fees and generate at least 20 video views a month in order to qualify for commissions.
In order for an affiliate to earn commissions from their downline, each of their downline affiliates must also generate a minimum of 20 video views each month and have paid their $25 a month membership fee.
Trakr Teams
ViewTrakr use a unilevel compensation structure to track an affiliate’s downline, which they then break down into various teams for commission generation.
A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of the structure, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1).
If any of these level 1 affiliates go on to recruit new affiliates of their own, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team. If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite amount of levels.
Within the above unilevel structure ViewTrakr create four additional teams for the purpose of commission generation:
- A-Team – counted as the first four affiliates recruited (first four positions on level 1 of the unilevel), the first four affiliates recruited by each level 1 affiliate and so on and so forth down 12 levels of recruitment
- Media – counted as every other affiliate personally recruited after the first four, including the first four affiliates they recruit (level 2), the first four they recruit (level 3) and so on and so forth
- Match – counted as above (Media), however each individual unilevel leg is treated as a separate team rather than a whole with each individual leg (5th onwards) referred to as a Match Team
- Global – starting with the fifth affiliate recruited by Media Team affiliates, Global teams are generated counting the first four each of the fifth and additional Media affiliates recruit, counting their first four recruits only down nine levels of recruitment (referred to as G1-G9)
ViewTrakr Affiliate Membership Ranks
There are five primary affiliate membership ranks within the ViewTrakr compensation plan and, along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- Trakr – recruit 4 affiliates, pay $25 in affiliate membership fees
- Specialist – personally recruit five affiliates
- Architect – have at least ten personally recruited Media Team members in your downline
- Grand Master – have at least 6 personally recruited Architects in your downline
- Rockstar – no qualification criteria visible in the ViewTrakr compensation plan
A-Team Recruitment Commissions
ViewTrakr affiliates are paid a commission out of the monthly membership fees recruited affiliates pay in their A-Team. How many levels deep an affiliate is paid depends on their affiliate membership rank.
- Trakr – $5 on level 1, $2 on level 2, $1 on level 3 and 50 cents on level 4
- Specialist – $5 on level 1, $2 on level 2, $1 on level 3 and 50 cents on levels 4 to 8
- Architect and above – $5 on level 1, $2 on level 2, $1 on level 3, 50 cents on levels 4 to 8 and 30 cents on levels 9 to 12
Match Team Recruitment Commissions
ViewTrakr affiliates are paid a commission out of the monthly membership fees recruited affiliates pay in their Match Teams. How many levels deep an affiliate is paid depends on their affiliate membership rank.
- Trakr – 50 cents on level 1 and 20 cents on levels 2 to 4
- Specialist – $1 on level 1, 50 cents on level 2, 40 cents on level 3, 30 cents on level 4 and 20 cents on levels 5 to 8
- Architect and above – $2 on level 1, $1 on level 2, 60 cents on level 3, 40 cents on level 4, 20 cents on levels 5 to 8 and 10 cents on levels 9 to 12
Media and Global Team Recruitment Commissions
When a Specialist affiliate starts generating Media Teams in their downline, each one adds a “code” to their affiliate membership rank, with “code 10” promoting them to Architect membership status.
Eg. If you have on Media Team you are a Specialist affiliate Code 1. Two Media Teams makes you a Specialist affiliate Code 2 and so on and so forth.
Using the above Code levels, ViewTrakr pay out the following commissions on Media and Global team affiliates:
- Specialist Code 1 – $5 on level 1 of generated Media Teams and $2 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams
- Specialist Code 2 – $5.25 on level 1 of generated Media Teams, $2.25 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams and 25 cents per Global Team affiliate
- Specialist Code 3 – $5.50 on level 1 of generated Media Teams, $2.50 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams and 50 cents per Global Team affiliate
- Specialist Code 4 – $5.75 on level 1 of generated Media Teams, $2.75 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams and 75 cents per Global Team affiliate
- Specialist Code 5 – $6 on level 1 of generated Media Teams, $3 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams and $1 per Global Team affiliate
- Specialist Code 6 – $6.25 on level 1 of generated Media Teams, $3.25 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams and $1.25 per Global Team affiliate
- Specialist Code 7 – $6.50 on level 1 of generated Media Teams, $3.50 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams and $1.50 per Global Team affiliate
- Specialist Code 8 – $6.75 on level 1 of generated Media Teams, $3.75 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams and $1.75 per Global Team affiliate
- Specialist Code 9 – $7 on level 1 of generated Media Teams, $4 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams and $2 per Global Team affiliate
- Architect (Code 10) – $8 on level 1 of generated Media Teams, $5 per every affiliate on all other levels of generated Media Teams and $3 per Global Team affiliate
Note that any overlap between an affiliate’s Global Teams and their Media Team Specialist affiliate’s Media Teams are passed up as override commissions (subject to an affiliate’s Code rank above).
FM Upgrade Bonus
If any affiliates in an affiliate’s Media Team “upgrade” their affiliate membership to $34.95 a month (known as the “Full Media Upgrade”), a $25 commission bonus is paid out.
Point Generation
Certain parts of the profit sharing component of the ViewTrakr compensation plan (see below) is tied into the generation of points. A ViewTrakr affiliate generates points within the plan as follows:
- personally recruit a new affiliate (FM or regular) – 3 points
- affiliate rank promotion – 3 points
- a recruited A-Team affiliate on levels 1-4 recruiting a new affiliate (FM or regular) – 2 points
- an A-Team affiliate on any other level recruited a new affiliate (FM or regular) – 1 point
ViewTrakr state that top point earners each week will “win cash bonuses” and that when an affiliate accumulates 500 points, they can also “cash” the points in for “prizes”.
Points are scored as shown and will be posted in real time. They will be used to determine recipients for promotional give-aways, rank advancements, and daily/weekly/monthly contests.
Total Lifetime Points is an important number that qualifies Trakrs for the biggest prizes.
No further specific information is provided.
Profit-Sharing Pools
Profit Sharing in ViewTrakr revolves around the generation of virtual coins, with each coin allocating an affiliate a share of 2% ‘of every ViewTrakr monthly subscription fee‘ paid by affiliates.
There are two profit-sharing pools within ViewTrakr compensation plan, a Grand Master pool (1%) and a Rockstar pool (1%).
Affiliates qualify for shares in the Grand Master pool as they advance in “Grand Master Levels”, dependant on how many personally recruited Architect affiliates they have in their downline and points generated via video views.
- GM Level 1 (2 personally recruited Architects and 1000 points) – 1 Master coin
- GM Level 2 (3 personally recruited Architects and 15000 points) – 3 Master coins
- GM Level 3 (4 personally recruited Architects and 2000 points) – 6 Master coins
- GM Level 4 – (5 personally recruited Architects and 2500 points) – 10 Master coins
The Rockstar profit-sharing pool is distributed equally amongst all Rockstar qualified affiliates.
Joining ViewTrakr
Basic ViewTrakr affiliate membership is $25 a month. Affiliates can “upgrade” to FM affiliate membership, which costs $34.95 a month.
The $34.95 FM Upgrade includes 24 Trakr pages, more re-direct buttons per page, additional corporate wallpapers and enhanced personalization.
Conclusion
Much emphasis is placed on the “sharing” of videos through ViewTrakr on their website yet, at least as far as the compensation plan goes, this activity has little to nothing to do with how affiliates generate commissions within the opportunity.
Despite being somewhat complicated to get your head around, every component of the ViewTrakr compensation plan can be broken down into either personal recruitment of affiliates or getting those you’ve recruited to recruit new affiliates of their own.
Affiliate membership ranks are precisely tied into the above activity, with all unilevel commissions based on how many affiliates have been recruited (both in terms of ranks and how many affiliates are in the unilevel).
The Profit Sharing component of the ViewTrakr compensation plan directly rewards affiliates based on how many affiliates they’ve recruited and that of their downline.
Given that all commissions are paid out of the monthly membership fee required to be paid by affiliates (either $25 for Trakr affiliates or $34.95 for FM affiliates), ViewTrakr wholly fits the definition of a recruitment driven pyramid scheme.
Apparently it is possible to join ViewTrakr for free, although there appears to be little incentive to do so as the company offers nothing new over existing video hosting platforms to end-users, other than the pay to play income opportunity.
Infact, I’m not even sure if ViewTrakr themselves have a video-hosting service as every video I saw on the website (as a non-affiliate) was hosted over at either YouTube or Vimeo, both of which have nothing to do with ViewTrakr and are available to the general public.
Use of the “sharing” platform the company provides is secondary in every aspect of the compensation plan to the recruitment of new affiliates and their continued payment of monthly fees. Fees which not only generate commissions for existing affiliates, but are a mandatory pre-requisite in order to participate in the scheme.
Once the recruitment of new affiliates slows down, just like any other pyramid scheme ViewTrakr will collapse.
The name Viewtrakr implies that they give better view tracking than Youtube or Vimeo, or better branding pages and whatnot.
In other words, this is offering even LESS service than Empowered. At least Enpowered offering full hosting and ecommerce. These guys charge you for merely view tracking service when any blog page or such will allow you to embed tracking codes.
ViewTrakr’s CEO is Keith Crowe, CMO is Ty Thomas and President is Tracy Bell so that answers the question of who’s in charge.
Since you can join for FREE and use ALL of the functions of the system (you only need to pay the $25 per month to gain access to the comp plan) and the product is the software itself, it doesn’t IN ANY WAY fit the description of a “pyramid scheme”…
I’ve been able to put about 20 distributors in my primary biz because of the passive exposure people get to my business through my Trakr site. To give you an idea of what it looks like and how it helps check out (Ozedit: recruitment spam removed).
Even though your blog post seems slanderous I appreciate you taking the time to check it out…
Pay $25, recruit others who do the same, get paid.
Riiiight…
You said it yourself, the “product” is free. So affiliates are just paying fees to get paid when recruited affiliates pay their fees.
But yeah. Totally not a pyramid scheme.
And exactly what is the definition of a pyramid scheme, in your opinion? It has to be something “special”, since this doesn’t fit IN ANY WAY?
* You used CapsLock on “join for FREE and use ALL of the functions” and “IN ANY WAY”.
* “you only need to pay the $25 per month to gain access to the pyramid scheme plan”
* “the product is the software itself”
That pretty much fits right into the definition of a promotional pyramid (or even a traditional pyramid scheme), as far as I can see?
* “You only need to pay if you want to participate” fits 100% within the definition of a promotional pyramid.
* Join for free isn’t even among the criterias, the argument is moot. Pyramid scheme isn’t about joining.
* Products can indirectly be among the criterias for pyramid schemes, e.g. to separate between traditional and promotional pyramids. But what you call a “product” here seems to be about back office and the system itself, the software used to organize the pyramid scheme.
A company can legally charge an at cost non commissionable fee (one time, monthly, yearly) for organizing a membership system, but it can’t legally charge anything for organizing a pyramid scheme.
Organizing a pyramid scheme is illegal in itself. Paying $25 for that “service” is simply a pay to play fee.
By reading M_Norway’s reply to my comment, I guess no matter what people will ALWAYS have something to complain about and point uneducated fingers at….
If it were illegal Viewtrakr would be shut down by now since the CEO is also an attorney who specializes in internet law…..But hey, I’m sure you know EVERYTHING about this industry since you’re a multi-millionaire from the industry, right?
I’m only a 6-figure earner in this industry, what do I know? 🙂
This is the “we’re legal until the authorities shut us down” argument. It fails because it would mean companies would need to be shutdown before they launched, otherwise even a day of operation would certify legal status.
Unfortunately for scam participants whether or not a company is shut down does not indicate legality. Legality aside, as that’s for courtrooms, an MLM company’s legitimacy is easily determinable via analysis of its business model and compensation plan.
As is the case of ViewTrakr, it appears to be a recruitment-driven scheme with no retail offering.
Evidently, not much.
$1,110.99 ???
Oz, you can put me down if you’d like but you could just ask. 2 of the corporate staff are either attorneys or former attorneys, one of which specializes in global internet law….They’ve made 100% sure that ViewTrakr is in accordance with ALL laws.
As for it being a “scheme”, it’s a business. Amway has been called a “scheme” for over 60 years and it’s still the #1 direct selling company on Earth.
Sorry u guys wanna act like you know EVERYTHING and a professional marketer like myself who has changed MANY lives for the better knows nothing of their chosen profession. But Viewtrakr is in accordance with all mlm and internet law.
Littleroundman, I use my real name so I obviously have nothing to hide…What’s the $1,110.99 comment?…
(and it’s wild u guys keep putting this company down. If it’s that bad, complain to the FTC. Do something about it.)
@Austin
Why? Are ViewTrakr misrepresenting their business model and compensation plan on their website? If so, why is this misrepresentation not public?
Do ViewTrakr’s corporate staff use a different compensation plan then the one presented on the ViewTrakr website???
Orly? And which laws would those be?
Straight from the FTC:
I’d provide a link but the FTC website is currently offline due to the US govt shutdown.
Regardless, with no retail offering and 100% affiliate-generated revenue, ViewTrakr falls woefully short of the FTC’s definition of a “legitimate multilevel marketing plan”.
retail customers, and therefore is entirely irrelevant for the purpose of comparison.
That you know loads about pyramid schemes I have no doubt. You’ll receive no argument from me on that.
If you say so, man….You’re right, have a good night 😉
I don’t say so, the FTC says so.
Before you saunter off to bed with your tail between your legs, you could at least apologise for completely wasting everybody’s time this evening with your uneducated waffle.
You’re not always right, Oz… My tail isn’t between my legs because I’ve helped quite a few good people create a much better life….
Call it what you will. We’ll agree to disagree… Good luck with your ventures. Mine are doing very well also.
PS – I didn’t waste anyone’s time, they didn’t have to listen/reply.
Yo, you wanna disagree with the FTC’s definition of a legitimate MLM company by all means do so. Don’t try to downplay your silly pyramid schemes by making out like it’s some personal disagreement.
You participate in scams that rip people off. Own it son.
That’s easy enough, “the recruitment of new participants into a recruitment-driven pyramid scheme”.
Until the inevitable collapse…
That sort of copout might work when you’re pitching your scams, won’t work here.
You said you earned a six figure income.
That’s a six figure amount
And my brothers’ wifes’ second cousins are all attorneys or former attorneys and they say it’s an illegal scheme.
So, who are we to believe ??
Your unnamed attorneys or my unnamed attorneys ??
The $25 per month gives you more than just access to the comp plan Free members lose the ability to control where the outbound links go to. In addition upgrading for the Media option gives customers a total of 27 trakr pages.
You can’t compare Empower Network to this. EN is a blog and VT is a video page template with different features. It’s absurd to consider them anything close.
Just because you choose to copy and paste information onto behindmlm.com and then give your opinion doesn’t make you an instant expert in business or an attorney.
Just post the facts. Otherwise don’t try to influence people with lies when you don’t know what you’re talking about. It makes you look ignorant.
What is bundled with affiliate membership is irrelevant, you’re paying for access to the comp plan (income opportunity).
Ergo you’re being paid to recruit. Leave your emotions at the door.
There isn’t even any analytics page available to users. That should tell everyone what the business is really about…
I see where you are coming from on this one. If there is no product it is clearly breaking the laws. So my first thought was in line with what you wrote. Then I thought about it for a bit trying to see if I was missing something.
Isn’t it possible that the product in this case is the views required to qualify. The profits being distributed via the compensation plan would then come from advertising revenues gained by the company not directly from the independent reps pockets.
It seems like steep compensation but as long as there is a product (views) and independent reps are chiefly rewarded for getting people to buy those views (in this case by watching videos rather than spending money) wouldn’t that make this legitimate even though at first it looks sketchy.
Am I being unreasonable here? I mean views are becoming something of an online currency of sorts. Some YouTubers even talk about trading them via things like cross promotions etc.
I mean they don’t actually pay anyone who doesn’t actually direct some video traffic. And you only get paid on down-line that does the same. So even if they pay the monthly fee, if they don’t generate the views you get nothing. Sounds like a focus that is separate from recruiting to me.
“Views” is not a product. The only thing sellable within Viewtrakr is affiliate membership (access to the compensation plan, which pays commissions on the recruitment of new affiliates).
YouTube isn’t an MLM company. And anyway… “views”. Selling traffic is fair enough (although likely to be paired with either revenue-share or recruitment-driven matrices in MLM), but that’s not what’s happening here. Viewtrakr is video hosting attached to a recruitment scheme.
Wow, I am compelled to thank the members of this discussion, as I am basically an expert in this field, thanks to crack investigation. I have been swept up by Juice Plus+ and Tower Garden (direct sales), and in my journeys to achieve greatness, I came across ViewTrakr.
I was going to pay the $25 just today, and I’ve been on the phone a lot with one of the top earners in the company.
I found two online sources (not credible, mind you) recruiting people to join ViewTrakr before their “Launch” (this Launch/Pre-Launch thing is really what tipped me off, and what pisses me off) in July of 2013, and February of 2013. The launch is supposed to be in two days.
The top earner tells me that the launches were delayed (I grilled him like he was a criminal, and he withstood it the whole convo), and he confirmed this. He confirmed there never were any launches, ever.
When I asked for a verifiable source, I was offered Tracy Bell, a top executive of the country.
“Oh, so she’s the one who’s going to verify your story, huh?”
I don’t think so. I asked for an organization, something public, or something on the internet.
Verbatim: “There is none.”
I’ll be on the phone with Ty Thomas and/or Tracy Bell later this afternoon, if I wasn’t lied to, and I’ll ask them the same questions.
I’ll keep y’all posted 🙂 Thanks!
Max
(Ozedit: Spam URL removed)
I posted a comment on here a few hours ago and it hasn’t appeared. What’s the deal?
@Max I’m not around all the time. Some comments on BehindMLM are held for moderation.
I personally see the ViewTrakr platform as a tool. It is easily embedded in a blog using Iframes, totally customizable, and creates a unique look compared to several other landing pages that could be built. I enjoy using it. In that respect it has some value for me as a product outside of the mlm comp plan.
So far that is the only value I have found.
As an SEO Tech I have analyzed the nature of the platform itself for viral capability and found that it does not contain any of the elements required to be found easily by search engines.
– Pages are not pinged or made known to search engines.
– URL’s are not SEO friendly.
– Textual content is limited to a few sentences per main page and per video description.
– Share buttons are not available on the ViewTrakr pages themselves.
– There is no opportunity to comment on video content or page design.
– There are no metrics available at all to the member to gauge how many views have been obtained…much less any other serious or detailed metrics capability.
So what is it? It’s a tool. I was sold at tool because I saw the capability of the platform. Is it worth $25.00 a month? Maybe if you plan to use it alot.
Is it a viral social platform? No. It does not work as a frontside social platform where others can engage in your page, wall, posts, comments or any such thing. There is no authentication level permissions to allow others to see or not see your content, join your friends list, follow you as a fan, subscribe to your feed or any other option.
The only option for sharing the URL is to cut and paste the URL into another social network like Facebook, Twitter or the like…or into your email. Many people have difficulty doing this if it is not just a simple button.
When you do post the URL of a page it does not grab any images from the page and post them in a social network. You have to do that yourself. Again…in this way…anti-viral.
There are really three ideas at least behind the ViewTrakr platform…and not any one of them clearly marketed to the masses by the corporate advertising.
1. It’s a GAME to see who can get the most view. If this were done correctly then it should have employed all the features of a seriously social platform for the ease of sharing as well as the actual display of metrics within frontside of every ViewTrakr page. While this is currently a goal of the company to create…it is certainly slow in development. Excruciatingly slow.
2. It’s a unique video advertising platform for your current online or offline business. This is more like what I said earlier. A tool that is unique in appearance and performance and easy to configure for the masses. However it is not clearly marketed as a platform that can be embedded into existing pages…sad because it actually works very well.
3. It’s a business in itself. While their are strong claims that you can make money with ViewTrakr, it appears that there are many issues with the behind the scenes automation of the payment system. Integration of the compensation plan with the merchant gateways of PayPal, ProPay, and Ipay has been a primary focus for months according to the leadership of ViewTrakr, but I have yet to receive regular pay from being involved in this company.
It’s been sporadic at best and I had to hound anyone I could in leadership to make people aware of the non-payment issue. Even then…there has been no way to tell how much money I should be making according to the complex comp plan, and from where the money is coming.
It’s true that no money is made if you are not part of the paid members of ViewTrakr. The only exception (yet future) is the ability to earn Virtual Coins which will be usable on sites like Amazon, iTunes, Google Play Store and others. This feature is not yet available to anyone, but it will be available to all players / users of the platform both FREE and PAID.
While I totally appreciate the unique approach that this company has taken to this idea, I feel like the leadership has not created a strong unified presentation of the company’s vision. It seems that many things have been said and promised that have not been delivered upon, and there seems to be very little communication about actual development. Or perhaps, what is said, is not developed in a timely manner, which can lead to the assumption that it’s not going to happen.
I still think ViewTrakr has some serious potential and in the beginning I worked hard to get my friends and team members to see “what I saw as the value of” ViewTrakr’s platform as a tool. I am waiting to see what is going to happen now and I have recommended all my paying team members cool their jets for while and change their positions to VIRTUAL/UNPAID to see if ViewTrakr will actually put together the components that can possibly create a viral social video sharing platform.
I think they have a long way to go. I bear no one at ViewTrar any ill will, but I will be waiting and watching to see if they put their money where there mouth is…
I hope my review gives anyone reading this a seriously objective view of ViewTrakr from someone who has been on the inside for the last 6 months.
Cheers and best of luck in your business of choice! 🙂
Be that as it may, the ViewTrakr MLM business opportunity is just your typical recruitment-driven scheme.
This is to be expected if the affiliate recruitment numbers are not what they thought they’d be. Affiliate fees are their primary revenue-source.
The advantage to the paid end of viewtrakr besides being an affiliate is you can embed a link to your primary opportunity or website in the platform. But no I have not been paid what is due to me and everything else Greg Eddolls has said.
Also they call this pre launch of the company? Is there a limit to the number of times you can pre launch becuse this is number 3 for viewtrakr!
irrelevant when affiliate recruitment commissions are being paid.
NO MATTER THE COMPANY people will ALWAYS complain…(Zurvita changed it’s comp plan almost a dozen times and fully changed product lines 4 times so pre-launching multiple times is no biggie)…
I’ll say, personally, I’ve never made any excuses, just got the job done and my checks show that. I help support 3 households from my ViewTrakr income and I’ve built 2 other businesses from my ViewTrakr network…..
I know someone will find a way to make this a bad thing BUT I’ve seen that some people really enjoy being in this company AND we had a girl come in and earn $1,125 in 1 day not long ago and was paid 100% of it on time…
Some people are upset because they don’t understand the comp plan…. OBVIOUSLY, the author doesn’t know much about the company…
As for me and my family, we’re VERY happy with the company. VT’s my baby and one big reason why people fail so much in this industry is they don’t focus on the correct things like staying in the right activities and building a legacy…
I’m sure you’ll continue badmouthing and trash talking but we’re still crushin’ it and having fabulous growth daily. Take care, much success to YOU out there in internet land 😉
You just did champ.
Recruitment commissions as a primary way to pay out your affiliates = pyramid scheme. End of story.
Oz, I give my real name, not hide behind a handle…For 1. BUT, if you aren’t astute enough to understand what I was saying: I don’t make excuses and give up, I win. I build….
I knew, as negative as this sleezy site is, you’d find a way to make ANYTHING said negative…LOL…What a trip…..
It’s amusing how pyramid scheme pimps label those who don’t participate in their schemes as “negative” and “sleezy”. Those are the words most people would associate with pyramid schemes and their players.
Best of luck with the ripping off of people below you chief. Anymore offtopic derail attempts will be sent to the spambin.
It’s not whether you are lying or not, but whether you have evidence to backup what you wrote/said.
You will find that BehindMLM regulars consider evidence first, source second, unlike a lot of MLMers, who regard source first, often ignoring supporting evidence.
I understand that you are a salesperson and you need to build rapport with your propects. However, we’re discussing business logic, not sales / coercion.
Oz can get pretty snarky at times, as he is quite jaded seem defenders of scams claiming until their face is blue that they are legal, they will never give up, we just don’t understand them, we sleezy anti-MLM hater… blah blah blah.
And you sound just like them. So expect to be treated as one of them until you stop sounding like them.
So did Bernard Madoff,
your point being ??
@K Chang I just want to clarify a few things about ViewTrakr and the industry as whole…from my perspective.
It’s pretty obvious in online marketing business, network marketing online business and internet marketing business that the majority of the industry has been infected with shiny ball syndrome.
Participants in the online marketing industry continuously fail to recognize that participating in online business requires a massive amount of commitment to realize success. But for some reason the majority seem to think they can just throw some money at an online opportunity and then dollars will magically grow out of their computers.
Unfortunately the industry continues to capitalize on hype and new shiny objects, hoping that the disenchanted, discouraged, uncommitted, fantasy driven online marketer will believe that “this is the one that will work”.
To create a tool like ViewTrakr, which can be used as part of a serious marketing campaign for serious online marketers is a strong step in the right direction.
How the platform is marketed, or not marketed by the leadership makes all the difference. But the fact is…that the platform is a subscription product, and members receive a portion of that subscription when others also use the product.
Where things go wrong, as you know, is when the focus turns entirely to recruiting to make money. But if folks are selling a product which has the ability to maintain it’s usefulness and integrity, as a marketing tool…among a host of other marketing tools, then I find it has some worth as a legitimate product. Would you disagree?
The primary definition of a pyramid scheme is a “multi level marketing company whose members derive their income from a pure reliance upon recruiting and where no product is involved.” Even though things at ViewTrakr seem shaky, I do believe that a real product of value exists, as I mentioned above.
Value is in the eye of the beholder, and I can clearly see value in the marketing platform that ViewTrakr already has the capability to be, and for which I am using it in other businesses and causes. It’s simply a tool.
If ViewTrakr wants to redeem their image there needs to be serious action from the top down.
Ty Thomas is doing a great job at casting the vision for a social, viral, video sharing platform that comes with a gameboard to track your views and virtual coins. I think it’s a brilliant idea. I am anxious to see it launched for the masses so that it might gain free users and brand name recognition.
From the MLM side, the development of the payment system integration is due to launch anytime with a clear visual in the back office to see from where your commissions come. There are lots of ways to make money based on being active as a paid member and the size of your team. It’s true to form in that aspect as an MLM. But you could treat ViewTrakr as a pure affiliate product and put all your people on your front line as customers which you serve with the advertising platform as a product.
I hope this clarifies the actual nature of the digital product for which ViewTrakr can be credited with a positive review.
I wish they would put more focus on that aspect of it rather than the game which is not launched yet, or the MLM which is always a struggle for people to maintain. Depending on the focus it can change the entire perspective of how a product or business is marketed. Ty Thomas is making an effort to focus on the possible viral nature of the video sharing game.
Sincerely,
Greg Eddolls
@Greg
This might have been true before the internet, but today it’s completely false. Plenty, if not all, modern pyramid schemes attach products to themselves. It’s so people can run around the internet citing outdated pyramid scheme definitions, and then claim legitimacy “because we have a product”.
The business model and how commissions are paid out determine whether or not an MLM business opportunity is a pyramid scheme, not whether they have product(s) or not.
What you can do is irrelevant when recruitment commissions are on the table. You and I both know nobody is going to treat this as a retail venture.
Not here, I primarily go over business models. I include a brief description and analysis of a product to help in determining viability of the business model (comp plan).
Removing recruitment commissions will have a far great impact rather than just pretending they’re not there.
@K Chang.
So…how would you re-mediate the situation with ViewTrakr’s product?
Charge a one time fee per page for use of each page? For which I would be paid a commission for the sale?
How would you amend the issue of ViewTrakr’s comp plan to allow the company to not be viewed as a “pyramid” scheme?
I’m a retail customer who has no interest in the business opportunity, how do I join ViewTrakr?
Free != retail. You actually have to sell something to people.
At the time I wrote this review there was no retail option within the business.
What kind of business online is acceptable to you? Are any MLM’s acceptable? I am just curious what your broad stance on MLM is. Perhaps you have some wisdom that could assist me on my quest for online business success.
Cheers.
I don’t give out personal business advice. Your MLM due diligence is up to you.
There are over 1000 articles on BehindMLM, start reading.
Oz. You can use ViewTrakr as a tool to promote anything. WHile there are free pages to help promote brand recognition and video sharing for free, there is also a paid package that allows you to pay monthly subscription to use the tool. You get substantially more video pages that you can customize for yourself, cause or business…and you have control over the links / buttons in the paid pages. That is the retail package.
As a free user…you can still share (fewer) pages with videos, but you will not have control over the links / buttons. In that case your sponsor has control over the buttons on that free page. This is another advantage of being a paid (retail) user; control of the links that help you build out more exposure through all the free users in the network.
While somewhat complex, the differences are clear. A Paid (retail) user has the ability to still build out their network and increase their exposure by encouraging the use of the free platform for sharing videos…simply because it looks cool. That is the focus right now of Ty Thomas. To share the vision of the video sharing platform.
Cool, an answer to a question I never asked.
I’m a retail customer, what can I buy from you as a ViewTrakr affiliate?
This is the affiliate offering is it not? Affiliate subscription != retail.
Oz…
Your sarcasm is sharp.
I am trying to answer your question. So if you are so smart and knowledgeable…than why is a subscription that you can use not considered a retail subscription product?
If I was an internet marketer looking for a tool / plugin to embed in my website (which I happen to be) then I can use this tool to create a custom look in my web page/landing page/cause promotion that is customizable.
That is essentially a retail product. Is it not? If not then please indicate what you see as an actual retail product and why this is not one for those who would use it in this way?
Not when it’s attached to an MLM compensation plan and affiliate subscription fee. Then it’s simply something bundled with affiliate fees.
It’s a product sure, but it’s not being sold at a retail level.
No retail revenue + recruitment commissions in MLM = pyramid scheme.
The problem is right now, there seems to be NO difference between a subscriber (of the product/service), vs. an affiliate (whose job is to sell the subscriptions).
If you mix the two, you end up sounding like a “product-based pyramid scheme” where you’re a pyramid scheme that keeps yelling “I have a product! I do! I really do!”
Separate the subscriber (who’s NOT in the comp plan) from the affiliate (who is in the comp plan), then nobody would have a problem. Go look up “Webster vs. Omnitrition” if you want a court case explaining the whole thing.
Well thank you for the sincere answer to my question. I truly get where you are coming from.
I do have a general issue with network marketing for the very same reason you do. When recruiting dries up the company falls apart from the bottom up.
Call me a glutton for punishment, but part of my mission in online business is to provide a platform that allows people to for community, and to get real answers about how to do business online if they indeed have a product that has some useful function.
I do not support cash cyclers and other such useless prgorams, but I do believe that given the right ability and resources to train the right people who have a strong aptitude for online social presence that we can equip those people to focus on solid principles of community, traffic sources, good marketing, good products and consistent training for duplication. That is my mission and that is Work To Inspire.
1. Is it really retailable, i.e. can you buy the product without an opportunity attached?
2. Do they actually sell the product in retail, i.e. does it actually have a market without the attached opportunity?
Combining a product with an opportunity will change the legal status of the product from retailable to non-retailable. It will change the sales job from “bona fide retail sale to end users” to “enrollment of participants”.
It will normally change “internal consumption” to “qualifying purchases to qualify for commissions”, i.e. the internal consumption is not really about what it pretends to be about.
Retail sale is what makes a business model sustainable. It can’t be replaced by internal consumption. Internal consumption can be an ADDITION to retail sale, but it can’t be the primary source of revenue.
This article contains a 2 minute video with Tony Rush, using a funnel system to visualise marketing as a “machine”:
https://behindmlm.com/mlm/theory/the-problem-with-personal-development-coaching-via-mlm/
Tony Rush’ idea there is a neutral system for how to get overview of the whole process, for how to identify where in the system something will need to be corrected.
Most people will probably focus on the first part, the most obvious part to focus on, leading to spamming the internet rather than to marketing. Many internet marketers strongly believe in ideas like that.
I would like to add something here too. I’m going to try and say this – and it would be professional to not have any sarcastic remarks that hurt your ethos.
ViewTrakr has a product – and that has been established on this conversation.
What I would like to clear up is this:
When you purchase the subscription of $25/mo, you get 24 more trakr pages than the regular, the opportunity to control the links on your pages, and – if desired – the opportunity to earn commissions when you sell the tool to others.
A few important notes. ViewTrakr is a TOOL and an opportunity. Some join for the opportunity, but we have many people (musicians, artists, authors, singers, etc) who join ViewTrakr and upgrade because of the diversity and ease of the TOOL.
So to answer someone’s question… yes, people upgrade for the opportunity and/OR for the benefits of using the tool (viral traffic etc). If you still don’t believe me, do you really REALLY think people join Empower Network because they like to blog for FUN?! Do you really think people join WUN for $100 or whatever because they plan on printing and using coupons that they pay for? Of course they’re in it to make money, that’s kind of the whole point of an MLM, is it not?
As a specialist in the company, which means I get insider information which most commenters here probably don’t have access to, I hear the CMO consistently remind specialists that our goal is to provide everyday people with a fun way to share what they love. He doesn’t even want us to tell people about the money-making opportunity until they’re a virtual member. It’s like hiding the fact that you’re rich to your spouse until marriage.
Any other questions about this for me to clear things up with you guys would be awesome. The negative attention is great too, for that gains more attention than positive (just ask Miley Cyrus).
And in not offering a retail option, is a recruitment-driven pyramid scheme. Thanks for contributing nothing new to the discussion.
No. I think Empower Network is little more than cash gifting and WakeUpNow is a similar recruitment-driven pyramid scheme, but thanks for asking.
Goals schmoals. Money flow wise your dealing with 100% affiliate funds, paid out to those who recruit the most affiliates.
Even Miley Cyrus would agree that’s just not kosher.
Thank you. However, you seem to have missed the point.
You forgot one part: that the company is using a legal comp plan that does not reward recruiting or self-consuming to qualify oneself for commissions.
If that’s off-kilter, then no matter how you market and train, people will do the path of the least resistance: if there’s incentive to recruit and self-consume to self-quality, they’ll do it no matter how much you train them not to.
“Your actions are only as sound as your plan.” Napoleon Hill (slightly paraphrased)
Glad his heart’s in the right place, but he needs to hire some comp plan experts to go over the comp plan to make sure it’s 100% legal. Right now it sounds a bit… iffy. In fact, it sound vaguely like Burnlounge (a pyramid scheme shut by FTC)
Is the product retailable, and is it sold in retail?
“Retailable” is about the product WITHOUT any attached opportunity or qualifiers for commissions.
Clearly not, and they don’t buy the training sessions for fun either. They buy them primarily to “unlock income streams”. I don’t think anyone would have paid $100 per month for the pure joy of listening to audio trainings.
In EN, the products are simply an excuse for running a recruitment driven opportunity, to be able to use the argument “we have products!”. The products are not really retailable for that price.
You used the same argument for ViewTrakr.
What TYPE of wisdom are you looking for?
We have mostly critical comments, e.g. comments analysing why something failed, or why a method eventually will fail. They are 90% about the bad ideas, and maybe 10% about alternatives.
In general, I’m not very positive to selfdev oriented opportunities if I am the one who will have to follow instructions and be coachable. People will TYPICALLY get very poor results in roles like that. But they can be a dream to sell if you’re in the right position.
One of their “specialists” J Ryan Conley hit me up on Facebook and started mining my Friends list.
His constant use of “BOOM!” and annoying hashtags in every post tipped me off pretty quickly that he was running a scheme. He panders to the Anonymous and anti-Illuminati crowd and acts as if ViewTrakr is going to replace YouTube, something he’s claimed several times.
How can you replace a service that you rely heavily upon to run your pyramid scheme?
Make no mistake, this is a scam. I’ve been keeping my eye on their multiple Facebook pages and I see more and more people complaining about never getting commissions.
ViewTrakr is going to attempt Launch number 4 on March 16th, 2015.
I joined to see where it would go – you have to work within a group to swap wathc clicks.
as the upline realizes they are missing out on more clicks to get gift cards they started to pressure folks to pay to join at $100 discounted for 50% for unknown lenght of time and commit to paying $25 a month.
There are day to day changes and people that are not part of the owners say “they are making changes” this upgrade only became avail to all affiliates recently…
yes it is expanding rapidly but those that brag about alexa scores are delusional. There is an urgency to BUY NOW!
Here’s a lovely story. Ty sold stock for $30,000 to an 85 yr old man who had NO idea what the company did (he also had cancer) THEN Ty “borrowed” $4000 to be paid back in 30 days + $1000.
He hasn’t heard from him in over a year, not to mention the fact that he asked to have his money back (needed for medical expenses) and Ty said the company had spent his money and had nothing to pay him back with… Never mentioning the “one month” $5000. loan still unpaid over a year late.
I am appalled that ANYONE would take advantage of the elderly, expecting him to understand this Viewtrackr’s complicated mess of a company, as I COULDN’T EVEN UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT TO BEGIN WITH and my ex-husband is on the board of the SEC and one of the top ERISA brokers in the country.
If anyone has any idea how to contact these cowards, I’d be very grateful. This man has been taken advantage of and swindled out of money he desperately needs.
I DO hope someone in the company with any scruples whatsoever, will contact me ASAP. I wouldn’t want to go to court against an 86 year old man with cancer, but will if need be….
A reader wrote in and requested I review Wavescore.
After researching a bit as far as I can tell Wavescore == Viewtrakr.
All they’ve done is change the company name and broadened the video sharing platform to a social network.
Otherwise Wavescore is still just a $25 a month recruitment scheme.
Is ViewTrakr still in business? Is Ty still CMO and involved?
Collapsed years ago.