Elite Marketing Alliance Review: Not quite Joy To Live
Elite Marketing Alliance launched in 2010 and operate in the health and wellness MLM niche.
On the management side of things, the Elite Marketing Alliance website identifies Robert (Bob) Yukes is identified as President of the company.
Bob Yukes is a multi-level marketing veteran having worked eight years as a CFO in the industry prior to joining EMA.
As CFO at his previous endeavor, he was instrumental in raising $1 million dollars of additional financing to aid their expansion into international markets.
Elite Marketing Alliance is cited as a parent company on the Joy To Live website. For those unfamiliar with the opportunity, Joy To Live heavily focuses on affiliate recruitment at the expense of retail.
Joy To Live also launched in 2010 and is headed up by Founder and CEO, Gerald Ricks. Ricks is also presumed to own Elite Marketing Alliance.
Late last year Ricks launched Magic 10 Marketing, a recruitment scheme marketing bottles of silver.
Back in 2013 Bob Yukes (right) was serving as President of Joy To Live, however today he is credited as CFO.
Despite claims Yukes “worked for 8 years in the industry”, I was unable to find any information on his MLM career prior to EMA and Joy To Live.
Read on for a full review of the Elite Marketing Alliance MLM business opportunity.
The Elite Marketing Alliance Product Line
At EMA, we believe that we are going to be changing people’s lives with not just our exciting compensation plan, but with our outstanding line of products.
We have taken the time to develop products made with the finest ingredients possible. They are all quality tested to meet our stringent requirements.
We are confident that you will be truly happy with what we bring to you.
Products featured on the Elite Marketing Alliance website include:
- Aerobia – a “liquid oxygen” drink containing vitamin B12, aloevera and CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q10, a “controversial” supplement)
- Elixir Blast – a “complete nutritional drink”
- Neutra-Cleanse – “digestive support” capsules
- Affinity – “youthfulness, increased vitality, stronger immune system, reduced inflammation, enhanced sexuality”
- Optimum-Weight Loss – appetite suppressant
No retail pricing is provided on the Elite Marketing Alliance website.
The Elite Marketing Alliance Compensation Plan
The Elite Marketing Alliance compensation plan offers affiliates retail commissions, residual commissions via a 3×10 matrix and various performance-based bonuses.
Elite Marketing Alliance Ranks
There are eleven affiliate ranks in the Elite Marketing Alliance compensation plan.
Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- EB0 – generate at least 10 PV a month
- GB1 – maintain 10 PV and generate 20 GV a month
- GB2 – generate 20 PV and 220 GV a month, or purchase an Elite Gold enrollment pack (90 day rank qualification)
- GB3 – generate 30 PV and 920 GV a month, or purchase an Elite Platinum enrollment pack (90 day rank qualification)
- GB4 – generate 40 PV and 3220 GV a month, or purchase an Elite Titanium enrollment pack (90 day rank qualification)
- GB5 – generate 50 PV and 12,220 GV a month
- GB6 – generate 60 PV and 42,220 GV a month
- GB7 – generate 70 PV and 92,220 GV a month
- GB8 – generate 80 PV and 222,220 GV a month
- GB9 – generate 90 PV and 500,220 GV a month
- GB10 – generate 100 PV and 1,622,220 GV a month
Note that no more than 50% of the required GV at any rank can come from any one unilevel leg.
PV stands for “Personal Volume” and is sales volume generated by retail orders and an affiliate’s own purchase of product.
GV stands for “Group Volume” and is PV generated by an affiliate’s downline.
Retail Commissions
Elite Marketing Alliance affiliates are able to earn an “up to 56%” retail commission on the sale of Elite Marketing Alliance products to retail customers.
Recruitment Commissions
When an Elite Marketing Alliance affiliate signs up, they must do so by purchasing one of the following “enrollment packs”:
- Elite Mini – $22
- Elite Gold – $122
- Elite Platinum – $222
- Elite Titanium – $422
Recruitment commissions are paid out on the above packs, via a ten-level deep unilevel compensation structure.
A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):
If any level 1 affiliates go on to recruit new affiliates, 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 number of levels.
Elite Marketing Alliance cap payable unilevel levels at ten, with recruitment commissions paid out as a percentage of the cost of enrollment packs:
- Elite Mini ($22) – pays $1 down ten levels
- Elite Gold ($122) – pays $5 down ten levels
- Elite Platinum ($222) – pays $10 down ten levels
- Elite Titanium ($422) – pays $20 down ten levels
Residual Commissions
Residual commissions in Elite Marketing Alliance are paid out on subsequent orders, via a 3×10 matrix compensation structure.
The Elite Marketing Alliance compensation plan document specifically states “auto-ship and additional orders”.
A 3×10 matrix places an affiliate at the top of the matrix, with three positions directly under them:
These initial three positions form the first level of the matrix. The second level of the matrix is generated by splitting each of the three first-level positions into another three positions each (9 positions).
The third level of the matrix is generated in the same manner (27 positions), with each subsequent level (up to ten levels) holding three times the positions of the previous level.
- EBO – 2% on levels 1 to 5
- GB1 – 2% on level 1 to 5 and 3% on level 6
- GB2 – 2% on levels 1 to 5 and 3% on levels 6 and 7
- GB3 – 2% on levels 1 to 5 and 3% on levels 6 to 8
- GB4 – 2% on levels 1 to 5 and 3% on levels 6 to 9
- GB5 – 2% on levels 1 to 5 and 3% on levels 6 to 10
A matching bonus is also available on residual matrix commissions paid out to recruited affiliates as follows:
- GB1 – 50% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 to 5 and 10% on level 6
- GB2 – 50% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 to 5, 10% on level 6 and 5% on level 7
- GB3 – 50% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 to 5, 10% on level 6 and 5% on levels 7 and 8
- GB4 – 50% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 to 5, 10% on level 6 and 5% on levels 7 to 9
- GB5 and above – 50% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 to 5, 10% on level 6 and 5% on levels 7 to 10
Global Bonus
The Global Bonus is a monthly bonus pool made up of 20% of Elite Marketing Alliance’s company-wide sales volume.
The Global Bonus is split into five pools, corresponding with the Elite Marketing Alliance affiliate ranks:
- GB1 (must generate 20 GV a month) – one share in a 4% pool
- GB2 (must generate 220 GV a month) – one share in a 4% pool
- GB3 (must generate 920 GV a month) – one share in a 4% pool
- GB4 (must generate 3220 GV a month) – one share in a 4% pool
- GB5 and above (must generate 12,220 GV a month) – one share in a 4% pool
Elite Club
The Elite Club is a monthly bonus pool made up of 5% of Elite Marketing Alliance’s company-wide sales volume.
Affiliates can earn a share in the Elite Club pool by recruiting 22 affiliates and generating and maintaining 2220 GV a month.
Revenue Sharing
Revenue sharing is another bonus pool made up of 6% of Elite Marketing Alliance’s company-wide sales volume.
The pool is split into three mini pools, with affiliates able to qualify for a share in each as per their rank:
- GB8 – one share in a 1% pool
- GB9 – one share in a 2% pool
- GB10 – one share in a 3% pool
Note that the Elite Marketing Alliance compensation plan does not provide qualification criteria for the EB8, EB9 and EB10 ranks.
Car and Home Bonuses
GB6 affiliates qualify for an $822 a month car bonus.
GB7 affliates qualify for an additional $2220 a month home bonus.
Joining Elite Marketing Alliance
Affiliate membership with Elite Marketing Alliance is tied to the purchase of an enrollment pack:
- Elite Mini – $22
- Elite Gold – $122
- Elite Platinum – $222
- Elite Titanium – $422
The primary difference between these enrollment options is income potential through the Elite Marketing Alliance compensation plan.
Conclusion
Elite Marketing Alliance feels very much like a half-assed version of Joy To Live. There aren’t as many products and the website is half-broken (links don’t go anywhere).
Whatever resources were available to Gerald Ricks, have clearly been focused on Joy To Live.
The only thing Elite Marketing Alliance has over Joy To Live is the acknowledgement of retail sales and commissions.
That said, like Joy To Live, retail isn’t much of a focus in the business. Rather, affiliates are encouraged to spend $100s of dollars when they sign up, pay monthly autoship and then focus on recruiting others who do the same.
The reliance of autoship for monthly commission qualification is front and center in the business, with Elite Marketing Alliance themselves stating:
It is very important that you … set up Auto-Shipment. This will ensure that you will maintain your position in the Matrix.
Failure to maintain an auto shipment could result in a loss of your potential commissions.
Dangling autoship as a security net for commission qualification ensures that’s what it will be used for. As opposed to what autoship’s purpose should be, to provide affiliates and retail customers with a discounted monthly supply of products they’re actually using.
The enrollment packs are straight chain-recruitment, which when combined with autoship recruitment drags Elite Marketing Alliance into pyramid scheme territory.
There’s also pay to play designed into Elite Marketing Alliance’s compensation plan, with affiliates able to purchase ranks based on how much they spend when they sign up.
This in turn directly impacts their earning potential through the offered business opportunity.
In MLM commission qualification should always be tied to an affiliate’s sales performance, not how much an affiliate spent joining the company.
Put all of this together and Elite Marketing Alliance winds up being only marginally more attractive over its retail-devoid cousin.
Unless you like chasing recruitment and fighting horrendous retention rates, both are probably MLM companies you want to think twice before committing to.
