The M Network website is pretty user unfriendly.

A visit to the site sees it demand an affiliate referral code. There is a “nobody sent me” button, but if you click it M Network then demands you provide it with personal information.

I don’t know what’s on the homepage, but you can bypass this capture page by clicking links in the website footer.

One of those links is an “about us” page, which reveals M Network is headed up by “headmaster” Kerry Brown (yes, that’s his actual corporate title).

On his LinkedIn Profile, Brown lists his location as Utah in the United States. He also credits himself as M Network’s founder.

Kerry Brown’s corporate MLM career appears to have begun in 2005 when he was appointed Senior Product Manager of Xango. Brown left Xango in 2007.

In 2010 he was hired as Director of Marketing at Limu (also credited as Vice-President of Marketing). As with Xango, Brown was with Limu for two years before moving on in 2012.

In February 2015 Brown was appointed Chief Marketing Officer at Stream. On August 3rd Brown updated his Facebook profile to reflect he’d left Stream. That same day he changed his profile photo to an M Network banner.

On the non-MLM side of things Brown is founder and President of Six Nutrition.

Six Nutrition sell hydration supplements. The company does have an affiliate program but it’s single-level (non-MLM).

According to Brown’s LinkedIn profile, he left Six Nutrition in August, 2016.

Read on for a full review of the M Network MLM opportunity.

The M Network Product Line

According to the M Network website, products the company and its affiliates market must

  • taste, smell or feel good
  • be easy to share
  • have an immediate impact
  • be of premium quality and
  • sell at retail competitive price points.

To that end M Network market a range of energy drink powders in single-serve sachets.

M STIKs are brilliant in their simplicity. A drink mix that’s delicious, natural, and full of ingredients that your body not only needs, but will salivate for from just one taste.

  • CoreAO stik – “boosts your immunity with the most powerful, disease-fighting super nutrients on the planet”
  • Smart stik – “boost creativity, motivation and overall cognitive potential with safe, proven nootropic ingredients”
  • Slim stik – “fight the urge to overindulge while boosting thermogenic activity”
  • Go stik – “functions perfectly with your body to deliver smooth, steadfast, pure energy”
  • Soul stik – “permeates goodness with natural plants like Siberian Ginseng, Yerba Mate and Ginkgo Biloba”

M Network Stiks range retails at $44.95 for a box of thirty single-serve sachets.

The other product M Network sells is Burn.

BURN capsules deliver the perfect punch to your body to help it rev up it’s fat burning potential, give you energy, and stave of your snacking and food cravings.

Burn retails at $49.95 for a bottle of 60 capsules.

M Network products are available seperately as above, or bundled together in two packs.

  • Confidence Pack ($320) –  a “confidence booklet”, 4 boxes of Slim stik one box of CoreAO, two bottles of Burn and a 17oz bpa-free drink bottle
  • Confidence Reload ($109.95) – 2 boxes of Slim stik and one bottle of Burn

The M Network Compensation Plan

The M Network compensation plan pays affiliates to sell products to retail customers.

Residual commissions are paid out via twelve level deep unilevel and matrix teams.

Commission Qualification

M Network affiliates must generate 60 PV a month to qualify for commissions. I wasn’t able to peg down whether this is just MLM commissions or retail as well.

PV stands for “Personal Volume” and is sales volume generated by an affiliate’s own purchase of product and that of their retail customers.

Retail Commissions

M Network affiliates receive a commission when they sell M Network products to retail customers.

The retail commission paid out is calculated as the difference between the retail and wholesale cost of products ordered.

For the stik range of M Network products this comes to $5 per box sold.

Recruitment Commissions

When an M Network affiliate recruits a new affiliate who signs up with a “Retail Pack”, they are paid a recruitment commission.

How much of a recruitment commission is paid out is determined by which pack the newly recruited affiliates signs up with:

  • recruiting a $199 retail pack affiliate pays a $75 commission
  • recruiting a $499 retail pack affiliate pays a $150 commission

If an M Network affiliate earns eight recruitment commissions within a rolling eight week period, they earn an additional $250 ($199 pack) or $500 ($499 pack).

Residual Unilevel Commissions

Residual unilevel commissions in M Network are paid out via a 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 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.

M Network cap payable unilevel levels at twelve, with affiliates paid 5% of sales volume generated across these twelve levels.

Residual Matrix Commissions

Residual matrix commissions in M Network are paid out via a 2×12 matrix compensation structure.

A 2×12 matrix places an affiliate at the top of a matrix, with two positions directly under them:

These two positions form the first level of the matrix. The second level of the matrix is generated by splitting each of the two positions into another two positions each (4 positions).

Levels three to twelve of the matrix are generated in the same manner, with each new level housing twice as many positions as the previous level.

Positions in the matrix are filled via direct and indirect recruitment of new M Network affiliates.

As with unilevel commissions, matrix commissions are paid out as 5% of sales volume generated within the matrix team.

How many matrix levels an M Network affiliate can earn on is determined by their GV:

  • 0 to 479 GV = qualified to earn on levels 1 to 4 of the matrix
  • 480 to 1999 GV = qualified to earn on levels 1 to 6 of the matrix
  • 2000 to 4999 GV = qualified to earn on levels 1 to 8 of the matrix
  • 5000 to 49,999 GV = qualified to earn on levels 1 to 9 of the matrix
  • 50,000 to 99,999 GV = qualified to earn on levels 1 to 10 of the matrix
  • 100,000 to 199,999 GV = qualified to earn on levels 1 to 11 of the matrix
  • 200,000 GV or more = qualified to earn on levels 1 to 12 of the matrix

GV stands for “Group Volume” and is sales volume (PV) generated by an affiliate and their recruited downline.

The M Network compensation plan material also states affiliates can receive multiple positions in their matrix (referred to as “business centers”).

M Network compensation plan material states

the easiest way to get started with multiple business centers is to enroll with one of the $499 retail packs, that has three business centers in it.

Whether a business center is included with the $199 Retail Pack is unclear.

An M Network affiliate also receives an additional business center per three affiliates they recruit.

Note that these positions must be placed into empty positions in the matrix, they cannot be placed above existing filled positions.

Rewards

M Network sets aside 5% of global sales volume to reward affiliates with ‘leadership awards, trips, incentives and quarterly leader bonuses‘.

Specific information is not provided.

Joining M Network

Regular M Network affiliate membership is $99, $149 for an Apprentice package or $299 for a Master package.

Both the Apprentice and Master Package come with bundled M Network products.

A new M Network affiliate can also sign up with a $199 or $499 “Retail Pack”. Both retail packs come bundled with an assortment of M Network products.

The $499 Retail Pack option provides instant income potential advantage by way of three matrix positions over one.

Conclusion

Although the M Network compensation plan material is quick to point out “no autoship required”, the compensation plan is very much structured with a focus on autoship recruitment.

This begins with the monthly 60 PV requirement.

Regarding matrix commissions, the M Network compensation documentation claims affiliates can qualify for ‘4 levels of payout with purchase of PV only‘.

This strongly suggests M Network affiliates are expected to purchase their PV requirement each month.

They are of course not required to (it is possible to qualify via retail sales), however there’s no mention of that in the compensation plan.

After signing up and going on a 60 PV a month autoship, all an M Network affiliate then has to do is focus on recruiting others who do the same.

There are no retail volume requirements anywhere in the M Network compensation plan.

Then there’s the whole “pay to play” going on with the $499 “Retail Pack”.

Sidenote: M Network’s “Retail Packs” were originally called the “Entry Pack” ($299) and “Builder Pack” ($599).

They’ve since been renamed to “retail packs” in what appears to be a disingenuous attempt to suggest they have anything to do with retail sales volume.

Getting back to the pay to play nature of the $499 pack, that affiliates are directly presented with a financial benefit over the lesser packs, simply because they spent more when they signed up, is a compliance issue.

Throw in the $150 recruitment commission and it also drags M Network into pyramid scheme territory.

Remember, this is a compensation plan that has absolutely no retail incentives other than a base unilevel and matrix commission. Everything else in the plan is geared towards paying $499 and recruiting others who do the same.

And even if you don’t go the $499 route. Apparently all you have to do is recruit three affiliates and you get a new matrix position (double volume wherever it’s put). And you can keep on doing this over and over and over again!

Coming from someone who has been involved in the MLM industry since 2005, M Network’s MLM offering, at least from a compliance perspective, is pretty disappointing.

As to the products, the whole “hydration” angle seems a bit silly. If you want to hydrate yourself, drink water.

Whether M Network’s stik supplements (which are mixed with… *drumroll*, water) are worth $44.95 for thirty-serves (~$1.50 a serve), is up to you.

As a prospective M Power affiliate the only thing I’d be asking my upline is how they’re qualifying for commissions each month.

If they don’t answer with “retail sales” I’d be giving them a polite thank you and running.

Oh and if the answer is “retail sales”, make sure they’re making actual retail sales. Some affiliates will purchase product and tell you resale = retail sales.

On the company end these are affiliate purchases and not retail sales, unless the product is actually resold. And even then it has to be stringently tracked per sale made.

I saw nothing on the M Network website or in their compensation plan suggesting resale retail sales were tracked.