plannet-marketing-logoPlanNet Marketing operate in the travel MLM niche and are based out of Georgia in the US.

Identified as Founder and CEO of the company on the PlanNet Marketing website are Don Bradley and Andy Cauthen respectively.

Donald D. Bradley has over two decades of “in the trenches” experience in marketing, sales and product distribution.

He has achieved top ranking positions in the network marketing industry, being numbered among millionaire earners for the past 15 years, while helping others reach their financial goals.

donald-bradley-founder-plannet-marketing-founderPrior to launching PlanNet Marketing, Donald Bradley (right) was Vice President of Marketing and the purported top income-earner in Paycation.

Paycation also operates the travel niche and primarily pays affiliates to recruit new affiliates.

Paycation website Alexa traffic estimates for 2015 show a brief recruitment bubble followed by a steady decline:

paycation-alexa-traffic-2015

Prior to Paycation Bradley was promoting Pro Travel Network, yet another travel niche business opportunity.

PlanNet Marketing CEO Andy Cauthen also has some experience with travel MLMs.

andy-cauthen-ceo-plannet-marketingCauthen (right) joined YTB International in November 2004 and by October 2006 had been appointed YTB’s President and COO.

Cauthen was again appointed President and CEO of YTB in May of 2012.

YTB International began operations as a pyramid scheme in 2001.

In 2008 the company was sued by California Attorney General Jerry Brown.

An out-of-court settlement required changes to the company’s business model, and generated a decrease in membership attributed to bad publicity.

In late 2008, YTB laid off 17 employees, a move that was part of a reorganization. In 2008 the company’s revenues were $44.8 million.

YTB said its independent audit at the end of 2008 expressed “substantial doubt about our company’s ability to continue as a going concern”, sentiment the company itself later echoed.

In 2009 the company was operating at a loss of $1.9 million for the first three months of the year.

Revenue in that quarter dropped 49% to $21.8 million and then to $18 million in the second quarter.

The company’s paying members also declined substantially in number, from a high in April 2008 of 138,000 to 60,414 in mid-2009.

Andy Cauthen assumed his role as President and CEO at YTB International in May of 2012.

On February 1, 2012 founder J. Kim Sorenson died at the age of 62.

In March 2012 the YTB announced a plan to merge with LTS Nutraceutical, another MLM firm. In May the company began a major restructuring, and stated that the President and CEO, Robert Van Patton, had submitted his resignation.

In September YTB called off the merger, and announced that founder and chairman Scott Tomer was also resigning.

On March 1, 2013 YTB International filed for Chapter 11 protection in federal court in St. Louis.

Cauthen left YTB International in June of 2014.

Read on for a full review of the PlanNet Marketing MLM business opportunity.

The PlanNet Marketing Product Line

PlanNet Marketing retail travel services offered through the InteleTravel travel booking portal.

The Agent and their travel customers can book travel through the Agent’s very own personalized travel website.

The Agent will not only earn commission on travel bookings, they can also travel to amazing destinations, and get guaranteed best prices and VIP travel benefits.

InteleTravel’s website advertises an “agent” business opportunity, which appears to be open to anyone.

You can book travel for your clients as often or as little as you like! Some agents work every day, while others only book travel once or twice a year.

A full-time career opportunity or a side interest that pays. No quotas to meet. No minimum requirements to join.

Signing up as an InteleTravel agent costs $199 and then $39.95 a month.

The PlanNet Marketing Compensation Plan

The PlanNet Marketing compensation plan pays affiliates to recruit and maintain active InteleTravel affiliates.

Active InteleTravel affiliates are affiliates who continue to pay monthly InteleTravel agent subscription fees.

InteleTravel Agent Commissions

A PlanNet Marketing affiliate is paid $50 for each InteleTravel affiliate they sign up.

Signing up as an InteleTravel affiliate through PlanNet Marketing costs $179 and then $39.95 a month.

A 50% ($25) matching bonus is also paid out when personally recruited PlanNet Marketing affiliates sign up their own InteleTravel affiliates.

Residual Commissions

Residual commissions in PlanNet Marketing are paid out via a 3×9 matrix.

A 3×9 matrix places an affiliate at the top of the matrix, with three positions directly under them:

that-free-thing-3x8-matrix-compensation-plan

These initial three positions form the first level of the matrix, with the second level generated by splitting each of the three positions into another three positions each (9 positions).

Subsequent levels of the matrix are generated in the same manner, with a full nine-level matrix housing 29,523 positions.

Positions in the matrix are filled via the acquisition of InteleTravel affiliates, each paying $39.95 a month in fees.

These monthly fees are used to pay $4 a month per matrix position filled through PlanNet Marketing.

Gold Builder Bonus

The Gold Builder Bonus is 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):

unilevel-commission-structure

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.

Gold Builder Bonus qualification requires the signing up and maintaining of nine fee-paying InteleTravel affiliates.

Once qualified, a Gold Builder receives a $10 commission per InteleTravel affiliate membership sold in their unilevel team.

The Gold Builder Bonus is paid out down each unilevel leg, up until another Gold Builder Bonus qualified affiliate is found in that leg.

If no Gold Builder qualified affiliate is found, the bonus continues to pay down the entire length of the leg as new InteleTravel affiliates are added to it.

Director Bonus

The Director Bonus rewards PlanNet Marketing affiliates for acquiring and maintaining specific InteleAgent affiliate numbers.

  • One-Star Director (recruit and maintain 100 InteleTravel affiliates) – $500 a month
  • Two-Star Director (recruit and maintain 300 InteleTravel affiliates) – $1000 a month
  • Three-Star Director (recruit and maintain 500 InteleTravel affiliates) – $2000 a month
  • Four-Star Director (recruit and maintain 1500 InteleTravel affiliates) – $5000 a month
  • Five-Star Director (recruit and maintain 4000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $10,000 a month
  • Six-Star Director (recruit and maintain 10,000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $16,000 a month
  • Seven-Star Director (recruit and maintain 25,000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $30,000 a month
  • Eight-Star Director (recruit and maintain 50,000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $50,000 a month
  • Nine-Star Director (recruit and maintain 100,000 InteleTravel affiliates) – $100,000 a month

Note that an affiliate must have at least three unilevel legs to qualify, with no more than a third of the required active InteleTravel affiliates sourced from any one leg.

Rank Achievement Bonus

Upon qualifying at specific PlanNet Marketing ranks and/or income levels, the company rewards affiliates with the following:

  • Five-Star Director = a “gold Rolex watch”
  • earn $8333 a month = a Sapphire ring
  • earn $20,833 a month = a Ruby ring
  • earn $41,667 a month = a Diamond ring
  • earn $83,333 a month = a Double Diamond ring

Joining PlanNet Marketing

Affiliate membership with PlanNet Marketing is $19.95 a month.

Conclusion

On its own there’s nothing wrong with InteleTravel’s agent offer.

You sign up, pay monthly fees and get paid on any travel booked through your agent portal.

What’s being paid for however, is crucial in analysis of PlanNet Marketing’s MLM opportunity.

An InteleTravel agent subscription provides access to discounts and a self-contained income opportunity. There’s no actual tangible product there.

That PlanNet Marketing have made InteleTravel subscriptions their product, is a problem. In MLM you need to be actually selling something, and discounts on travel themselves aren’t a product.

Booked travel is a product, but through InteleTravel that’s external to PlanNet Marketing’s MLM offering. Commissions paid by InteleTravel to their agents has nothing to do with PlanNet Marketing.

That aside, the other point of contention is whether or not the majority of InteleTravel agents signed through PlanNet Marketing are PlanNet Marketing affiliates.

A $20 discount on InteleTravel agent membership is available through PlanNet Marketing, so that’s an incentive for non-affiliates. But if the total number of agents signed through PlanNet Marketing are also PlanNet Marketing affiliates, that would be indicative of a closed-loop recruitment scheme.

Rather than the InteleTravel agent membership, PlanNet Marketing affiliates would instead be signing up for the income opportunity.

As a prospective PlanNet Marketing affiliate, evaluating whether this is the case is pretty straight-forward.

Simply ask your potential upline how many non-PlanNet Marketing affiliates they have in their downline paying for InteleTravel agent subscriptions, versus PlanNet Marketing affiliates doing the same.

If the overwhelming majority of active InteleTravel agents are also PlanNet Marketing affiliates, that indicates a lack of retail viability with InteleTravel’s agent subscriptions.

And you can bet that you too will then find yourself primarily recruiting PlanNet Marketing affiliates over the travel subscription.

I’m hesitant to suggest this is the case, however looking at the past companies Don Bradley and Andy Cauthen have been involved in, certainly wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

Approach with caution.