Touchstone Success operates in the personal development MLM niche.

The company is based out of Virginia and headed up by founder Danny Pollard (right).

Curiously, Pollard cites his location as North Carolina on his personal LinkedIn profile.

According to said profile, Touchstone Success started back in 2011.

Prior to 2011 Pollard was a distributor in something called Message of the Month.

Message of the Month distributors paid $25 a month and received a personal development audio CD.

As far as I can tell, MOM’s messages were recorded by Tom Danley. In creating Touchstone Success, Pollard simply replaced Danley with himself.

Over the past ten years, Pollard doesn’t appear to have done much online outside of Touchstone Success.

Read on for a full review of Touchstone Success’ MLM opportunity.

Touchstone Success’ Products

Touchstone Success has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market Touchstone Success affiliate membership itself.

Touchstone Success affiliates receive a personal development CD in the mail each month.

Touchstone Success’ Compensation Plan

Touchstone Success affiliates pay $35 and then $25 a month.

Commissions are paid when they recruit others who do the same.

Recruitment Commissions

Touchstone Success affiliates are paid $15 per affiliate recruited.

Residual Commissions

Touchstone Success pays residual commissions via a 3×5 matrix.

A 3×5 matrix places an affiliate at the top of a matrix, with three positions directly under them:

These three positions form the first level of the matrix. The second level of the matrix is generated by splitting these first three positions into another three positions each (9 positions).

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

Positions in the matrix are filled via direct and indirect recruitment of Touchstone Success affiliates.

$3 per month is paid per position filled, as long as recruited affiliates continue to pay their $25 a month membership fee.

Joining Touchstone Success

Touchstone Success affiliate membership is $35 and then $25 a month.

Conclusion

Touchstone Success lacks retail customers which, according to the FTC, makes it a pyramid scheme.

Everybody who signs up to Touchstone Success is an affiliate. This means that 100% of commissions paid out are tied to recruitment.

Step 1 is become a customer.

Step 2 is refer a customer.

Step 3 is refer another customer and keep repeating.

You sign up, pay fees and get paid to recruit others who pay fees.

For their part Touchstone Essentials appear to have some self-awareness.

Must you make a purchase to become a Distributor?

NO!  You become a distributor by submitting a distributor application.

The account setup fee is $10. However, to qualify for a monthly commission, you must create a new personal product sale during the current month.

It is heavily implied that Touchstone Success affiliates pay the $25 a month fee themselves.

A $10 account set-up fee plus a $25 monthly audio CD purchase gets you started.

In any event even if another affiliate is recruited to qualify for commissions, that still a $25 affiliate spend as opposed to retail sale.

Religious material features on Touchstone Success’ website. And the company’s corporate address in that of a church.

One Touchstone Success recording is titled “God’s Formula for Success”.

The Bible instructs us to not be conformed by the world, but to renew our minds… it’s time that we do it.  ​

Study our plan carefully.  Take as much time as you need.

I can’t speak to the qualify of Touchstone Success’ $25 a month audio CDs. What I can tell you is that in an age of “touch-of-a-button” podcasts, mailing out CDs is a redundant business model.

As with all MLM pyramid schemes commissions will stall when recruitment drops off.

Math guarantees that the majority of participants in pyramid schemes lose money.