Ask any MLM or Network Marketing company today about their core marketing strategies and it’s almost guaranteed you’ll hear about their ‘social networking campaign’.

Whilst most people understand that the social networks are there to connect freely with other people over a variety of platforms, the MLM industry seems to have forgotten what this is about.

At a time when information is so abundantly available on the internet and in an industry that continues to try and control how information about itself is distributed and presented, is it any wonder then that nearly every MLM company completely misses the mark when it comes to social networking?

Not really. [Continue reading…]

One of the things I was looking forward to with LiveSmart 360 was the culling of non-active members so that we could get an accurate view of associates who actually committed to themselves with the company.

It’s one thing to get 160,000+ people to sign up for a business opportunity that costs them nothing and another thing entirely to get them to financially commit.

When the deadline came around to ‘lock your spot’ in the Smartline, LiveSmart 360 decided to extend it, twice. [Continue reading…]

Following the departure of Brent Payne from Liberty League International early last year Shane Krider began a transformation of the company.

Amongst the changes introduced over the next six to twelve months, two major transitions stood out above the rest. The first obviously Liberty League’s restructure and transformation into Polaris Media Group (now Polaris Global), and the direction of funding seemingly random documentaries.

With two documentaries already released and two more on the way before the end of 2010, I can’t be the only one scratching my head wondering just how much of a detraction from the core business of Polaris Global each production is. [Continue reading…]

Brent Payne and Shane Krider first publicly entered into a business partnership when they launched Liberty League International back in 2001. After eight years together in early 2009 Brent Payne abruptly sold his share in Liberty League and shied from the public eye.

Shortly afterwards Krider changed the name of Liberty League to Polaris Media Group and the company continued on under the single leadership of Krider.

A few months ago Brent Payne resurfaced and has since independently launched a new MLM/Network Marketing company, Avant. Referring to Avant as ‘the awareness company’ Payne appears to be going at this venture alone.

Meanwhile Shane Krider partnered up with top Polaris Media Group advisor Rachel Oliver and have since launched a continuation of Polaris Media Group, Polaris Global.

For all intents and purposes it appears Shane Krider and Brent Payne have well and truly split up and parted ways.

…well, almost. [Continue reading…]

The Magic Power Coffee compensation plan offers five ways for independent associates to earn revenue.

Retail commissions, a product order bonus, matrix commissions a check match bonus and leadership pools.

Before we start looking at the various components of the Magic Power Coffee compensation plan, here are some definitions of some of the terms used later in this article. [Continue reading…]

The essential idea is that the mark, Mr. X, makes only one payment.

To start earning, Mr. X has to recruit others like him who will also make one payment each.

Mr. X gets paid out of receipts from those new recruits. They then go on to recruit others.

As each new recruit makes a payment, Mr. X gets a cut. He is thus promised exponential benefits as the “business” expands.

-Wikipedia’s definition of a successful pyramid scheme model

One of the fine lines that a lot of MLM companies struggle to walk on is the balance between retail selling and recruiting.

Naturally in order for the business to grow new members, associates or distributors must be recruited but in order to sustain this growth there also needs to be strong sales.

These sales need to be independent of product purchases from within the company’s member base.

Failure to ensure this usually results in the eventual collapse of the business, that is if the authorities don’t catch up with the company first.

This should be common knowledge to anyone running a multi-level marketing company.

Let alone somebody who’s been in the industry for nearly a decade.

Listening in on a recent Avant back office call I was therefore quite surprised at the level of blatant recruitment pushing going on. [Continue reading…]

When LiveSmart 360 first launched their compensation plan it was a mess. I tried to do a writeup on the Smartline component of the LiveSmart compensation plan but hit a mathematical roadblock trying to understand it.

Initially the LiveSmart 360 Smartline was billed as a compensation component that rewarded you for your position in the Smartline.

Whilst this is is still true the updated compensation plan which was rolled out last week has diminished the importance of your place in the Smartline. [Continue reading…]

I was going over the GiveOpp ‘Earnings and Income Disclaimer’ and aside from the usual ‘you can’t take any of our member’s earning claims seriously as we haven’t verified them ourselves’ statements, there was one line that caught my eye.

Tucked away and saved right till the end is this mysterious statement:

This opportunity is not available to residents of South Dakota. Residents of South Dakota may not participate in or purchase this opportunity.

GiveOpp isn’t available to residents of South Dakota? That seemed a little bit too specific to be just random co-incidence.

There’s no further explanation given as to why residents of South Dakota can’t participate in the GiveOpp business opportunity so I took it upon myself to come up with some possible explanations.

Here’s some reasons why GiveOpp might not be able to operate in South Dakota. [Continue reading…]

Last week the the Australian Competitive and Consumer Commission (ACCC) went after TVI in an Australian federal court claiming the company was a pyramid scheme.

As a result of this action an injunction was awarded to the ACCC prohibiting Laulhati “Teddi” Jutsen, Tina Brownlee and David Scanlon from marketing or recruiting new members for TVI Express in Australia.

As a result the marketing blitz that was underway was halted.

Despite appearing to be the first country to put a stop to TVI Express operating it seems Australia is a bit late to the game. And by late I mean nearly a year.

Back in August 2009 it seems China of all places decided TVI Express was a pyramid scheme. Since then China have been vigorously prosecuting TVI Express members trying to market the business on Chinese soil. [Continue reading…]

Last week an Australian Federal court banned Travel Ventures International (TVI Express) from being promoted in Australia.

The plaintiff, the Australian Competitive and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claimed that TVI Express was a pyramid scheme and obtained injunctions preventing ‘Laulhati Jutsen (also known as Teddi Jutsen), Tina Aroha Brownlee and David Graeme Scanlon from promoting the alleged pyramid selling scheme‘.

From what I understand the trio were amidst a blitz Australian marketing campaign.

Unfamiliar with the TVI Express compensation plan I decided to have a look into it and see if there was any weight to the ACCC’s claims.

After going over the TVI Express compensation plan I was left with one and only one question:  Why the hell hadn’t TVI Express been declared a pyramid scheme earlier?! [Continue reading…]