Network Marketing – Success Point 12 – The Right Comp Plan/Opportunity

Point TWELVE of The 12 Points to a Successful Network Marketing Company.

The Right Comp Plan/Opportunity!

Let’s face it…NO ONE would do Network Marketing if the opportunity to make serious money did not exist. People get that adrenaline rush from seeing the potential in the compensation plan. The power of synergistic residual opportunity! 20 years ago a select handful of Network Marketing companies existed and drawing circles on an easel was what most experienced. Get someone to a meeting at all costs! Be vague and get them in front of you! Crooks began seeing opportunity. Hundreds of illegal ponzi pyramids tainted the industry and forced harsh regulation. The opportunity and compensation of MLM has evolved. Illegal stuff still exists and many companies, even though legal, are extremely unethical in their opportunity plans.

Now the game of compensation plans has become more confusing than ever. Binaries, trinaries, no breakage, retail profits, bonus profits, pool profits, matching bonus, level bonus, executive bonus, promotion bonus, etc…   You get the picture.  It can be confusing. So how does one know if their compensation plan is a good one? I will give a few tips and things to look for. The first thing to look for is how the compensation plan came about. What is it’s story? Who created it? Here is what to be cautious of:

Most compensation plans are created and set up to benefit those at the top!

Yes! Because the top guys get paid to create them! Either that, or they refuse to join if they do not get to stoke their greedy egos! If you want to ignore this often looked over fact, that is your choice. Everyone thinks their comp plan is the latest and greatest. In reality most are just the greatest piece of crap. There are some great comp plans out there on the same note. Not all are crap but many are. All plans have bonus pools for top people. That is OK. The problem lies within the fine workings and plumbing of most plans. They make it so very few can achieve any level of REALISTIC success and so that profits and unclaimed commissions roll straight to the top people and/or executives. So what do you look for? What plans are the best? Here are a few tips…remember, I am just one opinion!

1. Binary plans are the best! Yes I said it. Binary! Don’t jump down my throat…just read on. It is all about FOCUS and POWER! Creating power legs with depth (see #2 below).  DEPTH! The most successful Network Marketers go DEEP! They do not shotgun all over the place trying to develop 15 legs. Most binary plans pay on the weak leg forcing distributors to actually work. This is good! Binary plans that pay on both legs usually kill synergy and depth because they cap the depth. If your plan is not binary, make sure it has unlimited depth and focus on that depth. Do not worry about developing more than a couple deep legs. Too many people depend on you helping them get deep. Focusing on too many legs dilutes everyone’s efforts.
2. Unlimited depth! Comp plans must be infinite. That means you can go 200 deep and still get credit on volume on that guy 200 levels down. I dislike plans that cap on 4,5, or 7 levels down. Ridiculous!  Short-sited! Long-term companies have unlimited depth plans! Some people make short-term big money in level-cap plans but they lose synergy and die off after a couple years. What if the best guy is 8 levels down? Too bad for you!? Unlimited depth may mean that there will be caps on commissions. This is OK as long as the caps are generous. The point is that you want residual depth and incentive to BUILD EVERYONE not just 7 down!
3. No Breakage! This means that any commissions that are unclaimed or unqualified to receive, stay in the distributors pockets. They flow up to the next qualifying distributor instead of into executive pockets. Many executives selfishly kill themselves and distributors here.
4. Make sure your product is quickly consumable and competitive! The auto-ship you sign up for should be easily consumable by you and your family in 1 MONTH. The price should be competitive as well. If one or both of these do not apply, then you are setting yourself and group up for failure. Many companies have products that are consumable but take too long to use. Either that, or the price is much higher than the competition and you are out priced to do any realistic volume or retail sales. Did you know that the FTC requires that distributors eventually have 10 retail customers each to be legal in MLM?
5. Watch out for tiered buy-ins! Tiered buy-ins essentially mean that the more money you spend when you sign up depends on how you get paid within the comp plan. This is RIDICULOUS! If your comp plan doesn’t give EVERYONE an equal playing field despite their buy-in then welcome to being scammed. Just get out now. It’s ok if there are different packages to give you more product, but it SHOULD NOT be what determines how many levels you get paid.
6. Stay away from expensive buy-ins! So what is too much? That is debatable. If you are serious about owning a business than don’t expect to spend $30 and hit the ground running. On the same note don’t get in over your head. My general rule of thumb is a buy-in between $200 – $500. Much less than that means you are not getting ANYTHING VALUABLE. What to watch out for are the companies that push the $1000-$5000 buy-in. Why? Because they are short-sited. It is all about signing up 3 people in an expensive package just so you can get a quick check. I call this “SIGN AND RESIGN.”  Meaning, you get signed up and either resign to failure after a few months with too much product in your garage, or get little upline support because they are so concerned about signing up the next 5k sucker.
7. Nickle and diming stinks! Many parent companies want to nickle and dime the life out of distributors. Buy this replicated site, buy that CD, buy this book. Why not include the technology and replicated site in the price of the buy-in? Makes sense. Don’t get caught up in motivational materials to the point where you over-spend to be motivated. Instead of motivational spending focus on working to succeed. Read a book a month and get your butt to work!

Make sure you and your upline are in this for the right reasons! To succeed and help others succeed!

Companies with unethical compensation plans usually draw in unethical people and vice versa. Align yourself with ethical, hard-working, and service-oriented people. These types of people are more loyal and will help create long-term residual income. READ ALL 12 POINTS!

Do not get sucked into the wrong opportunities! Do your research and watch out for the red flags I have discussed. Most important, is to make it happen. No matter how great a company is, your success is ultimately up to what you put in it! Good luck in your careers! If you have any questions feel free to contact us:

We are developing a number of tools and lead generation techniques that will take Network Marketing into 2009 and beyond.

Team Nuclues – goteamnucleus@gmail.com