MLM Comp Plan Ups & Downs - The Stair-Step Break-Away

If you work your network marketing business hard and build it, then you'll get paid, right?

Sorry Alice, but this isn't Wonder Land. The reality is the stair-step break-away has some features that work for you, and some that work against you.

WARNING: Neglect to ask these three critical questions at your own peril.

1. "How many people do I need to make a given income goal?"
2. "How much volume do I need to make a given income goal?"
3. "What do I need to do to make a given income goal?"

The up sides of the stair-step break-away.

1. It allows massive width. Say you sponsor 50 people, all placed on your front line. This gives you all the team volume.

2. If you sponsor a dud and then sponsor a builder this won't hurt you. You'll just work with the business builder.

The down sides of the stair-step break-away.

1. A builder below a dud can keep you from qualifying for some bonuses. The duds won't qualify for levels that help you.

2. The break away:

a. Say you have 5 legs with 50K total volume. You need10K volume per leg to be paid, but one leg has 30K volume. The strong leg will not pay because it has too much volume. All 5 legs must have equal volume.

b. Let’s say you are making 15% overrides on qualified legs. When they break-away you lose 10% of their personal volume and you're left with 2% or 3% of their personal volume. In some cases this incredible shrinking check can drop to 0%!

Always ask what you need to do, how much volume you need, and how many people you need to reach your income goal.

The stair-step break-away is a perfect comp plan for super recruiters. They instinctively find 50 more people to replace the income lost to break-away team members. They also see studs placed under duds as minor blips on the radar.

MLM is not a numbers game ... but ... you should work with the numbers.

If you're like 97% of all networkers, you're more likely to be hit twice by lightning than you are to to duplicate that robo recruiter's actions.

Your team probably won't grow like you need it to. And that balanced downline volume thing will strangle you to death. Besides, even if you meet the volume & team count requirements, who in their right mind wants a massive pay cut after all that work?

3% of all network marketers can succeed with the stair-step break-away. Why not go with the more favorable numbers?

Bill Tessore

In MLM "Fast Cash" = Quick Crash

If only they all looked like HIM.

Since the beginning of time there have been scams and scam artists. The greed and avarice of these denizens of the underworld have compelled them throughout history to seek out individuals by playing on fears of economic distress, and, or the desire for "easy money".

Entrepreneurs who are frustrated in MLM make some of the most attractive targets, as they are already in a money making mind set.

The advent of the virtual world of cyber space has opened the field wide for these prospect poachers to lay their nets around the globe intent on landing huge profits while minimizing their chances of capture by law enforcement … at least for some.

Below are a couple of examples of just how crafty these criminals can be, and the depths to which their lust for filthy lucre will drive them.

WARNING: after reading the information below you may feel the need to bath … repeatedly.

It's all in what they don't say.

These guys are tricky. Their motto is: "it's in the bag, if you word it just right." Learn the "buzz words" this now incarcerated lawyer told gifters to avoid.

Sometimes you should judge a book by it's cover.

As they say, "image is everything". This point is not lost on this gifting scammer. Some of these bad boys masquerade as "ethical people". See if you can figure out just what kind of ethics the owner of this gifting program site has.

You want to build a huge income. And you value your freedom. Right? OK, then instead of looking for a quick buck look for a legitimate home-based business that will keep you in cash and out of prison

Gifting programs never offer a product of real value, they lure unsuspecting folks with promises of big bucks for little effort, and they always use recruiting as the main way of generating income. The Feds are always on the look out for people who operate these schemes … and those who participate in them.

On the other hand, a legitimate network marketing business offers a valuable product, at a fair price anyone would buy if there was no compensation plan attached to it. This type of business will be around to pay your children's children.

If you want to build a lasting income from home without worry that the Feds will one day come looking to fit you for an orange jump suit, then I suggest you leave the gifting programs to those folks who think they can outrun the long arm of the law

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore

Recognizing A Remarkable MLM Product

In "MLM Golden Goose ... Or Mud Duck?" I introduced the 5 Pillars for Success so critical to your success in a network marketing business. Now we'll take a look at Pillar 3: a remarkable product.

In this business a remarkable product is like air to a scuba diver, without it she'll soon drown.

I know what you're thinking. "Well that's simple enough, just find a network marketing company with a product that lots of people are going gaga over and run with it."

OK, so why do so many would-be entrepreneurs flounder and drown in MLM? It has a lot to do with the type of product the company offers.

There are 3 basic product types.

1. Consumables: such as nutritionals or candles
2. Services: such as discount club memberships
3. Information: such as Ebooks, and “How To’s”.

A product must meet 3 criterion to qualify as "remarkable".

1. Mass Appeal: emotional attachment promotes re-orders
2. High Perceived Value: this reduces bargain hunting and promotes consumer loyalty
3. Fair Price Point: this is the best hedge against competition

Here's the reality about membership and informational products.


1. Memberships have a high drop-out rate because their perceived value is much lower than with a tangible item.

2. Information is sold once and often at a high price, and can often be found elsewhere for free. Not to mention the out-dating that technology is causing.

Here are a couple more reasons why some network marketing professionals prefer tangible products.

1. Tangible, consumable products such as nutritionals create their own perceived
value because the prospect can use her senses to evaluate them.

2. The re-order rate for consumable products is high … especially when the product is consumed in 30-days.

If big money motivates you or you're just bored, then memberships or information products will work well for you. However, tangible products are very effective for those who want residual income.

Consumable products with a maximum re-order rate of 30 days are very remarkable. Nutritional products that create an immediate result the user can feel, offered at a fair price point fit the 3 criterion of Pillar 3, a remarkable product, perfectly.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore

When Should You Join A MLM Company?

In "MLM Golden Goose … Or Mud Duck?" I introduced the first of the 5 Pillars for Success in a network marketing company. Just like any physical building, if a network marketing company does not have all five of these components in its foundation the chances of you building a walk-away income of your dreams are slim to none.

Timing in a company and timing in the industry is the second most critical pillar for your success in a MLM company. Industry trends can create massive growth in a company … when the timing is right. Take Excel Tele-Communications for example.

1. The Shake-Down Phase

Excel Tele-Communications was a network marketing company that purchased blocks of long-distance telephone time at wholesale rates and then re-sold them to distributors and their customers for much less than the big Bells could.

In Excel's first two years, they had a lot of growing pains. The worst was the major Bells' refusal to switch customers to this new, wholesale rate service. It took lots of time, money, and Congressional action to force them this change.

Many distributors lost money and quit because they jumped at the cry of “Ground Floor Opportunity”". Two years created a huge difference for those who waited out that shake-down period.

2. The Momentum Phase

Once the Bells complied with the Feds and all the other start-up problems had been worked out business began to pick up. Trend savvy heavy hitters began building with Excel. Times were very good. Predictably, lots of people made lots of money for a while.

3. The Fizzel Phase

Then the bottom began to drop out of the industry with the introduction of the flat-rate service trend. Excel’s bubble began to fizzle down to nothing.

Excel was destroyed from within by greed and corruption. This and the Enron Scandal aside, the new flat-rate service industry trend signaled the need for Excel to make huge changes for survival.

Without those adjustments Excell would have still died.

Profit margins in the long-distance telephone industry had gone the way of the dinosaurs. Today the trend is service bundling. Even flat-rate alone is just not enough any more.

Timing in a MLM company and timing in the industry is absolutely critical to achieving your long-term goals and survival. If you want to build a network marketing business that will pay your grand kids, then you must be sure the timing is right.

Get in too early and you’ll lose your shirt because no one really knows what’s going on. Get in too late and you’ll go broke due to lack of interest.

You must wait until the timing is right, then act with vigor and a solid plan for success.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore