The SimpleMoneyTools suite of financial tools and library of resources is a great complement to your MLM/Network Marketing business or any other type of personal/small business. While the SimpleMoneyTools Affiliates+ program is NOT intended to replace any existing MLM or Network Marketing companies that you are currently promoting, there are some interesting differences.
This table shows some of the differences between the SimpleMoneyTools' Affiliates+ program and other traditional MLM (multi-level marketing) and network marketing programs. (Since we have multi-level commissions, our Affiliates+ program is an MLM by definition.)
We will not be comparing SimpleMoneyTools with any specific companies or programs, but with the most common concepts and practices of the more popular programs.
SimpleMoneyTools | Typical MLM Programs |
---|---|
Getting Started | |
SMT: No cost to start as an affiliate. | MLM: Most programs require the purchase of a "Distributor Kit" to start. And usually you'll need to purchase an inventory of product if you will be reselling a physical product. |
Ongoing Costs | |
SMT: None. An option is to pay just USD$30 per month to subscribe to the financial tools and resource library. Your own subscription counts as 1 Personally-referred Active Subscriber (PAS). Each commission level has a required amount of PAS (see the Affiliates+ program - Commission Schedule). | MLM: Many programs encourage you to purchase $100s of product every month for personal consumption and/or resell. Your monthly PV (personal volume) is often what qualifies you for ranks, levels, and bonuses. Sometimes you are required to purchase/sell a set amount each month in order to qualify for commission levels or bonuses in the compensation plan. |
Market | |
SMT: SimpleMoneyTools appeals to anyone who wishes to track personal, business, or club/organization finances. That market includes nearly every adult - everywhere. As a website service, SimpleMoneyTools can be used by anyone, anywhere, at anytime - the WORLD is your potential market! | MLM: Many MLM companies feature products that have a limited appeal, ie. cosmetics, skin care, cleaning products, or specialized nutritionals. And many are limited to what parts of the world they can operate in or which countries will allow their products to be imported and sold. Often it takes nutritional and cosmetic companies YEARS to get their products approved for sale in a single country. |
Product Inventory | |
SMT: As a SaaS (Software as a Service), there are no physical products to ship, store or distribute. | MLM: Most MLMs promote a line of physical products, i.e. pills, powders, juices, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, etc. Generally compensation plans are based on your personal purchases (for personal consumption or resell), direct customer purchases, and downline purchases. |
Compensation Plan | |
SMT:
|
MLM: The compensation plans of many MLM companies are pages and pages of levels/ranks, bonuses, pools, qualifications, requirements and restrictions. A 30+ page compensation plan document is not unusual. Many compensation plans have 6 or more elements that reward in different ways for different actions such as; sales volume, leadership, and rank advancement. |
Ranks | |
SMT: The Leaderboard shows recent and highest achievements by Affiliates. "Ranks" (or as we call them "Clubs") are based on the amount of commission earned in a month. Because our compensation/commissions do not depend on your rank, these are simply a completely transparent view into what other affiliates have achieved. | MLM: The compensation plans of many MLM companies show ranks or levels of achievement that are usually based on personal or group sales/purchase amounts. Actual commission amounts can vary due to downline structure and bonus qualifications. The requirements for earning and maintaining the rank can also be dependent on a variety of factors other than just sales. Maintaining a rank is often important for earning extra bonuses or commissions from the upper levels of the compensation plan. |
Downline Strategy | |
SMT: The SMT Affiliates+ program is a simple "uni-level" structure. You are paid 20% of the purchase price (not a diluted "volume" number) for subscribers on your first level (those you've personally referred). The main requirement is also focused on this first level - referring subscribers. Access to commission on levels 2-7 is based on referring subscribers. So, the best method to grow your business is to simply refer subscribers - ie. SELL the service! The only training you'd need to do with your team/downline is to tell them to do the same. If all of the affiliates in your downline are also focused on referring subscribers, you will have a profitable downline. You don't need to worry so much about how to structure your downline, where to "place people" (you can't), or which people to focus on or "mentor". Simply teach everyone to do as you are doing - recommending a great suite of financial tools. |
MLM: The way to build your downline structure can be greatly influenced by the compensation plan. Often the plan will recommend or necessitate that you to build in a particular manner in order to maximize the commission and bonuses. So grab that 30 page comp plan manual, digest it, analyze it, memorize it, and hope your upline can answer your questions. Most traditional MLMs have a compensation plan that encourages you to grow into a leadership role and to mentor your downline. Bonuses such as "generation bonuses" and "downline rank bonuses" are designed to encourage you to work directly with your downline in growing their business - and thus yours. Also downline rank requirements or leg volume requirements encourage you to grow certain areas of your downline in order to earn commissions / bonuses related to those parts of the compensation plan. |
Community & Support | |
SMT: Although you'll probably never hear of a SimpleMoneyTools national or world-wide convention, and maybe not even a regional or local "opportunity meeting", we encourage affiliates to share ideas and experiences with both their upline and downline. This is done through system messages that can be sent up or down the line without exposure of email addresses or phone numbers. Affiliates are free to trade their personal contact information how and when they desire. |
MLM: Most traditional, and especially the larger MLMs will have national, even world-wide conventions, as well as regional and local "opportunity meetings". These provide and excellent way to meet other people and exchange ideas. Upline and downline are usually encouraged to work together to train and support new and experienced distributors. Training is especially essential when the product is complex or requires a lot of specialized knowledge to either sell or consume. |
NOTE: SMT would never encourage you to switch or give up on your existing business ventures solely in favor of the SimpleMoneyTools' Affiliates+ program. But we do feel that promoting our Affiliates+ program can be a great enhancement to your existing business ventures - and your pocketbook.
More
- Overview & Commission Schedule
- Example of an affiliate team - people in multiple levels below you.
- Calculate potential affiliate income
- Video - Affiliates+ program overview
- Rules & Guidelines
- Affiliate Agreement
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Contact us if you have other questions.
start today
Create an account to get started as an affiliate and/or subscribe to Simple Money Tools: