TiffanyDow

Hi Warriors!

I am not considering joining shoptoearn but my mother, who does not do IM, was hit up at a Christmas party the other night. She was so excited about the opportunity presented, which most people are when they hear about working from home, etc.

I found out some stuff but would like to hear your knowledge of it so I can sway her to go a different route that won't cost her over $400 up front.

What I discovered I believe is:

The company, shoptoearn.net, has you pay $400+ to have them set you up your own "online mall" of sorts. Has stores like Toysrus, B&N, etc. All it is is a little box and when you hover over it, you see the company's affiliate ID. So let's say they're getting 10% in commission - the "site owner" - whose site is located on a shoptoearn.net domain, only gets 3%.

You can also PAY them $99 a year to shop from your own site and not earn ANY other commission - just money back on your own purchases.

Apparently, the payout system to this MLM system requires you to balance your right and left legs - and if you don't, you lose your $1,500 bonus they tout.

I told my mom she could spend $17.94 total on a domain from GoDaddy and hosting from Hostgator and take 100% of the affiliate commissions from these sites.

If she goes with shoptoearn, she's going to have to bug friends, family, etc. If she goes with my plan, she's going to learn how to get organic traffic to her site based on web 2.0 and SEO strategies.

Anything else to add before I burst her bubble?

I hate to be a downer, but it looks to me like you're just paying this company to give you a partial affiliate commission. Like many, she's intimidated thinking a "store site" is too difficult to set up. I did an aStore from Amazon in about 5 minutes - it's a breeze.

tiff

Elliott

This is a difficult problem. I don't know your mom, you know her.... What appeals to her? Is it the opportunity to earn some money? Is it the "social" aspect, of being part of a group of people who are participating in a "business" that is promoted at least partly as being "green" ("Shop to Earth"). Network/mlm is always promoted as being part of a "team" of people. This appeals to something basic in human beings, and is something often lacking in modern life, so mlm appeals to the loneliness folks often feel today.

How "business oriented" is she?

She might reject your offer to make a store for her, because she will be doing it "alone". You could get around this by building in an affiliate program aspect. Then she can show it to people the same way as ShopToEarn does-"Look at this great store! It has green products and you can earn some money by spreading the word! And it's free to join, unlike ShopToEarn!"

I hope you are getting my drift here. The reason folks get into mlms is because of the way they are promoted. They appeal to basic needs that have nothing to do with having a business "all by yourself", which is a difficult and lonely thing to be doing and takes a lot of persistent. MLM promoters always say stuff like "You're in business for yourself, but not by yourself". If she ever did Tupperware or Avon parties, maybe she could do something with it. That's what it takes. If you set up a store for her without this kind of "social" aspect, it might not be what she wants at all. How important is the extra income aspect?

So really you have to find out what appealed to her about it. the fact that she got fired up about it at a Christmas party.... Would it have appealed to her if she had just seen it online?

Many many people try mlm and quit because the "glamour" wears off pretty quick, but they sure think it's just what they want when they are first introduced to it.

Binary plans suck in IMHO. They don't pay out squat and 99% of the people in them never make anything. There are some products I would sell as an affiliate, but don't, simply because of the crappy compensayion plan, always coupled with a relatively high buy-in. $400-$500 is average, and watch out for upsells.... But explaining all the fine points is often wasted on "mlm newbies", people who just heard about it for the first time.

My point is that she may have a sense that "IM" is a "lonely business" that requires a lot of time, and if money is not her true basic motivation...

I hope my ruminations have been helpful to you in some way,

Elliott

Elliott

PS - you are right, the ShopToEarn type plan is about as low a payout as you can find - it would be ZERO for many people, except for whatever rebates they get from their own purchases.

If your mom can see that, amybe she wouldn't be as excited about it.

Elliott