Investing in SFI

[michaela01127]

ok i am on a very limited budget and i know everyone says in order to really see results from SFI you should invest in it..

well i worked out that i can probably afford about $30 a month..
so does that mean i should just make a (SO) on IAHBE?

also, as for this month i already reached Executive Affiliate status and have 30$ to waste.. should i invest it in S-builder?
or save it and join a co-op?

i have 5PSA and 2 CSA.. and none of them have moved up to EA status.. so i really want to get my downline growing and becoming successful here.

I'm just stuck on deciding whats the best moves for me to do here.
Any opinions of ideas or input would be great

Thanks

[omarsaady]

Great that you have reached Executive Affiliate status, OK
I think you would better save your 30 $ and join co-op because you need to get more PSA .
Co-OP is very great way to get out the most of your SFI membership !
To our online success

[Jeffery]

My suggestion is to invest in building your list and downline because it is harder to keep people than it is to recruit people.

Yes, it is true that we spend money to make money, but it is also important to vest in what is already successful for you and think about vesting in other programs later. That will give you more time to increase your knowledge and profit margin instead of bouncing between programs that may spread you too thin.

My suggestion us to start a simple business plan for your financials. 80/20 is a simple and realistic plan.

Jeffery 100% :-)

[Stephen Meyer]

Originally Posted by Jeffery

My suggestion is to invest in building your list and downline because it is harder to keep people than it is to recruit people.

Yes, it is true that we spend money to make money, but it is also important to vest in what is already successful for you and think about vesting in other programs later. That will give you more time to increase your knowledge and profit margin instead of bouncing between programs that may spread you too thin.

My suggestion us to start a simple business plan for your financials. 80/20 is a simple and realistic plan.

Jeffery 100% :-)

Jeffery is exactly right. As an online marketer your list is vital to your success. Also, as the old saying goes, "those who fail to plan, plan to fail".

List building can be very simple and very low cost.

I'm assuming you already have Getresponse or Aweber for an autoresponder? If so you can get opt-ins fairly quickly with JV Giveaway's

Here is an older post I made on JV giveaway's. I suggest you get the eBook but don't buy anything. Just get the free information. It will get you going on List Building quickly. Learn the Secrets Of JV Giveaways - Small Successful Business Ideas - Small Successful Business Ideas

[JForsberg]

Originally Posted by Stephen Meyer

Jeffery is exactly right. As an online marketer your list is vital to your success. Also, as the old saying goes, "those who fail to plan, plan to fail".

List building can be very simple and very low cost.

I'm assuming you already have Getresponse or Aweber for an autoresponder? If so you can get opt-ins fairly quickly with JV Giveaway's

Here is an older post I made on JV giveaway's. I suggest you get the eBook but don't buy anything. Just get the free information. It will get you going on List Building quickly. Learn the Secrets Of JV Giveaways - Small Successful Business Ideas - Small Successful Business Ideas

Any userfriendly suggestion on list building? I've been with SFI for about 4 months, and got a super inactive downline of 58 including co-sponsored (not personal recruits)

Personally I buy IAHBE (for the 1500 VP) and 1 S-Builder a month.

[michaela01127]

Originally Posted by JForsberg

Any userfriendly suggestion on list building? I've been with SFI for about 4 months, and got a super inactive downline of 58 including co-sponsored (not personal recruits)

Personally I buy IAHBE (for the 1500 VP) and 1 S-Builder a month.

Have you seen any income in 4months??

[nextech]

There are too much info. available but not specific direction ... thats why people who joined to earn some quick cash , don't work properly ... and selling product/services online without proper plan impossible ...

[michaela01127]

yea im not really concerned about earning the money quickly.. but i do want to be earning something and at least seeing this system work but as of now i purchased s-builder 2 days ago and havent gotten anything from it yet..

so kinda disappointed with that.. i have a few PSA but all seem to be inactive. i have sent them all emails etc but nothing..

[hbhanot]

Wht is sfi

[michaela01127]

Its a MLM site part of the pips program, you can get more info from the link in my signature, you can sign up from the link on my blog aswell and i can be your sponsor if your interested

[Jeffery]

michaela01127,

Before we move forward let me backup for a second please. First, I just want you to know that I am writing this in your best interest and not trying to be critical in a negative way.

There are two major problems with your business and marketing that I would like to address.

1) You do not own your own website.

That is because you have a free domain at wordpress.com that is owned by wordpress.com. Technically you do not even have a real domain (top level domain). You have a sub-domain at wordpress.com.

You will learn that many 'make money online' businesses have been terminated at wordpress.com for a number of reasons.

2) You have no control over your online business.

That is because wordpress.com has full control of your online business. Since many 'make money online' businesses have been terminated at wordpress.com this alone terminated all list building activities.

Solution.
Get your own domain and a host to build your own online business wherein you are in full control of your online business. Namecheap.com is a good place to register a domain name and two good hosts for shared hosting are BlueHost.com (yearly payment) and HostGator.com (monthly or yearly payment).

Personal Advise.
Just speaking from my outlook: I tell all of my clients and in forum discussions that I will not waste my free time on people who have free domains and hosting.

Why? You do not technically own a business online and you have no control of what you do have online. Therefore, I cannot take you seriously. Also, imagine how your visitors (potential income) perceive your business. And consider that your potential income (visitors) may very well feel more compelled to trust a real online business (competitor).

Last, Once you have a domain, hosting, and a website my best tips for all MLM startups are:

1) Plan.
[Yes] Make a plan and work the plan.
[No] Do not let the plan work you.

2) Domain name selection. Think of a good one before you register.
[Yes] Always a dot com.
[No] Never buy a previously registered domain name unless you know the history of the domain.

Conclusion. All of that is just my opinion because that is what works for me and my clients. There are many more aspects of the business, but it all comes easier as you get into it.

I admire your conviction and hope to see more of you in the future. You are someone that we all should watch because I feel you have the smarts to be a success. In time I think we will be learning from you.

Jeffery 100% :-)

[nextech]

Originally Posted by michaela01127

yea im not really concerned about earning the money quickly.. but i do want to be earning something and at least seeing this system work but as of now i purchased s-builder 2 days ago and havent gotten anything from it yet..

so kinda disappointed with that.. i have a few PSA but all seem to be inactive. i have sent them all emails etc but nothing..

Yes i can understand your feeling ... there are too much thing on a homepage.. which definitely confused newbie ... as SFI is old program , so it is difficult to find a experienced marketer easily ...
You can personally tell your relatives, friends and like minded people you know ... atleast they can give a try when you insist them ..

and you can also clixsense ads to promote your affiliate page... its cheap and people are there to earn too ...

[michaela01127]

Thanks for the advice Jeffrey.. i will definitely work on getting some hosting ASAP then and a domain name

and nextech ill check out clixsense and see how it is.

im just upset right now after spending money on the S-builder, and i still haven't received a single PSA from it yet...
very disappointing

[GomerMagtibay]

michaela01127, if I am in your situation, in tight budget and $30 is like the only money I have, I would not spend that on IAHBE. You know why?

IAHBE is a monthly recurring bill. Even if you manage to recruit 5 new affiliates in SFI and those 5 affiliates also buy their IAHBE subscriptions (duplicated you), the income that you are going to receive from all those downline subscription can hardly cover your next month's bill with IAHBE. Take it from me, I've been there. It had happened to me before. I am not discouraging you, but it's the reality, the payout in SFI's compensation plan is not that big. You need large numbers of downline subscriptions to see impressive results.

There are better alternatives, or should I say "better destinations" for your $30, if you are in tight budget right now. Like for example, investing in website hosting. Get a hosting plan, install wordpress blogging software, fill it with content, then build its traffic through SEO. Once you have good traffic coming to your site, you'll get your desired number of sign-ups and subscriptions, and so your dreamed income.

Don't fall into a trap of perpetually spending money just to maintain EA status. It's what SFI suggests, become EA and maintain EA status, because they want to make money from you!

SFI is a good company, but be smart. Don't just blindly follow their suggestions.

I know a lot of SFI leaders here in WF are in "standing order" with IAHBE, because it's one of the cheapest ways to maintain EA in SFI. But you know, these leaders, they can afford it because they already have a big income from the big networks they have built for years. So, build your network first. Then once in your estimation the income you can get from that big network you have built supersedes your monthly cost with S.O. like IAHBE, then go on, that's the time to subscribe with them!

These are just suggestions. Take it or leave it.

[GomerMagtibay]

I would like to follow up with my post. If you are really in-love with the SFI business opportunity and want to invest money building a business with them, then try this one:

Go to TripleClicks, search for ECA recruitment brochures/flyers, spend your "precious $30" buying them. SFI will ship to you your brochures, and once received, write your name and SFI ID number on the back of the brochures (you may also include your contact numbers if it is okay with you), then start distributing those ECA brochures/flyers to businesses in your area/province/country.

Those traditional businesses, once recruited to TripleClicks by becoming SFI E-Commerce Associates, you'll earn residual income from them for every sales they make in TripleClicks, for life!

http://www.tripleclicks.com/ECA/ECA.php

Better destination for your $30?

What do you think?

[michaela01127]

Ok so basically i shouldnt worry about maintaining EA status until i have built a bigger downline

[Patrician]

Michael - with all due respect your last statement makes no sense.

your downline won't mean a thing unless you are EA status

your ea status won't happen without downline - from what I understand even if you are paying for IAHBE or something to get enough points to be an EA

You really remind me of somebody who is spinning their wheels - over-analyzing, getting discouraged in 2 days. Not really taking action.

1. get a domain name http://www.pluginprofitsitedomains.com

2. get hosting *GVO/HostThenProfits affiliate program required for hosting a PIPS site)

3. get a website (PIPS will build it for you free)

Find the GVO link by completing an application at http://www.pluginprofitsite.com

Promote PIPS and by doing that you will promote SFI, Triple Clicks, GVO and anything else you join.

Having your own domain/website says you are a professional marketer not just an affiliate. You might not understand the mindset but people are more likely to trust you if it looks like you are a professional internet marketer.

No matter if you take this advice or not - if you want to just be an SFI affiliate they have plenty of 'gateways' with sales pages and no domain or hosting is required. Try promoting them.

Don't depend on any one strategy like 1 co-op, 1 traffic exchange, 1 anything. Get the big picture - post content to that blog of yours - post to social networking sites, post to article directories and Web2.0 sites (hub pages, squidoo, etc), business forums.

Quit worrying and use the energy instead for taking action.

(not saying you are not doing anything but you could probably do more if you weren't worrying).

[michaela01127]

yea i am considering becoming a full pips member.. but i dont have all the money right now to pay for everything.. i was told it willl cost about $120 to sign up fully today. i know it is worth it to get everything that stone evans will give me.. but like i mentioned i just dont have $120 today.

also what will it cost monthly after the sign up fee? any1 able to tell me?

I'M taking action.. i printed out a few hundred SFI and Triple Clicks flyers and left them at 2 different college campuses yesterday so hopefully that gets me some bites today

[michaela01127]

ok well Pat.. you made me feel like i dont know anything after reading what you wrote to me.. and i sat and thought for a little bit..

well.. you got me.. i put my application through.. i signed up with GVO / 7min workout / SFI / Trafficswarm.. i just am holding off on myworldplus for right now until i can get the extra money

i even ordered my domain.. so i have a legit business plan now.

my question was, once i have the extra money can i always add myworldplus in? or is that not an option?

[Patrician]

Far Out, Michael!

I got you in the queue!

createonlineincome.info right?

Your site will be ready tonight!

Don't worry about whatever you couldn't join other than GVO - you can join them now, later or never - as long as you have a domain and hosting and at least one affiliate program to earn an income you are good to go!

Thank you so much you made my day I was expecting you to say how mean I am! LOL!
(mother complex)

I don't know what cost $120 though....

that makes me say ouch.

[michaela01127]

yea after i sat and went through everything it was not 120$ idk what the guy was thinking who told me that.. im glad i went through everything myself.

for hosting / 7min workout was 20$ but it was only $1 to sign up.. and i can pay the 10 i think its in 10 days..

then its 10$ a month.. i grabbed a .info so that was only 1.99 ... not bad at all

so 20$ a month for hosting an 7min wrkout.. and if i join IAHBE on SFI to stay active thats $50 a month.

im hoping soon enough i will be making atleast that from these affiliate links


thank you Pat, && cant wait to see the site

[Patrician]

Michael - your site is finished and we sent you an email - hope you got everything.

It is kind of confusing but wanted to clarify something you said above.

confusing because GVO has both HostThenProfits and 7MinuteWorkout.

It is HostThenProfits that is required - not 7 MinuteWorkout

HostThenProfits is $1 for a 14-day trial and then $9.98 per month to maintain hosting.

I want to make this clear because if things get tight the only thing required to keep your website running is HostThenProfits. (and of course annual domain registration renewal but you don't have to worry about that for a year).



You can host up to 4 domains as part of the affiliate membership I described.

[MikeFL]

What is SFI? Can anyone explain.

[michaela01127]

mike, you can read up on SFI and learn a lot more about it by checking out the link in my signature. You will also learn a lot about many other proven affiliate programs

[michaela01127]

Originally Posted by Patrician

Michael - your site is finished and we sent you an email - hope you got everything.

It is kind of confusing but wanted to clarify something you said above.

confusing because GVO has both HostThenProfits and 7MinuteWorkout.

It is HostThenProfits that is required - not 7 MinuteWorkout

HostThenProfits is $1 for a 14-day trial and then $9.98 per month to maintain hosting.

I want to make this clear because if things get tight the only thing required to keep your website running is HostThenProfits. (and of course annual domain registration renewal but you don't have to worry about that for a year).



You can host up to 4 domains as part of the affiliate membership I described.

Thanks so much for the site Pat. it looks great, i already started editing little bits and adding some articles. i have been going through the training from stone evans as well. learning a lot about backlinks and everything. loving this!!!!

[Patrician]

Great - all the best to you Michael.

"A Star is Born"!


p.s. if you need anything please click my signature for the helpdesk.

[GomerMagtibay]

Originally Posted by michaela01127

Thanks so much for the site Pat. it looks great, i already started editing little bits and adding some articles. i have been going through the training from stone evans as well. learning a lot about backlinks and everything. loving this!!!!

Congratulations! Now that you're finally "in", you now have an insider access of Stone's training at 30daystosuccessguide.com. You don't have that when you're "out". That's the reason why I was encouraging you (when you emailed me) to get a hosting and join PIPS program instead of doing it alone with your wordpress.com blog. Now, you have http://www.createonlineincome.info , in place of http://pipsbymike.wordpress.com. That's great! Again, congratulations, and I wish you success!

[JForsberg]

Originally Posted by michaela01127

Have you seen any income in 4months??

Yea, 5600 DKK every month - in social help. Ouch, that sucks being me.
From SFI.. well.... Hit BTL one month, and had a stunning guess what, about 3$. That month I've purchased for 40$. So about a 37$ loss. But, got to point out that my downline is silly. It's the same song the other lads say. Without the downline, you're nothing. Basic in MLM. I'm okay tho. Sure sad loss, but every month it just points at me saying "Get that bloody downline build up!"

Theres a lad in SFI, no names mentioned, he has over 1600 co-sponsored affiliates, and I have no count on his CSAs, but that's probably close. Tremendously huge downline, and hes a Platinum Team Leader. According to an interview in IAHBE - yea, it's good for something , he states that he has a monthly income of 88.000$. I bet ya he use lots of more than just SFI, but I also bet, that a big part of those money, are from SFI.

No money before the ladder to the goal has been build.

[michaela01127]

DKK??

well hopefully now that im running PIPS i will create a massive downline..

just focusing on getting traffic right now.. im probly going to make a order on traffic to my site to help me get a boost if i come up with extra money, but first i need to manage paying for all the monthly fees to remain active in PIPS

and maintain EA on SFI

[GomerMagtibay]

Originally Posted by JForsberg

Any userfriendly suggestion on list building? I've been with SFI for about 4 months, and got a super inactive downline of 58 including co-sponsored (not personal recruits)

Personally I buy IAHBE (for the 1500 VP) and 1 S-Builder a month.

@JForsberg: Are you looking for a "userfriendly suggestion on list building"? Well, there, inside 30daystosuccessguide.com, there's userfriendly suggestion in there, from a list-builder himself, Stone Evans. Join PIPS to have an insider access. You can also learn traffic generation tips from there, solid long term traffic, I mean quality traffic that buys stuffs online, without you having to buy some kind of artificial traffic from traffic peddlers whose aim is to make money from your "yearning for traffic".

@michaela01127: Don't be tempted to buy traffic. Just follow Stone's training and suggestions, especially the free ones. You're "in good hands" with him. Good luck.

[michaela01127]

yea Ive followed a LOT of his methods but a few of them requires purchasing other things as well.. which haven't done yet.. just all the FREE methods.

[talfighel]

If you are going to do this business, you have to do it all the way.

If you want to do it at 50%, you might as well don't do anything at all.

[michaela01127]

Stone Evans says himself that he recommends i follow all methods in the 30 day training.. but also says that if it is something you cant afford then dont do it yet and go back to it when you can just make sure you take advantage of all the free methods.

Which i am doing. i am tight on cash so i am starting off slower then other possibly. but i am working hard on creating back links and getting traffic. and right now i can only afford the 7minworkout / GVO monthly fees and also monthly fee to maintain EA status in SFI.. once i start earning some income from these 3 i can later join Myworldplus and also take advantage of some of the paid methods that stone presents.

Between SFI / 7Minworkout / GVO that will cost me $50 a month

I cant afford the extra 30 a month from Traffic Swarm or MyworldPlus fees just yet/ but once i can start earning lets say 30-50 a month from the 3 i am enrolled in, i can just reinvest it into other memberships

These are my plans at least. I don't know how long it will take to begin earning that much monthly, but hopefully not to long.

[JForsberg]

Originally Posted by michaela01127

Have you seen any income in 4months??

Today I saw an income. Well, not a profit, but an income.

19.27$ sent directly to my PayPal from Carson Inc. Awesome. Well, it did cost me half a year of S-Builder and IAHBE. Note that I got a really bad downline, and my best month was 7$ because I was lucky that some dudes actually bought something. Kinda depressing.

Takes some serious work to get the right people recruited. And I don't think this solution is something for me. I'm way more into SEO than recruiting, and.. well, I just s*ck recruiting in general.

Edit: Just read the latest post you made, mentioning that Evans said that if you can't afford it, don't do it now. I am (before reading it even) strongly considering just leaving SFI for now. I'll lose a ~97 people downline, but hell.... 97, pf, nothing compared to people with 1000+.. Gonna come back later when my money allows me - and I've learned some more SEO to really rock some pages up on Google. Well, at least I got a solid proof that SFI is indeed real, since I got a payment to prove

[goleza]

What a very good observation and advice. Thank you Jeffery.

Originally Posted by Jeffery

michaela01127,

Before we move forward let me backup for a second please. First, I just want you to know that I am writing this in your best interest and not trying to be critical in a negative way.

There are two major problems with your business and marketing that I would like to address.

1) You do not own your own website.

That is because you have a free domain at wordpress.com that is owned by wordpress.com. Technically you do not even have a real domain (top level domain). You have a sub-domain at wordpress.com.

You will learn that many 'make money online' businesses have been terminated at wordpress.com for a number of reasons.

2) You have no control over your online business.

That is because wordpress.com has full control of your online business. Since many 'make money online' businesses have been terminated at wordpress.com this alone terminated all list building activities.

Solution.
Get your own domain and a host to build your own online business wherein you are in full control of your online business. Namecheap.com is a good place to register a domain name and two good hosts for shared hosting are BlueHost.com (yearly payment) and HostGator.com (monthly or yearly payment).

Personal Advise.
Just speaking from my outlook: I tell all of my clients and in forum discussions that I will not waste my free time on people who have free domains and hosting.

Why? You do not technically own a business online and you have no control of what you do have online. Therefore, I cannot take you seriously. Also, imagine how your visitors (potential income) perceive your business. And consider that your potential income (visitors) may very well feel more compelled to trust a real online business (competitor).

Last, Once you have a domain, hosting, and a website my best tips for all MLM startups are:

1) Plan.
[Yes] Make a plan and work the plan.
[No] Do not let the plan work you.

2) Domain name selection. Think of a good one before you register.
[Yes] Always a dot com.
[No] Never buy a previously registered domain name unless you know the history of the domain.

Conclusion. All of that is just my opinion because that is what works for me and my clients. There are many more aspects of the business, but it all comes easier as you get into it.

I admire your conviction and hope to see more of you in the future. You are someone that we all should watch because I feel you have the smarts to be a success. In time I think we will be learning from you.

Jeffery 100% :-)

[alanturco]

Hey Michael. I had similar questions when I first joined SFI, but to solve that issue in "investing" in SFI, I had a shift in thinking. I figured it was a no-brainer to just think about the products I use on a regular basis and looked in Triple Clicks to see if they had those same products (shampoo, laundry detergent, nutritional supplements, etc.). LO and behold, they did have them......and some were lower in price for an equivalent product!

So, I made my list of products and will now start receiving them AND will be able to meet EA status every month......without even thinking about it!

SFI tells you to do this anyway, but I think many people overlook it because they see it as SFI just trying to get money from them. If all SFI members would just switch their thinking and where they buy their products from (their own store), ALL SFI members will profit and make decent commissions.

In summary, don't think of this as, "how should I invest in SFI?", but just pick the products you use anyway, so in this way, you are not really spending any more than you do now.

Hope that helps, and sorry for going a bit off on a tangent.

Alan

[Malcolm Tindle]

Hi,

I first joined SFI some 5 years ago and in those days it was very easy to do nothing else but recruit others to join and I became a GTL much to my surprise but then SFI changed. I became a bit disillusioned like many other members because SFI decided to become a sort of EBay type of business concentrating on buying and selling products.

After a year or two of virtually ignoring it I decided to take another look and I must admit that the SFI opportunity now is much more diverse and yes challenging but worthwhile.

Every member here will agree that the biggest problem with SFI is the huge turnover of PSA’s who expect to get rich quick and are not prepared to work. I personally still have no interest in buying or selling physical products but like to support my PSA’s who want to.

PSA’s who buy and sell products earn VP’s for you which equates to CV’s and that relates to a commission for you.

My recommendation is to recruit, recruit and recruit again, it’s a numbers game. The main goal of every affiliate should be to maintain EA status as a minimum without fail. If they have no intention of doing that then they are wasting their time and yours.

I encourage PSA’s to take out a standing order for the IAHBE every month which guarantees EA status and after two or three months of recruitment they should be making enough commissions themselves that SFI take out the payment from their commissions and the rest is carried over each month so effectively your EA status is costing you nothing.

TripleClick credits are a great way to boost members VersaPoints every month if they are a little short of their target rank. You can but 20 TC credits for as little as $9.80 which will give you 363 Versa Points. The trouble is a lot of new affiliates don’t wait around long enough to learn these things,

just my thoughts,


Mal.

[MattWiggins]

Originally Posted by GomerMagtibay

I know a lot of SFI leaders here in WF are in "standing order" with IAHBE, because it's one of the cheapest ways to maintain EA in SFI. But you know, these leaders, they can afford it because they already have a big income from the big networks they have built for years. So, build your network first. Then once in your estimation the income you can get from that big network you have built supersedes your monthly cost with S.O. like IAHBE, then go on, that's the time to subscribe with them!

This is the best advice on here with SFI. I follow the exact same rule and haven't spent a penny on SFI since starting 3 months ago and am seeing good results now. My downline is continually growing on average 2 good PSAs per day and around 5/6 of them continue to EA2 each month as well. Its getting stronger each day.

It's easy to get points each month by working the system. Encourage your PSAs to get to 1500 in the first 24 hours and you get a quick 100 points. Over the course of the month it's easy to accumulate at least 1500 by doing simple tasks, then all you need to do (if you want) is to buy or refer a member to TC to buy a product that has over 1500vp to get to team leader status and match your vpoints in your downline.

Until you have a large enough downline to see any benefit from matching vp I would suggest just doing enough to get EA status and no more. Focus on promoting TC products & services if you want to earn vps free as well.

[hugh65ham]

After reading all of the post in this forum, mostly concerning SFI. I got some of my questions answered about SFI. I personally think they have made it too complicated, and thus too time consuming to actually be profitable.

And, as for Plug In Profit site I believe that each person should sign up for whatever their budget allows, follow the 30 day training, and add the other programs with profits until they have joined them all. If everyone will do that we'll all succeed!