One of the most common questions that a network marketer gets is : ‘ Is this one of those pyramid schemes ? ‘ Every time we hear that question, we just cringe. The truth is that every organization that has a CEO, president, king, or big guy in charge is a pyramid. We always assume that the people on the top have more responsibility so they make more money. The more appropriate question should be : ‘ Is this legal ?…’

The earliest Ponzi scheme was organized and carried out by Charles Ponzi from the year 1919 to 1920. Although any scheme of this sort involves the taking in or money from investors to pay off earlier investors, Ponzi schemes are generally operated by a central entity or person and don’t necessarily have a hierarchical structure like a pyramid.. In reality, if it is a pyramid or Ponzi scheme, there is no product being sold to anyone and larger and larger numbers of people must be recruited to keep feeding money upwards. In the end, when there are no more people to recruit or who will be recruited, it is the folks who contributed money last who lose out and are left holding the bag.

Legitimate network marketing companies do have products and often they are some of the best products available. Recruiting is often emphasized (sometimes overemphasized) because that is a large part of what creates the financial opportunity for people who get involved. Anyone who is contemplating getting involved with a multilevel marketing opportunity must understand a few things. First, the primary purpose of your involvement is to expose people to the product. If you notice, I did not use the word ‘sell’ in the last sentence. If you believe in the product and like it, the biggest challenge is getting others just to try it. No body, anywhere, makes any money if people are not buying the products. I believe that a superior product will almost “sell” itself.

Other things to consider are that you are starting a business and some form of marketing will be required. The whole reason that a company with a product wants to partner with you is that person to person or “Network” Marketing has been shown to be the most effective and cost efficient form of marketing. The cost of advertising for the company takes the form of commissions to those who are most effective at creating sales of the product. Often, for a young company, Network Marketing is the best way to go. Once they’ve paid for manufacturing costs, support staff, and informational materials little is left for massive advertising.

In closing, you should look at the company you work for if you want to examine a true pyramid. Does the CEO make less than the president? Do the vice presidents make more than the president? Does middle management get paid more than the upper management? Every legitimate company has a hierarchical structure where those higher up are paid more. Ideally, that is somehow tied to performance too. Imagine a company where you are one of the people on the bottom but you have 200 customers who just want the product. You might not be making as much money as someone above you, but I’ve seen some plans where maybe you would because you went out and got those customers yourself.

Corporate America is the Ultimate Pyramid

Ryan and Bryan Tate are not your ‘ same old Gurus ‘ .  You know what I’m talking about..the guys who sell you a course or a ‘ system ‘ and you are on your own..sink or swim..no returned emails or personal access.  But Ryan and Bryan are not those guys..

As I was searching for a way to take my business to the next level, I stumbled upon one of their capture pages.  After I opted in, I was asked on the following page : ‘ What is your biggest frustration while trying to build your online business ?’  I had been asked questions like that before..but get a response ?..yeah right… I’m always hopeful, so I filled out the form and hit the submit button.   An hour later, I had the following email in my inbox :

Hey Miller,

What’s your number?
I just saw your big frustration.

Maybe we can chat.

-Ryan

Whoa…  Personal access.  I had better be prepared for this phone call.  I sent my number and I got a call from Ryan.  My mind went blank.  I never expected to be in this situation where I might have a chance at some personal tutoring.    How many of us could get over that hump if we just had someone we could go to when we hit a roadblock ?  OK..so they weren’t going to work one on one with me.  I don’t have that kind of money ..yet….During that call I found out what I needed to know.  They make a full time living from home.  In fact, they had just made $1200.00 from an online promotion when Ryan called me.

What they do have is an organized mastermind group where anywhere from 5 to 30 people can join a webinar and learn their online marketing techniques.  Everyone participating is encouraged to ask questions if something doesn’t make sense.    What they won’t do is set up your blog for you or create the pay per click campaign for you.  However, if you go out and try things and then come back and ask questions, that makes a big difference.

On one call, Ryan and Bryan along with the whole class reviewed and helped me refine an article I had written.   In another session we learned how to write good ad copy.   The internet is so vast, these guys see no problem in sharing their secrets.  They come up with so many great new ideas on a regular basis that I doubt revealing their secrets would ever hurt their cash flow.  Right after our webinar, they are hopping onto someone else’s.  That tells me a few things.. They have their mentors too and these guys will never feel as if they know enough.  Also, there are other people like them out there who believe in the personal touch.

Working with Ryan and Bryan, I learned that I must brand myself to be successful online.   It is only appropriate that my first entry on my blog be about them since I feel lucky that I found them.   With so many people pushing money making systems and claiming to be trainers and success coaches, it is good to have found the right two to guide me to success.