Intro.

I really enjoy advising my readers the best possible ways to make money online, but sometimes I’ve got to point out the flaws in some of these opportunities.

You’ve obviously landed on this page because your interested in making money online, and you want to know if affiliate marketing or MLM is the way to go. Although I’m a bit biased, I will give you my view on what both these options can offer you.

I’ll explain the differences between the two, and why one is more of a sustainable model than the other.

Firstly, let’s go through what MLM marketing is and the basics of how it works.

What is MLM Marketing

MLM marketing is when a large network recruits more individuals to help them promote a product or service. At some point in time, you maybe be invited by somebody to join this network, to from part of this persons team.

If you’ve ever heard of pyramid schemes, then this is the type of thing you’ll be joining. You will become part of the pyramid, albeit a long way down.

These schemes have been setup with the top-of-the-chain members to reap most of the rewards. Anyone further down the pyramid chain will make pocket change in comparison. Let’s say the top members are members ‘A’.

You may get recruited from member ‘M’. Anyone that member ‘M’ recruits, will earn small commissions for member ‘M’, should their recruits encourage more members to join by promoting the product that this company is all about.

So if you are recruited by member ‘M’, along with 10 others, anyone YOU recruit to promote the product will earn you part commission, and member ‘M’ part commission.

So, can you imagine how much money members ‘A’ are making!

Is Affiliate Marketing The Same As An MLM

Affiliate marketing is not the same as multi level marketing. Here’s the difference.

Multi Level Marketing – A tiered system of earning commissions. If a sale is made, the profits are distributed between all MLM consultants in a down-line, with the most recent consultant who made the sale earning a small fraction. MLM consultants can only sell products from the company they are signed up to.

Affiliate Marketing – A single level commission structure where an affiliate earns a straight percentage commission from each sale made. Affiliate marketers can join as many affiliate programs as they want, and sell from multiple companies.

Is MLM a Good Business Model

This depends on who you ask but in my opinion, it’s the MLM business model flawed because it doesn’t favour the sales consultants. MLM consultants are the one’s doing all the hard work, obtaining all the sales and hosting hours parties.

Yet the commissions earned are firstly distributed to their upline, before leaving a small fraction of commission for the one that’s put in all the effort. Although I do get the system, and those in the up-line have worked hard themselves to get to their higher position, the minor commissions still discourage new MLM consultants.

The MLM business model also relies on sales consultants to make consistent sales. Firstly, they sell to family and friends, who mostly purchase out of kindness. Once they’ve had enough of being nice, they will no longer buy.

Then the hard work comes, convincing people that don’t care about you making sales. In reality, only those that are extremely good sales people will make these consistent sales. And if they are that good at selling, they should be doing a lot better than joining an MLM business.

Is Multilevel Marketing a Scam

Whilst I’m loathe to call this a scam because the model has been around for many years now, I’m more inclined to call it unethical. I’m sure some people have made money via this method but it’s not what I call a sustainable model to join up to.

It’s sustainable for those at the top of the chain, as they have people out there doing all the work for them, gathering new recruits to promote their product. And remember, with any product sold, these guys take their cut.

You only get commissions from what you can sell, and small commissions from anyone you’ve recruited that can sell.

The hardest part about MLM (Multilevel Marketing) is finding new recruits. Firstly, you’re advised to tell your friends and family about the amazing product you, and they, will be promoting. This is one way to lose friends and family. Most people have heard of these opportunities and keep well away.

You see, there’s also a monetary outlay in the beginning which you’ll be told you’ll make back, plus more.

Unfortunately, it’s a fact over 99% of people that sign up to an MLM company, fail to make a net profit. This is because all the profits are going to the coffers of members ‘A’.

Because you’re not employed by these companies and you won’t be receiving a salary as such (probably nothing at all), you are also not covered by any workplace laws.

Let’s now check out the affiliate marketing model

What is Online Affiliate Marketing

This is a different model of creating wealth online, and it’s a more sustainable method. The reason I’m more biased is that I am an affiliate marketer and know that it can work. I am also a member of a large community of affiliate marketers, with many creating a full time income from this type of opportunity. This place is my affiliate marketing and website solution, I basically run my business via this platform.

The way that affiliate marketing works, it that you are the middleman (or middlewoman in this day and age!), between a purchaser and a merchant company. The basic process is you direct visitors to a merchants website to purchase a product. You’ll require affiliate links to do this, which are easy to apply for.

If the visitor makes a purchase, you make a commission.

Now, the big difference here is that you are way more in control of what you sell, how you promote, which commission types you’d prefer and how much effort you can put into this venture.

If you sign up for a MLM scheme, you have the one product or service to promote, even if you don’t believe in it. With affiliate marketing, you can choose whichever niche you like, and choose products to sell to this audience.

You can choose to promote ‘high ticket’ items such as charter planes or yachts, maybe luxury jewelry. The choice is yours. In fact have a browse on Amazon. They have their own affiliate program so you can sell anything on their website.

Can you see how this allows you to be more in control of your own destiny? Whilst you are not looking for recruits to help you market a product, you are offering advice for a product or service, to convince a reader which product is the better purchase.

What makes this model more genuine, is that you can offer reviews on your website or social channels having done your research, which helps out your potential purchasers. Explain how something works or if it has flaws, the good and bad points. Then give your recommendation.

Is Affiliate Marketing a Business That is Sustainable

In 2017, there was over 1.66 billion people that made an online purchase. The total dollar amount of retail sales that year was 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars. This is a phenomenal figure that is only expected to grow. Future projections target approximately 4.48 trillion U.S. dollars of retail sales by 2021

This is your opportunity to take advantage by taking a piece of that pie. The opportunity is available to everyone, but you do need guidance to succeed. You’ll need to learn the best way to get website traffic and how to use a keyword tool.

There are currently over 1.9 billion websites online. That is an amazing statistic, but consider this. Only 200 million of those are active. This suggests that many people have the idea of starting a website, but for one reason or another, find it all too difficult.

Approximately 90% of websites owners that begin, fail to maintain their site. The majority of these expect to make some form of income from their website but fail miserably. This is because they require some sort of education.

If this is you, then you’re in luck. I can guide you in the right direction. I’ve created THIS website with the guidance and education of the industry leaders in affiliate marketing, and it costs me under $3 per day. You can read about the tools I use and the breakdown here. This includes the hosting of my website.

Read on below if you’re keen to learn what I did, and excel at affiliate marketing.

Wrapping Up

I don’t want you to fall into the trap that many others have, by joining up to a MLM scheme. There are many of these about and your chances of making any money are slim.

Not to mention the fact that you either piss off all your friends and family for trying to get them involved, or you’ll struggle to find anyone else to join your team. Another thing to keep in mind is that your earnings will drop off completely when the next pandemic hits. Just like in 2020 with the coronavirus, there’s no house parties allowed. So unless you sell the products online, you won’t be making sales. And if you’re selling online, you may as well do affiliate marketing and sell all kinds of products.

The most sustainable way to make money on the internet comes down to two choices. If you’re searching for a way to make money on the internet then I’d suggest either the affiliate marketing model or the online store/drop shipping method, which you can read about by clicking on the link in this sentence.

I can’t stress enough the importance of an education if you go down either of these paths. I’ve suggested where to get guidance for each in these options in the article mentioned above.

Alternatively, read on below to learn all about how I make money in affiliate marketing.