We’ve all seen/heard a friend reach out to us….in a typical way….
Hey, girl (or Hey man)!
Usually it comes through direct messages on social media from people you haven’t talked to in years or even strangers. They often start with “Hey girl/Hey man!” or something similar and go into a stiff sales pitch about making life changing money…all you need to do is sign up to promote too and sell the products! Welcome to the world of multi-level marketing. Unfortunately, multilevel marketing and affiliate marketing are often used synonymously. Keep reading to learn what the difference is and what is your best option.
Multi-level marketing, or MLM, generates income based on a network of sales commissions and seller sign ups. For example, person A gets person B to buy their products and sign up to be a seller. Person B then goes out and does the same thing to Person C. Person A will earn a commission off of Person B and C’s sales and seller sign-ups because they are the first one to bring them into the company. This continues on and on. Feasibly, the first person could make a bit of money. However, it’s based on your network expanding and the market not becoming oversaturated. Often there is a start-up cost associated with this, whether it’s a membership fee or needing to purchase a certain amount of product to then sell off.
Affiliate marketing is a much easier and direct way to make money. You sign up with the vendor or affiliate platform to promote a product, if you make a sale you get paid. If you don’t make a sale, you don’t get paid. If your friend wants to sign up and promote the same product, they absolutely can, but that won’t affect your commission. Your friend makes their sales, you make yours. There’s no start up cost and it takes little to no extra time out of your day to start making your first sales.
We’ll let you decide which one is best for you, but if you want the most bang for your buck and earning potential we recommend affiliate marketing. You have more control over the products you promote, how you promote them, and get paid directly for your sales.