Direct Sales - Which Model is Superior G.P.T. or MLM?

For many years the idea of working from home has been sought by many. There are many reasons people desire to work from home, skip the commute, flexible work schedule, more productive work environment, corporate downsizing eliminated their job, need to fullfil a more active role in their childrens lives, just to name a few.

In this article we will look at two vehicles that people use to generate a full time income from home the MLM and G.P.T models.

The MLM model

Here are some basic fundamentals in MLM. Most MLM's will have credible founders in order to give the company credibility. The company will have good products that are not easily duplicated and cannot be purchased at a local retailer. The company will have a wealth building commission plan. Most products will be endorsed by industry leaders. Some may have a website where customers can order products from you. Your ability to generate significant and long term wealth is based on your ability to recruit distributors into your business.

You've looked over all the material and decided to join a new MLM company. The products look great, the company looks professional, the promo material is slick, and the website has a flash presentation. This is going to be great! Surely everyone I talk to will be interested and I'll be able to quit my day job in no time!

But then reality sets in. Your first product order costs you $150.00 then another $150.00 each month to stay qulified. You spend several hundred dollars on marketing materials. You're buying leads every month. You have to spend time away from your family going to meetings, doing presentations, and working the business online. After a few months your spouse is getting upset about all the time and money you spend on the new venture. Your downline isn't growing, and your spending more time and money than you are getting back on your investments.

Let's say you overcome all of this and manage to build a decent size downline. All you work is paying off and you've managed to build an income of twenty thousand dollars per month. You pay off your debt and buy that dream home and sports car that you've all ways wanted.

Then one day, with no warning, your company changes their compensation plan and one of your key team members is not happy about it. With one click of the mouse button they send an e-mail to their list of thousands of downline, upline and sideline that tears your team in all directions as they split off to join a "better opportunity". Just like that the checks you and your team rely on to provide for your livelihood are cut in half or worse.

The startling fact is that 97% of people who join a network marketing company will spend more than they make. The attrition rate is so high that trying to build a downline in today's market is like trying to fill a leaking bucket.

Don't get me worng there are many MLM opportunities out there with great products and income opportunities, but, is this the best way to build your future?

The G.P.T. model

Now let us discuss G.P.T. This concept is going to play a huge role in the network marketing industry for years to come.

So what is G.P.T.? To put it simply it is one answer to tiny commission checks, leaky downline, and the quick turn mentality that has taken over MLM.

It will allow you to put tens of thousands of dollars in your pocket in weeks or months, rather than years. The greatest part is that it allows you to build an abundant income based off your own efforts.

G.P.T. stands for "Get Paid Today", which is a concept that summarizes the growing change of focus in the MLM industry from a long-term residual income, to immediate leveraged income.

The premise of Get Paid Today is simple. In a world where it cost more to sponsor a new distributor than its long term value is worth. Where you will be forced to recruit everyday for the lifespan of your business in order to combat attrition. In a world where the all important practice of retail has been shunned in favor of recruiting business members. Where an "I will try this for a few weeks", lottery mentality has taken over. If networkers are going to bounce around from program to program... If competing companies are going to advertise on your front door with a "better/cheaper" product, then the answer is simple. The answer is to get paid for a year's worth of residual income upfront and leverage that income to build wealth today.

Now that we have a basic understanding of G.P.T lets dig into the fundamentals of this model.

G.P.T. models usually manifest themselves in Top Tier businesses, they are called Top Tier because of the people they tend to attract. Most are characterized by a "Two-Up" compensation plan, a product or service that retails for an average of $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 and pay out a $1,000.00 plus up front commission on the sale of that product or service. The products or services offered in these Top Tier programs are not easy to duplicate. Many of these opportunities have modified their structure to include some form of residual income. These models provide a large upfront commission which you can leverage back into the growth of your business. You are able to build long term wealth based off your own efforts.

Let's take a look at some of the objections people have with the G.P.T. model.

One primary objection that network marketers have had with the G.P.T. model is that there is no residual income. As I stated above many of these programs have developed a source of residual income to add to their offerings. However, that aside there is another scenario to consider here. When you get paid $1,000.00 commission up front it's like getting a year's worth of residuals paid up front. How much more valuable is that money to you when paid out upfront rather than over the course of a year?

How large of an organization would you have to build in an MLM business to generate $4,000.00 per month of residual income 700, 1000, 3000, distributors? Whatever the number is for your MLM company double it just to keep up with the attrition.

How many reps would you need to make $4,000.00 per month with the G.P.T. model? That's right four. With a front end commission of $1,000.00 you only need four new customers each month to generate the same amount of income that would take you years to put together in an MLM opportunity. That does not even take into consideration the actual compensation plan that can multiply that number by 10 propelling your profits to a total of $480,000.00 per year.

Now let's consider the value of this money in the G.P.T. model versus being paid out in residuals over long periods of time. Let's consider an MLM income of $4,000.00 per month. Over a period of three years this would pay out a total of $144,000.00. Would that $144,000.00 be worth more to you if it was paid out over a one year period? You bet it would! Why, because you can take that money and invest it in REAL, long-term residual assets like mutual-funds, stocks, etc... Better yet you could invest in private wealth creation strategies (strategies that are available to the general public or even financial advisors) that generate real tripple digit ROI's! This is what I personally market.

Another common concern with the G.P.T. model is that it cost too much to get started. Let's examine this real quick.

Consider the average cost of a supplement based MLM opportunity with a $180.00 start-up cost and recurring monthly auto-ship to stay qualified to receive commission. That adds up to over $2000.00 in the first year. In this example if you've been in business for three years you have spent over $6,000.00.

It is true that a Top Tier product has a much higher initial cost, but it is generally a onetime cost. With your Top Tier purchase after you've been in business for three to ten years you still have only spent the initial average cost of $1,500.00.

So there we have it a closer look at the difference between MLM and G.P.T. Both models have potential to provide financial freedom. The truth about either of these models is that neither of them will make you a dime if you do not invest in the most important factor that will make them successful.

The Key Factor to Success

That all important factor is Y O U. You see the key to making money in any of these models is selling. The key to selling is marketing; knowing your target market, knowing what their triggers are, knowing when, where, and how to advertise your opportunity.

If you don't have experience in marketing then you are going to need to invest the time and resources it takes to educate yourself. It is with this knowledge that you will develop marketing skills; whether these skills are based in internet marketing, e-mail marketing, social marketing with web 2.0, or all of the above. These skills will allow you to dominate either of these business models and generate the income and lifestyle you seek to create.

Look the sad truth is that 95% of network marketers will struggle for years. They will spend thousands of dollars and countless hours looking for that magic "something" that will build their business for them before realizing the key to network marketing is MARKETING.

Whatever path you choose; whether it be the MLM model, G.P.T. model, or an offline business, you need to learn how to implement marketing strategies that are effective and that will generate a return on your investment before you exhaust your operating capitol.

I invite you to be in close contact with me and learn the proven strategies my team use to make $60,000.00 plus per month. Get in touch with me via the contact information below:

Arnold Hight
arnold@arnoldhight.com
http://www.getglobalresults.com