If you know me, you know I invest no emotion in ideas, events or issues, only in people and relationships. So I’m not threatened by dissenting views. And, if they’re well-argued, objective and unemotional, I actually enjoy them. Cheree Miller of http://blog.wealthbuilderssite.com has posted a response on her blog to my post here on ‘WebProsperity: why I’m NOT promoting it’ that’s a very good example of this. It’s courteous, it’s rational, it “plays the ball, not the man”. It speaks volumes about Cheree and her intelligence and integrity, and I respect and appreciate her for it. It deserves a reply that reflects these admirable qualities.

In this reply, I’ve excerpted Cheree’s comments that I see as needing clarification or response in grey text (indented) and replied to them directly for context and relevance. (Text like this clarifies missing info.)

“In John Counsel’s review, “WebProsperity: why I’m NOT promoting it”, he finds fault with WebProsperity on the first two counts (the company and compensation plan), and reserves judgment on the last three (the products, support systems and upline team) until after product launch.

“Personally, one of the reasons I’m excited about WebProsperity is because of the company. I currently use Implix products — especially their autoresponder, GetResponse. If you sign up for my email newsletter, that is the service that ensures you receive my preloaded and broadcast emails.

“I find GetResponse a very user-friendly, FTC compliant, and effective tool for both my internet network marketing and niche website businesses. So Implix being one of the key players in WebProsperity is a huge plus for me.”

I have no real concern with Implix or its products. But Cheree has written here only about those products, not about the company — neither Implix nor, more particularly, WebProsperity. And she makes no mention at all of the key people involved or their track records. One can only wonder why. Is it because she doesn’t know? Or is it because she does know?

Intentionally or not, this argument serves only as a form of misdirection — the old magician’s trick of deflecting your attention from the real action by distracting you with something else.

“I don’t find anything unfair about the compensation plan. Every company, MLM or not, rewards people for their position within the organization. WebProsperity is no different. The sooner you enter the program, the higher up you will be on the “corporate ladder” so to speak, and the higher your earnings.”

There’s not room here to argue the merits or otherwise of matrix plans, especially binaries — and especially powerline promotions. You can read my views on them at the links below… and especially the reality that they create the highest amounts of breakage of any types of compensation plans in MLM.

• Automatrix Plans
• Binary Plans
• Wide or deep… which is better? (Or doesn’t it matter?)
• Breakage — the #1 threat to your MLM income
• How to properly evaluate MLM compensation plans
• Free Insight Reports on MLM compensation plans (Eye-openers!)

I’m concerned, though, by the assertion that the earlier you get involved, the better off you’ll be. This is the classic “ground floor” opportunity appeal to fear of loss.

Why “ground floor”?

Because the clear inference is that, by getting in on the ground floor, your chances of success are much greater than if you join later.

I’ve written extensively about this and why, in fact, it’s really all DOWNHILL from there, because the later you get in, the worse off you’ll be, so that every person you approach to join you presents a serious ethical and moral dilemma for a person of conscience, because you KNOW that your prospect has a measurably LOWER chance of success than YOU had when you joined, so the entire opportunity is ultimately doomed!

• Ground floor opportunities

“I will admit that the support systems of WebProsperity are an unknown. Often times what is promised turns out to be quite different from what you get after you sign up. But, I can vouch for my upline team and the support and training that I will personally offer anyone who signs up in my line.

“Again, this is no different from any MLM company. Your success is often directly affected by how much support and training you get from your sponsor. WebProsperity can’t magically change that “X factor” in their company. But, as with any MLM company, if your upline isn’t giving you the support you need, you should be able to go further up the line until you find someone who is actively supporting and helping to grow their downline.”

No argument here from me. As I originally said, these are unknown quantities at the time of writing, so I draw no conclusions.

“John states that there are some serious red flags with WebProsperity because of the way this product is being marketed. In his opinion, the primary appeals are not to your rational and objective reason, but rather that they capitalize on the Big Five Failure Factors:

Fear of loss

Greed

Laziness

Ignorance

Gullibility (or, if you keep on falling for it, plain stupidity)

“Again, I have to disagree. What sold me on WebProsperity was not fear in any sense, but rather the simplicity and money savings of being able to have all the tools I need and use available through one source at a reduced rate.

“I have no fear of loss (except that not taking advantage of WebProsperity will continue to cost me more than the $59.95/mo to utilize these tools individually from other sources.

“I don’t think I’m being greedy recognizing that I can generate another income stream by promoting the WebProsperity product suite. These are valuable tools. Someone else will promote them. If I’m going to be using them, why shouldn’t I promote them and make a commission?

“As for the lazy factor, there will always be people attracted to MLM opportunities who are lazy. The basic structure of an MLM compensation plan with any company tends to make people think they can earn a fast, easy buck. Those who think that will likely leave WebProsperity in short order, just as they have likely joined and left other MLM opportunities. The truth is, any business takes work.

“I don’t consider myself either ignorant or gullible, so I won’t even comment on how those factors may or may not relate to WebProsperity, unless it’s in the same vein as laziness. Is there a responsibility for due diligence on the part of anyone enrolling in the program? You betcha! But, no more with WebProsperity than with any other legitimate business out there.”

As I keep saying in my articles, books and training programs, what separates the legal from the illegal, the ethical from the unethical, the desirable from the undesirable, etc, is rarely WHAT you do, but WHY and HOW you do it.

To make profit, you have to SELL something for more than it cost you. Selling is WHAT you have to do to make profit. There’s just no other way. But most people shrink from the prospect of selling because they don’t want to be seen as pushy, manipulative or deceptive. But pushy, manipulative and deceptive aren’t WHAT you do to sell. They’re WHY and HOW you sell… your motives and methods. Pushy, manipulative and deceptive are the tools of the incompetent seller, who tries to control the outcome by controlling the PROSPECT rather than the PROCESS.

The most intelligent, capable, successful sellers are NEVER pushy, manipulative or deceptive.

My concern with WebProsperity is not so much with WHAT it does to make profit. It’s with its MOTIVES and METHODS — WHY and HOW it does it. And how it SELLS it.

That includes its deliberate use of features like…

• Powerline promotion — a direct appeal to fear of loss (greed and laziness are really just forms of fear of loss), ignorance and gullibility.
• Binary automatrix compensation plan — a direct appeal to fear of loss, ignorance, greed, laziness and gullibility.
• Exceptionally high breakage — blatant greed and laziness (or else hair-raising ignorance and gullibility/stupidity) on the part of the company, which depends on ignorance and gullibility on the part of the network — especially part-timers. (Neither is exactly encouraging for a distributor.)

If you disagree, have you read those articles listed and linked above? Really read them? And can you answer this question for me, since I haven’t signed up, so I haven’t experienced the follow-up system?

Does the follow-up system keep sending prospects email messages informing them that people who signed up after them have just upgraded to paid membership — and the prospect has now missed out on all that potential income, so they’d better hurry up and get in quickly? (Because if they don’t, they’ll miss out on even more potential income?)

I’m genuinely interested to know. Leave your answer in the comment box below, please.

“I can only surmise that neither I nor my sponsor are “heavy hitter” promoters or their clones, as we are focusing on the products and benefits of WebProsperity, rather than trying to instill fear in potential recruits.

Now, John does very clearly state that his review is his personal view, and he isn’t asking anyone to agree or disagree, but only to make up their own minds based on factual information. I feel that I have done that. And, I believe that WebProsperity is an excellent opportunity — not only from an MLM aspect, but also when considering the product line they offer.”

My only recommendation is to do your due diligence. Dig deep. Visit http://EvaluateMLM.com. Read the articles and Insight Reports listed/linked above. Get the FACTS, not just the hype, buzz and spin and the powerful emotion appeals being used to promote this opportunity.

In more than 25 years of evaluating and forecasting the prospects for success of MLM opportunities, I’ve yet to get it wrong. I have finely-tuned radar — a combination of knowledge, skills, training and experience, with a healthy dash of very reliable instincts. And my radar tells me that we could see some major reputations take serious hits over this one. I wish I felt otherwise, but I don’t.

As I said, that’s my personal view and you’re welcome to your own. But please make sure it’s based on rational, objective evaluation of the FACTS, not just potent emotional appeals and what you WANT to be true, before writing to me to defend it.

And, whatever happens, and however you feel about what I’ve written, there’s only one reliable conclusion: if the cap or shoe fits, wear it.

Be careful out there.

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