Hello again PA27, I really appreciate the time you putting into the answers, i know is in your best interest but you also explain yourself very well. Let's talk about the compensation plan: It is based on the "Australian 2 up" ? which you, the sponsor get the first two sales from the first two people that join the company under you, and also a percentage of their monthly subscription. As your first two clients get to signed more people, and these people sign up more people and so on, so it builds up a pyramid like structure shape in levels; do you get paid residuals from all the down lines, or you just get only income from the first level that you personally build up? And if you only get residuals from them ,the first level, what is your motivation to give them such a personal and caring attention? let me know if is not clear and i will rephrase it. Is there somewhere that I could get a list of the software at the 399 level, so I can have a friend look at it? Thanks

Typically I don't peruse any of the EDCGold topics simply because they've never been worth my time.

But I was kinda bored during lunch and decided to see what was going on...
29 pages worth of discussion?

Just seems common sense to me... I haven't yet seen an EDCGold member page selling anything other than an "opportunity". The products, training, and marketing may all very well be there. But what people are buying are not those products and the training, but the "opportunity" to make money from getting others to also get involved in the opportunity. Sounds just like a pyramid scheme (although technically the compensation plan may be different).

You ultimately make more money from getting people into the program than you do from selling the products. And I can take a marketing class by a board-certified marketing professor at a local university for less than $1000, so if I'm looking for an education, I'll look elsewhere. Not to mention the many books that have been written that can be read for free by going to your local library.

A friend of mine got into the whole health supplement scheme that involved selling actual products, supplements, but you made more money simply from signing up people under you. Each person under you was required to pay a sign-up fee, that you got a cut of, AND purchase a sample kit of products, of which you got a % commission on. If you sold any products *other* than sample kits, you'd still get your % commission. He was given marketing training and shown examples on how to sell the "opportunity", NOT the products themselves. Even though actual products were involved, it was just a disguise, really. They still operate today because of the presence of actual products and commission "overrides", yet they've gotten in trouble with the State of Ohio Attorney General on a number of cases. The supplements are re-branded generics that can be purchased in bulk for a fraction of retail cost...

I applaud the creativity involved with some of these schemes/businesses/opportunities. However, legal issues would be a major concern to me, AND the fact that in a world of differentiation how can one of these "cookie cutter" approaches really work for any extended period of time?

*shrug*

Hello again red bear,

This is how the compensation plan works. It is what they like to call a "modified" 2 up system. Before EDC Diamond launched, new members had to pass up their first 2 sales to their sponsor in turn for help generating the leads and closing those sales. Even then, most of us didn't require that those sales be passed up. Now that EDC Diamond has launched, each program works in a different way. At the top level, no sales have to be passed up. At the mid level (now $997), there is a 60/40 split on the commissions of the first 2 sales a new member makes. The new member will earn $600 on each of their first 2 sales, putting them into profit while qualifying them! The sponsor earns $397 of each of those first 2 sales their new member makes, giving more incentive for sponsors to take more interest in the success of their team members. At the lowest level (now $397), the compensation plan remains as it was, with 2 sales being passed up to the sponsor by the new member.

I understand that so many people have a problem with the 2 up system because they feel that the new member is loosing out. However, the system is designed so that those first 2 sales are training sales in which the sponsor assists the new member in generating leads, explaining the products and business and closing the sales. Unfortunately, many distributors have taken advantage of this system in the past, which has (I feel) given it a negative reputation. The modifications to the compensation plan are supposed to help eliminate a lot of that issue.

As far as residual income, there are different ways in which this is achieved. At the EDC Diamond level, members earn a certain amount from sales made by their team members. That doesn't take anything away from the member making the sale, however. There is a short video on my website which breaks this down. Feel free to view it at your leisure. But in a nutshell, EDC Diamond offers $1500 in commissions per sale to the member who makes the sale, and $500 in commissions to their sponsor for assisting and training them. There is also monthly residual income that can be earned per team member. This residual is paid to us by the company, not the members. Again, the short video on my site explains in much more detail.

The structure that EDC has adopted now is more like a cross between MLM and direct sales. Members have the benefit of earning 100% commissions at the lower levels while taking advantage of some of the team-building features of MLM (without members having to build huge downlines or reach certain levels before they can earn, and without having to wait on checks from the company to get paid). I am interested to see how the newer modifications will work for EDC Diamond. It has potential to be successful, though I expect it to attract even more negative attention from those who were not fond of the company to begin with. My opinion is this: at the end of the day, it is still a business opportunity and meant for the members to have various avenues to earn from. I think people get too caught up in that aspect sometimes. Though there are more ways to earn and residual income, the program is not at all about simply earning by recruiting. They are providing us with more and better products to sell on our own, they are helping us to learn skills that we can use to promote or provide as services to others, and we are learning how to become more well-rounded business owners. For someone who is a business owner outside of EDC, the program has the potential to save them lots of money down the road by teaching them skills and techniques to perform services for themselves that they would otherwise have had to pay someone to do. It also teaches them how to make the best use of methods like PPC advertising so that they don't waste money on campaigns simply because they were unaware of how things work and how to set up properly. And of course, it allows them to earn an income along the way so that they can run their business without having to take out loans or use credit (or gives a better way for them to pay off financed items to build their credit). To me, all of those things are essential to a business owner who wants to pull more income in from their business than they have to give out through spending (in other words keep more of their hard-earned income) and run a business effectively without going into debt.

You mentioned something about what would motivate a sponsor to help their members if they don't earn residual commissions beyond the first level. Well I've always felt that when you enter into this kind of program and you choose to promote the business opportunity, you understand that you will be responsible for assisting those who join your team. Therefore, a person shouldn't need motivation to help their members. They know that if the tides were reversed, they'd want someone to help them along the way, so they should be decent enough to provide the same courtesy to their members. However, we don't live in a perfect world, while a person shouldn't need motivation to help the members who've made it possible for them to earn an income in the first place, I guess such is necessary for some less-involved people. Residual commissions are offered on all personally sponsored members. So that motivation is there to encourage sponsors to help all of the members that join with them. The members on the second level should be being helped by there immediate sponsor. I have a program in place to help my indirect team members as well as my personally sponsored members. I'm of the belief that the more you give, the more that comes back to you. And if I'm helping some, why not others? No, I don't earn directly from those past my personally sponsored members, but if I don't help them, then my personally sponsored members won't see success and may drop out or become naysayers or whatever the case may be. Then it does directly affect me. The more we help each other, the more the company will grow and the better the reputation of the company and home business in general will become. The "greater good" benefits me personally just as much as it benefits everyone else in the long run.

Lastly, the lowest level of EDC has 15 pages of software, with some pages having as many as 50 to 100 titles. There is no set comprehensive list of software that I know of, though they have updated our back office so that new members can see distinctly what each program offers (separated into different sections). I still have not gone through every single thing myself, and I've been involved for almost a year. What I am currently working on is creating more extensive lists for each program to put on my website because I feel it's important for potential customers to know more about what they're getting. Again, these lists will not contain every single product available in the back office, but they will provide more insight than what is listed on the replicated sites (and they will be broken down into categories for easy viewing). I'll let you know when that's ready (probably within the next few days).

-PA27

Mynion,

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. If you feel you can get the education elsewhere and the products are not worth purchasing to you, then so be it. I cannot speak for anyone else but myself or speak to anything other than what has involved me directly. I will say that many distributors only focus on selling the opportunity, not the products. However, there are many of us that do value and focus on the products. And despite what may be said, there are many members that join because of what they feel EDC can help them do with their own businesses (which would involve the products and the training).

I have taken marketing classes taught by board-certified professionals during college. And a few of the classes were less than $1000 (though not by much). I can only speak for myself, but those classes didn't teach a good majority of what I really needed to know. They were more like abridged versions of what I'm getting now. So while they weren't $1000, I consider them a waste of money all the same. Not to mention, a waste of time and additional costs for gas for going back and forth in the city every other day, books and materials, etc. When you add it all up, it came to about $1000 if not a bit more. And yes, a person could just opt for online versions of the courses taught be "accredited" online universities. But then, that's really no different from what I get with EDC. For myself, I have always found that I learn better from those who are actually out in the field dealing with specific issues or techniques every day, as opposed to those who just teach the theory of a concept or skill. Hands-on experience matters much more to me than being board-certified. At the end of the day, I want to know that the person who is educating me has experienced all of what they're teaching on their own, and have developed different ways of approaching different markets. I don't feel that I've ever gotten that from professors. Perhaps they've been out "in the trenches" before, but have probably been teaching for several years now and the experience they do have to share is a bit outdated. I prefer someone with their own company who is using and dealing with the same marketing approaches and issues each day. They have more relevant and up-to-date knowledge to share, in my opinion. Not to mention, if someone has a degree and has done their time in the industry, it is really all the same. Teaching in a school doesn't make the education any better or more worth the money. These are all just my opinions, though.

I am enjoying the members I have. All of them are working toward specific goals to boost and/or start up their own local businesses. I make a point of speaking directly with members before they join. I will say that out of the 6 newest members I have, about half of them have businesses they're looking to boost using the products and training from EDC, 1 is currently in a marketing position in the work force and looking to enhance his knowledge of online marketing and the others have set pretty realistic goals to earn a decent enough income to take care of debts. I don't see any greediness in those goals. I don't see people wanting to join just to make a bunch of money from others joining. I see people who are more interested in using the products themselves, or learning the skills. That is what matters to me. Again, I can only speak from personal experience, and I am only one member among thousands. I realize this. And so it is what it is.

The alternative, in my opinion, is to overpay for college education, degrees, certifications, collect and nice amount of debt in student loans while doing so, and find a job in whatever field I got a degree in to pay off those loans and make ends meet for the next 30 or 40 years. I don't personally prefer that kind of life. Everyone cannot up and start a brick & mortar business. Not only is the initial funding an issue, but so many other factors like credit scores, location and other financial responsibilities affect the success. We've all heard the statistics. We know that it takes a whole lot to get a business through its first few years. Home business, no matter whether its MLM, direct sales, or telecommuting for physical companies, has made it easier for folks to get more of a handle on their lives without taking up so much time that they have little left for family and personal interests. Everyone isn't born into a rich family, and everyone can't afford a college education. Some have to work to pay their way through college. Programs like EDC make it easier to do this. I don't see the harm in that. I have always said that if people do what's necessary to keep themselves in line with state and federal laws, file taxes properly for what they've earned and operate with more than just the income-earning aspect of the business in mind, they can eliminate the legal issues. As for whether the company itself is operating as it should be, I've seen nothing to the contrary, and at any rate its for the FTC to decide. As EDC has been around for about 2 years now, and we've not heard of any past or pending investigations into the company's operations, I can do nothing but assume that they are operating as they should for the time being. As long as I do what's necessary for myself, there shouldn't be any other concerns.

If you consider the products and/or training to be overpriced, then so be it. That is why there are so many different avenues for how and where to get what you need individually. However, lets all remember that most every product sold in this country and others are severely overprices. Most of what we buy doesn't cost the price we paid to make and/or distribute. I realize that 2 wrongs don't make a right, but home businesses and the products they provide are no different from products purchased at physical locations in that respect.

Every job opportunity or corporation in this country (and most everyone in the world) is set up as a pyramid. I'm not just saying that to justify what's considered a pyramid scheme. I have been in the work force for enough years to realize this. Unless you are among the top level executives of a company, your earnings are not the highest of what the company offers. With most corporations, those who do the majority of the work are underpaid, over-taxed, their salaries capped and provided just enough benefits to keep them quiet (if any), while the presidents, VPs, CEOs and other higher-ups reap most of the benefits (extended, paid vacations, shares in the company, larger salaries that are not capped at a certain amount, better daily working conditions...). Anyone who denies this is willfully blinding themselves. Perhaps EDC has, with its newer compensation features, become more like a pyramid. However, at least if it is there are opportunities for everyone to benefit and earn equally. I do not earn anymore or less than other EDC members because of the structure. My earning depends solely on me, my creativity, my efforts and advertising budget. Though I earn from assisting my members in terms of residual income, the fact that I earn doesn't take anything away from them and they're ability to earn. Not being at a certain level doesn't automatically mean you earn less than others. I'd rather be involved this way than working a good chunk of my life to make others rich. If I may be so bold as to say, this country no longer works to help the middle and lower class see success. It's no longer concerned with providing for the workers that make most of its economic development possible. It no longer cares to make the America Dream possible for everyone instead of a select few in the top few percentile. It's nice that there are still ways, like this program, where average, working class people can learn what it would cost them much more to learn through degree programs in colleges and also earn a living while reaping more of the benefits of their time and labor. That is what EDC Gold and programs like it provide, in my opinion.

-PA27

Heh, interesting questions.

The big difference between my own business ventures, and EDC and similar, is that I do not sell a service that solely involves paying me to join my company.

That's the difference - to make money with EDC, you have to pay to join, and then charge others to join the project.

I don't charge people to join my business - instead I pay them, and pay them for their specialist knowledge.

You make a good point about the sales force, though - EDC seems pretty focused on aggressive marketing, where the "product" marketed isn't the actual "products" paid for (ie, downloads), but instead a dream of easy money through charging others to join and charge etc.

That tends not to sound like a great business plan. You see, speaking proverbially, I want to still be able to pay my mortgage from my online business in 5, 10, 20 years time.

Can anyone seriously tell me that EDC in its current form has any real longevity?

PA_27 comes across as someone leveraging the scheme to bounce up to other more resilient income models, which is worthwhile.

But it's hard to be convinced that the majority of similar schemes, which are targeted directly at people who want to make money easily, are either resilient or respectable.

That's just my 2c, though.

Edc Gold has crappy products with nothing in them. Believe me I used to be in this program but i got sick of my sponser David Dubbs not helping me and i also got sick of paying monthly fees to the company when I wasn't making any money. It's also hard to make sales when the owners of the company compete against you. They have like a $12,000 a month marketing budget. Plus They are making money off of all their old and new members even if that person gets qualified they still get monthly income from them because of the monthly fees you have to pay. EDC Diamond is a prime example of the monthly fee roll up that goes forever.

Listen, I came in EDC GOLD for $997.00 and then was tricked to have to give up another $2,000 which is two sales to qualify that goes to your sponser and plus pay a monthly $39.95 to keep the Dave Dubbs marketing site and training site. Then you also have to pay the Edc Adminstration fee which is a monthly $49.95 to get paid through their replicated site that's supposed to be yours. Oh i forgot that you also have to pay for you Linkpoint Merchant Account which is like $38 dollars a month and you might need a 1800 number $$$$. Plus Advertising and certain marketing things they tell you to buy google adwords can kill your pocket book
Also David Dubbs tells you to buy what he uses to market. What everybody doesn't know is that majority of the sites that he tells you to go to and purchase products, are just one of his affiliate sites that was given to him from that company for that certain marketing product. You'll see his hoplink (yipit) attached to most of the sites he gives you if you pay attention to the web address bar at the top. It seems like everything he tells you to buy puts money in his pocket. No wonder he make over $100k a month
Everytime I emailed Dave for help or called one of his 1-800 numbers and left him a messagefor support, He always had someone else send me a message back. Where's the real support Dave. Edc Gold Drained my bank account and for one whole year I stayed dedicated to make it work and I never made a single sale.
What's really scandalous is that when I first joined Christmas 2006 Edc Gold was a new program in Easy Daily Cash that had just launched with a bigger payout plan. At that time Dave Dubbs was telling people that for Christmas he'll give them a super special deal for the Holidays. He said that if they joined with him in Edc Gold for $997.00 that he would automatically qualify them in Edc Gold program and all the lower programs like EDC and YNF. This way all he gets is a one time $997 from you and that's all. I thought that was a no brainer deal as Dubbs would say. So I signed up thinking I was already qualified.
A Few Months passed with me plugging into the system and I still haven't recieved a sale. Then one day I got curious and went to my replicated site and made a fake registration name and Id just to see what'll happen. That's when I found out that I was lied to and that when it came down for people to join me, no matter what happened Dave was gonna get paid first twice.
I'm not gonna lie Dave gives you good training but in the end you still have to pay for it every single month. Bottom Line is that I left EDC Gold for another real program with no monthly fees,convincing,explaining, or selling out dated digital products......Hope this info helps you make the right decision for your future success in a Home Based Business.

Sincerely,


Your bank accounts Guardian Angel

I am an EDC member doing pretty well, thank you very much. My comment is for those who say the products are not sales worthy. I have made more money selling the products than the opportunity. How? Easy, I have several websites covering several topics selling the products for me almost automatic. Now the opportunity itself is also wonderful, I'm going back to basics here, it is a home business ,treat it as a business you will do well, treat it as a hobby and you will be on this forum and many like it complaning.

Lets Get This Money!!!

Hey Guardian Angel,

Why not post what you did so I know what NOT to do?

John D. Ward

Somebody Needs to Get Rid of These Potatoe Heads Out There that Are Saying That You can Get Rich With My 100% Automated System. They are Claiming to Say that You Don't Have to Call Anyone, You Don't Have To Present, I mean who is going to believe this mumbo jumbo and who are they trying to kid. When Someone Approaches You about Marketing and This is If You Are going to Continue to Be a Marketer, Then You Need to Ask Them This Question?

What Do You Know About Marketing and What can You Teach Me?

"Marketing is the Art and Science of Communicating, Empowering, and Developing Relationships With other Human Beings based on Their Needs Not Mine or Yours."