Why I think this has a chance

Transcription

1 Why I think this has a chance Like most people (probably including you), I was very skeptical when I first heard about this Roving Rewards thing. I thought: here we go again; another MLM (Multi Level Marketing) with a limited life that will take most suckers to the cleaners. But I kept asking questions and listening, and a number of things began to come together. When I saw the courses being offered ( Introduction to Windows 7, Social Network Marketing, etc.), I was even more convinced that this was just another gimmick going nowhere. My wife Raweewan (Wan) is Asian (she is from Thailand). When she heard about this offer, she suggested they should be selling Learn to Speak English courses if they wanted to succeed in countries like China. She said nearly all Asians wanted to learn English, but it was too expensive for most, even though costs were infinitely lower in Asia than they are here. For example, in Thailand, she says the most basic course, of say 30 hours, would cost at least USD150. This represents about two weeks wages for the average Thai. To take more advanced courses which would equip the student to hold a conversation in English with a foreigner could cost many thousands of dollars. Very few Thai people could ever afford that. Many enroll in online courses for about USD 75 a month. The situation would be similar, if not more difficult, in China. When I confronted my colleague with this, he pointed out respectfully that I hadn t listened (I wondered why). My eyes probably glazed over and my brain shut down as soon as he had started trying to explain what I thought was MLM. He pointed out that Roving Rewards was all about teaching English courses to Asians, and that he had told me this. The programs in the interim were to test drive the program in Australia and iron out any bugs before launching in China. When Wan heard this she became very excited. Roving Rewards is producing a series of professional English language learning courses, first in Mandarin (Chinese), complete with CDs or MP3s etc., for USD 100, to be paid once only. They are even going to let the Chinese pay these USD 100 in installments. The reason for this is that many Chinese would not have USD 100, so once a student has enrolled in a course (e.g. with a deposit of USD 33), he or she can then become an affiliate and go and enroll other students and thus earn money to pay for their own course and more. For each student that is enrolled, the enroller will be paid a commission of USD 33. There are already expats and Chinese nationals in China salivating waiting for this opportunity. RR is planning on doing the same thing in other Asian countries (Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, and others.), but let s not even think about that yet. China is enough for now. The pitch to the Chinese people will be simple Enroll in a series of English language learning courses worth thousands of dollars for USD 100 only, and earn an income from finding and enrolling other students. For all sorts of reasons this venture could fail. At least, I know the promoters aren t crooks. I have known Greg Farrar for 25 years. I have not met Brett Wilkins-Byrd, but his integrity jumps out at you over the phone. He is an IT professional who also writes courses (Windows 7, etc.). The chances are high that the project will be a success. I sat down and did the sums (see below). I figured that the potential far outweighed the risk. For the cost of a meal in a restaurant I just might make a lot of money. The group appears to be doing everything the right way so far, paying the right professional people (legal, translation, etc.), and walking before they run, by test driving their concept in Australia. How it works Let's call it a matrix with 31 persons, and these are placed in five rows (these are not levels as in multi-level marketing and there are no commissions paid at each level )

2 Imagine the above matrix represents a classroom. Number 1 at the front is the teacher. He/she is facing four rows of students, in rows of two, four, eight and sixteen students (if the back row has been filled up). Outside of the classroom are other students waiting to come in. When the matrix is completed with the latest 16 students, the teacher is moved to another room to teach a class at a higher level. So the two students in the front row move up, and both become teachers. The class splits into two, and each teacher is now facing his own set of four rows with 2, 4, 8, and 16 students who have all come in from the queue outside or are in the process of being taken in from new applications. Note that there is no upline or downline as in MLM. Who signs up whom, means nothing to the matrix. The next person in, is the next person in. The only thing important about who signs up whom is that each student affiliate must personally sign up two new students in order to qualify for affiliate commissions and bonus payments, which is fair enough. But that is the only commitment you have. If you don t sign up two, your commissions will accrue, but you will only be paid those initial USD 33. Once you have signed up two new students, you can literally sit back and let the others do the rest of the matrix development. However, the smarties will see enormous benefits in signing up more than two (see later). Commission and Bonuses For each USD100 that comes in, RR pays out a third in commission and a third in bonuses, and keep a third for themselves to cover their costs and make a profit. The person who signed you up will receive USD 33 in commission, and you will receive USD 33 for each person you sign up. The reason you give the new student your website (which has your unique number) is that the computer recognizes you as the person who signed up the new student and puts the commission in your account. When you move up and become a teacher, you move out of the USD 100 course matrix and into the next level language course, where courses are offered for USD 250 each. Here you are paid a bonus of USD 528, which is 16 times USD 33. Of these, RR take out USD 250 and enroll you in this USD 250 course, with you receiving a payment of USD 278 ($528 less $250) in your account. Instead of USD 100, now RR has USD 250 to distribute in thirds. Instead of USD 33, the commission and bonus will be USD 83 this time, ie the students/affiliates you originally signed up in the USD 100 course, are also moved on to the USD 250 course level after a while and you will be paid USD 83 commission for each one. There are two more levels of language courses and the given principle is repeated there as well. So, having filled the USD 250 course with 31 students, again you (and after a while those students previously signed up by you, will move on to the next level which is a USD 500 course. As you leave, you will collect a bonus of USD 1,328 (16 x USD 83). As before, this time USD 500 will be deducted from those USD 1,328 to enroll you, and your account be be credited with USD 828. This time, RR has USD 500 to split three ways, so the commission for each of your students that you signed up will be USD 166, as they are also spat out after a while, and the bonus will be 16 x USD 166, which is USD 2,656-1,000=USD 1,656. The commission third here is USD 333 and the bonus USD 5,328 (16 x USD 333).

3 I am not sure what will happen after this. I don t think it has been determined yet. I understand RR is planning to have the English speaking course advanced to some internationally recognized level (e.g. diploma) by stage four (the USD 1,000 level), so it may be that from then on you will simply be paid the bonus in its entirety each time you move on to the next matrix. Big deal, you might say. USD 5,328 is hardly a fortune. But that is the amount you receive each time you are spat out of the matrix. And if a million Chinese come in under us, pushing us sideways and up at a ferocious pace, that could be happening frequently. I don t know. My brain can t stretch that far. When the promotion of the courses starts in the Asian countries, the matrixes established in Australia with sign- ups from wherever remain in place and are simply carried over and on. But won t this process slow down when huge numbers are coming in? I believe the answer is yes, and RR are planning for this. They are talking about paying a USD 10,000 bonus when you get to the fourth course level. There is enough fat in the system for this. A bonus is paid to someone every time 31 new people come into the system. But the bonus is only 16 times, not 31 times. So they will have sufficient money to pay those USD 10,000 bonus at the fourth course level, according to a mathematician. I know they have no plans for keeping any of that money for themselves. What happens after that has not been decided at this stage. They might use another product and allow us all to start again. They certainly don t want to see it die, like many MLM or ponzi schemes have. Won t someone be left holding the baby? Theoretically, yes, although this will be a long time from now, and that problem will be faced in China or a later Asian country added to the program. I doubt that any Australian or other nationality sign-up student/affiliate will be personally affected to any great extent. One point that intrigues me is the potential commission if you sign up a lot of people. If you only sign up two, then when they are spat out at the fourth course level, you will earn USD 666 (2 x USD 333). But what if you signed up 100 people? That would be USD 33,300. And how often will you get spat out? The mind boggles. Frequently Asked Questions Already a few questions have arisen, so I will address them here. I am sure there will be more to come. Is this Multi-Level Marketing? No, it is not. Commissions are not paid down many levels. Commission (USD 33 at the first course level) is paid once only to the person who enrolls a new student in a USD 100 course. There is no downline, upline, points, legs, autoship, meetings, etc. etc. etc. This is simply enrolling in a series of professional English courses at a massive discount and then getting paid a commission and later a bonus for recommending them to others. We have the privilege of test driving, ie promoting the model in Australia first, so RR can iron out the bugs, and getting paid for it. All for USD 100. No ongoing monthly, annual or any additional charges whatsoever. What if I can t find 2 new students to enroll? You probably should not become an affiliate. This may not be for you. A quality educational course at a deep discount for a once only USD 100, the cost of a meal in a restaurant, plus the opportunity to earn significant commission and bonuses, should not be difficult to sell. You are welcome to use any of this material I have written, provided it is the latest issue. To qualify for commission and bonus payments, you must enroll at least 2 others. If you do not enroll 2 others, your earnings will accrue, but you will not be paid. You will never lose your commission, but you just won t get paid until you enroll two more students. But that is the end of your commitment if you wish. You can enroll as many as you like, but there is no penalty or loss if you only enroll 2. The rest is done by others. Of course, there are significant benefits in enrolling more

4 than 2, but that is an option. What if my 2 students are lazy? That will not affect you. Your success does not depend on what any of your sign-ups does. There will be many people come in after you, including hopefully a million or so Chinese, and they will all push you up in each matrix. If anyone fails to enroll two more students, they will not receive any payments, but that will not affect you. Again, this is not MLM. But people hate MLM. I have been burned before and I have burned all my relatives and friends. This is not MLM. I call it the revenge of the MLMers. This is the opportunity to purchase an educational course at a deep discount, and of being paid a commission and bonus for recommending it to others. Yes, it is network marketing, but it is not MLM. It is not a pyramid, any more than traditional wholesaling and retailing is a pyramid. I am having trouble signing up. I enrolled for the course, and PayPal took my USD 100, but I was not directed back to Roving Rewards to sign up as an affiliate or I have not received an from RR. Check your junk mail folder. If it is not there, let me or the person who signed you up know. Or you can contact Brett Wilkins-Byrd direct at [email protected]. Brett is a very obliging man, but obviously very busy. How do I sign up new students? After you have enrolled in the course, PayPal will send you an confirming that they have received your money. A few days later you will receive an from Roving Rewards advising your login details and user name and password for the affiliate program. It will also tell you what your replicated website address is (this will be similar to the one that you signed up on, except that your number at the end will be different). You can tell your students to go to your page and sign up the same way you did with me. Do I have to open a PayPal account? There is no rush. It is true that at present you can only be paid commission through a PayPal account, for security reasons, but within a month or so, Roving Rewards will be operating through a very large Asian bank, so you may not need a PayPal account. PayPal is very secure, but does not have to conform to bank regulation, and can become dictatorial. There are cases where money has been frozen in a PayPal account merely on the grounds of suspicion (not that that can t happen with a bank). When are the commissions paid? They are credited to the account every time they are earned and can be taken out of the PayPal account on the 15 th of each month, provided there is a minimum of USD 99 in there. Won t the Authorities shut this down? Nothing is ever impossible, and most of us have experienced heavy handed bureaucracy. However, RR have taken legal advice at every step, and there would be appear to be no reason for concern here. For one thing, this is not multi-level marketing. I understand MLM is illegal in China. Yet Amway have been operating there for 15 years For another thing, the reason why you are asked to sign up for the learning course first before you are invited to become an affiliate is so that it cannot be construed that one is dependent on the other.

5 Can I buy multiple positions in the matrix? Given that the process is enrollment in an educational course, I don t think it would be appropriate to have multiple positions in the name of one person without risking questions from the thought police. Family members should be no problem. However, remember that each person who signs up has to get two more. So it could get a bit difficult if you go too far down that track. This information is to the best of my knowledge. If I discover that any of it is incorrect, I will keep you posted. December 2010 Graham Dyer (Accountant in Australia)