The reading level for this article is Novice

I have got to hand it to Emerald Passport Incorporated (EPI) because it is a polished sales pitch if I ever heard one. For an initial fee of $1,295.00, you can purchase the Emerald Passport Incorporated, EPI Passport to Prosperity Online Webucational Materials. This package is touted as the “most complete financial wealth strategies and personal development courses ever assembled in one place.”

Emerald Passport Incorporated has created a combination of financial/wealth/insurance/self-help training materials in a variety of volume formats with ecourse, audio, and video classes available. It is a spiritual, new age, psychological, financial, wealth generating hodge podge. The EPI Prosperity Online Webucational Materials package is supposed to change your life so that you can move forward to create wealth (self-help component) while getting the financial and wealth knowledge from remainder of the titles in the package. This is the product.

This is not, according to all materials that I have reviewed, multi-level marketing, as traditionally thought of in affiliate programs. Once recruited and having forked over the required $1,295.00 to receive help from your sponsors (you can join for $99.00), you must now recruit another 2 purchasers. The fees these 2 purchasers pay will include the $1000.00 (2 times) compensation to your sponsors for all they have done for you.

Now, you are set free and became a sponsor in your own right. Everyone you recruit to the program is going to give you their first two recruits and the $1000.00 profit margin built in that $1,295.00 purchase price. It’s somewhat confusing until you see the math. The streaming videos at the EPI websites will explain the compensation structure. They claim it’s not MLM, but it sure has all the signs of being a cousin of multi-level marketing. There are sponsors (uplines) and there are recruits (downlines).

There may be other costs. Check to see what the website will cost, what the passport to the live conference calls will cost, and what your toll free telephone service is going to cost because you have to find recruits. You will, undoubtedly, do this with advertising. And, advertising, both offline and online can cost big money.

You will most likely bear all the responsibility for placing ads seeking Emerald Passport Incorporated recruits who would each be “encouraged” to spend $1295.00. Remember, once you get your upline sponsor two recruits who purchase the EPI Prosperity Online Webucational Materials package that any new takers are for you! You get to keep the $1000.00 profit off each additional sale beyond the first two.

You may have to place ads, and do telephone follow-up and prospecting to qualify the folks that respond to your ads. EPI states in their advertising, that they do all the selling for you at the conference calls, but you need to see how prospects arrive at the call site.

Verify that you can live with the delivery and the message of the conference call. Many people will be turned off if it resembles one great big Amway meeting. I don’t enjoy feeling like I have attended a revival meeting online and will quickly hang up if this is the style of the presentation, so beware of what you are getting into.

If the teleconferences use all the big name Emerald Passport Incorporated successes to share their stories, and bait people, you may want to investigate if they, then and within 24 hours of the conference call, follow up with each prospect on a three way call where a buddy system approach was used to snag the sale.

There are easier ways to get the same educational materials. They are available at the public library for free and they are available from other sources on the web. Maybe not under the same title, but the content will be remarkably similar.

I am not saying that Emerald Passport Incorporated is not for some of you. The money can be phenomenal, but it may not as easy as it is presented to be. This may take real investment, real work, and be very time consuming, especially if you don’t like prospecting strangers over the phone.

EPI states that they are the only program available using this method of informational sales to prospects with the aforementioned compensation plan. Not true, Liberty League International, has the same process going with its Beyond Freedom package.

It’s not for me, but for all of you who think it might be for you, get the details. Find out how you are supposed to get prospects/recruits and what that means in costs and time to you.

 


This Entrepreneurship article was written by Gracie Bowers on 9/8/2005

Gracie Bowers is an industry established leader in reviewing and critiquing home based businesses. Her website, on home based business opportunities, HomeBizCritic.com provides a wide array of insite on available programs. You can even view thebest home based business which she uses to make her money, allowing her to have free time to write!