Mike Driggers, a co-founder of California-based Agora Advantage, previously served as Vice President of the GoFun Rewards Ponzi scheme before its collapse in May 2013. Agora Advantage, which claims eight years in business backed by a 2015 domain registration, offers a suite of business solutions and marketing services through a multi-level marketing structure.
Driggers left GoFun Rewards just before the scheme unraveled. He then rebranded himself as a marketing coach. Vince Baker, another co-founder, has no prior MLM history, operating Vince Baker Ministries and listing himself as a "Business Marketing Agent, Internet Marketing Coach, Public Speaker, and Author."
Brian Jacks, the third co-founder, worked in finance and real estate before Agora Advantage. Steve Aust, the fourth co-founder, currently holds the title of Chief Growth Officer at Ion Digital Corp, a firm specializing in crypto integration. His professional biography states two decades of experience across venture capital, direct sales, and energy solutions. Aust co-founded Verdant and claims to have raised over $100 million for various direct sales companies, guiding them through initial public offerings. Verdant's last news update on its website dates back to 2015.
Agora Advantage presents itself as a business solutions provider. Its advertised services include internet marketing, such as search engine optimization (SEO), paid traffic campaigns, video marketing, and review management. The company also offers eLearning platforms, website development, new business launch support, credit card processing, and business financing options. No pricing for these specific consultation services is publicly available; potential clients are directed to "book a free consultation."
The company also sells tiered "Business Packages," which introduce a separate pricing structure. These packages range from free to $1,297 per month. The "Market Awareness" package is free, providing access to the Agora Marketplace, business network events, and a LocalConnect directory listing. For $97 monthly, the "Market Partner" package adds sales support, a Business Academy, video conferencing, Agora Business Compass, and a Business Locator.
The "Market Elevator" package costs $197 monthly and includes automation and workflow tools. Stepping up to "Market Accelerator" at $697 monthly incorporates Instagram marketing. The top-tier "Market Dominator" package, priced at $1,297 monthly, adds press release distribution services. The relationship between the initial "free consultation" services and these monthly Business Packages remains undefined.
Agora Advantage compensates its affiliates, known as Member Advisors, through commissions on Business Package subscriptions. The potential for commissions on consultation sales is unclear due to the absence of public pricing. The compensation plan includes five affiliate ranks: Member Advisor, Qualified Member Advisor, Regional Member Advisor, National Member Advisor, and Executive Member Advisor. Each rank requires specific sales targets, recruitment figures, or total volume thresholds.
Affiliates can also advance through ranks based solely on Personal Volume (PV). Generating 1,000 PV monthly qualifies an individual as a Qualified Member Advisor, while 35,000 PV monthly achieves Executive Member Advisor status. PV is generated from selling Business Packages, but the conversion rate from package price to PV is not disclosed by Agora Advantage. Group Volume (GV) tracks the combined PV from an affiliate and their entire downline.
Personal sales earn affiliates 50% of the sales volume. If another affiliate assists in closing a sale, the commission splits 20% to the helper and 30% to the primary seller. Residual commissions are paid through a unilevel structure, capped at seven levels deep. Payout percentages vary by rank, starting at 9% on level one and decreasing to 3% or 5% on deeper levels.
Three bonus pools distribute 10% of company-wide sales volume among Regional, National, and Executive Member Advisors. An affiliate's share from these pools depends on their accumulated Group Volume. An additional 3% commission is paid on company-wide sales generated by any third-party vendors referred by an affiliate to sell through Agora Advantage. Membership to become an affiliate costs $97 per month.
Many of Agora Advantage's core offerings appear outdated for the current digital business environment. For example, the LocalConnect directory listing, which the company claims is worth $5,900 annually, relies on a business model largely superseded by modern search engines. Most consumers and businesses now use platforms like Google Search to find local services, rendering traditional directories nearly obsolete. SimilarWeb traffic analytics indicate LocalConnect's traffic is too low to even track.
The press release distribution service, valued at $12,000 annually by Agora Advantage, represents another questionable offering. Outside of specific corporate announcements like executive appointments or major product launches, press releases rarely generate significant public engagement or media coverage in the digital age. They are often used by struggling companies to create an illusion of activity.
The Business Locator tool, which Agora Advantage charges $7,000 yearly for, crawls the web for business contact information, Google My Business data, Yelp ratings, and social media profiles. All of this information is generally accessible to anyone through free online search engines and public platforms. The Market Dominator package, at $1,297 monthly, costs $600 more than the Market Accelerator package. The only added benefit for this price increase is the press release service.
Agora Advantage does not differentiate between sales made to retail customers and sales made to its own affiliates. Member Advisors can purchase packages under their own accounts to access product savings. This structure raises concerns that Agora Advantage may primarily function as a recruitment tool, where affiliates enroll others who then purchase packages to qualify for commissions, rather than focusing on genuine retail sales to external customers. If the majority of company-wide sales volume originates from affiliates buying their own packages, the business model can resemble a pyramid scheme, where payouts depend more on recruitment than product sales.
In February 2024, Agora Advantage's website registered approximately 1,600 monthly visits, according to SimilarWeb data. For a company that sells extensive marketing services and claims access to a full marketing suite, this traffic volume is notably low.