Empower Network's David Wood recently advised affiliates to recruit 300 new "customers" monthly in 2014. He urged them to conduct weekly recruiting presentations and training sessions, a practice common as many multi-level marketing (MLM) companies began rebranding both affiliates and retail buyers simply as "customers."
This collective reference to all participants as "customers" is a tactic. Public relations firms and compliance teams developed it to imply that an affiliate, engaged in a business opportunity, is equivalent to a traditional retail customer. The distinction between these roles often disappears in company marketing.
Wood, a key figure at Empower Network, posted on Facebook outlining steps for affiliates to "REALLY take off" in their ventures. He insisted that affiliates commit to at least one weekly recruiting presentation and one weekly training session.
He presented five years of data, stating that without these consistent efforts, an affiliate's chance of earning beyond a few thousand dollars monthly approaches lottery odds. Wood then detailed the recruitment volume he believed necessary.
Wood declared his personal goal: "I'm personally going to sponsor 300 new customers a month in 2014." He framed this aggressive target as proof. He argued that recruiting two "customers" a day should be a simple task for individuals without his extensive company-building, family, and corporate responsibilities. He added that he pursued this goal purely by choice, not for contest eligibility.
Empower Network's website claims 155,000 "customers." Generously assuming 66% are affiliates, this figure rounds to 100,000 for practical analysis. The company's recruitment strategy appears to focus on bringing in more affiliates, rather than selling products to traditional retail customers.
For each of the estimated 100,000 Empower Network affiliates to recruit two "customers" daily for a year, the company would need to onboard 73 million new participants annually, a rate far exceeding typical market growth.