The Truth About Buy-In Programs

Do you really have to buy in to make money? I’m sharing a story from my early network marketing days today where buying products was mandatory and results often fell short. But affiliate marketing, that’s a whole different game. Stick around to learn what truly separates the two, and when investing up front actually pays off. Let’s dive in. 

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I’m Igor Kheifets, and this is the List Building Lifestyle, the podcast for anyone who wants to build a wildly profitable email list working from home. If you’d like to make six figures, travel the world and help people improve their lives in the process, this podcast is for you. I also invite you to claim a free copy of my best selling book the List Building Lifestyle Confessions of an Email Millionaire at igorsbook.com. Get the free book plus $3,000 bonus package that includes my best capture page templates, email swipe files and traffic blueprints, Visit www.igorsbook.com for details, and now it’s time to claim your List Building Lifestyle.

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Like I got my start in network marketing and so, any network marketing opportunity I got involved in, I always had to buy the product first, and then, you know, preferably even use it. But obviously, most of the time in network marketing, nobody uses the product. They just try to make sure that this product gets washed down the drain, right? So it’s like a cream or wine or spray of some kind. So they can ship you a new box every month.

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So, obviously, you know, like, for example, one of the first business opportunities I got involved in was like a fuel additive that you put in the gas tank for your car, and it supposedly makes the car kind of go further on. That same amount of fuel I did with my dad’s car. And apparently our car wasn’t really compatible or something, or maybe they just the claims were bogus. But my dad was really angry when he had to spend, you know, 300 something dollars to clean the gas tank and, like, do all kinds of stuff. Like he said, you know, good thing that we didn’t kill the engine. So my point is, network marketing companies will usually make you buy the product to promote it.

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When my mom joined Herbalife way back when, like the early 2000s she had to buy all the creams. She had to buy all the lotions and potions and powders and supplements in order to promote them. I even remember the lady who sold it to her. She would invite my mom over to her place, sit her down, make her a cup of tea. They’ll chat, and they’ll gossip, and they’ll, you know, the time my mom still smokes cigarettes. So they would smoke cigarettes together, and then eventually she would bring out a, you know, bunch of boxes with, like, really beautiful bottles and stuff. And she’ll say, like, this cream is for your face, and this is what you put in your food. And this is something, you know, to lose weight. There’s something to gain weight, there’s something to have your skin glow better.

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I had no idea what was going on and why my mom was spending so much money on this stuff. But it is what it is. Affiliate marketing is not exactly that. Affiliate marketing is not network marketing. It’s sort of inspired by it, I think, because in network marketing, you’re promoting someone else’s product and getting paid a commission, usually recurring one. But in affiliate marketing, you can just promote, right? You can just go ahead and sell the product and get a commission, kind of like, if you will, if you become a representative of some kind of clothing brand. You don’t have to buy the clothes to refer people to, right? So, but that’s probably true for 90% of affiliate programs where you will not be asked to buy the product. However, there are programs where you do have to get in and buy it and to become certified as well. 

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For example, a while back, I told you about the Ambassador Program by John Thornhill. You know you have to buy in to be a part of it, because that’s how John decided to do it, because he got an infrastructure behind it. There’s, like, a lot of stuff in Dean Holland’s program, right? The Internet Profit Partners, same you know, he gets you certified first and but then you qualify to promote, like, super high ticket products. 

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So it’s not for every program, but some programs do require that, and in my experience, 9 times out of 10 when I found an affiliate program where I had to buy in, I ended up making a lot of money. Usually we’re talking, you know, multiple hundreds of 1000s over the course of several years. So for me, those investments tend to be good ones but you know, I can, you know, I can’t say that every program will be good.

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You have to do your own due diligence. Of course, you know, I only joined programs where I personally knew the people behind them. I knew their track record, like, for example, Dean Holland. I’ve been following Dean Holland since before I was even making money online. John Thornhill, same thing. He was like a guru before I became one, you know, so I knew these guys were legit.

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Thank you for listening to the list. Building lifestyle. Get access to the previous episodes, transcript of today’s show, as well as other exclusive content at listbuildinglifestyleshow.com. Also remember to claim your free copy of my best selling book at www.igorsbook.com. It explains how I made millions with list building starting from scratch, plus I’ll give you $3,000 worth of free bonuses, including my best landing page templates, email swipe files and traffic blueprints. Go to www.igorsbook.com now to claim your free package.