WHY THE MULTI-TIER AFFILIATE STRUCTURE IS DIFFERENT
Multiple people getting paid on one sale isn’t the same thing as requiring people to recruit.
Let’s talk about something that seems to confuse a lot of people.
The participating advertising websites can pay commissions across five connected positions:
20% → 15% → 10% → 5% → 5%
Somebody sees multiple positions and immediately thinks the whole business must revolve around recruiting.
But before you decide what a business is, shouldn’t you find out what it actually sells—and what people have to do to get paid?
START WITH A CAR DEALERSHIP
I’ve spent more than twenty years in the car business, so here’s an example I understand.
A dealership can have a salesperson, sales manager, used-car manager, general manager and owner.
Depending on how the dealership is organized, several people can benefit financially from one completed vehicle sale.
Does that automatically make the dealership a recruitment operation because more than one person receives compensation?
Of course that fact alone doesn’t establish anything like that.
The dealership isn’t the same organizational or legal structure as an affiliate network. But it demonstrates something important: counting compensation positions doesn’t explain what customers are buying or what participants must do to earn.
SO WHAT ARE CUSTOMERS BUYING HERE?
Advertising.
The basic product is a $7 Parking Spot: a full-page advertisement with its own URL on a participating niche website.
The customer may want to promote a car, business, rental, service, event, product, video or something else that belongs on that Island.
They can buy the advertising without becoming an affiliate.
They don’t have to recruit anybody.
They don’t have to build a network.
They are buying a product they can use.
WHAT DOES AN AFFILIATE HAVE TO BUY?
Under the standard published Freak Sites Affiliate Terms:
- Affiliate enrollment is free, subject to approval.
- There is no required starter kit.
- There is no required inventory purchase.
- There is no mandatory monthly personal order.
- There is no autoship requirement.
- There is no monthly personal or group purchase-volume requirement to unlock the standard commission structure.
- There is no obligation to recruit another affiliate to earn direct commissions.
You can apply for free, become approved, find advertising customers and earn eligible direct commissions without building a team.
WHAT ACTUALLY CREATES A COMMISSION?
A qualifying paid advertising purchase.
Not somebody joining.
Not somebody registering.
Not somebody recruiting two friends.
Not a click.
Not a mandatory purchase to keep your account active.
The customer has to buy an eligible product through a properly attributed transaction.
For one $7 Parking Spot, the current standard commission amounts are:
| Eligible Position | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Direct referral | 20% | $1.40 |
| First connected | 15% | $1.05 |
| Second connected | 10% | $0.70 |
| Third connected | 5% | $0.35 |
| Fourth connected | 5% | $0.35 |
One person doesn’t automatically collect every percentage. Each position must be eligible and properly connected on the particular Island where the purchase occurs.
CAN SOMEONE BUILD A CONNECTED AFFILIATE NETWORK?
Yes. They can choose to introduce other people who also become approved affiliates.
Those people can find their own advertising customers. If qualifying purchases occur through the properly connected path, eligible connected commissions may be generated.
But the introduction itself creates no commission.
The difference is between being compensated for a qualifying advertising purchase and being paid merely to sign someone up.
THE BUSINESS DOESN’T REQUIRE YOU TO RECRUIT
You can stay entirely direct.
Find one customer. Find ten. Find fifty. Help them understand the advertising. Build repeat customer relationships if the product genuinely serves their needs.
Or build a connected affiliate network too. That’s optional.
The fact that connected commissions are possible doesn’t change the published requirements for direct affiliates.
WHY I THINK THIS DISTINCTION MATTERS
People shouldn’t have to pay for the privilege of selling a product they haven’t even evaluated.
And customers shouldn’t be buying advertising just because somebody convinced them they need monthly purchases to qualify for commissions.
The advertising should have a legitimate purpose of its own.
That is what I wanted to build.
CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT. UNDERSTAND WHAT IT DOES.
The terms “multi-level,” “multi-tier,” “network marketing” and “MLM” may be used differently in ordinary conversation and legal analysis. The legal treatment of a particular arrangement depends on its actual design and operation, not simply on a label.
This page describes the published product and compensation rules. It isn’t a formal legal classification.
Here’s the distinction I want people to understand: we sell advertising products. We don’t sell memberships that pay people just for recruiting other members.