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When a person is interested in pursuing a internet based business they normally have two basic options. MLM aka Multi-Level-Marketing verses going it alone (Stand Alone - SA) is a huge and critical choice that most online marketers face.

When someone decides to conduct the MLM model of business they have made a conscious choice to count and depend on others to help build their business together - working as a team for the good of the team etc. Their success largely depends on the actions of others. The essence of the MLM model is depending on someone else to recruit someone else and so forth through many similar generations.

With a stand alone (SA) net business model the internet marketer has decided to use one of the proven internet business models such as the membership site model where theyre offering some type of membership or the info-product model where they create and sell some sort of information product or the resell rights model where they purchase a product created by someone else and then resell it from their website or the simple affiliate model where they are selling products for another company for a commission.

And lets not forget about the simple Adsense type of Model in which folks have a website or even just a webpage with content and related ads surrounding the content. You have undoubtedly seen those ads by goooooooogle on many sites if youve done any web surfing at all. Those site owners get paid when anyone clicks on one of those ads.

There are many other SA internet business models which I wont bother to get into now and the above mentioned are the most popular in the SA community.

One of the more interesting happenings about online business is that many present and former MLMers dont even know they have/had a choice between MLM and SA.

Many well meaning folks seek to get into a internet business and quickly become enticed by the thought of the quick & easy money that MLM offers and never opt to even investigate the SA option. They dont know its available. An estimated that 80% of folks doing business on the net are using some type of MLM program as their path to success. Most are total newbies or havent been at it for more than 1 year to 18 months.

Lets quickly look at important aspects of both options:

How To They Earn Income?

With MLM all you need is a couple/three people to sign up and join you and also for your sign ups to repeat the process through 4 or 5 generations and quick and easy ( mostly residual ) income is yours. All you need is 2 or 3 people to join you from the entire internet. It sounds so easy. Normally a monthly fee is involved in which the MLMer gets a piece of each and every month their sign up stays enrolled in the MLM program.

With SA you have to earn your money sale by sale or action by action depending on the model you choose to use.

What Marketing Platform(s) Do They Use?

With most MLM programs you dont even need a website and newbies love that. The so-called technical angle of a simple website or webpage horrifies most of them.

The program they are promoting gives them their own special link to the MLM programs home page. Sometimes the program tells the newbie that they will have their very own website which at best is a replicated website which the newbie has no control over to make any changes or enhancements to etc. When they send a prospect to the MLM programs homepage or to their replicated website that signs up, the sender gets the credit and the sale.

MLMers also feel relieved theyve escaped the small technical hurdle of putting up a website or webpage that most newbies dread with a passion. And they have also escaped the awesome monthly cost of a website hosting account. ( average of $5 - $15 per month )

Doing business as cheap as possible is understandable and appeals to everyone but by forgoing a website they miss out on opportunities to build a list of prospects that they can market to over and over again and other marketing tactics that can only be performed with a webpage.

SA folks normally have at least a website and the minimal expertise these days to slap up any type of website/webpage they desire. Were talking cutting and pasting here . They are totally flexible as to what goes in/on their site and can make modifications to enhance their offers whenever they desire.

The savvy among SAers also have a blog related to their offer and perhaps a Squidoo and Myspace profile also. With the savvy SAers, its common knowledge that the more platforms you use the more opportunities you have to expand your marketing reach.

How Do They Market Their Wares?

MLMers normally advertise at hangouts for other MLMers and biz op advertising sources in general such as traffic exchanges.

Savvy SAers use a number of methods to get visitors to their offers which range from paying for visitors using PPC (pay per click) to free traffic generating methods such as writing articles, getting ranked in the search engines, using Blogs, linking strategies, videos and other methods to name a few.

The average MLMer is less likely to use any of the above mentioned traffic generation strategies. Many are clicking for visitors at traffic exchanges and most are not doing that properly.

SA folks count on their knowledge of strategies and tactics to get visitors to their offers and generate income and not other people in their organization - they dont have a organization.

What Markets Do They Operate In?

MLMers by the nature of their operation are confined to the huge biz opportunity market. It is one of the most competitive markets in the entire internet besides the download porn movies/sex industry. The competition is absolutely ferocious. They are trying to sell a biz opportunity to folks that are trying to sell to them a biz opportunity.

This very fact eliminates 85-90% of they people that see their ads since these folks are only interested in promoting their offers and not signing up for another. The pool of prospects seems huge on the surface but actual prospects are hard to come by at less than 10-15%. That 10-15% are folks that are total newbies and/or disenchanted with the current program they are promoting and looking for another.

SAers have a choice of over 50,000 online groups or niches to market to. Many are operating in the biz op market providing tools and resources to other SAers and just as many are outside the niche aka niche marketers.

They learn from and then take superior tactics and tools from the very completive biz op market and use them in and on other niche markets where folks just want good info or services and are not trying to sell something. It must be easier to sell to folks that are not trying to sell to you.

Success Rates:

There are hundreds of thousands of at least moderately successful SAers and only a handful of successful MLMers. The few successful MLMers are quick to signup and promote a new program, have deep pockets or are the very owner and founder of the program to begin with which naturally give them a big, big edge.

Conclusions:

If youre interested in operating a internet based business your best choice is clearly the SA option. 99.99% of internet business success stories are of folks that just happen to operate a SA option.

Its no coincidence., since the savvy SAers inexpensively experiment until they find a project/offer that works for them - and repeat the process. MLMers move from program to program until they have had enough and quit the biz or determine to move to the SA world. 9 out of 10 quit.

Sure you have more to learn and more to do in order to achieve success with SA but the MLM option is riddled with built-in failure, excessive competition and millions of former MLMers that have quit the biz and now believe internet marketing is a scam. Its a shame because they made the wrong choice or didnt know they had a choice between MLM and SA.

Big Tip: Stay away from the MLM option if you want to pursue a profitable internet based business.

TL Saunders is a 3 year, full time veteran of online business and the owner of Top Internet Business Models.com specializing in providing proven, affordable and doable internet business models and resources. Stop by and checkout our free, non biased internet business model reviews and more. http://TopInternetBusinessModels.com
TL Saunders