Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

SFI is the same as the rest of the internet: You can't really force anyone to do anything. You can only offer to help, offer to teach, and generally offer to provide support and encouragement, but those that don't accept have already chosen their lot.
When SFI can provide us with a Big Red Button that lets us shock our teams into action, I'll be thrilled, but until then, you can only settle for what a given affiliate does or doesn't do. Some will opt out, some will time out due to inactivity, and some may limp along for months as regular affiliates without duplication or commission. We can't control that.

We can, however, find new PSAs and work on getting them to work and take this process seriously. Admittedly, it takes time to find these people, but when we find them, we know they're worth keeping.
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SFI is the same as the rest of the internet: You can't really force anyone to do anything. You can only offer to help, offer to teach, and generally offer to provide support and encouragement, but those that don't accept have already chosen their lot.
When SFI can provide us with a Big Red Button that lets us shock our teams into action, I'll be thrilled, but until then, you can only settle for what a given affiliate does or doesn't do. Some will opt out, some will time out due to inactivity,
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

You're absolutely, incontrovertibly right: thousands of SFI affiliates *are* doing the same thing. It's the downside of people who take the idea of "duplication" too literally. Upline sponsors often teach their affiliates to do *exactly* the same things they did, including the same ad sites, the same traffic programs, and even click-to-surf sites they used. The result, as you say, is that it gets harder and harder for people who do this to stand out.

However, each of us is more than just an affiliate. We have our own likes, interests, hopes, and dreams, and we know plenty of NON-affiliates with whom we can share them... and comparatively few of those will have even heard of SFI or TripleClicks. We also have other activities that we do, and those, too, can provide ways to reach outside of the usual crowd of opportunity-seekers. Put simply, you can stand out from the crowd simply by accessing a different crowd.

Similarly, we all have unique skills that we bring to the table. For example, I write, design ads, and even design games. My SFI ads are in different colors, with different text. They stand out. As I can pull together new print-runs, the games I make will end up on TripleClicks.

One thing each of us can do with our skills, even if they don't relate directly to sales and marketing, is put up YouTube videos with links to your gateways (directly or indirectly) featuring you doing things you do anyway. For example, suppose you fish off a local pier. Take a moment to set up a simple video camera (they're really getting inexpensive these days!), and, while you fish, you can introduce yourself and talk about how SFI and TripleClicks allow you the free time to enjoy your fishing while the business runs itself. What you do--and how you do it--is up to you.
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You're absolutely, incontrovertibly right: thousands of SFI affiliates *are* doing the same thing. It's the downside of people who take the idea of "duplication" too literally. Upline sponsors often teach their affiliates to do *exactly* the same things they did, including the same ad sites, the same traffic programs, and even click-to-surf sites they used. The result, as you say, is that it gets harder and harder for people who do this to stand out.

However, each of us is
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

The new Fast-Track 2.0 program is a step beyond the original because it allows a newly-recruited affiliate to become active over a longer period of time. In my case, my first day after sign-up got co-opted by others, and because my sponsor had not alerted me to it, I never really found out about it, which meant I'd missed that opportunity before I knew I had it. With this one, I can get even more sluggish affiliates to achieve, and with the addition of the New Member Pack, getting a new affiliate through the process gets even easier because he or she may not be fully ready to sell or promote yet.

From a marketing standpoint, there are the advantages of the badge and the certificate, which are great if you recruit from an office--even a home office--because they provide something with which to impress or recruit new affiliates.

From a team-building standpoint, I've mentioned the primary benefits already an easy start that can produce easier earlier activity. Additionally, it also provides more earnings for those who take part, and early rewards can turn into increased commitment.
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The new Fast-Track 2.0 program is a step beyond the original because it allows a newly-recruited affiliate to become active over a longer period of time. In my case, my first day after sign-up got co-opted by others, and because my sponsor had not alerted me to it, I never really found out about it, which meant I'd missed that opportunity before I knew I had it. With this one, I can get even more sluggish affiliates to achieve, and with the addition of the New Member Pack, getting a new affiliate
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

The first rule of getting to know anyone, PSAs included, is to elicit information about that person's personal values and perspective. That is, you need to know who your PSAs are and why they're here. This will show you how to motivate and train the person, as well as suggest the way he or she might be most effective.

From this information alone, you can learn:

* what marketing techniques a PSA has used before,
* what talents he or she can bring to his or her role as an affiliate,
* if his or her goals are realistic, and
* how your PSA thinks he or she will profit most.

Take advantage of this information, and you can adjust your training to motivate him or her best.
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The first rule of getting to know anyone, PSAs included, is to elicit information about that person's personal values and perspective. That is, you need to know who your PSAs are and why they're here. This will show you how to motivate and train the person, as well as suggest the way he or she might be most effective.

From this information alone, you can learn:

* what marketing techniques a PSA has used before,
* what talents he or she can bring to his or her role as
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

Currently, there is one type of bounty in the SFI PPA program: signing up new affiliates through your "real" gateway,

http://www.sfippa.com/(your affiliate number)/real

and you will gain a bonus based on how active that one affiliate is, according to the rules shown on

https://www.sfimg.com/SFIPPA-a

up to a current maximum of ten dollars, which you only reach if that new sign-up reaches Team Leader within 90 days.

The big disadvantage I see here is that the affiliate in question does not become one of your PSAs, which means that if you find someone active enough to become a Team Leader in 90 days, you lose out on all his or her commissions, VersaPoints matching, and, most important, everything you make through his or her downline as it grows! That said, for the brief period in which you are learning how to use SFI, this can be a way to concentrate on sign-ups that you have no responsibility to train. Personally, I am more interested in training an active downline that can continue to make me an income month after month, so that's why I don't invest my time in the PPA program.
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Currently, there is one type of bounty in the SFI PPA program: signing up new affiliates through your "real" gateway,

http://www.sfippa.com/(your affiliate number)/real

and you will gain a bonus based on how active that one affiliate is, according to the rules shown on

https://www.sfimg.com/SFIPPA-a

up to a current maximum of ten dollars, which you only reach if that new sign-up reaches Team Leader within 90 days.

The big disadvantage
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

Search Engine Optimization, as I mentioned in another answer, tends to get used as a buzzword by a lot of companies--and there are some honest ones out there, but there are FAR more unscrupulous ones--when most of what you need are relevant keywords used frequently and links from sites with higher-rated sites (As a suggestion, take some time to learn about Alexa and Google PageRank to learn more about what this means... YouTube has lots of good videos that will teach you about these.), from your social networking sites like Facebook, Google+, and Reddit to your news and article sites like AP, CNN, and Wired, to your aggregators, blogs, and opinion sites like Daily Kos, WorldNetDaily, and so on. Basically, if "high attention" sites are displaying your links or talking about your business, you will rank higher.

To that end, here are a few simple things that can be done to help improve your visibility, which in turn can boost your ability to be seen online:

1) Post to relevant groups in every related social network--the more directions that point back to you, the better. If you can get *other* people to do this on your behalf, even better, because it will be even more like "word of mouth."

2) Send out press releases relevant to your business. If you can get seen as a human interest story or a local interest story, you can get links from the news and opinion sites, which can be priceless.

3) Get someone to blog about you or your products and services. Never underestimate word of mouth and the powers of other people linking to you.

Similarly, on the "OH MY GAWD DON'T DO THIS!!!" side of things: You know all those supposed "attention-getters" that people put on their websites that just annoy you? Don't use them. They may not directly affect your ranking, but they'll result in people never returning... and those return visits *do* count for something.

As I have mentioned in other answers, the *complete* SEO landscape is always changing--search engines have to keep changing the rules as quickly as the companies that *do* the optimization keep figuring out how to exploit those rules to their advantage. Beyond being truthful and relevant with your keywords, file names, and other elements, there's really little else that will always have a lasting effect.
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Search Engine Optimization, as I mentioned in another answer, tends to get used as a buzzword by a lot of companies--and there are some honest ones out there, but there are FAR more unscrupulous ones--when most of what you need are relevant keywords used frequently and links from sites with higher-rated sites (As a suggestion, take some time to learn about Alexa and Google PageRank to learn more about what this means... YouTube has lots of good videos that will teach you about these.), from your
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

Both individual welcome letters and group mailings have their uses. I like to greet new PSAs individually, asking them about their backgrounds in their different countries, and if I remember (I'm still working my way through the Quantum Memory course I picked up!), I translate the message into their native language to make comprehension easier. It really helps to know an affiliate so that you can both teach and motivate. By contrast, I have found that group mailings are better for announcements that are team-wide, like when I offer an incentive to everyone, or if I've discovered a factoid or trick that makes our work through SFI and/or TripleClicks easier or more profitable.

Regardless of either, be aware that your more personally-recruited affiliates are going to be the ones that will be more motivated, and motivation is key to keep coming back every day to better one's self through learning as well as processing the To-Do List and other tasks. It can be difficult, by comparison, to motivate affiliates who are recruited by an automated process, particularly some of the new ones that actually pay per signing--many of those people sign up, get their bounty, and do nothing--but everyone is worth the effort because when you connect personally, that by itself has value.
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Both individual welcome letters and group mailings have their uses. I like to greet new PSAs individually, asking them about their backgrounds in their different countries, and if I remember (I'm still working my way through the Quantum Memory course I picked up!), I translate the message into their native language to make comprehension easier. It really helps to know an affiliate so that you can both teach and motivate. By contrast, I have found that group mailings are better for announcements
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

Confirming that team members are listening is difficult at best. With team-mail, you mostly have a record that a message was sent, nothing to tell you if it was read at all. With a good e-mail client, you can arrange a delivery status notification to be sent to you, and you can *request* a return receipt, but some systems don't give you full status notifications back, and nothing forces the recipient to actually *send* a return receipt.

Do what you can to elicit a response, but don't worry too much about it because there is very little you can do about not getting one, short of finding out where team members live and making a personal visit... assuming that's even possible, of course.
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Confirming that team members are listening is difficult at best. With team-mail, you mostly have a record that a message was sent, nothing to tell you if it was read at all. With a good e-mail client, you can arrange a delivery status notification to be sent to you, and you can *request* a return receipt, but some systems don't give you full status notifications back, and nothing forces the recipient to actually *send* a return receipt.

Do what you can to elicit a response, but don't
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

By now, you already know that SFI is different and better than most other affiliate programs by the literature you've already read on the site: the Better Business Bureau rating, the years in service, and so forth. However, the REAL REASON that SFI is better than other affiliate programs is that it also teaches two *crucial* things that lead to financial success:

1) How to establish sales of your own products, thanks to TripleClicks, and
2) How to promote anything and everything you do.

The same things you learn here apply to any other business functions or personal functions that you take up. For example, because I understand how to create a sales business and drive people to my site on TripleClicks, I can promote my other projects, from books to websites to seminars, and I can make those as successful as what I've done here.

Most other affiliate programs will tell you to make a list of everybody you know, invite them to check out their product(s), and then sign them up to sell to others. Anyone with a brain in his head can see that this is not going to sustain a stream of steady business! You eventually run out of people, and the friends that don't want to be sold to don't stay friends for much longer! Instead, SFI teaches you about how internet traffic works, how networking really works, and how to market to the open public through fliers, and how to build an additional stream of income through TripleClicks in addition to what affiliate marketing alone can provide.

There's just more opportunity to improve yourself here.
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By now, you already know that SFI is different and better than most other affiliate programs by the literature you've already read on the site: the Better Business Bureau rating, the years in service, and so forth. However, the REAL REASON that SFI is better than other affiliate programs is that it also teaches two *crucial* things that lead to financial success:

1) How to establish sales of your own products, thanks to TripleClicks, and
2) How to promote anything and everything
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Affiliate since: 12/31/1969, Power Rank: 99999999

At present, I only see reasons to promote Fast Track 2.0 status, although I personally concentrate on walking them through the basic steps in the To-Do List and on TripleClicks. The result is the same because I know that I can get them to take the Fast Track actions and get them started quickly enough, and once that happens, I will point them in the direction of promoting some great items selling on TripleClicks if they don't. Getting $20 in sales is really easy--if you can get a person to buy both a chocolate and a vanilla serving of Supreme Whey Powder, for example, you're already well over that, and you're getting a commission, as well.

My goal is to make my affiliates rich because if I do, their own actions will pay me back directly. To my mind, that's the role of a great Team Leader.
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At present, I only see reasons to promote Fast Track 2.0 status, although I personally concentrate on walking them through the basic steps in the To-Do List and on TripleClicks. The result is the same because I know that I can get them to take the Fast Track actions and get them started quickly enough, and once that happens, I will point them in the direction of promoting some great items selling on TripleClicks if they don't. Getting $20 in sales is really easy--if you can get a person to buy
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