Color Street MLM Review

Hey there sea changers, and welcome back to my series of MLM reviews. Today we are going to a brush on some polish with my Color Street MLM Review. This is certainly an interesting one as they work exclusively with one product – nail polish strips. Some would say that single product MLM programs are difficult to manage due to the lack of variation whilst for others it gives them the chance to really focus on the benefits that the product can provide. I am not sure we can answer that here however there is one question I can deal with which is “what is color street all about?”… Let's have a look and find out…

What is MLM?

Multi-level marketing (MLM) programs are the traditional mainstay of the ‘party plan' world of products such as Tupperware, Mary Kay and Amway etc. and, within the essential oils, supplements and beauty/cosmetics markets – which I am assuming is the category for this one. MLMs – also referred to as Network Marketing – seem to have become a little more popular in recent times mainly due to the fact that much of the sales and marketing is now being managed online – negating the need for so many hosted parties.

The ‘multi level' aspects of MLM come from its hierarchical nature in which you make commissions based not only on those that you sell to, but also the sales of those whom you ‘sign' into membership arrangements as well.

In short, the process works as follows:

1. You join the program, either via referral from another person (known as your up line) or directly through their website.
2. You promote the products of the company via parties, workshops or online.
3. As you make sales, you offer incentives to your customers to sign up as a member of the program (there are different names for this but they all mean the same thing).
4. That new member is then placed ‘underneath' you in a hierarchical arrangement (known as your down line).
5. You, and a number of levels of your up line, then gain extra commissions for everything they sell as well.
6. If they manage to refer their customers into memberships, they also become a member of your down line allowing you to make up line commissions as well.

The number of levels of your up and down lines will vary depending on the program you have joined. Commission rates will also change as your down line grows or contracts and many will also offer other incentives such as total company sales percentages and/or access to membership prizes as your own business grows.

What is Color Street?

With a mission to “celebrate entrepreneurs and inspire them to pave the road to personal success”, Color Street was founded in 1984 by Fa Park after he noticed a lady in New Your City struggling to apply her nail polish in a moving car. The company has since then enhanced its collection to “an endless array of nail styles, in stunning shades like New York Minute, Tokyo Lights, and Meet Me in Paris”.

Color Street is based in Clifton, NJ in the United States.

What do they Sell?

So, as I have mentioned above, Color Street deals in nail polish strips in a number of colours and designs including:

• Solid Colors
• Glitters
• French Manicure
• Glitter Designs
• Nail Art Designs
• Glitter-Dipped
• Clear Nail Art
• Pedicure

They are also available in collections such as:

• Petites
• Awareness Shades
• Spring Collection
• Anniversary Collections

Item costs fall in line at around $11.00 to $13.00 per set.

MLM Program outline

The Color Street MLM program calls their members ‘Stylists' who are part of what appears to be a fairly modern yet standard program containing most of the common retail and downline commission structures and a good number of bonus options relative to many MLM programs. Their compensation plan is available on their website so here are the basics as I have found them…

Base Commission rate: 25% to 35%

Down line commission rates: 3% to 4 levels (level 1 down line is 3%)

Minimum monthly spend to qualify for commissions

To qualify for sales and down line commissions, Stylists are required to remain ‘Bonus Qualified'(BQ) by meeting monthly sales targets of at least $300 per month. This can be made of personal or customer sales.

Payment terms: Monthly.

Application required?: Yes, Application form on website.

Purchase requirements to join: Yes

New stylists are required to purchase a Starter kits at a cost of $129 which includes:

• 13 Full sets of nail strips
• 1 French, 2 Solid, 2 Glitter, 5 Design, 1 Pedicure, 2 Petite
• 72 Testers
• 40 remover pads (2 boxes)
• 100 Prep Pads (1 box)
• 2 Large Nail Files
• 2 Nail Buffers
• 60 Mini Files
• 50 Cuticle Sticks
• Tote bag
• 25 Catalogs
• 25 Colorful Opportunity Brochures

Marketing materials provided: As per starter kit above.

Within most MLM programs, rankings and commissions are determined by the total personal volume (PV) generated by the Stylist and their down line within a calendar month. This is often managed via point allocations that can range from 50 to 100% of the retail price of each product and vary from item to item and currency of sale.

In the case of the Color Street MLM program however, PV appears to be calculated at 100% of the USD retail sales price (not including tax and shipping). This means that if a product is sold for $11, then commission is calculated on the full $11 of the sale cost. Hence, then if a downline commission rate is 25% then the payment to the stylist would total $2.75 (i.e. 25%of $11).

How can I get paid?

The compensation plan states that there are 10 ways in which Stylists can make money when they promote and sell Color Street nail strips as follows:

The Marketing Phase:

1. Jump Start Bonuses

2. Base Retail Commission

3. Enhanced Retail Commission

The Leadership Phase

4. Enroller Matching Jump Start Bonuses

5. Enroller Bonuses

6. Leadership Level Bonuses

7. Leadership Depth Bonus

The Executive Phase

8. Team Bonus

9. Generation Bonuses

10. Car/Lifestyle Bonuses

These are fairly straight forward and there are a few of the extra bonuses found in many other MLM arrangements (and similar to others within this niche such as Youngevity and Monat). The 10 payment options for the Color Street MLM program are outlined as follows:

1. Jump Start Bonuses

The Jump Start Bonuses are a common option for many MLM programs “designed to reward Stylists for building their business right from the start” There are three Jump Start Bonuses available:

Sales Bonuses

With Sales Bonuses, Stylists can earn rewards in the form of product credit when the meet the following sales targets:

Enrolling Bonus

Further product credit can be earned by Stylists who are able to recruit others (who reach BQ status in their first month) to the program as follows:

Team Leader Promotion Bonus

Stylists who can reach the rank of Team Leader or above within their first four commission periods will earn cash payments as follows:

To qualify for the Jump Start Bonus and ALL further payments options listing within this post, Stylists must be Bonus Qualified by via the generation of $300 PV in sales each month.

2. Base Retail Commission

These are the base commissions earned by the general day to day retail sales that Stylists can generate via parties, popups, social media or online. The base retail commission rate is 25% of the Stylist's PV.

Note: These commissions are not earned by party hosts who receive discounts based on sales as a separate process. I will outline those below.

3. Enhanced Retail Commission

Enhanced Retail Commissions are bonus payments awarded to Stylists who achieve higher sales targets with in a monthly commissions period. These payments are tiered as follows:

Enhanced Retail Commissions are made in addition to Base Retail Commissions.

4. Enroller Matching Jump Start Bonus

If any personally recruited Stylists qualify for and receive any of the Jump Start Bonuses outlined within payment option 1 above, a matching payment is made to the sponsor as well. Payments are an exact match to those earned by the down line Stylist.

5. Enroller Bonus

The Enroller Bonus is paid to the sponsoring Stylist on the sales of personally recruited downline members. The standard rate is 3% to 1 level and increases to 2 levels for those who are at rank of Team Leader and above.

6. Leadership Level Bonus

The Leadership Level Bonus is Color Street's version of the traditional unilevel commission structures prevalent within many MLM programs. Within the Color Street MLM program, commissions are paid to 4 levels based on the rank of the Stylist as follows:

7. Leadership Depth Bonus

The Leadership Depth Bonus (and the next few options moving forward) is another commonly utilised network marketing payment option that rewards Stylists for advancing up to the higher ranks within the program. In this case, extra commissions can be earned by those at rank of Senior Director and above as follows:

8. Team Bonus

As Stylists reach the rank of Executive Director and above, they qualify for a further 1.5% commission on the entire sales volume within their down line teams.

9. Generation Bonus

Generation Bonuses are designed to reward Stylists who are able to assist those within their down lines reach the higher ranks. For Stylists at rank of Executive Director (ED) and above, a commission based on the total sales of entire generations that develop within their down lines are paid as follows:

A Generation is created when a Stylist anywhere within the sponsor's downline reaches a career title of ED or higher and includes their entire group, down to but not including the next ED or higher.

10. Car/Lifestyle Bonus

The final option here is another commonly utilised MLM payment option in which those who reach the higher ranks can earn extra payments towards such luxuries as car or home payments. In the case of Color Street, the car/lifestyle payment options are as follows starting at rank of ED:

Ranking structure

Color Street, as with most MLM programs, uses ranking structures on which to base commission payments and other bonuses upon. Rankings for the Color Street MLM program are as follows (note personal and team sales qualification targets as well):

Again, as is common with almost all MLM programs, rank progression is determined by both the number of members within the Stylist's down line, and the total sales made by those members per month. Ranks can rise and fall based on the ability (or dis-ability) to reach the required member and sales targets.

Color Street Host Rewards

One of the rolls of a Stylist within the Color Street Program is to recruit Hosts to assist them in running shows (and providing access to their friends for potential sales). Hosts do not earn commissions however can be awarded with discounts and free product for their hosting troubles. Host rewards are outlined as follows:

What is good about it?

So, after a good look around the site and looking at all the options I could find, I do like the following:

• Commission rates for entry level sales are good.
• Program is simple and easy to follow.
• There are a large array of bonus options available.

What is no so good about it?

There are also some things to be aware of including:

• Narrow range of products.
• At $11 a product, $300 a month PV targets may be difficult to maintain.
• There are some joining costs.
• Sales targets are required for all commission options (incl. base commissions).

How much can you make?

Color Street does provide an income disclosure statement on its website which clearly outlines that like most MLM programs, the percentage of members making the upper rank levels – and hence earning a living – is very low (less than 1%). Estimated incomes streams are as follows:

My final thoughts

Look, MLM is not an easy platform to make money in and if I am being honest, this one may be just a little harder than many others I have seen. The real red flag for me here is the fact that like many MLM programs, you will be required to meet minimum sales targets which in this case is $300 worth of stock each month. This means that at $11 per product, you will need to sell at least 27 sets of nail strips to earn commissions. If not, you may need to bump up your personal purchase quota if customer sales alone are not enough for you to remain ‘Bonus Qualified' for commissions and/or discounts within a particular month.

That said, the program is pretty straight forward with common commissions and plenty of bonus arrangements. So if you are someone who is passionate about these products with a large customer list at your disposal and the ability to generate good sales via hosting parties and online processes, then the 25 – 35% base and enhanced commission rates might just appeal here.

I was unable to locate any negative reviews in terms of non-payment etc. although there were some negative comments about the quality of customer service and the MLM program itself – although it was not really anything that is uncommon in regards to MLM programs or products within this niche.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my honest review and appraisal of the Color Street MLM program. I hope it has been of assistance but as usual, if you have any questions or experience with this program please do not hesitate to reach out by commenting below – especially if any of my information is inaccurate.

Are there any other programs you have been looking at but want to know more about? If so, please comment below and I will do my best to get some details for you.

Do you want further assistance with any of the above or need help to build your own beauty based website?

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Until next time

Have fun

Paul

Note: If you make a purchase from this page, there is a very good chance that I make a commission from it – these commissions do not increase your sale price. This may include sales made via Wealthy Affiliate.