Hey there sea changers, and welcome back to my series of MLM reviews for those of you looking to supplement your sea change income by building yourself an online Multi Level Marketing (MLM) business. Today I am going to look at a niche that I had not yet explored within the MLM space with my World Ventures Travel MLM Review. I have written about travel from a number of money making aspects, but not as an MLM opportunity so let’s make amends and check this one out…

Note: I am not a member of the World Ventures MLM Program (and hence make no commissions from any of the links included within this post). The reason for this is that I prefer to write these posts based on what a newbie would be seeing if they were interested in joining – that way I feel I can make a better judgment on what it is that these companies are offering within their programs.

What is MLM?

Multi-level marketing (MLM) programs are the mainstay of the ‘party plan’ world of products such as Tupperware, Mary Kay and Amway etc. and, recently becoming more and more prevalent in many niches including travel. One of the reasons for this is that much of the sales and marketing for MLMs is now being managed online – alleviating the need to run parties – and, more importantly, not hassle everybody you know to join (you can of course, but you don’t have to).

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 – you are commonly known as their sponsor).
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.

Who are World Ventures?

World Ventures was founded in 2005 by Wayne Nugent. Based in Plano, Texas it’s vision is to “cultivate the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical and financial lives of its members”. They are proud of their current business rankings which include:

• No. 1 – Top U.S. mid-market companies ($300M to $999M) with $926.6M
• No. 1 – consistent growth from 2009 to 2016 with a 927% increase
• No. 2 – $100 Million Growth Club ( grew $233M in 2016)
• No. 12 – Top 20 U.S. Companies

These 10 core values are as follows:

• Live fun, freedom and fulfillment.
• We are one big team.
• Honor, embody and expand trust.
• Deliver and promote excellence.
• Commit to resolution.
• Care and contribute.
• Champion full potential.
• Embrace creativity and innovation.
• Foster safe and open communication
• Ensure sustainability in everything we do.

What do they sell?

World Ventures is actually just the sales arm of the company where all of the marketing structure is maintained. Their products, which are essentially travel packages available to many locations worldwide.

Packages are sold for specific times and include some amazing and exotic locations all around the world. Inclusions vary from trip to trip (and membership level) but most include at least transport, hotels and some meals whilst others incorporate extra activities – flights are not included.

To see a full list of inclusions and trip costs, you must become a member of the program (you can view their FAQ here – but average trip costs are appear to be around USD$2500 pp) – so let’s check that out now…

Memberships

Dream Trips has two membership options:

Gold:

• Access to DreamTrips and VolunTours
• Airport transfers, hosts, excursions and activities (where available)
• Access to discounts on airfares (not included in trip price)
• DreamTrips Rewards program
• Exclusive travel deals year-round
• Flight accident insurance
• DreamTrips Exclusive Deals
• Dining and entertainment discounts
• DreamTrips Mall
• DreamTrips concierge

Platinum

All benefits of the DreamTrips Gold Membership plus:

where and when available:

• Exclusive Platinum Member-only DreamTrips
• Advance access and booking for all DreamTrips
• Upgraded airport transfers
• Early check-in and late check-out
• 50 percent discount on the room upgrade cost for available room types
• Platinum Perks: Additional complimentary excursions, activities, green fees, spa discounts, resort credits and more
• Emergency evacuation services
• 20 percent more DreamTrips Points per Reward DreamTrip.

MLM Program outline

The World Ventures MLM program calls its members Independent Sales Representatives and at first glance, it is a fairly stock standard program. The compensation plan outlines the ability to earn money by:

1. Selling WorldVentures travel products
2. Building sales organizations by recruiting, training, and motivating others to do the same.

Here are the basics:

Base Commission rate: Commissions start at $20 dependent upon membership type sold

Down line commission rates: Paid per member sign up and sales volume on a flat rate basis – I.e not as percentages

Minimum monthly spend to qualify for commissions

• Monthly membership cost – see below
• 4 customer sign ups required per month for downline commissions

Payment terms: Weekly and Monthly.

Application required?: Yes, personal and payment information required.

Purchase requirements to join: Yes

• Gold membership – $199.99 initial membership fee, plus $49.99 per month membership fee.
• Platinum Membership – $299.99 initial membership fee, plus $99.99 per month membership fee

Marketing materials provided: Business and product presentation, free training videos, user-friendly App, weekly newsletters

The commission scheme for the world Ventures MLM does not work in a similar fashion as most MLM programs in that commissions are a flat rate per sale. I.e. for every gold membership you sell, you receive a flat commission of $20.

As per above, apart from the monthly membership cost, you personally do not need to purchase vacation packages yourself to qualify for commissions if you can generate the required sales amounts via your own customers. And once you manage to generate 4 sales per month, your monthly membership is free.

Note: Before we get to the payment options below, I do note that whilst the World Ventures compensation plan was quite easy to find on the World Ventures website, the commission payment amounts were not. In fact, I had to do some fairly extensive searching to locate World Venture documentation outlining these amounts (I always try and stick to actual company doco when I can). So whilst I am fairly confident I have it right, I cannot however verify how current these figures are so if this information is inaccurate, please comment below and I will be happy to update.

How can I get paid?

This program outlines 4 ways in which you can make money when you promote and sell their membership packages – plus a number of bonus/incentive structures as well. As I have highlighted above, these work a little differently than most other MLM platforms in that commissions are fixed rate. In similar terms to others however, these rates can increase as your downline grows. One red flag I have seen within the documentation however is the fact that there are payment ceilings in place meaning that once you reach your cap, you cannot earn anymore within that month regardless of the sales that may be made by you, or your downline.

I will outline these in more detail as we run through the earning options below:

Direct Commission

Direct commissions are paid on the initial membership sale of any new customer that you personally enrol. From what I have been able to find (see my note above) , these commissions are as follows:

These payments are not capped.

Wings & Wheels Lifestyle Bonus Program

As you start to sign up more customers, and those customers spend money on vacation plans, you can qualify for bonus payments on top of your commissions as follows:

The lineage sales volume is the total commissionable amount generated by the purchases of any customer that you have referred. In most MLM programs, this is usually around 1 point for every $1 – $2 spent. I have been unable to locate any information about how this is calculated within the World Ventures program.

Weekly Team Bonuses

Once you reach the rank of ‘Qualified’ with 4 personal customer sales, you can earn Weekly Team Bonuses based on your sales, and those of your downline. These bonuses are paid when your entire downline completes a “cycle” which is awarded for every 1.5 Sales Credits generated within both legs of your downline. Payments are as follows:

Sales Credits are based on the initial purchase each Customer makes and can vary depending on in the product/s purchased. This is common within MLM programs where a ‘point’s or ‘credit’ score is assigned to products – usually around the 1:1 or 1:2 ratios outlined above. Again, I was unable to locate any calculations or allocations for this program.

There are earning caps in place for these commissions as follows:

Monthly Residual Commission

Once you achieve the rank of 3 Star Representative or higher, you can qualify for Monthly Residual commissions. Thee are paid on the monthly membership fees paid by your entire down line. Again, you are required to meet purchase credit thresholds in both legs to generate payments as follows:

There are earning caps in place for these commissions as follows:

 

Ranking structure

As you have probably noticed, payments and bonuses paid out above are reliant upon the ‘rank’ that you are assigned within the World Venture MLM program. This ranking structure is not as straight forward as others but does rely directly upon those customers that you have personally introduced. Cycle payments are based on your total monthly Sales Volume credit, the number of underlings you have within your down line and of course, how much they sell/purchase in a calendar month (measured in credits). There are 10 ranks within this program:

There is no chart showing the qualifications for each rank that I can add as a single graphic so as an example, I have included the requirements for the lowest and highest ranks within this platform:

What else do you get?

On top of the potential earning methods outlined above, World Ventures also offers a couple of bonus options for those who achieve higher rankings within the program. These include:

Dreamcar Bonus

Those who manage to achieve the rank of Regional Marketing Director or higher can earn US$1,000 per month as a DreamCar Bonus. This bonus increases to US$1,500 per month at the rank of National Marketing Director and International Marketing Director.

These payments are made towards the loan or lease of a personal vehicle for the qualifying representative. Status must be maintained to qualify for ongoing payments.

Dreamhouse Bonus

Representatives who achieve the International Marketing Director level are eligible for a DreamHome Bonus of up to US$3,000 per month. This payment is made directly against the mortgage or lease of a house or apartment owned by the representative.

Note: The payment is made directly on the loan/lease for the actual amount required up to $3000. So if for example the monthly rent for an apartment that the representative lives in is $2750 per month, then that is the amount that is paid.

Status must be maintained to qualify for ongoing payments.

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:

• Monthly memberships costs are lower than general MLM minimum purchase requirements
• There are no other personal purchase requirements to maintain commissions.

What is no so good about it?

There are also some things to be aware of including:

• The scheme is a little confusing in regards to credits and cycles
• Payments are capped monthly meaning there is potentially limited earning capacity
• A lot of the information that is used to calculate commission payments is not available

How much can you make?

I was unable to locate any information on average earnings for those within this platform however, unlike most other MLM programs, they do have a payment cap in place. In order to make sure I am accurate here, I have added their blurb as a graphic below:

I have highlighted the weekly and monthly maximums in the payment methods above.

My final thoughts

Look, MLM is not an easy platform to make money in and there is nothing here that appears to make this program easier than any other. If I am being honest, as someone who likes to think that he has a fairly decent understanding in regards to how MLM programs work, I really struggled to get my head around this one due to the lack of information around its figures.

The real issue I have with this program however, when I compare it to others on a pure MLM vs MLM basis is the payment caps. This means that if you are someone who is highly successful within the MLM world, then you are limited to what you can earn with this program. My research did also locate a larger than usual number of complaints in regards to non-payment of commissions and refunds and a failure to be transparent with payment information – some even went to court. There are also some negative comments about the MLM program itself – although it was not really anything that is uncommon in regards to MLM programs.

That said – if you are passionate about the travel industry and like this brand, then to be honest I cannot see much in there that would cause me to warn you off completely – I would however recommend taking the time to check out some more reviews and research to see exactly how much you will need to sell to earn downline commissions. The joining process is quite simple but you will need to part with at least $200 to begin with a further $50 per month – this is less than the minimum purchase requirements of many other program however it is obviously a burden to be aware of.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my honest review and appraisal of the World Ventures 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 travel or MLM based website?

Are you looking for a comprehensive training platform that can give you step by step training, 24/7 support, tools to develop and host your very own website, ongoing assistance with SEO and social media and access to some of the best affiliate marketing minds on the planet, then click on the following link to read more about Wealthy Affiliate.

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.