MultiSoft Provides a Variety of Resources to Help Assist Our Clients to Grow or Launch Their New MLM or Network Marketing Businesses
Industry Terms
Advertising
Bonuses
Commission Payments
Compensation Plan Types
Consulting
Domain Registration
Email Accounts
Event Coordination
International Service Desk
Legal Referral
Merchant Account
PCI Compliance
Product Acquisition
Public Speaking
Sales Tax
Warehousing
Shipping
SSL Certificates
Has Your Compensation Plan Been Reviewed?
Is Your Company Registered?
State-by-State Registration
FTC Regulations
Corporate Rules and Regulations
Review and Legal Compliance of all Sales and Marketing Materials
Compensation Plan Review and Development
Retail Sales Requirements and Sales Tax Collections
Litigation Representation
Distributor Compliance and Disciplinary Action
International Expansion
Handled over 3,500 different multi-level marketing legal matters
Been members of the Lawyer’s Council of Direct Selling Association in Washington, D.C. and the Governmental Affairs Committee
Formerly an Attorney for and Board Member of Multi-Level Marketing International Association in Irvine, CA.
Formerly General Counsel for and Board Member of the National Association of Multi-Level Marketing Companies.
Successful Businesses Accept Credit Cards… Do You?
One of the most important things you need to do when launching a new network marketing venture is to apply for your merchant accounts. MLM is a “high risk” industry and you will need to get a “high risk” merchant account.
You must inform your merchant account provider that you are a Network Marketing company. We have had tremendous success in helping to place Network Marketing companies with their own high-risk merchant account(s) through our sister company, Card Systems, Inc. (www.cardsystems.com).
You will also need a payment gateway provider. This provider connects your website to your merchant account. Most merchant account providers have several payment gateway providers they support.
You must choose the right merchant payment processing system and company. It is critical to the success of your business. Card Systems, Inc. provides customized solutions to fit your individual needs. Their staff members are professionals who will understand the importance of your call. Multisoft will assist you with your banking needs when needed.
Mail & Phone Order
This is a fast-growing market in the “card-not-present” market segment of credit card use today. Customers purchase by phone, fax, mail order or via the internet. We offer an array of options from real-time processing to electronic checks to help your business grow.
Wireless Processing Solutions
Enjoy the flexibility of accepting payments anywhere, anytime with a wireless merchant account. Whether you have a service business located at your customer’s premises or you take your retail business on the road, wireless processing is an easy and cost-effective way to accept credit cards wherever your customers happen to be.
Internet Processing
Authorize, process and manage credit card transactions from any computer that has an Internet connection. You can also automate credit card transactions through your website using one of our many gateways. Now more than ever consumers are opting to make their purchases online or via fax or telephone. A range of options have become available for businesses that cater for “card not present” transactions.
SSL CERTIFICATES
An SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Certificate Is Required To Accept Online Payments
Secure Sockets Layer “SSL” Is an industry standard security technology used by millions of websites for the protection of their online transactions. In order to use SSL technology, you’ll need SSL certificates for your websites
*Important Note: If you are purchasing an SSL certificate for your MarketPowerPRO enabled website you will need to purchase a wildcard certificate.
Sound complicated?
Not sure which certificate you need to purchase? Let MultiSoft purchase your SSL on your behalf and have it correctly installed on your website by the industry standards, or if you prefer to buy and install the SSL yourself, MultiSoft will gladly give you the information you will need to get your SSL and have it implemented on your website.
MLM INDUSTRY TERMS
MultiSoft Has Assembled a Comprehensive Glossary of Industry Terms Common to the Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), Network Marketing, and Direct Selling Industry
Activated - (Binary)
Benefit (General)
Commission Cap, Global - (Binary)
This commission cap will ensure that no more than 60% of the BCV associated with invoices belonging to the current commission period is paid out during a Binary commission processing.
Note: only products with BCV that are found on invoices with a date inside the current Binary commission period will count towards the cap.
The mechanics of the cap are as follows. At the start of the commission run, 60% of the BCV for the current Binary commission period will be calculated. The resulting figure is referred to as the “Max Pay” – the maximum amount of commissions that it is desirable to pay out.Commissions are then calculated unencumbered without taking the commission cap into consideration. This is referred to as “Unencumbered Pay” – the total commissioning results that would be produced if no cap was in place.
Max Pay and Unencumbered Pay values will then be compared. If the Unencumbered Pay is less than the Max Pay, commissions are paid “as is” without an application of the commission cap being necessary. If the Unencumbered Pay is greater than the Max Pay, capping of the commissions will be required. To calculate what the Adjusted Pay (term for amounts paid after the cap has been applied) for each center is, the following calculation is used.
The Max Pay value is divided by the Unencumbered Pay value. The resulting amount is converted into a whole number by shifting the decimal place two positions to the right. The whole number is then subtracted from “100”. The resulting figure is translated into a percentage (called the Capping Factor) – the percentage is the amount that each check for the period must be reduced by in order to have the total payout for the period fall in line with the Max Pay value.
Example – There is $1,000,000 in applicable BCV for the period. 60%, $600,000, is the Max Pay for the period. Unencumbered Pay totals $625,000. To find the Capping Factor, Max Pay is divided by Unencumbered Pay; (600,000 / 625,000) = 0.96. 0.96 shifted two decimal places to the right is 96. 96 is then subtracted from 100 to provide the capping factor; (100 – 96) = 4, or 4%. Each check must be reduced by 4% in order to meet the overall 60% pay out goal.
Commentary: commission caps can come in different forms. For instance, some may not unilaterally reduce commission checks, they may reduce the top earners first and spare a reduction for those with lesser checks. Others may not focus the cap on a specific commission period, but rather grade the total percentage being paid over a number of commission periods.
MarkePowerPRO uses, by default, compression as defined in the definition and example above.Application of the commission cap is typically a worse case scenario. Companies generally do not wish to employ the cap – they have a vested interest in putting as much money back into the field as possible in order to maintain a motivated (read: selling) distributor force.Also refer to the personal commission cap for information on how the global commission cap interrelates to it.
Commission Cap, Personal - (Binary)
The following example assumes that the personal commission cap will be $20,000. E.g. income center X earns, unencumbered, $30,000 in commissions during a Binary processing. X will be paid $20,000 only. Further, X’s unencumbered earnings of $30,000 will not count against the global commission cap. Only the earnings that X was paid, $20,000, will be counted against the global commission cap.
Commentary: Also refer to the global commission cap for a complete understanding of the capping process.
Compression - (Australian, Breakaway, Matrix, Unilevel)
The “Active” amount off which compression is triggered is based off PV. In many compensation plans, income centers are considered Active when they have a PV of greater than zero in the current commission period. The PV amount may, however, vary by compensation plan. For instance, “company X” may have an Active threshold of $30 PV.
Compression Example, unlimited width compensation plan – the company counts individuals as inactive only when they have not made a purchase carrying PV of any amount in the current commission period. Within the current commission period, the company has four income centers present: A, B, C and D. A is at the top of the organization. B is placed directly below A. C is placed directly below B. D is placed directly below C.
Focusing on the A position, A is Active and fully qualified to earn commissions. B is inactive. Both C and D are Active. When compression is enacted, B will be temporarily removed from the Downline. C will roll up to take B’s position and D will roll up to take C’s position. A will then be paid frontline commissions on C and second level commissions on D. After commission calculations are complete, B will again assume its position and the Downline will return to its pre-commission format.
Compression Example, fixed width compensation plan – Compression is applied on placement sponsorship lineage. When compression is applied to fixed width plans, the act of compression can break the number of frontline positions that is usually maintained. As an example, the company has a leg of Downline containing five income centers: E, F, G, H and I. E is at the top of the organization. F and G are placed directly below E. H and I both reside frontline to F. Focusing on the E position, E is Active and fully qualified to earn commissions. F is inactive. Both H and I are Active. When compression is enacted, F will be temporarily removed from the Downline. Both positions frontline to F will roll up to replace F. E will then be paid frontline commissions on G, H and I. After commission calculations are complete, F will again assume its position and the Downline will return to its pre-commission format.
Moving two (or more) centers to take the place of one compressed individual can temporarily, for commission calculation purposes only, break the rules of maximum width that are in place. If, for instance, this example belonged to a 2 wide Matrix, E would have three people frontline at the time of commissioning – G, H and I. Although this would temporarily break the normal width, it should not affect the overall payout; i.e. the company would not be at risk of breaking its maximum payback threshold, even with the compression taking place.
Customer - (General)
Z’s $50 CV will be added to Y’s $100 CV, placing $150 CV frontline to X at Y’s position. Z is not considered to be second level to X.
Commentary: the norm is for customers to not occupy a position in the Downline. Some companies will have a customer occupy a position in the Downline. In instances where a customer occupies a Downline position, any volume attributable to the customer is paid to the Upline from the occupied position – not through the enrolling sponsor’s position. MLM Builder does not, by default, have customers occupy positions in the Downline.
Distributor - (General)
Commentary: some companies permit distributors to have multiple income centers; refer to the “Income Center” and “Primary Income Center” definitions for additional explanation surrounding the distributor concept.
Enrolling Sponsor - (General)
Fixed Width Compensation Plan - (Binary, Matrix)
Frontline - (General)
Income Center - (General)
Commentary: the “Primary Income Center” definition furthers the concept of income centers. Left to Right/Level by Level Spilling – (Binary, Matrix) LR/LL spilling is the most common spill type for non-Binary, fixed width type pay plans.
This spill type works as follows. When an individual sponsors a new enrollee, the first check will be to see if the sponsoring individual’s frontline is full. If the frontline is not full, the new enrollee will be placed there. If the frontline is full, spilling must occur. The LR/LL spill routine will then evaluate the second level of organizational Downline below the sponsoring individual. If available positions are present, the first position to the farthest outside left on the level will be selected for placement of the new enrollee. If there were no available positions on the second level, it would then move down one level to the third.
This spill type evaluates each level in the same fashion until the next available position is identified by asking the same two basic questions: 1. Are there any positions available on the current level (if not, go down one level)? 2. Once the level with an available position (s) has been identified, what is the first position, starting from the left and moving across the level to the right, which is not occupied?
Commentary: read the “Spilling” definition for a general understanding of the spilling concept.
Levels - (General)
Placement Sponsor - (General)
Commentary: refer to the “Enrolling Sponsor” definition for a complete understanding of the two sponsorship relationships typically tracked by companies.
Primary Income Center - (General)
Qualified - (Binary)
Qualified status can be met by being personally Activated and sponsoring two other income centers, one Left and one Right, that each achieve Activated status OR Qualified status can be met by personally sponsoring three other income centers, each of whom become Activated Commentary: refer to the “Activated” definition for a complete understanding of Qualified status.
Second Generation - (Australian, Breakaway, Matrix)
Step - (Binary)
Commentary: refer to the “Cycle” definition for additional information; the term Cycle represents payout of the “larger commission goal”.
Unit Value - (Binary)
E.g., a Binary compensation plan may require 2 sales or points on the weak side and 6 sales or points total in order for someone to earn a step check. The sale or point value is represented by the UV assigned to each product.
Upline - (General)
Activation
Affiliate-ship
Normally consists of:
- A single Affiliate;
- A partnership (maybe a husband and wife);
- A sole proprietor; or
- A corporation.
Business Tracking Center
Compensation Plan
CSV - Commissionable Sales Volume
Direct Sale
Duplication
Genealogy
Leg
Organization
Active - (General)
Commentary: more often than not, and especially in unlimited width plan types, Active status is important with respect to compression. Refer to the “Compression” definition for an understanding of that concept.
AutoShip Personal Volume - (Australian, Breakaway, Matrix, Unilevel)
Note: all APV counts towards the PV tally by default; refer to the Personal Volume definition for additional information.
Commentary: AutoShip is a powerful tool for driving sales volume in the compensation plan.
Recognizing PV generated from AutoShip separate from PV generated by one-off orders can be crucial to providing incentives, often times in the form of lesser commission qualifications, that encourage distributors to set up recurring orders for themselves and their constituents.
Binary Commissionable Volume - (Binary)
Breakage - (General)
Commissionable Volume - (Australian, Breakaway, Matrix, Unilevel)
Commentary: CV is also frequently referred to as BV, Business Volume or Bonus Volume. In almost all instances, CV and BV refer to the exact same thing, commissionable dollars
Cycle - (Binary)
Commentary: refer to the definition of “Step” for additional information; the term Step references incremental payout of a Cycle.
Downline - (General)
First Generation - (Australian, Breakaway, Matrix)
Commentary: generations are often alternately defined as “down to but not including, the next inline income center of equal rank.”
Flushing - (Binary)
Other companies will limit the number of sales that an income center can accumulate and flush (remove from consideration) any sales above the prescribed threshold. Under this alternate scenario, flushing is used as a tool to limit the amount of commissions that can be paid by taking away sales before a payment is issued on them.
Group Volume - (Australian, Breakaway, Matrix, Unilevel)
Commentary: GV is sometimes calculated on a portion of Downline instead of the entire Downline. For instance, company X may limit GV to all CV present in an income center’s first 10 levels of Downline.
Level by Level/Leg by Leg Spilling - (Matrix)
The LL/LL spill routine will then evaluate the second level of organizational Downline below the sponsoring individual. If positions are available on that level, the level will be targeted as the one on which the center being spilled should be placed. The first level with available positions is the one on which placement will occur. If only one position is available on the level, the center being spilled will be placed there. If, however, there are multiple positions available on the identified level, another series of selection routines must be undertaken in order to decide where the center being spilled should be placed. The next series of routines will determine which leg on the level the center being spilled should be placed in. To do this, each leg of the level will be checked to see the number of centers within it. The center being spilled will be placed in the leg with the least number of centers.
As an example, the level on which to spill the new center is identified within a three-wide Matrix. There are three legs of Downline (three placement sponsors immediately on the level above) on this level – Leg 1, Leg 2 and Leg 3. Being a three-wide Matrix, each leg can have three centers.
Leg 1 has two positions filled in it. Leg 2 has one position filled in it. Leg 3 has two positions filled in it. The center being spilled would be placed in Leg 2, because it is the leg in the level that has the least number of centers. Note: if each leg in the level has the same number of filled positions, the center will be placed in the leftmost leg.
Commentary: read the “Spilling” definition for a general understanding of the spilling concept. Level by Level, Left to Right and Level by Level, Leg by Leg spill types could be used for any fixed-width plan types, however, they are almost always used with Matrices and not Binaries.
Personal Volume - (General)
PowerLeg Spilling - (Binary)
If the immediate frontline position below the individual is filled on the side selected, spilling must occur. The PowerLeg spill type takes the new enrollee and places the new enrollee in the outermost left or right (depending on side selected) position below the sponsoring individual.
The PowerLeg spill type never fills interior legs of the sponsoring individual, but continues to push the newly spilled enrollee into the outermost position available on the left or right side.
Commentary: read the “Spilling” definition for a general understanding of the spilling concept.
Qualification - (General)
Rank - (General)
Spilling - (Binary, Matrix)
Once all frontline positions below an individual are filled, any new personal enrollments must be automatically forced into the next available position in the Downline. The rules for determining which position is the “next available” comprise the definition of the spilling type employed.
Commentary: refer to the “PowerLeg Spilling”, “Left to Right/Level by Level Spilling” and “Level by Level/Leg by Leg Spilling” definitions for an understanding of the mechanics behind three common spill types.
Title - (General)
Unlimited Width Compensation Plan - (Australian, Breakaway, Unilevel)
Volume Accumulation - (Binary)
Different companies have different criteria surrounding eligibility to accumulate volume, however eligibility to accumulate is frequently based off Qualified status (as previously defined).
Affiliate
Business Plan
Center
Crossline
Depth
Downline
Front Line
Indirect Sale
MLM or Multi Level Marketing
Prospect
PRODUCT ACQUISITION
Choosing a viable product or service for your company is essential. Whether a singular item or an entire product line, the entire purpose of MLM is selling product and service. For you to succeed, your product or service must be something that distributors continue selling; something that customers want to purchase.
We can help you with selecting viable products and services. We have extensive ties within the industry and can assist with product or service procurement that is right for your company.
“The Perfect Product” purchase this book and gain insight into the products that make MLM successful.

ADVERTISING
Advertising Your Opportunity is Essential.
No matter what kind of business you run; whether that be a Traditional Retail Store or Multi Level Marketing or Network Marketing Company, advertising is essential to reach new customers, increase sales, and grow your brand.
Network Marketing may depend on our distributors, but that doesn’t mean that we can ignore this fundamental. The modern ad landscape is cut-throat and many ad networks are not friendly to Multi Level Marketing. In fact, most major ad networks specifically prohibit marketing for MLM opportunities.
Get help building a marketing plan that’s structured for your opportunity, not someone else. Call Multisoft today!
PCI COMPLIANCE
Is Your Company PCI Compliant? If Not, You Could Face Huge Fines!
The Payment Card Industry mandates IT security compliance for all merchants that process credit cards. McAfee® PCI Compliance Service is an easy-to-use system designed for smaller merchants that need PCI certification. It includes state-of-the art scanning, complete remediation and technical support, an online self-assessment questionnaire, and a PCI Wizard to help manage compliance activities. Click Here for a Free PCI Certification Service.
As a merchant collecting payment either online or offline for products and services sold, you have received one or more notifications from your merchant account provider regarding PCI compliance. PCI stands for “Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard”. It is a set of data security regulations established by Visa/MasterCard. It is now accepted as a standard for managing, handling and protecting payment related data. Originally developed by the credit card industry to protect cardholder data, the regulations now secure any sensitive data held by your company, including ACH/checking information.
If you handle, process or view credit card or checking data, you must be PCI compliant.
MultiSoft cannot make you PCI compliant or complete PCI compliance paperwork on your behalf. Be aware. However, the software Multisoft supplies to you will meet all PCI compliance standards.
Visa/MasterCard make occasional alterations to the compliance standards. If you encounter a compliance warning with a MultiSoft designed and maintained the site or software application, send a copy of the vulnerability report to pci@multisoft.com. We will remediate the vulnerability.
Several vendors specialize in helping companies attain PCI compliance. Multisoft partners with ScanAlert for PCI compliance. If you select to use their services, you can get a discount when referred by MultiSoft. Visit MultiSoft Corporation and ScanAlert for additional information.
If you need to validate your compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) data security standard (or are looking for an easier way to do it than last time), we’ve got a great new offer for you.
Through our relationship with McAfee, Inc., you get access to a complete PCI compliance service using technology McAfee developed for Visa International. Sign up through us and pay only $99/year, a 65% saving off McAfee’s regular price!
McAfee® PCI Compliance Service is a simplified, easy–to–use system optimized for smaller merchants (Level 2–4) that need to complete PCI requirements. It includes:
- Automated state-of-the-art scanning
- Online self-assessment questionnaire
- McAfee Technical Assist (extensive technical support)
- PCI Wizard to help manage compliance activities
- Reporting options to deliver compliance reports directly to your merchant bank
Tens of thousands of organizations – large and small – around the world trust McAfee to audit their initial and ongoing PCI compliance status. You’ll find McAfee’s system accurate, and their customer support is second to none (except ours, of course!).
Some of our customers have used McAfee for several years. We encourage you to take advantage of this offer. For more information, or to sign–up, Click here.
PUBLIC SPEAKING
When Experience Matters You Need an Experienced Partner!
Public speaking can be stressful. Engage MultiSoft Corporation to do it for you. We can recommend public speakers to address a conference call, a seminar full of potential clients, or any other need you may have.
We know that speaking is an essential method for communicating, expressing ideas, making sales and garnering recruits. It is a primary medium for presenting opportunities and selling products. The ability to address groups of people is an essential skill in business. We can take the stress out of your hands and recommend an educated speaker who can talk about your market niche, opportunity, product and service.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Is Your Website a “Needle in a Haystack” in the Search Engines?
Is Your Website a “Needle in a Haystack” in the Search Engines?
What can MultiSoft’s Web Promotion and Search Engine Optimization Services do for your company? Why do you even need this service?
To illustrate, let’s think about a new restaurant in town. Unless you have lots of people and traffic passing by, people may not even know it exists. The restaurant needs to promote itself and gain visibility to potential customers. They need to advertise, distribute flyers, and use other means to let potential customers know they’re there and open for business.
The same applies to websites, and there are billions of them. How are people going to find your website? Because of the sheer volume of websites on the Internet, things get a little more complicated.
We need to talk about two different aspects of website visibility. One aspect is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the other is site promotion.
But first, you need to define your audience. Are you promoting your products and services to a local audience, or to a national or international audience? What are the needs and interests of your targeted audience?
People use search engines like Google, Bing, and others to search for information on the Internet, most frequently using their mobile phone.
Let’s talk about SEO first. It’s a complex topic, and we can only scratch the surface here. People enter search phrases to find what they are looking for.
Search engines dissect and analyze the search phrase which, with today’s technology. The search engine determines the user’s search intent as best it can. This is where site optimization becomes important. The site page titles, headings, introduction, and sub-headings must include relevant keywords which the search engines can use to define the user’s search intent. To rank in search engine listings, the site content must also be unique, relevant to the user’s search intent and offer value. Beyond this, SEO involves many different requirements which are beyond the scope of this brief explanation. It involves quality backlinks, page load speed, mobile optimization, and finally valuable content.
If your business serves a local community, make sure your website clearly shows your location, has a map, and preferably an entry in Google for Business. In addition, your SEO should identify your location, e.g., “Best selection and prices for [whatever} in [location].
The next aspect is website promotion. There are several avenues to pursue including online advertising, social media promotion, video promotion, email marketing, and networking.
It seems like a lot to take in, doesn’t it? While there’s nothing stopping you from jumping into the world of Search Engine Optimization, it’s something best left to the professionals if you want to see results.
Multisoft’s Web Promotion Service will promote your site so that it shows up in web searches. We run diagnostics and provide a report that shows potential problems with your site. We can optimize it for search engine visibility.
There’s a race for revenue occurring online today. People are searching for products and services just like yours right now, even as you read this. Isn’t it time to gas up your site and get in on the action?
That’s a Tremendous Market That You Are Ready to Tap Into When Your Site Is Properly Promoted
MultiSoft’s Web Promotion Service will promote your site so that it shows up in web searches. MultiSoft will perform diagnostics and provide a report to show you any potential problems with your site, and we can optimize it for promotion with the search engines.
There’s a race for revenue occurring online today. People are searching for products and services just like yours right now, even as you read this. Isn’t it time to gas up your site and get in the action?
COMMISSION PAYMENTS
Paying Commissions on Time: An Essential Part of Growing Your Business
In the Multi-Level Marketing space. Your distributors are your feet on the ground selling your product. If they don’t trust you to pay them on time, they won’t stay with your organization for long. Bottom line, always make sure your commission payments go out on time.
Multisoft Corporation supports several different methods of distributor commissions. Whether you want to use direct distribution through ACH transfer, Credit Card distributions, or prepaid card systems, we have a solution that fits your needs. Multisoft has strategic partnerships with some of the best payment providers in the industry, such as PayQuicker, that offer no-cost instant payments to over 170 different countries.
EVENT COORDINATION
Are You Ready To Launch Your Company or Celebrate A Special Occasion?
In the hands of experienced professionals, events and promotions engage, educate, and entertain your members. Multisoft can help you with event coordination such as:
Entertainment Events
Lifestyle Events
Themed Events
Holiday Events
Concept Development
Event Planning
Collateral Material Design
Event Announcement Creation and Distribution
Onsite Staffing & Management
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