The Finish Line Network is a very new money-making program that’s set to launch in around 20 days time or so. It claims to be the “biggest pre-launch of 2018” and you’re led to believe that if you get in early you’ll be able to make a whole bunch of cash.
But no doubt you’ve seen similar promises many times before – and sadly more often than not they never seem to materialise… So what’s the deal in this instance?
Is this one the real deal, or will Finish Line Network scam you like the others & just see you spending money rather than making it?
Thankfully if that’s what you’re trying to figure out you can rest assure that you’ve landed in the right place as I’ve taken a closer look into how it all works & in this review I’ll be sharing my thoughts & highlighting whether or not you can really make any money with it.
What Is The Finish Line Network?  |  The Products  |  The Compensation Plan  |  The Catch  |  How Does It Work?  |  Is The Finish Line Network a Scam?  |  A Better Alternative
What Is The Finish Line Network?
The Finish Line Network is a relatively new digital marketing training program & at the moment as I briefly touched on above it’s currently in its pre-launch stage… So as of yet it hasn’t quite gone fully live.
But alongside the training packages that it offers (which I’ll talk more about in a moment) the Finish Line Network also offers a multi-level-marketing style business opportunity through which you can earn money by becoming part of. Well, allegedly anyway.
The opportunity to earn money basically involves you signing up to the Finish Line Network, investing & then getting others to do the same. You’ll then earn commissions at their expense – but you’ll also earn a percentage of commissions from their efforts if they go on to do the same.
So, in a nutshell, the compensation kind of looks somewhat like this:
Not exactly like that, but I want you to get the gist of how the members are all positioned above each other & how they’re all tied together.
So basically the concept of the pre-launch is to build hype, and that’s why they’ve hyped the whole thing up as being the biggest opportunity of 2018. They basically just want to get as many people to sign up as possible…
You’re told several times on the site that those that get in early will reap massive benefits, and the video even states that if you do get in early you could stand in a position to make an “absolute fortune”.
However, in reality, that’s not quite true. Getting in early on its own doesn’t mean anything – you still need to either be able to effectively promote the company to others or be able to recruit others who can do that in order to earn money.
If you can’t do either of those 2 things then you won’t earn a penny no matter how early you get in… And sadly those 2 things are actually quite a lot more difficult to do than you’re led to believe which is why most people actually just end up failing with these kinds of multi-level-marketing opportunities.
To put things into perspective just take a look at the paragraph below which I have quoted from an FTC publication about MLM (also known as network marketing) companies:
But of course, I’m not just going to brush the Finish Line Network off so easily – after all, wherever there’s a possibility for money to be made I always have an interest so don’t worry I’ll continue to scope it out to see if maybe we can actually earn some cash with it.
And let’s start by taking a look at the actual “products” being sold (which alongside the compensation plan is arguably the most important part of a multi-level-marketing company)…
Free Training:
The Finish Line Network Products
One of the alarming factors I noticed right from the off is the seeming lack of focus on the products with this company. Most of the promotional material & many of the people promoting it talk about the income opportunity, but few talk about the value of the products.
The reason I am bringing this to your attention is that this is very important as the products are the key component that determines whether or not the company is a legitimate MLM company or a scam pyramid scheme.
If the products bring real value and the company has a genuine customer base of people who are purchasing the products without promoting the opportunity then the opportunity would likely be deemed legit… However, if there is more of a focus on the business opportunity side of things and people are just purchasing the products purely to earn through the business opportunity then it is much more likely to be a pyramid scheme.
Pyramid schemes are dangerous because not only are they illegal, but they inevitably collapse which means investors often end up losing all of their money rather than actually making it.
2 similar companies named MOBE & Digital Altitude were recently shut down by the FTC after the FTC deemed them to be pyramid schemes. They too sold digital training just like the Finish Line Network but the FTC claimed that the emphasis was on the business opportunity & that the products didn’t provide real value.
So what are the actual products of the Finish Line Network?
Well at present there are just 4 “products” & these come in the form of a Silver membership, a Gold membership, a training course named ePOD & a ticket to their live event named Digital Domination.
Let’s take a closer look at each of them in a little more detail…
The Silver Membership – $47 Per Month
The Silver membership is the lowest level of membership inside of the Finish Line Network & as a Silver member you get access to a lead management platform – similar to that of Online Sales Pro.
Basically, through this platform you’ll be able to collect email addresses (and potentially phone numbers) and then follow up with people to encourage them to join whatever business/service it is you’re promoting.
There are already many excellent lead management platforms available online & some of which are a lot cheaper. Will the Finish Line Network Silver membership platform be better? I doubt it, but of course, I can’t say for certain until the company fully launches.
The main attraction as of now though is clearly the commissions you’re able to earn by promoting it, as the Finish Line Network will be sharing $25 of every sale with their affiliates. $5 of the $25 goes into what they call a “Bonus Pool” and the remaining $20 is split between the person who sold the Silver membership to somebody, and the sponsor of that person.
So for example if you signed up and made a sale of the Silver membership, you would earn a percentage of the $20 for making the sale & the person who recruited you in would also get a percentage (even though they didn’t make the sale). The percentage amount depends on your rank which is something I’ll also be touching on in a moment too.
The Gold Membership – $130 Per Month
Things quickly start getting expensive as the Gold membership over at the Finish Line Network comes in at $130 per month or $2,997 if you decide to take advantage of their “three-year” deal.
You’d think for this kind of money you’d get access to a whole lot but as of now, that doesn’t seem like it’s going to be the case. From what I can see you’ll just get access to a few extra basic online marketing training modules and access to some “virtual” live events each month.
You can actually get a whole bunch of high-quality step-by-step training AND access to weekly live events for free over at Wealthy Affiliate – so personally I’m not really rating the Gold membership too much.
Once again though it seems the thing that’s getting people interested is the commissions. The payout works in the same way as the Silver membership, however, this time $65 per sale is paid out in commissions or $1,250 if the person takes advantage of the three-year deal instead of opting for the monthly rate.
Admittedly the commissions here are fairly large but can you really sell a product that in my opinion seems fairly low value for a whopping $2,997? I think that will be VERY difficult indeed.
ePOD (Email Profits On Demand) – $1,997
This course covers email marketing & it’s basically designed to teach you how you can follow up with people via email to increase sales online. I’ll admit that email marketing is certainly very effective – however, does the course really justify a price tag of $1,997? Again, in my opinion, I don’t really think so.
Just by running a quick Google search, you’ll see that there’s a whole bunch of email marketing training to be found online for free. It’s pretty easy to pick up, and as far as I’m concerned there isn’t really any “secrets” in this course that $1,997 could justify.
$1,000 of the $1,997 is paid out in commissions though so no doubt there’ll be a whole bunch of people telling you how great it is (so that they can earn themselves a chunky commission at your expense).
Digital Domination Live Event – $997
Alongside the virtual live events which you get access to in the Gold membership, the Finish Line Network also hold “real” live events too & a ticket to access their event will cost you a whopping $997.
How often the events run I don’t know, but I wouldn’t expect it to be more than once or twice per year – that’s typically the norm for these types of multi-level-marketing companies. At the event, you would likely hear from expert marketers – but you should be aware that when it comes to network marketing company events a lot of them are more focused around hyping you up than giving you actual value.
I’ve been to quite a few in my time & I have never really come away with anything actionable… Instead, the event just seemed to be used as a tool to encourage people to upgrade to higher levels within the program. I’m not saying that’s the case with this particular Digital Domination event (I couldn’t say as one hasn’t even run yet) but I just think you should be aware that that’s often what happens.
Affiliate wise, a $400 commission is paid out on the $997 sale & just like with all of the other “products” offered via the Finish Line Network this commissions will also be split in 2 with you and your sponsor.
The Finish Line Network Compensation Plan
Alongside the products, another important factor to look at when considering joining a multi-level-marketing company is the compensation plan – as this is what determines how much money you’ll be able to make.
I’ve seen companies with great products but poor compensation plans, and likewise, I’ve seen companies with excellent compensation plans but totally rubbish products. To stand any chance of finding good success with MLM (given how hard an industry it is to “catch a break” in) you really do need a solid combination of both – good products and a good compensation plan.
The Finish Line Network refer to their compensation as the Profit Maximizer Compensation Plan which gives off the impression that it’s going to help you earn a lot of money but I’m not gonna lie, I don’t really rate it.
Firstly there are Direct Commissions – these are the commissions you get paid for making sales of the “products” that I listed above & these commissions are paid out once every week (providing the threshold is met).
As I mentioned when I talked about the products, the direct commissions are split between you and your sponsor. So when you make a sale of a product the commission payable is split – some of the money goes to you, the rest to your sponsor (the person that recruited you).
Initially, the split will be 50/50, but as you (or should I say IF you) proceed to make more sales the commission will raise in your favour. You can boost it all the way up to an 80/20 split, which will obviously be much more lucrative.
Then there’s the Bonus Pool. Remember I said $5 from each Silver membership goes into what they call a Bonus Pool? Well, this happens on every product – 20% of the commission payable goes into the Bonus Pool.
To earn money back out of the pool you need to earn shares & this again goes on sales volume. The more sales you make, the more shares you get and the more you’ll be paid out from the pool. How much you’ll actually be able to earn can’t really be worked out though because it depends on a huge number of factors. How many other people have shares? How much are other people contributing to the pool?
More often than not these “pools” are just marketing gimmicks. They are designed to make it seem like you can easily earn a lot even if you’re relatively new, but in reality the amount per share that’s paid out is generally very little due to the number of people it’s getting split between overall.
I wouldn’t put any reliance on earning from the pool if I was you.
Then There Are The Ranks…
Most network marketing companies base their compensation plans around a ranking system. The higher your rank, the more you’re able to earn from the plan – and to get your rank higher you have to either sell more products or recruit more people.
Here’s a quick outline of the ranks inside of the Finish Line Network:
- Rising Star (initial starting rank) – 50/50 share on Direct Commissions, 60% from every share in Bonus Pool
- 1 Star – sell 6 Silver memberships, unlock 70% earnings from every share in Bonus Pool
- 2 Star – sell 6 Gold memberships, unlock 80% earnings from every share in Bonus Pool
- 3 Star – sell 6 digital products, unlock 90% earnings from every share in Bonus Pool
- 4 Star – sell 6 even tickets, unlock 100% earnings from every share in Bonus Pool
Then when you go on to make your 7th sale of a product, that’s when you’ll unlock the 80/20 percentage on the Direct Commissions.
But There’s a Catch!
At a glance you might just be thinking “wow, so I can sign up to this company, promote it to others & start making thousands in commissions as easy as that?”… Well, not quite because surprise surprise there’s a catch.
The catch is that in order to become eligible to earn commissions on any of the products you have to actually firstly purchase that product yourself. So if you want to earn the big $1,000+ commissions you’ll first need to invest thousands yourself… And if you do, there’s absolutely no guarantee that you’ll make anything back.
Like I said towards the start of this review the sad reality is that most people who join these things DON’T make any money back – instead they just end up losing their initial investment & wasting time. On the surface these multi-level-marketing companies make everything seem super easy & super lucrative but in truth, it’s actually pretty darn difficult to find success with these companies – even for an experienced marketer.
A better alternative? Affiliate marketing! In my opinion that is a much much better option, it requires next to no start-up cost meaning there’s no risk & it’s very easy to get started with. If you’re interested in it then do be sure to check out Wealthy Affiliate, it’s there that you’ll get all the training & tools you’ll need to begin with it.
How Does The Finish Line Network Work?
I’ve explained what it is, what the products are & what the compensation plan looks like… But you might still be wondering how it all ties together & how it all actually works so let me run over that now…
Basically the concept is that the Finish Line Network provides helpful training & tools for people looking to get started & progress with online marketing. You’re led to believe that the training/tools are desirable and that they offer real value…
Therefore if you like you can sign up to the Finish Line Network and promote these products to marketers – and in return for doing so you’re told that you’ll be paid handsomely in commissions…
The problem though is that in my opinion, the products don’t really provide any stand-alone value – and as far as I can see the only reason people will be purchasing them is to make money via the Finish Line Network opportunity (since you need to buy them to earn commissions by reselling them).
So you’ll sign up to the Finish Line Network to learn how to make money, but after going through the training you’ll realize that the way you’re taught to make money is just by getting other people to buy into the Finish Line Network just like you did.
As I said that’s exactly how Digital Altitude & MOBE worked & now they’ve both been shut down… So personally I wouldn’t risk it with the Finish Line Network because it looks too similar. Imagine if you invest the thousands (or even hundreds) into their products and it gets closed down shortly after? That’s the risk you take with this sort of thing.
Is The Finish Line Network a Scam?
Well no, it’s not a scam – that would be a pretty harsh verdict to come to. After all, you do indeed get the opportunity to make money as promised, it’s just that it’s a lot harder to actually make money than it’s made out to be.
Obviously the people behind it aren’t going to tell you this though because they want you to sign up & promote it (since they’ll be getting a cut of the profits too) which is why they’ve hyped the whole thing up.
The real down to earth truth is that you’ll actually be much more likely to LOSE money through the Finish Line Network program than you would be to make it & it’s down to that reason that I won’t be recommending it.
In my opinion, there are just much better places to get started online, such as Commission Academy as I mentioned above. That’s one of my all-time top-rated programs & it’s proven to have helped thousands of people find success online. The Finish Line Network is just a new hyped up program that’ll probably get pushed for the next few months until it slowly disappears again (like most MLM companies).
But at the end of the day, it’s totally up to you whether you decide to join or not, I just hope that my review here has helped you make an informed decision & hopefully it’s given you a better insight into how it all works. If you do happen to have any further questions or comments about it don’t hesitate to leave them below & I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
A Better Alternative
The sad truth is that unfortunately most of the programs promising to help you make money online are scams. I can say that confidently after exposing over 500+ of them here on this blog.
But the good news is that even though most of them are indeed scams, there are actually some very good programs in amongst them - some programs that can truly help you to earn money.
And out of all of the legit programs I've seen, the one I would recommend the most to anybody looking to get started online is Commission Academy. In my own opinion, that's the best place to start.
At Commission Academy, you'll be provided with everything you need (including the training & tools) to begin earning real money by promoting products or services for companies like Amazon online.
The best part is that there's literally no limit on the amount you can earn with it & the process is pretty simple which means that it's absolutely perfect for people that don't have much experience.
Some wealthy affiliates even earn as much as 5-figures per month... Or more!
I mean don't get me wrong, that kind of money won't just fall into your lap without doing any work... But the harder you're willing to work at it, the more you stand to earn with it.
So if you're looking to get started but don't know which route you should go down or which program you should join (and don't want to waste money on bogus things that don't actually work), then I'd highly recommend checking out Commission Academy first. You can learn more about it here.
