The $22,500 Network Marketing Contest

SBI! recently announced the start of their $22,500 Network Marketing Contest.

The basic idea is to use SBI! to build a site that monetizes, at least partially, through network marketing (e.g. MLMs). But to do so in a way that’s consistent with the basic SBI! philosophy of providing valuable content, and “keeping it real”.

As an example, a site that talks about the benefits of Amway would not be in that philosophy. A site that talked about the problems products (which you could, coincidentally, get at Amway) could solve, would. The ideal site doesn’t actually contain a link to the MLM program, but rather has a way to capture your own leads. You can then follow up with those leads directly and refer them to the MLM program.

The bible for the contest is Ann Seig’s The Renegade Network Marketer, which I mentioned yesterday is available to SBI! members for 50% off. The most exciting part about this contest is that Ann is providing free coaching to the contest entrants. Regular readers will know I consider good mentoring essential for online success, and here you get 12 months of it for free (well, for the cost of an SBI! membership if you don’t already have one).

To enter the contest, you must get your SBI! site by February 6th. If you’re already an SBI! member, and haven’t decided on a niche yet, you’re eligible if you signed up after August 6th, 2007.

Then build the best site you can to drive leads to your chosen MLM program, using the techniques outlined in the The Renegade Network Marketer and following SBI!’s Action Guide.

The winner is the one who earns the most from their site in the last three months of their first year of operation. So you have nine months to build traffic and perfect your techniques.

The winner will get the top prize of $10,000. Second and third prizes, respectively, are $3,000 and $2,500. There’s also $2,500 for the most creative use of online techniques (I’m especially interested to see what people come up with for this category…for some reason an image of dancing penguins comes to mind).

Finally, and the touch that reflects the philosophy behind the way SiteSell operates, there’s $2,500 for the person who contributes the most helpful advice on the contest thread to help other contestants succeed. So while it’s a competition, there’s also the cooperative aspect of it that pervades the SBI! member forums.

If you’re interested in reading the contest thread on the SBI! forums, contact me. I have a guest login I can share with a few readers, but that isn’t for public distribution.

Click here to get your SBI! site to enter the contest. There’s a 30 day money back guarantee if you start following the action guide and decide it’s not for you after all. After 30 days they’ll refund a pro-rated amount, so taking an extra 30 days to decide isn’t that big a deal.