The best part of the leadership bonus is the story and the story is: “If you want to earn $1000 per month, all you need to do is help 10 people earn $100." What a story!

Level based commission has two key benefits. The first is that you do not pay people on levels for which they do not qualify. This retained commission becomes part of breakage. The second benefit is that you are easily able to identify potential leaders by their rank.

The first step to creating a fast start bonus is to decide on what activities you think are most important. This will be different for every company but let’s create an example to demonstrate the thinking process.

In accordance with modern MLM laws, 70% of all sales need to be to customers. Customers are specifically described as people who do not benefit in any way from membership to the sales network. In order to motivate your members to make sales to customers, you will need to reward them. This is where retail commission (retail and volume bonuses) comes in. 

To ensure that your members remain active in the network and are not simply commission collectors, it is standard practice to set some minimum activity levels and assign a status when the requirements are met.

Most successful MLM companies have in excess of 20,000 active members. Even with a huge support team, it is impossible to train, motivate and manage that many people. It is therefore necessary to attract or develop and retain effective leadership. This is achieved through structure and ranks.

Paying high commissions attracts good leaders. Promising 60% when aiming for an average of 40% can be a little risky. That is where breakage and normalisation come in.

When it comes to special offers and other discounts, CV and DV can be very useful. The concept of setting commissionable yield is a powerful one and if used correctly will drive sales while preserving profitability. 

Points are one of the most misunderstood mechanisms in MLM. By assigning points to a product and then using the points to drive status, promotion, incentives and recognition, you create a stable measuring device across time and geographic region.

The purpose of the compensation plan is to drive sales and find leaders. Without sales, you don't have a business and without leaders, you can't control your business. Both are equally important.