The credit card industry is a lucrative industry (providing about 3x the return of commercial banking), and is powering close to $2 trillion per year. And while things like cryptocurrency may become competitors in the coming years, we're likely a ways off from crypto transactions replacing credit cards.

So if this is such a big industry, how do you make money with credit cards?

Obviously you could get a job with a credit card company and take a salary, or you could invest in a credit card company and earn from dividends. But I'm talking about how the average person can realistically earn from credit cards.

One option I've seen over the years is selling merchant services to businesses and taking a small piece of all their credit card transactions. I'm not an expert in this, but it's one option to consider.

The easy option for the average person is to earn from consumer spending rather than business earning. They're two sides of the same coin, but if you don't want to have to convince businesses to switch their credit card merchant services, you don't have to. You just need to introduce people to a new Visa credit card and you can forever after earn from their purchases on that card.

Better yet, if they do the same, and their referrals do the same, you can earn from the spending of more and more people.

There's no catch here. You see how many expensive ads credit card companies run on TV and in other media. It's expensive to get consumers using their cards. But one company is taking this new approach, investing in their users who share their card rather than advertising. It'll actually be a huge win for them, as they'd struggle to compete with the entrenched cards.

Users of the card get at least 1% cash back, but they also compete with all others users for up to 5% cash back (on ALL their purchases) each month. Gamification makes this interesting.

The company itself says it's "designed from the ground up to engage the new consumer culture through social gamification, the 'gig' economy and mobile lifestyle. As a company, we seek to leverage this understanding and our industry experience to create a new paradigm in credit card issuing and rewards."

The word "rewards" is key, as Business Insider research shows that this drives card usage even more than cash back (the second primary driver). And at the time of this writing, less than half the 75 million "Millennials and Gen Zs" have a credit card. There is a massive opportunity here.

Best of all, for those reading this in 2021, the company is only expected to launch this year, meaning a ground floor opportunity to really build passive income based on something people already do: use credit cards.

Until they launch, you literally just plug in your email address to show your interest and start asking others to share their email address as well. You can start earning some early (non-financial) rewards by doing so, and also start seeing how your potential monthly earnings advance.

The site is professional and built on gamification. The company already has a partner bank that will power the financials. And they have already raised half a million dollars to fund their launch this year. So it's the real deal, and you can get on board by just entering your email address here:

I know a company that used to spend $30,000 per month in advertising on Facebook, and to "conserve," they cut back to half of that. This is not an unusual spend on Facebook, where roughly $10 BILLION per year is spent on advertising.

Imagine if Facebook allowed you to refer businesses to advertise, and that they'd then PAY YOU 10% of whatever that business spent. If you'd referred this particular business to them, you'd be earning $1500 per month. Every month. For that one referral.

While there's no exact answer on how much a business should put into advertising, general estimates are 5-10% of their revenue. So a company doing $1 million in annual sales should spend between $50,000 and $100,000 a year in ads. If they spent half of that on Facebook, that would be $25,000 to $50,000 per year.

And if you were paid 10% of that for referring them, you'd be earning $2500 to $5000 per year from that one referral.

Refer a company doing $10 million in sales and putting half their ads onto Facebook, that would be $25,000 to $50,000 in annual referral revenue. Think about that.

Why do I bring this up if Facebook doesn't have a referral program?

Because there's another social media platform that DOES have a 10% referral program. And because of censorship, Facebook is shooting itself in the foot by forcing people onto other platforms.

Webtalk (free to join) is building itself into an all-in-one social media platform that is NOT censoring free speech the way Twitter, Facebook, and Google / YouTube are doing. (They don't allow adult material or obviously illegal material.) It is designed for both business and personal use, as it allows you to determine what is seen by the public and the people you're connected to. (Post different things to friends, to family, to business associates, etc.)

You can likewise sort your feed by the people you're connected to, search topics. search for posts with images or videos, etc. It has a built in CRM to better organize your relationships. And it plans to roll out many other features like groups, articles, e-commerce, and much more, including an ad platform like those found on Facebook and Google.

And yes, they have a 10% referral program that not only pays you for every business you refer who eventually advertises, but also for all the activity of the individual users you refer. (Webtalk is free to join, free to use, and free to refer.) You're paid for their activity (with money generated by viewing ads), by those who upgrade to Pro accounts (like what they have on LinkedIn), by those who sell products and services through a central marketplace, etc.

I don't anticipate this being a big money maker right away -- they need to build a large, active community of everyday users like Facebook has. But this is exactly why they offer a generous referral program. For those who can think long-term, inviting people now and engaging them with good content will help to build a foundation for future revenue like I've described above.

Get the users today, businesses will follow. And they will NOT be difficult to refer. They clamor for Google and Facebook because where there is data, there is advertising.

Webtalk should come out of beta in 2021, but is already a well-developed social media website. It has everything people need to build a profile, connect with others, post to feeds, discover content, and much more. It is ready for the traffic, with businesses to follow.

So how about it? $1500/month for one referral? Facebook's proven this is more than possible. There are some businesses spending $100,000 per month and more on Facebook. You can forget about those referral programs that require you to have 10,000 people on several levels before you're earning a lot of money. With something like this, you could have just a handful of referrals generating you a full-time income. But it means taking action now.

Again, Webtalk is free to join, use, and share. So what's holding you back?  :)
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A challenge many people have in building an income online is having a "get rich quick" mentality -- they like the idea of telling a few people about something; that each person will buy in at big bucks; and that those people will cascade the message down to others and earn the first person tons of money.

But if you want to make money online that's not how real business generally works. Real business is about providing as much value as possible at a given price and, ideally, turning each customer into recurring revenue rather than once-in-a-while purchasers. Think about how smartphone makers keep rolling out small upgrades to get people to buy phones again and again. They need the repeat buyers or it's all over for them.

This is why I've spoken so highly of Webtalk. As a social network, it's free to join. (Like with LinkedIn, there are optional pro features; but they're not necessary to use the network.) As a social network that's rolling out features not seen on other networks, it's poised to offer tremendous value to consumers.

Unlike other social networks, it is also sharing its revenue with its members ... especially those who help it to grow. And now, the next stage is about to hit: they are about to start splitting ad revenue with their members.

Up to 50% of ad revenue will be put into a global pool for members to share. Each members share of the pool will depend on things like:

1. Daily engagement on Webtalk (when you login, post, like, comment, share, etc.)

2. When your Webtalk newsfeed posts create engagement from others (views, likes, comments, shares)

3. When your referrals (the people you've invited to Webtalk) earn points, you will earn matching points for referring them to Webtalk (through 5-levels of referrals if you have earned the bonus).

5 levels refers to the fact that early members have the chance to not only earn from activity of their direct referrals, but from THEIR referrals as well, through 5 levels of separation. More details about that on my main Webtalk page.

The beauty of Webtalk is that you simply need to invite people to a new and better social network at a time when others are known to be spying on us and selling our information. Once those people engage in Webtalk, you'll have an opportunity to earn from all their activity, even if they never spend a dime on the platform. (Of course if they do, through future stores, or buying ads as a business, or selling their services as a freelancer, etc., you can earn much more.)

Do note ... Webtalk is in beta as of the end of 2019. Group features, business pages, stores, articles, and so much more is on the way from a company that's invested millions of dollars into its platform. This is not another program that's here today and gone tomorrow. It has serious investors ready to take advantage of today's major disappointments in social networks.

Check out everything Webtalk has to offer!

I recently came across an article from the website BehindMLM, which makes several mistakes in its review of Webtalk, and I think it worth clearing up.

Information about the Company
They open their article by saying that Webtalk provides no information about who owns or runs the business. Oddly, this appears true in the sense that they don't have an "About Us" page on the front end. But as soon as you've joined, you're connected to the founder, chairman, and CEO, RJ Garbowicz. His profile talks all about the company, where it's going, and the team that's running the company.

Free Members DO Get Unlimited Contacts
A bigger error the article makes -- especially because this error would really dissuade people from joining a promising service -- is in saying that free members are locked into having 50 contacts. I understand why they've made this mistake, and will explain this in a second, but this is entirely untrue.

Like on any social network, free members can have unlimited numbers of contacts. Otherwise, it would definitely be awkward to invite people to Webtalk, as you'd basically be inviting them to something they'd have to eventually pay for while other social networks are free.

But Webtalk is entirely free, and no one has to upgrade to get more contacts.

So why does the article claim this? Because they've misunderstood a pro feature. One thing Webtalk lets you do is break people into different groups. Friends, family, acquaintances, and business contacts. This helps sort the posts you want to read as well as who you want seeing certain posts. This is a HUGE advantage of Webtalk for people to think about. And this feature is FREE.

But if you want to get really specific about the types of business contacts you have, Webtalk even lets you use their system as a simple CRM (customer relationship manager). This means breaking business contacts into more refined groups like prospects, vendors, and so on. This is not for everyone. It's an advanced feature that some will use. And free members will only be able to have 50 contacts who get sorted in this more advanced way. To go further with using Webtalk as a CRM, then you would need to pay, much as you pay for advanced features on LinkedIn. (Pro accounts also come with additional features.)

But free members can still have unlimited contacts sorted into friends, family, acquaintance, and business categories at the broad level. This is all that most people will ever need.

ALL Members (incl. Free) Can Earn by Sharing
Another error they make is suggesting that Webtalk's referral compensation is only available to their first million members. Again, I know where this is coming from, but it's wrong.

Those who sign up during beta (originally suggested as just their first million members, but later extended to all who join during beta) have access to a 5-level referral program to help the company grow in its early period. And this is the only income opportunity the article mentions. But this is a beta only program.

Once Webtalk leaves the beta period, it will have a standard 1-level affiliate program for ALL members. Or if people find out about Webtalk without a referral, they can join without one. There is no need to come in from a referral (after beta). But those who continue to bring in others will continue to benefit from any revenue generated by those people, whether from a pro account or because they do some advertising or because they sell products or services on the platform or whatever.

The article IS ACCURATE in saying that you do NOT need to pay anything to take part in the referral program, though to qualify for commissions you need to have ONE referral who upgrades to a pro account (these start at $20/month and have several benefits especially to business users).

Webtalk is NOT an MLM Social Network
Another error the article makes is suggesting that this is an MLM social network. The article RIGHTLY points out that most people will never want to join an MLM social network, because in such a network, everyone's just trying to sell everyone else on something. And yes, because of the initial 5-level referral program, the early Webtalk experience is like that to a degree. But just don't connect with the people who are posting garbage on their feeds and the problem is solved.

As the network leaves beta and people can join without referrals, and all new members will only have a 1-tier affiliate program, that flavor will rapidly disappear. Webtalk has no intention of being an MLM social network. They are rolling out features not seen elsewhere, gunning to be among the most advanced platforms for communicating in more targeted ways and seeing the news you want, when you want it, with advanced filtering that lets you sort between groups of people, types of posts (images, videos, files, etc.), and much more.

All for free.

The article specifically says: "Case in point, have a closer look at WebTalk's premium memberships. Benefits offered are strictly marketing advantages, in that you're paying to increase your advertising reach to WebTalk members. How does this benefit a non-affiliate WebTalk member? It doesn't."

First, by non-affiliate, I'll give the benefit of the doubt and assume they mean "non-paying Webtalk member." To the point, the tools are networking tools, precisely like those found in LinkedIn paid accounts. People use them for business purposes. Yes, some wrongly use them to just sell. But others are very good at using them to network, and this hasn't driven "free" members of LinkedIn away from that platform.

Webtalk DOES Offer Something New
The article's bottom line says that no one will join an MLM social network (I agree, and Webtalk isn't one) and that Webtalk brings no new features to social networking. I strongly disagree.

When you join and view the founder's profile, you can see the extensive number of features they're working on that will make Webtalk different. (And they say that, unlike on Facebook, you'll never have to pay to reach your followers. Your followers get to decide what they see, including how heavily they want to weigh you or anyone else in their feed.)

That's why I'm especially interested to see where it goes.

Because I agree, if it brings nothing new to social networking, then they might as well bow out. But they clearly know that, and everything they're showing so far is that they're ready to take this well beyond.

They may succeed or not. Every business needs good execution and a bit of magic to reach the tipping point. But that doesn't negate the solid foundation and vision that Webtalk has.
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Webtalk is a social network that's taken off in just the last couple months, from nearly no users to nearly 2 million. It's done so in part because it's planning to be a whole lot more than just another social network (click here to learn more about why it's unique) and in part because of a generous affiliate program.

It's free to join Webtalk, and it's free to refer the network as an affiliate.

So if it's free to join, how can you make money by referring it, and does it represent a good way of making money? Let's take a look.
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1) If it's free to join, how can you make money referring Webtalk?
As you know, probably every social network is free to join, and they all make money. Facebook is one of the wealthiest companies on the planet.

Now imagine that Facebook had agreed to pay all its earliest members a percentage of what it earned ... for life. They were already referring Facebook to other people anyway. Imagine how wealthy they would be today. That's the power of revenue from things like advertising.

Not only is Webtalk offering a percentage of its income for referrals, but it will monetize much more than advertising.

2) Does Webtalk represent a good way of making money?
Like any startup, there's no knowing how well Webtalk will succeed. But if it gets anywhere meaningful in the social network world (it's already in rapid ascent), its referring members could make quite a lot. Take a look:

• They will run ads, which means even free members will generate revenue as they use the platform.
• They will sell advertising to businesses, which generates revenue.
• They will have paid, pro accounts similar to LinkedIn, which generates revenue.
• They will have stores and marketplaces for selling new and used products as well as services. All of these sales will generate revenue.
• They will have a Webpay service based on the blockchain (Bitcoin-type of technology). Think of PayPal, but upgraded to "distributed" blockchain technology.

​With Webtalk's affiliate program, you earn 10% of the money generated by any person or business you directly refer to Webtalk. So if they're selling their products and services ... or they upgrade to a pro account ... or they just occasionally click on ads ... or they start using Webpay on their own website to collect payments for things they do. You could earn 10% of Webtalk's revenue on ALL these activities.

Crazier still ... if you join Webtalk while it's still in beta, you will earn more than just that 10%. If your referrals refer other people, you earn 10% off the revenue from those people as well. And that continues through 5 levels of referrals, which makes it possible to be earning 10% of the revenue generated by thousands of people, depending on your group sharing.

Even without this revenue opportunity, Webtalk is attractive as something more than just another social network, and is worth checking out. But with the chance to earn 10% of all revenue generated by every referral ... for life ... well, it becomes something worth jumping on sooner rather than later, and seeing whether being social can also begin building up your wealth.

I believe in educating about business opportunities so people can decide what programs best fit their interests and needs ... while avoiding scams. That's what this website is about.

That's why I've put together this video on the Vital credit card opportunity. I think when you see all its benefits while it avoids many of the problems of both MLM and affiliate marketing, you'll be pretty compelled to take part.

Because there is a chance to earn some money by spreading word about the Vital credit card opportunity, some have wondered if it's a pyramid scheme. Thought I'd take a moment to clear this up.

What is a Pyramid Scheme?
You can't really know if something's a pyramid scheme unless you know how that term is defined, right? Let's start here:

There is a difference between a pyramid structure and a pyramid scheme.

Nearly every business in the world has a pyramid structure, even if it's just a small business owner and a receptionist. If the business works properly, the receptionist makes a relatively small, set salary while the business owner is making much more, in part on the work done by the receptionist.

Obviously corporations expand greatly on this, with executives making huge sums of money, directors making less, managers making even less, and so on down to the blue collar worker. Each higher level makes more in part off the backs of those lower down the line. This is a pyramid structure.

A pyramid scheme on the other hand is one in which money is passed up through a similar funnel, but where little or no value is being exchanged. In a legitimate business, each person is (ideally) creating value for a consumer, which is what brings money into the business. In a scheme, little or no value is being produced for the outside world; rather, people are enticed to take part solely on the idea that they could become part of a funnel where they are receiving more money (from those below them in the funnel) than they're spending (on people above them in the funnel).

In short, they get little to nothing in value for the money they're spending, except the hope that they can make money by spending money. This is the heart of a pyramid scheme.
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Is MLM (Network Marketing) a Pyramid Scheme?
Understanding what a pyramid scheme really is, is network marketing (also known as multi-level marketing or MLM) a pyramid scheme?

Well, you need to go by the same standard. I've seen MLM schemes where very little of value was being offered to members. They were just being brought in with some nonsense product like an ebook of the month (and probably titles you could find for free online) and the idea that if they could bring in enough other people to buy the same nonsense, they could make money. I would qualify that as a pyramid scheme.

But many MLM companies offer real products with real value, so by definition they are not a scheme or scan.

This doesn't mean I necessarily like most of them. To be honest, I don't. I'm not a fan of startup fees, excessive monthly purchases, and complicated payment plans that not only make it difficult to calculate what you'll get paid each month but heavily rely on the work of other people to make much money. And in my experience, too few people are willing to work.
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Vital is Not Really MLM and It's Not a Pyramid Scheme
So that brings us to the Vital opportunity. First, there's no cost to join and there's no monthly purchase. This clearly separates it from any kind of pyramid scheme.

In fact, there are simply no costs to be involved, outside of shifting some of your current spending (at least $250) from another card to the Vital credit card. For instance, you can move insurance payments to Vital and right there you're meeting your qualifications without spending a single new dime on anything.

But on top of that, Vital isn't really MLM (multi-level marketing) at all. Not in my mind anyway. Multi-level? Yes. MLM? No. Here's why:

With no startup fees, no monthly purchases, and only a 3 level point system (extremely simple), Vital doesn't look like MLM at all. It looks like an affiliate program (something used by countless businesses including big names like Amazon). Just a 3-level affiliate program.

And most of the emphasis is on the work you do. You get 4 points for every active card member (spending at least $1/month on the card) you bring to Vital. You only get 2 points for those that your direct referrals bring, and 1 point for those that the next level brings. That's the entire plan. I've seen multi-level affiliate programs before, and that's what they look like.

(With Vital, you build up as many points as you can, which is sort of like "shares." The company divvies up 1% of ALL card members' spending each month, and everyone who's built up points and has spent $250 that month on their card get a portion according to how many points they have.)

Of course this may be splitting hairs with some people. Maybe you still see Vital as an MLM, and that's fine. Maybe you don't like it because of that (or maybe you love it because of that). That's fine too. But with no costs involved and a pyramid structure that's probably far more subtle than that of a corporation, it's very clear that Vital is nowhere close to a pyramid scheme.

Interested to get a Vital card and earn by sharing it with others. Click here if you'd like to work alongside me.

While I always talk about looking for value first in any opportunity (one that's so good, you're happy to be involved even if you don't make a dime), a critical element is the quality of marketing tools made available to you.

Most people don't know how to develop professional marketing tools of their own, and often a company will require you to have such tools approved for compliance reasons. And even if you can build your own materials, if you can't replicate these for a team then you're going to be stuck with your own referrals if the company isn't providing your team with a good way to spread the message.

Again, I always feel this should come second to value. I get it: market something well and you can sell garbage. But garbage can only sell so long before people realize what's happening, and then you can't make any more sales. And then you're back to square one in having to find and build a program.

So value (I don't mean cheap, I mean getting something valuable at whatever its price point) is the thing that will make something last; but marketing is the thing that will get it off the ground.

This is why I'm so pleased with the presentation on the Vital credit card opportunity website. (Click the link and you can see it.) It is clean, professional, and tells its story plainly. (I also summarize what I like best about the program here.) This kind of professionalism also builds trust, which is critical when you're asking someone to do something.

At the time of this writing, while the program is in pre-launch, the only thing people need to do to be involved is enter their email address. (It then asks you to confirm by tweeting or Facebook posting, but after you click on either social button, you are confirmed whether you finish the posting or not.) And even later, there is no cost to be involved.

An email is a pretty easy thing to give for an opportunity this well presented.

Of course as a marketer myself, I do hope they expand the tool set. One key that very few programs offer is a way to connect to Analytics and track one's marketing efforts. This means it's hard to focus on efforts that are actually bringing you results. But for now, long before they launch, I'll happily drive traffic to a great looking website that offers a simple way for people to make some extra cash ... and all they need to provide for now is an email address.

As I've explained before, PennyPays is a program that lets you get paid for sharing posts on Facebook (and it's free to join). On the flip side of that (and what makes it a real program), it lets businesses pay people to share their posts on Facebook. Getting shared onto people's news streams in Facebook (rather than paying to advertise into those spaces) is valuable to businesses, giving PennyPays a ton of potential if it's done right.

One of the early challenges with the software was that advertisers had to go city by city to advertise -- inconvenient if you simply want to advertise in the USA. But PennyPays finally upgraded its software this past weekend, allowing advertisers to target by country as well as by city if they're local.

As you can see from the images below, PennyPays verifies the friend count of someone's Facebook page every month; they also gather someone's interests (up to 10, to ensure their highest interest levels -- I've blurred mine below); they also gather someone's location, which can only be changed at the time of the monthly verification. This (and more) are all done so that people can't cheat the system ... or the advertisers.

In the second image, you can see what an advertiser sees when they choose prospects for sharing their messages. Not only can they see someone's name, location, and cost based on friend count, but you can also go straight to their Facebook page if you want to see whether they're a good fit for your message.

There is still much for PennyPays to improve on. For instance, I believe they need a better list of interests for people to choose from. (Their list is extensive, but not well organized and doesn't include some important topics.) More important, they don't yet let advertisers choose people by their interests. It seems like that must be coming since they're asking people for their interests.

One other thing that might benefit PennyPays is if they teach their community more about the types of posts that businesses might use. Businesses naturally get "shares" for quality content posts, not for advertisements; yet the early members are trying to push "ads" as something that others will post on their Facebook pages. No one wants their Facebook stream to become ads, because then others will start ignoring them on Facebook.

But bottom line for now is that a business can come and advertise across the US, getting shared on people's Facebook pages, through PennyPays. And anyone can join for free and start getting paid to share posts.

Elsewhere I focus on what PennyPays offers as a service (which is FREE to join), since I only believe in programs with a strong product or service and NOT in programs whose sole focus is how you make money. If you have a serious product or service, then it's something you can sell and the revenue is legitimate.

But today I wanted to focus on how you can make money with PennyPays, because it's so affordable to take part and the revenue potential is so impressive. I'll start with the smaller, simpler ways to earn, and then explain the huge opportunity.

As always, remember that these are examples only, and that your earnings strictly depend on how well you share the program and what your referrals do with it.

As an upgraded member ($9.95/month), you can refer other people to the program. Whether they are upgraded or free members, they earn when they share posts, and you earn 10% of whatever they earn.

If your referrals upgrade and refer other people, you also get 5% of what those​ people earn for sharing posts.

So if you referred 10 people who each made $30/month from sharing posts ($300 total for all 10), you would earn $30/month from them. If they all referred 5 more people who each made $30/month from sharing posts ($1500 for all 50), you would earn $75 from them. All together, that's more than $100/month in addition to your other earnings.
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PennyPays is a powerful advertising opportunity for businesses, so you can basically sell advertising. You'll earn 10% of whatever someone spends on PennyPays advertising if you refer them. Even a local business can easily spend $100 or more every month on Facebook ads. Help them start spreading their message through post shares and start taking home 10% of that ad spend.

If some of those people / businesses refer others who also advertise, you'll earn 5% of those​ ad spends as well.
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Of course usually speaking a matrix won't ever come close to filling up. Although in this case, given how many people may want to share posts (and get more money from each post), it's possible that thousands will join in your matrix. And while businesses don't have to upgrade to buy post shares (i.e., to buy advertising), they get discounted prices by upgrading, which puts them into the matrix as well.

Here's where it gets exciting: even though you don't have to refer anyone to earn money from this matrix (since people can be placed below you by others), if you DO refer people, you will match 100% of their matrix earnings.

So if you earned $500 from the matrix and referred 3 people who each earned $250 from the matrix, you would earn $500 + $250 + $250 +$250 for a total of $1250/month.

On that note, I'll leave you with their video which spells all this out more visually. And when you're ready to join as a free or upgraded member, join me here and I'll share with you any tips and tools I develop to grow this business.
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