It is difficult to identify which MLM company like ACN works and which doesn’t. There are many options, and as a result, you end up questioning each one of them even when they look like good ones. Many people are unsure if ACN is a scam or legitimate, and since it follows an MLM structure, people tend to be included for the first.
ACN stands for American Communications Network and is an MLM opportunity that has existed since 1993. Thus, it does have some history, and it is possible to rely on it to determine whether this is a good option or not.
In addition, this review will explain the basics of ACN. It will also discuss how it works and what it costs to start this business opportunity. Is it worth your time and effort? Can you really make six figures yearly as the company claims? How can you join?
We will be covering all the details to answer the common and logical questions every person considering MLMs should be asking.
First, What Is ACN?
Continuing with our early mention, ACN was founded in 1993 by Robert Stevanovski, Gregory Provenzano, and Anthony. It is a multilevel marketing firm based in the USA.
The company’s primary goal is to offer telecommunications, energy, and merchant services, mainly through independent sellers, which is why it opted for the MLM business structure.
The company was founded out of dissatisfaction at other companies that we’re unable to deliver the services and terms the founders expected.
ACN, Inc. ensures that its services are sold through independent sellers, but it also allows them to bring more members in by offering rewards.
MLM businesses work in this manner: People in the sales process or the sales team make more money by recruiting other people rather than actually selling services (in this case) and, sometimes, products.
This allows companies to hire many people without paying salaries or directly dealing with them as employees. It also helps them gain clients based on their sales and the sellers without much effort or costs.
These sellers and distributors will be able to offer all of the company’s services:
- High-speed Internet.
- Wireless service.
- XOOM energy.
- Automation and home security.
- Anovia payment and processing.
ACN was able to achieve the #1 position as the largest distributor of telecom services worldwide with locations on five continents and over 26 years of experience.
Although the initial model of the company wasn’t actually MLM, it helped ACN to expand its roots and boost its growth.
Today, the company remains to be number one, and you can rest assured that it isn’t illegal nor comes as a disguised scheme. However, there is still more you need to learn about it.
How Does It Work in Specific?
With the previous mention of MLM and recruits but also services, it is simple to understand how the company works. However, we need to cover other aspects and not only the fact it is all about recruiting people to earn profits.
For starters, let’s go back to the focus on distributing the services just like any other seller, which is actually a lucrative business venture due to the highly requested options offered by the company. Unfortunately, money isn’t made this way or not as much as you would expect.
The real deal is in the commissions you earn by recruiting new members to your company.
You are more an independent business owner than you are a seller for ACN. Based on this, the company offers three ways to earn your income:
- Monthly Residual Compensations.
ACN IBOs can eventually turn into your main source of residual income.
You make money by recruiting others to your team. As your team grows, your residual income will increase.
This is a time-consuming job that requires you to continuously recruit new members to your team in order to receive compensation or commissions. This team isn’t actually known with this word but rather as your “downline,” which is basically the group you build and will make you specific earnings based on a table.
- Personal Commissions.
Personal commissions can be a percentage of your earnings based on ACN service plans and people signed up.
ACN will pay you 2-8% on your monthly customer bill if you follow this structure, which makes it more affordable and manageable in terms of both effort and possibilities to generate income.
It is basically following the regular business option: You sell; you make money.
Personal commissions can be easier to get, but customers can be hard to find in the long run.
- Team Residual Commissions.
Signups for people and customers make you money.
The company provides income based on the number of sales and the number of people who join the services and takes the signs up from your downline.
This is the core of MLM: Earning more thanks to your recruits.
This table displays the commissions that you can earn based on customer points and services. It is not an income disclosure table as it does not give you a precise estimate of how much you can earn each month or year.
However, it can help to have a better idea of how much you can earn overall:
How Much Will You Spend Joining ACN?
Here’s where things get a little too complicated: ACN is not cheap, considering that it doesn’t sell products but services.
MLM companies will ask you to pay a fee, but you mostly need to invest in a package that contains the products you are supposed to sell.
ACN works differently, however, since you don’t need to purchase anything since there aren’t products.
Instead, you will need to pay $499 to join the company. This fee allows you to access the system and additional information to make your profit.
You will be able to sell the services, and you won’t be an employee. Instead, you will be an independent salesperson with your own telecommuting business. At least, that is what the company claims.
The problem is that services are not cheap and thus, won’t be easy to sell or for people to sign up for any of them.
Imagine trying to convince new customers and recruits with very expensive services.
It’s not worth it if you consider the fact that $500 is a large amount of money to start a business based on membership. You’ll also be asking friends, family members, and other people to do the same. Isn’t it a bit too immoral?
However, we are not here to judge if you end up going for the option. After all, you are the one who should evaluate the situation.
For some people, MLMs can be a great investment, but it depends on the company, and hence, take the time to learn a bit more about ACN below.
The Pros and Cons Of ACN: Joining or Not?
We have reached this point, and we are still in need of clarifying many factors.
Each business has its pros. Even the worst company can still have something positive, but its negatives will outweigh it.
ACN has its pros and cons, just as with other companies. Thus, it is only natural to go over them to determine whether it is a good option or not. What is it going to be?
Before you make your decision, we really hope you take a few minutes to go over these details:
Pros:
- Everyone needs telecommunication services. Thus, you have a wide target audience and market.
- It is a trusted brand, despite some negative reviews. This makes it easier to sell services.
- Each month you earn a monthly residual income, which is a great addition to the earnings.
- You can work from home since you are not working with products.
Cons:
- The $499 application or starting fee is a bit too much.
- Additional fees may be charged. Some include $149 for renewal of your “ownership” or $39.99 per month if you need a subscription that wasn’t already mentioned.
- You need to constantly recruit people to actually make money.
- Commission rates are quite low, and services aren’t considered the best either.
Most Frequently Asked Questions About CAN
- Is it hard to make money with ACN?
MLM isn’t perfect. Thus, making money is difficult across all MLM businesses.
In his book “Multi-level Marketing Unmasked” (2014), Jon Taylor stated that 99.7% of people who sign up for MLM companies usually lose money, and the low percentage of those making a lot is part of the company, somehow.
You might be among the 0.3% who can sell the services if you are a skilled salesperson, but it doesn’t even guarantee great profit.
MLM companies can rely on this because they barely spend money, which is more of a win situation for them than for both parties.
While the compensation plan tends to be attractive on some occasions, you are also paying commissions.
Moreover, ACN customer comments and reviews have shown that people consider the services too costly and of low quality.
Customers also feel troubled by the fact they can’t cancel their services, leading to them believing that ACN is a fraud.
- Is ACN a Pyramid Scheme?
The question of this business model being a pyramid scheme is often brought up because people are unsure if it’s legal to make money signing up for the business.
It is legal, fortunately, since the business makes its money by selling actual services. It will be considered a pyramid scheme if there are no real services or products to offer.
However, just because it is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s ethical.
ACN was, in fact, accused in 2005 of running a pyramid scheme in Australia. Despite this, the company indeed continues to operate in the country.
- Is ACN legit or a scam?
ACN has lasted for over two decades and is still going strong. This makes it seem legit.
Consider that all companies are bound to have customer complaints, and this doesn’t depend on whether they provide genuine products or services. This doesn’t just apply to MLMs and other similar companies.
We have seen the most complaints about their customer service.
Customer service is a problem because ACN reps (aka business owners) spend too much time putting out fires and recruiting new employees.
In addition, you, as a rep, will focus on maintaining the services and understanding the rate structure just to have ACN take the rug out of under you ‘for your business.
They fail to tell you that the services you receive aren’t under the contract you originally signed. Thus, you end up paying more for the same services.
This wouldn’t be so bad if all distributors in the company were making decent money. However, less than 1% actually make money with the business.
ACN is a bit of a clunker within the MLM industry.
Although they offer some new services that may be of interest to ACN opportunities seekers, they aren’t necessarily able to provide a complete solution.
- Is there a better alternative to ACN?
It’s possible to make money using ACN, but it won’t be the company’s best profit.
Besides, the process of having to recruit others to your downline in order to make a residual income is quite exhausting, but how you make the most money.
This means it isn’t the best option for everyone. Thus, we would suggest you consider some like:
- Affiliate Marketing.
- Dropshipping.
- Amazon FBA.
- Blogging.
- Freelancing.
- Selling Clothes Online.
- Working as Community Manager.
What You Must Consider About MLMs
Before jumping to our conclusion and final thoughts about ACN in specific, we need to mention a few things about multilevel marketing overall and what we don’t know about it:
- Faking it until you sell it.
To convince people to start their own businesses when recruiting them to make money, it is necessary to tell them about how “perfect” this opportunity is. This is where the real leverage comes in.
You’re selling a business idea that you even haven’t tried properly nor achieved the desired result. Thus, it is pretty much fake if you are unable to sell facts and a real element.
How many people can you convince to believe that this opportunity is possible and directly linked to success? You might say “many,” but it isn’t a good option if you want to follow an ethical business venture.
- You don’t have actual control over the business.
You will immediately be convinced of the benefits of being an independent business owner. But are you actually independent?
You can own your business and be your boss. You can set your own hours, create your own opportunities, and you can also make your own decisions. But there’s a catch. Many MLM companies have strict rules about promoting their products or services, which is when this amazing opportunity falls down.
- You will lose friends and loved ones.
You usually get involved with this business knowing that it could become part of your everyday life.
When you talk about your business, you find yourself having a conversation with friends, colleagues, or coworkers. Or the guy at the corner shop. You’ll eventually start to approach your wider network of contacts.
The problem? MLM has been around since the beginning, and it doesn’t have a great reputation. People will be immediately turned off by your involvement in a network marketing business.
They will be offended that you didn’t contact them to “catch up,” but because of another reason.
- You will work more than you think.
The problem is that multilevel marketing schemes have great visions, but the vehicle itself is often overrated.
It sounds wonderful to have the vision of working smarter, not harder, dreaming big, and striving to create great wealth. It’s even more rewarding if you can make a difference in the world!
But, in reality, multilevel marketing can be more difficult than you think. If you promote something that has a poor reputation in the industry, your strike rate for new signups will probably be low.
While some people do very well in MLM, it is frustrating for most. Are you truly ready to work as a 24/7 salesperson?
Our Verdict: What We Think About ACN
You would think that the opportunity was a scam based on its cons and all the details we have mentioned so far. However, you’re mistaken.
ACN is real. The problem is in the MLM model it applies and the low percentage earned. Thus, it makes it hard to earn a lot of money.
In addition, we know it is expensive to join. Still, despite all the problems with the business, it falls into a business opportunity you can consider without being afraid of a scam.
These are the points that can be used to summarize the answer and our verdict.
- Although it is not a scam, you will have to work way too hard to be part of the 1% who make money from it (and it won’t usually be enough to give it your all).
- You’ll spend a lot of your time, and you probably won’t get it back despite all the effort to make this business work.
- Commissions are payable yearly and sometimes even monthly. This can lead to a loss of a lot of money for very low profits even when you sell or sign many new recruits.
We can only draw one conclusion from this: You shouldn’t invest in MLM structures unless you are confident that you will gain something valuable or worth the effort.
Then, How Can You Make Money?
We mentioned at the beginning that there were many ways to make money. The idea here is a continuation of that thread.
The point is that you have many options to make money, and if you focus on one that requires less investment, that would be awesome.
To this, add the fact that it doesn’t take as much time. Finally, make sure there’s no need to deceive or bring more people to another company.
We don’t mean to make it sound like we are abandoning ACN and telling people not to pay attention to it at all, but it isn’t simply where we would bet our money.
We are trying to be clear here: There are better opportunities or more like real opportunities.
We believe that digital real estate is more lucrative and easier to manage, less time-consuming, and meets the previous requirements or aspects.
This business model involves building websites for specific clients or companies that you need to contact to provide the service.
Your job is to create their websites but primarily bring in leads and clients through them.
As an intermediary, you will manage the client portfolio and ensure that the company is earning more. This can be done by one tactic: building a website and ranking it on Google.
Why We Love It
This digital real estate is way too easy, especially when compared to ACN or any MLM business.
However, this model is not without its challenges. It requires time and money, but it’s not as expensive. You’ll get your income back in no time as well.
However, it is important to know that you will need to acquire specific skills to be able to start in this field.
- How to create websites.
- Make backlinks.
- Find out which businesses and companies you will contact after choosing a niche.
- How to find and reach clients.
- Ranks websites on Google.
- Bring the leads/clients.
After you have learned everything, you will be able to generate leads that will allow you to make passive income through those websites. Why? Because they will be rented and the companies will only pay what you get.
Which training would we recommend?
We tried this #1 program, and it was easy to understand, has great content, and you can start making money from it before you even finish it.
If you are interested in the ride, click here to find out more…
The Local Lead Generation Process for Your Business
All right! So, everything is about building properties and generating leads. But how does the process actually take place? Are there other steps I need to know?
The steps I mention below are what students from our local lead generation program follow to generate leads for businesses like yourself. So I’ll help you see what we do. And how if you join our program, you can simply generate leads for your own business (unless you want to start a side hustle and build a laptop lifestyle business).
Essentially, our lead generation can be divided into four steps:
The first is prospecting. You need to take the time to do market research on a niche (industry) and determine how many phone-driven businesses are there.
Keep in mind that this is local research as you need to know how many companies need leads. For example, you may search for “plumbing services Youngstown OH.”
You will find dozens or even hundreds of businesses trying to get themselves in front of the customers by ranking on Map Listings, organic results, and even Ad.
The second step, building. When you find a niche (plumbing, tree services, a software company, real estate…), you will need to start building your digital properties. You don’t need to be an expert in HTML or coding. It can be easy with the right tools.
The third step is now taking time to rank your lead gen website. With the site done, you need to work on SEO strategies and start dominating those Google search results. If you’re new to SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization.
To keep it simple, it consists of the entire process of growing a company’s visibility on search engines like Google and generating organic traffic. And remember this, local lead generation is part of the strategies.
Moving on to step four, once you rank the site, you will start getting your ROI and profits. You only need to rent it out to a local business interested in the leads the site generates. You can offer a couple of free leads to their move on with the actual pay per lead.
To review steps 1-4 above, I described it to a normal student who is building a lead gen business to help local service providers generate more calls. But replace the student with you as the business owner. And replace sending the leads to a business to simply siphoning the leads to your personal business.
By the way, fun fact, about 20% of our students in our local lead gen program are actually business owners who went through the program. And they use the skillsets we teach to generate leads for their own business.
An Example of Lead Generation: Home Advisor
You must be thinking, “if lead generation sounds so good so far, how come I haven’t seen any company?” That’s the thing; there are many out there. You just don’t know they are dedicated to it.
HomeAdvisor is one of the best examples you can find on the Internet as it is a top lead generation company that has spent millions building its brand but also earned even more zeros for this same reason.
They started small as everyone else but invested in building their brand awareness to make people who are looking for home services go to their website and find what they need. They are over 75% of people’s first choice when they need those services.
If you don’t get HomeAdvisor that much or need a refresh, users need to submit their information to request a service and get a professional or expert who can provide it.
HomeAdvisor’s job is to share your information, which makes you a lead, with local companies so they can contact you and offer the service you’re requesting. For sharing this lead information, HomeAdvisor gets paid by the companies. This happens for every single lead they send to multiple businesses.
Business owners who don’t have marketing skills or don’t even know how to have any online presence will always rely on those pages to list their services. They will save time and effort, but companies like HomeAdvisor can make them spend lots of money as leads aren’t exclusive (one lead is sent to multiple companies after all).
Using Facebook Ads aka Paid Ad Platforms: Do They Generate Leads?
They DO generate leads. If not, no one would use them.
However, you need to remember two facts:
- Paid ads or platforms can be expensive.
- They don’t generate “natural” leads.
Whenever someone sees or clicks in one of those ads, over 80% of them did it by accident or are trying to close/report it.
Why? Because they aren’t looking for those services. At least not at the moment.
What those ads do instead is interrupt their time on the platforms. Users aren’t there to find companies or businesses unless they are searching for a specific company’s user, and for that, there’s a search bar. This is why it is hard to convert them to actual customers who will show interest in the companies’ services. Also, you’re limited by a budget.
When using lead generation, everything is organic. You aren’t forcing others to pay attention to your business but rather being there when they need you. This is why Google’s organic traffic will always beat paid ads, and the reason companies continue investing in it, which is a lot cheaper as well.
What Is Local SEO?
Don’t worry… I didn’t get it at first either. Following the short explanation, local SEO focuses on scaling businesses’ visibility on search engines. However, this is only for those who serve their communities face-to-face.
What does this mean?
Experts and professionals like painters, plumbers, and dentists (but not only them) offer their services to their local customers. Why? Because they can’t deliver them unless they are located in the same area of their customers.
To make sure those businesses get more leads, you need to rank them locally by claiming the business listing on Google to place them on Map Listings. Local SEO also involves online reviews, citation management, and how you manage your entire online presence in the local area.
If you are going to bet on lead gen, you need to adapt yourself to today’s world: The Internet.
Keep in mind that although traditional channels and methods like billboards, warm calls, and pamphlets still work, they aren’t part of your tools. Whenever someone needs a service, they go to Google and search for it.
“Dentist in Miami” or “plumbing services in Orlando,” etc. And you can keep coming up with services or professionals people need and look for. Thus, you need to make sure you’re using Google to get the companies in front of their clients.
Users will always click on the first search results (those near the top), and many of them will be either Ad links (people paid to place their websites there), Map Listing, and then you get websites. Almost all of them are your goal and where you should always aim to place yourself.
Can My Business Utilize a Local Lead Generation Strategy?
If you want customers, you better know you need it. Following the previous explanation, lead gen is all about placing businesses in front of their customers, choosing them over their competitors.
Put it simply – it’s all about closing deals and having clients for those companies to make money. The main difference with the usual methods companies use for this is how lead generation approaches different channels to get them in the right place of the market to get customers.
Those channels are all focused on the Internet as most people are searching for products but also services across the net. The issue is that the Internet is way too broad, and businesses don’t know how to place themselves. They usually try, but they get one common result: losing money and time.
How Powerful Are Organic Leads from Google?
For companies looking for customers, it’s everything. For you? Pretty much the same. When you build a business with digital properties, you get to make thousands of dollars a month.
This isn’t a “get started today and get rich tomorrow” thing, but it is HIGHLY scalable, and ROI + positive results are guaranteed. Learning a fairly decent and very needed set of skills to create your digital properties and start ranking them on Google is required.
I have invested in several online businesses over the years, and if there’s something uncertain, whether you will get your ROI or not, even more than the actual profit.
However, this business moved my earnings from five figures a year to a month in ONLY passive income while sitting comfortably at home.
On my laptop. Anywhere. Anytime.
You can look at one of the first sites I built back in 2016, and it continues making me over $1.000+ every month. The best part is that I don’t need to touch it or the rest I’ve built over the years, just like this digital property.
What Makes Lead Generation SO Alluring?
Here it goes: you can work from home.
The main issue with regular business opportunities is how much you need to invest in staff, equipment, or rent to have a place to sell your products or offer your services.
We all know the hassles of traditional businesses that involve regular expenses, which are extremely high. Can you afford it? I don’t think so, and even if you can, is it worth it? Now, it isn’t only about the money. You also need to put in a lot of work, and it isn’t only during the first couple of months or years. Usually, it is as long as you continue running it.
You can save yourself those headaches and bone-breaking tasks and expenses with lead gen since it is more about generating leads with digital channels—mainly websites.
Websites can be VERY cheap to build, and with many tools online, you get to do it in a couple of hours instead of days. Any virtual or digital business is scalable and won’t need constant maintenance.
So, let’s summarize this:
- You save money in regular expenses with traditional and most online businesses as what you need is yourself and digital properties (websites).
- You can bet on passive income.
- There’s no need to hire more people to get started.
- You can generate leads in multiple industries, which allows you to work on any niche you want.
How Can I Get Started in the Local Lead Generation Program?
Anyone can start and learn. That’s the beauty of this business model. I knew nothing about SEO, Map Listing, and everything I’ve mentioned so far. It is all about learning the skills, gaining experience, and deciding to take the step.
Remember that this business model will never get old as business owners are always looking for leads. They need to do business and scale their companies. Why not do the same while helping others and still making money?
You can start with this local lead generation course highly recommended for anyone wanting to grow in the business. It is a close training that will take you through each step and make sure you are able to get your ROI, profits and take control of your life.
You will be added to an incredible lead generation family ready to help you 24/7 when asking questions on the group. Anyone is welcome who’s willing to put in the work. Click here to watch the lead gen webinar.