Trina:
Great post..just one inaccuracy that I noticed in quick glance...
"There are literally hundreds of different types of scams, but the most common of them all is the matrix scam. And this one is the one people fall for most often. Many companies running this type of scam refer to it as a powerline."
It is true that matrix pay plans have never worked long term historically (only 1 company of the tens of thousands that have launched over the pat 50 years, Melaleuca, has had any long term, signficant success, and they've modified their pay plan numerous times in the past 10 years in order to retain their leaders. If they didn't have a unique and high quality product line, they would have been gone a long time ago.)
No one in their right mind, if they were students of history, and throughly knowledgeable about compensation plans, would ever get involved with a matrix compensation plan, regardless of whether it was a 3x4, 4x6, 5x7, etc...In fact, someone should roll out with a 2x4 and have an actual two by four piece of wood in the distributor kit so that you can smack yourself with it for getting involved in the first place.
In many cases matrix pay plans are commonly used with the Internet related deals, none of which either last or turn out to be profitable, except for the owners who launch the deal. All people are doing in joining these deals is building the list of the names for the owners so that they can roll into something else down the road with a huge list of names they can target in order to make another big pile of money..
The inaccuracy involves this part of your post: "Many companies running this type of scam refer to it as a powerline."
No they don't...they refer to it as a matrix plan...be it a 3 by 9, 4 by 6, 5 by 7, etc...
A powerline has nothing to do with the naming of a pay plan. It is a business building strategy that is incorporated into many online business building sytems and is used in a variety of legitimate companies and a variety of compensation plans, namely unileve, stairstep, and binary plans, with it being most effectively used in a two team or binary pay plan.
The powerline emphasizes a straight line, vertical appproach to building a leg, so it would be least effective in a matrix because in a matrix you are having to fill in empty spots are all over the place in your organization so you can't concentrate on any one particular leg like you can in other types of pay plans.
There are far more opportunities using a powerline that have a binary, unilevel, or stairstep pay plan than a matrix plan.
Having pioneered one of the first 2 automated online business building systems with a powerline for the industry, having built some of the largest, fastest growing, and most successful groups in the industry over the past 25 years, consulting with numerous people and companies on pay plans, and working with some of the top legal experts in our industry including a prominent former state Attorney General, etc., I think I would qualify as somewhat of an expert on this matter..
As I mentioned, your post was right on..this was the only correction that I felt needed to be made..
By the way, you might mention cash gifting programs are highly illegal! I am seeing a ton of these on the Internet and it is amazing the number of people that are either gullible, stupid, or idiots that are involved with them, and they actually think they are legal!
Also, any opportunity that promotes "you can make money without having to do anything, sponsor anyone, sell any product," etc., is by statute, an ILLEGAL pyramid and also subjects people to prosecution with lottery statutes as you earned money by sheer luck then if you didn't have to do anything in order to make the money...I see numerous people using the wording mentioned above in promoting their opportunities and they are putting both their company as well as themselves in legal jeopardy..