Welcome to The Downline Building Network review (also known as DBN).
This system is a home-based opportunity that uses direct mailing instead of the internet. The basic premise behind it is that you mail out postcards and you refer people into the business and make commissions.
This sounds very similar to Too Damn Easy that I recently reviewed (with the exception that Too Damn Easy has zero products associated with it), so you might also want to check that one out.
This is a multi-level marketing (MLM) business where you get paid on different referral levels (as shown below).
At first glance, this seems like a really easy way to make money.
But is it?
Let’s take a look at the entire system in this Downline Building Network review.
What is The Downline Building Network?
I actually found The Downline Building Network in a home-based business magazine, and the address in the ad there was MailPostcardsfromHome.com. So, if you’ve seen that web address, it will lead you to The Downline Building Network by Gerald Peters, which is what we’re reviewing here.
In fact, the sales page says “As seen in publications such as…” as if they were featured as a news story, but the truth is that Gerald paid to advertise in these publications. To be fair, he did mention in the video on that these are paid ads in the magazine.
In the video, Gerald says this is not an internet program. What’s really funny is that he says internet programs typically last from 6 months to a year. Perhaps the shady products like i review here, but not legitimate programs.
So…what is Downline Building Network? It’s a postcard mailing MLM system that Gerald says helps you put money in your pocket without any face-to-face communication.
He says that you just mail out postcards and all the follow-up is done for you, and that if you get 10 people in your downline, you’ll earn $250 residual income every month. He says this is an honest and ethical business. But is it? We’ll take a closer look a little later.
You can watch the video yourself here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=357&v=3JKoFyNspbE
Who is Gerald Peters?
I couldn’t find much information on Gerald Peters. He mentioned that he started The Downline Building Network 3 years ago, and that he’s been in the direct mail business for over 20 years.
He does a Facebook page, but there’s not much going on there.
What Happens When You Call the Downline Building Network Number?
I gave the number a call to see what happened. It’s a prerecorded message from Gerald, who starts off by saying you can get started in as little as $1 a day.
He said this is one of the easiest and most profitable systems out there. He’s built an organization of over 8,000 people without chasing any friends or family. He tells you that if you can stick a stamp, you can make money with DBN.
Basically, when you call the number, you get a prerecorded sales message, urging you to give them your name and number so they can send you a free information packet.
Are There Any Products with The Downline Building Network?
While Gerald says there are no lotions or potions to sell, he does have some products for sale via the Downline Building Network. These are books that he’s written, training CDs, and other training materials.
Here are some of the products that The Downline Building Network sells, but this is not the main product.
What the real “product” DBN sells is “opportunity seeker leads”. These are leads of people who are looking for work from home opportunities. We’ll talk more about this in the next section.
Related articles:
How Does The Downline Building Network Work?
When you call the number, or sign up on the website, you’ll be mailed a free information packet. Remember, this is not an internet program, it’s a direct mail ordering program.
If you decide to join The Downline Building Network, what you’ll get for your money are, as mentioned above, opportunity seeker leads. These are names and addresses of people who are interested in making money from home, and they come on a label sheet.
You can use those leads to market any program you want. However, we all know that the main opportunity that people will market is being a part of the DNB program. Why? Because there are different levels and downlines and it could be a good way to make money. (Just note that I said “could”.)
You’ll also get postcards included in your package. That way you can just sticky-sticky that little label right on that postcard and send them out easily.
How Do You Get Paid?
When people first sign up, you get a 70% Fast Start commission. You get 70% of whatever membership price they buy into. (See below.) For instance, if someone joins at the $100 level, you’ll make $70 for their first order.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an MLM without some complicated chart of how you make money with a downline.
- Level 1 people are the people who you personally sign up.
- Level 2 are the people that your personal referrals sign up.
- Level 3 are the people that your personal referrals’ referrals sign up.
Confusing? Of course it is.
The Different Payouts for Each Level:
- 10% payout on level 1
- 40% payout on level 2
- 20% payout on level 3
There are 3 Membership Prices:
- $30 – You get 30 opportunity seeker leads and 30 postcards
- $50 – You get 60 leads and 60 postcards
- $100 – 120 leads and 12 postcards
You can also earn $345 by selling The Master Pack, which is a set of Gerald’s training books. (The cost for this Master Pack for members is $440.)
How Much Does The Downline Building Network Cost?
Of course, nothing is free out there and The Downline Building Network is no exception! Here is what you will pay per level (shipping is included in the prices):
- $30 level – $35 / month
- $50 level – $50 / month
- $100 level – $105 / month
(Keep in mind you’ll also need to pay for stamps if you’re sending out postcards.)
Is this a good business and is The Downline Building Network worth it? Let’s go over this in the next section.
Is Downline Building Network a Scam or Legit?
I don’t think The Downline Building Network is a scam exactly because they kind of have a product to sell. It’s an interesting way to get around being a complete pyramid scheme, and it’s my opinion (my opinion only – I’m not in charge of the law) that it’s a borderline pyramid scheme.
The product that you get is to help you sell the product. And you try to recruit others into your downline to help sell more of the product.
Pros
- Easy to get started
- Fairly inexpensive for the lowest plan
Cons
- The main purpose of the product is to sell the product, which I don’t personally find a lot of value in
- Most people lose money with MLMs
- Complicated compensation plan
- Unknown where the leads are coming from (they might be low quality leads)
The Downline Building Network is Great For…
Gerald Peters.
When doing some research, I saw an article posted about the secrets of a “millionaire postcard mailer”. That millionaire is Gerald.
It seems like such a great business opportunity because you just sign up for a few bucks a month, and then you can be a millionaire just like Gerald! Gerald is a millionaire because he’s at the very top of the MLM pyramid. Most of the money flows to him.
People at the bottom of the pyramid don’t do so well. Every once in a while, someone might move up the ranks and make a good amount of money.
I was recently in an MLM, and even though we had awesome products, I found it VERY hard to make money in that business. I lost way, way more than I made. People are very skeptical of MLMs. Keep that in mind.
Look, you are certainly free to do whatever you want, I just want you to know all the facts before joining, and also share my own personal experience.
To give you a better look at MLMs and how they work, here’s a great video I found on YouTube:
The Downline Building Network is really only a business that sells the same business. It’s one of those endless loops to nowhere…
Conclusion
The good thing about The Downline Building Network is that you can get started at a fairly inexpensive price. That way, if it’s not working out the way that you want, you can always get out without much downside.
Keep in mind that you will be pressured into buying the highest level and the $440 books. That’s just how MLMs go.
If you like the idea of making money from home, but maybe want to look into an alternative way of doing things, my recommendation is affiliate marketing. You promote other people’s products and get a commission. It’s simple to understand.
Here’s my #1 recommendation for affiliate marketing training and where I learned how to put this very website together. See why over 100 people have joined with me so far this year!
Do you have any questions or comments about this Downline Building Network review? Have you been involved in this program? Did it work for you? I’d love to hear from you whether you had a positive or negative experience. Leave any questions or comments down below!
Christina, you’ve done an excellent job reviewing this program. Having experience with this type of business I can tell you that buying stamps and purchasing the actual postcards can be very expensive.and the response rate is never as high as the owner quotes.
You pointed this out in a very convincing manner and I was so happy you did. – Great job!
John
beginshere
Apparently you get the postcards with your membership here, but you do have to buy the stamps separate. I appreciate your insight into this type of business. It’s nice to hear from someone who’s done this type of “work”.
I am sure that the response rate isn’t very high. What do most people do with postcards in the mail? Chuck them, of course! lol
I don’t know. It’s sounds fishy to me (totally my opinion). You’re right, many people are leery of MLMs. And, I believe it’s for a reason. It’s easy to get lost in the description of how the different levels work.
I’m more interested in something that’s straight forward and upfront- a what you see is what you get deal.
Yes, the cost isn’t much per month, but it’s still a business investment, and those need to be made wisely.
Honestly, I’ve never been comfortable buying leads. It just feels like a shortcut, and in my experience, anything that cuts corners isn’t always the best route to go.
I agree with you. It’s probably not a scam, but it doesn’t seem to be a good business idea either. Why pay for something to you don’t get to own (like your own website). And, honestly, it’s putting way too much trust in Gerald Peters with not much proof for that trust.
Thanks for sharing the info.
I do think buying leads is OK, a lot of companies do that. And if you can get high quality leads, it can be a good way to get people to your offer.
That’s not my issue with The Downline Building Network, it’s more that the leads are used to resell the program (in most cases). You’re buying into the program to sell the program to those leads. And the people at the bottom of these types of programs always lose out.
Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!
Hi Christina,
It’s been a long time since I’ve heard the term MLM! I thought these marketing methods had gone by the boards. Your Review has provided some very enlightening information here. I like the way you give us substantive content as well about The Downline Building Network in a clear and cogent fashion. I had heard about the mailing postcards for money idea but never thought it sounded like a moneymaker. You make it plain that while there are some pros, they are outweighed by the cons. You left no doubt that this is one to stay away from.
Due to immediately piquing my interest, I clicked on your link to the Ebook and entered my email to get a copy. When I clicked on your WA link I noted that you made it sound super simple to get the WA site market-ready. I am a retired attorney and now teach Social Studies in an alternative school. I see WA as a means to get out but I have not found the site builder part so simple and wonder if you could expand on why/how it is easy? That sure would help me because I have found that copy and pasting code is a bit tedious.
Thank you for this great information.
God bless you!
Being a Social Studies teacher is not easy! I worked in an elementary school for 3 years as a paraprofessional and I know a teacher’s job is not an easy one.
Building websites is SO much easier! Well, in my opinion. I guess it may be a different kind of hard for some people. But once you get used to it, it flows easily.
The reason why Wealthy Affiliate is my #1 recommendation is because they make it easy to get started with building your own website. It’s not about copying and pasting code (it’s much, much easier now), it’s about following step by step instructions to build out your site little by little.
They give you tasks to check off as you do each step, and doing it this way is a gentle approach that makes the entire online marketing process easier to understand.
Hello; I have read your review about The Downline Building Network. I notice that many of General Peters kind have invaded the Internet. I am not sure how Peters and others get people email address but they are making a kill at it.
I am of the opinion that they have advanced knowledge in IT They know to rat their ways into Affiliate Marketers accounts and extract their email information. And they are not truthful. Good for Peters, there is some twisted truth in his story.
DorcasW
Yes, that’s one of the issues I have with The Downline Building Network – where is Gerald getting his leads? Are they good leads? We have no idea!
The other issue is that in order to make an MLM work, people at the bottom have to lose money. It doesn’t feel good to make money when you know people have to lose it. There are better ways to make a living working from home.
I have heard of s few companies that you have to buy postcards and send them out.
Just my thoughts is that just like the traditional way of network marketing or MLMs.
It is dying out the traditional way is. Face to face having parties and all that.
Now everything is going online.
So sending out postcards is like the ancient way of sending out an email today.
To be honest when I get the mail. I look at it see what’s important the rest is in the trash.
So I believe this could possibly work now. It is highly likely like you said you’ll lose money.
Even now some even say email is going out. The new breed of email marketing is in which is a messenger chat bot.
I believe this might have worked way better back. 20,30 or later but now not so much.
Well, the one thing that could be good with the postcards is that because everyone is online now, it is a little more unique. But, I can’t imagine that someone would see one of these cards and want to sign up. I guess there are some people out there who do it, but I can’t imagine there’s enough where this makes any financial sense.
Also, I just don’t love these types of programs where there’s no real value. It’s like you’re just trading money around with people. You’re not really learning a new skill or learning how to do marketing properly.
But hey, to each his own, I guess!
I agree the postcards are a unique way of getting to people.
Leads and or traffic like you know is the life line of any business. You could get a lot of leads from a solo ad just say but that doesn’t mean those leads will buy.
Or like a review I just did on Kaboom Traffic. The main traffic that you get from the site is with your banner ads being placed everywhere on the site.
The problem I have with this is that most of the people on the site are trying to get leads in their main business. They aren’t really looking for other programs to promote you know?
So these leads and free traffic isn’t the best quality.
This is where the downline building network comes in.
How good are these leads that you are paying for? Just because you are wanting to work online doesn’t mean they are wanting to join your opportunity.
I can’t say this is a scam but definitely not a program I’d promote.
I’d rather promote WA and get free traffic from my blog, SEO, than pay for leads I don’t know how quality they are.
bUnited seems like an interesting one to look into.
I was just seeing some people post about bUnited in a facebook group I’m in. I’ll have to take a look at that one.
That’s the thing with paying for leads, you just never know. The costs are going to add up and up and up!
I totally agree with promoting Wealthy Affiliate and SEO instead. (That’s why they’re my #1 recommendation always.) I like that they teach you how to be in control of your own site and your own traffic. You’re not reliant on other traffic sources.
bUnited seems legit but with all of these GPT scam sites going around it is making me think other wise.
The research I did they say they partnered with a uk phone company called Vodafone.
I couldn’t find any such partnership.
You sign up for a free account and refer people for like ten bucks.
But the money you can’t cash out at this point.
It works on a five tier (mlm structure) to get paid. A lot more to it but that’s the short end.
It seems a little sketchy to me you know?
I totally agree WA is a good way to learn build free traffic. Like you said buying leads are unreliable and cost a lot.
SEO May take a while to get traction if you are doing everything right. It came give you the success you want.
If I would’ve had the drive back in 2014 and internet I could’ve been way farther than I am today.
Everything happens for a reason though.
Oh OK. bUnited is sounding a little shadier. I think I’ll take a look at that one today and see if I can write up a review for it. SEO definitely takes time! Google is quite fickle. But, even if you buy traffic, I think it’s still a good idea to do SEO too as you can have more consistent traffic over time.
I know what you mean about having drive. I started at Wealthy Affiliate in 2009 (I was dabbling with affiliate marketing even before then), but I wasn’t patient enough and I stopped. I could kick myself now, but it’s OK. Like you said, everything happens for a reason and that’s the path we took. 🙂