I've heard it all before...Don't pay for people to join your downline....Get your downline growing with paid signups.

Both side of the coin are tainted.

When you think to get ahead by offering a new signup or a special incentive to signup, what exactly are you getting?

Look at any website or blog that is offering to catapult your business into the new age with paid signups. Do you specify that the people that signup have to do anything?

NO! Everything has to be "Free to Join", do you know why?

It's because the people that join don't want to do anything. They aren't really interested in what you are doing and they have no vested interest in making something work. Most of the time it just an average joe or jane surfing the net and they clicked - ended up on a list - now they get a few cents to signup for FREE offers.

So the incentive to signup is gone once they signup up on your "Free to Join" site.

Do you offer another incentive to keep them in the loop?

Free to Join sites offer a great way to hook your potential consumer...however, you have to offer something that will enrich their lives, be a "must have" commodity, or have a "wow" factor.

Are all "Free to Join" sites offering something?

YOU BET! But is it something that will eventually pull in some hard earned cash? Not so lucky there. Most people that are paid to join your site, are PAID to join... no more incentive. Unless you are willing to pay them more.

In a book that I just finished, it gives this example:

If I asked you to walk up to a stranger and hand them your business card, get into a short conversation and come away with their business card would you do it? Maybe.

Now, same scenerio BUT I will give you $100 for each person's business card that you come back with... you'd do it... wouldn't you. Hey that's a $100 bucks a pop.

When you pay someone to get you leads, generate traffic to your site... they will do it. Why? Because you just paid them. If they don't...well, a squeeky wheel & all.... they can't afford not to give you what you paid for.

Many companies rely on word of mouth to build a business. This works very well for companies that sell a commodity like diet pills, drinks, vitamins, diet foods and the like.

To get a person to signup for information, a traffic exchange, a discount shopping site where there is no tangible product in their hands takes a different kind of marketing program.

What you really need to do is get traffic to your site, have a great splash page or attention getter, grab their email address and create a page that will draw others that want to advertise with you or exchange links with you.

Will paid signups work for these types of sites? Yes & No.

If you are being paid for each person that signs up under you, then there will be stipulations such as NO PAID SIGNUPS in the terms & conditions. Under no condition should you try to pass off a paid signup as your own. You will end up black listed.

However you can generate some traffic figures by using multiple traffic exchanges to get that "Attention Grabbing Site" out there and you can use email marketing in the form of safelists.

Now the odds of getting 1 great referral per 10,000 page views is less than one percent, but 1 great referral could be the person that will make your business grow. So if you have no time to spend to click, click, click... paid visitors may be you only option.

Notice I said paid visitors not paid signups, there is a difference and 99.9% of the time it is OK to generate traffic this way...Yabut, check the terms & conditions before you spend a dime.

Now remember, I said that it will work & won't work. Paying for referral signups will only work if that person is truly interested.

I did a test and got 42 referral signups to a program that paid no additional incentives to the signup unless you promote the program. Out of 42 people not 1 referral, not 1 time did they try to promote the program, and now there are 42 people cluttering up my downline doing "NOT 1 THING".

Another test, different program - results the same.

3rd times' the charm, right... nope still the same results.

The bottom line... pay for traffic to your site, don't pay for people to signup under you.

Once you get someone that is really interested, take them under your wing but don't give them any incentive that can't be reasonably earned. And remember that it MUST be earned not given because are in your downline, there is no incentive to free.