What is SFI – Six Figure Income-Strong Future International

I've been in this make money at home industry damn near when “Al Gore Invented The Internet“. LOL So it's given me the unique vantage point of seeing the crap come and go. When I first started I blindly jumped into anything claiming that it could make me money from home. I didn't have an “Eddy with a y” watching out for me as you do. So I had to learn by trial and error. It's not something I recommend. In any event, one of my first ventures into this work from home world was a company called SFI!

Back in the day around 1998, SFI stood for “Six Figure Income” but the name was later changed to “Strong Future International”. A flock of you seem to be interested in learning more about this company. Ok, my friends, So here's my SFI Review.

What Is SFI (the official version)?

SFI was launched in 1998 and is a division of Carson Services inc., headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska.

SFI is the exclusive marketing arm for the IAHBE (International Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs) and Veriuni, a line comprised of nutritional, cleaning, personal care, pet care, telecommunication products, and more.

SFI is believed to be the largest Marketing Network in the world, with hundreds of thousands SFI affiliates in over 200 countries (source: SFI Startup webpage)

The affiliates can join SFI for FREE. Their business is to market different products (about 105,000) and receive monthly commissions, depending on how much each member sells from their shop, and how big each members affiliate network is.

How Does SFI Work (the official version)

You can join SFI for free and you will be placed in a position in a straight “Power Line” of members.

To lock in your position in the power line, you must upgrade the membership to EA (Executive Affiliate) within 30 days of joining SFI. As an EA you will start to make money at once, and every month, from everyone that joins after you.

You will get an SFI website URL to promote SFI and recruit new affiliates. As soon as they upgrade to EA, you will increase your income. You also will earn commissions from products you sell from your “own free online store“.

The above is the synopsis of the official SFI Signup Site. Now let me show you the “real thing“!

What You Get As New SFI Member

Let me start by telling you that this whole thing is a convoluted mess and it would take a 50 page ebook to really explain it to you. Bear with me though, I'll give you the most important aspects of the program.

Once you sign up for free, you get access to the SFI Affiliate Center and YOUR SFI Homepage. When you log in for the very first time, there will be a welcome letter from your sponsor (if you signed up through an affiliate).

The sponsor will give you a brief overview of how everything is supposed to work and detailed instructions of what to do.

SFI Basics:

First he/she directs you to the SF Basics page and recommends that you focus on this page only and not move on to other parts of the SFI Affiliate Center until you feel you fully understand these basics.

On this page SFI lists 4 ways to make money and we are going to explore these first.

1) Start earning money by accumulating VersaPoints

TripleClicks Executive Pool & Versa Points: You know that SFI has over 100,000 products in its catalog. For all purchases and actions made by you and your down line, you will be awarded a certain amount of Versa Points.

Your first objective is to earn as many of these points as you can. The more points you accumulate during the month, the higher your rank and the more you will earn.

Besides selling (or buying) any of the products, you also receive points by completing certain tasks in your “Daily To-Do-List” (which we will see in just a few minutes)

2. Increase your earnings by generating sales at TripleClicks.com

Each time you refer someone to purchase products at TripleClicks, you will receive a 45% commission. The referral is “lifetime”, meaning that the person you referred will be YOUR customer for as long as you are a member of SFI. There is yet another link to find out different ways to generate TripleClick sales.

“Footnote: Note that many of the methods are 100% FREE, can be done entirely on the Internet (no face-to-face selling), and can be put into action within minutes! “

3. Maximize your income with sponsoring and duplication

This means that in order to “make the big bucks” you must promote SFI and recruit as many new members into your down line. SFI's Versa Point Matching program means that for EVERY VP they earn, you will earn the same amount. Again, there is a link to methods for signing up new affiliates.

4. Add supplemental income streams (optional)

Ok, if you want to earn even more, there are 3 additional income streams. Since they are optional, and you will have your hands full with what's coming next, I am going to skip this section.

Your Daily To-D0-List

The screenshot below shows YOUR SFI site when you log in for the first time through the link in your sponsor's welcome letter (the shot is a montage; there is a half page of intro text between the red menu tabs and “Today's To-Do”)

Here you are tasked with about 100 different things to do; about 30 in the Getting Started Section and about 70 more below. The column on the left denotes the number of Versa Points you will earn for each task.

Once you are done with all the tasks of your To-Do-List (will change every day, of course), you need to visit each of the red menu tabs. You will get various amounts of VP for some of them, others are offers to purchase something to increase your earning potential.

The tab “Triple Clicks” will remind you that “YOU don't have a standing order, yet” and displays items to purchase or join an auction.

The tab “Score Board” tells you how many points you have earned this month so far, and how many points you are short to qualify as EA (Executive Affiliate – you need 1,500 points). Remember, you only earn money after you qualify.

What Next With SFI?

Well, you get the idea. You need to complete your daily To-Does”, recruit new members like crazy, promote the TripleClicks products to all your friends, family members and enemies. And of course, you need to invest some money. More about that later on.

The Pros & Cons of SFI

Pros:

• It is absolutely FREE to join SFI

• Free internet income course that includes pay-per-click marketing, mobile marketing, and free advertising strategies.

• SFI offers six different income streams

• If you should reach 3,000 VPs a month, SFI will reward you with additional shares of up to $106.00.

• You can choose the way you get paid. Via Paypal, check, direct deposit to your account or by SFI Pioneer debit card.

• You can upload digital products for resell and receive ONE VP for each transaction.

• The help & support system at SFI is above average.

Cons:

• To qualify for EA (1,500 VPs) will be easy for you in the first month due to the volume of your To-Do-List. But you have to maintain this status every single months. If you are not able to do so with the free membership, you will lose ALL your co-sponsored affiliates.

• To make sure you are not going to lose your EA status, you need to become a member of IHABE. This “Standing Order” will cost you $30.00 per month but ensures your EA status. And here goes your “FREE MEMBERSHIP”!

• Most TripleClicks products are grossly over priced. No surprise there though, since you will get a whopping 45% commission. At a time where a lot of people are “coupon shopping” it seems impossible to lure people into buying these rather expensive products.

• The SFI Compensation Plan is very difficult to understand. I am in the business for over 10 years now and have 10 -15 different income streams at any given time. I deal with a variety of compensation plans and must say that SFI's plan remains a mystery to me even after reading theirs about ten times.

• To become really successful with SFI, you will have to invest money in your business. It's not a requirement, but if you follow their To-Do-List, it is what they recommend and what they want you to do. The monthly costs for Hosting for your website ($20), TCredits ($29) Gift Cards ($30), and S-Builder Coop ($22) plus the $30 for IHABE add up to $131.00 and may be a real challenge for many newbies. But any successful business person will preach you need to invest in yourself and business to make money. I speak from experience. So I don't view this as a con but some of you may because of your own light pockets or don't understand the whole difference between running a business and being an employee.

• You will get a pre-designed website but NO training how to build and maintain a site. Your site will not rank in Google due to the fact that it is very similar to hundred of thousands SFI member sites and does not contain quality content.

• If you are new to internet marketing, particularly affiliate marketing, it may be a big challenge to support affiliates you recruit.

• The high number of affiliates that sign up for free but “become inactive shortly after joining SFI“. This seems to be a big problem and is discussed in the SFI forum even as I write this review. Take a look and see for yourself.

I can easily think about some of the reasons why affiliates don't stick around. First off, it's free to join. It's just normal that you attract a lot of “lookie loos” that have no intent to get involved in first place.

Another reason may be the fact that the SFI system is a convoluted mess, as I mentioned earlier, and many people just don't have the patience to stick and try to figure everything out.

But the main reason may be that many free members are not able to qualify as EA the second month around, and have not the budget or the financial means to invest any money.

Is SFI A Scam or Legitimate?

SFI is a legit MLM marketing organization and sells tangible products people buy and actually use. For God's sakes its been around since 1998 when AOL was popping! That longevity should speak volumes. Although the bigger chunk of money you can make will come from recruiting new members, but you can make your income from the sales of products which usually isn't the case with scammy MLM products.

Would I recommend SFI? It really depends on how your approach their business. If your focus is just to recruit other people into the business, that can be very difficult for a new person. You don't want to be that guy that tries to hoodwink your family and friends into the business. Some Nerium International reps do a great job of that.

But if you focus on the part of the SFI business where its about promoting the products or services that people want, can afford and use, that is a much better way to earn a livable income online. Unfortunately many of their products aren't competitive in pricing. Folks online are looking for deals not to pay jacked up prices.

Well I hope you enjoyed reading my SFI review as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any questions about SFI or have had experience with this outfit, I would love to hear from you. So, don't be shy and chime in down below.

Do You Want To Know How I Make Money Online and Want To Do The Same?

I've been making money online since 1998 but it's actually based on my passion and not pushing over priced products. If you want to make money online around something you love, you need to check out my My Top Free Work At Home Recommendation! It's totally risk free and you have nothing to lose if you decide it's not for you. So it may be something to consider.

That's it for today. Like I said earlier, I am really interested what's on your mind.

Thanks for stopping by

Eddy with a y