Many affiliates felt the old Display Rate and Success Rate concept complicated things and were intimidated by it. Because of this, Tissa has waived the old system to let all of the affiliates enjoy a 100% display rate from their People Search engine affiliate links, which includes AdSense, ClickBank, MyLife and HD. Furthermore, it is mandatory to subscribe to Step 3 for at least 45 consecutive days for an A.P.S. referral commission payout, which must exceed $200.

“Userfriendly” not just a word?

Whether the new system with a 100% display rate and free hosting for the People Search engine makes ACME People Search easier to grasp for new affiliates, is still debated. With numerous details still not in place and the back office resembling an ongoing experiment, in its current state ACME People Search is hardly the most userfriendly experience. Admittedly, the back office is easier to navigate now, with referral earnings showing and important links easily accessible.

Tissa’s statement, posted in the A.P.S. Support forum on January 30, 2010:

• The “Display Rate” concept for the free People Search engine will be waived and referrals given access to their own People Search page with a 100% display rate for ClickBank, HD, MyLife and AdSense on Step 1, which is “free forever”. This to avoid further confusion on what’s included with each step.
• Step 3 subscription is now required in order to receive GDI sign-ups, otherwise they go in Tissa’s GDI downline. Previously, Step 1 & 2 were needed for this, but with most referrals cancelling Step 3 within long, it was hurting everybody’s success rate.

Step 1 Free with 100% Display Rate

Step 1 has always been free, with a limited Display Rate. When activating Step 1, new affiliates get their own free People Search engine with a 100% display rate for ClickBank, AdSense, MyLife, HD and US Search Social Network Search. They can stay at Step 1 and earn money off of the affiliate links, or upgrade to Step 2/3 and gain additional income streams and other perks.

Included with Step 1:

• Free hosting for People Search engine, affiliate links for:
• ClickBank
• HD Publishing
• AdSense
• MyLife
• US Search-Social Network Search
  

Included with Step 2:

• Brand your search engine using GDI, Host Gator or GVO web hosting, customize and add your People Search engine in your own blog or website, use it to provide free people searches or let your visitors put in their e-mail address to register in your downline.

Included with Step 3:

• Additional income streams from GDI, Host Gator, GVO, and referral commissions; you become eligible for commission payouts from Tissa Godavitarne, and you can also become a Super Sponsor by helping other users in the support forum.
• Access to the GDI “Secret” Sign-up Sauce Ingredients (basically a Forced Matrix)
• The “Super Affiliate” switch offered as a free bonus

The Step 3 requirement was added to balance out the generous offer for Step 1 affiliates. GDI usually is the main reason for joining A.P.S., and it is too early to tell how the current updates will affect it. The added incentives for subscribing to Step 3 could help with building a retentive Step 3 list, at least in theory.

A GDI membership is $10 per month and comes with (very) basic web hosting features, your own .ws domain name and its own MLM affiliate program. Works well in combination with ACME People Search, if the affiliate knows how to earn money online in the first place.

In conclusion

ACME People Search is not as userfriendly as it could be, and it has a way to go before I would call it that. The 100% display rate for the People Search engine in Step 1 makes ACME People Search available to everyone with Internet access, and they can’t afford Step 2 and 3, or they just want to earn money by means of affiliate links in their free People Search engine, they are free to do so.

As for Step 2 and 3, no-one knows how many Step 1 affiliates will jump in the pool for their share of the fun rather than waiting around for the water to heat up. These are pretty significant changes, and only the future can tell what comes out of it. With a supportive community, a hard working team and new revenue streams added, ACME People Search looks pretty safe for now, at least.

So, what’s the bad news, you might wonder? In order to still be eligible for referral commission payout, and now, to receive any sign-ups in their GDI downline via ACME People Search, it has become mandatory for A.P.S. affiliates to subscribe to Step #3 via PayPal.

I’ll repeat that: ACME People Search affiliates must now subscribe to Step #3 ($29,95 per month) via PayPal, or their GDI referral sign-ups will be passed on to their upline sponsor.

Other A.P.S. affiliates report their success rate for Step #3 is dwindling, and it looks like the program is losing affiliates every time Tissa decides to add a new rule that makes it even less affordable for new users.

I am not sure what to think of this; ACME People Searched used to be an excellent income opportunity in 2008 and at least the first half of 2009, and I used it for building my GDI downline. But now the question is rather, whether to stay with either. I am currently building new websites to monetize in other ways, and it is so much easier than having to constantly keep up with Tissa’s latest additions to the t.o.s., and his community.

I welcome any comments on this, and I would appreciate your angle on it because, right now I feel totally lost when it comes to these two companies. GDI was first and Tissa decided to piggyback on their success with his own ACME People Search, with heavy emphasis on GDI. Maybe GDI isn’t good enough for Tissa any more?

As for me, I have been through many ups and downs this year, as I’m sure you did too. I realized after a while, that the magic word is “momentum”. Think of a steam engine: without continuously feeding its boiler with the heat from a furnace, it will eventually lose power and die out. Like I told my best friend and life companion:

“In 2009 I gained knowledge but little momentum. In 2010 I will apply that knowledge, and keep my momentum going.”

My action plan for 2010 is not ready yet, but I have the next days all alone to finish it. I will most likely change my goals, and this time make sure I stick to the plan throughout the year, probably with some changes along the way.

Another part of my preparations for 2010:
Yesterday I upgraded my Warrior Forum membership for access to the War Room. That was the best $37 I’ve spent since my first steps in the realms of IM. I was blown away by the sheer amount of great e-books, software and information offered for free in the War Room. The very first e-book I downloaded was worth the one-time fee alone, and I paid for the upgrade with money I have earned online, so it was basically free.

Some advantages by becoming a Warrior Room member:

• Can post WSO offers (sales threads)
• Can store up to 400 PM messages in their Inbox
• Get their own high PR blog, great for traffic
• A cool name tag for your forum avatar, which automatically gives you more credit

Instead of buying another e-book on some new and incredible money-making method, consider upgrading your free Warrior Forum membership and become a War Room member. The $37 is a one-time fee, opening the gates to such ridiculous amounts of valuable content and information, it is a no-brainer. Even if you decide to stay a free forum member, WF is a great source of IM knowledge. To upgrade, simply click the War Room forum link in the WF. If you aren’t a free WF member already, signing up is easy and done in a moment.

Looking back at the last six months:
Google went bananas on their Adwords customers, banning thousands of advertisers for life. Incidentally, it inspired entrepreneurs to create e-books on how to get back to Adwords after having been banned. The mass-ban is still going on, so be careful.

ACME People Search introduced new rules in August and November, causing an increase in affiliate membership cost; affiliates must now subscribe continually to all 3 steps for at least 45 days in order to get paid commission. Bottom line: makes recruiting new referrals more difficult.

The new FTC rules have shaken the IM scene, but even though it is more likely than not what caused Google to start banning so many of their advertisers, the rules were created to protect honest merchants and customers in the first place.

It is neigh impossible to predict what 2010 will bring. Or even next month, for that matter. What I do know is: Easy Money Central will still be around, providing more useful information and guides, free downloads and more.

Now I am going to enjoy the evening, and I wish you and your friends and family a

Merry Christmas!

Effective from November 19 2009, in order to get paid referral commissions, all A.P.S. affiliates must subscribe to Step 3 for at least 45 days before they are eligible for a payout. This in addition to the first steps, meaning a total monthly cost running at minimum $39.95. More if you choose to subscribe to GVO and/or Wealthy Affiliate as well.

Also, the commission system for Step 1 through Step 3 has changed:

You now earn $1 when a referral completes Step 1, $2 for Step 2 and $3 for Step 3. These amounts no longer depend on each step’s success rate, something that aggravated affiliates before. Additionally, a %15+ success rate in Step 3 adds a $32 bonus, although this is 100% voluntary.

“I am poor, how am I supposed to earn anything with ACME People Search now?”

• Register in the Support forum after registering as an ACME People Search affiliate.
• Read and learn, start posting helpful answers in the forum on a daily basis (important!).
• Subscribe with Step 3 via PayPal (the first month is free).
• Continue subscribing with Step 3 via PayPal until you have become a Super Sponsor.
• Alternatively, wait with Step 3 and promote A.P.S. with only Step 1 and 2 activated.

You need a plan for how you are going to promote ACME People Search. Many prefer Google Adwords. I was recently banned for life from their program when promoting ACME People Search with it (I am not bitter, just frustrated at how Google treats their paying customers), but there are many other PPC companies around, most being more affordable than Adwords. Also look into utilizing SEO for articles, blog posting, e.t.c.

“Okay… but, I think ACME People Search is not for me after all… what about GDI?”

If money is an issue, I recommend GDI (Global Domains International) at $10/mo. With 10 active referrals your membership fee is covered and you’ll profit from there. GDI pays on time, offers a $100 bonus for every 5 active referrals recruited by you in a week and they have been around since 1999. GDI’s requirement for the bonuses is that you purchase one of their 10-packs with promo DVDs. This is a one time purchase and each DVD comes with your personal GDI affiliate code, for giving away to friends, family, colleagues, e.t.c.

The first week of your GDI membership is free of cost, then you will be charged $10 for the first month and onward. If you are (still) worrying about the money, I help my referrals by showing them ways to easily earn enough money to cover the membership fee until they have enough active referrals to make it sustain itself. It is important to get past that point, because it means one thing less to worry about and gives you peace to try out different free and affordable ways to promote the program.

Also: I am not promising you anything, but if you show a genuine interest in succeeding with GDI, I’ll move new sign-ups under you to help you build your own downline. I believe in paying it forward, and I always ask my referrals to help their own downlines. This way, everybody wins!

Click here to find out more about GDI

Click here to learn more about ACME People Search

In conclusion:
This most recent change in the ACME People Search policy means more effort and money required in order to earn money with it. Tissa Godavitarne has confirmed additional changes in their policy is coming. I don’t know the details, but I will post and update whenever.

When I joined my first affiliate programs, I did everything wrong: I joined under lazy uplines, I used Traffic Exchange websites and free safe-lists to promote it, yielding poor results. One of the lessons I learned from the start, was to find the right sponsor or mentor. I found mine and signed up under her. I did mistakes still, especially one that a lot of fresh marketers still do …

My biggest mistake was promoting GDI (Global Domains International). Even though it is a solid affiliate company rewarding their users for their efforts, you have to both work smart and hard to achieve good results with it. With no results and no sign-ups, other than those from my sponsor, my frustration was mounting. I was told that, writing articles works well for traffic, and as my endeavor into the minefields of PPC advertising left me flat broke, I wrote my first article ever, on ACME People Search and GDI, and submitted it to a directory. With the help of a few back-links, my article climbed to the top-three positions on Google’s first page in few days and pulled in several new referrals in my ACME People Search account, one of whom also signed up in my GDI downline. I realized by then that, submitting articles to promote ACME People Search works much better than promoting GDI alone.

In addition to the new sign-ups, I earned $25 with that article, which is still sending traffic to my sign-up page. Imagine what you can achieve with 10 articles, 20, 50 … This is powerful!

Where to start when writing articles: Research the keywords you want to use for your articles, write a new unique article, publish it on your website or blog and index it. Use an article spinner: Easy Article Rewriter (free) and spin five to ten different versions of your article, submit to the top article directories using your anchor keyword (i.e. “How to sail a boat”). Build new back-links to your articles from websites, blogs, forum signatures e.t.c. on a regular basis, and your links will receive free “laser-targeted” traffic when done right. For more SEO information and tools, I suggest that you sign up for free with SEO Book.

About ACME People Search:

People Search is free to join and has multiple income streams. Tissa Godavitarne, the creator of the People Search engine, adds $125 to your People Search affiliate account when you complete the three steps in your account. To avoid any misunderstandings: Tissa’s money is a reward for those with a genuine desire to earn money with ACME People Search, and it requires that you sign up for a paid affiliate program in step two. Those who are not serious about making money online should not bother in the first place, but it is perfect for those who are. I recommend that you choose GDI in step Two, because at only $10/mo for a membership it is affordable, and it is much easier to build your GDI downline using ACME People Search. Setting up your People Search engine is an easy and straight-forward process.

Tissa is a strong believer in teaching others how to educate themselves, and ACME People Search together with GDI, is one of the most rewarding affiliate programs today, with its multiple income streams. Both have their own support forums. Tissa’s ACME forum offers a nice bonus for the most helpful members, and he puts emphasis on helping others. With ACME People Search and GDI, or as I like to call it: “The power of two and Internet Marketing”, you can learn and earn from the beginning and at no risk. Watch the video below for an introduction by Tissa:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8vwxplR3Qo&feature=related

Click here to sign up with ACME People Search