Downline building is one of the most difficult hurdles to overcome in a Network Marketing business. Its also the most important one as your entire financial future in the industry is dependent upon you learning how to successfully recruit. Many of the internet marketing 'elite' use downline builders to promote their MLM's and opportunities and this offers some fantastic benefits, but can also be costly.

Benefits of using a downline builder:

The benefits of using a downline builder are obvious. First and foremost it gives you the ability to earn multiple streams of income. By recruiting into a downline builder initially, your potential prospects are placed into 2 or more network marketing companies, which really gives you some big earning potential. Downline builders also offer a wealth of advertising tools, as most downline builders are also set up with comprehensive training, and they focus on teaching new recruits to successfully market. Many modern downline builders not only build your "paid" downlines in the primary opportunities, but also build your 'free' downline in many of the advertising tools the builder may utilize. This can include safe lists, traffic exchanges, affiliate marketing tools etc.

The success rate of those using a downline builder are also much higher then those who promote one opportunity by itself. As being a member in a downline builder virtually guarantee's an active upline, and utilization of tools that actually work. Not to mention the downline builder itself is another income source, as most downline builders will have bronze, silver, and Gold membership levels.

For an internet novice....joining a downline builder is appears to be a definite no-brainer.

Downsides of using a downline builder:

When using a downline builder you lose the ability to pick and choose what programs you want to promote. Downline builders are setup with the opportunities already in place, so to join a downline builder you also must buy into the programs opportunities to benefit from its advertising benefits, and helpful upline support. Also, the cost of joining all the opportunities in the downline builder can be astronomical, as many builders buy into dozens of MLMs. So to be fully monetized into the builder can take a rather heavy chunk of change, and by only buying into one or two opportunities in the builder, you may be losing money as many of your recruits may pick up programs that you didn't.

Also, the programs owners win BIG with downline builders, because anytime they decide to promote a new program, they simply plug it in and have an instant downline of thousands. You can have quite a bit of success in a downline builder, but nowhere near as much success as the owners of these systems.

So is there a solution?

The way to get all the benefits of a downline builder, without having to promote a certain opportunity or product is to use an "open ended builder," or OEB for short. These are few and far between, but basically these builders have all the duplicatible marketing techniques of a downline builder, but YOU choose what programs to promote to the people who you bring in. These builders provide the marketing tools, and infrastructure of a true downline builder, you simply plug in your programs and opportunities to be marketed.

A great OEB is the Affiliate Funnel. This OEB downline builder was put together by Jon Olson and Mike Paetzold, two of the internet marketing elite. The Affiliate Funnel allows you to reap the benefits of a full blown downline builder, while at the same time promoting YOUR opportunities, as the builder has no preset opportunities to join. It also features a multi-tier membership, complete with gold upgrade. So it acts as another source of income to those promoting it upfront. Its definitely worth taking a look at, and is a valuable asset to any serious online business.