Are you in need of a pay raise?
Or are you trying to find a way to better your financial situation?
Numerous businesses have been introduced to me, and one of them is multi-level marketing. There are many companies like 5Linx that provide this kind of company structure.
In this article, I’m going to review 5Linx to decide if it really is the best MLM out there.
I’ll talk about whether 5Linx MLM is the right online business for you.
MLMs like 5Linx are a bit of a mixed bag. They CAN be a legitimate way to make money, but some have a reputation for literally ruining people’s lives – so it’s important to know what you’re getting, since each one is unique.
Like most of my readers, you were probably introduced to this one via a friend or some influencer you trust online.
And it makes sense why so many people recommend them:
Making money outside of a 9-5 can be… life-changing, to say the least.
So in this article, I want to help you explore two things:
- If MLMs are actually a worthwhile business to pursue
- If 5Linx is a worthwhile MLM
Before that, I want to clear the air on something.
There are A LOT of people out there who bash all MLMs in any form. However, I’m not one of those people.
Instead, I want to genuinely educate you about them so you can make an informed decision on how to proceed.
If you’re unfamiliar with what MLMs actually do:
They’re businesses in which you pay money to a company for the ability to sell their products.
Sometimes the products are actually kind of decent (I still remember my mom throwing Pampered Chef parties when I was younger).
Other times the products are really poorly made and come with a high price tag.
Typically, the only way to really make money is to get people (mostly friends & family) to sign up with you for a recurring subscription.
If the product is 100% legitimate & valuable, it’s entirely possible to get people to sign-up and continue paying you.
If the product is subpar, you’ll usually burn those bridges kinda quickly and end up with $0 coming in each month.
The biggest issue I’ve seen is that this puts significant stress on your personal relationships, as you’re reliant on selling to your “network.”
Think about it: if you KNEW that every time your friend Sally called, she’d be trying to sell you on one of her products… you’d eventually stop answering Sally’s calls.
Now, this doesn’t mean MLMs are outright bad… it means you need to know what type of MLM you’re getting yourself into before you sign up.
Again, some MLMs provide real value to people, but MOST don’t – and so in this article, I’m going to explore what the case is with 5Linx.
But before that, I want to ask you a question: what if there was a way to build actual recurring, semi-passive income?
Income that:
- Doesn’t have inventory
- Doesn’t make you sell to your friends & family
- Doesn’t force you to recruit people onto your “team”
Something that you could make anywhere from $2,000 – $10,000 consistently, month after month?
A stream of income that you can build as high (or low) as you feel like building it?
If that sounds interesting, you might want to think about using the Digital Rental Method.
If you wanna see what 5Linx looks like on the inside, keep reading.
5Linx Overview
Company Name: 5Linx
Co-Founders: Craig Jerabeck, Jeb Tyler, and Jason Guck
Product Type: Multi-Level Marketing
Price: $99 starting price
Summary: 5Linx is an MLM company founded in 2001. They specialize in health insurance, telecommunication services, nutrition supplements, etc.
Sadly, co-founders Craig Jerabeck and Jeb Tyler were sentenced to jail for committing money laundering and fraud.
Overall Rating: 3/10
Recommended: No
What Is 5Linx?
It’s a multi-level marketing company based in the United States that offers electricity, phone, cable, internet, health insurance, and even business consulting.
It was established in 2001 and had its origins in Rochester, New York.
Becoming a 5Linx member makes you a sales representative. You earn commissions by selling and recruiting members.
What Is The Reputation Of 5Linx?
Sadly, in 2017, the co-founders of 5Linx were charged with multiple federal fraud charges, including wire fraud and money laundering. The three confessed to cheating investors out of $2.3 million, illegally depositing company revenues into personal accounts, and failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. Two of them were sentenced in 2018.
The issues were about the founders and their decisions, not 5Linx itself or the income setup. 5Linx is still active under new management.
You can still join and make money, but recent history will likely affect your success.
Who Is Craig Jerabeck?
The first three founders of 5Linx were Craig Jerabek, Jeb Tyler, and Jason Guck, who launched the company in 2001. Nelson Gerard became the company’s primary shareholder in 2016.
The present leadership of 5Linx:
- Nelson Gerard, Chairman of Board
- Michael Gilbert, Chief Operating Officer
- Denise Nowak, Vice President
- Larry Harper, Chief Sales Officer
What Are The 5Linx Product Lines?
A wide variety of products and services are available from 5Linx, suggesting that the company is interested in both the healthcare and commercial services markets.
The two main categories:
Personal Products (examples):
- Supplements
- Home security services
- Credit score service
- Internet, cable TV, and fiber video
- ID guard
- Discount networks
- Telemedicine
- Tech support
Business Products include:
- Commercial security systems
- Commercial energy program
- Payment solutions
- Text alerts
Are 5Linx Products Worth It?
Pros:
- Generally highly reviewed products/services (affordable and good quality).
- You get a website/store (as I know) with a shopping cart to help sell.
Cons:
- You can buy/sell products on your own without registering with 5Linx.
- Normally direct/network marketing companies have the products they sell for higher prices.
- 5Linx sells third-party programs/services with good prices and high quality, but you need to pay $249 for membership.
5Linx Quick Report
Price: Joining fee $249 + optional $49.95/monthly fee (extra service).
The high initial investment and the inherent network marketing nature of these businesses make me reluctant to recommend them.
Is 5Linx A Pyramid Scheme?
There is a big difference between MLM and pyramid scams. Legitimate MLM companies don’t break the law and help their sales staff and customers.
Those involved in pyramid scams often use the latter method of recruiting. Additionally, the availability of merchandise is quite limited. They either don’t work, or the quality is poor.
The revenue isn’t generated from consumer sales; recruits come with participation fees. Recruits usually have to pay a lot to join.
In both models, there’s an upline and downline.
The real difference between a pyramid scheme and a legit MLM is that in the latter, each sales rep’s main role is to sell products or services, not to recruit.
5Linx is a multi-level marketing or network marketing company based in America.
Don’t get me wrong. The MLM system has its benefits.
Will This MLM Company Work?
Network marketing (MLM) is a legitimate business strategy that is widely used across the globe. As long as they follow the rules, they are not scams.
It’s a viable option for skipping the middleman and offering goods at a lower price.
People bash this model because they can be pyramid schemes — with dishonest individuals who use unapproved company sales tactics.
It’s difficult for the company to monitor individual sales reps. This causes distrust due to false promises.
But some people do become quite successful with this business model. But it’s not easy to succeed.
MLM is an issue of preference. But there can be a better option you might like, which can be leveraged to boost your leads.
5Linx Advantages:
- 5Linx offers quality and affordable products and services
- 5Linxhas longevity and accolades
5Linx Disadvantages:
- 5Linx gave no transparency on compensation plan or product costs
- Hefty start-up costs
- Highly saturated market
- Having recruitment as the main force of money generation is not a good business model.
- No wonder in 2015, 5Linx restructured its compensation plan, which cut the compensation of the top earners who transferred to other network marketing companies.
- Even the original CEO, Craig Jerabeck, resigned.
Why Is 5Linx NOT A Pyramid Scheme?
With pyramid schemes, the majority of its revenue comes from recruitment instead of selling items.
As long as a company has actual products sold to consumers and makes most of its revenue through those sales, they are generally not a pyramid scheme.
Now it’s entirely possible to build a profitable, successful MLM business… but there are better business models than Network Marketing.
And unlike 5Linx, it provides real proof of real success from real people as recently as a few days ago.
Is 5Linx Still In Business?
Yes, 5Linx is still operational. Since its founders have been locked up since December 2018, its viability is in doubt.
5Linx’s new vision is uncertain, making it a risky business opportunity.
How To Make Money With 5Linx?
Wealth is concentrated at the top of the pyramid.
The FTC’s increasing scrutiny of businesses like Vemma only further undermines their strategy’s viability.
You must love their products and the business setup to do well.
Two Ways To Make Money With 5Linx
5Linx offers two ways to earn: (1) Selling/promoting. (2) Recruiting people.
Make Money From Sales
Here are the 5Linx products and services:
- Captavida – A supplement to help normalize blood sugar levels.
- Daily Dimes -Program for savings and rewards.
- Chroma Credit – Credit score analysis, support, and improvement.
- ID Guard – Identity theft insurance, programs to protect your computer, and regular fraud alerts.
- Home Security – 24/7 security monitoring program with equipment.
- Montavida – Coffee and tea that contain seeds.
- Internet, Fiber Video & Cable TV.
- Platinum Discount Network – A discount network that uses your smartphone.
- Oxygen – Cannabidiol products.
- Residential Energy Program – An alternative supplier of electricity.
- Safescore – Helps monitor credit score and validate identity.
- Safeguard Services – Includes tech support, credit monitoring, backups, and identity protection.
- Teevee – HD video with no contract.
- Tech 24/7 – On-call remote tech support.
- Telemed – Phone and video access to doctors, along with a pharmacy discount card.
How You Earn
Your 5Linx commission is proportional to the volume of goods traded.
Distributors get a commission of 25% of the retail price. For you, this may be anything from 10% to 20%, while your upline could get anywhere from 15% to 5%.
This setup has some implications:
- You don’t earn much per sale. 10% is a very low beginning commission, and you’re still only earning 20% commission once you reach the topmost sales target.
- This low commission on sales makes 5Linx less attractive to some, making recruitment harder.
- An acceptable amount of your work gets passed onto your upline. This creates resentment, especially for starters who are struggling to sell.
- By building a team, you can earn better than with other companies.
It’s good that 5Linx has systems that make sales easier — via a personal website and an app. Plus, training videos and marketing media.
Despite the low commission rate, 5Linx does offer recurring commissions.
Make Money Building a Team
With 5Linx, you can make money in seven different ways.
But, you earn from your sales (#6), the team sales (#7), and the different bonuses (#1 to #5).
The basic residual commission from your team uses a uni-level rank-based setup.
As always, each rank comes with its requirements.
Beyond the team, commissions are the bonuses. These provide additional chances to earn but have requirements as well.
How To Get Started With 5Linx?
Signing up is cheap. The $99 package gives you a 10-20% commission on product sales.
Then, there’s $5.95 shipping for this starter kit. The Leader Starter Kit costs $399.
This package has marketing packages, dietary supplements, some gift cards for promotions, and an “energy certification” for your page.
You will also get a VIP Starter Package with everything from the first two packages, plus 100 -$10 gift cards plus a ticket to their international event.
With these expensive packages, you’ll be pressured for a return on your investment.
Plus, you need to invest in the products themselves (starting at $400).
Can You Really Make Money With 5Linx?
The brand pays you through:
- Quick Start Bonus
- Earned Position Bonuses
- Customer Acquisition Bonuses
- Open-Line Bonuses
- Customer Milestone Bonuses
- Residual Commission on Personal, Referred, and Team Sales
- Car Program
- Annual Leadership Pool
So, yes… you can make money…
But…
There’s a lot that comes along with Network Marketing that many people struggle with.
In fact, check out my Top 5 Reason Why Most Network Marketers Fail.
Now, don’t get me wrong…
You can certainly make money with Network Marketing, but if you’re gonna put in the amount of grueling work to do this business (which, trust me, isn’t easy), you might as well bring in some REAL money while you’re learning the ropes.
The program that helped skyrocket my online business to over $40,000+ per month is so simple that making money really does become second nature.
Training Tools And Support
As for help and instruction, 5Linx doesn’t provide much of either.
You must attract others into 5Linx to earn commissions. But it’ll be tough if you don’t have any background.
Is 5Linx Legitimate?
Some people quickly consider this a “pyramid scheme” and think of it as a scam. But that’s not true. There are, however, many factors to watch out for with 5Linx.
Is 5Linx Good For You?
5Linx is for people who like their products and promote them. The 5Linx business model only works if you truly believe in the products and can sincerely promote them.
But if you have never used 5Linx before, think twice. Get into 5Linx if you’re already an experienced internet or affiliate marketer.
When it comes to building a business, you have plenty of options.
And even if you’re dead set on becoming an MLM marketer, you’ve got way better options than 5Linx.
Keep in mind I don’t get paid to promote any of the programs I review. I think 5Linx is a great business model, but you could end up leaving way too much money on the table.
Are There Alternatives To 5Linx?
Yes, there are plenty of MLM companies to choose from if you want to pursue this business model. Here are just a few:
Is 5Linx A Scam? Is It Just A Pyramid Scheme?
So, time for the $1,000,000 question: is 5Linx a scam?
No, not technically. They aren’t going to run off with your money and not give you what you paid for. It’s 100% possible to make money with this program.
That being said, it’s not nearly as simple as they want you to think it is.
There’s A LOT of work to be done upfront, and no guarantee that you’ll be successful. The commissions are also fairly small.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for doing hard work now, so that I can reap the benefits later.
But if you’re going to work really hard for 3 months, and your reward is a $100 check… it’s not really a great opportunity.
If I’m gonna do that, I want the rewards to be HIGH and virtually guaranteed.
I’d rather put in that same 3 months of work (in my spare time) & build a handful of Digital Rental Properties that each produce $500-$2,000 checks every single month afterward (AKA recurring income).
Read Our In Depth Breakdown Of The Top 5 OppMLM Courses For 2024
And the cool part is that you can do it in a lot less time than 3 months (I personally did it in my first 2 weeks of using the Digital Rental Method).
Unlike MLMs, you can do it from anywhere in the world, so it’s a genuine “laptop-lifestyle” business.
All you need is an internet connection.
Some of my friends are Digital Rental Method that run their 6-figure businesses from:
- Camping trips at national parks
- Beachfront in Hawaii
- On the road in a camper van (with a pet pig!)
They focus on living an enjoyable life first, and focus on income second. All thanks to this program.
They can take weeks or months off, and money keeps rolling in.
Living happily is the top priority.
If the thought of living perpetually at your dream vacation spot interests you, using the Digital Rental Method might be for you!
What Is My Top Recommendation For Making Money Online In 2023?
I’ve personally tried all of the major online business models:
- I’ve sold fidget spinners through Amazon FBA
- I’ve drop-shipped a toilet bowl putting green on Shopify
- I’ve sold women’s health supplements via Clickbank affiliate marketing
And I made money with all of them, so trust me when I say: there is no “perfect” business model.
I’ve also been on the other side of old friends trying to sell me their fancy new MLM products.
That being said, my #1 recommendation for making real money online is, hands-down: being a Digital Landlord.
Whether you’re a complete newbie, or you’ve been around the block before but have never had that “big win” to propel you forward, using the Digital Rental Method is for you.
Why?
Time: If you’ve got a spare hour or two each day, you can do this. If you want to drop everything and go all in, you can do this. More time obviously means faster results, but even putting in a few hours per day is enough to see real success.
And because of that flexibility, you don’t need to trade your time for money. Once the income starts, it’s recurring.
That means you can take a month off, travel the country, pursue a passion project, chill on the beach, or charter a boat across the world.
But you can only do that once you’ve created an income stream that doesn’t require YOU to be there all day, every day.
Ownership & Control: With MLMs, you don’t really “own” anything – everything belongs to the MLM.
If you read the contracts, they can kick you out or change your commission at any time (it’s happened in a few high-profile MLM cases recently).
Why pour your soul into a business that could be taken away from you at the drop of a dime?
With the Digital Rental Method, you literally own all of the assets, which means you have ultimate control.
Big Margins: With MLMs, you’re often going to have really slim margins. That means you need to have a VERY large network to make serious money. This usually entails spending A LOT of money on ads and other methods for recruiting members.
using the Digital Rental Method, your profit margin is nearly 100%. Watch here to learn how.
Just a reminder: these Digital Rental Properties are worth (at a minimum) $500/mo in semi-passive income. And each time you create another one, your income increases, and the effort put into creating the next property decreases.
Best-case scenario, you have properties bringing in over $3,000+/mo on auto-pilot.
It’s Effectively Copy-Paste: Here’s my favorite part: once you have your first Digital Rental Property up, you can literally copy-paste another version of it and find another willing “renter” in a few days. DOUBLING your income doesn’t get much easier than that…
If you wanted to double your income with an MLM, you would need to sell twice as much inventory. And I can guarantee you, that’s a lot harder than a few clicks & a phone call.
You’re Helping REAL People: My biggest gripe with MLMs is that you’re likely going to ruin your personal relationships.
The MLM may have convinced you that you’re actually helping people, but it’s often not really true.
But With the Digital Rental Method, you’re helping solve REAL problems that people are ASKING for help with:
Small local businesses around the world need one thing: customers. Without them, their business would fall apart. If you can provide those customers, they’re going to be really happy – and they’re going to pay you for it.
You’re helping a struggling mother or father put food on the table for their families, put their kids through college, or simply live life a little bit more comfortably.
Having this type of impact on the world is what will help you sleep soundly at night.
So, the rest is up to you. You could keep looking at other MLM programs like 5Linx, which might make you money 12 months from now.
You could keep researching and researching for the next few months (or few years), never making a concrete decision.
OR, you can look deep inside, think about those dreams, hopes, & desires, and make the decision to ACTUALLY make it happen, just like it has for thousands of other students before you.
Making a fortune while actually helping real people that need it.
If this sounds like you, click here to see how it all works.
