About two months ago, my internet marketing buddy Pat Flynn showed off the amazing results that he achieved on the P90X exercise program.  While I was happy for Pat, my first reaction was “wow, is there an affiliate program for that?”   LOL.  I guess that makes me a die-hard internet marketer.

I did a quick search, and I could not find a “P90X affiliate program” per se.  It turns out that there are a few (below).   But the lion's share of the marketing is done through a coaching program that is organized as multi-level marketing (MLM).  Anytime I hear the words MLM in a sentence, I think “Amway” and run the other way.  But that is not really fair, so I decided to dig deeper.

Luckily, I was able to find Amanda (actually, she found me). She agreed to help us all understand the MLM coaching program that allows you to sell (and profit from) the P90X phenomenon.

Here is what she had to say:

What You Need to Know About the
Beachbody (P90X) Coaching Program

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, you've probably heard about Tony Horton and the P90X home workout program. As a successful P90X graduate and internet marketer, I couldn't wait to sign-up for the P90X affiliate program. However, after doing some research, I discovered that Beachbody (the company that produces P90X) is a network marketing (MLM) company. UGH!

Everything I've ever heard about MLM has been negative, so I started looking into other options.

I came up with two alternatives to run P90X affiliate program:

1. Amazon

You can earn 4-6% of every P90X sale you refer to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, you will also earn a commission for anything else that customer adds to their shopping cart (resistance bands, pull-up bar, etc.).

2. Pepperjam

You can make $29 for every P90X sale you refer through the Pepperjam Network.

Looking at the numbers Pepperjam seemed like the way to go. But my experience as a P90X graduate told me something different. Because if someone is interested in P90X, chances are they're going to be interested in other Beachbody products. Why? Because P90X works. And if you advertise P90X through the Pepperjam Network you're eventually going to lose that customer to a Beachbody coach who will earn commissions on all future sales that customer makes.

When a customer purchases P90X through an infomercial, Amazon, Pepperjam, or the regular Beachbody website (http://www.beachbody.com) they are randomly assigned to a coach through the customer lead program.

So, I started looking into the coaching program a little more. The FAQ section on the coaching program that Team Beachbody has on their website is pretty vague, so I started emailing other coaches with my questions.

The main problem I had with being a Beachbody coach was that I didn't want to pay any extra fees if I wasn't interested in the business (MLM) aspect. It turns out that there is no minimum monthly purchase requirement if all you want to do is earn commissions on sales. You can recruit zero coaches, sell one $15 Tony Horton One on One DVD, and still earn a 25% commission. If MLM isn't your thing, you can use the coaching program just like any other affiliate program. Beachbody won't hassle you about it!

The other issue I needed clarification on was how much it was going to cost. Beachbody spends millions of dollars on advertising every year, and P90X pretty much sells itself. So honestly, I didn't have a problem with the $14.95 monthly fee. But I wanted to make sure there weren't any hidden fees.

If all you want to do is use the coaching program like any other affiliate program $14.95/month is all you have to worry about it. There is a $39.95 sign-up fee, but Beachbody is waiving it until December 31, 2010, to get as many coaches on board before the New Year resolution rush. It's the perfect time to join P90X affiliate program.

Some Additional Costs to Join P90X Affiliate Program

However, if you want to work the MLM aspect and qualify for the customer lead program, there ARE some additional costs involved. In a nutshell, you need to sell (or purchase yourself) at least $50 worth of products every 35 days and sign-up for a Team Beachbody Club Membership which costs $2.99 every week and is billed $38.87 every quarter.

Of course, a lot of internet marketers will be put off by the monthly service fee. And some are intimidated by the word “coach” because that might sound like extra work. And it can be, depending on how you want to work the business. However, if health and fitness aren't your passion, you certainly don't have to reach out to your customers. The majority of customers don't even know who their coach is unless you choose to reach out to them first.

Some Technical Issues

A major downside to the coaching program is that Beachbody doesn't have a system setup that allows you to track your links or where your clicks are coming from. Hopefully, this will be something they will implement in the future. Also, when customers use your P90X affiliate link, they will not be taken to the Beachbody P90X landing page (http://www.p90x.com) but are instead sent directly to the product page on the Team Beachbody website (http://teambeachbody.com/shop/-/shopping/P90X). However, most people are already sold on P90X before they reach your website so having a high-converting sales page is probably not a huge issue.

Taking the Plunge

I decided to become a coach in May 2010, and my goal when I signed up was to make $1000/month within one year. Based on where I am now that goal is looking pretty realistic.

If you want to see how much money coaches make, be sure to check out the Statement of Earnings from 2009. It's interesting to note that only 85% of coaches use the opportunity to earn extra income. And from that 15% only a very small number reach Emerald status which is the level where you become eligible for the customer lead program. Some internet marketers feel the market is too saturated with coaches, but I don't believe that to be the case. There are currently 30,000+ coaches, and less than 10% are focused on building the business. The CEO of Beachbody, Carl Daikeler, is working towards a goal of 1 million coaches within ten years, so there's definitely A LOT of room for growth.

In addition, I've learned that the majority of coaches know very little about internet marketing, especially when it comes to SEO, article marketing, building lists, search engine traffic, etc. They are 100% focused on social media traffic. If you know even a little bit about internet marketing and can setup a WordPress blog, you are already light years ahead of the competition.

Amanda K. Jones recently finished her first half-marathon after completing her second round of P90X. She is an Emerald Independent Team Beachbody Coach and would be happy to answer any questions you have about the Beachbody Coaching program. If you're interested in joining her specialized team of coaches, please use the contact form on her website.