How does software ensure compliance with MLM industry regulations and laws?

There is a lot of points in your question which unless someone has the exact same setup as you - I don't think you will get the answers you are looking for. I believe you should limit it by asking yourself: What is the ONE thing the MLM plugin I am looking for can do so that it achieves the maximum amount of result to my business by using it? IMHO - it would be the ability to set commissions for the products you sell and award commissions to those affiliates that actually earn you sales. All other features, while nice, are ancillary features that from the perspective of the affiliate - don't really need in order to be successful. In that regard - I would suggest https://affiliatewp.com/. When it comes to running affiliate programs on WP sites, it wins out as the best in my experience. Hope this helps! Glad to assist any further if you need help.

Source: I founded www.buyads.com and www.isocket.com, which powers the direct ad sales for the web's best sites (like TechCrunch, AOL, Microsoft, etc) We hand invited the publishers that join our market because, as your question suggests, there is some threshold between who should and should not try direct sales. There are no hard rules, just guidelines. The superseding one is this: Do you have inventory (audience) an advertiser would take the time to specifically work with you for? If you open a "store" and starting selling this stuff, do people want to buy it? One measure is traffic, but that's not enough. In general we like to look for sites with 100,000 page views a month or more. But it can depend on the content and vertical. For example, we power a website that gets 25k hits a month but is the only site covering the voice over talent industry in Hollywood - so its super nichey and there is a market for those advertisers. Other examples of small but successful premium properties include some hyperlocal ones (www.queensmamas.com, www.brooklynheightsblog.com, www.brokelyn.com, etc), the largest blog for truckers, largest blog for prison wardens, etc. The conflicting examples are sites with large traffic but bad audiences/verticals. We reject a lot of "tech blog" also-rans that just copy and paste content from TechCrunch but get a lot of SEO traffic from it. Or even if it's a legit site, it can be in a bad brand-advertiser vertical like home finance / mortgages (which is mostly lead gen advertisers)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but generally, these are not the types of businesses that venture capital pursues. Due to the risk they are taking, VCs generally want to see a large market (meaning $1B potential) and a significant return on their money (10 times return). However, you can look for an Angel investor. These are generally individuals who are not looking for as large market or a return.Here are some places to start. Best of success to you! http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2013/12/16/20-most-active-angel-investors/ http://www.cbinsights.com/blog/top-angel-investors/

If you have an enforceable contract, the client is obligated to pay for the services received. As a business owner, I would be very concerned if a SAAS was demanding upfront payment for 2 years.

This is just some personal advice, based on my own experience, from one introvert to another. Your question really caught my eye. Years ago, I had started telemarketing sales for a coupon book. I really struggled being successful at it. A couple years later, I took a job an in-bound telemarketing job for student loan consolidation (before Direct Loans took over), and I was outrageously successful. My key take aways from the experiences shaped my successeses for the restimate of my life. As introverts; we tend to be more sensitive to the body language and feelings of other people, have less confidence in our abilities and knowledge in a social setting, and must have a clear understanding and good reason for doing so, before acting. It wasn't until I was selling something, I knew would truly benefit the customer, that I became successful with what I was doing. The more I learned about my product and it's benefits, the more I sold. The underlying kicker is..... that I became PASSIONATE. For us, passion is an absolute must for success in sales. Since you are selling your own knowledge, you are already well educated in your product. If you feel any of the setbacks above factor into what you feel is holding you back, then shape your approach to overcome it. Lack in total confidence? We tend to be more realistic and fact based than extroverts. No amount of self-reassurance can change that for us, so fill those gaps with more research and don't stop learning entirely, ever. Fill those gaps until you truly believe YOU are the best solution for a customer, and that in not choosing your service, they are at an unrealized disadvantage. Have a clear understanding (actually map out) the benefits of what you are teaching the customer and the advantages in choosing you (what can you bring to the table?). That is where you will find your confidence, your success, and your passion. As an extra take-away, I have found, that shaping your situation to reflect the best qualities and advantages of your self, leads to greater success in life, rather than seeking to change what you feel is a disadvantage. (Of course, bad habits and negative traits aside) It's like this... Someone that trains their lack of musical ability will never be as great as another who trains the musical ability they were born with. :) Feel free to call me if you are interested in talking more about our type in business. I'll send you my VIP link for a free call. You will be my first on clarity!