downline

Refers to multi-level marketing (MLM) and describes people who work beneath you, or 'down the line'. A person's job would be to recruit others to sell their product, and in return, receive a percentage of their sales. The next person's job then is to recruit people even more so below them, and receive a percentage of their sales. This technique continues down and down. Part of the scheme of this entire process revolves around the people at the top being the real money makers. MLM existed before the Internet, but the Net has helped it to really take off.