by Jeffrey Babner
For network marketing, it has been a very good start to the 21st century. In the past 10 years, this industry came into its own and forced its way onto the map of mainstream business.
As millions of Americans launched home-based businesses and entrepreneurial ventures of every kind, they created a climate in which network marketing could flourish. Suddenly, people are much more open to change, making them better prospects for network marketing.
Another change positive in the networking industry has to do with gender. In the past, most direct sellers were women. As a result, this was often seen as a woman’s business, which tended to discourage male recruits. But as opportunities in the industry have increased, more men have been attracted to it; in turn, the all-female perception has faded, increasing the industry’s ability to attract men.
The sheer number of network marketers also has exploded. By the end of the 1990s, more than 10 million people were involved in the industry here in the U.S., racking up more than $20 billion in yearly sales. Worldwide, the number of distributors has topped 30 million, generating more than $80 billion in annual sales.
When an industry gets that big, even corporate bureaucrats begin to notice. Corporate America has validated the success of the industry by embracing public offerings of some network marketing companies on Wall Street.
In the 1990s, high-tech and financial companies fell in love with the networking industry, as network marketing companies broadened their lines to include services as well as consumer products. Companies in telecommunications, paging, Internet service, satellite TV, financial, and travel services benefited as traditional business met network marketing. Today, even electric power is being sold by network marketing.
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Finally, the media and public perceptions of the network marketing industry have seen a sea of change. In the 1980s, the press acknowledged the existence of network marketing – but the attention was often negative. Some of the abuses cited were real, but good companies were usually lumped together with bad – effectively misinforming the public about a major industry.
In recent years, this trend has begun to turn around. Positive stories on network marketing have appeared in traditional business type publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Success and Entrepreneur. Articles continued to treat the industry to its dose of honest criticism, but they also began to include the positive side: the fact that millions of Americans were finding opportunity where they had never expected to see it – among their relatives, friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
Unless you have been living in a cave, you could not have missed experts’ predictions that the Internet will be one of the most powerful business forces in the 21st Century. As available bandwidth increases, ever more information – and more money – will be exchanged. As a future-oriented industry, network marketing will respond, adopting the new technology enthusiastically.
The Internet will become the prime means of communication, training, and ordering for network marketing distributors. Sales kits and videos may become obsolete as sophisticated multimedia demonstrations on laptops (and by email) become the main recruiting tool, and cyberspace becomes the chief venue for training. The Internet will encourage rapid expansion on a global scale with instantaneous communication between network marketing corporate headquarters and the distributor force.
But don’t let all this technological razzle-dazzle distract you from the basics. Regardless of the latest technology, the network marketing companies that succeed will always be those that maintain their respect for personal relationships. Get as virtual as you like – you will always need to get out there and press the flesh. ♦
