Network Marketing has been around for many years and is possibly one of the fastest ways to move a product, yet it is terribly miss-understood by people that are not involved with the process. In this article I am going to explain exactly what Network Marketing is and what it IS NOT.
Network Marketing, also known as networking, can be broken down to its word for word literal meaning; Network, referring to an individual's social circle. Marketing; moving a product or service from the supplier to the customer. So in literal terms Network Marketing means to move a product or service from the supplier to the customer through an individual's social circle.
The corporation of the product is paying you to move a product and build a network of business owners amongst your social circle. This method of marketing is so common that people are doing it without the realisation and not even getting paid. Think about how often you recommend a film, restaurant or even a hairdresser.
Networking has become so common that many illegal pyramids and chain distribution schemes such as "stuff an envelope with $10 and pass it up" have tried to pass them self off as networking companies. They have labelled themselves in such a manner as "Independent Distribution Marketing" and "Friend to Friend Marketing" Really they are nothing more than a hoax and should be well avoided.
There are only 3 methods of moving a product; retailing, direct sales and network marketing.
Retailing is the obvious one; going down to your local shops or the mall to buy whatever it is you desire over the counter at a branded shop. Direct sales; door to door sales man type, selling encyclopaedias, Tupperware parties, or the Avon lady. Networking Marketing is what we are outlining in this article and should not be confused with the above especially Direct Sales.
The biggest confusion between Network Marketing and the illegal pyramid sales tactic is that pyramids are illegal and the reason is there is no real product or service. If there is no movement of product then there is no marketing. If I had $1 for every time I explained my business and they said "oh its pyramid selling" I wouldn't need to do anything else. It is this frustration that leads me to write this article.
One of the biggest objections you get from people joining your networking business is the confusion with Direct Sales. This is probably because there first introduction to networking was a distributor knocking on their door trying to sell them some herbal remedy of some sort. There are many aspects of Network Marketing but the single most successful method is to build a team of sellers amongst your friends and family.
For every distributor that you sponsor you have gained yourself a lifelong customer and any customers and distributors that they recruit and sponsor. In Network Marketing you are in business for yourself but you are not by yourself. You have all the tax breaks of a self employed person but all the support you get from an organisation.
