The Power of Network Marketing

Siapa sih yang tidak tertarik dengan usaha sambilan dengan modal seadanya, tetapi penghasilannya bisa sangat besar. Bahkan, bukan tidak mungkin kemudian usaha sambilan tersebut bisa menjadi penghasilan utama karena menjanjikan kehidupan yang lebih layak dan menjamin masa tua yang lebih aman.
Kesempatan menggiurkan itu bisa diperoleh dari usaha multi level marketing (MLM) atau direct selling yang telah lama tumbuh dan berkembang, apalagi selama masa krisis di Indonesia, baik dari jumlah perusahaan, jenis produk maupun pelaku usaha tersebut.
Para pelaku usaha ini biasa disebut member, anggota, mitra bisnis atau investor. Mengembangkan network menjadi sangat penting dalam usaha ini. Karena penghasilan usaha ini didapat bukan hanya dari menjual produk tapi juga dari hasil penjualan jejaring yang dikembangkan.
Bagaimana perusahaan MLM tersebut bisa memberikan diskon yang besar sebagai pendapatan atau bonus bagi para membernya? Pola penjualan langsung, memutus biaya untuk distributor—dalam mata rantai distribusi dari pabrik hingga konsumen—yang kemudian dana untuk itu bisa diberikan kepada anggota sebagai bonus.
Namun, dibalik maraknya perkembangan bisnis MLM dan kesuksesan yang sudah dirasakan sebagian member, sesungguhnya tidak sedikit beredar kisah sedih dari orang yang gagal menggeluti bisnis MLM atau kegiatan usaha lain yang pola kerjanya nyaris sama dengan MLM, namum bukan pola MLM.
Oleh karenanya, dalam pembahasan kali ini kami mencoba memberikan beberapa ciri yang dapat Anda amati guna membedakan antara bisnis MLM dan bisnis berkedok MLM, atau biasa disebut dengan pola piramida.

Regulasi
Asosiasi Penjual Langsung Indonesia (APLI) tidak pernah reda untuk mengikis habis perusahaan nakal pengganda uang (pola piramida) yang berkedok perusahaan MLM atau mendompleng usaha itu. Adapun salah satu upaya yang ditempuh adalah mendesak Deperindag untuk segera menerbitkan Surat Keputusan (SK) tentang Ketentuan kegiatan usaha penjualan berjenjang.
Untuk melindungi masyarakat agar tidak terjebak iming-iming pengusaha pengganda uang berkedok MLM maka peraturan yang baru nanti, baik SK maupun Undang-Undang, hendaknya memberikan penekanan mengenai usaha single level (direct selling) dan multi level (MLM).
Sampai saat ini diperkirakan sedikitnya 4,5 juta orang Indonesia yang bekerja sebagai tenaga pemasaran berjenjang. Perkembangannya bisa mencapai 18 juta orang bila satu keluarga beranggotakan empat orang semua terlibat dalam bisnis itu.
Adapun perusahaan MLM yang telah bergabung menjadi anggota APLI sebanyak 59 perusahaan, walaupun perusahaan sejenis yang beroperasi di Tanah Air sekarang cukup banyak jumlahnya.

Ciri dan daya tarik sistem MLM
Dilihat dari berbagai ciri dari sistem MLM ini ada beberapa hal yang menurut hemat kami sangat memberikan pesona atau daya tarik usaha ini. Beberapa hal tersebut adalah:
Penghasilan besar tiap bulannya. Usaha melalui sistem MLM dimana penghasilan mereka yang sudah mencapai tingkat Diamond Distributor di Amway atau Diamond Agency Manager di CNI keduanya merupakan perusahaan MLM terkemuka di Indonesia, lebih besar dibandingkan para direktur maupun CEO di perusahaan konvensional. Ditambah lagi, dalam sistem MLM semua orang berpeluang untuk mencapai jenjang tinggi dengan waktu yang relatif tidak terlalu panjang. Andrias Harefa menyebutkan dalam bukunya, untuk mencapai jenjang Diamond umumnya dibutuhkan waktu 4-10 tahun. Sedangkan untuk mencapai jenjang direktur atau CEO dalam perusahaan konvensional dibutuhkan waktu 15-30 tahun.
Bisnis dengan modal seadanya. Bisnis MLM hanya membutuhkan dana awal yang sangat kecil. Untuk bergabung dengan usaha MLM modal awal yang harus dikeluarkan berupa pembelian fomulir pendaftaran berikut informasi awal (starter kit, busines pack) yang nilainya sekitar atau kurang dari Rp. 300,000. Jumlah yang sangat kecil dengan peluang mendapatkan penghasilan bulanan sama atau lebih besar dengan para CEO di perusahaan konvensional.
Untuk semua usaha, modal finansial bukan satu-satunya modal yang harus dikeluarkan. Dalam menekuni bisnis apapun modal yang juga dibutuhkan adalah berupa waktu, pengetahuan, sikap mental, motivasi dan tekad bulat, keahlian berkomunikasi dan lain-lain.
Bisnis dengan risiko rendah atau tidak ada sama sekali?. Bila Anda ingin berusaha, tentunya akan menghadapi apa yang disebut risiko. Tetapi apakah untuk mendapatkan keuntungan besar seseorang harus menanamkan uangnya dalam jumlah besar sebagai investasi usaha?
Dalam sistem bisnis MLM, sepanjang risiko yang dimaksud adalah kerugian finansial maka bisnis MLM ini memberikan tingkat risiko yang sangat rendah (minim). Dengan hanya modal awal berupa starter kid atau business pack, jelas bahwa risiko finansial bagi yang tidak berhasil meraih sukses dalam bisnis ini juga kecil. Bahkan perusahaan-perusahaan besar MLM memberikan kesempatan kepada distributornya bila merasa tidak yakin masih dapat mengembalikan starter kit-nya dan mendapatkan kembali uangnya.
Jadi dari aspek finansial, bisnis sistem MLM dapat dibilang bebas risiko. Namun celakanya, justru karena modal awalnya minimum dan risikonya relatif nol (kecil), banyak orang yang terlibat dalam bisnis ini tidak serius menjalankannya, sehingga memang berakhir dengan kegagalan.
Transparasi penilaian prestasi. Dalam bisnis MLM, mereka yang mencapai posisi puncak dalam suatu jaringan (network) umumnya memang telah dikenal prestasi dan reputasinya sebagai penjual dan perekrut handal.
Sehingga bila seorang distributor dengan masa kerja pendek berhasil mencapai posisi cukup tinggi, hal ini justru menjadi kebanggaan kelompoknya. Hal ini malah memberikan motivasi lebih besar lagi kepada para downliners untuk bekerja lebih giat lagi dan menjadikannya sebagi tokoh kebanggaan, model yang harus ditiru, dan kata-kata yang diucapkannya makin berharga di mata mereka.
Dengan sisitem bisnis MLM penilaian prestasi seseorang dilakukan secara relatif trasparan berdasarkan target-target yang ditetapkan serta diketahui oleh semua orang yang terlibat didalamnya. Tidak ada kolusi, nepotisme atau kronisme yang mendahulukan kepentingan orang-orang se-suku, se-keluarga, se-agama dan sebagainya. Semuanya transparan.

Skema piramida
Perusahaan penggandaan uang yang berkedok MLM biasanya menawarkan berbagai kemudahan dan janji-janji yang menggiurkan. Penyelewengan sistem MLM ini nampak dalam skema piramida atau investasi lewat surat berantai. Pemasaran produk dengan skema surat berantai memiliki ciri-ciri khusus yang sebenarnya mudah untuk dikenali. Ciri pertama adalah pungutan biaya pendaftarn anggota yang relative besar dan sebagian digunakan sebagai kompensasi atau komisi kepada orang-orang yang merekrut atau mensponsori anggota baru.
Dengan cara ini, sistem piramida seolah-olah terlihat lebih unggul dan menarik dibandingkan dengan pola MLM yang sah dimana tidak memberikan kompensasi terhadap orang atau anggota yang merekrut anggota baru dari fee pendaftarannya.
Dengan demikian, anggota skema piramida lebih sibuk untuk merekrut anggota baru dan melalaikan tanggung jawab untuk menjual produk dan memberikan pelayanan kepada pelanggan.
Ciri kedua dalam skema piramida ini adalah keharusan setiap anggotanya untuk melakukan pembelian produk dalam jumlah besar dan dengan potongan harga setinggi mungkin (sementara harga produk umumnya telah “disesuaikan” secara tidak wajar) sebelum menerima pesanan dari pelanggan atau distributor lainnya. Pembelian produk ini tidak disertai dengan jaminan uang kembali (garansi), karena produk-produk yang mereka distribusikan umumnya memang tidak dapat dipertanggungjawabkan kualitas dan manfaatnya. Akibat lain dari praktek bisnis semacam ini adalah kecendrungan untuk menjual produknya dengan harga seenaknya (banting harga) atau sama sekali tidak mempedulikan produk.
Ciri ketiga dari sistem pemasaran piramida ketidakpedulian perusahaan dan distributor independennya terhadap kualitas produk dan kepuasan pelanggan, sehingga konsumen cendrung menjadi korban. Ketidakpedulian ini juga nampak nyata karena banyak distributor yang telah memesan produk sebagai syarat menjadi anggota, kemudian tidak pernah mengambil produk tersebut dari perusahaan. Sementara perusahaan acapkali kehabisan stok produk tertentu dan lalai untuk menyediakannya dalam kurun waktu yang dijanjikan.
Ciri keempat adalah tidak adanya perjanjian atau kontrak tertulis antara perusahaan dengan distributornya. Hampir semua janji berupa iming-iming untuk menjadi kaya mendadak disampaikan secara lisan, sehingga sulit untuk dibuktikan bila terjadi pengingkaran.
Ciri kelima adalah tidak adanya pendidikan dan sistem pelatihan yang sistematis dan berkesinambungan untuk para distributor. Perusahaan dan para pemimpin jaringan tidak menunjukkan rasa tanggung jawab moral untuk mengembangkan sumber daya manusianya secara sungguh-sungguh.
Ciri keenam adalah tidak diterimanya perusahaan yang melaksanakan pemasaran dengan skema piramida dan investasi surat berantai sebagai anggota APLI atau Direct Selling Association (DSA) di negara di mana mereka beroperasi.
Dan ciri ketujuh adalah pelanggaran terhadap prinsip umum MLM yang sah, yakni semua anggota memiliki peluang yang sama untuk mendapatkan keuntungan dari penjualan produk atau serius. Dalam skema piramida, mereka yang mendaftar belakangan kurang dan/ atau tidak memiliki sama sekali peluang untuk mendapatkan keuntungan. Setiap keberhasilan seseorang harus dibayar dengan kegagalan sejumlah orang lain yang bergabung belakangan.
Demikianlah paparan kami kali ini. Semoga ulasan kali ini memberikan masukan kepada Anda dan dapat melihat perbedaan dari binis MLM dan yang berkedok MLM. Selamat berusaha.

Dalam Bukunya "Rich Dad’s The Business School For People Who Like Helping People" Robert T. Kyiosaki meramalakan adanya tren perbuhan tatanan ekonomi dunia yang digerakan oleh industri pemasraan jaringan. Mengapa demikian? Berikut ini alasannya:

1. Orang menginginkan kebebasan. Hilanglah sudah masa di mana orang mulai bekerja pada usia 25 dan tetap di situ seumur hidup…melakukan seperti apa yang diperintahkan untuk dilakukan guna mempertahankan pekerjaan mereka. Kini orang ingin lebih bergerak, memiliki lebih banyak pilihan, dan lebih banyak kebebasan untuk menjalankan hidup sesuai dengan persyaratan mereka. Bisnis pemasaran jaringan paruh waktu memungkinkan orang lebih dapat mengendalikan hidup mereka dan akhirnya lebih banyak kebebasan. Ia memberikan biaya masuk yang rendah dan sistem siap pakai bagi orang-orang yang ingin sekali melakukan perubahan.

2. Orang ingin menjadi kaya. Pada generasi orang tua kita aturanya mengatakan kalau anda bekerja keras, semakin anda tua, semakin banyak anda dibayar. Anda mendapatkan uang lebih banyak melalui kenaikan gaji. Dan ketika anda mendekati akhir hidup anda, anda akan berkata, "Ketika saya pensiun, penghasilan saya akan menurun." Dengan kata lain, asumsi bagi orang tua kita adalah anda bekerja keras seumur hidup dan pensiun miskin.

Sekarang ada orang berumur 25 tahun yang tidak pernah mempunyai pekerjaan tetapi telah menjadi milyader dengan membangun piranti lunak komputer. Pada saat yang sama, ada orang yang berumur 50 tahun sedang mencari pekerjaan dengan berharap mendapatkan penghasilan $50.000/tahun. Yang lebih buruk lagi, orang yang berumur 50 tahun ini hanya mempunyai sedikit atau tidak mempunyai uang sama sekali yang dapat disisihkan untuk pensiun dan mungkin tidak bisa pensiun. Orang berumur 50 tahun ini tidak memerlukan pekerjaan. Orang ini memerlukan cara untuk menjadi kaya dan memperoleh tingkat penghasilan yang terus-menerus sepanjang sisa hidupnya. Perusahaan pemasaran jaringan memberikan kesempatan ini dengan memberikan pendidikan, pembimbingan, dan sistem bisnis untuk membantu orang berumur 50 tahun ini membangun bisnis B-nya sendiri.

Pada tahun 2010, yang tidak terlalu lama lagi, orang pertama dari 75 juta baby-boomers (orang yang lahir pada masa ledakan bayi setelah PD II) di Amerika akan mencapai usia 65. Banyak yang akan masuk ke pemasaran jaringan sebagai cara untuk membangun jaminan seumur hidup yang tidak diberikan oleh pekerjaan mereka. Disamping itu, seseorang yang dengan sukses membangun bisnis pemasaran jaringan mempunyai potensi untuk masuk dalam peringkat ultrakaya di dunia…jauh lebih kaya dibanding para profesional yang berpendidikan tinggi seperti dokter, pengacara, insinyur…dan jauh lebih kaya dibanding banyak bintang olah raga, bintang film, dan bintak rock. Dengan semakin dekatnya tahun 2010, banyak orang yang sudah berada dalam bisnis pemasaran jaringan akan sangat beruntung ketika jutaan baby-boomer bergabung.

3. Portofolio pensiun pribadi akan dihapuskan. Belum pernah terjadi dalam sejarah dunia begitu banyak orang mempertaruhkan masa pensiunya pada pasar saham. Ini adalah resep bagi bencana finansial. Pada tahun 2010, juga ada kemungkinan kuat bahwa pasar saham AS akan kolaps, kalau tidak terjadi cepat. Kalau hal ini terjadi jutaan orang yang mengadalakan pasar saham dan sejenisnya tidak akan menikmati masa pensiun menyenangkan yang mereka impikan.

Kalau hal ini pernah terjadi, jutaan orang akan mencari jaminan finansial lainya, seperti membangun bisnis B yang dapat diberikan oleh bisnis pemasaran jaringan.

4. Lebih banyak orang akan sadar. Dengan semakin dekatnya tahun 2010, lebih banyak orang akan sadar bahwa Era Industri sudah berlalu dan aturan main sudah berubah untuk selama-lamanya.

Pada tahun 1989, ketika tembok Berlin runtuh dan World Wide Web dibangun, aturan dunia berubah. Banyak sejarawan menyatakan bahwa Era Industri sudah berakhir dan Era Informasi dimulai. Pada Era Industri, aturanya adalah anda bekerja keras dan perusahaan serta pemerintah akan mengurus anda. Pada Era Informasi, aturanya adalah anda akan mendapatkan yang terbaik dengan mengurus diri sendiri.

5. Kesadaran dunia. Pada tahun 2010, saat baby-boomer Amerika mengakhiri peningkatan pesat ekonomi, sekelompok lain baby-boomer aka menjadi sadar di Asia. Ketika akhir peningkatan ekonomi bergeser dari Amerika ke Asia, orang-orang di perusahaan pemasaran jaringan internasional akan berada dalam posisi bergerak mengikuti tren ini saat teman-teman dan para tentangga mereka takut diberhentikan dari pekerjaan. Dengan kata lain, di Era Informasi, orang yang bersaing mendapatkan pekerjaan anda mungkin tidak tinggal di kota atau di negara anda. Dalam Era Informasi orang yang mencari pekerjaan anda mungkin tinggal di Pakistan dan merasa senang dengan gaji $20 per hari, bukanya $20 per jam dengan tunjangan.

"Ketika orang mendapat banyak uang, mereka sering berpikir IQ mereka meningkat. Saat orang mendapat uang, mereka berpikir bahwa mereka lebih cerdas tetapi mereka mulai melakukan hal-hal yang bodoh. Bukannya IQ mereka meningkat, IQ mereka sebenarnya menurun dan kesombongan mereka naik dengan cepat." Kalau anda melihat apa yang terjadi dengan pemenang undian atau bintang olahraga yang tiba-tiba mendapat banyak uang, anda akan mengetahui bahwa pernyataan ayah kaya saya memiliki validitas.

Bebicara tentang kesombongan versus kecerdasan. Dengan kata lain, banyak orang Amerika mabuk dan berpesta hingga jauh malam karena peningkatan pesat ekonomi ini. Saat saya menulis, kebocoran gelembung ekonomi mulai terlihat. Perusahaan-perusahaan dot com mulai kolaps dan investor saham yang melambung tinggi mulai mencari tempat berlindung pada saham yang lebih bernilai tradisional. Ketidaksetabilan pasar saham saat ini sedang diamati amat cermat. Bila peningkatan pesat ini berakhir, banyak orang bijaksana dalam merencanakan masa depan akan mulai menyadari betapa pandainya mereka memasuki bisnis pemasaran jaringan sebelum peningkata pesat berakhir.

6. Kebangkrutan mungkin tak pernah datang. Mungkin Sejarah tidak berulang sendiri. Mungkin kesetabilan saat ini akan menjadi stabil dan peningkatan pesat ekonomi akan berlangsung selamanya. Mungkin orang-orang yang melihat kebijaksanaan bisnis pemasaran jaringan akan salah. Mungkin secara pribadi bertanggung jawab atas hidup dan kesejahteraan seseorang adalah salah. Mungkin mengharapkan pekerjaan anda, pemerintah, dan pasar saham yang akan menguras anda adalah hal yang benar untuk dilakukan. Mungkin cara terbaik untuk mendapatkan jaminan finansial adalam meminjam uang dan mempertaruhkan masa depan finansial anda pada pasar saham. Mungkin mempertaruhkan masa depan anda pada keberuntungan bukannya pendidikan yang terus-menerus adalah sesuatu yang pandai dilakukan…tetapi saya kira tidak.

Sebagai orang Amerika yang bepergian ke seluruh dunia, saya melihat persoalan dengan orang Amerika adalah bahwa kita cenderung untuk hidup dalam akuarium ikan. Dunai dapat melihat ke dalam tetapi banyak orang Amerika memilih untuk tidak melihat keluar. Dunia menonton acara TV Amerika. Tetapi berapa banyak di antara kita yang pernah menonton acara TV dai India, Cina, atau Korea? Sangat banyak orang Amerika tidak melihat betapa cepatnya bagian duni yang lain mengerti Ide Kapitalisme…bahkan orang Komunis sedang menjadi Kapitalis saat ini. Sangat banyak orang Amerika menjadi lemah, malas dan mengharapkan bahwa hidup dengan pekerjaan bergaji tinggi dan uang yang mudah diperoleh akan berlangsung terus…dan mudah-mudahaan bagi mereka akan demikian…tetapi saya rasa tidak.

Sepanjang sejarah, kebangkrutan mengikuti semua peningkatan pesat. Berita itu mungkin berita buruk banyak orang. Namun itu juga menjadi berita baik bagi yang lain. Salah satu keunggulan beberapa bisnis pemasar jaringan adalah bahwa dunia adalah wilayah kita. Kalau anda mempunyai bisnis pemasaran jaringan internasional, kebangkrutan ekonomi bisa menjadi berita baik bagi anda sebagaimana halnya dengan peningkatan pesat ekonomi. Dan jika anda dapat melihat semua peningkatan dan semua kebangkrutan sebagai berita baik, itu adalah berita baik bagi jiwa anda dan bagi masa depan finansial anda.

Ini hanyalah beberap alasan mengapa saya melihat masa depan industri pemasaran jaringan semakin cerah.

Setelah berjuang keras dari level terendah, para peraih posisi puncak di jaringan bisnis MLM kini menikmati limpahan uang, fasilitas kemewahan, popularitas dan pergaulan luas. Toh, buat mereka, bukan berarti kini saatnya ongkang-ongkang kaki. Sambil tergesa-gesa, Alex I.W., Distributor Top CNI, memasuki ruang lobi kantor perusahaan multilevel marketing (MLM) di Jl. Balikpapan, Tomang, Jakarta sore itu. Seraya menjabat tangan

SWA, ia berucap, Saya baru saja tiba dari Singapura, dan langsung ke sini. Pria yang kini menetap di Singapura ini memang kerap wira-wiri Indonesia-Singapura, 2-3 kali sebulan. Selain itu, tiap bulan dari Singapura ia rutin bepergian ke India, Vietnam dan Sri Lanka.Saya sedang membangun jaringan (CNI) ke negara-negara Asia,â€ ujarnya sambil tersenyum lebar.

Alex adalah orang pertama di CNI yang meraih Crown, alias posisi tertinggi di jejaring CNI. Sebagai sosok pionir, pria yang bergabung dengan CNI selama 19 tahun ini, memiliki jaringan yang sangat masif, luas, dan dominan di CNI. Bayangkan, dengan sebuah jaringan MLM yang mencakup sekitar 500 ribu orang, kontribusinya sekitar 70% bagi pendapatan CNI yang mencapai triliunan rupiah per tahun. Hebatnya lagi, dari 8 orang peraih Crown, lima di antaranya adalah Alex dan empat downline-nya sendiri.

Toh, Alex bukan satu-satunya sosok yang sukses besar di bisnis berbasis MLM seperti CNI. Ada beberapa nama lain dari perusahaan berbasis jaringan MLM yang juga mampu mencatatkan diri sebagai top leader di jejaringnya masing-masing. Sebut saja Robert dan Ranti Angkasa dari Amway; Sofia Achmad dan Liesye Kaleb dari Tupperware; Louis Tendean dan Ferawaty Hartono dari Tianshi; serta Mulyo Hadi dan Nancy Sparingga dari Herbalife.

Dari segi pendapatan dan kompensasi yang mereka terima, para top leader MLM ini sebenarnya amat pantas berbangga diri. Ambil contoh Louis Tendean yang sukses di Tianshi. Mantan pebisnis panci dan VCD ini kini telah menerima bonus bernilai tinggi seperti mobil BMW 318i. Bonusnya saja diperkirakan mencapai Rp 500 juta per bulan. Padahal, ia baru bergabung dengan Tianshi awal 2001. Menariknya lagi, usianya relatif muda, 31 tahun. Boleh jadi, pria yang tak sempat menamatkan kuliahnya di Fakultas Teknik Universitas Maranatha, Bandung ini merupakan top leader MLM paling muda dibanding sejawat top leader yang lain.

Para jagoan MLM ini terus terang keberatan menyebutkan berapa persisnya penghasilan bulanan mereka. Namun, banyak pihak yang memastikan penghasilan mereka di kisaran puluhan sampai ratusan juta rupiah per bulan. Ini setara dengan gaji direktur di perusahaan top di Jakarta.

Yang mungkin belum banyak diketahui orang awam, di balik penghasilan besar itu mereka punya kesibukan yang tak kalah padat dibanding para pemimpin perusahaan besar. Sebagai contoh diungkapkan Sofia Achmad, bahwa hari-harinya -- Senin hingga Sabtu -- digunakan untuk menjalankan bisnis Tupperware, sedangkan Minggu didedikasikan penuh untuk keluarga. Dalam seminggu, wanita berdarah Arab kelahiran Malang, 18 Februari 1961 ini meluangkan tiga hari untuk mengembangkan bisnis Tupperware ke beberapa daerah. Sebutlah, hari Rabu, Kamis dan Sabtu ia berkunjung ke Subang, Tasikmalaya dan Garut. Selebihnya, Senin, Selasa dan Jumat, ia gunakan untuk mengelola bisnis Tupperware di wilayah Bandung. Basis bisnis Sofia memang di Kota Kembang.

Supporters of network marketing always talk about the business being a business of duplication. But what are they talking about? Making lists of people to contact or making income? Buying leads or calling prospects? I've never fully understood what was meant by duplication because I have never seen it with any consistency.

Duplication is NOT based on how easy something is to implement. Rather is should be based on how effective what you are doing is duplicated. Let's go over a check list of typical MLM action steps to determine if they are duplicatable or not.


1. Making a list- Most people can effectively make a list of people they know with contact information. This action step is very duplicatable. But in of itself, this step does not give you success.

2. Calling the names on your list- This step is most definitely NOT duplicatable if you take into consideration the number of people who actually take action and have success. Some of the more common complaints I hear are that most people don't answer their telephones, or the prospects have little interest. So, even if you are able to perform this action step, the effectiveness of this step is in question.

3. Buying leads- At first blush, this step is VERY duplicatable. Let's face it. It doesn't take much skill to write a check for a bunch of names. Again, the real litmus test is how effective does this action step work for you. In my experience and those in my organization, this action step has led to much frustration. One person may be great at the cold calling game, but odds are most people won't be. So you really can't look at this step as one that leads to "effective" duplication.

It seems to me that at the end of the day, most network marketers simply don't have enough leads coming into their funnel, so to speak. Let's face it, no matter where your source of leads comes from, statistically a percentage of people will participate and a percentage won't. So, to have success, a network marketer must have multiple streams of leads. No matter what your business, you never want only one singular source of interested prospects. That one source may work for a while, but what happens when that source runs dry?

We started this article with the concept of duplication in network marketing. Here is what should be focused on when discussing duplication....your marketing system.

If you have a marketing system in place that will generate prospects to you on a consistent basis AND close leads at a consistent rate whether or not you ever interact with your prospect, then and only then, can you say you are standing on firm ground. Be sure that you have a strong marketing system and you will take control of the lead generation aspect of your business. You will be ahead of the vast majority of network marketers out there.

For more information on how you can take control of duplication in your business, click the critical training link below.

By: Dr. Alfred J. Santoro

It seems the network marketing, or MLM, industry has been on the verge of an "explosion" for about as long as, well, there has been a network marketing industry. Certainly there have been growth spurts in popularity over the years, but the business just never really - exploded, at least for any sustained period of time. Even those occasional growth pops were always followed by slumps in the MLM economy. Yet, throughout it's history, even in the midst of those slumps, and especially over the last two decades, many of those who would promote it would tell us that, soon, the network marketing industry is going to, dare i say it again... EXPLODE! Ah, if I only had a dollar for every time I've heard any derivative of the word "explode" as it relates to network marketing I'd be a wealthy man. About as wealthy as I'd be if I got a dollar for every time an MLM distributor used the term "revolutionary," but that's another subject.

The various promoters of this alleged upcoming MLM boom have always had at least one good reason for believing their claim. It wasn't entirely on hype. Nothing more than the monumental and numerous advantages that network marketing offers to those who want to start a home based business certainly should have been reason enough to think that, soon, the masses are going to discover those advantages and flock to MLM en mass. We could surely forgive them for their optimistic delusion.

As history has shown us in many industries, the merits of a product alone won't necessarily sell it. When Ruth Stafford Peale said "find a need and fill it", she was close. Personally, I'd rather find a "want" and fill it. Obviously, people would be more likely to obtain something they want as oppose to need, and they've not flocked to network marketing en mass for no other reason than they simply can't want something they neither understand nor even know exists! There is overwhelming evidence that the reason this industry stands at a little over 7 million distributors is because, for the most part, those 7 million network marketers are all pitching their opportunities - to each other. This has created a great ignorance about network marketing among most Americans. And I use the word "ignorance" deliberately here, which does not mean unintelligent. Ignor-ance means simply, to ignore readily available information. And the vast majority of the U.S. population has, at least up until now, utterly ignored network marketing not only due to a lack of want, but a lack of knowledge as to it's benefits, or that it even exists.

But that is all about to change... forever.

For the first time in network marketing history, there are solid, logical, verifiable, reasons to believe in an upcoming network marketing boom. In fact, there are eight reasons, any one of which could result in a significant expansion of network marketing in the U.S. over the next few years, and these eight factors will soon by overlaying, one on top of the other, creating the "perfect storm" so to speak, where we have the convergence of several powerful economic, demographic, and psychological factors all hitting at the exact same time and place in network marketing history. Finally, we can make claim to an upcoming MLM explosion and it won't be just wishful thinking. It absolutely will happen, and here's why:
Reason #1: The Economy.

I have always had the belief that the condition of the U.S. economy did influence the condition of network marketing, somewhat, but not significantly. I based that belief on the simple conclusion that there was never an economy where people didn't want more money and more free time. In fact, a few months ago I set out to write an article debunking this age old assumption that bad economic conditions favor network marketing. I began to really do some digging to find as much evidence as I could to support my contrarian position. And what I soon discovered was, I was wrong. The fact that one of the strongest growth phases in network marketing history, which occurred between 1990 to '92, also coincided with the last economic recession should have been a clue. But there was so much more.
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First, an analysis of unemployment rates over the decades is key here. After all, the want for network marketing is created by the desire for alternative sources of income, and income sources that we have control over. And when we compare the popularity trends of network marketing to unemployment rates, on a semi-decade basis, there are some intriguing and very exciting revelations.

Although multilevel marketing existed as far back as 1936, for all intents and purposed MLM really began in earnest in the 1950s. So let's start there. Now, tracking MLM popularity trends is somewhat subjective, but surely there would be no argument that network marketing was far more popular in the second half of the 50's than the first. Not a single company of consequence launched from 1950 to 1955, however industry giants Shaklee, NeoLife, and Amway all came into existence from 1956 to 1959. The unemployment rate the first have of the decade averaged 4%, and was the second lowest in U.S. history in 1953 at 2.9% (only during WWII was it ever lower). However, it averaged 5.3% the second half of the decade reaching it's highest level since the Great Depression in 1958 at 6.8%. Although the difference may seem small from a statistical standpoint, translated into todays numbers that would mean almost 6 million more people becoming unemployed between 1953 to '58.

The first half of the 1960's all types of direct sales continued to flourish with the launch of Mary Kay Cosmetics in 1963, and companies such as Avon, Fuller Brush and Tupperware all achieving momentum. Although the industry continued to grow from '65 to '69, it was not nearly at the same pace with no new major company launches taking place. The unemployment rate the first half of the decade was significanly higher than the second half when 2-and-a-half million unemployed people went back to work.

Let's jump ahead to the 1980's. Again, few MLM veterans would disagree that the first half of this decade definitely outperformed the second. Although there were about as many company launches in each half of the decade, there are actually more companies that launched during the first half that are still in business today than during the second. While network marketing flourished from 1980 to '85, the rest of the decade saw some of the worst fiasco in network marketing history. Also, another indicator of MLM economic conditions is the number of legal actions. During industry slumps companies and distributors tend to be more aggressive and take greater risks. The number of law suits almost doubled during the second half of the 80's compared to the first. And, while network marketing was thriving the first half of the 80's, unemployment continued to rise. In fact, in 1982 it was at it's highest level in 40 years at 9.7%. During the second half MLM slump unemployment dropped considerably, and by the end of the decade the number of those out of work was almost half of what it was at the beginning of the decade.

The 1990's saw perhaps the clearest distinction between halves of any decade with more major company launches and more companies going into momentum than any other time in history. There was also more wealth being created by way of MLM from 1990 to 1994 than any other 5 year period in network marketing history. The second half, as many of you probably still remember, wasn't exactly the best of times for network marketing. In fact, if there ever was such thing as an MLM recession, we had one from about 1996 through 1999. Why? One reason may have been the very high unemployment rate from 1990 to '94, and the sharp drop during the second half of the decade where it hit a 30 year low at 4.2% in 1999.

The only exception to this half-century long pattern is the 1970's, but that was an exceptional decade. Remember, the last half of the 60's industry growth slowed as unemployment dropped to a post-war low. During the first half of the 70's network marketing started rocking again as unemployment rates jumped. Unfortunately, all that rocking started rocking some boats, and the result was over five times as many MLM related law suits from 1970 to 1974 than all of the 50's and 60's combined. These included landmark cases involving Koscot, Bestline, Holiday Magic, Culture Farms, and others, and in 1975, there was a federal action which essentially questioned the legality of network marketing in general. Fortunately, one company, Amway, had the financial ability to defend themselves, and in essence, the entire multilevel marketing industry. This case lasted until late 1979 when the court eventually ruled in favor of Amway and as a result there was, for the first time, a clear delineation between illegal pyramids and legitimate network marketing companies. So, obviously, there was a pretty dark cloud hanging over the industry the last half of the 70's and there wasn't a lot of expansion in spite of the even higher unemployment rate.

The last, and arguably greatest MLM growth phase began in 1990, the same year we went into our last economic recession. And, again, from 1980 to '84 were boom years for network marketing and we experienced recessions in 1980, part of '81 and most of '82. Nineteen-seventy to '74 were also boom years, and our economy was in recession almost all of 1970, and 1974. Remember how the last half of the 50's and into the early 60's were years of great MLM expansion? We were in recession from '57 to '58 and most of 1960. In deed, every severe economic downturn in the last 50 years has been during, or immediately preceded every period of network marketing expansion.

We're not done yet. According to figures supplied by the Direct Selling Association, not all, but most of which is made up of network marketing companies, U.S. sales increased from 1990 to 1992 by an annual average of 9.25 percent. That was during our last recession. From 1997 to 2000, at the peak of our last economic boom, annual sales within the direct selling industry increased by a little more than half as much. Clearly, the condition of our national economy absolutely does effect the condition of the network marketing industry.

So where does this lead us? Well, as I write this it's early 2002 and we are in a recession, and have been for several months. Most recessions last around 12-18 months, but that doesn't mean that when a recession is over, so is a slumping economy, or high unemployment rates. And again, it's rising unemployment rates that are most closely tied to rising interest in network marketing. Here's a rather remarkable fact – we've had eight recessions in the last 50 years, and during the 12 months immediately after the end of the recession the unemployment rate went up! Every time. What's more, most economic experts today are predicting a much slower recovery than that which followed previous downturns, followed by volatile economic swings for the next several years.

And remember, we're only on reason number one. Let's move on to what I feel is an even more powerful reason to believe in a coming network marketing explosion.

Reason #2: Demographics.

Although the network marketing industry offers almost every conceivable product or service imaginable, most product lines are made up primarily of personal care products, diet, and health related products. These are all products that would be of most interest to again baby boomers. Now, this concept of what Dr. Ken Dychtwald refers to as the "Age Wave" in his book of the same name, is certainly not a new concept as it relates to network marketing. Purveyors of personal and health care products have been emphasizing this concept for several years now. But it does warrant a brief overview.

Baby Boomers are those born from the years of 1946 to 1964. The reason for this baby boom doesn't need a lot of explanation. During the great depression, immediately followed by WWII, folk just weren't economically, psychologically, or geographically able to make a lot of babies. So, once WWII was over they had some catching up to do – and they did. There were about 76 million babies born during this 18 year period, which at the time accounted for almost one-third of the entire U.S. population. This explains why diaper and baby food companies flourished in the later 40's and early 50's, or why rock&roll records and drive ins were so popular in the mid- to late 50's. It also explains why more grade schools were built in the early 60's and more college campuses were built in the later 60's than any other time in our history. Think back to the 70's and early 80's. How many athletic clubs, health stores, or ads for energy or weight loss products did you see? Very few. Today, they're everywhere! Why? Because most of those 76 million people are now in their 40's and 50's. You can see exactly where this giant bubble in the population is at any moment in time by simply looking at what products are most popular. And when in comes to charting the market size for what most network marketing companies offer, we're not even half way up the curve yet! The market for products that will make us look and feel younger is going to continue to expand for at least another 25 years, and will expand most dramatically over the next 5 to 10 years where some predict it will more than double.

But this baby boom is exciting for another completely different reason. The age of contractual consent in most states in 18, that's why virtually all network marketing companies require distributors to be at least 18 years old. Well, guess what happened about 25 years after the baby boom? Those 76 million baby boomers had about 75 million babies. And about 41 million of them will turn 18 over the next 7 years. At no other time in history, other than the original baby boom itself, have this many people been added to the body of eligible MLM prospects in this short a period of time.

Of course, the number of people eligible to join is not as important as the number actually joining. So, let's take another look at the annual survey of the direct selling industry conducting by the DSA. According to their analysis, there was a net gain of direct sellers of 400,000 from 1997 to 98. By "net" I mean 400,000 more joined than quit. There was a 600,000 net gain from '98 to '99, and a 700,000 distributor gain from '99 to 2000. Not only is the number increasing, but the rate of increase is increasing, which is one of the indicators of impending momentum. However, if we did nothing more than take this 700,000 annual growth rate of direct sellers, figure about 470,000 are network marketers, assume the rate of increase never goes any higher, and extend that forward for another ten years, we end up with 4.7 million additional network marketers. To put that in perspective, it took us over 50 years to get to 7.5 million distributors, and we're conservatively projected to add another 4.7 million in just the next ten years, which means, by the way, your average downline will be 37% larger - and this isn't even factoring in any of the things were discussing here that will cause this growth rate to increase! This is just assuming everything stays the same.

And as far as a demographic reason for believing in an upcoming MLM boom, these aren't even the best ones! Check this out:

According to Gallup Polls, the average age of all Americans when they first decide to invest in a residual income producing vehicle, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, or perhaps in a business venture, is 42. The average age when we invest the most into such devices is 47. If we were to then chart on a graph the number of 42 to 47 year olds in the U.S. we'd find that starting about 1988 the line begins to point upward at almost a 45º angle as the boomers started turning 42 – and that line continues to rise at a level never before seen in history all the way to the year 2009. We're barely past the half way point of that upward curve!

Does this really benefit us, as network marketers? Are 40-somethings more open to MLM opportunities? Well, the average American is 36 years old. According to a Marketwave survey of over 6,000 network marketers from 1990 to 2000, the average network marketer is 38.6, and that number has consistently risen over the years of the survey. Other MLM surveys have found the average age to be almost 40. An exceptional number of those over 40 do participate in network marketing, and this segment of the population which is most ready, willing and able to invest in a residual income generating business venture is going to continue to increase dramatically for another seven years!

Reason #3: Wall Street

Securities investors are, for the most part, a pretty savvy group of people. Obviously there are a lot of exceptions, but generally, these are men and women who research and analyze public companies in an effort to try to determine which ones have the strongest growth potential. Based on their due diligence they eventually invest their funds in companies who's growth they expect to go up. These are people who are, in general, pretty adept at knowing what signals to look for that might indicate an upcoming boom. So, what do they see when they turn their magnifying glass on network marketing companies? Well, first let's take a look at what they've seen.

There are over 20 publicly traded network marketing companies, but the bottom third or so are so small and trade so infrequently they're really meaningless as far as overall industry trends, so let's focus on the top 12. These are the larger, well established companies. Well, if you were to chart their stock price over the last 5 years, starting December 1996, in almost every case you'd see a line that looks a lot like the path of an airplane -- coming in for a landing. With very few exceptions, MLM company stock values have flattened out at their all time lows and stayed there for about two to three years. Clearly, Wall Street wasn't impressed with network marketing's growth potential the last half of the 90's.

So, what do they see now? Well, the S&P 500, an index that gauges the overall condition of the stock market, reached it's peak in September of 2000. By mid-December 2001 it was down by 23%. However, over the exact same period of time our index of the top 12 network marketing companies was UP by 7.3%. And again, this is from a basket of stocks that, for the most part, haven't budged upwards in years. And now, all of a sudden, in just the last 12 months these network marketing companies are outperforming the overall stock market by over thirty percent. Go to your favorite investment web site is and take a look at the stock charts of these companies. What you'll see is than plane coming in for a landing, taxying across the bottom of the chart, and then, right at the end - they're just starting to take off again.

So don't just take my word for it. There are a few thousand other trend analysts out there that seem to also be very optimistic about the future growth potential of this industry.

Reason #4: Supply and Demand.

I read an article a few years ago that described how network marketing was "booming." The author validated this claim by siting the huge growth in the number of MLM companies. Of course, anyone who got even a C- in Economics 101 could tell you that an industry booms when the demand for it's product dramatically increases. In deed, when there is only a tremendous increase in supply, this often times results in an industry slump. And sure enough, during this massive proliferation of MLM companies the last half of the 90's, which there very definitely was, we had a pretty tough industry slump.

A very prominent MLM publication published a survey they had conducted from 1994 to 1997 where they polled all the major MLM company software providers to try to determine how many MLM companies were launching in each of these years. They found that in 1994 there were about 700. In '95 over 1,000. There were about 1,400 company launches in 1996, and 1,800 in 1997. These are not cumulative totals, this is each year. And there is a lot of anecdotal evidence to show that there were about as many start ups in 1998 and 1999. What's even more troubling is that those in the software businesses estimate that perhaps half of all MLM start ups don't go to the major software houses, but rather hire in house programmers. Do you understand what that means? It's possible that the actual number of start ups could have been double these numbers. As many as 13,000 network marketing companies may have launched from 1994 through 1999, and at least as many as 8,000, yet we only had a net gain of about 600 companies, from 900 to 1,500. For many years distributors for older, mature network marketing companies often warned prospects away from start ups with the claim that 95% of all MLM companies fail in the first two years. Up to this point, it was really just a scare tactic based on a wild guess. However, what this survey inadvertently did was verify the figure!

Yet, during this same period, based on a consensus of various educated sources including the DSA, the number of network marketing distributors in the U.S., during the last half of the 90's, only increased from about 5 million to 7.5 million. That means the number of distributors went up about 50%, but the number of companies increased by three times that much! If you do the math, you'll discover that this means the average distributor's downline shrunk by 40%. There is no question that the supply of MLM opportunities was far exceeding demand the last half of the 90's.

So, what's the good news? Well, some very encouraging things began to happen in the year 2000, not the least of which is, it seems would be MLM company owners finally began to realize that starting a network marketing company in the U.S. market was an entrepreneurial death wish! Also, more and more of those considering starting MLM companies are coming to realize that it really defeats the whole purpose of getting involved in network marketing – they're essentially creating for themselves a 12 hour a day J-O-B. Instead, they could apply their resources to building an organization in an already well established, stable network marketing program and make just as much, if not more money with far less effort, and fraction of the responsibility and risk. And understand, this isn't just my assumption. I've been a consultant to start up companies, more of a Devil's advocate for hire, actually, since 1992. So, not only from my own consulting experience, but by scanning the ads in all of the various MLM publications, interviewing other consultants, trainers, and suppliers, visiting the on-line MLM message boards, reading the abundance of MLM related spam I receive, and interviewing literally hundreds of prospects and distributors every year, it's very clear that the number of start up network marketing companies has declined significantly since the beginning of 2000.

This fact, along with the increasing number of company mergers and acquisitions that are taking place each year, will only make the industry stronger. The last half of the 90's the whole industry was groaning under the weight of this massive overload of MLM companies. As more and more companies entered the market the national distributor base was spread thinner and thinner. The result was smaller downlines, higher attrition, and generally fewer success stories. But, think about it. If there were just as many distributors, but half as many companies, the average downline would be twice as big. I'm not suggesting the number of companies will contract to half, but any reduction in supply will certainly help spur an increase in demand as more and more distributors are condensed into common downlines, which will then increase the number of those getting into profit, and those reaching their income goals. The more success stories we have, the more motivation and less resistance we have to building our downlines even larger. Even larger downlines mean even greater motivation, even lesser resistance, resulting in even larger downlines – and the cycle continues upward, rather than down or flat as it has in the past.

Reason #5: New Blood.

Almost every network marketing company today would like to think, and most claim, they are about to go into momentum. Momentum, as it applies to network marketing, is the stage in a company's growth cycle where sales volume begins to increase geometrically and the company doubles, triples, perhaps even quadruples in size in a relatively short period of time. Most momentum phases last about 6 to 24 months. Much like buying a stock low right before it goes up in price, most distributors want to attach themselves to a pre-momentum company right before it explodes. Thus, practically every distributor will try to make a case that their company is "about to go into momentum." How do they know? Eh, they don't. No one every really knows exactly when momentum phases kick in. Some MLM theorists have claimed it commences at a certain sales volume, or around a certain number of year in business. Yet, the exceptions far outnumber the rule. But much like stock picking, we can look for clues - for historical trends and patterns to help us make better guesses. And if we go back and study every major post-momentum company and analyze what happened right before they went into momentum, there is a common event. Although they each may have accomplished this in different ways, every momentum phase in MLM history was facilitated by massive numbers of people moving into the opportunity, either as reps or customers, who have never been involved in network marketing before. No company has ever went into a momentum phase by this ebb and flow distributors roaming from company to company. Momentum is caused by a massive injection of new blood.

Where is this new blood going to come from? How are we going to expose massive numbers of people to our products and opportunities that we've never been able to reach in the past? Of course, from... how many you saw this coming?... the internet.

Now, some of you may be thinking, yeah, but the internet's been around for years. Where is all this new blood? Well, the internet may have been around in 1990, but it didn't go into it's own momentum phase until after 1995 when only 14% of Americans used the internet. By 1998 that number had almost tripled. Today it's over 60% and many predict that virtually all of Americans will be using the internet in some capacity by the year 2010. And it wasn't until around 1997 or so that the network marketing industry really began to use, or a better term might be "abuse" the internet. Certainly there are exceptions to this, but for the most part MLMers got a little over zealous in their utilization of this amazing new technology. Rather that use it to help us build our downlines and sell our products, it was, in way too many cases, used in an attempt to have it build our downlines for us. The result was, in some cases, big recruiting numbers, but very little sales volume and overwhelming attrition. The reason is obvious. People get into network marketing with the goal of quitting their jobs and doing this for a living. In other words, they are potentially making a career choice. That's a pretty serious decision, isn't it? Well, how serious could a prospect have taken this decision when they only based it on a few pretty pictures and some jazzy words on a web site?

The internet was also abused in other ways. Like so many other dot.coms, there were a lot of company failures. Some were ugly, miserable failures. There were numerous legal abuses as well resulting in several well publisized closures. The network marketing industry painfully cut it's internet teeth from about 1997 to early 2000. And now, as this shake out comes to an end and the smoke clears, what is just beginning to emerge are the remaining responsible, visionary companies that knew all along that the awesome power of the internet was not in having it do all the work for us, but rather having it help us present our products and opportunities faster, less expensively, and to far, far greater numbers of people. New people, who've never been exposed to network marketing before. They're are our future superstars – our future MLM leaders.

The internet is a sales, training and recruiting tool with unimaginable potential that we are only just now beginning to effectively and intelligently utilize, and it's an industry itself that looks to expand by 100 million users domestically over the next ten years. And as this happens, the network marketing industry will soon go into momentum the same way everyone of it's post-momentum companies did so - by a mountainous wave of new prospects and within it these future leaders. They say a rising tide raises all boats, and in this case, this tidal wave could even cause an unprecedented event in network marketing history - the secondary momentum phase, where large, post-momentum companies actually achieve momentum again!

But the internet isn't the only reason why I believe we're on the verge of massive "outer circle" recognition. There's another reason that's so compelling I'm making it a reason unto itself.

Reason #6: Positive Media Exposure.

Radio, television, magazines and newspapers all exist primarily, if not in some cases exclusively, on advertising dollars. Network marketing is an industry that, for the most part, doesn't advertise in the mainstream media. After all, we're a "word of mouth" business. So not only has the media had no financial incentive to promote MLM, it actually has a financial inceptive not to. Now, I'm not suggesting there's some grand conspiracy among these various media to hold network marketing down, but there certainly has been a consistent pattern of negative expose's of MLM companies over the years, some certainly deserving, some not, but curiously, very few corporate or individual success stories, in spite of the huge number of them to choose from.

Well, that too is changing. The mainstream media is just now discovering how to cash in on network marketing without ad revenue. The first big step in this direction was back in 1994 when Success magazine, a well respected newsstand business magazine, featured a front cover montage of network marketing companies and a lengthy and extremely positive feature article about our industry. Sure, the companies that knew they were going to be mentioned did break from tradition and ran display ads, but that's not where Success made the most money. The people of this credibility starved industry, long deserving of such positive recognition, sold out the entire run of that issue. In fact, Success magazine broke their all time single issue sales record by almost twice the previous record. The result, obviously, was a lot more positive portrayals of network marketing companies in future issues. Unfortunately, in spite of this bold demonstration of exactly how profitable it could be for doing nothing more than being fair and balanced and also presenting the positive side of network marketing, few other mainstream publications followed Success's lead. So, several network marketing trade publications decided, let's do it ourselves. Soon, we had several glossy, full color, network marketing focused magazines hitting the newsstands. At the moment, none of these publications have taken the country by storm – in fact, most have struggled – but understand, the fact that they even exist is a giant step forward for network marketing, and anyone who truly cares about the well being of this industry should support their efforts in what ever way they can.

But this isn't where the greatest promise lies as far as positive media exposure. What about this idea: Let's say, instead of paying for an advertement, you worked out an arrangement where you enrolled the media itself, got the exposure for free, but the resulting sales volume and downline that was generated from the campaign went under the company? They could potentially make far more income from overrides than from ad fees, even after the ads stop running. It's a perfect win-win scenario – we get the positive mainstream exposure, the media could get even more money from us that if they charged us for the ads. Would this work? It already is. Slowly, quietly, such a movement is taking place. I know for a fact that there are currently over 100 radio stations in the U.S. attempting this, and some are succeeding, big time. Yet, virtually the entire network marketing industry is oblivious to the fact this is even happening. It's simply a matter of time until the mainstream media's grapevine picks up on this alternative ad revenue generator.

Finally, let's not overlook the public image boost we're getting from the various athletes, celebrities, political figures and medical authorities network marketing is attracting like never before. And no, not all are just paid endorsers, and many of them have careers that are based on their reputation and positive image, and they've openly and willingly attached their good names to network marketing. We've also got well respected mainstream authors and speakers such as Richard Poe, Paul Zane Pilzer, Mark Victor Hansen, Brian Tracy and Robert Kiasaki extolling the virtues of network marketing. This kind of powerful, third party validation has never happened before, nearly to this extent. And it's just starting, and it's growing.

Reason #7: Regulation.

Earlier we discussed the cyclical nature of network marketing as it related to the economy. I hope you picked up on the fact that the first half of every decade outperformed the second half – and that's been the case for the last 40 years.

But there were more than just economic reasons for this cycle. The regulatory climate often times influenced the mood of distributors and our prospects, and therefore, has effected the condition of the industry to an extent. The most obvious example being the previously mentioned federal actions back in the 70's. Legal attacks by state or federal authorities on high profile network marketing companies do occur from time to time, and curiously seem to peak in pre-election years, but that could just be a coincidence. Most of those larger companies, by the way, not only survived the attack, but are considered models of legality today who's policies and enforcement systems are emulated by younger companies. Yes, there have been many situations where pyramid schemes have been shut down, and typically the action is described as "the network marketing company that was shut down because it was an illegal pyramid scheme." It drives me nuts when I hear someone make a statement like that. It's kind of like saying "A really honest man was exposed as a lier." Well, then he wasn't an honest man, was he? Either you're an illegal pyramid scheme, or you're a network marketing company. You can't be both. I want to make this very clear before we go any further on this subject: Illegal pyramid schemes often times try to disguise themselves as network marketing companies because they want to appear legal. Unfortunately, when the media reports on illegal pyramid schemes, we do suffer a guilt by association, and again, that does have an effect on our ability to retain distributors and acquire new ones, at last temporarily.

The good news is that the last few years we've seen really no significant legal attacks on network marketing companies, and several closures of illegal schemes. Not only does this make the industry stronger due to a smaller pool of opportunities, legal or otherwise, but it also increase our ability to build, because we don't have the negative stigma of a well publicized regulatory hit creating greater resistance toward the industry. Not only that, but it also demonstrates a greater ability among regulators to delineate between pyramids and good, legitimate MLM programs. This should be especially encouraging and comforting to those who've built substantial incomes in "high profile" opportunities, or those who intend to be high profile.

And, once again, I've saved the best news for last. There is active lobbying going on right now by the DSA and others, to enact legislation that will create federal regulation of network marketing. As it is now, and always has been, operating a network marketing company in the United States is kind of like trying to do business in 50 little countries. Each state has it's own set of laws pertaining to business opportunities, some specifically to MLM, and all have statutes pertaining to pyramid schemes. Although, for the most part, each state's definition of an illegal pyramid is consistent with the other 49, the interpretation and implementation of those laws has been somewhat haphazard and arbitrary over the years. It's true that there was a significant legal precedent created by the federal court's decision in the Amway case in 1979, but even that has been utterly ignored in more recent cases such as the infamous Webster vs. Omnitrition case in 1994 where the 9th circuit court of appeals (the most overturned appeals court in the land) chose to disregard personal consumption by distributors as a legitimate, commissionable sale. Fortunately, this decision didn't create law, just a seldom followed guideline. In fact, several individual states in recent years, such as Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Kentucky have created statutes that specifically recognize personal consumption as a legitimate sale, and there's legal precedent in California that they've also adopted this position. But still, the enforcement actions over the years have been inconsistent not only between state and federal precedent, but from state to state, and sometimes even from case to case within the same state.


Not only will federal regulation create a clear, consistent path for all network marketing companies, and state regulators, to follow, but, much like the federal regulation of franchising back in the 60's, may eventually require truer and fuller disclosure. Now, as I understand it, that's not what's in the current draft of legislation being proposed as of this writing. However, if this ever did come to pass, and many believe it will, it would absolutely be a good thing. Very good. Not only will it tremendously strengthen the industry by weeding out the bad apples, it will cause this massive turnover rate among start up companies to drop to a fraction of it's current level because most won't even start up in the first place. Gone will be the days of usually ex-distributors sitting around a table saying, hey, let's get a few thousand dollars together and start our own MLM company - now, what can we sell? And the ones that do launch will have to be serious players with solid backing. So not only will more distributors be packed into fewer companies, but those companies will be only the highest quality opportunities. Federal regulation will also greatly increase the respect and credibility level of our industry. This will create a tremendous boost to all established U.S. based MLM companies. Not only do I not fear the concept of federal regulation, I find the vision of this new era of network marketing to be absolutely exhilarating!

Yes, there are some people who are still apprehensive about the prospect of federal regulation. I've heard the argument made, as I'm sure many of you have, that back in 1963, congress came within 11 votes of outlawing franchising. Well, not only didn't they but the post regulatory era of franchising has created an industry that now moves over one-third of all the goods and services in this country! Federal regulation was the catalyst to the biggest boom in franchising history.

In their attempt to tidy up network marketing from a regulatory standpoint, might the feds throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water? Not a chance. Not only are there over 1,200 network marketing companies in this country, employing tens of thousands of tax payers, and generating literally billions in sales and corporate tax revenue, there are about 5 million MLMers out there who are also registered voters. That may not be a huge percentage of the total population, but as our last presidential election clearly demonstrated, it's enough to make a huge difference in the political landscape of this country. Not only that, but there are even a few network marketers in congress, and some of our larger MLM companies have been quite generous in their political contributions.

Network marketing isn't going anywhere - but up.

Reason #8: Industry Growth Rates.

There are a lot of little hints out there that the interest in entrepreneurship is on the rise, such as a recent report by Barns & Noble that the percentage of business related books sold in the U.S. has risen the last five straight years. Also, not only has the number of small businesses increased annually since 1991, what's most exciting is that the rate of increase is just beginning to accelerate.

There's anecdotal evidence when we look at the supply vs. the demand for 800 numbers. It took 29 years to use up the 7 million 800 numbers available, and 888 numbers were introduced in 1996. It took two years to exhaust the supply of 888 numbers, and the telecom industry is already planning to roll out not only 866, but 855 numbers. Not only does this indicate a growing market, due to the increase in small, home based, and internet related businesses, but certainly it's more due to the dramatically lower cost and corresponding increase in availability. This could easily be a nice seguey into yet an entirely new reason for believing in an upcoming network marketing boom - the increase in technologies once affordable by only large, million dollar corporation that are now emerging in small and even home based operations. And this trend towards technological advancement, availability and affordability is still at the very beginning of that curve.

Although this tangent really deserves further discussion, let's get back to growth trends.

Based on information supplied by the Office of Employment Projections and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total number of self-employed workers in the U.S. changed very little from 1986 to 1996. However, they project an 11% increase from 1996 to 2006, with sales related occupations being the largest segment.

However, according to the Small Business Administration, the number of self employed people actually dropped slightly from '96 to 1999, likely due to the robust economy and abundance of good paying jobs. This means that for these projections to hold true, the entire 11% increase would have to occur from 2000 to 2006.

But let's get to the bottom line: What are the growth trends of the network marketing industry itself?

Since the top twelve publicly traded MLM companies provide the most reliable information, and they make up the majority of the largest, most well established companies, I'm again directing my analysis towards them, although an informal survey of unaudited data provided by private MLM companies reinforced these results.

From 1990 to 1995 annual sales growth averaged about 16%, and some years was as high as 30%. However, if we track the growth of these public companies, based on U.S. revenue only, you'll find that the average annual sales growth from 1996 to 2000 was 8.7%, reaching a low of just over 6% from 1999 to 2000. And the entire direct selling industry's growth rate dropped to a ten year low of 4.5% around this same time. Based on this information it would seem that industry growth was about to come to a grinding halt. But instead, the growth rate of these companies from 2000 to 2001 was 14.6 percent, more than double the previous year's rate! Without question, the slowing trend has reversed. This is by far the strongest signal of pending momentum, when there is not only an increase in growth, but the rate of growth is also accelerating. Now, one year of doubling growth rates certainly does not guarantee a boom, however, one thing is certain - every company momentum phase throughout MLM history began with that first period of doubling growth rates.

There you have it folks. Not one, not two, but eight solid, powerful, verifiable reasons for finally believing in an upcoming network marketing explosion. No one knows exactly when it will happen, it could be next month, it could be next year, if could be anytime the first half of this decade. All we know for sure is, if you get involved now, and stay involved, you will be there when it happens. So hop on, strap in, and get ready for the ride of your life. It's gonna' be a blast!

Setting up an online affiliate marketing business from home is a growing choice for all sorts of people. It has opened up some big earning opportunities that might not otherwise have been available to stay at home moms, students, retirees and people with disabilities.

11 do or die tips for successful network marketing

Several years ago, I discovered that there are unlimited paths on which one can travel through this journey we call life. Up to that point, I had done nothing but dream of the day I would play professional soccer. My senior year on the college soccer team was cut short with a bad ankle injury, so I focused on finishing up my degree and graduating.

There I was, just having graduated college where I was receiving my computer science degree and was ready to do what you’re supposed to do, go get a 9-5 job for the next 44 years and retire at age 65. I went to work at a respectable aeronautics company as a Software Engineer. My head was always great with computers, but my heart would never listen to my head. I found a "MLM"/network marketing company shortly after beginning my soon-to-be short lived software engineering career. After paying a LOT of money ($5,000) for a LOT of product, became a "director" at this company. To make a long story short, 6 months later I had $4,900 in products sitting in my parent’s garage, and the network marketing company was involved in a lawsuit and had been completely shut down. I was supposed to get reimbursed some portion of the $5,000 I had invested (after lawyer’s fees and such were taken out), but that was about 7 years ago and I haven’t seen a dime since then.

Fast forward about 4 more years down the road. I was on my 3rd software engineering position and had almost tripled my income from when I first graduated college! This was GREAT, but even then I realized that the reason I was forced to find my 3rd job was because the company at my 2nd job went through a company-wide slashing and laid-off about 2/3 of the entire company. I did NOT like the idea that one day my family would be at the mercy of bosses and VP’s at companies who are only looking out for themselves. I had to do something about this&ldots;

I saved up money for several months of expenses, and started exploring many businesses that I could start on my own. I had a short stint with my best friend and one other person. There was a rather successful company they had both worked at before&ldots;and said it was going to be easy to recreate everything that their former company had done. We started out, and I quickly left after making 200-300 cold calls per day. (3 ½ years later this company is doing monthly sales of $250,000-$300,000 and all of the owners are making 6 figures&ldots;OOPS!) I still talk with my best friend daily and we are always plotting our next big money maker&ldots;but I’ll talk more about that in a bit&ldots;

I finally chose to start a franchise with my parent’s equity in their home. (After MANY hours of talking with them.) After investing over 6 figures into this franchise, we quickly discovered that we should’ve chosen a much more seasoned franchise. (Of course, we couldn’t have afforded the bigger franchises&ldots;) 5 years later, I’ve made around $8,000 from the company (total), and besides paying for all of the employees, taxes, product, rent, etc&ldots;we’ve got nowhere besides paying the monthly interest only loan payments to the bank. (This is after working 80-100 hours/week for the first 11 months of the business&ldots;where at that point I was forced to find other work because I had to make SOME income to pay my mortgage.)

Finally, after all of these "failures", I found the PERFECT company, a network marketing company. First, after countless of hours of research, let me tell you what to look for in a network marketing company:

1) Solid background. The company you work for should have at LEAST 5 years of history, and it should be POSITIVE history. Look for things like a company that’s traded on the stock market, honors from reputable companies (Business Week, Forbes, etc.)

2) Great leadership. I learned this from Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great. See what the company leaders have done in the past. (i.e. Were they selling magazines from the back of their car before joining this company?) Also – Are any high profile figures endorsing the products? (With a high profile person’s reputation at stake, they will only associate with top products.)

3) Re-usable products. Whatever you’re selling and/or consuming needs to be items that are used up quickly and re-ordered regularly. (Mortgage Refinancing doesn’t work in network marketing because the average person only refinances every 5 years.)

4) In demand products. Example, the health industry is seeing tremendous growth due to all of the baby boomers. This is paired with the life expectancy raising every day. (We’ll be at life expectancy of 120-150 years in no time.) The health field is a GREAT example of a great place to investigate.

5) Solid marketing techniques. There are something like 6 or 8 main models of how a network marketing company can pay it’s associates. Make sure the model of your company is fair, doesn’t require minimums, and is truly residual. (So that if you ever stop growing your business, your income keeps coming in.) Also – How do you find your associates? (Through the internet? Friends and family?) (Read Richard Poe’s Wave 4: Network Marketing in the 21st Century)

6) Do your research. You need to take calculated risks to be successful in anything in life&ldots;but make sure you’ve done your research by checking out the BBB (better business bureau). Try to find "dirt" on the company. (Check the validity of the sources claiming the dirt.)

7) How are the products delivered? (Do you need to stock a garage full of products? Can the associates place orders directly?)

8) Great training. Make sure that you will have the proper training and support from your team. You don’t want to be a part of something where you’re totally on your own to figure it out. (This typically relates directly back to the companies compensation plan.)

9) IMPORTANT – How many hours per week do you need to put into the business? Are true passive/residual income techniques employed? (e.g. How do you find your downline? How do they get trained? How much help is your upline?)

10) Make sure you keep your current "linear" income job until your new network marketing company residual income can overtake it!

11) MOST IMPORTANT – Learn how to dream, and also learn how to set goals. (Read Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich) 90% of this business is mental. (This is true of any endeavor in life, playing professional sports, achieving great wealth, affecting mass humanity, etc.) EVERYTHING starts with an idea in one person’s head. Conceive it, believe it, achieve it. (Read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point)

Internet marketers and network marketers have been like the Hatfields and McCoysconstantly feuding over which is the better way to generate an income stream.

What if there was a way to successfully "marry" the two together in one powerful cohesive package? What would that look like?

Let's take a look at the possibilities.

One of the greatest challenges we face in getting a home based business started is the ability to generate quick cash flow. This is a real key to creating the "success formula" needed to sustain the activity level needed to get to the "tipping point" in your business.

What if you could create almost immediate cash flow for your new sign ups while building the long term base for their Home Based business?

What if you could also create a number of highly qualified potential prospects at the same time you are generating this cash flow?

To build a successful network marketing business you need two essential elements:

1. A proven GIC (Generate Instant Cash) program to create both immediate cash flow and prospects for your business.

2. A proven RIF (Residual Income Formula) to create long term, sustainable, walk-away income stream.
By combining these two powerful methods together you can successfully "marry" them together and address these two essential elements in building successful home based businesses to get the best of both these worlds...

Internet Marketing (GIC Program) - with its ability to reach out to massive amounts of people in a short period of time thus creating the opportunity to generate IMMEDIATE cash flow while at the same time bringing in highly qualified people for your business and...

Network Marketing (RIF), with its ability to leverage both time and people in a way that build MASSIVE residual income, $30K - $70K a month in a 2 to 3 year time frame, folks this is income that I like to call WALK AWAY MONEY because once you build your business to this level you can literally walk away from it and still having that money coming in month after month.

A proven RIF (Residual Income Formula).

Creating a viable and sustainable home based business requires two different elements. We talked about the first element above, a GIC program that generates almost instant cash flow allowing YOU to realistically self fund your business while ringing in good prospects at the same time.

The second, and critical, element is to implement a proven RIF program that will generate a long-term, residual income stream for your business.

What is Residual Income?
Residual income is money earned today on the work you have done in the past - which means, you can live the life of your dreams and still earn an income to support it while you do. And yes, it is available to everyone when it comes to building a Network Marketing business.

It's really pretty simple in Network Marketing to build a residual income. It's simple, but not easy. You do need to invest some time up front in training to learn a few secrets about this fast growing industry. But if done right, you will reach the point where you will never have to work another day in your life!

Nowadays online marketing of your business is absolutely essential, particularly a network marketing business.

Without an online presence you are lost to literally millions of buyers and new business associates who are looking for what you have to offer.

By making full use of the internet to promote your network marketing business you have at your fingertips the most effective marketing tool of all for selling on autopilot.

Putting your business on remote control means that you are making sales and creating new leads 24/7. All you have to do is set up your system in a way that will magnetically attract prospects to come to you.

But what's the best way of achieving this?

Before you begin with your advertising and marketing, you need a landing page, also known as a capture page. The sole purpose of a landing page is to capture the contact details of your visitors in order to begin a relationship with them.

It should not be filled with too much information, for example if your network marketing company provides you with a replicated website this is not where you want to be sending people in the first instance.

What you need is a page that is unique to you and offers visitors something worth having, a free e-book or report with genuinely useful information. In order to receive this information your visitors must provide you with their contact details.

There are hundreds of free e-books on the net which give you free distribution rights so you can safely pass them on to others without infringing any copyright laws.

It is a simple matter to create a landing page - nowadays there is site building software that allows you to put a very professional page together with no web design knowledge whatsoever. If you can type, you can design a web page!

Your page needs to be different to those of other affiliates in your MLM or network marketing company. It needs to offer visitors something that they are sufficiently keen to obtain that they are willing to give you their name and email address in order to get it.

You will have heard the old saying, "the gold is in the list". Once you have captured the contact details of your visitor you have now been given their permission to begin a relationship with them and provide them with useful advice and information.

This way you have positioned yourself as an expert, a leader. Your conversion rate will be much greater by this method than if you were simply driving visitor traffic to your replicated company website.

So you've created a unique capture page. Now how do you attract visitors?

The key is to attract visitors to you by advertising in the places your prospects will be.
You can use search engine advertisements, article marketing, place ads in ezines, solo ads and so on.

You need to calculate a monthly budget for your advertising and begin testing one or two marketing methods and constantly track your results.

It sounds simple but too few people follow this rule: if something is working and bringing results, do more of it. If it's not working, stop doing it! The methods you are using need to generate a regular stream of traffic to your site each and every day. A handful of visitors here and there will not bring you the results you need.

Right now, MLM is done in 2 entirely different ways. Are you the type that will go to great lengths to create insanely long name lists? Buying generic leads? Or even to the point of irritating your friends and family to buy your products and join you?

I’m sure we all know this isn’t the most effective way. Out with the old and in with the new! You need an MLM software that is a more effective method of lead generation, great traffic control and best of all you can make money every day!

To have effective and successful MLM software you need to bear in mind these 3 points:

1. A Simplified Duplicable System. You would require a system that a new networker can instantly use and start creating his profits. If they sign up through your system, they will have seen the power of your system and thus be more motivated to use the very same system you created for their own.

Something to bear in mind: Like a good automated system, the better it is, the LESS TIME you have to spend training them and the MORE TIME you have to find new networkers.
This is the result of a successful MLM system.

2. Free Leads Traffic Generation. To maximize this you need to fully use the viral marketing that is free and widely available. By using this in your MLM software, you are successfully getting more new leads and sign ups as more people join you!

3. Retail Profit System. To motivate your new networkers to stay and grow their own team, they need to see results faster. Your MLM software system must be able to let them earn money even if their leads never join your main business opportunity.

By taking note of these 3 things and implementing them into your MLM software system. Your system will be a force to be reckoned with.

If you are not writing blogs you are doing your network marketing business and your bank account a disservice. As an entrepreneur one of the greatest tools you have is the Internet.

Marketing methods such as blogs, allow marketers to speak to people anywhere on the web. In the old MLM business model most marketing had to be done within your geographic area by chasing people down the street like a sleazy salesman.

From Google ad words, to e-mail marketing there is simply no better automated, cost effective way of marketing your business and making money than writing blogs. Period.

Writing network marketing blogs is like any other marketing method, you have to learn how to do it properly or it is simply useless and a waste of your time. Therefore, you need to know the 5 laws of network marketing blogs in order to drive traffic to your blog, your website and to make money.

Network Marketing Blog Law #1

Offer value to your readers. People will only read your blog if you have valuable information to give to them that is written in an interesting way. You don't have to be a miracle man for them, but you need to make sure that you have something of value that you are offering because it is the only way people will read it.

Network Marketing Blog Law #2

Make sure your blog sticks to their brain. In other words, make them remember in it in one way or another.

You can do this several ways. One is using the first law and give people enough value to want to read what you have out next time. Second is to design your blog with a catchy, unique appropriate theme that they like and can't forget. Another is to add an opt-in web form so you can capture a reader's email address. Then you can develop a relationship with them by sending them your newsletter or other e-mail marketing content.

Network Marketing Blog Law #3

Make it real. Don't over stuff keywords and ads into your blog. Search engines and readers do not enjoy this optimization technique. You can achieve the best long-term rankings with the search engines by writing good content laden blogs.

Network Marketing Blog Law #4

Research the market that you intend to blog to. When you blog you have to select different niche markets that you want the blog released to. Remember that marketing is all about getting what you have in front of the right people, not the most people. Blogging is not any different.

Network Marketing Blog Law #5

Do not let your blog sit around. It does not look good when your blog disappears, you will gradually lose all traffic to your blogs and your websites. Keep up with your blogs and try to submit one for each website you are marketing at least once a month. Once a week, or daily are the best options, but it all depends on the amount of time you want to spend blogging and how much traffic you are trying to get.

As you can see, network marketing blogs are an important Internet marketing tool to master. They can drive you a lot of free, targeted traffic from all over the net, and you can get ranked with the search engines by having back-links all over the Internet. Just remember to follow the five laws of blogging if you wish to maximize your profits.