Over 20 years ago I was involved in a Network Marketing business (sometimes known as MLM). I was fascinated by the concept of the business and launched myself into it with enthusiasm. It didn’t take me long to realise that many people in the UK are very suspicious of anything new. They had not encountered network marketing before and were decidedly negative about the whole thing. Lots of my friends advised me not to get involved. I know they only had my best interests at heart but, where I would have expected encouragement and support, I met suspicion and prophecies of doom. There had been quite a bit of press at that time about pyramid scams. Many people saw network marketing as one of those, – which, of course, it isn’t!
I became very much aware of the general attitude to direct selling amongst many of my fellow Brits. They could accept the Kaleidoscope magazines which dropped through their letter box from time to time offering new and unusual products, but the idea of buying similar products from a friend or family member was anathema. In their eyes there had to be something fishy about it; – it was ‘unclean’. Ideally, new products need to be shown and demonstrated to the marketplace which is where direct selling comes in. People cannot buy items until they know they are there and know what those items can do.
Another issue I encountered at that time was the sad fact that many of the distributors I recruited just sat on their hands waiting for the money to come rolling in, waiting for other people to do all the work. After a while I went off to do other things. I had won some battles but I’d lost the war. The problem with network marketing (brilliant though the concept is), it fails to take into account one rather crucial aspect, – human nature.
The relatively new phenomenon which is Internet Marketing, even fifteen-plus years since it first began to develop, is still treated with similar suspicion by many. Behind that reluctance is ignorance, just as there was with network marketing all those years ago. People read of the massive financial success of many internet marketers and assume that somewhere down the line someone else is being ripped off to pay for this success. That is not the case, of course. There are definitely rogues out there on the internet offering a millionaire’s lifestyle almost instantly to anyone prepared to buy their product for $37. Careful research is necessary by anyone attracted by internet marketing to ensure that the information and advice they purchase is really going to help them realise their ambitions.
Internet marketing is first and foremost about selling information. Most people surf the internet looking for information rather than to purchase something. If you can offer the information people need then you have a business. It is very much a case of help yourself by helping others; – everyone’s a winner!
Most internet marketers run their own businesses from home so the problems I met in my network marketing business with regard to other people simply can’t exist. However, having said that, it is up to the individual marketer to ensure that he/she doesn’t fall into slipshod ways in business practice. If you get lackadaisical, source a product, set up a website and then sit back and wait for the money to come in, you will have a long wait. You will be guilty of exactly the same ‘human nature’ issues as many of my recruits to network marketing which I mentioned earlier.
Internet marketing is not just the business of the present it is the business of the future. The business is still in its infancy, so now is definitely the time to jump on board. More and more we are seeing the big multi-national companies developing their businesses on the internet rather than through traditional business methods. How this might ultimately impinge on the activities of lone traders operating from home is difficult to know, but, at the moment, we are definitely in the era of home online business. If the idea of such a business appeals, now is the time! Come on in; the water is lovely!