The Internet and Network Marketing

The Internet and network marketing have undergone profound changes in the way network marketing is conducted since the dawning of the information age. There now appear to be two camps of thought:

Old school network marketing and

The internet school of network marketing.

The old school methodologies were based on very crude marketing methods:

Making a names list

The 3-foot rule

Cold calling biz opp leads.

The old school was also based on a lot of hype:

Everyone is a prospect

It isn’t really sales

Anyone can do this

We have the best product ever

We’ll build the business for you

We have a proven system.

The internet school of network marketing is based on:

Targeted lead generation

Attraction marketing instead of chasing prospects

Automating the sponsoring process

Talking to people who contact you

The slow pace at which information was shared before the Internet, shielded companies and organizations from outside opinions, this gave them time to build relationships, time to help their reps develop the necessary skills, and time to build commitment with their people.

The Internet changed all of that. The speed at which information can be gathered or shared has broken down the protective barriers that once shielded companies from the outside world and outside competition.

The Internet and network marketing will never be the same because distributors now have such easy access to endless options, endless opinions, sales pitches about why this company is better or how the products are cheaper, or promises of a ground floor opportunity where it will be faster and easier than ever before… all this creates doubt in an organization.

So as soon as a rep feels frustration or feels failure they can begin an Internet search and have countless choices that promise an end to their frustration and pain and because they are looking to a solution to their pain soon they are gone.

No longer do companies have the old protective barrier that allowed relationships to be built, skills to be developed and long-term commitment to be formed.

Theses competing forces are having a huge impact on the industry and they will continue for the foreseeable future. The bottom line is the cost of acquiring a new representative continues to spiral out of control and the lifetime value of a new customer continues to decline.

So for many multilevel marketing companies the very nature of their business model is at risk. Any multilevel company that still has different prices between its customers and its distributors is doomed for failure long term. Why?

Why will retail customers pay the suggested retail price when they can go to E-Bay and buy the very same product for 50% of the suggested retail price or less! They simply won’t!

Realizing that long-term customer retention is futile (unless based on real value to the consumer), more and more organizations put the focus on recruiting instead of customer acquisition. This allows them to meet sales quotas so they receive commission checks but because their new people cannot make a profit it creates extremely high attrition rates on the recruiting side.

These are some of the new realities of the Internet and network marketing.

As the Internet has increased the challenges networkers face it also brings advantages.

You can get your advertising message out to thousands of people for free

You can place ads with search engines and see instantly if your marketing is cost effective

You can start a small local business and turn it into a global giant in a fraction of the time using old school methods.

Your Partner In Success,

Robert Ford
770-205-7330

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