I can almost hear everyone reading this post responding
to this question with a resounding, “Now!”
The first network marketing companies began decades
ago. Fuller Brush, Avon, Tupperware and
Mary Kay are highly respected network marketing companies, and some have been around
for over a century. Somewhere along the
line, the reputation of the industry changed due to unscrupulous companies
coming on the scene and defaming the industry in a variety of ways.
Over the last 20 years or so, the field of network
marketing as grown tremendously with hundreds, perhaps even thousands of new
companies emerging. Unfortunately not
all of the new companies were reputable.
So, the industry still suffers the “bad rap” to a degree.
People have been involved with direct selling far longer
than multi-level marketing, but MLM’s added a twist. Although MLM’s, often referred to as network
marketing companies, are a form of direct sales. In MLM’s, however, distributors can earn
money in two ways, by selling a product or service and by building a sales
organization through which they can also earn commission. Distributors can earn money from the sales
made by their organization, also known as their team or downline. Since their teams may consist of multiple
levels, the term multi-level marketing was coined.
By gleaning a several websites, I discovered that there
are an estimated 50 million network marketing distributors worldwide. About 55,000 people join the industry every
week, and 150,000 join throughout the globe.
The United States leads the pack in MLM earnings, with Japan in a close
second place. About a dozen other
countries have at least $1 billion in sales.
About 3% of MLM distributors earn more than $35,000 a
year. About .5 % earns the often-hyped six-figure income.
The vast majority in the industry work their business part-time, with the hope
of simply supplementing their income. Only
about 20% work their business full time.
I believe we would all guess that there are more women
than men in MLM’s, and we would be right.
About 25% of those in the industry are men. The number of males in MLM’s is growing since
more companies that are not in the “beauty” arena are enjoying rapid growth.
The MLM industry is an excellent choice for people with
physical disabilities, and they total about 8% of direct sellers. The largest percentage of those in direct
marketing is in the “stay-at-home mom” age range, between 25 and 44 years of
age. Seniors are a growing part of MLM
distributors, not yet a major presence, but as more “baby boomers” retire, it
is likely that the “seasoned citizen” percentage will grow.
Network Marketing is an ever-growing industry, with a huge
growth spurt during the past decade. For
anyone considering joining an MLM now is definitely a great time to do so!
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