The term Network Marketing can mean a lot of different things depending on who you talk to. To some people it's the greatest thing on earth and you can make millions of dollars with the help of building a great team of people. To others, it's just a waste of time and money and the whole idea is just a pyramid scam.
The actual term really means that sales of a product generate a commission where the sales person earns a percentage of the commission on product sold by them personally, as well as sales produced by anyone that person recruited into their business and is thus known as their “downline.”
When someone enters into network marketing, he or she basically signs up with a company, agreeing to sell their products under their guidelines as an independent contractor or distributor. It doesn't usually cost very much money to begin so just about anyone can do it. It's not like trying to purchase a franchise of some sort, which can be hundreds of thousands of dollars to start. Network marketing companies range from everything from cosmetics and skincare, or herbal products or vitamins and the list goes on.
One thing that appeals to a lot of people when starting in the network marketing realm is that being an independent distributor means working for yourself, making your own hours, working from the comfort of your own home, and you have the potential to be financially free and essentially “fire your boss.” However, that also means there is not an automatic paycheck that comes in and it really takes a lot of self-discipline to do the business.
Network marketing can also be known as multi-level marketing or MLM. It's pretty much one in the same. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of network marketing companies out there to choose from and they all have various designs in how the company is structured. There are various “levels” for consultants to reach as they grow their teams and climb higher up the ladder.
These companies use a variety of names for the various levels of completion that can be anything from “district manager,” “vice-president” or “diamond level executive” to “black diamond,” etc. It gives the distributor something to shoot for when planning individual and team goals for sales and for the company as a whole.
The essential part of realizing what network marketing is, is that there is a product that must be sold in order to make commissions. Nobody goes anywhere without those sales. It takes hard work, discipline, talking to people, working with a team and training a team to be the best and have a common goal. Even if there is a common goal, the business definitely has a lot of attrition because not everyone is good at being their own boss.
In order to be successful in network marketing, one has to be committed, persistent and not be afraid to hear the word “no” being said to them over and over again. With the laws of the universe, when you hear enough “no's” that just means you're one step closer to hearing a “yes!”
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