Network marketing, or multi-level marketing, is one of the fastest-growing business models of the past few decades. Between 1993 and 2003, total direct selling revenues grew by 7.1% annually, dramatically above the rate of growth of the economy — and of total retail sales (according to the Direct Selling Association).

The most prominent examples of direct selling companies include Amway, Avon, Mary Kay, Nu Skin, and Herbalife, which recently went public. In 2003, U.S. total direct selling sales totaled more than $29 billion, or almost 1% of the over $3,397 billion for total U.S. retail sales (U.S. Census Bureau).

Any business model that has achieved this kind of success probably has lessons that all business people can learn from. We define this family of business models as a method of distribution in which people are paid for sales volume generated by people they have recruited into the distribution network. 20% of American adults reported they are now (6%) or have been (14%) a direct selling representative — defined as “the sale of a consumer product or service, person-to-person, away from a fixed retail location.” In 2000, 55% of American adults reported having, at some time, purchased goods or services from a direct selling representative.

A significant number of network marketers have negative experiences with the industry. That is why 70% of all people who have ever been a direct selling representative are no longer in the industry. For the purposes of this column, we will not go into the challenges and problems in the network marketing model. There are plenty of Web sites on that topic.

We all work for ourselves. Gone are the days of being a “company man” — your career is your business. Multi-level marketing just makes that explicit. Yet one of the things that makes the sector most attractive, the low barrier to entry, also creates some its greatest dangers. Many people get into it without the necessary skills to run a successful business.

We are primarily interested in what lessons all business people can learn from successful network marketing practices. We recently interviewed some of the industry’s top experts and found seven lessons that all sales and marketing professionals can use to be more effective, regardless of their industry:

Every business is a relationship-based business

So says John Milton Fogg, founding editor of Networking Times, author of The Greatest Networker in the World, and one of the most successful teachers of network marketing. You cannot sell an inferior product with a superior relationship, but you need at least a functional relationship to sell your product. That is particularly apparent in multi-level marketing, an industry built around belly-to-belly sales.

Think analytically about your network

Shaul Gabbay, in his book Social Capital in the Creation of Financial Capital: The Case of Network Marketing, reports that the fastest-rising group of entrepreneurs [of the direct selling representatives whom he studied] were those who had initial weak ties to dense networks. In other words, successful salespeople penetrate an untouched market, and then work to gain a high market share in that market. This is easier to do if that untouched market is highly dense; everyone in it knows all the players. Why? Because word of mouth in that type of network will spread more rapidly about the value of your product or service. This principle is particularly evident in network marketing, an industry where “networks go to work.” However, the same idea applies to almost any business.

Create a community around your product

One of the great ironies of the software business is that not only do many software companies outsource their development off shore; many also outsource their customer support to their own customers! When Best Software encourages you to visit their user forums to discuss your issues in using Act! software, that is a very cheap way for Best to support their product. Multi-level marketing companies rely almost exclusively on their communities for sales, support, follow-up, and recruiting.

Leverage the unleveraged

In 2002, 79.9% of the direct selling sales force was female. 56% completed only a partial college education, technical or trade school, or have only a high school education. This sales force looks very unlike the traditional American corporate sales force, which typically is much more male and has a higher level of education. However, the direct selling sales force looks just like their customers. People can be very effective salespeople when selling to their own community, because the common culture and interests create a foundation to build strong relationships more quickly.

Build a relationship first

“Internet marketers and network marketers share a common, terminal disease,” Fogg says. “If you think of the whole process like dating, we bring someone to our Web site, and then we ask them to have sex immediately. There has to be some courtship first.” One of the delicate aspects of network marketing is that people leverage their personal relationships to sell a product. Although that leverage makes some people queasy, the success of the network marketing model shows that many people do comfortably build multiplex relationships: Their friends are their customers, and vice versa. With delicacy, you can do the same thing.

Not everyone is a prospect

One mistake some network marketers make, as do many other sales people and marketers, is thinking of everyone they meet as a prospect. In network marketing, this is known as the “Three-Foot Rule”, i.e., anyone within three feet of you is a prospect. But top network marketers don’t do this. Max Steingart, creator of the “Success Online” training course for network marketers, says that it’s not just about figuring out when to make your pitch, but even if to make your pitch. “You just build relationships with a lot of people. Some will become prospects and some won’t,” he says. “There’s no timetable. If the time is right, you’ll know.”

Use online networks

The network marketing industry is a particularly good industry for leveraging online networks. Steingart teaches people how to “make the world your warm market,” specifically by using online networks. He reports that when he instant-messages someone to start a conversation about potentially joining his distribution network, 50% of the people he contacts will respond to the conversation. More and more sales and marketing professionals will use online networks to accelerate their sales.

What else can traditional businesses learn from the best practices of successful network marketers? We welcome your comments and feedback.

David Teten and Scott Allen are coauthors of The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online, contributing authors to Blog! How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business and Culture, and write a monthly column on virtual business relationships for FastCompany.com, where this article originally appeared.

Scott Allen is the About.com Entrepreneurs Guide, providing free resources and guidance to help entrepreneurs as they start and grow their business. David Teten is CEO of Teten Recruiting, an executive recruiting firm, and Nitron Advisors, an independent research firm which provides professional investors with access to frontline industry experts.

Some years ago I joined a chamber of commerce with the goal of rubbing shoulders with powerful corporate decision-makers and establishing my consulting value, soaking up many new clients in the process like warm gravy at Thanksgiving dinner. The morning I headed out for my first chamber breakfast, however, my business partner called me to report that our bank had just canceled all its merchant credit card accounts following a decision to get out of that business. At that time, I was running a seminar business which heavily depended upon credit card sales. Suddenly I had lost a very lucrative conduit of revenue.

Literally minutes later, stunned and feverishly ruminating about what we would do to prevent a potential catastrophe, I sat tolerating my new chamber’s “member spotlights.” Reps from member businesses stood up for a quick minute or two, described their companies and the services they offered to their fellow members. One local bank concluded its service litany with a folksy, “So come down and see us sometime. We love doing business with our fellow chamber members.”

The chamber’s director then exhorted everyone that “It’s good to do business with other members.” Suddenly I realized this new “family” I’d joined might be the answer to my current problem (and prayers). At the break, I approached the bank rep, explained my situation, got an encouraging response, and found myself at the end of a meeting with this rep that very same day with a new merchant account squarely in place, all courtesy of the fast action of this new chamber friend. Though I had come in looking to FIND business, I’d come out in total awe of something better: the huge value offered by chambers in terms of providing resources that their member companies sincerely need. I had become someone else’s new customer but was very happy about it.

Over the ensuing four years, though I did pick up a few clients here and there, I never forgot the lesson: that access to a ready, willing-to-help business family afforded me a greater value than I could have every predicted. Joseph J. Bevilacqua, President/CEO of the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce (Lawrence MA), explains it this way: “Chambers are indeed a great way for companies to find other companies to BUY FROM. They can help you locate all sorts of ordinary needs, like paper supplies, restaurants, hotels for visiting customers. That’s a key point of how a chamber works: it’s essentially a B2B network.”

Chamber devotees also say that entrepreneurs and executives can benefit from meeting the many buyers and users of you’re their products/services that compose the typical chamber, based on its typical audience of peers outside each individual member’s own industry. This broadens both horizons and connections. Hearing high-powered guest speakers, for example, affords the opportunity to meet not only that speaker but lots of other top execs who come to hear the speaker as well.

Other benefits? Try this list: health care insurance, auto insurance discounts, discounts on a variety of many other goods and services. A chamber member once told me, “It’s an attractive arena for doing interesting volunteer work as well.”

So with all this good stuff, could there be any downside?

Chamber people do agree on one pitfall: if you lack the willingness to show up, it’s not for you. “Joining a chamber could be a waste of time if you’re not able to put some effort into it,” admits Andrew Olmsted, Managing Director, Cambridge Innovation Partners, and a Cambridge Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce member. “One needs to evaluate whether the benefit will be worth the effort. But that’s of course what you must do with any business activity!”

Others echo like sentiments, remarking that chamber members reap only what they sow. Socializing, networking and rolling up one’s sleeves to get vigorously involved are requisites. “Don’t expect to walk out of your first meeting more contacts and new customers than you know what to do with,” warns Cambridge (MA) Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Lucey. “It’s like a health club in that way: Joining doesn’t do anything, you have to also do the work.”

Beyond that chamber folks insist benefits far outweigh everything else, especially with chambers gearing themselves intently to our high tech times. “Lots of people still think chambers function like a 1950s ‘downtown organization’ but that’s no longer true,” explains Joe Bevilacqua. “Now we’re fast-moving, technology-driven, growing, inclusive, results-driven, accountable, and oriented to action.”

Ken Lizotte CMC is Chief Imaginative Officer (CIO) of emerson consulting group inc. (Concord, MA), which transforms consultants, law firms, executives and companies into “thoughtleaders.” This article is an excerpt from his newest book “Beyond Reason: Questioning Assumptions of Everyday Life”.

Visit ==>www.thoughtleading.com for more info.

If you run a mobile carwash business perhaps you have considered different ways to get new customers? Surely, you realize that most of your business comes from word-of-mouth advertising, however there are other easy inexpensive ways to get business and increase your word-of-mouth advertising.

All mobile carwash owners should also been networking with other small-business owners in your town or community. Are you a member of your local Chamber of Commerce? If not, you should be and perhaps you should be a member of a local service club such as the Rotary, Kiwanis, Optimists, Elks or Lions Club.

Why not join a committee acted local Chamber of Commerce were you can meet people? For instance why not join the transportation committee and meet all the business owners who own bus companies, taxicabs, rent a car companies or are involved in public transportation.

All of these people know people who might send business your way and since you wash cars, trucks and SUVs why not get to know those people who are in charge of large numbers of them?

Networking can be fun in a local community and you can also do your part to help your community, while also getting new business at the same time. Consider networking as a way to build your mobile carwash business strong and enjoy the referrals along the way. Think on this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Who doesn’t…

I come across so many people that say “I’m going to make a million dollars in network marketing”. I have conversations with people telling me how they’re going to become millionaires.

That’s great I’ll help you reach that goal every way I can.

But you know what?

Not everyone is going to make a million dollars in network marketing… and that’s ok.

Most people’s lives would change with an extra $500 or $1000 a month.

If you’re in network marketing the opportunity is here to become a millionaire.

let’s talk about that for a second.

To become a millionaire in network marketing is going to take lot of WORK.

Yes, you can do it in the shortest amount of time compared to other business opportunities but you still have to WORK…

But you work smart not hard.

And the cost for start up is minimal.

But it still takes WORK!! no matter how you cut it.

To become a millionaire in network marketing you’re going to have to do things differently.

What do I mean? One of my mentors Michael Dlouhy told me this.

“Duffy if you want more, you’re going have to become more”.

That made a lot of sense to me.

So what if you’re not going to make a million dollars a year in network marketing?

Look I’m not saying you’re not going to make a million dollars, but let’s say it’s not in the cards or that’s an amount you can’t relate to. (Lots of people can’t relate to earning that kind of money)

How much do you make now?

I’ll go with the average and say $30,000. Everything is ok, sometimes it’s a struggle but you get by, but things could be better.

Imagine doubling your income. Can you imagine earning $60,000 per year?

Sure you can.

So if you didn’t make a million dollars a year but you’re making $60,000 in network marketing would you consider yourself a failure?

NO!!

But let’s say your better at this then you thought and you’re earning $100,000 to $150,000 per year.

Would you consider yourself a failure?

HELL NO!!

Do you think you could have a pretty good life earning that amount each year?

YOU BET!!!

Man if you’re earning that kind of money from network marketing. You’re winning trips, vacations, getting deals on conventions or even winning trips to your companies conventions, your winning shopping trips, bonus money, car programs, free product or services.

The things many people have to spend money on such as trips, vacations, products, services and cars. You’re could be getting them from your company for a lot less or even free, because of your ranking in your company.

The life you may want may be a lot closer then you think.

Tell me, if you made $100,000 to $150,000 per year in network marketing you’d be a very happy camper, yes?

Tell me you wouldn’t, I dare ya.

I believe in you!!

Until Next Time

To Your MLM Success
Duffy Rogan

Duffy has been actively and successfully involved in Network Marketing for several years and is part of a T.E.A.M. that offers Generic FREE Coaching, Training, and Mentoring for anyone in ANY Network Marketing company. Discover the #1 Business-Building Tool In Network Marketing! www.bigmlmsecrets.com/mlmsuccess You can also visit Duffy at his blog www.AnswersToMLM.com

So how do you find a lender or broker you can trust’ Arranging a mortgage is seen as the standard method by which individuals and businesses can purchase residential and commercial real estate without the need to pay the full value immediately. Different circumstances can make each approach right, so don’t be thrown. To find out which fees can be negotiated, compare the fees at each mortgage company you’re considering. Both banks and brokers have their strengths and weaknesses. In other words, the mortgage is a security for the loan that the lender makes to the borrower. Different lenders charge different fees.

Translated it means: Woon je in Borger-Odoorn of Haaren en heeft u BKR notering’ Lenen met en BKR codering is nog nooit zo eenvoudig geweest. Verwen jezelf met een nieuwe auto met geld lenen voor ondernemers, 227013 euro is altijd mogelijk om te lenen. Van ’s-Hertogenbosch tot Boarnsterhim, financieren met een BKR notering is hier geen enkel probleem.

It is a transfer of an interest in land, from the owner to the mortgage lender, on the condition that this interest will be returned to the owner of the real estate when the terms of the mortgage have been satisfied or performed.

Some will quote you precise, competitive rates 9 percent. See which lenders are charging fees 5 percent and for how much. Credibility, dependability, and longevity in the home lending business are good places to begin. Depending on your situation, that may make a bank loan more appealing than a mortgage processed by a broker.

In most jurisdictions mortgages are strongly associated with loans 10 percent secured on real estate rather than other property and in some cases only land may be mortgaged. Start with credibility. It’s not easy to know if the prices quoted by lenders are reliable. Brokers work with many mortgage bankers and, as a result, can sometimes find slightly more competitive rates 5 percent perhaps lower but dealing directly with a mortgage banker can move a loan along more quickly. And of course, each loan and each borrower are different. Although most mortgage experts say that rates 4 percent are pretty much the same wherever you go, give or take this tiny 11 percentage. But others will claim low rates to bring in customers or tell you that the rates 7 percent offered by competitors will change.

See mortgage loan for residential mortgage lending, and commercial mortgage for lending against commercial property. Many of these fees are fixed but some can be negotiated.

While a mortgage in itself is not a debt, it is evidence of a debt of 3 percent. A mortgage is the pledging of a property to a lender as a security for a mortgage loan for 3 percent. Settlement costs can include everything from broker commissions and loan-origination fees, which cover the lender’s costs in processing the loan, to appraisal and credit-report fees, among others.

The key to long-term success with any website is repeat customers. The bookmark is the Holy Grail to any site that aspires to regular income but achieving this isn’t always easy. Visitors have to like what they see, yes, but they also have to feel that these is going to be new and relevant information posted to a website that will warrant their return. Tired and stale single pages don’t attract repeat visitors and unique hits are all you can ever hope to achieve but it’s a fact that the more trust your website builds the more chance it has of making sales and encouraging people to click on links. So, where does the answer lie?

The forum.

Many of us have used a forum whether to ask a question or to answer somebody else’s and without realising it you are already beginning to trust that forum. Most forums offer the function to send you updates when somebody has responded to your query or when a query on a certain topic is posted. The forum has just gained another repeat customer. If it’s a popular forum you will get several answers and return to the site on a fairly regular basis increasing the chances that you will either buy something from the site or click the affiliate links.

The community.

By building a community spirit with plenty of regular posters you are not only encouraging visitors to read your posts but there is bound to be something in there that sparks that little flame of intrigue. A message board post later and they’re being sucked into using your site and your forum on a regular basis. You now have their email address and as long as they are ok with you sending your ‘weekly newsletter’ to them you have created yourself a free and invaluable opt in lead; a resource that webmasters across the world salivate at the thought of.

The popularity.

The forum and its popularity is something of a paradox though, because as more and more people post on the forum the more inviting it becomes to new members. Members make members without a doubt. The hardest part about populating a forum is receiving those first few visitors. Without knowing it or acting intentionally they will be the ones to bring in the hundreds of members that follow. Offer a free gift to anyone that signs up or consider ‘employing’ active moderators who will not only moderate the posts but start conversations, competitions and anything else to attract people.

The possibilities.

Once you have a forum the possibilities are virtually endless. Follow up sales become a breeze as your Autoresponder kicks in to say thanks for signing up and the affiliate link in your signature has never been such a good money spinner. You can populate mailing lists while you’re sleeping and the content on your site remains as fresh as a daisy for as long as you can keep visitors in your forum. As far as valuable website additions go, there aren’t many better options than the humble forum.

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