Shortly after the hurricanes tore up the Gulf Coast, I had opportunity to drive Interstate 10 through southern Texas. As I approached the Louisiana/Texas state line the devastation became more and more evident. Trees had been broken or uprooted, signs torn apart, and homes and business buildings invariably showed indications of damage ranging from superficial exterior damage up to complete destruction.

As I drove along, I got the feeling that nothing had escaped damage by the storm. Then, on the south side of the highway, I saw several very nice homes which showed no visible signs of damage. This was in distinct counterpoint to everything around them. At first, I thought to myself, "Those people sure were lucky." As I kept looking at the homes, however, I became aware that I was looking at the sales models of a company that built homes on people's lots.

There was plainly evident storm damage, right up to the edge of the buildings, but the buildings themselves appeared to be completely unscathed. With almost every home and business in the area showing damage by the storms, these three or four homes stood as excellent representatives of their company's products.

My wife and I were making plans to retire to Florida. We were considering buying a piece of land and having a house built on it. As we looked at the homes on the sales lot, I said, "Write down that company's name. We may want them to build our house."

It's a shame that it took a hurricane and caused so much devastation and disruption, but doesn't that company have one of the best advertisements they could ever hope for? Their product proved itself to be a quality product, probably worth the investment.

When we buy a car, we either go on our own experiences or the experiences of others...or we are lead by advertisements which show the car performing improbable acts in improbable places. When we buy our favorite candy or beer or go to the same doctor over and over, it is because we are satisfied that it will do what we need and expect it to do.

Wouldn't it be great if every product lived up to our expectations?

I have been in network marketing since the early 90's, and on the internet since the late 90's. I have bought my share of products relying on the claims and pitches designed to induce me to buy, often with subsequent disappointment. With time, I have learned to be a little more discriminating and knowledgeable, but it is still often difficult to separate the hype from fact, and reality from expectations.

You can imagine how interested and predisposed to buy I would be if the product I was looking at could PROVE that it lived up to the claims made for it! You can imagine how disappointed I am when that product fails to meet my expectations.

Again and again, I come in contact with people who are wary of becoming involved with network marketing or internet marketing because they, or someone they know (that's called network marketing and it works both ways) has been burned in the past. It is so hard, and often simply impossible, to convert these people to a position of trust after the damage has been done.

Here's network marketing (and it's young cousin, internet marketing) in a nutshell. Make a real promise and deliver. Your customer will be satisfied, return for further purchases, and may tell their family, friends, and neighbors about how great your goods, services, or business opportunities are. Make false promises, or fail to deliver what is expected by the customer, and, not only will they NOT return to make future purchases, they WILL STILL tell family, friends, and neighbors about you and your business, and it will not be in flattering terms.

It is in the best interests of marketers, recruiters, and companies to provide factual, not fanciful, advertising together with products that deliver on the promise. This can help not only stop the loss of sales and downline members who leave due to unfulfilled expectations, but can also help upgrade the image of network marketers and internet marketers in the eyes of the general public as well.

The author is retired from the Army after 21 years of service. He has worked as an accountant, purchasing agent, optical lab manager, restaurant manager, instructor and long-haul, over-the-road truck driver. He has been a member of Mensa for several years, and has written and published poetry, essays, and articles on various subjects for the last 40 years. He has been an active internet marketer since 2000, and now makes his living online. He has blogs on the subjects of Internet Business and Marketing, Health and Weight Loss, and Real Estate Investing.