THE WAY IT WAS

Let me, first mention the history of the MLM/networking industry. Networking was founded on the principles of great products and the sharing of such. In fact, the oldest direct sales company in America is now a network marketing company based on the sales of products and sharing the concept of retailing products to make money, but through a strategy of networking in order to find others who will do the same. The answer to the "Which Comes First" question really rests with the business opportunity seeker based on how he wants to build his business. What I am about to share with you may help you determine the kind of networking company you may want to align yourself with. Let me start by saying "the face of the network marketing industry has changed drastically in the past 15 years." With the emergence of computer technology, network marketing has taken on a new look in terms of what is on the "front door" as you come knocking. With the introduction of the Internet as an additional medium for networking, the whole MLM industry has seen a new emphasis. PRODUCTS, PRODUCTS, PRODUCTS! Just to give you an idea what I am talking about, 20 years ago a prospective sponsor would sit down across the kitchen table with you . .pull out his catalog of products ... show you some sample products or may even have a small home meeting demonstrating the excellence of their product line and then tell you how you can make money, not only selling the products, but having a distributorship. In so doing, you could set other people up with a distributorship which would allow you to retail products AND earn commissions from the products sold by your distributors you signed up under you. In other words, they led with the products first. There are companies that continue to use that approach today and with certain companies, that is a necessary approach to take and certainly makes sense. HOW ABOUT A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY? In the eighties we started seeing an emergence of "business opportunity" in the headlines as a way to attract people to MLM. This emergence led to a new approach in network marketing ... "Mail Order." No longer was it necessary to have local meetings or to meet across the kitchen table with people. Simply send out a mail piece and sign people up. Companies had the ability to manage databases of people and to run commission checks so "business opportunity" became the lead-in rather than products. Although these type companies were backed up by products, the emphasis on products was not the same for some companies . . . and in fact . . .brought on certain companies that were "here today and gone tomorrow" because the products were not good enough to keep people involved. Remember, it