Marketing in the Information Age

Here are some of the latest figures on network marketing from the Direct Selling Association.

There are now more than 2,600 network marketing companies in the U.S., with $14.98 billion in annual sales. Worldwide, network marketing is a $61 billion industry. There are 5.7 million people in the United States who are involved in network marketing. Each week, more than 45,000 new people become involved. In 1992, 89% of network marketers were working part time, and the remaining 11% were full time. In 1993, the percentage of full time network marketers DOUBLED, to 22%.

Wow. What other industry do you know that is attracting 45,000 new workers every week? Network marketing is becoming firmly entrenched in our society. If it continues this strong growth, network marketing will soon become a major way in which products and services are marketed and distributed.

We are in the midst of an information revolution. All over the world, at many different levels, and in diverse venues, we are seeing a revolutionary empowerment of the individual. Oppressive governments have crumbled, impersonal institutions are losing their significance. And the driving force is information technology. It is changing our lives in fundamental ways.

In the old days, information power was highly concentrated. Think of a televsion network like CBS -- the big "Eye" in the sky. For years, we either got our news from Walter Cronkite or we didn't get it at all. And anyone selling a product had to make sure they were advertising it on CBS (or one of the other 2 networks). It was really simple. Just pay several million dollars, run your ads, set up a network of distributors and warehouses and truckers and wholesalers and jobbers and retailers, and people would buy your product.

Now things are dramatically different. Instead of Walter Cronkite we have CNN, online news feeds, news delivered to our fax machines, talk radio, 900 numbers, email -- we are no longer dependent on a one-way network. We tap in to the worldwide interconnected information superhighway and pull out whatever we want, whenever we want. And what has happened to all those advertisers that did so well when things were simpler? They're fast losing market share.

Successful marketing used to mean successful mass marketing -- creating a single product and a single sales pitch that could be broadcast to millions and millions of people. But those mass marketing pathways (i.e. CBS, NBC, ABC and other mass media) are losing their dominance. Now instead of being broadcast to, we interact with information. Marketers can no longer sell to millions of people at a time, they must find ways to reach each person individually. Reach people where they live and work and interact with them.

There are a lot of reasons why network marketing is growing so spectacularly. But from a fundamental, macroeconomic point of view, probably the most compelling reason is this: Network marketing is an ideal form of marketing for the information age. The more interconnected we become, the more viable network marketing becomes. As mass media wanes, and customized, interactive media rises up to take its place, the people-to-people-to-people concept of network marketing becomes more and more attractive to any company wishing to market its products and services.

After all, consider the alternatives. Is it really feasible to send out 50 million faxes or email messages each day to get your marketing message delivered? Or buy time of 100 different cable channels?

So build your downline with an eye to the future. It becomes more valuable with each passing day.