In Flight

In a few minutes, I'll plug my Powerbook into the phone above my tray table and transmit this newsletter from Southwest Airlines flight #743, high above the Sacramento Mountains of southern New Mexico. I'm doing this to demonstrate a point. That technology has liberated us from the constraints of time and distance and place. At the punch of a few buttons, I can distribute "I'm In" all over the world, from the comfort of my airline seat.

There is nothing startlingly new about the technology that allows me to do this. It has been around, in fundamental terms, for many years. Twenty five years ago men traveled to the moon and stayed in touch with Earth using similar technology. But what has changed dramatically is the fact that now it is so widely available. It doesn't take a lot of money, and it doesn't take a lot of specialized knowledge, to tap into the power of the information superhighway. Anyone can do it.

What does this mean for us as network marketers, and as human beings?

For one thing, it means that we are free. Free to be where we want, when we want, and still be able to stay in touch and conduct business. While I'm snugly ensconced at the Hyatt in LA for the next few days, I'll still be checking my email, returning calls to people who left messages on my voice mail, sending faxes, following up with customers and distributors. I could be in Austin or LA or Tahiti and still conduct business as usual. I could be flying to the Caribbean or sitting in the cabin of my sailboat on Lake Travis. I doesn't matter.

And the same goes for everyone else. I can reach out and touch anyone in the world, send them letters, pictures, catalogs, order forms -- all in an instant. That gives me a very large potential market. And it makes it easy to do business with the people I want to do business with, no matter where they are.

All this is made possible by the sophisticated and usually dependable global communications network, accessible to all, reaching every corner of the world and even up in the sky.

And as network marketers, we have even more freedom. The support system of our network marketing company frees us from worrying about inventory, payroll, taxes, shipping, customs documentation, marketing materials, training materials, production, packaging -- all the gritty little details of running a business. Network marketing, like the global communications network, is accessible to everyone, simple to use, and very powerful. It frees us to concentrate on building our business by simply talking (and writing and faxing) to other people about it.

The technology and the organizational infrastructure that is in place, allowing us to do all of this, is incredible. And we need to make sure that in our respect for it and utilization of it, we do not allow the technology to become the issue. Because in the end, the technology and the whole system of network marketing frees us to concentrate on the task that no machine can ever do -- sincerely care about other people. Care enough about them to let them know about life-enriching products. Care enough about them give them the opportunity to become involved in a business that could change their lives. Care enough to teach them and support them.

That is why we have the voice mail and email and fax and cellular phones and Internet and Air Phones and satellite broadcasts and conference calls and tapes and Web pages and all the rest. At both ends of the communication link are human beings. People who desperately want and need to relate to one another. People who are looking for guidance in living their lives. People who want to hear another human voice among the clatter of electronic noises all around them.

At its best, network marketing frees us to be more human. To live a life full of wonder and accomplishment. To be resourceful and helpful and competent and caring. The business and the technology are merely tools, very powerful tools, that bring out our full potential as human beings.

As the world becomes more and more technological, we have the need -- and the opportunity -- to become more human. Many years ago, John Naisbett called it "High Tech/High Touch."

It is entirely possible that the technology could run away from us. I've been reading Jeremy Rifkin's latest book, "The End of Work." Rifkin gives ample evidence that the day is soon coming when the majority of the workers in the world will no longer be needed. Everything will be produced by automated machines and only a small number of highly skilled "knowledge workers" and technicians will be needed. It is a fascinating concept and a troublesome one as well. For centuries, society has used the concept of "work" to efficiently produce and distribute wealth. Now we are faced with the prospect of having the wealth without the work. We have no model for maintaining an orderly society without work. Think for a moment about the implications.

I truly believe the answer lies in our humanity. We don't just need goods and services. In the end we need each other. And that is precisely what network marketing delivers.

A world without blue collar workers, middle managers, clerks and the like will take a lot of getting used to. Massive numbers of people will have to drastically change the way they look at life and work. And the pace of this change is accelerating. Network marketing is no panacea, but it has the realistic potential to impose a very real sense of meaning and order on a population adrift in a sea of confusion and upheaval. To help people learn that they can structure their lives, not by the factory schedule and paycheck, but by their relationships with other people.

This is the global challenge of network marketing. The growing popularity of the business is evidence that its message is resonating with more and more people each day. And as we go forward to meet that challenge, we must hold on tightly to our humanity, because among all the wondrous tools we have, it is easily the most powerful.