Today there are thousands of Network Marketing companies operating throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan and the Pacific Basin. Little Malaysia alone has more than 800 active Network Marketing companies. Network Marketing is reported to be a $45 billion dollar industry, internationally, made up of Fortune 500 and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) companies.
In 1993, Amway was the fastest growing foreign company in Japan with sales over $1 billion. Discovery Toys markets their products solely by Network Marketing, with sales figures in excess of $100 million. Sprint, MCI and AT&T make their long distance phone services available through Network Marketing companies. The A. L. Williams Company utilized Network Marketing and astounded the insurance industry by outselling Prudential, a “giant” in the industry, in four short years.
Traditional sales method companies such as Colgate-Palmolive and the Gillette Company have Network Marketing subsidiaries. Rexall Drug is now utilizing the Network Marketing method of distribution with its subsidiary, Rexall Showcase. Network marketing companies such as Melaleuca outperformed Liz Claiborne, The Limited and John Paul Mitchell while Nu Skin bested the likes of Maybelline, Dow Chemical and Matrix. Mary Kay is bigger than Johnson & Johnson, Amway is bigger than Revlon, and Avon is bigger than Estee Lauder. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart is quoted as saying, “I’d rather run a profitable business in an unconventional industry than an unprofitable business in a conventional industry.”
Network Marketing has evolved in other ways as well. Companies that began as direct selling companies are now utilizing network marketing compensation plans. Some examples include Avon, the $3 billion cosmetic giant, Watkins Products, which had been direct selling for nearly 100 years before it converted to network marketing, and even Encyclopedia Britanica.
One reason for the decline of direct selling is that beginning in the 1970’s, distributors making calls on people found no one was home. Women, long standing as the customer backbone of direct sales, had entered the workforce, leaving few at home during the day. Companies watching these societal trends moved quickly to revise their marketing plans to network marketing which allows for more informal methods of sales and greater compensation.
Network Marketing companies have actually pioneered entire industries: natural vitamin supplements, nutrition and diet drinks, concentrated and environmentally friendly household cleaners. One network marketing company almost single handedly created the billion dollar home water filtration business.
Be assured that there are many more new companies and industries to come, with products and services that will amaze and astound you, as we move into the 21st Century.
