What Is Direct Marketing & What Is MLM

Instead of investing in a scattershot means of advertising, direct marketing to a specific customer becomes much more appealing. In other words, companies that seek a specific type of customer will send out literature directly to a list of pre qualified prospects.

MLM, this can also be defined as “Network” or “Matrix” marketing, is a way of selling goods or services via distributors. MLM plans usually promise to pay commissions through multiple levels and other distributors knows as the “Downline”

So which is most profitable? Lets look at the differences.

What Is Direct Marketing? #1

- Moving products and/or services from manufacturer to consumer using sales methods that involves selling a product directly without going through a middleman. There are many different and creative sales methods to use. I will list them later.

What Is Multi Level Marketing? #2

- This usually refers to the compensation structure of distributed products and/or services. Commission gets paid to distributors depending on their rank and downline.

But Wait, What Are Single-Level-Structures, Do Those Exist? #3

YES THEY DO

- Unit Trusts or Insurance Agencies, and certain Online Business Opportunities enjoy direct selling structured pay schemes, these have a very high profit margin and require an extremely small downline if any. They offer both high commission and residual models for great financial wealth.

So, if you look at these both number 1 and 2 fall under the same umbrella, but 2 and 3 are definitely different. So, what is direct marketing now anyway?

The Conclusion

Mlm companies are “Direct Sales” companies just like direct selling companies are also “Direct Sales” companies. The differences are the compensation plans and payment structures; you need to be aware of these.

Now let me list the most effective and least effective sales methods in this industry today

The Old Fashion Methods: (these don’t work anymore)

- Door-to-Door

- Tupperware Parties

- Workshops

- Friends & Family (oh, I hate this one) 

The New Way With Web 2.0 (this is what you should be focusing on)

- Video Promotion

- Articles Writting

- Blogging

- Google Adwords (advanced)

I would love to talk about these methods further, you can visit previous articles of mine such as business networking techniques online to learn more. Leave a comment on my blog and tell me what you think, or how I can further assist you!