Network Marketing, MLM, and Polaroid Film

Network Marketing, MLM, and Polaroid Film.

It was a sad moment this morning when I read the news.

Sixty years after Polaroid introduced its first instant camera, the company’s iconic film is disappearing from stores.

Although Polaroid says the film should be available into 2009, this is the final month of its last production year.

As part of a generation that grew up with Polaroid cameras and the magical film that develops right before your eyes, this seems like the end of an era. With the increasing quality and convenience of digital photography, cameras that actually use film (any kind of film) are fast becoming a dying breed.

Why would anyone really care? After all, digital cameras offer the best of all worlds.

• pocket sized cameras that make sharper pictures than Polaroid ever dreamed of

• no waste - take shots then edit and delete as desired - no wasted photo paper

• the ultimate in flexability and convenience as we know it

Well, despite all the superb reasons to embrace digital technology over old-fashioned film that required developing, the Polaroid cameras had a special appeal that digital can never deliver.

There was just something special about taking that shot, and watching the picture appear gradually right before your eyes. You never knew what you would really get, because the quality varied greatly depending on lighting and where you shot from. You were guaranteed, though, a picture that would always be yours. No editing, no deleting. You had a picture and all you could do was throw it out if you didn’t like it. But nobody did that.

Some of the greatest candid shots, some of the funniest and most unflattering photos ever posted on a refrigerator, were taken by Polaroid cameras on the spot.

In many ways, technology is a great thing. We can do so much more now in every area of our lives. Consider all the people that will read this post. Just a few years ago, it was unthinkable to get this much exposure without being published in a major magazine or newspaper.

So what in the world does this have to do with network marketing and MLM?

In our business, we often rush to embrace any new technology that helps us contact more people more quickly. We hunt for ways to get the word out about our network marketing business to the multitudes who scour the Internet daily looking for the perfect home business opportunity. We seek the most efficient ways to maintain contact with our downline and prospects. In the process, though, do we lose a personal touch that drives the true power of network marketing and MLM? Do we forget sometime that the old-fashioned ways should never be forgotten?

A few years ago, while seeking a network marketing opportunity, I signed up online with a very popular company that offered a really slick high-tech autoresponder and marketing system. Upon enrolling, I received an automated greeting from my new sponsor. Shortly thereafter, a series of “how to get started” emails began to appear daily.

All of this was nicely laid out and timed. Really slick. But the one thing I never got was…a personal email or phone call. This was the ultimate recruiting system - set up by humans to be executed by online robots. This is not what network marketing is all about. I soon left that opportunity and moved on.

As we move along and continue to embrace new technologies that help us build our network marketing businesses bigger and better, let’s never forget that we are in a people business. People don’t like to join companies or sign up for opportunities. They like to sign up with someone they like, who they trust to help them get started and achieve their business goals.