Is Network Marketing The Same as Affiliate Marketing?

  Written by Jinger Jarrett on Mar 9, 2010 3:40 pm

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Let's face it. Network marketing and affiliate marketing share some things in common, the most important being that you don't own your own product. You are selling someone else's product. Because you are selling someone else's product, in a sense, you will have competition from other distributors in your program.

The big difference between network marketing and affiliate marketing though is that it's really not necessary that you build a following or have others perceive you as an expert. When you sell affiliate programs, you are providing a solution. Because you're not the merchant, most buyers won't really be interested in you (This will change if you choose to build your own lists and then refer your subscribers to various affiliate programs.)

In network marketing you gain credibility by becoming an expert on your business. Instead of pushing potential recruits toward your business, you are pulling them to you. Ann Sieg calls this "attraction marketing."

Although I have been in business for years, and I've marketed both affiliate products, as well as my own, I am somewhat new to network marketing. I am here to learn. What I have learned today is that if I market my network marketing opportunity the way I market affiliate programs, it probably won't work. If I market my network marketing opportunity the same way I market my own products, ultimately I will be perceived as an expert on my topic, and I'll drive qualified prospect to my business and ultimately increase my sales.

How about you? What's your plan?

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