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[Ian Gabriel M. Valeza Company: Symmetry Corp. Contribution Level: 2]

How many people do you think are now involve in MLM?

[Janelle Wright Contribution Level: 2]

Are you talking on a global scale?

[Joyce Penner Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 8]

That's a good question and one everyone probably has a different opinion about.

I am guessing there is a smaller percentage than every before building an MLM. (Online) I can only speak to and about my own story but I think it's pretty normal. I got online initially to find people as I live in a very rural area. Once online I got caught, like most people, in the "selling tools to other miners" synario and put my MLM on the back burner. It never dawned on me I was putting my "dreams" into a burial plot. I would just become another guru and make tons of money and never have to worry about my family again.

When I started to crunch some numbers, realized the amount of people who strive for "guru" status compared to the number of people that get there, I realized I would probably never get there any time soon.

But here I had, in my back pocket, a gold mine that just needed me to step out of my comfort zone, talk to people, show them what I had and let the rest take care of itself. Did I still need some "tools"? Sure but I switched my focus from selling them to moving my MLM products and as Burns said "taking the road less traveled, has made all the difference."

What a good thought provoking question. Thanks for asking it !
Joyce

[Stephen Meyer Company: Organo Gold, Inc. Contribution Level: 3]

Currently there are more Home Based Businesses in the USA than ever before in history and it is growing at a very fast pace. Below are some stats. These include all home based businesses and MLM is a major part.

These stats were gathered by the SBA and other contributors.

1. Every 11 seconds someone is starting a home based business
2. HBB contributes 427 billion in busines revenue yearly. (Entrepreneur Magazine)
3. HBB contributes 10% of the US economy.
4. 52% of all companies are HBB
5. 65K average HBB income according to a Global survey
6. 34.3% to 36.6 million US homes have a HBB
7. 12% of US Homes
8. 70% of HBB succeed for 3 years or longer compared to 29% of standard business start ups. The reason, a hbb allows part time work around a regular job.
9. 50% of US homes will become involved in HBB according to HB Magazine.
10. 40-44% of all HBB require less than 5k startup cost.
11. Recent survey by Home Office Computing Magazine
a. 98% of hb owners are happier.
b. 96% recommend a HBB
c. 88% would never return to a corporate job.

It's hard to say how many people are in MLM but there are more home based business now than ever before and the number is growing by the hour. MLM is a major contributor and the numbers are not shrinking, they are growing quickly.

The failure rate from what I have seen over the years isn't contributed to doing the wrong thing ( ie. marketing tools instead of your business ) it is mainly a matter of not focusing on what you are doing. If you are going to build your "List" then concentrate on List building, if selling tools then concentrate on selling tools (affiliate products), etc.. Jumping from one marketing strategy to another as well as buying one tool, training/mentoring program or "shiny object" after another in hopes of finding the "One Thing" that will work is the number one killer in HBB. Get ONE strategy, get the TOOLS needed for the strategy and then get to WORK.

And NEVER listen to negative people.

[Janelle Wright Contribution Level: 2]

Great response Stephen, especially...
"The failure rate from what I have seen over the years isn't contributed to doing the wrong thing it is mainly a matter of not focusing on what you are doing. If you are going to build your "List" then concentrate on List building, if selling tools then concentrate on selling tools (affiliate products), etc.. Jumping from one marketing strategy to another as well as buying one tool, training/mentoring program or "shiny object" after another in hopes of finding the "One Thing" that will work is the number one killer in HBB. Get ONE strategy, get the TOOLS needed for the strategy and then get to WORK."

[Joyce Penner Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 8]

Stephen those stats are exciting and I wonder how many of them are online and experiencing the typical shiny object problems other network marketers have?

Offline methods are huge and very profitable. I've been involved in 5 network marketing companies and all 5 of them didn't have an online presence at all. (Other than a company produced webpage)

The industry is alive and well and as people tap into the benefits they'll start incorporating the offline methods, online, and then watch out for massive growth.

THAT is exciting !
Joyce

[Joyce Penner Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 8]

Wow Joyce, 5 NWM companies is quite a few. Think I'll try to be successful with one instead of trying with a bunch of them. . LOL

Stephen: My story is a typical network marketing scenario. I talked to a guy the other day who'd been in 18 different MLMs!

Mine was a massive learning curve. Following my mentor from one to another: found out in company #2 that it turned out he was a con artist. That happened in my first 6 months. My third (the one I was most successful in) again had a mentor that was unethical and hid his deep compulsion for money behind "I care about you" mind manipulation (and I found out the comp plan sucked as I got higher up in ranks). Stayed with the mentor for 9 months and another 9 months with the company. My fourth, loved the products and the company but my upline(s) knew nothing (not one thing) about online marketing. Stayed there for 2 years and learned a lot about successful offline techniques.

My fifth I took all the mistakes I'd made in the past, combined that into a portfolio of what to look for in a mentor, company and system that worked for both on and offline marketing and that, as the saying goes, has made all the difference in the world. Combining the best of both worlds, working with a team of dedicated and supportive fellow entrepreneurs.
Joyce

[Monique Jaramillo Contribution Level: 1]

Stephen,

Those stats are not surprising to me as all!
Thanks for sharing! WOW! It's crazy to think of the future...

What will HBB look like in ten, twenty years? And with new advances of technology
coming at us, and the power of social media, the only question is how do we best utilize
the too to bring even more success to our business?

It's exciting, don't you think?