Direct Sales: What’s in a Name?

Direct Sales…MLM….Network Marketing – what’s the difference? Is there a difference?

Before we explore the differences of the three terms, let’s first take a brief look at the history of selling.

In very early civilizations transactions were handled by way of trade. People would travel near and far, journeying into villages and towns to do business, offering one good in exchange for another. As time evolved and people became more sophisticated in the way they conducted business, the focus shifted from trading one good for another to offering their quality and unique goods for monetary exchange. These crafty business dealers, the early direct sellers, soon became known as peddlers, hawkers, merchants and of course, traders. These endeavors usually involved an individual or his/her family and did not include the efforts of others outside of the immediate family.

In the early 1900s, a woman by the name of Sarah Breedlove, also known as Madam CJ Walker, pioneered the way for today’s current direct sales business model. Born to a family of freed slaves, Walker tapped into her entrepreneurial instincts when she created and marketed hair care products for black women. For a year and a half she successfully traveled across the country teaching women how to nurture and care for their hair with her products. But what made Walker distinctly different from most peddlers of products is that she introduced the concept of hiring other women to help her spread the word about her products.

After 18 months of selling door-to-door on her own, Walker inspired other women to leave their low-paying job as cooks, maids, washerwomen and nannies/caretakers and join her by becoming Walker Agents. She personally trained these hand-picked sales representatives to go out and duplicate her efforts and earn a satisfactory income for themselves at the same time. It was her ingenuity that not only made her the first female millionaire in America, but also paved the way for the ever popular direct sales model today.

Now, let’s take a look at the three common terms used in this industry:

Direct Sales * Multi-Level Marketing * Network Marketing

Many would argue that direct sales is the same as direct marketing – a method in which efforts are focused directly at the consumer instead of using the retail model as the vehicle for moving products. However, the distinct difference is that in the direct sales model, success grows based on the efforts of others.

In multi-level-marketing, the idea of multi-level simply means building a downline of other agents, consultants, representatives, etc. underneath you who help move the product or service. Again, success grows based on the efforts of others.

With network marketing, it is the concept that as you build your network your business will grow. The more people you connect with and share your product, service or business opportunity with, the greater your chances at success. As you share your information and others resonate with what you have to offer, you begin to build a team or downline. And once again, success grows based on the efforts of others.

So in all honesty, as long as the companies are legitimately doing business and are not masking a pyramid scheme behind what appears to be a solid system, it is up to you to decide which model is right for you and the goals you have for your life.