Most people look at the MLM / Network Marketing / Direct Selling industry as a sort of “hobby” thing that some people do after hours or on weekends as a way to “get rich quick” by getting lucky and finding out about some new company before anyone else does.
Some people even look at the whole MLM industry as a joke.
The fact is though that the direct selling industry is no joke.
It’s one of the most successful industries in the world, with a proven track record and strong growth especially in the last four years when a lot of other industries have been hit with an economic downturn.
The Direct Selling Association reports the following statistics for the 2013 Estimated Total Direct Retail Sales in the United States alone in the industry:
- 2009 Total Sales = $28,330,000,000
- 2010 Total Sales = $28,560,000,000
- 2011 Total Sales = $29,870,000,000
- 2012 Total Sales = $31,630,000,000
- 2013 Total Sales = $32,670,000,000
What this basically shows it that the industry has grown by $4.34 BILLION dollars in just 4 years. That’s an average of more than 1 BILLION dollars in growth per year!
Just to offer a comparison in terms of numbers, if we look at the entire MOVIE industry for example, the total box office sales in 2013 in US and Canada together were only $10.9 Billion.
That means that the “MLM thing” that most uninformed people make fun of is three times bigger than the movie industry!
Now, these are just US numbers. What about GLOBAL numbers?
Well, here’s some GLOBAL stats that might surprise you.
Total Global Sales for 2012:
- Music Industry – $16.5 Billion
- Video Gaming Industry – $67 Billion
- Movie Industry – $80 Billion
- Network Marketing – $167 Billion!!!
This means that the Network Marketing industry worldwide in 2012 was larger then the entire Music and Video Gaming and Movie Industries COMBINED.
Surprised?
Most people are.
Why is that though?
I think the main reason for this is because the network marketing industry is the ONLY industry out of those four listed above which offers ordinary, regular people with no previous experience the opportunity to start their own business.
The fact is that the MLM / Network Marketing industry always has a large percentage of it’s members as brand NEW distributors who just got started recently and who haven’t yet been properly trained on how to be professional network marketers.
These brand new distributors join an MLM and 24 hours later they’re out there trying to SELL the products that their company offers and to sponsor others into their business as well.
There’s nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that MOST of these people do not come from a professional marketing or sales background and so their ability to properly prospect, build rapport and to tactfully SELL their prospects on the products that the company offers is virtually non-existent.
Basically, the vast majority of MLM distributors STINK AT SALES!
They DON’T know how to properly sell to people in a way that makes the people feel comfortable and at ease, and so the process of being approached by a network marketer often turns out being awkward and maybe even annoying.
Some network marketers really don’t know what they’re doing when they first get started, and so they resort to crazy spammy tactics that give the industry a bad rep.
It is the behavior of THESE types of individuals, who don’t take the time to get properly trained and who don’t invest in themselves and their skill-set which gives the whole industry this stigma of being somewhat “unprofessional”.
However, things ARE quickly changing.
People are now really starting to realize that just signing up for an MLM and then trying to SPAM your warm market list and ATTACK them with an onslaught of phone calls, “party” invites, text messages, emails and facebook chat spamming is NOT the way to build your business.
There IS a much better way and people are starting to realize that.
New strategies and systems have been built, such as the Kalatu Brand Station technology and the Top Producer Formula and Team Builder Formula training products from Empower Network, which arm MLM distributors with the proper tools and training they need to be able to generate leads and sales in their MLM, as well as building a strong team that duplicates.
No longer are MLM distributors limited to the often outdated and very primitive training that is provided by their MLM company itself.
Network Marketers can now invest in a professional education and become Network Marketing Professionals who give the industry a GOOD name, instead of a bad one.
It may take a few years for the stigma of some of the older, unprofessional methods that were used in the past to disappear, but I believe that one the industry becomes known for it’s professional reps, the sales numbers I reported earlier are going to SKYROCKET even higher!
It’s no wonder that Warren Buffet and Donald Trump are such big fans of his industry.
They KNOW where it’s going. 🙂
What about you? Where do you think about the MLM industry. Do you think that it’s evolving and becoming more professional?
These numbers are mind blowing. You’re absolutely right Paul, you can feel the shift from traditional warm-market network marketing to a more professional and value-based approach to selling. It’s so important to realize this and align with the right tools and training to learn how to be good network marketer so you can build your business the right way.
Yeah, the market size is so huge it boggles the mind. 🙂