Not since 2001 has Network Marketing been poised for it’s biggest boom. In the words of Jim Crammer of Mad Money – Direct Selling Is Recession Proof.
Back in 2000 Network Marketing Magazine published an article written by Rod Cook (The MLM Watchdog) titled: When Recession Comes Network Marketing Grows. He revised the article this year, and it rings as true today as it did when he first wrote it.
I personally wrote a small article on this same subject in March of this year. You can read my original post here.
Now let’s take a few seconds and let me hit some of the highlights from Rod’s current article.
* In recessionary times people are more interested in career alternatives. Especially when such companies as Starbucks announce they will be closing stores and laying-off employees. If the media is right and we are teetering on the edge of a recession then you have an unprecedented opportunity to explode your MLM business worldwide.
* MLM is a Counter-cyclical Business. For those of us who have been around network marketing for 20 years or so, we have seen our businesses growth through 3 or 4 down cycles in business. This is due to the fact MLM is a counter-cyclical business. Watch Jim Cramer’s video from CNBC to full understand what Rod and I are talking about.
* Here are some great examples written by Rod:
“The oldest Network Marketing company we can track is the marine-vegetable (seaweed) supplement company, Wachter’s, which started in 1937 near the bottom of the Great Depression. Nutrilite took off in 1945 during the economic decline immediately following World War II. Shaklee and Neolife fared well in the post-Korean War slump. Amway got a good start building with the slump in 1958. Mary Kay started with the downturn in the 1960s. This theory held true in 1992 when Alliance, Kaire, Life Plus, and a number of other companies started up and boomed (then later failed due to legal problems, partnership disputes, and mismanagement after the recession). Others like Hearbalife (see Rod’s Chart) went into hyper growth due to the same recession and became billion dollar companies.”
We followed the increase in growth of several major Network Marketing companies operating during the recession of 1973-75. Companies that were not doing badly when the recession started, they had a fair amount of growth. However, when the recession came, they took off like rockets!
During the early 2000’s recession (officially starting in November 2001), MLM company growth rates jumped higher than they were before the recession. See the chart below (November 2001 was the benchmark) and look at the following growth. This was due to two reasons: (1) Fear leads people to new income sources and they WORK the opportunity, not watch TV. (2) The doubt of the recession lingers in the minds of people so there is an “aftereffect”. (3) During the recession the company grew a “freverant” distributor base, recruiting more new people that lead to exponential growth.
Another factor that fueling the growth in Network Marketing is that many Baby Boomers have put their life savings into the stock market. With the market’s shaky up and down spirals, many Baby Boomers are slowing their high-flying, fast-spending ways due to meager savings except for shaky stocks. With the inevitable, cyclical decline of the stock market, they will see their retirement plan funds lose 25 to 50 percent in value. Will panic follow? We hope not! But, Baby Boomers with good sense will be looking for secondary ways to build a secondary residual retirement income. A common phrase today is, “multiple streams of income.”
Although the Baby Boomers have been the backbone of the growth Network Marketing has seen over the last two recessions, this time around statistics are showing us the Generate X & Y will cause MLM to explode this time around. Unlike their parents, they do not know the words “Failure or Quit”, and there are 175 million of them. We have already seen how the biggest companies in the business have already launched new brands, products and services aimed directly at these two demographic groups.
Now is the time for you to focus 100% on taking your network marketing to the next level.
And, if you are just checking out the MLM profession and are not sure exactly what or where you should go, then call me today and let’s talk. (850-650-0557)
As a founding member of the Distributor’s Rights Association and current Board Member, I will gladly answer your questions.
Never Give Up,
