Lesson 2. A business that provides an additional source
of income

Any business involves the creation and promotion of goods and services for consumers.
We won't be discussing how to start a business that provides goods and services, because
it is a bit complex.

What we will talk about are the different ways of promoting goods and services.

Promotion is marketing, and marketing is promotion.

If we choose the most precise among the dozens of definitions of marketing, then marketing is the process of promoting and distributing products or services by the manufacturer/provider to the consumer. Marketing is both a science and an art, generated historically by the needs and demands of people to exchange products and services. Marketing, just like all human activities, has grown and evolved with mankind and his environment.

«In old times wealth was measured by the amount of land, gold, oil and cars possessed. Nowadays wealth is measured by information – its quality, amount, timeliness and digestibility.»

Richard S. Byard

Many specialists believe that Internet marketing is simply a kind of traditional retailing, for instance, promoting products through mail order catalogues or TV shopping channels. But unlike traditional retailing, Internet marketing changes the consumer culture. Selection as well as payment methods are offered by Internet marketing directly from the product’s manufacturer to the consumer. There are still intermediaries, but in the near future they will prove to be unnecessary
for many manufacturers. Not only retailing, but also direct sales promotion and multi-level marketing systems operate actively on the Internet. Hybrid marketing systems are also beginning to appear online.

A point to note is that every year there is redistribution between marketing systems. Retailing is getting less popular as it is being replaced by direct sales.
The multi-level marketing system is experiencing even greater growth on the Internet. New state-of-the-art techniques steadily drive old-fashioned systems out
of the minds of manufacturers and consumers. This occurs because new methods originate alongside new mechanisms of information distribution and communication among people. According to many specialists, a complete rotation by volume of the current systems will occur by the year 2030. The main position will be occupied by multi-level marketing and Internet marketing, which have been the most progressive marketing systems over the last few years. A much smaller share will be left for retailing and direct sales.

Systems are called hybrid when they include the components of several systems. The hybrid of multi-level marketing and retailing can be represented by stores encouraging their customers to enroll new customers in exchange
for bonuses and discounts. An example of such a hybrid is traditional distribution chains proposing to order
and purchase their products through the Internet. The most promising is the combination of two mainly progressive systems: multi-level marketing and Internet marketing, which together are attaining considerable market share.

«The new approach to business is based on the flow of information. Provide people with new technologies. Transfer all business processes to electronic forms.
Get ready for a new epoch.»

Bill Gates

The advantages of hybrid marketing systems outweigh their drawbacks. For instance, one basic multi-level marketing disadvantage is the fact that the consumer has no possibility of promptly transferring information to his friends, relatives or acquaintances about the products that he likes. It may take him months to transfer this information.

Thanks to the use of fiber-optic lines, the Internet and mobile communication, it is now easier to transfer visual images as well as create voice and video presentations, allowing the consumer to save precious time and increase the speed
of product delivery.

On the other hand, the Internet comprises billions of pages and no one can fully digest them all.

The main problem with Internet trade is the abundance of information and the level of skepticism expressed by consumers who need support while choosing a product. Multi-level marketing, with references provided by satisfied customers, provides the solution to this problem.

«The Internet and multi-level marketing are the wave of the future! There is not
a more powerful business build-up combination than the “coupling” of high technologies with active contacts. Why? Because this gives you the opportunity
to achieve better and more active use of one thing, which no one can possess more than another, and that’s time!»

John Milton Fogg

Now we are confident that today’s businessmen and consumers will succeed in investing and primarily dealing with multi-level marketing in combination with advanced technologies, I would like to proceed to a more detailed description of the system.

Being involved in the growing industry of multi-level marketing can lead to higher personal income. But we'll talk about this in the next lesson. And remember, No Sales!