The Ultimate Social Business Model

The Wall Street Journal published a Special Supplement titled: 
“The Ultimate Social Business Model“  In 2010, Direct Selling companies generated over $125 billion in revenue in 150 countries through more than 75 million men and women who are changing lives serving others.

From March 2009 to May 2011, the top 7 publicly traded direct selling companies averaged a 268 percent increase in stock price.

Direct Selling is the original social networking business.  Way ahead of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Long before we even knew what a computer was, people were getting together for fun, socializing and shopping.  Add in technological power and globalization, and you’ve got a winning formula.

Professor Paul Zane Pilzer has kept a watchful eye on the direct selling industry for more than 30 years.  In the 1990′s, the renowned economist who served in two White House administrations predicted that network marketers would help make, the then-emerging $200-billion health and wellness channel, the next trillion-dollar industry.

“Mad Money” market guru Jim Cramer recently told his CNBC viewers: “Direct selling has never gotten its due from Wall Street. It’s time we recognize that the direct sales model works, and it works well.” There is little question why financial notables like Cramer, Warren Buffett, Ray Chambers and Suze Orman have touted businesses based on direct selling.

Doug Lane, a well know investment advisor has said: “After years of skepticism, the investment community is finally waking up to the viability of direct selling as a good investment opportunity.”

What does all this mean?  OPPORTUNITY

Direct sellers have historically held a competitive edge over traditional retailers of goods and services because of their skills in connecting with people, their personal ethics in business dealings and in the automatic trust and respect generated when dealing with word-of-mouth “advertising” through networking. After all, direct selling is the ultimate social business model, and technology is now redefining perceptions of what that’s all about.

More than 12 million jobs have been eliminated from the U.S. economy since December 2007, and according to the Brookings Institute, it could take 12 years to re-create what’s been lost. Many individuals are looking to the direct selling model for a different answer.

I have some ideas and recommendations.  Contact me personally for further discussions and details.  Anyway, I’d like to hear more about your path to success.