Everything progresses forward and multilevel marketing is no exception to the wheels of progress. While the old, traditional model of multilevel marketing worked for many years (many people have earned millions from it) there is a new model that has emerged.

In the early days of multilevel marketing, the business model was based on a distribution method. That is, a distributor purchased products from a manufacturer, stored the products, and then sold them while simultaneously trying to recruit new members to also sell the products. The new model is more streamlined. First, the purchasing and storage of products is eliminated and replaced with simply directing customers to purchase directly from the manufacturer. This eliminates an ENORMOUS number of costs associated with storage and delivery and makes the process much easier. This new, streamlined process has greatly aided in increasing the popularity multilevel marketing currently enjoys

Of course, the integration of the internet as a promotional sales vehicle has also greatly contributed to the current popularity of multilevel marketing. One of the biggest benefits to this online method is the elimination of much of the legwork involved with the older model. For example, in the past personal appearances was the hallmark of all multilevel marketing ventures. That means a lot of "in person" meeting were mandatory to be successful. This, of course, means travel and travel comes with expenses such as wear and tear on a car, gasoline, etc. Online methods of stimulating people to affiliate in the network eliminate many of these travel related expenses.

Now, this is not to infer that all in person meeting need to be eliminated. Meeting people in person is still valuable since a good presentation can work wonders for recruiting people to join the network. So, the new online method is not a replacement for the traditional in person model as much as it is an additional sphere designed to complement it.

There is another huge benefit to the new model that is sometimes overlooked. In the past, if a multilevel marketer was limited to in person sales and recruitment then the marketer would be limited to a finite geographic region. This creates an obvious quandary: if a marketer recruited new members in the same geographic area the network would be forced to compete with itself in a specific geographic area. Needless to say, it would be incredibly problematic to have a huge network in a single town. The internet provides an excellent solution to the problem since the internet eliminates specific geographic boundaries. In other words, 30 people in a network in the city of Detroit could all expand their individual networks all over the globe. This could be done by way of website marketing. Through this model, the network would not be forced to compete with itself within a single, specific region.

Once again, however, it is imperative to point out there is still much to learn from the old model. Many skills the old model developed would still be useful today. While the online variants of multilevel marketing promotions are valid, they remove much human interaction. (Unless, of course, you are employing follow up phone calls and phone interactions) To meet clients in person aids in developing sales and persuasive skills that transfer greatly into managerial skill. Balancing the old model along side the new model is a smart move when building a multilevel marketing network. As such, the value of both should be examined and never discounted.