Network marketing involves a business network of producers and distributors who receive commissions for selling and recruiting others. Network marketing tools include software, metrics, and devices that promote network marketing, but some can be illegal or misused. Email and contact management programs are legitimate tools, but must comply with laws. Other tools include websites, forums, chat rooms, blogs, instant messaging, and social media.
A network is an interrelated and interconnected group. Network marketing is another name for multi-level marketing and the network mentioned is usually a business network formed by a producer of goods or services and distributors who usually receive a commission for selling goods and services, as well as recruiting others to become distributors. Network marketing tools are any type of software application, metric, or other device that promotes network marketing.
There are two main categories of network marketing tools. The first pair of categories distinguish legitimate from illegal network marketing tools. The second pair of categories distinguishes those that only have legitimate uses from those that can be used for illegal use. As the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) identifies some network marketing plans and some sales techniques as prohibited, it is essential to review all network marketing tools and the use they will be used to ensure that violations do not occur.
An example of an illegal network marketing tool is a software program that creates a webpage by scraping and repositioning information from other websites onto a network marketer’s website. This is also called web harvesting. In some cases, this just plagiarizes information, usually without credit. In other cases, it also violates the terms of use of the originating site.
One of the main network marketing tools is email. It’s worth stopping and thinking about the system to ensure that the features – which may be good enough for personal email – meet network marketing needs. How email addresses are obtained, the use to which they are put, and the content of emails sent all have the potential to place the network marketer on one side of the law or the other. All commercial emails must comply with the terms of the CAN-SPAM Act (Unsolicited Pornography and Marketing Assault Control Act of 2003).
There’s nothing wrong with business email per se. Unless the header information and subject line are accurate, the message is accurately identified as an advertisement, the sender’s physical postal address is provided, and an opt-out message with clear steps to prevent future emails from being delivered, commercial email may be violating the law. This is an example of a legitimate or illegal tool, depending on how it is used.
Another of the network marketing tools, the contact management program, by itself, presents no problems. It could only be misused by filling it with information that was not properly obtained. Other than that, it’s simply a useful way to keep valuable information organized in accessible ways.
Other tools used by network marketers include the various ways to build contact on the Internet. This includes websites, forums, chat rooms, blogs, instant messaging, Twitter and Facebook. Additionally, some network marketers use phone calls and snail mail.
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