Amway Business, or the American Way, as it’s proudly called, needs no introduction. It’s one of the best known MLM companies with branches in over 80 countries with over 450 products and revenue of over $8 billion. More than three million people share the Amway vision as distributors or IBOs. Because of its global reach and the comprehensive range of products, Amway global has found many takers, both as customers as well as distributors all over the world. This article’s aim is to explore the business opportunity offered by Amway Global and see if it’s as good as it’s made out to be.

· The Amway Story

1950s’: Jay Van Andel and Rich De Vos launched Amway in 1959 in Ada, Michigan following their stint with marketing nutrilite products. They were impressed with the response they got from network marketing and started the business with a Multi-Purpose Cleaner, Amway’s first product (L.O.C).

1960s’: The product as well the marketing scheme was an instant success and within the next decade, Amway had grown into a $500000 business with over 200 products.

1970s’: This was when the company established its global identity to reach Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Tokyo.

1980s’: This decade saw the launch of the Artistry range of products that catered to skin care and improvement.

From then on, the success of Amway continued to make the business a multibillion-dollar global association.

· Amway Products

Amway has different products catering to home needs, skin and oral care, hair and body care, nutrition and weight management. Amway’s best selling product is the Nutrilite range of health supplements. Products of Amway are said to be manufactured with pure ingredients and this company has been promoting “green” products right from its first product launch.

· The Amway Business Opportunity

This company’s been around for 50 years and has over 3 million distributors. This makes Amway seem like a good business to join and build a business with. But let’s first look at the income opportunity and see how profitable the business actually is and what kind of potential it has as a money maker.

- Compensation plan

Generate income through mark ups on sale of products, get bonuses on monthly targets and earn perks and cash awards for group performance.

The Amway business opportunity is more a way of life than a career. The company trains IBOs on the process of selling and educates them about the product.

- Why Amway Business?

Amway products are good to use and stylish to market. The compensation plan is good and the company is well established with a good history and global reach. Amway products are needed for day to day use; so there’s good scope for marketing.

- Problems?

A typical Amway distributor joins the company and is given product education and training on how to market the product; they are taught to offer cliches to customers who are mostly friends and relatives of the rep. This should induce the customer to buy a product or two and maybe even become an affiliate. Then they gather contacts or leads from such customers and contact them with requests for a meeting.

This technique could have worked wonders a few years back; but now everyone’s weary of such marketing methods. There are common jokes when grown adults get together that it might be some type of Amway meeting. It’s difficult to even get an appointment to meet people in this hurried world. And competition in Amway is extremely high. It’s just not enough to sell a few products to people you know if you want to reach the top and get real earnings.

- Solution

This is an age where internet plays a pivotal role. Going online with your Amway business is sure to bring about a revolution in your venture. Learn how to tap leads through the internet, obtain contacts and promote your products online. Offer a click to buy solution to enable potential customers to buy Amway products from you with minimum effort. Your first step should be to learn best online marketing techniques that are guaranteed to get results yet not so popular that they are hackneyed.

Choices, choices, choices…..

There is a big problem when it comes to doing business online.

Every day another opportunity, another choice…..What do you do?

The problem with Internet marketing is the mind-boggling scope of all the programs and choices for putting a small home business into a global market. It can be like throwing a lamb into a lion’s den. Many people lose their way just from the overwhelming number of choices available for finding effective online sales training.

As Todd Oldfield, a friend of mine, says, “Chase one rabbit at a time! If you attempt to chase two rabbits at the same time you will not capture any!”

So are there any best social networking sites for business?

Or is a first-rate business marketing platform the best choice?

Social networks are the buzz of the Internet. Ask anyone about the best social networking sites for business and they will say either Facebook or Google. But are they the best for your business?

Google and Facebook are currently in a sparring contest to see who can come out on top. While hundreds of smaller social networks scramble for a piece of the social networking pie. Does this work for your business?

First of all, let’s take a look at a business network. LinkedIn differentiates itself as one of the best business networking sites for businesses and professions. In fact, you would not join LinkedIn solely for socializing like you do social networks. LinkedIn has a free membership, as well as more features available with a paid membership. The paid memberships start at $29.95 per month and go up to $75.95 per month.

The paid memberships give you the ability to see more profiles, send messages to anyone on LinkedIn, find out who has viewed your profile, and see expanded profiles on anyone in LinkedIn.

You will still need to add other sites to round out your business platform. You will need a place to hold meetings, to host events, develop a business forum, and do video marketing.

What does Facebook have to offer the business person?

The recent changes to Facebook have made it more business friendly. Facebook is a good place to build relationships, find like-minded people, and join business groups. Facebook engages over a million people and is therefore a great place for finding customers and business associates.

Google offers similar features plus a “hang-out” room where you can meet up to ten people at a time. Also with Google you can create several email accounts and use each one for a different purpose.

In the offline world when you take a break from the office you head down to the local coffee shop and strike up conversations. Or you use the coffee shop to meet clients and discuss a business proposal. Well Facebook, for the online business person, is like the coffee shop. It is a place to increase your circle of friends and build trusting relationships.

What if you could take breaks at the coffee shop and then consolidate all your business sites into one online business community? This business community would be your office dedicated to doing business.

It would be a first-rate business marketing platform where you have everything you need at your finger tips. A global online business network that offers such things as:

* Event hosting and scheduling
* Meeting rooms for small and large groups
* One on one chat rooms
* Video conferencing
* Video email
* Business specific forums
* Personal and business profiles
* Internal networking like LinkedIn

Choosing between Facebook and a business community platform would no longer be necessary. You can use the best of both. Work at the office and take breaks at the coffee shop!!

Online business networking allows entrepreneurs to obtain information from and exchange views with customers and major players in their particular industries. The overall object of networking is to enhance marketing efforts by getting in touch with people, particularly the target market. By doing so, a business will be able to spread the word about its product or service and become more visible in the market. In short, a business owner’s networking skills play an important role in improving the bottom line. Through effective networking, you will be able to boost the chances of your business survival. You have to keep in mind though, that there are certain rules when you do networking, and only by sticking to them can you make this activity more advantageous for your goals.

First, when you are doing online business networking, keep in mind that interacting with your audience is always better than blasting them with information. Networking is a two-way street, so it also entails a lot of listening on your part. If you will be the only one who will do the talking, your contacts or audience will become uninterested in what you have to say. Sure, you can talk about what you have to offer, but you can only reach out to your customers and business partners if you also give them a chance to talk. After all, if you really want to gain new insights about your market, listening to your customers will be more beneficial than you doing all the talking.

Second, make it a point to take advantage of as many networking or social media platforms as you can manage. By doing so, you will have more opportunities to reach out to your intended audience. Online business networking has definitely made the world a smaller place to live in. You do not have to go to another place just to find people who are interested in what you have to offer. All you need to do is sign up with various networking sites and you will surely find your audience. It is a good idea to write down the groups that matter to your goals. These groups will become your source for networking contacts or, better yet, you can reach out to such relevant groups in their entirety.

Third and last, focus your online business networking activities to people and organizations that can help you propel your business. True, there are countless networking sites that you can take advantage of, but always make it a point to interact with the groups that will give you the biggest opportunities. After you find your audience, you can start to focus on the groups or networks that can give you more growth for your business.