Niche Network As Marketing Tool of the Future

Back in the days of dinosaurs, a new and improved model of product marketing emerged as Amway took the nation by storm. Beginning as invite only parlor meetings in the homes of top members, Amway’s multi-level business model lured hordes of the uninitiated into meetings typically billed as “fun and easy money.”

After the pitch, many signed on as members, generating huge income streams for their sponsors through sales of everyday products, usually to friends, families, and co-workers. The model worked best for those with the most members underneathe, but members without a significant lower level could still profit from their own sales.

To this day, Amway continues to exist in slightly mutated form. I like to think of its business model as the precursor to modern day social networks. The basic structure has evolved significantly. Rather than network through a top-heavy system of multi-levels with the earliest members becoming the most successful on the backs of those at the bottom, social networks function on the principal of spider web marketing. Every strand shoots off in a different direction, giving the anchoring spider a support network to promote product or services.

Think of a spider web as different elements of a social networking site: the home page, the forums, the place to upload videos/photographs, a messaging stream, etc. All threads support the spider in the middle. Each brings more attention and publicity to the center. As more spiders link their own webs to that center, the marketing power of the original spider grows exponentially. No spider sits on the top or the bottom, but the one who attracts the most flies, so to speak, lands at the top.

The power of social media is a topic I’ve blogged about in the past. Niche networks work in much the summer manner. Commonality of interests attracts members to the niche community, thereby creating a platform for interaction. Members have an opportunity to reinforce existing contacts and create new ones. Marketing is channeled through these contacts, much like glad-handing at a convention. In the process, lasting friendships are forged as well as prospects for new business.

Tomorrow: A review of niche networks for personal and professional use.

Comments

[Zirkamer]

Making sure to gather all the information you can about your niche is very important. I have spent countless hours learning about this type of business. It has surely paid off. Great post.