Business Is Booming

Here's an excerpt of an excellent article entitled "Unlocking Your Entrepreneurial Spirit" featured in "Success from Home" magazine written by Todd Eliason and Martha Belden:

According to an article in Fortune magazine, it is, "An investor's dream.... The best-kept secret of the business world.... An industry with steady annual growth, healthy cash flow, high return on invested capital, and long-term prospects for global expansion."

Former President Bill Clinton hailed its opportunity: "Your industry promotes core values all around the lobe and gives people the chance to make the most of their lives."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared it, "A tremendous contribution to the overall prosperity of the economy."

And billionaire investor Warren Buffet labeled it simply, "The best investment I ever made."

None of which should be news to the 13 million Americans and 55 million people worldwide who are already part of the business of the 21st century. It's called direct selling, or network marketing. Others term it multilevel marketing or referral marketing. Whatever you call it, right now in the world of direct selling, business is booming. Direct selling has grown more than 91 percent in the last 10 years and currently enjoys annual sales of $30 billion in the United States and $100 billion worldwide.

Each and every week, about 175,000 people in the United States, plus more than 300,000 around the globe, dive headfirst into the industry's exciting potential. Yet, despite its explosive growth, less than 1 percent of the world's population is currently involved in direct selling, meaning the industry has only tapped a tiny fraction of its limitless possibilities.

How is it possible that an industry is thriving when we're supposedly stuck in the middle of an economic recession? Well, that is simply a matter of perspective.

The glass-is-half-full camp believes this is a time of massive economic change. And discerning entrepreneurs who recognize these shifting trends and stake their claim in these new and emerging industries will be the ones to gain enormously. As Fortune magazine recently stated, "Forget the paycheck; your W-2 days are over. It's a 1099 world now."

And one of the fastest-growing industries is direct selling. Distinguished economist and best-selling author Paul Zane Pilzer predicts 10 million new millionaires will be created in the United States between 2006 and 2016. That's more than double the previous 10 years. What's more, Pilzer specifically states that many of these new millionaires will be from the direct selling industry.