BUSINESS | Why Network Marketing is a Win for Men

​Research the terms ‘networking’ and ‘gender’ and an interesting anomaly comes to light. That’s because when it comes to traditional networking, men tend to excel. Men are more likely to achieve professional advantages through networking and practice it more often than women do. In fact, this difference is so significant that it has even been dubbed ‘the networking gender gap’.
 
However, if you investigate gender differences in network marketing and you start to get a very different picture. Women dominate the industry, with 77 percent of network marketing distributors in the United States being female.
 
Why does this disparity exist? Particularly If you consider that traditional networking and network marketing draw on a similar set of skills: the ability to communicate, persuade and build relationships. Both require courage, confidence and charisma – traits that are in no way gender specific.

Arbonne Independent Consultant, Ben Waters, is a successful traditional businessman, digital consultant and investor. He joined the company after first skeptically watching his fiancee, Samantha Clark, build her business for 9mths. Samantha promoted to Regional Vice President in her 10th month with the company and earned her white Mercedes Benz Cash Bonus. Ben took notice and decided to put his business skills to use in a new way and is now rediscovering his love of travel, and helping others to create multiple income streams and a lifestyle they love.

​Perhaps the problem then is not one of suitability, but rather of branding or association. With women dominating this market, network marketing may be viewed as a ‘female’ profession, thus placing an implicit barrier to men becoming involved. In addition, successful network marketing involves recruiting others and drawing them in on the success; because women have networks that are predominantly female, men may be left out of the induction process.
 
In my opinion, this is a missed opportunity and numerous prominent businessmen tend to agree. Robert Kiyosaki, entrepreneur and author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, for example, has argued that network marketing is the ‘business of the 21st century’. In fact, Robert is such a proponent of network marketing that he states if he were to do it all again, he would have started a network marketing business.
 
Similarly, Paul Zane Pilzer, author of Unlimited Wealth, has argued that network marketing is one of the most important entrepreneurial opportunities today.

So why are successful businessmen starting to enthuse
over network marketing? And what’s in it for men?

Gain the skills you need to be an entrepreneur or business leader

​If you want to gain valuable leadership capabilities, network marketing is a great way to go about it. The training and skills that you need for network marketing correlate strongly with those that you need to be a business leader.
 
For example, network marketing requires you to explain a product or service to someone that may never heard of it before and get them so inspired that they then tell others in their network. This hones your ability to communicate, inspire others and build connections – all crucial characteristics of good leaders and entrepreneurs.  

Low-overhead, low-risk entry into business

For individuals wanting to develop as entrepreneurs, network marketing is a great way to start. It’s something you can do to build up your business skills and experience, either part-time or as a form of supplementary income, with little upfront cost.
 
If you find you’re successful enough that you can switch over to it becoming your sole source of income, perfect! You’ve got yourself a new career, with perks such as flexibility and an income that can build itself. If not, you’ve earned yourself some extra cash and learned valuable business, networking, communication and life skills, plus often, a lot about yourself. Network marketing has very little risk and some great rewards no matter your gender. 

Share something you’re passionate about

Part of the reason why network marketing is so successful is because it leverages off the importance of trust. Quite simply, we’re more likely to buy something that someone in our network endorses. The success of social media perfectly demonstrates that and network marketing’s close cousin, influencer marketing, has also taken off for this very reason.
 
The great part is, if you choose to distribute a product that you genuinely believe in, network marketing is a way of simply sharing something that you’re passionate about. In fact, Paul Zane Pilzer argues this is part of what gives network marketing an edge over other marketing or advertising models. As he notes, network marketing is often more educational than traditional sales, with a focus on knowledge and information sharing, as opposed to a hard sales pitch. 
 
Men in Arbonne are attracted to the business for various reasons - whether it's because they saw their wife or female friend excelling here and living their best life; or whether they owned a gym, or were a PT wanting to share healthier nutrition to their clients; or whether they were wanting to transition from a job that was boring them to building a business that allowed them the time to even discover what their new passions were, for example. There's something in it for everyone and when you find what you love, sharing it makes sense and can be as natural as breathing - and people trust your authenticity in that! It's a fair word-of-mouth, networking marketing model that provides a level playing field for everyone. And a playing field that does allow one to create their own lifestyle.

What all of this reflects is that network marketing is in no way just a ‘woman’s game’. Men are often natural networkers, and with more people today involved with network marketing than ever before, it’s about time men took advantage of their untapped networks!


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*Please consider this article in conjunction with the information contained here: https://www.arbonne.com/discover/opportunity/compensation.shtml.
Arbonne makes no promises or guarantees regarding income, and the success or failure of each Arbonne Independent Consultant, like any other business, depends on each Arbonne Independent Consultant’s own skills and personal effort. You should not rely on the results of other Arbonne Independent Consultants as an indication of what you should expect to earn. Actual financial results of all Arbonne Independent Consultants for the preceding year are contained in Arbonne’s Independent Consultant Compensation Summary (ICCS). You may view the Independent Consultant Compensation Summary on Arbonne’s official website at iccs.arbonne.com