Arbonne, the Swiss skin care, health and wellness company, doesn’t sell its products in stores and doesn’t spend money on advertising or product placement. It sells products through a network of independent consultants. Consumers can only buy products initially through one of those consultants and after the first purchase via the Web. According to Stamatelos, since Arbonne isn’t spending money on marketing, the company is able to develop products faster than larger companies.
With old-fashion network marketing, a small business would employ a team of consultants to sell its products. The consultants would typically get paid a commission and would hawk the goods at parties, to neighbors and anyone else referred to them. But thanks to the popularity of online social networks, network marketing just got a whole lot easier.
For small businesses that want to engage in this way of marketing, embracing technology is a key ingredient for success.
Logo from Arbonne