Avon Products is a company that’s well known and well respected in neighborhoods around the world. Avon has marketed cosmetics and personal care products since 1886 – clearly an enduring business model.
Although Avon’s products are not unique, the business model that the company employs enables it to stand out in a crowded field of competitors. Rather than rely on the traditional retail marketing structure, Avon employs a network of semi-independent affiliates (six and a half million of them) to make its sales, providing each affiliate with the back-end support they need to get the job done. This has proven profitable for the company; so profitable, that one of their competitors has sought to take the company over, with support from legendary investor Warren Buffett – one of the sharpest money-makers since Benjamin Graham.
So what does this have to do with you? The network-based business model is common for a reason – besides Avon, you can find companies like Amazon and Tupperware paying out affiliate bonuses to get individuals working to sell their products. There’s obviously money to be made for those businesses in paying out network marketing and affiliate bonuses – and given that there are millions of affiliates working for each of them, year after year, there’s obviously money being passed along to those affiliates as well.
The takeaway for you, then, is that the affiliate-based business model can become a plank in the platform on which you’re building your own personal, independent earnings. Whether you’re looking to supplement your existing income by adding additional revenue streams or set out entirely on your own, adding a network-based source of earnings is one more way you can help build your financial freedom and get your piece of the PIE – so you can get back to living your life the way you choose.
