If you are looking to start an online career, it would not hurt to have a basic understanding of how it originated and know the history of the industry. It will make it far easier to grasp the concept if you know where and how network marketing got started. Here is a brief history of network marketing.

Unfortunately, 95 percent of the people that get into internet marketing end up failing. While there are countless reasons for this, it does not help that most are completely unaware of how internet marketing got started or how the industry turned into what it is today.

The basic model started back in the 1950's with companies similar to Amway. The whole concept was based around a single individual being able to make a small commission off of the products they sold as well as those sold by their team.

What this did was give people an incentive for recruiting and building a bigger team. The more people that were involved in their team and generating sells, the more money people could make. Over time, more sophisticated compensation plans were developed making it easier to focus on recruiting over sells.

Eventually, MLM companies began to make more money from the sells of training, conferences, books and videos than they did from their retail products. Instead of focusing on selling the product, more pressure and time was devoted to promoting and building a large team.

By the mid 1970's, many businesses were picking up on this new style; especially in the U.S. and UK. As this was well before the internet was around, this business style was typically promoted by word of mouth through home presentations and presentations in offices.

Trust became a huge issue as this was how people would recruit others into their downline. You had to trust the people you were inviting to become part of your team. Nowadays, many internet marketers spend their time trying to get complete strangers to join.

Although people are still making money on the internet, far more are failing. There are some incredible opportunities to take advantage of on the internet, but you have to be willing to work at it and invest time.

You used to be able to have success with a little bit of money and solid communication skills. With the competition as stiff as it is today, it takes a great deal of knowledge and determination to get anywhere. This is precisely why so many do not make it on the internet. But now that you have an understanding of the history of network marketing, you can be better prepared as you start your online career.