Online network marketing is network marketing on the Internet. It maintains the same marketing principles, only it is new to the medium and has a more expansive reach. It is likely to be a limitless marketing platform due to the full and diverse format it uses, from traditional print, TV, video, audio, photos, billboard and poster types, radio to podcast, widgets, badges or e-IDs, blogs, YouTube, emails, even spam and mobile phone interface format. It is also unlimited due to its global coverage that reaches networks and markets beyond regular transport and territorial limits. Although there are more mobile phone users than Internet users, mobile (phone) network marketing is not as limitless as online network marketing. Mobile phone services are still more expensive than the Internet.
The first generation medium of online network marketing was emails and websites. The new format was faster than conventional telemarketing. However, this network marketing was relatively similar to conventions: it still depended on personal contacts, and getting them still depends on personal associations. Later, however, getting your contact base to start your network marketing is no longer necessarily a personal take. Actually, you can have 5 personal contacts and 5 strangers as the base of your network. Thanks to social networks. But before social media, spam made online network marketing possible without a personal contact base. Spam tracked and invaded every email address to expose marketing campaigns. Product endorsements were then forwarded beyond the contact address list. There are also cookies. They are “internet patches” of a certain website. They are planted in any browser when users visit a certain website. Cookies appear and expose a campaign from a certain website every time a user logs on to the Internet.
Social networks and blogs arrived and absolutely changed the rules of network marketing. Such online networks facilitated a faster way to build networks. Facebook, Friendster, Multiply and MySpace proved that online network marketing is faster. With social media, connecting with people, including strangers, long-lost friends, and potential business contacts and partners, is just a click away.