If you've been in or around the network marketing industry you've seen some of the consequences of old-school MLM tactics.

What happens when you send trusting people out into the world to build their dream with only a names list and a few memorized phrases to use in the grocery store line?

This hasn't produced the results promised for most people and while the blame is often placed on a 'weak belief system,' it could also be blamed on a weak model.

But there were other options, weren't there?...

When people got burnt on the names list and 3-foot rule, and if their skin was tough enough, they could start maxing out their credit cards to buy leads and do the cold calling game.

But that didn't make very many people rich other than a few leads companies and a fraction of a percentage who created some real magic...

The success stories usually came out of 80 hour work weeks for long durations--I've heard the stories and you probably have too. Let's face it. It took an unusual extraordinary effort to succeed in MLM the old way.

So since the 3-foot rule, friends and family, and cold calling leads didn't work very well the focus of training was placed upon mindset development... basically get your belief system so strong you can't quit--and that has kept the MLM industry going.

This whole model made sense up until now... Because average people could NOT afford to do marketing like 'real businesses' could... and average people, which is what drives the network marketing industry, didn't have the skills to put together an effective marketing campaign.

But now with the Internet and Web 2.0 'Social Marketing' this has all started to change...

No longer do you need television, radio or print media to put together a powerful marketing campaign that gets huge numbers of people coming to you. With social Web 2.0 marketing it can cost nothing to produce the big-dog results. And while building a web site used to require 'techie' skills, that's no longer the case at all.

Because of Web 2.0 marketing, it's now possible for average people to learn to employ real marketing strategies, and to have a real business where the prospects and customers come to them... and where you can monetize (produce cash-flow) from multiple sources while attracting the key prospects to the higher ticket (or higher commitment) item, like your opportunity.

If this is the first time you've heard the term Web 2.0, it's also referred to as Social Media or Social Marketing. In the context of marketing they are all referring to the same thing.

Web 2.0 is where users interact with the content on the web (create web pages, interact with others socially, create blogs, post articles and videos, such as on You Tube, and provide content such as what you're reading now).

There are some great training platforms now available to small business owners and network marketers alike who want to quickly start setting up their own Internet marketing presence.

A new book out by Mike Dillard, called "Building on a Budget," is one great resources to get you started. It outlines 5 such social marketing methods. There are some pros and cons in the book that you may want to consider before starting. Click here for a review on Mike Dillard's Building on a Budget Book.

There are also some click-by-click tutorial courses available that are very inexpensive. These have some advantages for newbies because you're able to simply follow along and watch on screen as you learn to set up your own marketing at the same time.

However you start, my suggestion is to start now. Check out this headline I found from BusinessWeek just yesterday:

Social Media Will Change Your Business... Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up...or catch you later!

Because of Web 2.0 Social media, average people, in a diverse and endless list of ways, can attract large numbers of people to them, monetize their business for much needed cash-flow, all while building their network marketing opportunity in style.

This is changing the network marketing industry as we know it today for one major reason:

It's easier, more cost effective, and it's more practical. It allows the average network marketer to do real marketing and operate like a real business, but with all the MLM home-based business advantages still in tact.

My advice?

If you're in a small business or network marketing business you better get on the sweet spot.

There are several good books that do a fantastic job at getting you started in this new model. Here's a video review for The Renegade Network Marketer,which is my recommendation as your first step.

Some other good books out there are Magnetic Sponsoring and Building on a Budget, which I referenced above. I suggest The Renegade Network Marketer if this is your first introduction. Review the video to find out why.