I'm lucky to live in Maui, Hawaii. Surrounded by "mighty blue", it's difficult not to think of waves! Will you spot next Real Internet Tidal Wave? You can't afford not to! Read on ;-)

Did you know that many colleges and high schools in Hawaii and California offer an elective course on surfing? It's true! The classes offer tuition in following areas:

..How to select a good surf board ..How to wax surf board ..How to spot a great wave ..How to mount wave ..How to get best ride

The one thing that class can't teach, however, is how to CREATE A WAVE.

I wish somebody would tell this to many of Network Marketing companies that keep trying to recruit me into their business. Many of them intent on CREATING WAVES.

They employ all sorts of fads that actually result in little more than a ripple in water. True WAVES are much bigger and offer an overwhelming deluge of support for certain qualities that distributors want and need from companies they represent.

Where are WAVES that people are wanting and looking for in Network Marketing?

----------------------------------------- Wave 1 - Company Longevity -----------------------------------------

The newest crop of individuals exploring Network Marketing are rather astute - people who understand need to engage in "due diligence" before making a decision to invest themselves in a particular business.

This being case, one of most pronounced waves in Network Marketing is movement toward established companies - companies that have lasted and prospered into their fifth year and beyond.

Why this focus on company longevity? Two significant reasons immediately come to mind. First, people are fed up with losing their hard earned $, time and credibility with start ups. Second, company longevity is and indication of strong management. Few businesses in any field last four or fives years without strong management. This gives you peace of mind-security!

------------------------------------------------- Wave 2 - Consumable Product Line -------------------------------------------------

Once their online marketing machines are running fairly smoothly, generating a healthy flow of leads generally isn't a problem. The challenge lies in generating most profit from existing flow of leads.

What's one crucial key to generating maximum profit per lead? Yes, there is a goldmine in follow up contact.

WHY WE SOMETIMES NEGLECT FOLLOW UP

The typical marketer may send one follow up email, mail out a single brochure or catalog, make one follow up call, or send out one fax, and then sit back and wait... Wait for prospect to visit their web site, place an order, email with further questions, or take another desired action. Even seasoned marketers that are keenly aware of value of follow up sometimes neglect this crucial activity. I've been guilty of it at times myself.

Offline follow-up, of course, is more time-consuming and expensive than online follow up, considering time and expense involved in long distance phone and fax calls, mailing or shipping of marketing materials, and so forth. Due to its speed and extremely low cost, email could be considered ideal follow up marketing tool. However, without an efficient system for implementing email follow up, problems can still arise.

WHY THE NEED FOR FOLLOW UP?

It's a fact that most people typically don't buy (or take other desired action) as a result of an initial marketing contact, even if they are perfectly targeted, prime candidates for offer.

What's more, it's not unusual for some follow up marketing contacts to generate approximately same percentage of sales or other desired action as initial contact. There are a variety of things that can prevent prospects from taking desired action as a result of initial marketing contact.