Lego’s sure have come a long way.
My son, who is ten, was looking at the online Lego Christmas catalog this afternoon to get some ideas for his wish list when he discovered a program he could download for free that would allow him to build his own custom Lego sets. Being the softy that I am when it comes to that kind of thing, I said “yes” when he asked if I would download the program so he could try it.
3 hours later, he has built several versions of the same custom car and is now designing and building a virtual airplane.
Aside from the obvious technological sophistication of this program, I am captivated by what is truly emerging as a significant trend these days that is showing up not just in online Lego catalogs, but in all sorts of industries. From design your own Nikes to the custom jeans Lands End offered a few years back to the fast food jingles that tell us we can have it “our way,” the trend of customization is all around us, and it is driving much of what we see happening on the Internet and particularly in the Internet Marketing arenas. With more and more people every day vying for a piece of the Online Real Estate Pie, and wanting to get their particular message out to as many people who are willing to listen as possible, is it any wonder the cry for standing out from the crowd through some form of customization is ringing louder and louder with each passing year? In a world where so much is becoming uniformly bland and blurring together, people are hungry for originality, creativity, indeed, those very elements that make the human spirit unique from anything else out there, those elements that make us, well, us…as opposed to the other 6+ billion people populating this tiny planet.
People want a way to stand out, to be noticed, to define themselves as unique. Nowhere is this more evident than in Network Marketing. While we love being a part of something bigger than ourselves, and need, to a degree, the homogenization social networks and communities provide, at the same time we also need to be the one-of-a-kind person we were born to be, which means finding some way of showing that to those in our inner and outer circles as we promote our one-dimensional businesses.
Traditionally, the word customization would not be used in the same sentence as Network Marketing, unless someone was trying to illustrate what not to do with this business model. One of the paradoxes of Network Marketing is its reliance on both duplication AND having “The Magic” (a fancy way of describing customization), two contradictory elements that, when working seamlessly together, bring individuals massive success in this business. For creative types like me who naturally have “The Magic”, but struggle with doing things one particular and rote way, buying into the duplication process is challenging. This is because we want to re-invent the wheel, tinker with the systems, put our own stamp or twist on things, make it that much better. Not because we don’t think the system is good — but rather because we are naturally inclined to make things better and more original.
But as anyone who has been in Network Marketing for any length of time, reinventing the system is the kiss of death when it comes to building a massive organization. There is always a reason, and a good reason at that, for companies to promote and teach a certain method of doing the business, one that anyone can plug into and duplicate. This is one of the many features that makes NM so attractive to so many people of various backgrounds. If a good company with good products and strong leadership can show people a simple pattern of doing their business that leads to massive success on many levels, then it will attract quality people and grow for years. Duplication is at the root of this success model. Franchising has been showing for decades that this cookie-cutter approach works, as have several of the big NM companies that have stood the test of time. Why mess with what works?
But the questions still arises: Is there any room for customization when it comes to building a Network Marketing business? Up until a few years ago, my answer to that question would have been no. But today, I believe the Internet is allowing that to happen. The automated systems, or means of duplication, available online are there for anyone to use, things like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and the like. Within those systems are options for users to be creative, to brand themselves, which is merely another word for customization. This kind of massive branding was not possible until the Internet came along. The game has changed forever now that business builders can reach out to huge numbers of people with their own personal messages, videos, websites, etc. Never before has there been so much available to anyone who wants to broadcast themselves and their unique angle to the world.
However, the question “Is this a sustainable model?” needs to be asked. Will the day come when we just cannot deal with another Tweet or Friend Request or video showing us yet another person with their own message? At what point will all these opportunities and messages become one big blurry mess attracting no one to anything? Again, the paradox comes into play here: people are naturally attracted to the promise of simplicity a system offers, but are simultaneously drawn to work and partner up with specific individuals because of their unique qualities and personalities. At some point, we have to make a decision about which system and which people are right for us and then do our thing accordingly.
Just like my son is drawn to the familiarity and comfort of the Lego brand, he is also turned on by the power of creating something original that reflects his ideas for what a really cool Lego creation can be. It is no different from what us grown-ups are doing each day as we promote and build and reach out and attract others to us using online systems and tools. Some of us will naturally want to build cars, while others will gravitate toward creating airplanes or dollhouses or fire stations. In the end, if the systems are strong, and there is room for us to customize within them, others will find us just as we will find others. And in the end, when done right and in the spirit of freedom of expression, everyone succeeds.
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