This encourages them to build and maintain their own network of distributors, each with their own retail customers. It comes with many aliases; MLM, Multilevel Marketing, Word of Mouth Marketing, Multiplication-of-Efforts Marketing, among many others. The distributors, who are independent contractors and not employees of the company, act as both the company’s customer base as well as the marketing and sales arm for a company’s product (or services) and business opportunity.