The Ultimate Guide to Starting in Network Marketing on Social Media
Whether it be an extra stream of income you seek or a chance to see how you fare as an entrepreneur, becoming an independent distributor for a network marketing (MLM) company is a viable option. Multi-Level Marketing companies, often referred to as network marketing or direct sales, provide a proven product, marketing plan, ideally mentorship, training and support as well (but not always). And, it’s because of the not always I wanted to create the ‘Ultimate Guide to Starting in Network Marketing on Social Media“.
The company model, is a business in a box that supplies everything you need to get started – but then what?
Especially when it comes to social media, the lack of support and training there, is limited.
One mistake many new network marketers make is in not treating their new venture as the business it is. Just because MLM businesses come pre-made with a product or service, a plan, and support, doesn’t mean it will run itself.
Here are some important resources, including a tutorial video, for you to explore, regarding network marketing on social media, and my favorite, Facebook.
Network marketing’s business model is simple. Leverage the power of one-to-one relationships to market and distribute products
directly to consumers.
Network Marketing companies empower independent entrepreneurs to monetize the most viral form of marketing, which is word-of-mouth marketing. When social media was introduced on the scene, it took that word-of-mouth marketing model, to an entirely different level. There are very few places you can now be ‘online‘ and not be exposed in some way, to advertising, and often, from a network marketing or direct sales model.
According to the Direct Selling Association, over 18 million Americans are involved in direct sales, adding $34 million to the economy back in 2014. Those aren’t small numbers, and have risen since that reporting.
I read an interesting article recently by a leader in our profession – and I believe sharing some of my takeaways will help get us ready to dive into, the actionable steps I want you to leave with.
5 Must Have’s to Help You Achieve Results,
in Network Marketing
- Influence – John C. Maxwell says that ‘a leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less. Everything rises and falls on leaderships, so it’s an essential attribute for success’. Influence is also used to effectively and persuasively communicate the benefits of a good product or service, and to help you, hear more of the word, yes.
- Focus – In today’s fast paced society, the ability to focus is becoming less common. People are all over the place (literally), and easily distracted. FOCUS Management is the challenge for us all. How to stay FOCUSED, and WHAT to focus on is also a topic in itself. It helps to have mentorship and/or coaching to assist you in this category.
- Work Ethic – ‘The only place success comes before work, is in the dictionary’. It’s important to build up your tolerance for work. If you are doing what you love, your work can become your play, but until then, it is called NetWORK marketing …
- Belief – As an entrepreneur, you are a creator. You turn intangible ideas into something tangible, and it requires belief! Not only does belief affect your physiology, but it also has an affect that makes the universe start to conspire to that which you believe. In some instances this might before referred to as the power of intention, or attraction marketing – truth is, regardless of what you call it … they all invoice some form of belief.
- Faith – “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” Faith of any denomination applies here – It requires faith to keep working when the results are not immediate. Entrepreneurship requires faith – the faith to believe even when it seems like believing is not working.
Now, let’s move on to what I believe are three (3) steps that you need, when it comes to starting in network marketing, on social media. 
In this post (and video), we’ll talk about what platform to use, building a brand and creating a presence, and your content strategy (and what that even means!)
First things first. When it comes to network marketing on social media … if you ask me what platform know this. I believe anyone should be using Facebook. And, when used correctly, I am confident that you can build a multiple six (6) figure income using this platform alone.
So Facebook …
Who should use it: Everyone and their Grandmas!
What to share: You! (let me detail this a bit more for you shortly)
Post frequency: Three to Five (3-5) posts per day
When it comes to a business page, you might consider advertising or paying to promote your page on Facebook, but don’t make your brand’s Facebook page itself look like an advertisement. Inspire conversations and shares – share yourself, what makes you relatable. And, be sure to ask questions – open ended ones, ones that elicit responses from your audience.
Of all social networks, Facebook is best equipped to linearly share responses to a post asking a question or sparking conversation.
Answers then appear in friends of your respondents, spreading the conversation.
Facebook offers personal connection and an enjoyable distraction amidst the work day, but use typically peaks outside of work hours. There’s no shortage of options for analyzing Facebook data. (and if you think that knowing this type of data would be helpful, let me know and we’ll make sure to make that happen).
Track the success of your content by date and time to help you understand the best times for engaging your audience – because this does matter, and more importantly can vary based on where you are – and your ideal customers or clients are.
Useful tools: URL shortener, like Bitly does more than just shrink down links. Each time you convert a link, Bitly offers stats on clicks generated from that specific link, making it helpful to see how much traffic is brought directly from sharing to Facebook.
*Now, this doesn’t mean I am encouraging you to slap a link on every post you do – but in the event you are sharing a link (of some sort) being able to track it can be super helpful as your business continues to grow, on social media.
I think the problem when it comes to starting in network marketing and direct sales, on social media, is people try to take on way too much. And, since we know that most success comes from consistency – when you are attempting to manage too much that consistency is lost, I promise.
Building a Brand and Creating a Presence
There is an earlier post on creating your personal brand that you’re welcome to check out (click here) but more importantly I need to stress that working on your brand, not your company’s brand is super, super and SUPER important.
We get it, you’re excited.
You want to share anything and everything about your products or services with everyone. You want to make it your profile picture and your cover photo screams look at me I’m a billboard!
If there are two (2) things I can offer to your right now, for your business (and for the sake of your friends and family) please consider this …
- Your profile photo should be of you. Not you and your products, or a stack of cash. A great headshot of you – smiling, inviting, clear (not fuzzy and blurry), simply you.
- Your cover photo should be of something that describes you. Maybe it’s a picture of interest, your family, a favorite saying or pastime. Again… it should reflect you.
Social media is littered with noise, nonsense and spam – this doesn’t need to be you and my hopes with this Ultimate Guide to Starting in Network Marketing on Social Media will help it never be you, or your team.
So having said that, take a look at your last 5-10 posts on social media. What do they say about you? And hey, when I’ve done this exercise with some of my coaching clients, it is okay to be embarrassed and think ‘shoot I look like the spam he was talking about!’.
The good news is, you have identified it. Now, time to fix it, or improve on it.
Harness your excitement. Let me qualify. It is great that you are excited – I mean of course it is, you are launching or are in business and excited is great – but let’s focus on how to harness it so that it works in your favor instead of against it.
Think about it you may have gone years with posting cute animal shots, and pictures of your family or the activities you are doing, and then BOOM you launch a business and now it’s sales overload. It’s funny, this is a common trend yet people are still left wondering why their family and friends on Facebook aren’t interested.
Perhaps this is one of those ‘aha moments’?
Let’s look at it from a different angle. Reverse engineer it even. Who are your potential, or ideal customers (or distributors)? Where do they hang out? What do they like? Consider the type of content they share – and how can you fit in there?
Perhaps you are looking to attract motivated and inspirational people – consider posting quotes or images that reflect that. Maybe you work well with those who love animals – go on, post that cute puppy photo you have! Think outside the box here. Simply posting about your products and services leaves nothing to the imagination.
Let’s dig a little deeper here in the next tip I have for you.
Developing Your Content Strategy on Social Media
In order to receive we must first give. There’s a great book by Gary Vaynerchuk called ‘Jab Jab Jab Right Hook’ and the ideology behind that, is jab = value, hook = sell (or close). When this is applied on social media (and that is in reference to just about any platform), it can be incredibly effective.
You start to become this page of value, and content that others are looking for, and hopefully learning from. These types of ‘jab’ posts help create curiosity. They help uncover a story, maybe one of lifestyle, and success.
This picture for example, at face value it looks like a beautiful lake right? Sure, of course it is – but when you add a story along the lines of ‘I remember I used to live for the weekends to experience these moments with my family, and now here we are on a Tuesday afternoon. Still working, sure! But the beauty of a business I can work from my phone!”
You have now shown the reader or viewer a much different image than solely the lake. You’ve told them that you get to experience things you love to do, because you are afforded the opportunity to work from your cell phone.
See the difference?
Sharing that type of story is so much more powerful than the same picture that is then followed by “want to live like this? Have 5 more spots now!”
What does that even mean?!
Creating a vision and experience is everything. You can’t just be a place of a sales mindset.
Think bigger than that.
When you are creating the post keep this in mind; 1 goal, 1 intention. Create curiosity around what you have to offer.It is possible you have a solution to current problems, needs, struggles, that your potential customers have.
I use this saying a lot – ‘Don’t give away the cookie’. Drip a little, no need to fill up the cup on the first go!
Lastly, let’s look at Facebook Live.
Facebook Live, a Network Marketers Dream
… in my humble opinion of course. But let me be real with you – If you are a network marketer and you are not using Facebook Live for your business, you are leaving money on the table. You are missing a whole ton of lives out there that could use what you have to offer – be it product, or service.
I appreciate it can be intimidating, but so can everything else – but we have to start somewhere.
Start simple. Start with creating content for one live per week. Consider things like sharing your journey, tips you may have come across, a great book you read – analogies are great to. Make it relatable. Video sells without the selling. Because ultimately what you are doing, is selling you. You are showing people that you are a real person. Someone that they could see themselves buying from or working with.
For those of you who are perhaps more seasoned, or a bit more of an extrovert – consider committing to three Facebook Lives per week.
There is endless content available to use for this platform. It can be a simple message that in turn may resonate with the right person. And, don’t be discouraged if the live audience isn’t enormous – more people catch the replay anyways. Be sure to check back on the comments of the video – I encourage you to reply to them, interaction is key!
If you do not currently have a coach or mentor that is teaching you HOW to be successful on social media, click here to join our private coaching program now and connect with me on Facebook.
As always, if you got value from this information, please comment below and share on social media and with your teams.
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