Hey there, welcome back!
After I published the last podcast, not the 3-min one but the one before, I’ve got a few messages from some ladies in network marketing or planning to join a network marketing company. They wanted to know when the next episode will be live. They wanted to find out the secrets of finding success in their business.
Just to put things into context. I was with two other MLM companies before this current one that I am with. When I started my first one, I had no idea what I was doing. My upline wasn’t very helpful. I mean she’s great as a person, but she approached the business in a traditional way like go and after your friends and family. She could help me with an actual demonstration and sell. A lot of face to face approach, but that was all. No, follow up. She didn’t teach me how to follow up, or do I need to follow up? What to do next? That was my first one, so I didn’t even know how to do the whole thing. I ended up with one downline, who is my friend. That was about 7 years ago, and I still have the products with me!
The second one was about 3 years ago, and it was way better as my upline is the top leader in Australia, so she already got a team built up. She has regular online live training for her team. She is more tech-savvy, and she sends out email regularly, like once or twice a week through MailChimp. The only thing is, that is a niche market. It’s a niche. It’s a crafting MLM business. Don’t get me wrong. A lot of people are doing it and have great success. It’s just me. It takes so much time to finish a product, and then you have to write a blog or showcase it by doing a video. So time-consuming and it’s just can’t scale up quickly. And also, I realise that it’s a product that good to have, but not a necessity. So for me, it’s a bit difficult to sell. There is something missing there, and I’m going to talk about it later.
Before I go into all the details, I would highly recommend you order this book called Network Marketing Secrets by Russell Brunson. If you’re new in the digital world, he is the founder of Click Funnels. In this book, he talks about specifically for people in network marketing. I’ve got my affiliate link here in the show notes for ordering this book, and yes so I probably get about $1 for each book that you order. The book is free, and you only pay for the shipping. It’s definitely worth the money. http://bit.ly/networkmarketingwithvanessa
So now, I want you to ditch your idea about MLM. No matter what you think before. Get rid of your perception of network marketing. I want you to listen to this podcast with a clean slate.
Some of you might aware, or from my last episode; I love using essential oils. I bought them through an MLM company. I do have my reasons behind why I use essential oils if you go back and listen to my last podcast. I’m very passionate about it. If you want to be successful in network marketing, first of all, you have to love the product. You’re the product of the product, does it makes sense? Don’t be nervous about what you do. Don’t feel embarrassed about what you sell. You have to feel comfortable with what you’re selling. Otherwise, I would say choose another company. You have to believe in the product yourself.
Secondly, picking the right MLM company is important. You want recurring income, so you want people to re-order. Some people join MLM that sells supplements, for example. Once people start taking or using it, they become addicted. They want more and more every month. They want to keep the supply. They would probably stay on it for 3-6 months. Also, the range of products is also important. I tend to look for a company which has a different product range. Ideally, the products they sell can benefit my whole family; then it’s awesome! Like if they have products for mums, dads, children and even pets. How good is that? This is the criteria if I need to choose an MLM now. I actually look at the product range. Some products are good for teenagers; some products are good for pregnant women, some are good for babies. If I can have everything under one roof, that will be great. Also, from a sales perspective, average customer cart value will be higher if you can offer something not just for them but also for their family. So, there is a strategy behind even choosing a company. And this actually leads the conversation to my next point.
Don’t treat MLM as a side business, treat it as your core business if you’re going down that path. This is what I learnt from experience. You have to operate as a real business. You have to be able to scale your business, so you need a system in place. What do I mean by system? Do you have an onboarding system? If you recruited 1-5 people, you could still sort of manage. You can still able to answer their queries. How about when your team grow to 20-30 people? Will you be able to provide the same attention to every one of them? The people on your level 1, for example, will get the training from you directly when you first recruited them. How about in level 2, 3 and 4? Are they receiving the same training as your level 1? Are you the only one who is doing the training? All these can limit your growth, and you won’t be able to scale up. You have to solve a lot of follow up problems.
Fourthly, do not recruit everyone. If you’re in the MLM industry long enough, you’d know some are just going to be customers, no matter what you teach or what you sell. Some are going to take their business to the next level and become a distributor or a leader. You have to know your downlines. They need different messages from you. Interestingly, this is what I learn from Steve Larson, he is a king in MLM, and you can go and check him out. He said, ‘don’t sign up someone who needs to but sign up someone who wants to be in it. That actually makes a huge difference, which I totally agree with. If you beg someone or say to someone that you need to do this, come and join me, then you become a life coach after they signed up. If people want to join you, then you become a business coach after they signed up. Do you get what I mean? Does it make sense to you? It’s the whole motivation thing. If people really want it to be successful, they’ll kind of chasing you and ask you for more and more. They’ll always ask you for the next step.
I personally think in the MLM world; people are not using digital marketing at the full potential. Selling is what happens face to face. Marketing is how to get people to your face. If you don’t have the people, you can’t sell.
Ok, now you think you kind of understand how it works, but you want to know exactly how to do this, right? Alright, let’s go in and talk about how to actually stand out from everybody in network marketing.
Let me use an example. Since I love my oils, my example will be oil related, so bear with me. It’s a Lavender essential oil, a very common product. Basically, everyone in the essential oil business will get access to Lavender oil no matter which company you’re with. What is the difference between your lavender oil from company A compare to your friend’s lavender oil from company B if both are 100% pure essential oils? Probably not much different, just different in branding and label. Usually, people buy from people. What makes your lavender oil better than the others? It’s your story behind your lavender oil. Why do you start using it? Why do you like lavender oil? What are the benefits you find?
Share your back story. Engage and connect with your ideal customers. Once you’ve your back story, you’ll connect with people that resonate with you.
Build up your personal brand. I can’t address enough of how important this is. Do you want to sell like a celebrity? ‘No matter what they sell, people buy’ kind of concept. People buy from you because they want to look or live like you. So make sure you have your branding right, so you’ll attract the right customers.
Keep publishing. It can be in the format of FB lives, Instagram lives, on YouTube or podcast. It doesn’t matter. It builds up your authority in your niche.
Onboarding system. Top leaders in the MLM groups usually have their own community. What I mean is at least have an onboarding system. Like your first 21 days or 30 days, whatever the number is. So you prepare your new recruits. When they first signed up, they don’t know what they’re doing. So an onboarding system is like a guide for them to follow. Let them know what sort of bonuses that they can’t miss if they want to maximise the money coming in. They don’t know what they don’t know. You don’t want them to miss any cash bonuses. Also, have a frequently asked questions area for them. There are always similar questions come up from new recruits. What are they? Try to lay them out and answer them. Teach them how to deal with objections.
Build up your community. You should have your community setup, meaning you should have materials like FB post, Instagram post ready for them to use. I’m not talking about those stock photos provided by the company. Otherwise, you are no different from other MLMers in your industry. So start creating your own assets and share with your downlines.
If you start from these 5 points that I just talked about. You’re halfway through to success in your MLM business. If you are not sure, go back and listen again. I do offer 1 on 1 coaching package on teaching you how to stand out from the crowd in network marketing. I am basically working with you on your business and guide you through how to set up everything that I just talked about. Send me an email if you’re interested in finding out more, you can connect with me at branding@makemarketingyours.com.