Business

Stop Ruining Your Network Marketing Business Being Spammy

Did you start your new business with excitement? Were you ready to dive in head first and make this the avenue that changed everything for you? Then after a few weeks, do you find yourself wondering why people are not messaging you or engaging on your Social Media posts to buy your products or aren’t even as close to being as excited as you are? Do you post and think, “Are they judging me?, Am I annoying them?”

Here are the facts: Most Network Marketers are ruining their business because of how they use Social Media.

I want to share with you how most are going about their business totally wrong and ways they can change this.

Your message will make or break your business. If you aren’t leading from a place where your relationships matter, you will look spammy every single time. It blows my mind time and time again to hear the training that is offered to new business owners.

Listen to me. I am an advocate for the Direct Sales & MLM industry. I absolutely love it and I believe it offers so much opportunity for so many. Many of the worlds top business leaders and billionaires agree. But, what aggravates me is that these million dollar companies don’t invest in the right Social Media/Training people who will train their fields correctly!

Unfortunately, network marketers today are being taught online cold messaging and prospecting tactics which include the wrong message, at the wrong time and most definitely in all the wrong places!

Here’s the truth!

There is a VERY fine line with being excited about your business and truly believing what it can offer people and being spammy. It makes me so sad that so many network marketers give the industry I love a bad name to the point where an entire ANTI-MLM community has been created. (who clearly have had a bad experience. My goal-give all of them a great experience).

I spent an entire week, watching videos and reading blog posts of those that claim to “HATE” network marketing and have devoted their entire content to making sure every one believes that network marketing is a scam. I wanted to understand why. I wanted to see things thru their eyes and use their content as training material to continue training my team correctly.

It was clear through my research why these people think the way they do and why they believe that Network Marketing is an evil predatory cult whose sole purpose is to lure people in and steal their money.

First things first, in any industry, their are good eggs and bad eggs. If any person thinks rationally, you can’t group all people or businesses in any industry “all bad” or ” all good”. I mean there are always good in any group of people.

I have been with my company for 11 years and one of the biggest factors for me getting started and sticking with them is their ethics, how they pride themselves on doing things right and having a great reputation. I personally love a ton of direct sales products but, their some of their tactics are less than desirable. It really is sad because when you have consultants or distributors taught to just focus on quantity, and not what is best for the business owner or the company, well that is where things go terribly wrong.

I have a ton of examples of messages sent to me, my team and my clients that are completely the wrong way to market a business. People join this companies and are giving the wrong or very little training. This is when cold, unsolicted or just plain spammy messages start pouring in.

The WRONG Way to Share Your Opportunity

I am the first person to tell you, that Direct Sales was my saving grace. I could have never started my own business with out an opportunity like I found. It fit my personality, what I loved and it allowed me to help other ladies have a chance at something amazing. To really shine. But what I hated about Direct Sales is all the weird sales pressure and the icky feeling messages about joining someone’s team. I hated it then. I still hate it now and it the beginning, it was the reason, I wouldn’t share what I was doing with anyone because I refused to do it that way.

I mean first, if you really want to take a look at who you know, then I recommend at least taking a look at someone’s Social Media accounts. What are they doing? It blows me away to read the messages I get and it is clear they didn’t even take a look to see what I was currently doing. I mean after 11 years with one company, I almost find it disrespectful to get a message saying, ” Hey I know you have done “things” in the past and I have an opportunity I know you would love.”

Successful business owners and Network Marketers know the true secret to success is learning the ropes and building relationships by doing their research. Back in the day, someone would have had more of chance of getting me to join by saying, “Hey how are you doing?” Rather than, “Hey I have an opportunity for you.

Do you want to know a secret?

“People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care” – Theodore Roosevelt

It’s about actually caring about people, becoming a person of value and being someone uniquely positioned to help someone with their problems.

This all truly is about helping people with a problem.

I don’t blame the Anti-MLMers for calling out people who coach, “just copy and paste”. How is that authentic? How is that real? Sure, every business has scripts as GUIDELINE, but that never means, be a robot and just paste the exact same thing to 100 people until someone bites. Personally, when people ask me for what I say or a script. I say there is no script, you have to have real, personal and true conversations with people. You have to build that KNOW, LIKE & TRUST factor.

Any idiot can copy and paste a message into the Private Message function on Facebook.

You have got to STAND OUT! I mean really! What sets you apart from the rest of the desperate consultants hitting people’s inboxes with their new “ground floor” opportunities, quick cash programs, join my team or “have you ever considered doing what I’m doing” or “are you open to another stream of income?” lines?

Do these things work? Well, they get people in the door and this is where so many people are against our industry. People get in. They believe something to do be true or told this is so easy and they fail or they never do anything with their investment.

Almost all companies are teaching 1980’s ways of building a team online.

Heck what worked in 2015 isn’t even working now. I will say it again. People do business with people they know like and trust. That comes from people showing up online, being on video, being in stories, sharing value and being devoted to their community. That means answering DM’s, chatting with their people, being consistent and never just pushing products or services non stopo.

Are you wondering if your posts are SPAMMY or make people run in the opposite direction? Answer these questions.

Are 90% of your posts, stories, videos or blog posts about only what YOU SELL?
Does your first or second private message to a stranger on social media include a link to join your opportunity or a ‘check this out’ video? or a ‘Can I ask you a question?’ etc. comment?
You believe and only tell people that you ONLY use your companies products? (People aren’t dumb and truth be told if you say this, your followers will think you are a liar.)
Is your personal Facebook page full of only posts about YOUR PRODUCTS?
Do you PM people you haven’t spoken to since High School looking for an opening to invite them to a party?
Do you add people without permission to groups or events?
Do post marketing flyers constantly or ask someone to help you with a goal?
Do you have a hidden agenda when you engage with people online hoping to turn the conversation into getting them to be interested in your opportunity without caring about them at all. Are you being fake and really only out for what is best for you?
Are you copying and pasting in authentic messages in texts and private messages?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions….well I am going to tell you, it’s time for a new strategy.

You don’t have to get off social media. I mean connecting and interacting with people online is the BEST way, especially right now to grow your business.

People reach out to me all the time about joining my team and wanting to be coached by me. Most of them, I have never talked to personally at all before they reached out but because I show up every single day and let people be a part of my world, they stay a part of my community. The interesting thing is it may have taken me a little longer to grow my team, but when I stopped with the prospecting tactics I had learned from other network marketers, my business started growing.

It is such a great feeling knowing that I don’t have to approach my family and friends every time I am out. I know that doing this in an authentic way will get those that are interested asking me about what I do and if its for them. You don’t need to approach everyone with a hidden agenda and you shouldn’t. Normal every day conversations that are authentically you are the RIGHT WAY to grow your business. Truth is when you are you and not selling during every conversation, people will be drawn to you.

Weird, right?

At this point, you may be asking, “then how the hell did your business grow?”

Well before I answer that, I have to say that there are people who are very skilled recruiters who completely disregard the issues I mentioned above. They do it. They don’t care and they probably have huge teams.

They knowingly and without a care in the world look at every single person as someone they are hunting for their team. Yes you can offer the opportunity but it should never be what you lead with. I have never been about the HUNT and I won’t ever be. It doesn’t work for me.

The problem with prospecting in general, as it’s normally taught, is that the mindset going in, is still about what YOU want people to do and about manipulating people into doing what you want them to do.

I mean it’s true and these tactics are what give our industry a bad name. It is giving people the bare details and just getting them to hit that join button… and really not caring about anything else. I personally don’t understand how any one can do that with a good conscious.

I am not about that. If you are truly offering an opportunity and being about what your business can do for someone, then be about THAT! Get the right people for the right reasons. Think about the kinds of messages you don’t like getting and if you don’t like them, why would someone else?

Copy and pasting is never the way and rather than that route. I learned how to legitimately get Facebook and other networks to actually help me attract the people who are most interested in what I have to offer, giving value and gaining connections and most importantly people who will refer me to others.

In other words, it’s about YOU, not them. I have never liked that, I still don’t and I often wonder…what companies out there will actually GET IT!

You don’t need to feel like an icky, sales person. You don’t need to cold message, copy and paste, post marketing flyers. I mean…….here is the secret: PERSONALITY BEFORE PRODUCTS! Yup. That is the secrete sauce. Show up! Be on video! Show people who you are! Answer every direct message! Be Consistent! Be real! Be messy and most importantly BE HONEST!!!

Before I get into the nuts and bolts I want to share the number 1 thing that you can do immediately to recruit new people on social media…

QUIT LEADING WITH WHAT YOU SELL

People should be able to tell what you do, but YOU should be the BRAND! It should be about the value you offer, not the company you are associated with. Now I know this might be controversial, but you want to create a little bit of intrigue and curiosity. You want them to buy into who you are, who you are about and why you decided to start you business. This allows them to connect with your story. You guessed it, it gives them that moment when they say, “ME TO!”

By posting about your company, you are saying the company plays a bigger role in helping them, than you do. You’re just a sales person – an unimportant commodity – they don’t need. In fact, if you are perceived as a sales person, you are repelling your potential customers.

Create a little mystery and curiosity, by focusing on what you can do for people or help them with. And if you haven’t figured it out already, all these lessons apply to building OFFLINE, as well as ONLINE. DO NOT diminish the critical role you play as an expert in the eyes of your prospect.

Great networkers position themselves as problem solvers (not sales people), who can help others get what they want. They offer tips, tricks, ideas and education to help people, not just offer them something for sale.

ATTRACTION MARKETING

Attract people because you educate, entertain, inform or inspire. When you do this and people fall in love, they will buy DIRT from you. Yes Dirt! Lead with who you are and the message you are sending first. Products second. It seems counter intuitive but it truly works when it comes to a loyal customer base and growing your team.

I would much rather make a ton of money in my business first and then have my friends and family beg me to tell them more about it then desperately hunt down my family and friends for them to run away because in the beginning………no business is making money so why should the people you love join you??? (LIGHT BULB MOMENT RIGHT?)

Build connections and offer value and your personality. Meet new people online and watch the people around you peeking around the corner trying to figure out what you are doing LOL.

For me, it is much more fun to share value and content and make friends who could in turn want to join me. And if it’s not for them, they love me enough to offer a referral. I am perfectly OK with that. It feels better, it makes me love my business and I never have to worry about people running from me.

Come tell me what you think and hang out with me Instagram!