When I first signed up with my main network marketing company I had lots of ideas, and lots of suggestions from other people also with the company, about how to get started. Mostly, the people helping me brainstorm had lots of experience (and some of them were really successful, too).
My primary experience though, was Overwhelm: I didn't know what to do to take the suggested "reach out methods" (in other words, marketing methods) and get results that were consistent and predictable.
Has that happened to you? What did you do to sort it out?
Along the way, in training classes and discussions with my mentor and other team members, there were some sign posts.
One suggestion was this: Find Your Fast Ball. In other words, find the one thing that you can do over and over that produces product sales and helps you find people who will refer you to other potential customers and team members. Of course, I wasn't sure which "reach out method" might be THE ONE for me. As it turned out, it took a couple of years of experimentation and learning to rally back from "failure" (e.g. low sales, no steady income).
Another suggestion was: Talk to People (about the company) Every Day. In other words, share your message about the products and the business every day. I tried a lot of different ways to start conversations and include sharing about products I loved and what a great business I was involved with, but as fate would have it, I was working from home in a town where I knew hardly anyone and had no money and affiliations (like memberships in networking groups, clubs, etc.) While I didn't mind building a life while I build a business, I didn't want to walk up to strangers to start a conversation with the purpose of inserting my "elevator speech."
A third suggestion: It's a Numbers Game. So, get in front of as many people as you can since only a few will be "ready" and you can just move on...and on...and on. Well, you know, I agree that a lot of people will need to see and hear about anything you are trying to market and sell just to find the few that want what you have. I just didn't want to have to make my friendship and community building efforts into marketing and sales opportunities from the beginning.
A fourth suggestion: Use Internet Marketing to Get in Front of a Lot of People. I actually think this is a valid suggestion. However, even with my status as technically sophisticated computer user (I teach online) I can see that building a totally Internet-based business is going to take a lot of time. And, the same social dilemma exists online as does in my face-to-face in-person life. I don't want to make the first purpose of communicating and relationship building online into making money NOW.
Are there any solutions to my dilemma?
Well, yes there are and I had to do some searching to find them, believe you me.
Here's the solution I found, in a nutshell: I learned how to use some fundamental tools integrating both in-person and local strategies with online marketing. This way I could start with free and inexpensive methods and build locally first. My first customers were friends and family who just wanted to support my new business or liked the products. To build my customer base, though, I implemented a local system for generating product customers that used some tried and true "old" methods integrated with "new" tools. I use flyers, business cards/drop cards, a message only phone line and a web-based lead capture page to start out a local advertising campaign focused on just one product. When people see my advertising (flyers, ads, etc) and they're interested, they call me and leave a message with their contact data and/or go to my web page and leave their contact data and get more information about my product.
I call people and talk to them about what's going on in their lives that caused them to see my advertising and follow up with me. What do they need? That's my primary question.
If people don't buy right away, no problem. I provide them with high quality relevant (to their needs) information--and with some connection that's purely social. They are on my newsletter list (monthly) and I also send product-related information to them. I stay in touch--sometimes email, sometimes a card, sometimes an invitation to a seminar or announcement of a community event. I send articles and do some research for people when asked. And, of course, I NEVER share their contact information. I don't bug them. They can opt out to get off my list at any time.
For more information, you might want to read about some of the fundamental marketing tools I use and teach others to use. Take a look at these links for information about:
And remember, an initial hour-long telephone consultation with me is a no cost way to sort out what your first marketing and sales campaign is going to be -- your own system for building a local customer base with free and inexpensive tools. Call my business message line, 1-888-307-0925, and make sure to tell me you're calling to schedule a consultation. Leave your phone number and email address and I'll get back to you within 24 hours.
]]>These policies and guidelines seem to be generally misunderstood and often purposely ignored.
Ignore your company's policies at your peril. You may lose your right to market your company's products and lose your organization and customer base, too. In other words, while you think you may be smarter and quicker to online marketing than the "old guard", if you ignore the guidelines and "fair use" and "fair play" ethics in general and specifically in your company, you end up jeopardizing the growth and stability of your business--and the businesses of those who have joined your team.
Here are a few questions you need to think about and research for yourself:
1. When I am online, posting in blogs and creating and posting my own web content, how may I represent myself and what specific things should I avoid saying when I represent myself and my products?
For example, those of us in the health and wellness field should NOT make claims for our products that imply we have medical expertise and the license to dispense medical advice and prescription medication. It's always okay to tell your own story supported by evidence from your own experience. However, it's not okay to make claims about our products' being able to "cure" any disease or ailment.
2. When creating marketing content both online (web pages, posts to content sharing sites, ezine articles) and offline (advertisements, flyers, postcards, hard copy articles), what text and images are available for my use? And which text and images are "off limits"?
For example, it is generally not okay to grab graphic images that we find on our company's web pages or in their print materials and use them in our own marketing materials, especially those that will be open to the general public e.g. print advertising and web marketing. In my primary company, it is also a breach of the guidelines to use the trademarked names of products and company-created content in my own web marketing content. This can be quite ackward when I want to speak directly to my target audience and avoid any appearance of dishonesty. But, it can be accomplished while building credibility by focusing less on "selling" the product and more on sharing information and expertise about topics of interest to our customers. For instance, writing how-to articles and web pages that appeal to those seeking everyday ways to "go green" rather than writing to sell a specific green product would be taking the Attraction Marketing path to online marketing, adding more value at the beginning of our relationship with a prospective new customer.
The Worst Recent Bloopers
I have come across some really obvious examples of what not to do, just this week:
1. A distributor of a particular health and wellness product (which I also market, just to be clear) who was posting in a blog in response to a woman complaining that when she used the product for her cancer, her pain became unbearable. Instead of advising the woman to seek the advice of her physician, the distributor claimed the woman was having a healing crisis and should call her [company name] distributor immediately.
2. Another distributor of the same health and wellness company (which is also the company I represent, just to be clear again), has a web site I reached by Googling for information about a particular product. Clicking on the link, what popped up in the center frame of his web page was the entire sub-web published by our company to inform people about their immune system and the product and the published clinical research related to the product. It would have been okay for this distributor to create original content and link to this web site and specific pages. Instead, this person blatently ignores what most people know or make cautious decisions about. This person chose to infringe copyright law and ethics, too!
3. Bordering on deserving of legal sanctions, I came across a network marketer on the web who is recruiting new business builders by using a model that practically ignores the line of distinction between ethical business practice and illegal business models.
4. And from the world of print materials, three of the members of my team and I shared examples of when it is okay to say in print "as seen on the [specific media personality] show" and when it's in violation. One of us had been rightfully called on the carpet for including that claim in a print ad in a regional magazine while it was deemed okay to include it on a flier mailed only to our local mailing lists announcing a Green Products Garage Sale. One of us has recently changed a web page to say something like "endorsed by world famous media personality" with a link to that person's web site where it's allowable to use her name, her picture and anything else that belongs to her (of course, since it is hers, right?)!
If you ask me, most of us learned the basics in kindergarten. It's not okay to steal something that belongs to somebody else and use it as if it also belongs to us. It's not okay to cheat and use someone's work to develop our marketing materials, whether those words and images are published in a book, an ad, or a web page available to the world.
Look but don't save to your hard drive to use as your own.
Look before you leap. Ask for the policies and guidelines that your company has developed and where there are gaps, use some common sense and common courtesy to guide your behavior.
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So, What is an UPLINE?
In a network marketing company, the person who sponsors you and becomes your coach is called your "upline" (in network marketing jargon). Sometimes, when people ask you, "Who is your Upline?", they want to know who sponsored you into the business. Sometimes they want to know who the most senior in rank is, for example, the person at the top of the line who is the highest ranking business leader.
What's Important about Upline?
You should be able to be in contact with your sponsor frequently for business coaching. And, in the best situations, you should be able to look freely for conversations, advice and answers to your questions all the way up the line to the Top Dog, the most successful and highest ranking person in your new business family.
Network Marketing Success
To ensure your success in your new network marketing business start up, reach out to people in your upline for coaching and mentoring. Take responsibility for establishing a working relationship with your coach and other mentors. Set up a pattern of communication and stay in touch. Try out some of their suggestions and get back to them to discuss what's working -- and what's not working -- and your ideas about how to leverage what you've learned into increasing your business success.