Can you believe that network marketing has been around for three-quarters of a century in fact. Since the 1930’s. Wow!
Which means it’s obviously been around much longer than the internet has been available to us.
But of course the internet has quickly changed the game for many industries. Amazon alone has changed the way we read books, watch movies, buy products, shop for groceries, you name it.
And more importantly to you right now…the network marketing industry has been affected by the internet (and in a good way!). At least for those who embrace it, and learn how to do things right.
Get Your 14 Messenger Conversation Starters Here
The Old Way VS. the NEW Way of Network Marketing Online!
Sure, there are some people who simply like the old traditional style of network marketing, and that’s perfectly fine. It still works and many still have massive success from belly-to-belly network marketing.
These days however, there are more and more people (like me) who think a network marketing home business should be built from home. Crazy concept right? 😉 And the internet happens to be a great way to build your network marketing biz online… IF you do things right.
If this sounds like the way to go for YOU… then you’re in the right place.
Because whether you’re looking to bring an offline network marketing business to the internet, or are just starting to build a network marketing business and bugging friends and family isn’t for YOU (it certainly wasn’t for me!)…
This blog post will show you exactly what you need to effectively build your network marketing business on the internet!
Why the Comparison of Old School Network Marketing VS New School Are Not Exactly True!
Have you ever heard some people talk about online vs.offline network marketing? You’d think that there’s absolutely no similarities. As if they’re two completely different concepts.
But if you dig a bit deeper, you’ll see that there are more similarities than differences.
That’s because marketing principles and human nature don’t change. Only the platform changes. Remember that for the rest of your life.
All marketing requires building a relationship of TRUST between one party (the seller) and the other party (the prospect.)
You need three essential ingredients before any money is exchanged. Know, Like, and Trust! This is essential for ALL marketing or selling!
The only difference is that you now have a lot more leverage online. So let’s get right to how it’s done so you can tap into it!
5 Essential Ingredients for Building a Network Marketing Business Online!
Ingredient #1: You Must Have A Target Market!
Who are you going to market your business to?
Everybody?
Well that’s what your network marketing company would like you to think. But that means you must kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince.
What if instead you could simply bring a bunch of princes together in one (big) spot, and then you can simply show them what you’ve got and see if they want it.
If you want to effectively build your network marketing biz online, then you MUST first establish who your best prospects are for your biz.
- Who would most likely want to buy your network marketing products?
- Who would want to join your network marketing company?
- Who would YOU want to join with you (being able to choose that, and target those people is the beauty of the internet!)
You need to know this clearly or you’ll waste a ton of time and money.
But here’s a hint IF you want to make your life much easier finding your target market (Which of course you do!)
You should target the people MOST LIKELY to join your network marketing business. In other words, you may want to think about marketing to those who are actively looking for an opportunity, or to those already sold on network marketing.
They know what it is, they know the benefits it can bring, and just need a leader (YOU) to help them create the success that they know is possible. That cuts out the whole process of YOU having to sell them on that dream. Pretty cool huh?
The key is know where to find these people. (Thats a whole other topic for a future blog post.)
Ingredient #2: Branding!
What is branding? It’s simply putting a name, symbol, or product (or all three) in the forefront of your target market’s mind.
It’s turning YOU into the go-to person in your industry. Much like Coca-Cola is to soda. Or iPhones are to smartphones.
Branding is a vital part of building know, like, and trust. People get to know YOUR name, get to like you for the value you bring to their lives, and therefore trust you when you promote something!
Most network marketers are indoctrinated by their network marketing companies to think that they should be branding the company’s name. Of course they do that because it helps build the name of the network marketing company.
They like this of course because it’s less advertising dollars spent from them. You’re doing the “work” essentially.
But what does it really do for YOU if you’re branding another company? Nothing at all actually!
You should be branding YOU and YOUR NAME! That’s who people are going to join. YOU are the one that your prospects need to get to know, like, and trust.
And the best part is that when you brand you, you can create multiple streams of income, because people trust YOUR name. They trust the fact that whatever you promote will be worth it for them.
Branding gives you security because no matter what happens, as long as the brand of has a solid reputation, you don’t have to rely on your company.
They could get shut down, kick you out, or you could quit…and you could easily go on to keep building without a hitch!
Now let’s get into what brands you!
Ingredient #3: Attraction Marketing: Create Value That Gets Attached to Your Brand!
The way you create value online is through content. It’s how the online world works.
I’ve said it plenty on this blog, but without content, the internet would be a pretty boring place. Videos, articles, podcasts (audio), social media… all content!
If those weren’t there, what’s left? Nothing!!
In order to create know and like, you must have content that is valuable. Content that changes people for the better in some way. That gets them closer to their goals.
Think about it. How would YOU feel about someone who had dedicated all their time and effort to show you how to create success in your business? And what if every time you consumed their content it got you closer to that goal?
You’d probably be pretty “attracted” to that person wouldn’t you?
Would that build up a some know, like, and trust in your mind for that person? Absolutely it would.
Ingredient #4: Social Media Marketing and Engagement!
For people trying to run a network marketing business offline, it’s not always easy to find and network with your target market. Which is likely why the whole making a list of friends and family thing came from.
Online, it’s drop-dead simple to tap into large groups of like-minded people, build an audience, and engage with that audience all from your laptop or smartphone.
We live in the greatest time ever to build a thriving home business empire online.
Social media is a huge reason for that. There are literally billions of people in one spot that you have direct access to on Facebook alone!
Better yet, pinpointing the exact ones that will most likely want what you have to offer is so easy it’s almost like cheating.
Here’s 5 Easy Steps to Build and Engage with Your Audience on Facebook!
- Set-Up a Facebook Business Page for your brand (you)
- Create high value content to post to social media groups to attract people who will ‘LIKE’ your page. (Story posts, inspirational posts, FB LIVES, videos, blog posts, etc!)
- Create ads to send to those who LIKE your page to build your email leads list. (Or you can simply build your list right there on Facebook with Messenger and Manychat!)
- Keep sending your list highly valuable content with promotions for your opportunity or products throw in now and again (80% value, 20% promotion!)
- Answer private messages to engage with those who are asking YOU about YOUR biz because of all the know, like, and trust you’ve built with your content! (For some cool training on leveraging Facebook Messenger click here.)
(If #5 above seems crazy to you, just know that it happens to me and my colleagues every single day because of the simple strategy I just laid out for you!)
To be honest it’s not always easy to put all the pieces together on your own. This is where tapping into a leader you trust can help you navigate the waters. Kind of like this blog! 😉
Ingredient #5: A Website/Blog
In ingredient #4 you have a way to build a business where you piggy back off of Facebook or other social media.
That’s all well and good. However you’re going to want to have your own little piece of the internet, that you own and control. Your own real estate online.
Let’s put it this way… where would you rather keep all your valuables? In your home where you control it, or in the town center that somebody else can control, or kick you out of whenever they want?
That’s what putting ALL of your content on social media sites does. It gives away your control and your ownership!
Buy a domain name, set-up a wordpress blog, and host your content there yourself. Use social media to link and get eyeballs to your content on your blog. This is where you’ll be able to also build your email list.
Some people think you don't need a blog to be successful in network marketing. While this is true, like my friend Ray says…
“You don't need a blog to be successful in network marketing, but you also don't need to dominate either!” – Ray Higdon
While you don't have to have one, its certainly not going to hurt you either. Getting your name out there and building trust with prospects is a major key to being successful doing network marketing online.
BONUS Ingredient #6: You MUST Follow Up With Your Leads!
Follow up is essential to building a network marketing business online. Actually it’s essential to building ANY business online OR off!
But it’s even more important online because people tend to forget who you are very quickly. It’s just the nature of the beast. There’s just so much noise out there to take away attention, that it’s vital that you keep your name in the forefront of your lead’s mind.
That’s not the only reason we follow up of course!
Follow up is actually where we get sign-ups and product sales. Most people will NOT buy or join you on their first contact with you. Or their second, or even third. SOME will, but most won’t!
The great majority of people will only join or buy from you after at LEAST 7 exposures OR MORE!
That’s what all the know, like, and trust has been about so far. You develop that over time. People are more skeptical than ever of marketers, and that’s only going to get worse as the internet grows. .
Therefore you MUST follow up with your leads. You can do that through email marketing or these days even through Facebook Messenger Marketing.
Just remember that you own ONLY your email list. That’s why it’s always recommended to build your leads list through email (as well as the FB list secondarily!)
You Now Know the Secret Essential Ingredients to Building Your Network Marketing Business Online (or ANY business for that matter!)
Don’t worry if it seems like a lot. You can start with ingredients 1 through 3 at first, and then work your way into the others.
Of course there’s not enough room to give you every little detail of how to mix each ingredient in here. That’s where you can check out my marketing training where I show you how to do much of the above.
Did you get value from this post? Leave me a comment below and feel free to share it with your friends.
You rock,
Mark Harbert