What should I focus on in my network marketing business?
There are many times that I hear network marketing reps talk about how they feel overwhelmed, stressed out, and lost in their business.
There is so much noise.
There are so many people out there giving advice: your upline sponsor; leaders in your company; experts in your industry; influencers outside of your industry; books; podcasts; blogs; and so many other sources.
When there is so much to learn and so much to do, what the heck should you focus on in your network marketing business?
Truthfully, there is no easy answer because even this blog post is giving you advice about how you should grow your business.
However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Your business doesn’t have to be like the diagram below.
Why is it so complicated?
This answer is simple: technology.
Technology today is far more advanced than ever before and is competing with other technology on the market. Facebook is competing with Google. Instagram is competing with Snapchat. Plus there will always be another new platform right around the corner trying to take their place.
That technology race created multiple platforms for businesses to compete on, thus causing a complete and overwhelming takeover of your life and business.
Now you might have been fine at one point minding your own business thinking you got this thing down. Then BAM! You hear about another person in your company having success with a new technique or platform and the worst happens…
The “Shiny Object Syndrome” & “Panic Attack Effect”
The story goes like this:
“Did you just hear about (insert rep’s name)? She is crushing it with Instagram Stories and got 52 people to buy her product.”
Or this one:
“I was just on this zoom with (Top Rep’s Name) and they said you need to get your Facebook Like Page up to 20,000 likes and then post 5 x’s a day and get a 200,000 person reach and then you will be successful!”
Or my favorite:
“I was told that Facebook Ads don’t work, websites don’t work, and the only way you grow this business is to…..”
This is what I call the “Shiny Object Syndrome” or the “Panic Attack Effect”.
This is when you hear of someone’s success with a particular marketing method and you immediately think you have to do what they are doing in order to be successful. So you rush around trying to learn everything you can to figure out what they are doing, meanwhile your foundational daily business tasks fall to the wayside.
If you aren’t sure what those foundational tasks look like every day and every week, download our Daily & Weekly Task List inside of our FREE Resource Library. Just click the button below to get access.
Next thing you know, you are looking around asking “What happened to this month? It is the 28th and I have zero sales. Ahhhh!!! ” Then you are sitting there feeling frustrated and wondering why you are even a distributor.
Hear me out — I am not saying you shouldn’t learn what works for other leaders (#successleavesclues). I’m suggesting you should stick to your foundational activities and then focus on expanding your business through new marketing methods.
Just because someone said “I did XYZ and that will get you success” doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to work for you. Understand that there are variables with all success. Variables that you don’t know. There are even variables that the person sharing their success story doesn’t even realize. (Yes, there are people out there that have success and they don’t see some variables that made them successful.)
So How Do You Build A Focused Business?
It all starts with the foundation. The foundation is the difference between a stable growing business and a business that has very low lows and very high highs. You want your business to increase over time. Not increase and fall. Then increase and fall again.
The Foundation of a Network Marketing Business:
1. Your “Why”
I know many leaders talk about this. Your “why”, or the driving force behind why you do what you do, is going to give you a reason to stay up late and get up early. Your “why” is going to help you show you even in the hard times. Your “why” is going to help you go from $0 in the bank to growing a business that impacts the lives of others.
No “why” = no business.
2. Success Stories & Testimonials
When I speak to a rep that is struggling, I often find that they don’t have any testimonials or personal success stories. A business can only survive based on the success stories of their customers. You have to be the person helping clients get from their before-state to an after-state. Simple. If you don’t have success stories or testimonials. This needs to be your top priority.
Testimonials will bring you more referrals, community awareness, and a stronger brand that will, in turn, create a snowball effect.
3. Your Brand & Rally Cry
Your business has a reputation or “a brand” in the marketplace and it exists whether you like it or not. Being aware and in control of your brand is how you build a reputation, generate referrals, and continue to make relationships.
You can build a personal brand around you and your name, or you can build a business around a mission, like Farmstrong Coaching, for example. However, what that brand stands for will be the cornerstone of how you market and grow your business.
You want your business/brand to be known for providing your community value that will last many tough storms. You don’t want your business/brand to be known as a sales pitch or constant product push because those businesses will fall hard at the first sight of a rainstorm.
If you still aren’t sure about this whole branding thing as a network marketer, check out this post.
4. Know Your Ideal Customer
If you are trying to pitch your products, services, and opportunity to everyone, you will lose. You need to find who you want to work with and focus on bringing value to that audience. Once you know who your ideal customer, it’s so much easier to speak to their pain points and help them solve their problems through your targeted offerings. We have an ideal client worksheet you can go through inside of our FREE resource library, just click the button below to get access.
5. Value, value, value. Offer Value.
What’s the difference between someone buying your products from an infomercial and buying it from you?
They are buying you.
There are thousands of distributors in your own company selling the exact same product, hundreds of similar products competing with you and hundreds of other professionals in the industry who do what you do.
The differentiating fact is YOU. You are the value.
Just knowing who you are is not enough and knowing what you sell isn’t always enough either.
Sharing a selfie next to your bag of product with your MLM sales link on your personal facebook page, hoping someone might see it and buy isn’t good “value”.
People are going to buy from you when they believe YOU are the person who can help them solve a specific problem and create a lasting impact in their own lives.
How To Market Your Business Successfully with Focus
Okay, now that we have covered the foundation of your business. It comes down to marketing. Ultimately the #1 goal of an entrepreneur is to drive new business and retain existing customers. You do this by marketing, sales, and customer service. In no particular order.
With marketing your business, you have to make sure that you are consistent. I can’t stress this enough. Consistency is where you will win. While you may be able to outwork your competition or other coaches, consistency marketing beats hard work any day.
In order to be consistent, you have to have a plan.
(Psst… Your plan shouldn’t include the use of all 50 + marketing mediums like Instagram + Facebook Group + Facebook Business Page + Snapchat + Pinterest + Youtube + LinkedIn, etc.).
I want you to create a plan that reaches your ideal client on the platforms they hang out on. Your plan should boldly share your targeted marketing message, offering your value. And remember, that whatever social media platform you use, you should always send your audience to a “home-base” where they can give you their name, email and phone number to continue the conversation with you and eventually turn into a sale.
Just remember, no matter what platform you are using, it comes down to the foundation of your business and the value you are offering. Facebook may eventually go away like Myspace, Instagram may change again with a new feature, and Snapchat may dominate the world.
However, your foundation that you build on your website will not fade. You will always have a place where your business lives no matter what changes may come. You don’t have run around like a mad woman and chase the next big thing that comes out. When something does come out or a new platform is released you can say, “I got this” and market that platform like a Boss.
Final Thoughts:
The crazy thing is that your business could work for you. With online marketing, you could build a machine that generates business consistently and even at 2 am. That’s the beauty about online marketing.
However, online marketing and business, in general, requires trial and error. It takes time to learn how to get it right. How to perfect your success stories, how to upload a Youtube video, how to go Live and then what to do next time when you go live to get more people engaged, and you have to keep trying even when you get knocked down or things blow up in your face. The Why is going to keep you going.
I know a rep that has a marketing campaign with a landing page that consistently wakes up each day to 2-4 new leads in the morning. Leads are people that want to speak and do business with that rep.
Did it work the first time? No.
Did it work the 2nd time the coach tried? No.
But eventually, the rep got the marketing message, landing page, and first communication with the lead down right. The rep worked on the foundation of the marketing campaign and created a success. You can do exactly what this coach did. First, you have to have a foundation.
Focus on the Basics:
- Build your foundation and make sure it’s solid.
- Make sure your foundation has a home with a website.
- Master one social media platform at a time. (ie Facebook, Instagram)
3a. Be Consistent.
3b. Tweak things as needed. - Rinse and Repeat Step 3
Side Note: In this post, we recommend you need a website and we happen offer websites on our platform that serves network marketers and small business owners. If you get a site with us, great. If you don’t, we still hope you stick around and get tons of value! Either way, it’s important to note that you DO need a website into today’s world whether it’s with us or not. (Not a Blog, a website.)
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