You have the excitement and a firm belief in your products. You KNOW your products or services would help people. So why don’t you feel more successful?
This is where I was for quite a while when I first entered the world of Network Marketing. I had a lot of drive, and I knew my products would help others like they helped me. But, I made a lot of common mistakes that I didn’t realize I was making until much later. I’m here to help you avoid some of those common mistakes.
Let’s start making sure your Network Marketing business has a chance to survive.
The Problem With Not Branding Your Business
The most glaring problem with the Network Marketing business model is that there is one company selling a range of products, and hundreds or thousands of reps that are out there selling those products to their family and friends. You are selling literally the exact same item (for the same price) as lots of other people. Sometimes, these people live in the same town as you, sometimes they know the same friends you know.
So, why would anyone want to buy these products from you when they could buy them from a ton of other people?
The answer to that question is simple. You either have to add value of your own to the products that you are selling, or you have to brand yourself so that people are buying because they know, like, and trust you.
Brand Yourself
People buy from folks they know, like and trust. This is one reason that when you start in Network Marketing, usually your upline will recommend that you start by talking to your friends and family. These people are called your ‘warm market’ because they already know, like, and trust you.
But, when you run out of family and friends to talk to, it gets so much harder to sell your product. Unless you know how to brand yourself so that potential customers can see your face and hear your voice come through, instead of just seeing the same stock images or social media posts that your company has shared.
How Do You Brand Yourself?
Start by creating opportunities that are unique to you and your personality.
If you are an introvert and you really hate talking to people, that’s great – there are tons of other introverts that are trying to make a successful business in Network Marketing. Find out what they do to stand out and figure out how to adapt that to your style. Maybe you don’t mind talking but you don’t want to be on camera. That’s ok, start a podcast or do your marketing online using funnels or instagram.
If you are en extrovert that loves talking to people, find some ways to harness that energy and enthusiasm so that your customers can see and feel it. Maybe you could start a YouTube channel connecting with your customers and showing them your products.
Check your social channels
Trust me, you do NOT want to be the person that just re-shares the company’s stock photography post and only ever posts about your newest sale.
Bring your personality and your style into your Facebook, Insta, or Twitter account. Be fun and engaging, comment and like other people’s stuff, and write like a real human. People want to see 80% you and 20% of your business stuff. There’s a balance you may have to work at to find, but once you do it’s worth it.
Also, while we are on the subject, be careful what you post. Your business page (or even your personal page if you have a business account connected to it) is NOT the place for hate speech, spammy posts, political arguments, or other charged and polarizing issues.
I get it, I get it…every now and then something rubs you the wrong way and you just have to get it off your chest. Do me a favor and just don’t though. You are working to present a cohesive, organized brand to the world. Don’t get distracted.
Be Consistent
One thing that is easy to say and so much harder to do, is to be consistent. This is the one thing that is almost more important than all of the others combined. You want to be consistent in how you share your content, in how often you share your content, and what type of content you are sharing.
Figure out what your style is, what the look and feel of your posts will be, and stick to that. Develop something in canva or adobe spark that you can just tweak for each post so that all of your posts have a consistent look. This is going to help people recognize that they’ve seen you before.
It takes several times of people seeing your posts or seeing your face before they remember you. However, if you use the same logo, same style of photos, and you show up consistently on the same platform, people are going to notice much quicker.
Share your ‘why’
Being open and transparent with people creates a sense of connection between you and them. If you have a powerful story of why you are in this business or how your products have helped you personally, SHARE IT! Create a connection with people and you will be amazed how many customers you earn because you have listened to them and put in time and effort.
Show up fully as yourself
The more you act like yourself, the more your potential customers can relate to you and see if they want to work with you or not. How do you normally speak? Talk and write THAT way. How do you dress normally? Why would you change? If you are a jeans and t-shirt girl working for a glamor beauty company, be glam and beautiful as you, not in a dressed up version that’s not you.
Use your voice, your language and your gifts as you share your life.
Serve Others
This is where you get to shine. What is your ideal customer’s problem or pain? The ONE you know you can fix? What do you have to offer to help them solve the problem that is FREE? What advice, checklist, video training, blog can you willingly and freely share? How can you show up in his/her space as a friend and guide? Once you have shown up as a friend, the program or product you have to offer is more appealing and likely to open a conversation.
Add Value to Your Products
The other thing that you can do to stand out is to get creative about which types of product offers you present to customers. My best advice would be not to rely on the product bundles that your company offers just by themselves. It’s probably not going to be enough, because EVERYONE is offering those.
At the same time, you have to be careful to protect your profit margin from your products. If you give away $20 worth of free products with every $100 purchase, but you only make 20% commission…then you aren’t making any money.
So, you are going to have to get a little bit creative with the offers that you add to your products. You want the offer to be valuable to the customer but not cost you a whole lot. It sounds really tricky, but there are plenty of great ideas out there.
What Types of Offers Can You Add to Your Products?
One of the best things you can add are digital products. They are free to make (in most cases, it may cost you some time, but probably won’t cost you money).
This can be a printable, a video, or some sort of a download that goes along with your products. You will want to get creative with this one. There are a ton of different ways to approach it, and the more creative you can get the more you can set yourself apart from other people selling the same products you are.
Think about your customer first when you are creating this. You don’t just want to make something slapped together so that you have an extra “thing” to give away. You want something that will bring value to your customer and enhance the overall experience that they are getting with products that they buy from you.
Acknowledge Their Fears
Think about some fears or concerns about your product that your customer might have. If you sell makeup, your customers may be concerned that they don’t know how to apply the makeup.
You could make your free bonus a video of you showing how to use the products that your customers will be getting, and deliver that to them after they make a purchase.
If you sell jewelry or clothes, you could put together a downloadable style sheet that will show customers what outfits would match the jewelry or how to style the clothes based on their body type.
Again, get creative with your offers. That will only help increase your brand and set you apart from your competition.
The best part of branding yourself is that if your current company hits a blip, changes your profitability or even closes completely, all you have to do is pivot to a different place. You still have your brand, your loyal customer base, your email list, and maybe even your own website.
You aren’t your company, so you don’t have to go down with the ship.
I’m excited to see what you create!!
