What network marketing companies aren’t telling you is that for long-term business success, you’re going to have to brand yourself, not the product. Having quality products is important, but it’s not what makes the difference between those who have a glorified hobby and those who earn a real full-time income from a home business.
Perhaps you have been in network marketing for a while. You’ve made the phone calls before. You’ve prospected strangers at the grocery store. You’ve had awkward conversations with people you know, trying to convince them to join your home business. That kind of prospecting is a starting point, but it wears you out. Long-term success in network marketing requires exactly that: marketing.
People are not buying your product and they are not buying the company. They are buying you. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can start focusing on marketing YOU, Inc.
As the CEO of YOU, Inc., it is your responsibility to get your name out there and be known in the marketplace for delivering value to people. If people start to associate value with your name, it won’t matter what you offer them. The product doesn’t matter, the company doesn’t matter, it’s the fact that you’re doing it and people want a piece of whatever you’re doing. That only happens if you provide value and brand yourself with the right marketing.
So how do you brand yourself? Having a constant presence on social media is a great low-cost method. Daily Facebook posts that provide inspiring, life-changing thoughts and information will build a following. You can do the same on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, or any other platform. Invest in the social networks you love the most and already have the strongest following.
Guest blogging is another great form of marketing to promote yourself. Email someone whose blog you read and ask if you can guest post. When I decided I wanted to share financial education with police officers, I emailed the editors of the five largest-circulation police magazines in the United States. Two of them accepted my offer and I started writing columns. I have a constant stream of leads filtering through just from writing those columns every month.
Once you have people who show an interest in what you’re doing, whether they’re texting, emailing, or posting on Facebook, put them on a list. That list should receive regular correspondence from you, preferably in the form of emails. Learn the art of copywriting to make your marketing emails effective. Learn to write good headlines. Your emails should be in an 80/20 or 90/10 ratio, with 80-90% of the emails you send containing strong educational content and 10-20% offering a product or service with a value argument. Of course, in your emails, it’s acceptable to have a link to a capture page, as long as the link doesn’t steal value or appear commercial.
Bottom line: At first, you will be proactive most of the time. You will be looking for people to do business with. However, the sooner you start promoting yourself and promoting yourself, the sooner people will search for you. They will show up at your doorstep with their hands raised, wanting to buy your product or join your home business. Get started today and move things in that direction so you can experience the steady and accelerating growth of a successful network marketing business.
