When building your network marketing business, your main goal is to create a network of people who buy and sell products. Doing this on the internet creates the perfect scenario; billions of people are online worldwide, and if you are smart about it, you can easily build a successful network for your business.
Building your business online has many benefits, one is that you can virtually be wherever you want when doing so. You get to connect with people who share the same interests as you do while watching your business grow both locally and internationally. There’s a unique feeling brought about by knowing your business is reaching not only your country, but countries all over the world.
There is work that goes into it, of course, as with any successful business. You’ll have to create and build your online presence, create your domain, and have a solid plan in place before you can even get started on building marketing networks for it. Once you’ve got all that figured out, following the tips outlined in this article can help you find your way to network marketing success.
Tip #1: Know Your Market
The first step to successfully marketing to your network is knowing your audience. Know the types of content they want to see, what products they are interested in, and what they need in their daily lives.
Getting to know your market does two things: It allows you to build a more personal relationship with your audience, allowing you to predict trends and demand before you get hit with the switch, and it gives them a sense of satisfaction, knowing they have a reliable and trustworthy source from which to purchase their goods and services.
There are several ways you can get to know your market:
- Demographics – Who is your ideal customer? What age, gender, income level, interests are they? Dig in deeper. What does the customer want from you? What are their needs and how are you the solution?
- Customer Surveys – this is where personal relationships with your customers will really flourish. Ask them a few simple questions about their experience, how they like the product, how likely they are to recommend you to others, etc. This makes them feel like they have a voice within your company.
- Customer Profile – this method allows you to get to know your customers on a more general basis, and provides a little more information than the survey option. You can allow customers to build a profile on your website – an ‘account’ – and once they do, you will have a customer demographic that provides lots of information to help grow your business where it will succeed the most.
Tip #2: Go Slow But Steady
I know; you’re excited to get your business up and running, and you want to utilize as many marketing strategies as possible to get the word out there and build your network. If you tackle too much at once, however, a couple of things can happen: You can overwhelm yourself and ultimately let a lot of things slip through the cracks, turning a potentially well-oiled machine into a chaotic mess, or you can overload your customers and potentially confuse them, causing them to take their business elsewhere.
I’m not saying you can’t eventually utilize most or all of the strategies at your disposal. Simply take baby steps. Start out with one or two marketing strategies, master them. Once you see that you are beginning to flourish with those, you can add another.
Remember that with any new project, there is going to be a learning curve, so don’t let yourself get discouraged if something isn’t working the way you want it to the first time. Patience and unwavering dedication are building blocks for success when it comes to network marketing.
Tip #3: Seek Constant Development
Change is a constant in the world of business, and the internet is no different. In order to constantly grow yourself personally and constantly see your business grow, you have to be a continuous learner.
This includes educating yourself on how to run your business and growing marketing trends, and also educating yourself on your market and consumer base. Here are some ways you can do this:
- Read success books – books on achieving success are a great way to learn from the people who have already achieved their success. Some good examples of this are:
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters; this book gives example upon example of successfully building toward the future, and helps set standards for entrepreneurs and startups.
- Mindset by Carol Dweck; this book is all about how the power of our mindset can contribute to success in our life and business. It outlines not only skills and abilities, but how we approach situations.
- Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work by Liz Wiseman; this one is all about why constantly learning and growing is important in our rapidly changing economy.
- Research – This has to do with keeping up with the changes that are constantly occurring within the business and marketing world. New trends develop, new demand is established, and new customers are brought in every day. Learn how to grow with them by constantly researching marketing trends and new products that people are buying within your niche.
- Learn New Strategies – With the changing trends also comes a changing market, and sometimes the marketing strategies of old die with them. This goes back to research; constantly teach yourself about new marketing strategies both within your network and on social media so you can reach the widest audience possible.
Tip #4: Leverage Social Media
You might be skeptical about the power of marketing via social media, but this method can do two things for you: Gain needed visibility for your business, and effectively bring in new traffic to your business.
With any online business, visibility is key. It’s simple – people can’t be interested in something if they don’t know it exists. Putting your business out there on social media is a great way to get your business noticed by a wider audience. Why? Because people talk, and on social media especially, if someone sees something they like, they can immediately share it with their friends, who then share it with their friends, and so on. If you want the word of your business to spread quickly, social media is the way to go.
The second part is all about cause and effect. Because more people are seeing your business, more people will be inclined to visit your site and see what it’s all about. If you have something they like, they’ll purchase, and if they’re satisfied with the product or service, they’ll tell others about their experience.
Tip #5: Create Quality Content
When searching for new products or services, people want to not only find good quality products, they want to make an educated decision before they purchase. Instead of wasting time making the description, blog post, or marketing ad shiny, make it educational.
Everything you provide about the product or service has to add quality for the reader. Instead of telling them to buy the product, tell them why they need it in their lives. Tell them what it does, what it can be good for, and let the product do the talking. There will be plenty of time for the pretty bells and whistles later.
Tip #6: Be Consistent
In any network marketing business, consistency is a must. When you post content, consistency is not only the key to getting better SEO rankings with search engines, but for building a lasting customer base as well.
People like it when they can count on a business to keep providing the service they’re used to. Sure, to have lasting success you always have to grow, but be consistent in your growth. Don’t just randomly change the entire layout of your site and the way you do things overnight – not only is that a great way to deter your established customer base, but it is a great way to effectively start from scratch.
When you are getting ready to grow or alter your business, let people know. Reach out to your audience and tell them that you’re updating the site to be more user-friendly, and to make shopping with you a better experience. Some people may be deterred, but the majority of your loyal audience will give the change a chance. Listen to their feedback, make them feel heard, and always remember that your audience is the reason for your success.
Tip #7: Recruit, Recruit, Recruit
Once your business takes off, you’re going to need more than just yourself to keep it going strong. There are many ways you can go about recruiting new network marketers for your business:
- Social Media – Recruiting is probably easiest with social media because it makes contacting lots of people a breeze, especially on Facebook. To do this, you’ll want to follow these steps:
- Use Your Personal Page – By using your personal page to recruit, you allow yourself to personally connect with the person you’re messaging, building a foundation of trust.
- Create Curiosity – You’re not just creating a page; you’re selling a lifestyle. Make a page that piques the interest of others. If they are interested, they will likely ask you about it, giving you an opportunity to sell them on your ideas and bring them aboard.
- Connect – It’s not enough just to sell a person on your business, you have to connect with them, too. People like to feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves, and building a relationship with your recruits is a great way to keep them for the long-haul.
- Post Quality Information – We talked about providing quality information before, and recruiting for your business is no different. People are more comfortable selling products when they are familiar with them, so educate them as much as you can.
- Be You – This is especially important if you want to recruit effectively on social media. People want to deal with a person, an expert in their field, and you’ll come across much more genuinely when you’re putting your best self forward, rather than trying to be someone you are not.
- E-mail – Recruiting via e-mail is a little more difficult, but can definitely be done if you utilize it properly. When sending an e-mail to potential recruits, you’ll want to first create a subject line which will entice them enough to open the e-mail in full. After that, let them know your intentions; tell them that you’re growing your business, and make them feel like they’re already a necessary piece to completing the puzzle.
Give them the background of your company. What you’re all about, what you strive for, and how you plan to reach your goals. Tell them what you’re looking for and what they can expect from the job. Really sell them on the prospect of becoming a marketer in your network. And finally, tell them how to contact you if they are interested.
- Newsletters – If you have a blog or website (which, if you’re recruiting for network marketers, you probably do), start publishing a weekly or monthly newsletter. This will allow you to build relationships with your audience and keep them informed. Over time, some will come to you expressing interest in your business, and you can work on bringing them on from there.
- Business Cards – This one doesn’t have as much to do with recruiting online, but is a great way to get people to visit and get interested in your business. If you’re comfortable with going out and spending time talking to a few strangers, this method could be very useful to you, and is a great way to gain recruits locally.
You can also ask local businesses if they mind you leaving a few of your business cards for them to hand out to customers. Some bigger retailers don’t allow it, but some do, and smaller mom-and-pop stores will sometimes be open to it as well.
Building your online network marketing business takes a lot of time, patience, and dedication, but anyone can do it if you just stick with it. Some days will be better than others in terms of growth, but the days that are good will be well worth it. Just remember not to get discouraged on your slower growth days, and keep pushing through. If you follow the steps in this article, your hard work can pay off greatly!