You’ve heard the stories thousands of times before: a distant aunt makes it big selling makeup to her gal pals, a friend from high school gets the car of their dreams before even graduating college, a single mom has a way of making earnings while balancing motherhood.
These are just a few of the success stories available through network marketing. Network marketing puts the opportunity of running a business and being your own boss right in the palm of your hand. It also gives you the materials and support needed to establish a steady stream of income.
You have to put in the work to make these things happen, though. If you don’t know where to start, it sounds like you need a crash course on network marketing for dummies.
The following are ten simple tips to go from a clueless network marketer to a thriving entrepreneur in the world of MLM.
1. Get Familiar With the Product
Network marketing for dummies rule number one: sales are the key to success. It doesn’t matter if you’re the one making all the sales or if you’re splitting efforts between you and your team. The only way to make money is to keep a consistent flow of sales coming into the funnel.
This begins with knowing your product in and out. Try everything in the product line and get to know how the services work.
Look into the ingredients of foods and drinks or the quality of materials used for other products. Find what makes this product special and different from similar options. Focus on how it adds value to your own life.
Such details will make all your sales efforts more natural and genuine. Not to mention, it’s much easier to get excited about your new business when you truly love the product you’re promoting!
2. Establish a Routine
The next step is to establish a routine. You can’t go from reading a network marketing for dummies’ guide to running an entire business overnight. The transition from workforce employee to entrepreneur happens via regular daily efforts.
Set a time to wake up, get a good breakfast going, and start to stimulate your mind. Maybe you prefer to work out right away, or you like slow mornings with a little reading to start the day.
Whatever your A.M. routine looks like, it needs to get you ready to work. The rest of the day should be structured into calls, meetings, and personal and team development.
Try to find your go-to places around town. Figure out how long things like transportation and breaks will take. Every once of discipline can turn into better productivity and successes.
3. Set Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
Speaking of success, define what that word really means to you. What do you hope to accomplish with this new business? Some reasons many people begin MLM include:
- creating more financial freedom
- breaking the 9-5 routine
- saving up to buy a house, a car, or pay off large debts
These are the drivers that keep you going when the work is tough and the hours are long. A network marketing for dummies guide can’t help you if you don’t have a clear vision, which requires turning big dreams into small, SMART goals.
Everything you want to accomplish should have a deadline and a set of tactics to get you where you want to be. The small goals should all align to create the big picture you’re dreaming of.
Do this both in terms of practical goals – like specific numbers for sales, daily meetings, and new team members – as well as personal goals. Decide when you want to finally pay off those student loans or go on a big vacation, then use your practical goals to get there.
4. Work on Soft Skills
Goal-setting is just one major skill every entrepreneur and network marketer has. Others include things like time management, budgeting, and organization. Then there are the soft skills: authenticity, communication, and stress management.
Those are what will take your business to the next level. Soft skills are what keep you humble and true to yourself as your bank account grows and success starts to kick in. These are also what help you make success more accessible to the people around you, which is what network marketing is really all about.
With the right soft skills, you can take what you’ve learned and created your own version of network marketing for dummies to share with and empower your network.
5. Don’t Blow Through Your Immediate Network
Speaking of your network, as much as you may want to get mom and dad or your best friend in on this great opportunity, slow down for a second. When you’re just starting out in the world of MLM, you want to take your time.
Create a bit of success for yourself with these network marketing for dummies tips first. Then, you have some experience to share with the people you’re closest to. This helps you communicate why they should give this opportunity a shot; it goes beyond just the product and the big dreams and becomes a genuine conversation rather than a sales pitch.
The last thing you want to do is become too much of a salesperson and drive away the people you’re close to. Don’t get your product in one day then start contacting everyone you know the next day. Start small, stay focused, and be practical, then prioritize expanding.
6. Support Your Team
As you expand, you have to remember network marketing isn’t just about you anymore. The business grows from your network and goals and becomes about the good of the group.
To ensure your network is strong and successful, you have to support every individual who’s part of the team. Share the principles of network marketing for dummies with them, provide personal development resources and offer a bit of motivation from time to time.
Most importantly, be a leader. Hold your people accountable to their goals, make sure they know they can always come to you, and teach them how to push themselves one step further.
7. Find the Best Resources
No matter how dedicated a person is, they need the right resources to really succeed as a network marketer. This business is all about generating leads and creating natural progressions through the sales funnel – which takes more than soft skills and a strong routine.
Success requires a prospecting software and a strong content marketing strategy. It needs social media to keep your network expanding and the right personal branding to make your business more appealing to users.
The more you and everyone on your team invest in such tools, the better your results will be.
8. Make the Most of Your Social Media Presence
One of the most effective tools mentioned in the resources above is social media.
Think about it: if network marketing is all about the people you know and the people they know, you need a way of turning natural connections into a strong business. Social media can foster such conversations.
Turn your personal profiles into a business account. Share with others how your business is part of your lifestyle, and how it makes your quality of life better. Post about the products you love the most, the people you work with every day and share some of your secrets to success (like how you’ve applied network marketing for dummies tips) from time to time.
This is the kind of content that gets people’s attention. It makes them wonder how you’re able to do all the things you do and gets them curious if they can also achieve such accomplishments.
9. Go to Events
As effective as social media can be, you have to make connections in real life, too.
Go to events within your business and get to know the other teams involved. Attend other events that potential clients or partners may be interested in as well. Also, see if you can be a speaker at certain gatherings.
Such efforts get your name out. Just by showing up, shaking hands, and talking about things other than strictly business, you’re putting strong feelers out there. This can result in more conversions and sales than you might think.
10. Be Patient
Last but not least, always remember to be patient. These network marketing for dummies tools won’t work every single time. You’re going to strike out a lot, have days when you feel like going back to your old job, and times when real, scary challenges are thrown at you.
The key to success is to keep pushing.
Stay focused on your routine and your team. Use small, consistent efforts to build a strong foundation for your business. Then, when your time does come, you’re more than ready to take advantage of it and leverage big opportunities as much as possible.
Network Marketing for Dummies: It’s Easier Than You Think!
What’s more important than patience? Getting started!
You can’t make your network marketing dreams come true if you’re standing on the sidelines. You have to take the jump and commit to this new, exciting business model. From there, the tips above fall into place and your life can truly transform.
To see how network marketing has changed the lives of others, click here.