The proper SEO title for this post should be How to Make Money in Network Marketing, and while I will answer that question, there is something else I want to address.
I was working with another distributor in my network marketing company a few days ago. I’m helping her to get her business online so that it can be a true “work AT home business” instead of a “work FROM home business.” Yes, there is a difference and maybe I’ll write about it someday. In the mean time, my email address is at the top of this page if you want to ask me about it.
Anyway, we were talking and she told me that she is hearing people complaining again that it’s too hard to make money in network marketing.
Nothing annoys me more than that kind of talk because nothing could be simpler.
How to Make Money in Network Marketing
Here it is, the answer to the big mystery. How do you make money in network marketing?
Sell something.
That’s all there is to it. You can’t possibly make it any easier than that. All good sales people know that. All good affiliate marketers know that.
Not only is that how you make money, it’s the only way to make money in network marketing. That’s the philosophy that I’ve used to grow my business.
Network Marketing Makes it Even Better Than That
In network marketing you have the ability to build your own sales team so that you can earn a percentage from your team’s sales as well as your own sales. So, here’s the expanded answer:
Sell something.
Recruit people to sell more somethings.
It’s still really simple.
Network Marketers Like to Make it Harder
I don’t know how it is with other companies, but I’ve never heard any of my upline say it so simply. I imagine most companies are the same. They actually botch it up pretty bad. When you sign up, they tell you to “buy something” and recruit more people to “buy something.” You don’t make money buying things. It just doesn’t work that way. That’s one reason why most network marketers never make any money.
You do earn a percentage from what your recruits buy but it is so small compared to what you can make if everyone is selling instead.
Don’t get the wrong idea. You should use your product and be familiar with it. To sell something you have never used yourself shows a lack of integrity. My point is that if only buy the product for yourself and never sell it to others then you’re really just a customer. Customers don’t make money, they spend money.
You Need to Understand This
If you are a network marketer, you’ve probably been told repeatedly to sign people up and get them on an autoship. That’s all they want you to do. Then after a few months you get frustrated because
- Not everybody is like you and wants to have a business of their own.
- You haven’t made any money because everyone is buying at wholesale prices.
Here’s what you need to understand. In network marketing, just like any other business on the planet, money is only made when a product or service is sold. Money is a medium of exchange, so a meaningful exchange has to occur for it to come your way.
You can sell product to customers yourself at retail and earn retail profit as well as your commission. That’s my favorite. I’m a top retailer with my company.
You can recruit people and train them how to sell product to customers at retail and earn your share of their commission. Your share is usually a lot smaller than the retail profit but can be nice when you have a large enough team that is actually getting out there and doing the work. The meaningful exchange here is your coaching in exchange for your compensation. The more effective it is, the more your people sell, the more money you (and they) make.
If you understand that, we can move on to the next question.
How Do You Sell Product to Make Money?
All of those ways that you have been taught to recruit people will work for finding customers too. You can think of it as recruiting customers instead of recruiting distributors.
It’s a lot easier to find customers than it is to recruit new reps. Plus, the actual act of them becoming a customer for the first time puts money in your pocket. They become a customer by making a purchase. You could sign up a dozen reps who never do a darn thing and you will never make any money from your efforts.
You can do your coffee shop meetings and hotel meetings to introduce your product to new customers. The meetings should go easier because a small purchase is a much smaller commitment than signing up for a business.
If you are great on the phone and enjoy cold calling prospects, then keep doing that. Again, it should be easier, just like the meetings, because you are looking for a smaller commitment.
You can still recruit people who want to build a business. Recruit them from your pool of new customers who have had an excellent experience with the products. They are already half sold.
Internet Network Marketing
I prefer to use the Internet. That should be pretty obvious considering that you are reading this blog post on the Internet right now.
One of the bloggers I follow, Donna Merrill, recently asked the question, “Which is better, a blog or a website?” My answer is both. I created my original product website on May 6, 2008. It has gone through many iterations since then and is still constantly changing in small ways as I learn better ways to do things.
I don’t know if that website technically qualifies as an e-commerce website because my customers have to click through to the company’s website to complete their orders. Still, it is more e-commerce than it is blog.
I added a blog and published my first post to it on February 18, 2009.
My goal is to get plenty of traffic from the search engines so that people can place their orders at their convenience whether I’m working, out playing, or sound asleep. It works. The product pages are my target pages, “landing pages” if you prefer. The blog supports those pages through additional keywords, internal links, and as a means of getting traffic from social media.
Online Recruiting
As you have already read, my whole recruiting effort is built around introducing prospects to the idea of building an online business in network marketing that goes counter to just about everything that traditional network marketing teaches.
I am also putting together the resources to show them exactly how I have built my business so that they can duplicate what I have done.
In Conclusion
When I hear someone say that they aren’t making any money in network marketing, the first thing I ask them is how much product they’ve sold. Their answer is usually “none” and I say, “well, there’s why.”
The only way to make money is to sell a product or service. Even as an employee with a big company, the money they pay you comes from selling a product or service, whether you are personally involved in the transaction or not. In network marketing you are the sales person, so you need to be involved in the transaction. Then recruit and teach others to do the same.
Disclaimer
There is no guarantee that you will make any money in network marketing, especially if you’re buying instead of selling. I make no income claims at all.
What Do You Think?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Please leave a comment below and share this post with your followers on social media. I would really appreciate that.
