Is it possible to skip the home parties, avoid approaching your family members and friends with your product and build your network marketing business using the internet?
I say yes… and no.
Let me explain…
As I was scrolling through my NewsFeed on Facebook over the weekend I realized how many friends I have that are involved in a some sort of home business.
Now in so many ways this is a great thing. I’ve got loads of people just like me who believe in an industry that’s allowing people to build up a side or full time income who think like I think.
However…
That doesn’t mean that all of my friends on Facebook know how to market effectively using the internet. I’d actually say that most don’t. Sure it ruffles some of my friend’s feathers when they see people posting their opportunity links into Groups, inviting you to their Events and posting their opportunity links on your wall…
I’ll share with ya a quick story on when I made that mistake in just a sec…
Most people get angry or annoyed to the point of unfriending the them, but for the most part…
It’s makes me smile, because I’ve been there too.
In fact, there was one particular incident 4 years ago where I actually posted my opportunity link so many times on a highly successful 7 Figure home business owner’s Facebook Fan Page…
(I’ll save the juicy details about this story for another post, but I’m pretty sure you get the picture… lol.)
…that I received a personal private message from this person giving me a heads up that they were going to ban and report me to Facebook if I continued to “spam my links” all over her page.
And honestly…
I deserved it.
I was confused, embarrassed and annoyed… with myself.
That single incident gave me a good reality check that…
I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when it came to effectively marketing my business online.
At that moment I realized that I was marketing like I was in desperation mode and everyone else out there saw it too. Instead of continuing to go down that windy road, I educated myself, observed what other top marketers were doing in my industry and started to implement their strategies into my own business.
And what do ya know? I actually started getting results. 
Here are three ways that I learned how to effectively market a home business using the internet. I’ve used all three methods (some longer than others) and all produced more leads and more sales than I had EVER gotten with just desperately posting my links everywhere.
So let’s dive in!
Strategy #1: Social Media Prospecting
This strategy is an approach which will seem pretty familiar, because it’s prospecting as we’ve always done it, just with an online twist.
This is the first strategy I ever utilized to bring in new people into my network marketing business, affiliate marketing business and to sell coaching/training products of my own.
Now prospecting on social media is NOT “Internet marketing,” however it still beats camping out at your local mall prospecting every cashier you come face to face with.
I originally learned this strategy from my friend Reginald.
1) SEARCH – Use Facebook Search to find ‘friends of friends’ who live locally (at least to start with).
There are a few reasons for doing it this way…
First of all, Facebook allows you to directly message ‘friends of friends’ so that your message goes into their main inbox, instead of the “Other” inbox, which most people don’t even know exists.
Secondly, you start with local, because it will allow you to eventually meet face to face with them to form a more powerful personal connection. Given that you have no prior relationship, it’s important to meet.
2) QUALIFY – Next, you take a minute to look at their profile and identify key interests that might resonate with you personally, your business or your products.
You are also looking for more subtle things, like are they smiling in their pictures? Are they outgoing? Do they seem to be a positive person?
Bear in mind, you are prospecting, but you are also qualifying them.
For example, an interest in Robert Kiyosaki might mean there’s an interest in entrepreneurship or diversified income streams. An interest in CrossFit indicates an interest in health and wellness and that might resonate with your company’s products.
3) MESSAGE – Then you craft your first message to them, which believe it or not, follows a somewhat standard prospecting approach.
You can come up with a template (which I initially did), but each message will be tailored to them specifically. This message will mention friends you have in common. You mention that you’re a recruiter for a “health & wellness company” or whatever the niche is, you’re “expanding in the area” and you ask if they are “open to earning extra money?”
Your initial message should not be thought of with any intention of closing a sale. This is just to see if they’re even open to building a home business.
You DO NOT want to be posting copy/paste messages with links to sign up for your opportunity. Not only is that not effective, it’s considered SPAM by Facebook and can get your account shut down and get your company in trouble too.
In this initial message, you aren’t giving them any info or links. You are simply trying to get them to express an interest.
4) BOOK – If they respond back with interest, book a face to face meeting, if local or at the very least get them on the phone. You just let them know that details are better explained in person and, “if we were to work together, it’s a good opportunity to see if we would like each other! ;-)”.
At this point, if they meet with you, hopefully your company or upline have defined a solid process for you to follow from here.
Remember, not everyone is going to respond with a “Yes… oh pick me! Sign me up!”. I’d say most won’t. Some won’t even respond initially…
If they don’t answer back, there are some different approaches here. You can either play it safe and leave the ones that didn’t answer back, alone. Or you can take a walk on the wild side… J
I used to follow up with a 2nd message 4-5 days later, if they didn’t answer back.
It’s a short message simply to see if they a) received the 1st message and b) to see if they are interested. Sometimes they don’t get the first message or see the message when they are in the middle of something and forget to answer back.
When I started sending a follow up message I received a huge increase in responses. Most were positive and some people even apologized for not getting back to me sooner, lol!
I recommend not sending a third follow up message. At this point, you assume a “NO” and move on.
Speaking of moving on… here’s another cool strategy…
Strategy #2: Show Me The Money (Well… sort of.)
This process is pretty simple and depending on your personality, may or may not be great for you.
This pretty much involves posting your results on social media (i.e. showing checks, cars you’ve earned, vacations you’ve won, your before and after weight loss pics) and waiting for people to express an interest via the comments or private message.
Additionally, to boost results, you can add a CALL TO ACTION to message you, if they want more info.
From a ‘leading with the opportunity’ angle, this would involve posting pictures and announcements about your ‘rags to riches’ story, income results, and the impact it’s made on your lifestyle. (Obviously, you can only do this if you’ve gotten results.)
I utilized this approach initially on my personal Facebook page and I’ve seen people whom I know personally deploy this strategy with great success, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t utilize this strategy for too long.
When you utilize this strategy this way…
I’ll share a tweak of what I started doing that was much more effective and authentic to my personality in just a second…
It can appear hypey and can piss off your real life friends & family, but I know it can work well too, because let’s face it, most people have a desire for more income.
Like any strategy, if you overuse it and are posting checks right and left or jumping from one opportunity to the next…
Alternatively…
I’ve utilized this method and have seen others do the same with a ‘leading with the product’ angle. It tends to be much more powerful and usually more friend & company safe, especially if the results you are posting has to do with a personal or customer case study.
This angle will help you generate more customers and a few of those customers may express an interest in the business, after they fall in love with the product.
I’ve seen a lot of my coaching clients and friends rock this method with weight loss challenges & showing before and after pictures. If you can provide a clear and visible result that was produced from product use, it’s incredibly powerful.
For example, when I was in the travel industry I posted pictures of my vacation/trips/how I booked my flights and then would reveal how little I paid for that experience. Then when I received comments below the images or private messages…
I utilized Strategy #1 to build a relationship and begin the process of closing the sale. 
Or if you’re in the health and wellness niche, you can post pictures of yourself running a marathon, decreasing your wrinkles on your face, or whatever, which would not have been possible without certain supplements or face creams.
Essentially, show everyone connected to you on social media a desirable change in your life, achieved in part or as a direct result of your product.
Once they express an interest, you follow whatever process you’ve been taught for closing people.
Initially, when I utilized both Strategy #1 and #2 I would book belly to belly meetings or book phone appointments to start closing people over the phone. A great book to get you started with this process is Eric Worre’s book Go Pro. It really opened my eyes up to the process of how to invite, follow up and close a sale without hard selling.
But if “closing” people is not your thing, then here’s my favorite Internet strategy, which I’ve now used successfully in my business for the past 3 years…
Strategy #3: Attraction Marketing
Earlier I mentioned an embarrassing story that taught me a very hard lesson that I had no clue what I was doing when it came to marketing my business online.
Once I realized that I needed to educate myself from others who had already seen success with marketing their home businesses online. I started to see a trend. They were all attracting people to their businesses without spamming their links and most of the time I didn’t even know what company they were involved with.
I discovered how to do the same when I educated myself about marketing online. You’ll hear more about his success with Attraction Marketing.
Once I learned Attraction Marketing, I actually stopped utilizing Strategy #1 and #2 as my main ways to generate more leads and close more sales…
Because I didn’t need them anymore.
I stopped messaging strangers my templated messages like in Strategy #1 because people were messaging me.
And I was no longer filling my friend’s News Feeds and my wall with thinly veiled promotions for an opportunity or product as in Strategy #2 because I was generating leads and closing sales on autopilot.
What I did was I created a truly passive way of making sure that when I woke up each morning…
I would have an inbox full of notifications, letting them know that there were 10, 20, 50, or even hundreds of new prospects, interested in learning more about my business or my products.
And what’s even cooler is that I also started having an inbox full of notifications of 5 – 10 new CUSTOMERS waiting to receive their product and excited about the possibility it holds for them.
You see, just about every other type of business in the world is now using proven, passive and scalable online marketing & advertising methods.
So why NOT use these methods in your network marketing or home business to give you more time in the day to do whatever it is that you love?
Just like anything else in business, this didn’t happen overnight for me. It took me educating myself, staying focused and actually taking action consistently on Attraction Marketing to create momentum and see results.
So no matter where you are in your business…
Whether you’re frustrated with your results, looking for a way to start fresh and build your business online or if you just want a more automated way to bring in new leads and customers, make sure to contact me on facebook.
What do you think is the #1 struggle most home business owners have with building their businesses online?
Comment below, I’d love to know your thoughts on this!
Make It Happen,
Randall Jenkins
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