Social Media has literally changed the Network Marketing industry for ever and you definitely don’t want to miss out.
So lets talk about Social Media, why it’s important to start using it now and what benefits it has to offer Network Marketers.
Social Networking through the Internet, offers one of the most powerful solutions to one of the greatest hurdles we face, running out of our warm market. If you don’t embrace Social Media now and you still think it’s a fad, you probably won’t remain at the forefront of our industry.
In the past, we gave all kinds of advice on how to continue to build your warm market that is just plain outdated in today’s world. Nowadays we have incredible tools at out fingertips to make sure your warm market never runs out. I remember one of things that really jumped out at me from the book Wave 4, was when the author spoke about how all Network Marketing distributors eventually run out of their warm market.
“When your team start coming to you with this dilemma, if you don‘t have an answer, you will see the attrition rate in your business start to rise”
Yikes! That message had such an impact on me that I immediately instigated a plan…I developed a list of all the ways I was going to coach my team on how they could increase their warm market, ‘if and when’ they came to me with this problem.Phew!
Strategies like:
=> Attend small business and franchising expos and gather cards from stall holders
=> Join business-networking groups in your local area
=> Start attending you local Chamber of Commerce meetings
=> Letterbox drops
=> Hang out in Hotel Foyers in a dark suit and stalk people (Just kidding, I heard that one from a friend and thought I would throw it in for a laugh!)
Do these methods work? Well they can but they are too slow if you want to build a large organization.. By teaching people how to use Social Media correctly, you can increase your warm market hundreds of times faster than with any of these traditional methods.
Let me give you a really powerful example of how Social Media can work for your team
Traditionally we set up appointments and talk with potential business partners over the phone or in person. If the person is not a friend or family member, a large portion of this meeting time is spent ‘breaking the ice’ and getting to know them. When the meeting ends, we exchange details and then follow up, follow up, follow up.
Fast forward to today and you can be building a relationship with the person through one of the social media sites before you even meet them. If the timing is right and one of your social networking buddies is at a time in their life where they express they’re open to a new opportunity, you won’t be spending the first half of the meeting breaking the ice as you will have done that long ago. Then when the meeting ends, instead of filing their details and diligently following up like crazy, the relationship continues to strengthen through one of the online social networks.
We know that people join people they ‘know, like and trust’, so it makes sense to use every opportunity you can to let people get to know you. This is where learning how to apply Attraction Marketing strategies to build rapport through these Social Networking sites becomes really exciting.
Face Book (which is just one of hundreds of social networking sites), is now rocketing towards 500,000,000 users. Do you think some of these people might want to work with you?
The key to scooping up cheerleaders from your Social Networks is to be following the 80/20 or what I prefer to call the 90/10 rule!
Make sure the majority of what you are sending out is filled with value that your followers might be interested in. This can be other people’s posts, or your own as long as they are filled with value.
Think about what keeps your warm market up at night? If it’s a lack of leads then offer to teach them how to generate leads. If you’re just starting out and don’t feel like you have the ability to mentor other people on generating leads, syndicate other valuable posts from people you admire. Your followers will love you for it!
Have you been using Social Media as a source to grow your biz?
I’d love it if you would leave me a comment below and I’ll look forward to replying :)
Michaelé
Fantastic and oh so true.
Michaele,
This blog is going to be a great resource for the Network Marketing Profession. Why’d you wait so long to put it up?
Re:”Hotel Foyers” Several years ago Mark Yarnell told me that when he first got started, he used to ride the elevators at the court house and invite “suites” to a business meeting at his house. Thank god we have social networking today.
Keep up the great writing.
Kim
Hey Michaele!
We are Twitter-buddies and this is my first time in your blog, or I can´t remember(thank god my PC has a lot of memory, teamwork! ;) ) , anyway… I agree with Kim here, top-information for ml*m:ers(and other businesses too)
See you,
Pekka
Great post Michaele!
Yes, the “old school” methods of network marketing are passe, problem is that a lot of marketers haven’t figured that out yet.
I love the opportunities that social media sites have put in front of us. It all comes down to attraction marketing, which is the real genius in it. The old warm market techniques taught us to approach everybody and anybody. Here we have a means to rid ourselves of the rejection factor, and to be able to give our information only to those who are looking for it.
BTW, your blog looks awesome…great job!
.-= Kathy Jodrey´s last blog ..Blog Syndication Made Quick & Simple with OnlyWire =-.
Hi Kathy,
Your comment made me reflect back on when I too was taught that everybody is a prospect.
It just doesn’t make sense really, as some people have no interest what so ever in starting their own business or becoming an entrepreneur.
Thats what I love about the concept of attraction marketing as those that are looking, find us!
Social Media is an amazing tool in the hands of an entrepreneur and network marketer. I have made some of the greatest business relationships with those I’ve connected with through social media. Old school methods are kind of like antiques…they have value and nostalgia associated with them, but they don’t appeal to all people. I think having skills in both are good, but social media networking techniques certainly yield quicker results.
:-)
Krista
.-= Krista Abbott´s last blog ..Social Media Management Tools: HootSuite =-.
Hey Krista,
LOL re antiques!
I agree with needing skills in both areas and the wonderful thing is that the skills are pretty much the same.
As you pointed out, online social networking has faster results and you have a much larger audience.
Michaelé