Using Social Media to Grow Your MLM Business
Recently I gave myself a great birthday gift.
It was a simple gift that didn’t require any money but gave me tremendous peace, quiet and happiness.
I gave myself a 72 hour vacation away from Facebook.
I didn’t personally log into to read any comments, posts nor messages.
If you saw me post anything on a wall, it was all done automated or by my awesome assistant.
For me personally, I didn’t touch any social media and it was one of the BEST gifts I’ve given myself in awhile.
Many people will say that 3 days away from Facebook is punishment but I cherished every minute of it.
Maybe it’s because deep down I’m an introvert and found tremendous amount of peace for going offline for a few days.
It may sound ironic that I “cherished every minute” because social media has played a huge role in expanding and growing my businesses.
Social media can dramatically boost your business and triple your profits but you must learn how to use it wisely.
If you do it the wrong way and don’t use your time wisely, you end up just helping companies like Facebook make money.
Or you can do the right things and use Facebook to help make you money.
Social media is a double edged sword.
The question you need to ask yourself is, are you using social media or are letting social media use you?!
How I Got Started with Social Media
I was one of the early adopters of social media and joined Friendster immediately when they launched.
Anyone still remember Friendster?
It was the coolest thing ever!
I spent tons of time on it and then got burned…
Before you know it, too many people got on, and the server got slow and people abandoned it. As quickly as Friendster was a big hit, it became an online ghost town overnight.
All the valuable time that I had spent on my profile was wasted.
Somehow Friendster still exists today (I have no idea what has become of Friendster… it seems to be some type of gaming site now) but I think the greatest contribution that Friendster gave was create the new definition of what a “friend” is.
I remember when a “friend” used to be someone that you would actually talk and connect with on a consistent basis.
But today, how many of your “friends” on Facebook have you actually spent talking to for over 30 minutes in the last 6 months?
Initial Skepticism Over Facebook
I never really got into Myspace cause the bad taste of Friendster was still in my mouth.
And then Facebook came along and I was like, “not another one!”
The last thing I wanted to do was invest my valuable time on something that may not last.
But Facebook did gain momentum and it was only after seeing how engaged my wife was into Facebook, that I finally joined in 2008.
And the only reason I joined was because I found it the easiest way to share my wedding and honeymoon pictures to my friends.
Using Social Media to Make Money in Your MLM
Starting in late 2008, I saw the value of Facebook as a marketing tool.
The ability for me to target people in specific countries with specific interests got my marketing mind whirling.
I applied it by creating specific marketing targeted to individuals who were hungry to join an established MLM that was launching in the Philippines.
I didn’t spend much money on that marketing campaign but years later, those seeds resulted in finding 5 key leaders and helped me grow a downline of over 50,000 distributors in the Philippines.
My success in the Philippines convinced me about the power of social media.
I could see why Facebook is worth billions of dollars.
And even though I’m not the biggest fan of Facebook, I am grateful because it played a huge role in helping me find motivated prospects and expand my MLM business to different countries.
Social Media is a Double Edged Sword
For simplicity sake, I’m just going to talk about Facebook for now since that seems to be the most popular social media outlet.
You can grow your business and make money marketing your business on Facebook.
But there is a right and wrong way to do it and unfortunately most people do it incorrectly.
If you do it the right way, you make money.
Do it the wrong way, you hurt your business and just make Facebook money.
By the way, just to clarify, you make Facebook money because you spend time on it. And time is money.
When you spend time and give your attention to something, you are losing the most precious asset in your life.
You are giving away your resource (time) to Facebook and make it most valuable.
Facebook is one of the biggest Time Thieves and each day money gets stolen from you.
If this doesn’t make sense, just remember, what gets attention makes money.
A 30 second Superbowl ad costs $4 million dollars for only 30 seconds because approximately 100 million people’s attention is spent.
If no one gave their time and paid attention to the Superbowl, the ads would be worthless.
So remember this… what you give attention to becomes valuable.
Which goes back to the question…
Are you simply making Facebook money or are you using your social media efforts to make you money?
So let’s define 2 terms.
Lose Money in Social Media:
You spend time on Facebook without Facebook helping you grow your business.
You lose money because you lose your valuable time.
That time could have been better spent elsewhere in growing your business.
Examples of how you can use the time better is going to places to meet prospects such as the gym, church, etc… spending time on other marketing channels such as flyers,… investing time following up with old prospects, etc.
Make Money in Social Media:
You use your time wisely and get people interested in your business and products.
How to Lose Money in Social Media
The easiest way to lose money in social media is to post messages that are inconsistent with your network marketing business.
Most people make this mistake because they post what’s on their mind WITHOUT FIRST THINKING of the consequences.
I’ll give you 2 examples…
1) Is Being Your Own Boss and Having Freedom Better or a Job Better?
Recently I saw a MLM distributor post that he was excited for his upcoming interview with Apple.
Why would a distributor post something like this?
When the distributor prospects he shares that MLM allows you to fire your boss and have your own business.
But a few hours later, he posts that he is excited about working for someone.
Those are 2 directly conflicting messages.
So what is the real truth?
Is it better to join MLM and be your own boss or to work for Apple?
I know this distributor and it’s no surprise that he has only sponsored less than 3 people in the last 6 months?!
2) Being Healthy or Eat What You Want?
Another example is I saw a MLM distributor from a health company.
In his business presentations, he represents and talks about health.
But recently he went out to eat with his friends and posts this picture of eating deep fried chicken wings.
So who is he?
Is he someone that believes in health or is he saying that in meetings just so that his prospects will sign up?
I know sometimes we do splurge and eat something unhealthy. That is human and ok.
Go eat your chicken wings but don’t let the world know about it! You are shooting yourself in the foot!
3 Social Media Tips to Grow Your Business
People get interested in your business when they see you change.
Whether it is your new group of positive friends you spend time with, your new outlook in life or the habits you have.
Social Media is a great way for you to broadcast these changes.
Here are 3 social media tips to help you use social media to market yourself.
MLM Tip #1: Create Consistency in Your Posts
Don’t make the mistake that the distributors made in the 2 examples I mentioned above.
Make sure your message is consistent with the same message when you prospect.
Any lack of consistency creates mistrust among your prospects.
MLM Tip #2: Learn to Use Themed Posts
Sometimes we may be stuck and have a hard time coming up with posts that are related to our business.
The easiest way to find things to post is to think in themes.
For example, if a theme you can use is financial freedom.
Can you think of 10 posts you can write about the benefits of working from home?
If you have trouble coming up with a post related to that theme, a great resource are books.
You can dig up great quotes.
If you are marketing health products, another example of a theme is scientific benefits behind supplements.
You can research and find 10 research items that are related to the benefits of supplementation.
Whatever you post, remember to be consistent!
MLM Tip #3: Have an Opinion
Apply this last strategy to the posts that you come up with.
Always have an opinion on what you post.
People don’t just want you to repost quotes nor articles. They want to hear about your thoughts.
So if you using the financial freedom theme and found an inspiring quote, share in 1 – 2 sentences what impact that quote had on you.
Use Social Media to Create Your Personal Brand
Social Media is a great way to market yourself and let people see how your MLM business has changed you.
If you apply and do the 3 tips consistently over the next 90 days, people will start coming to you and want to learn about your business.
Facebook has played a huge role in helping me expand my MLM business and the best part is that it is easy and you can do.
If you want to learn some more tips that you can implement to grow your business using social media, check out my MLM Social Media IQ training course.
And remember, time is money so make sure you maximize your time on social media.
Learn to use social media and don’t let social media USE YOU!
