Discover 6 MLM Strategies that Will Help You Build Your Downline FAST
The old methods of calling all of your friends and family, buying leads, and hunting people in the business section of the bookstore just don’t work like they used to. The rules have changed, and the internet is now the most effective way for you to build a HUGE business quickly. The strategies that I’m going to share here go WAY BEYOND just having a personal company website with your photo and number on it.
What I’ll be sharing here are some of the strategies that top earners in the MLM industry are using to build their businesses quickly.
The goal of this post is to open your mind to possibilities that you may not have known were possible. So let’s dive in…
1) Blogging – Some of the top bloggers in network marketing get as many as 100 leads per day through their blogs. These leads are contacting the blog owner to find out more information about their opportunities and/or the way they build their business. While Raymond Fong and Ferny Ceballos were some of the first to market teaching Search Engine Optimization and Blogging to network marketers, David Wood is probably the best known networker to use this strategy and Ray Higdon has created courses for some of the top training systems in MLM.
- PROs
- You Own It – As long as you set up a blog on your own domain name (ex. www.YourName.com), you own your blog and, generally speaking, nobody can take that from you, turn it off, or shut you down.
- Long Term Asset – Once a blog gets traction, they can often make you money and bring in new leads even years from now. This method allows you to do the work once and profit from it for a long time.
- Cheap – The cost to set up and run your own blog on your own domain is usually not more than $100 for a whole year which makes it one of the most affordable strategies for building your business.
- CONs
- Technical – Setting up your first blog, researching the most effective topics to write about, optimizing your blog, and getting other people to link to it so that you can get the most visibility in Google will take some time to learn and get used to. Fortunately, there are dozens of guides and tools available to help you learn this stuff quickly.
- Time Intensive – Researching topics, writing blog posts, and finding linking opportunities can also take quite a bit of time to both learn and do.
- Slow – Building your business with a blog is generally a fairly slow process. While the more you learn, the faster things can move, it can take up to 6 months or more to start generating a significant amount of leads from a blog for someone just getting started.
2) Solo Ads – This is the process of finding people who have an email following and paying them to send out an advertisement to that following on your behalf. Daegan Smith is the leader who has both refined and popularized this strategy for the network marketing industry.
- PROs
- Very Fast – The quickest way to build a downline is to put your opportunity in front of of people who you know would be interested. One of the most effective ways of doing this is via email marketing solo ads.
- Highly Effective – In his first solo ad, Daegan Smith put 12 people into his business. While not every ad is that effective, it shows the power of this strategy!
- No Skill Required – This particular strategy requires the least skill of all of the strategies. While you do have to know how to write an effective ad, you don’t have to have any technical skills.
- CONs
- Can be Expensive – Solo ads can cost anywhere from $30 up to $1500 or more depending on the size and quality of the email list that your ad is being sent out to. It’s best to start small so that you can test and then scale up from there.
- Scams – There are several email lists out there that are just junk. You can easily waste your money if you don’t properly investigate the quality of the following you’re sending your ad to.
3) Pay Per Click – Pay Per Click is one of the most popular ways of generating money and building big businesses by top leaders. Mike Dillard, Jonathan Budd, and Daegan Smith are some of the leaders that have both succeeded in and now teach this method in our industry.
- PROs
- Immediate Results – Once your campaign is approved, you can start getting impressions and clicks immediately. This feedback allows you to learn quickly so that you can figure out what does and doesn’t work for your ads and opportunities.
- Easy to Scale – There are dozens of pay per click networks online which means that if you can create a profitable campaign on one network, you can quickly scale your efforts and run the same or similar ads across other networks to get maximum results.
- CONs
- Costs Money – As the name imlies, you pay everytime someone clicks on your ad even if they don’t sign up for your business or buy anything from you. If you can figure it out, this strategy can be HUGE for building your business, but plan on burning through some dollars in the learning process.
- Small Learning Curve – While the concept of PPC is simple, some of the networks have a bunch of targeting options that you will need to time to learn or you’ll likely waste a lot of money. It’s best to learn as much as you can BEFORE you start rather than learning through your mistakes which will cost you money.
4) Facebook – The world is on Facebook making it a great place to get yourself and your opportunity in front of people. While the most popular leaders in network marketing built their businesses before the rise of Facebook, an up and coming leader named Michelle Pescosolido grew her business to 6-figures in 6 months mostly using Facebook.
- PROs
- Free – While you can buy Facebook ads, Facebook itself is free to use and just interacting with people in proper ways can allow you to build a network of people who may be interested in your opportunity.
- Vast Opportunity – Hundreds of millions of people are on Facebook which means there are plenty of people looking for an opportunity. Facebook gives us a way to reach out to them without leaving the home or office.
- CONs
- Takes Time – While Facebook ads can be used to accelerate the process, building an audience on Facebook can take some time.
- You Don’t Own It – Unlike a blog, you don’t actually own your Facebook Fan Page or your Profile. If Facebook decides they don’t like what you’re doing, they can just shut you down. While this doesn’t need to happen to you, it has happened to other networkers so be sure that you abide by their terms and don’t go spamming people, over-posting about your business, or other things that they don’t like.
5) Video Marketing – Today, videos can get you in front of thousands of people whether through YouTube, DailyMotion, Viddler, or the Video search results in Google. Several marketers such as David Wood and Maria Andros have made good use of video and seen great success from it.
PROs
- PROs
- Engages Audience – People watch content more than they read content. People like to be entertained, and this strategy fills that need more than most others.
- Shows Personality – Allows your audience to connect with you on a very personal level because they can truly see you.
- CONs
- Money for Start-up – Cameras cost money. Video editing software can cost money if you don’t have a MAC. While your camera doesn’t have to be awesome, you do have to have one that looks half-way decent.
- Uncomfortable – Some people love the lime light, but for those that don’t, it can be a challenge to get out of your comfort zone… but of course YOU CAN DO IT!
6) Co-ops – This is a strategy that is based off of one of the preceding strategies. As the old adage goes, “Many hands makes light the load” and the same is true of internet marketing for network marketers. Involving others in the process – whether in paid strategies or free – can help to significantly increase the results that are achieved and build everyone’s business more quickly.
- PROs
- High Leverage – This strategy has the potential to skyrocket a business by involving your downline as well. This propells your business faster and farther than one can normally do by themselves.
- Less Resource Intensive – Leveraging your downline also means that you don’t have to front all of the money or time yourself. A big plus anyway you look at it.
- CONs
- Requires Experience – Running a co-op, especially a paid one, requires that you know what you’re doing and know it well. You want to help your team here, not lose their money.
- Requires Participants – You can’t very well run a co-op by yourself which means you’ll need either a downline or some friends that believe in you enough to give you some cash… a downline is the recommended way to go.
These are 6 strategies that top income earners use to build their businesses online. And of course you can use them as well.
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If you have any thoughts or comments, leave them in the comments below!