How do network marketers make money, like really?

Network marketers are tasked with 2 main things in order to make money:

• Sell products
• Recruit folks to sell for them

It’s important to note that as a network marketer, you do not get paid to recruit people into your team. You get paid when you build a team that sells products.

Sales volume is the only way by which MLM companies make money. And as a network marketer, you get commissions from the sales volume that is produced by you and your team.

So it stands to reason that if you and your team never sell a single product, you’re not going to make money.

You only make money when sales volume is produced… when products are sold into the real economy.

How Network Marketing Works

Network marketing is a business model by which products are sold into the economy through individual representatives. 

These reps have the opportunity to sell products and earn commissions for each sale made. 

They can also build their own sales team, and earn commissions from sales volume made by that whole team… often you can earn commissions from 7 or 8 levels of depth of your organization.

This allows network marketing companies to save millions of dollars in advertising campaigns and retail fees. Instead of using traditional marketing and distribution, they pay you, the network marketer, to distribute the products for them.

It’s really not that different from any other traditional business.

The main difference is the method used to market and distribute products into the real economy.

The company earns money when their products are sold, not when a new rep is recruited. 

Just like any other business. Money is earned when a product or service is sold. 

It’s simply a value for value exchange.

Money (value) is exchanged for goods or services (value).

Check out this article to learn more about how network marketing works and why it might be a good fit for today’s crazy world.

Your Tasks As A Network Marketer

As we mentioned above, there are 2 main tasks that you will need to focus on as a network marketer:

• Sell products
• Recruit builders

You have to do both of these in order to have long term success in network marketing.

Selling Products

You will hear many network marketers say that you need to focus on recruiting if you want to make big money in this business.

It’s true, BUT…

If you and your team are solely focused on recruiting and nobody ever acquires customers, then nobody is going to make good money.

Because the compensation plan that you’re trying to leverage is completely dependant on sales volume.

Don’t neglect this.

Remember, it will be much easier for you to acquire customers than to acquire business builders. 

Think about it…

If you’re talking to your brother, would he trust you enough to buy a vitamin pack because you shared the awesome experience you had with it?

Chances are, he might be willing to give it a shot.

But would he trust you to advise him on his career? On starting a business?

Chances are much lower. Because you probably don’t have that type of credibility.

And that’s OK. 

You just need to understand that you should be meeting people where they are. Focus on acquiring a large customer base that buys from you month after month.

Along the way, you will find a few people who are actually interested in a home business. 

Recruiting

Recruiting is an extremely important part of network marketing because it’s what will allow you to build a team that will earn commissions for you.

After all, that’s why you’re interested in network marketing, right?

To earn from the efforts of others.

Passive income.

As you’re talking to folks about your business opportunity, you will find that many people aren’t interested. Not even close.

This may cause a sense of desperation to kick in and you will find yourself trying to convince people to join your business.

Do not let this happen to you.

The last thing you want is to get into an argument with someone about the difference between network marketing and pyramid schemes.

It’s not an argument worth having.

After all, you are not looking to force anybody into your business. You are looking for those who are already open to the idea.

It’s just a numbers game, and you need to sort through the numbers.

Talk to as many people as possible, but do it with the expectation that most people will not be interested.

And that’s OK.

Have a look at this full guide to succeed in network marketing for more details.

Long Term Success In MLM

One of the problems with network marketing is that many people don’t last. 

They might try the business for a few months and when they don’t get rich in their first 6 months, they quit.

This can be very frustrating for you as a committed network marketer because it means that you are forced to constantly replenish your team.

This is where the secret to long term success in MLM comes in.

Duplication

The truth is, you will not need to recruit nearly as many people as you think in order to do well in this business.

At least not if you build it correctly…

You have to understand duplication.

Duplication is what allowed people like Sarah Robbins, Randy Gage, and Eric Worre to come top earners in MLM.

The idea is to learn how to be successful in the business yourself… and then pass that knowledge on to the folks that you recruit.

You need to build your business successfully and teach your team members to do the same.

And you do this by keeping your system as simple as possible.

When you recruit a new member into your team, they will be watching you closely because they are looking to you for leadership.

If they see you following the simple system that you were taught by your sponsor, they will be motivated to follow the same simple system… and teach their own recruits to do the same.

This is how you build deep, wide, and sustainable network marketing teams.

Simplicity is the key.

Strategies To Bring People In

You may be tempted to go out and learn effective, but complex, closing techniques.

This is a very bad idea because it will simply not duplicate with your team.

The folks that you bring into the business will be watching you and trying to replicate what you do. 

Complex closing strategies don’t work for the vast majority of people. So your team will grow tired and frustrated when they’re unable to duplicate you.

And they’ll quit. 

And you will never grow that large passive income that every network marketer dreams of.

So instead of trying to get fancy, just keep it simple.

When you’re having conversations with people, don’t try to force your business into the conversation.

Instead, be curious.

Listen to people.

And when the opportunity comes up for you to mention your product or service, take advantage of it.

You will already have built trust and likeability because of your selfless willingness to listen.

Try not to be too “salesy” because folks can sense that from a mile away. And they do NOT like it.

Just be a genuinely nice person and do not introduce your business prematurely.

So let’s talk about where to find people to talk to about your business.

Focus On Building Your Network

In order to do well in network marketing, you have to build your network. This is how network marketers really make money long term.

Obviously.

I mean, it’s in the name… network marketing.

It’s all about word of mouth advertising. This is not a corporate model of fancy sales pitches or presentations.

The power of network marketing comes from individuals building relationships with real people and sharing their experiences about a product that’s often not available on store shelves.

Or an income opportunity that can not be found in the local newspaper.

So as you’re going about your normal day to day activities, you should be consciously thinking about expanding your network.

Meet new people, make friends everywhere.

At the grocery store.

The gym.

Your yoga class.

Your Church.

But don’t do it with the intention of pitching them a product or business.

It needs to be genuine.

And it’s gonna take practice and most of all, personal growth.

Get Socially Involved

If you spend all of your spare time at home on the couch binging on Netflix, you are obviously not going to grow your network.

You should be consciously getting involved in your community.

Sign up for classes on things that you’re interested in.

Join clubs or groups.

Meet new people as much as you can.

Not only is this going to be good for your business long term, but it’s also really good for your own mental health and self worth!

Social Media

Social media can also be a very powerful way to attract folks to you who are already interested in what you have to offer.

You can find like-minded folks in Facebook groups, forums, or other online communities.

Connect with these people and provide value and friendship.

Once you have them following you on whatever social media platform you prefer, you can work on continually providing value to your followers.

Be interesting, share tips and ideas about your products or business.

This has to be done tactfully however.

If you’re desperately pitching products to your following day after day or spamming your affiliate links all over social media, folks are not going to be attracted to what you have to say.

You may want to check out our social media guide in order to learn how to use this strategy correctly.

Internet Marketing

Internet marketing can be another powerful method of attracting business oriented people to you, and many MLMers are using it successfully.

So how do network marketers make money using the internet?

Online marketing comes down to 3 basic steps:

I. Create Content

If you want to attract people to you using the internet, you will need to brand yourself as an expert in whatever topic you’re covering.

This is not as daunting as it sounds…

You simply need to create content about the things that your ideal customer wants to know.

There are many platforms that you can use to do this:

• Blogging
• Youtube
• Social media
• Forums
• Podcasts

The possibilities are nearly endless. 

II. Build An Email List

Your content creation strategy should not include pitching your product or MLM opportunity.

At all.

Because it will drive people away from your content and you’ll never have the opportunity to build trust and authority.

This is why you need to build an email list.

You do this by creating some type of free gift. Such as:

• eBook
• PDF report
• Webinar replay
• Online course
• Audiobook

You will use this free gift to entice your content consumer to join your email list.

The only way they can get access to the free gift is by entering their email address into a form on your website.

III. Sell Your Stuff

Once you have folks on your list, you should be emailing them on a regular basis. Several times a week should be sufficient.

Using these emails, you should continue to provide value to your readers.

But this is also where you can begin selling your stuff or possibly even bringing people into your team.

You can encourage them to get on the phone with you, follow you on social media, or buy something directly through a link.

Just don’t over-do it.

If you send out too many sales pitches, people will rapidly unsubscribe from your email list.

The key is that folks should be looking forward to receiving your emails.

So you need to be providing value consistently over time.

Be sure to check out our in-depth digital network marketing guide to learn more.

Summary

To summarize this entire article, you as a network marketer will need to:

• Sell products
• Build a team
• Create duplication

That’s really it.

But remember, you will need to focus on all 3 of these elements.

If you only sell products, your income will disappear when you stop working.

If you and your team only recruits builders, no income will be generated because the compensation plan pays you from sales volume.

So you gotta sell, recruit, and teach folks to do the same.

This is how you can build a network marketing business that will pay you for years to come from your own efforts and most of all, from the efforts of others.