Today’s guest blogger is my buddy and mentor Ferny Ceballos. 

They say attending events is the key to having success is network marketing and today, but there is one particular generic event I attended this past October which was a game changer for the industry.

Spending a week in Vegas for many, including myself, can prove to be a dangerous proposition.

The booze, the partying, the gambling, the… well… you get the idea…

However, for this event, ‘discipline’ was the name of the game for me!

Ok, I did have my share of sipping tequila, but if you know me… that’s pretty normal.

And I did skip out on business meetings to grab a seat at the Sports Book to watch game 4 of Dodgers vs Mets playoff game. (Damn you, Mets!!)

Aside from that, I was there to learn and to network and I was in bed every night by 11:00pm and up in the morning by 8:00am!

With all the excitement surrounding the countless superstar entrepreneurs who would be speaking in front of 8,000 people at the main event, I was actually more excited about something else…

You see, last year, I had attended an event – exclusively for top leaders in network marketing.

I was excited to once again, be at this exclusive event.

And my excitement boiled down to ONE BIG REASON…

If you are a 6-figure earner and want to be a 7-figure earner… OR Are a 7-figure earner and want to stay a 7-figure earner…

Then you better find a way to be involved in 7-figure Conversations!

There’s so much I could share with you and in time, I will be sharing much of what I learned to those who subscribe to my bootcamp newsletter.

But for now, I’d like to focus in on what was probably the most important thing that was shared and discussed that entire week in Vegas.

Industry Leaders in Network Marketing Concede That “Internet Recruiting Works!”

Friends of mine, who have earned tens of millions of dollars in network marketing, finally conceded that using “Internet marketing & recruiting can work!”

Now, I’m not just talking about prospecting via social media, but marketing as well.

‘Internet marketing’ means using online branding strategies, advertising, Facebook fan pages, video blogging, email blasts, etc.

It always perplexed me that many leaders had this belief that Internet recruiting strategies were a “distraction,” given the fact that many of top earners have gone on to build their online brands using… well… Internet marketing!

Specifically, a type of Internet marketing we call “attraction marketing,” which focused on building a loyal following online and creating a trusted brand where people will literally buy anything you recommend, because they know, like and trust you.

Over the years, I had seen many people build successful network marketing businesses using the Internet, but since the majority of the industry still didn’t subscribe to these strategies, most leaders maintained the belief that it can’t be done and referred to it often as a “distraction.”

But standing in that room of about 200 top earners, were many people who had built their organizations partially or entirely online using pretty diverse Internet strategies, whom were recognized for their success and demonstrated that network marketing can be done using the internet with a diverse number of online strategies.

And believe me, I was paying special attention to these people when they stood up and shared, as did everyone else.

Therefore, as I’ve done many times before, I’m gonna share with you top 3 Internet strategies that are actually used to build network marketing businesses today!

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.

Now prospecting on social media is NOT “Internet marketing,” however it still beats camping out at Walmart.

This is the process my client, Jason, who is a 7-figure producer in network marketing teaches to his team, after their warm market runs out…

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. (I didn’t know either, prior to this).

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 indicate 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, 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?”

As Jason described it, “You throw the ball in the air and see if they swing back at it.”

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 “swing back,” 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 here.

According to Jason, he and his team experience about a 30% positive response rate.

If they don’t answer back, there are some different approaches here. Some play it safe and leave the 70% that didn’t answer back, alone.

Jason is an advocate of following up with a 2nd message 4-5 days later, if they don’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.

The 2nd message, will usually double his overall results vs only sending 1 message.

Sending a 3rd follow-up message is not recommended. At this point, you assume a “NO” and move on.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg…

On top of this, there are some really powerful and high leveraged online prospecting & recruiting strategies utilized by a friend of mine, which you can learn more about here.

Strategy #2: The ‘Mouse Trap’ Method

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. setting the ‘mouse trap’) and waiting for people to express an interest via the comments or private message. (i.e SNAP!!!)

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’ve seen people whom I know personally deploy this strategy with great success, but I’m a person that is very wary of this approach and I could see you running into compliance or even legal problems, if lots of people in your company are doing this. I personally don’t like this angle because it 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.

Alternatively, with a ‘leading with the product’ angle, the mouse trap approach could be very 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.

We’ve seen this angle run rampant with weight loss challenges & case studies, which still work amazingly well, but can also work with other products, if there is a clear and visible result that was produced from product use.

For example, I’ve seen people in travel businesses, post pictures of their luxury vacation/trips and reveal how little they paid for that experience.

Or you can post pictures of yourself running a marathon, triathlon, or whatever, which would not have been possible without certain supplements.

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.

For closing offline after using strategy #1 or #2 for getting the prospect, I would recommend training by Tim Sales on presenting, closing, and enrolling new reps.

But if “closing” people is not your thing, then there’s my favorite Internet strategy, which I’ve employed in my business for the past 9 years…

Strategy #3: ‘Attraction Marketing’

I think we will all look back at the year 2015 as the tipping point for when Internet marketing (i.e. passive online selling & recruiting) was finally legitimized as the force it deserves to be recognized as, in network marketing.

Person after person, stood up at the event saying they built their businesses, primarily using the internet.

Now, if they were only 6-figure earners, what has happened in the past is that ‘old schoolers’ would dismiss their success as a ‘fluke’ or ‘non-duplicatable.’

However, 2 seats from me sat a woman who stood up when 7-figure earners were asked to identify themselves and she openly said that she built online and she described her strategy. (I later interviewed her to get a detailed account on what she did.)

What she outlined as the blueprint for her business was exactly a method we’ve been teaching at Elite Marketing Pro for 10 years, which we call ‘attraction marketing,’ outlined in our FREE 10-Day Online Recruiting Bootcamp available here and published an e-book on called Attraction Marketing Formula.

In addition to her, others stood up and shared very similar approaches.

These folks didn’t message strangers online templated messages like in Strategy #1.

They didn’t fill their friend’s News Feeds with promotions for an opportunity or product as in Strategy #2.

What they did was they created a truly passive way of making sure that when they woke up each morning…

They 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 their opportunity or product or mentorship.

Or they would also have an inbox full of notifications of 5 – 10 new CUSTOMERS waiting to receive their product and excited about the possibility it holds for them.

Or they would also have an inbox full of notifications of 5 – 10 new DISTRIBUTORS ready to get signed up (or possibly already signed up while you slept), waiting to be led in their new exciting venture.

You see, just about every other type of business in the world is now using proven, passive and scalable online marketing & advertising methods in ADDITION to prospecting and referral based methods.

So why NOT your network marketing or direct sales business? The only reason would be if it wasn’t a REAL business. But you and I know better.

There is a proven way to build online and you can learn more about it here via my bootcamp.

Just like anything else in business, this will take work and study.

But ultimately, enhancing your skill set by moving you into the 21st century. Are you ready for this journey?

Look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Ferny Ceballos
Chief Marketing Officer
Elite Marketing Pro

P.S. If you don’t have a steady flow of leads into your business, click here to get your FREE 10 Day Bootcamp