In today’s economy, network marketing is playing a crucial role in allowing people—especially women—to make more money. Network marketing bypasses the limitations of a nine-to-five, freeing you from the confines of a desk, a set schedule, and, of course, a limited income. You deserve better! 

Keep reading for a complete guide to making more money with network marketing, and take your success into your own hands! 

Network Marketing 101

At its core, network marketing is marketing using social proof. It allows you to build and engage with your network, leaning on the power of connection and authentic relationship-building to sell products.

If you’ve never heard the term social proof before, it’s essentially a marketing term for word-of-mouth marketing. Social proof is the reason that you might trust the coffee shop with a line out the door more than one that looks empty, or the reason you’d be more likely to spend money on a product your friend loves than one you’ve never heard of. 

In the context of home-based businesses, network marketing gives you a built-in audience to sell your products. Instead of marketing to everyone and hoping for the best, you build relationships first, and the sales take care of themselves. 

Unfortunately, network marketing sometimes gets a bad rap. For some people, network marketing conjures up images of pyramid schemes and pushy sales pitches from high school classmates. While these people may technically be trying to use the concepts behind network marketing to foster their success, they’re doing so unsuccessfully.

To avoid that outcome and multiply your income, here’s exactly how you can make money—and lots of it!—with network marketing. 

Choose Your Product or Service Wisely

When MLM and home-based business owners don’t achieve the success they were expecting, it’s almost always because they joined the first company that seemed appealing. In the network marketing space, it’s absolutely critical that you actually believe in the product or service you’re selling. 

Members of your network are relying on your authentic passion for your work to sell them on the same experience, and they’ll be able to tell if you’re phoning it in to make a quick buck. When you’re first getting started, do your due diligence to make sure you feel good about the organization you’re joining. 

Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you get started:

• Would you use (and love!) this product or service if you weren’t selling it?
• Does this product or service align with your lifestyle and values?
• Does this product or service solve a problem or fill a need for members of your current network?
• Do you truly understand the audience for this product or service inside and out?

Make sure you’re confident in these answers before you get started, and you’ll eliminate many of the scenarios that lead to early failure.

Network, Network, Network!

You knew this one was coming—after all, it’s in the name! While you don’t have to be a textbook extrovert to be successful as a network marketer, you do have to get comfortable engaging with people. 

Start to view your daily life as an opportunity to meet and connect with as many people as possible. But (and this is critical!), don’t jump to your sales pitch right away. Remember that networking is a give and take, and you’re unlikely to build real relationships if your contacts can feel that you’re just trying to make a sale.

Instead, play the long game. Offer support without being asked. Share knowledge without expectations. Over time, you’ll naturally find opportunities to share about your business and pitch your products or services. Plus, since you picked a brand you truly believe in, your audience will be able to tell that your recommendation is genuine. 

If the idea of talking to strangers on the sidewalk is intimidating, start joining groups instead. Find local networking groups in your area, sign up for classes around hobbies you enjoy, or even start frequenting the same gym classes or nail salons to organically interact with the same people on a regular basis. The more chances you have to meet new people, the better!

Invest in Your Business Growth

This final tip may seem deceptively simple, but that’s only because it can cover so many different types of investments. For example, as a network marketer, much of your business comes down to your own traits and expertise. If you’re falling short in one area of knowledge or want to build new soft skills, invest in courses or training to build yourself up! You may find that you learn something that completely transforms your business and boosts your income.

Beyond your personal investment, take time to reflect on what’s holding your business back from even greater success. Do you need a wider audience to sell to? Should you switch to a new product that you feel more passionate about? Would you benefit from access to a community of other women on the same journey as you?

Whatever you find as you think through these questions, don’t be afraid to act. If you need more contacts, our Trading-Secrets virtual events are the perfect way to cast a wider net. (Learn more here!) If you need to switch products or companies, view it as a commitment to authentic selling moving forward. And if you want to be surrounded by other business owners who know what you’re going through, there are countless resources online just for you—ours included. Take the leap! 

Final Thoughts 

At the end of the day, network marketing is an incredibly lucrative field. The reality is that there’s no ceiling for how much money you can make—and you alone have the power to boost your money-making potential. 

So, use the guidelines above to set yourself up for success and start raking in the dough! If you need additional support, you know where to find us.