How To Brand Yourself - Take Your Business On-Line and Brand You - Not Your MLM
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 at 08:14AM Do you have a replicated website from your MLM? If you are like thousands of others, of course you do. Your upline shows you all of the bells and whistles that come with your great new website and how you can just drive traffic there and people will buy.
Chances are the website is the company's domain name with your name or some nickname you have chosen at the end. So now you feel like you have your own website and things are starting to roll in your MLM.
Actually, it couldn't be further from the truth. If you really want to be successful in today's environment and move into the 21st century with your MLM, then one thing stands above all of the rest for success.....branding. Not the branding made with a hot iron to designate which animal belongs to whom. I am talking about branding yourself.
You've heard of Domino's Pizza haven't you? Well, you wouldn't know who they were or should I say, they wouldn't standout from the rest if they just followed the pack. Domino's learned a long time ago what most of the marketing world already knows and Network Marketing is just beginning to realize. In order to stand out from all of the other competition out there you have to be sure people know who you are and what you have to offer that is different from all of the rest.
There are thousands of pizza places to choose from but what does Domino's offer that the others don't? They promise fresh, hot pizza delivered within 30 minutes or it's free. Now wrap your arms around that one for a while. Imagine a college dorm filled with students cramming for a final. They are hungry - but more than hungry they want something cheap. Do they care where the pizza comes from? Heck, no. But the chances that they might get it for free is very enticing to them. 31 minutes and they have a free meal. JACKPOT! You see, Domino's is playing on their market's wants and needs. They know that people can order pizza from dozens of different chains or restaurants but what can they offer that will brand them as someone different? They already have. When you think Domino's you think 30 minutes or less. That is what branding is really all about.
It took me a while to realize it because I was definitely one of those naive souls who believed that sending people to a company replicated website and telling them to look around would be enough to take my business to the next level.
Boy, was I ever wrong.
You see, company replicated websites do brand someone but that someone is not you, it is the company. It is their logo, their graphics, their writing, their name. Who are you to the individual looking for something on that page? Nothing more than a name (which they may quickly forget) who sent them there hoping for a sale.
In order to stand out from the crowd you need to be someone unique. Set yourself apart from the rest. How? By creating value driven material on the internet to offer your customers, clients, prospects, anyone that might stumble upon you on the internet. If branding is done correctly, your can builid an MLM Empire while building You, Inc. at the same time.
If you sell skin care and you feel you have a good knowledge of it, then why should you let your MLM take that credit from you? You are the consultant, you are the one who actually sells the product to the consumer. So what can you do?
Create a blog. Much like the one here. Start by creating one or two articles about skin care, then continue to add content as you learn more or research more. Add some videos, create other articles on other sites such as Hub Pages or Squidoo. Link to all of your different articles through various methods; an e-mail autoresponder or blog post to name a few.
Network on-line and build a relationship with others through social networking sites.
BetterNetworker is fantastic networking site for building on-line relationships and a good place to start if you are thinking of building on-line. Get your name out there on the internet and start branding yourself as an expert in your field.
Are you starting to get the picture? I know it was a little insane for me when I first ventured into this new way of thinking. You have to readjust your brain in a sense and carve out a new path for yourself. But believe me, it is so worth it. Gone are the days when just forcing things down people's throats produced results. We live in a different society and a different world. You have to adjust with the changes and attraction marketing is the change that is revolutionizing Network Marketing.
Attraction Marketing has changed my business and my outlook. No longer do I feel I only belong to my MLM. I am a business builder in my own right and I am building my business on-line utilizing the principles of attraction marketing and absolutely loving every minute of it. I am more diversified than ever before and no longer rely on one source of income for my future. I am starting to build a trickle of income from multiple sources so that if something would ever happen in my MLM, I would still be in business for myself.
You see, once you have branded yourself, you own your own list. Your MLM doesn't own it - you do. You own your own content, your expertise and your followers. People who come to you because they see the value you are offering them. So the possibilites are endless.
Let me give you an example of how this all works. Going back to my skin care example. You have a great acne product that you truly believe in but you have struggled for months, (maybe years) trying to get enough people to even notice this product. So you start by writing some articles on a blog (we'll use a blog as an example but there are many other avenues on-line besides blogs).
You don't pitch your product - what you want to do is develop a relationship with your audience. Start building trust and position yourself as an expert in the field of skincare (particularly problematic skin). This is the beginning of branding. Now the people reading your articles are pretty interested in what you have to say and want more.
They contact you through your blog and ask for more information. What do you do? Don't pitch them with your product - that is the old fashioned way of jamming your product into their face. Instead, be a solutions provider. Send them to a free video link that shows them how using products with certain ingredients can clear up their skin. Or you could connect them with some informative material about problematic skin. Something like the Top 10 Myths of problematic skin. Now you are building a relationship with them and they realize you are trying to provide a solution, rather than trying to get. Give, give give and you will get. This is all branding. Does it take time? Absolutely, but statistics show that 80% of sales take place on the the 5th to 12th contact.
Eventually, you want to get your product in their hands but only after they have built a strong relationship with you. Think about that for a moment. If you have a customer like that they more than likely will be a customer for life and will tell others about you and your products. Can you make sales the old way? Sure, but chances are they won't be coming back for more because you didn't really offer anything above and beyond what anyone else does. Once you have branded yourself on-line people will look to you for leadership and advice.
Believe me, the consumer and the prospects today are very savvy. If you don't give them something special in the way of YOU, they will move on to someone who does.
Branding yourself today is so essential for success. It really works and it is not that difficult. In fact, it is quite easy if you educate yourself.
If you want to learn how to build an on-line presence and start branding yourself now, join me at Renegade University. I can help you build your on-line presence much the same way as I am doing.
Whatever avenue you choose, know that today's world is much different than the world of MLM's 20 years ago. Attraction Marketing works. The methods make sense. You just have to reprogram yourself to take a new path.
If the path you have been travelling with your MLM is getting your nowhere, doesn't it make sense to change your route?
To learn more about the new methods of marketing your business watch this free hour long tutorial on Attracting Prospects Using the Phone with the consultative approach to marketing. This is just one of the dozens of tutorials offfered inside the University on attraction marketing.




Reader Comments (4)
Anita,
Great article. I agree with you whole heartedly that branding yourself in business today is the only way to go. After struggling for years with the old methods of marketing, attraction marketing is making a big difference in many network marketing businesses online and off.
Your articles show people what attraction marketing is all about. Providing good, valuable information is the key to attraction marketing; and you always provide that value to your readers.
Patricia
Good morning Anita
Your article is an excellent one. You would be a good carpenter, you hit the nail right on the head. I liked your analogy using Domino's Pizza as an example of how to brand yourself. The kids in the college dorm was perfect. You must have been there done that.
Keep up the good work Grant1 - Hot hubs check it out
Grant Logan
Thanks Pat and Grant.
I find the more I do this the easier it becomes and the more I learn as I do it. It is such an incredible way to market I can't figure out what took Network Marketing so long to start to get on board. Yes, been there, done that Grant.
Thanks for both of your comments.
Anita
Hi Anita! Visiting your site and wanted to comment on the article. Great stuff!! It's all about value, service, integrity and being authentic these days as you stated, what makes YOU different from all the networkers. What's unique about YOU?
Janette