Can You Make Money With MLM (without recruiting)?

Let’s face it, recruiting isn’t fun.

And most people reject your “business opportunity” anyway. So trying to recruit people in the traditional way often just leads to (yet another) awkward, cringe worthy situation.

Don’t worry, I’ve been there.

Is it possible to make money in MLM without recruiting people?

Multilevel marketing (MLM) is mostly about recruiting, that’s how most companies teach you to build your business, by recruiting everyone you know. And this is one of the reasons so many aspiring network marketers fail.

However, you can build a network marketing business without recruiting friends and family, or anyone for that matter. The process involves identifying your ideal customer, attracting them to your site or social page, and naturally introducing them to your offer.

And in this article, we’ll be delving into this topic in more detail so you know exactly how this method works, why it works, and how you can start applying it right away.

But before we do that, let’s briefly talk about what MLM is and how it works.

What Is MLM and How Does It Work?

MLM (short for multilevel marketing) is a business model where you earn commissions selling other companies products, and by referring others into the company.

Some people refer to it as network marketing, but it’s the same thing. MLM, multilevel marketing, or network marketing. Call it what you will, it means the same thing.

MLM is similar to affiliate marketing in some respects. But with MLM, you don’t just earn commissions on direct sales, you also earn when you refer people who make sales. So there’s much more of a “team building” element with MLM.

Not all network marketing companies are pyramid schemes either. But some are. And probably the biggest differentiator is how much emphasis the company places on selling quality, high value products. As opposed to mass recruiting.

Assuming you’re working with a legitimate MLM company, there is money to be made. Both by selling the products and by building a team. So for the right person, it can be a rewarding endeavor.

In the next section, let’s take a look at “what not to do” when it comes to building a network marketing business, and then look at a much better approach.

Why “Pushy Recruiting” Doesn’t Work

Have you ever met a pushy sales person?

I have.

And as soon as I walk into a store and see that sales person coming my way, I literally walk the other direction to avoid him or her at all costs.

Nobody likes being sold to.

But people love buying.

So what we need to understand before reading any further, is that “pushing” people into buying something simply doesn’t work.

And what’s worse, in MLM, this is a good way to put strain on (and even damage) the relationships you have with people. Even loved ones.

Some people may even start avoiding you, fearing that you might be trying to recruit them into another bizopp. They stop answering your calls, meeting up with you, and some may even feel like you’re part of some sort of cult.

Clearly, trying to recruit strangers or people you know, is just a plain old bad idea. It doesn’t work and it gets awkward, very quickly.

Why doesn’t it work?

There are two main reasons:

You’re talking to people who aren’t interested
You’re coming off as desperate

On the first point, one of the most fundamental concepts in marketing (any type of marketing) is to get your message in front of a targeted group of people. So if you’re talking to people who couldn’t care less, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

On the second point, nobody likes a desperate person. They instinctively think “something must be wrong” and they put a giant wall up, every single time. It’s human nature.

Now, I’m sure whoever recruited you, told you to “make a list” of everyone you know.

So that you can call, text, email, visit these people to build your business. And if you’ve done this, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It doesn’t work.

But it works for the MLM company you’re with.

Because even if you made ONE single sale, they’re winning. Because some of these companies have millions of distributors, and if they all bring in just one person, they’re happy.

Unfortunately, that’s not going to cut it for you though. Not if your goal is to create a successful network marketing business.

So here’s a better approach…

Here’s a Better Way to Build ANY Network Marketing Business

The better approach is to “attract” people into your business.

This is what works.

And it’s the complete opposite approach to what we’ve just discussed. Because with this approach, the right people want to hear about your business.

The people you’re speaking with are interested. And you’re not coming off as desperate because they are coming to you, to hear what you have to say.

How do you do this?

Well, you can break this process down into 3 main steps:

Define your ideal customer
Build your “tribe”
Introduce your tribe to your offer

It’s really very simple when you break it down. And in the next few sections, we’ll discuss each of these steps in more detail, so it makes more sense.

1. Define Your Ideal Customer

The first step is very simple. All we are doing is identifying who is best suited to the offer we have. Both the products and the attached business opportunity.

And the simplest way to do this, is to consider what you’re selling.

For example, if you’re involved with a network marketing company like Monat, It Works! or Neora, your ideal customer is someone interested in health and beauty. If you’re a Hempworx distributor, your ideal customer is someone who’s interested in CBD.

I could go on, but you get my point.

Think about which products you’re selling and who is ideally going to be buying these. Who are they? What do they want? What problems do the face?

Once you define this, you are ready for the next step.

2. Build Your Tribe (AKA Audience)

This step is all about building your “tribe”.

What on earth do I mean?

In this context, a tribe is just a group of people who look to you as the person they learn from about a given topic. In other words, it’s an audience or group of people who know, like and trust you. They look to you for information and guidance on a given topic.

When you have a tribe, you can sell virtually anything that interests them.

How do you do this?

You start by simply providing your ideal customers with as much value as possible, in a way that genuinely helps them. And in place they’ll find it. In doing so, you are going to be attracting the right people and you’re going to be building an audience, or tribe.

For example, you could start an Instagram page, Facebook page or YouTube channel. And start creating content on one of these platforms. Content that (you know) your ideal customers are going to find helpful. And in doing so, you’ll grow your following.

Or you could do what I do, and create a simple website, where you post helpful content like this. And attract people to your website as a result.

Whatever method you choose, the concept is simple.

You are just identifying your ideal customer (step 1) and creating useful content to build a an audience that is made up of people are likely to buy from you (step 2).

The next step is all about naturally introducing your offer.

3. Introduce Your Tribe to Your Offer

This is the part where you get to make money.

Once you have an audience, you have people who are coming to your social page, YouTube channel, or website. So you have interested people, approaching you.

This is pure gold.

Because you now have access to a targeted group of people who you’ve built trust with, by giving them great content. So they’re naturally going to be open to whatever you’re offering, as long as it’s relevant. Which it is, since these people are your ideal customers.

See the logic?

If not, go back to step 1, and start over.

It’s okay, I’ll wait! 🙂

Now, at this point, you are going to be able to naturally tie in relevant promotions to products you’re selling and even present the opportunity where appropriate.

Exactly how you do this depends on the platform you’re working with.

For example…

If you setup a blog (recommended approach) then you can simply include links within your content and in other strategic places, to pique curiosity and get these people to visit your replicated website.

Your replicated site is just the site your network marketing company gives you to sell products. And once they’re on this site, a percentage of these people will buy something.

This is essentially what I do on this very site you’re on right now, to earn 6 figure per year. And I show people exactly how I earn a full time income online on this page.

See what I did there?

If you click the above link, follow through with my recommendations, and eventually buy something, I’ll earn a commission.

It sounds crazy but it works.

Now, I’m personally not involved in any network marketing company.

I do plain old affiliate marketing. But the concept is the same. You can apply this to any company, any business model, any product. It works in the very same manner.

Why This Method Just Makes Sense

The reason this method makes sense, and works so well, is because it’s everything the typical “pushy sales approach” is not. The one that worked decades ago, but doesn’t now.

It’s because you are genuinely helping people and you’re not coming off as desperate or pushy.

Instead, you’re providing value.

And as a result, you are attracting the right people into your business. And since you’ve built trust in the process, these people are going to want to buy from you.

Remember the illustration of the person who tries to sell to you when you walk into the store? How you actively avoid this person?

Well, with this method, you’re the helpful person in the store that people naturally gravitate towards. Because you’re actually helping them, rather than trying to sell them. And you have their best interests at heart.

That’s the concept folks.

It’s simple, and it’s very powerful.

All we are doing is identifying your ideal customer, attracting them to your website or social page by providing value, and naturally introducing your products and opportunity.

When you follow this method properly, people will want to do business with you. Which is a complete 180 degree turnaround from the old approach of recruiting people.

How Can You Get Started?

Step 1 is pretty straightforward, you just need to learn who your ideal customer is so you know what your tribe is going to look like. Anyone can do this fairly easily with a bit of research.

However, when it comes to steps 2 and 3, you’re going to need some training and tools to make this method work.

Thankfully, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on either step. It’s mostly going to come down to putting in the time and effort.

But again, you will need some training.

Exactly what training, depends on what method you want to use within step 2. Because ideally you will want to choose a course that teaches you that particular method.

For example, if you want to build a following on Instagram, find a course that teaches you how to build an Instagram following. Or you could start by searching Google, which is how I found this article about Instagram marketing on WordSteam.

Personally, I use a simple blog like this one to generate leads and sales. And I learned how to do this from a community based platform called Wealthy Affiliate (review).

Wealthy Affiliate isn’t specifically about network marketing/ MLM. But it does teach you how to do these steps and gives you websites to put it all together. Not to mention, a community of like minded people you can network with to learn and grow.

There’s also training on social media and YouTube marketing there too.

In any case, which path you take is up to you to decide. But the overall concept we have discussed here remains the same. And is something you can do if you put the effort in.

Summing It Up

Trying to recruit randoms, friends and family members is just not a good strategy. You might make some sales this way but ultimately, it’s not a smart approach if you want real results.

And since you’re here reading this article, I’m guessing you’re serious about your business.

The good news is, just with what you’ve learned here today, on this one simple blog post, is enough to put you miles ahead of the competition. Because now you know what a winning strategy looks like and how to start putting it into practice as soon as today.

See next: How I earn over $10k/month online (4-step formula)