Promoting an MLM site

June 18^th, 2011

A friend asked me for some insights on promoting a neutraceuticals MLM business; I thought my response might be of interest to others doing the same, for the first time:

First and foremost, there is no point in hiding the fact that the nutraceuticles industry, of which this is a part of, is highly competitive; That's not to say it's impossible to come out on top, but it does require a lot of work.

In your own words

Usually, one of the best tricks is not to use their default text on your opening page.

Those that know you, will know this isn't how you would normally speak or write - That being said, you also can't say "Move your fat ### and lose some weight!", without potentially offending a certain segment of the market (You certainly could have a pretty decent weight loss and body image site using down to Earth language, but I'm guessing the company whose products you are promoting, would not take too well to their product being attached to that :) )

So what a lot of people will do is use the default text as a guideline, but re-write it in both your words, as well as for those you know you will be pitching to.

Person to person - The personal touch

Keep in mind, too, that this type of business, for those that are successful at it, involves a lot of person to person contact; Be that in person, over the phone or direct email contact (as opposed to mass-mail: One thing you do NOT want to do is spam to millions of people: That'll cause a whole world of different hurt)

Targeting your content

Often, the best way to discover how to best target your site for the audience for which you seek is to Google for the phrases and key words that you think your audience will seek. For example, in your initial email, you asked about coming out on top when people search for "better their self health" - So by Googling what they'd most likely type in, say "improve my health" - You can see which sites already are the top for those terms: Read through them; Chances are you'll get a very good idea on the type of content required in your own site to start creeping up the ranks.

Search engines, like Google and Bing, also rely on backlinks - i.e. how many other sites are linking to you - Be that in websites proper, or people talking about your site in blogs, comments, etc. This can be a tough one, especially for neutraceuticals, because, again, it's such a competitive industry.

Content, content, content!

The other big thing for search engine popularity is content, content, content. This means providing fresh and new content to your site as often as possible. Daily is ideal, but nearly impossible for people who don't do this for a living. Putting new content up at least once a week, though, is a recommended minimum. What many people don't realize is that very few people make a purchase from a website on their first visit, but only do so after they've visited at least a few times. The trick is making them want to come back to see the site again: If they knew you had a "tip of the week", or recipe or success story or suggestions, etc, it's much more likely for them to bookmark the site to come back to.

A short cut to content!

Writing new content can not only be challenging, but time consuming as all heck, too: The way I get around this for CanadianISP is I use a CanadianISP Facebook page and post links to articles related to my industry (ISPs), along with my commentary on them. Every few weeks or so, I'll write an article of my own, post it on CanadianISP.ca and link to it from the Facebook group. It's a huge time saver and, believe it or not, helps with the credibility issue: Basically, you're trading on other people's expertise. Or, in other, other words: By saying "I agree with / promote this article on health", people subconsciously assign the credibility of the article to you, since it was you that recommended it :)

The key - and this is true whether you're selling neutraceuticals or tractor parts is credibility: You need to convince those visiting that you know what you're talking about and that it's worth their money and time to buy from you. If there is regular content on the site that they enjoy and benefit from, they are much more likely to think "Hey, this guy knows what he's talking about: The products he's selling must be as good as his advice!" - Sounds cheesy, but it's true :)

Talk to those you know!

You can also start by talking to those that you know you're going to try to sell to; More often than not, straight out honesty works best: Try asking a couple of people around you: "If I were to try to sell you a health product to improve your body and weight, what kind of words / stuff would you want to see on a web page that would convince you to buy ?" - Reinforce that you're not trying to sell it to them (at that point in time :) ) but looking for honest feedback in what would make them buy.

In my opinion/experience, unless you're already a recognized fitness guru, trying to sell their most expensive packages right off the bat is going to be a no-go: I see that some of their stuff is asking $325 a month - That's a lot to ask from a working man or woman who's just starting out in the health and fitness journey; Personally, I'd start by promoting the much cheaper stuff, at or around the $20 level: This way, it's a smaller risk/investment for them, but also allows them to build up confidence in the product and in you making the recommendations: In a nutshell, eventually, you'd be saying "If you're happy with this $25 product, just imagine how much happier you'll be when you move up to the $100 level!"

If you enjoy it, it becomes easier

There's no question that taking on this type of thing can be challenging: If it's something you enjoy and are really into, personally, it makes a huge difference, thus making it easier. Me, for example, in addition to being your stereotypical geek, also really enjoy seeing a sense of fair play and competitiveness in an industry, which is what CanadianISP is all about: Making sure consumers have choice in their Internet provider and not just the local telephone or cable company.

In the same vein, if you're really into body health and image, and promoting that to other people, you'll find this a lot easier to do - and to make money at :)

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