Taking Your MLM Online

It seems that not a day goes by that I don't get an email or speak to a networker that's expressed a desire to begin using the internet, social media and web2.0 to build their networking business. While I always make sure to point out that wether online or offline, there is no magic or secrets to marketing. It's simply understanding the tools, using them to their best intent and being consistant in how you use them.

With that being said, there's one major difference that just about any online or affiliate marketer can agree with. Marketing online is about focus and working within a niche. This can be a major transformation for many networkers and it often means a complete change in how you approach your business.

Let me explain.

In offline marketing of a networking business, a networker puts a great deal of energy into finding new people to share their products with. When a you do find someone that's agreed to give you some time to look at your business or products, it's not uncommon to want to share your entire catalog of products with hopes to find some products of interest. With all the effort put into finding people to talk to about your business or products, who can blame you for wanting to show your entire catalog. I know some networkers that evaluate their business based on how many products they have to offer or celebrate a new addition to their company catalog.

This is where a major difference can be seen between marketing online. The very nature of online maketing is to be targeted and working within a very narrow niche. Simply put, trying to be everything to everyone online will not work. The online community is just to large to even start to be effective that way.

Just look at the way people search for information online. Using search engines to look for information or products is based on keyword searches. This is a very specific search and it's the purpose of the search engines, like Google, to return search results that best match the specific search term used.

What does this mean for you, the networker?

Marketing your products online is about looking at your product line and understanding the benefits of the product. Then it's connecting with the people most interested in that benefit. If you have a large number of products that you offer, this will call for you choosing a primary product or limited number of products as your chosen niche. It's the leverage and power of the internet that allows you to find a large market most interested in the benefit you can provide.

This might sound simple enough, but just how do you begin to connect with your niche target market.

Well, there are several ways. In my next post, I'm going to share one of my favorite free resources for creating high quality and targeted information sites. Using the resource I'm going to share with you, you can begin to establish yourself as an expert in your niche and when done correctly, give you some fantastic search engine position and potential traffic to your niche site.

So, begin to look at your product line and become familiar with the benefits your chosen product offers. Not the features...the benefits. This itself can be an exercise for some new to marketing. When looking at your product, ask yourself "so what". This will help you to determine if what your thinking about is a feature or a benefit.