Despite what you might have heard, multi-level marketing is in fact a successful industry. The numbers may even surprise you – according to the DSA (Direct Selling Association), direct sales bring in more than 30 billion dollars annually in the United States alone. However, while the business may be lucrative, multi-level marketing is far from being simple, despite the popular belief. It requires careful planning and an effective execution of your marketing strategy. Keep in mind – connecting and networking with people is only a part of the process – you have to develop and maintain your relationship with your prospects. Therefore, if you are a newbie, to help you get a grip on what to do and what not to, here are some of the basic dos and don’ts of the MLM business.

The Dos:

1. Build a website and a blog

In addition to social media presence, having an effective online MLM strategy requires both a website and a blog. Regular blog posts will help you drive more traffic to your site and will also help you get discovered via social media, because every time you write a post, you are producing sharable content for social media users. Just make certain that you are creating high quality content (hire some freelancers if you have to), because grammar may kill your marketing strategy – in fact, almost 70% content on the internet lacks quality.

2. Keep sponsoring

Make sure that you do not get stuck in the “manager mode” like many other people in the business; after recruiting few people you cannot stop sponsoring if you want to be a successful leader someday. In the first year, you need to sponsor at least 50 people, but even that is not enough – you have to meet prospects constantly and try to recruit them. Remember, new people are the livelihood of multi-level marketing, so you need to keep sponsoring no matter what.

3. Get formal training

In order to train people down the line effectively, you must listen to the experienced marketers in the business, learn from them and follow in their footsteps. Having a proper training would be highly recommendable, so be sure to check out some online MLM training if you want to have a formal training. Of course, do not be afraid to ask for some assistance from your leaders, they are there to help you, so you should take advantage of their knowledge.

The Don’ts:

1. Spend too much time on SEO

Three out of four people never scroll past the first page on Google, according to ImForza, so yes – SEO is still pretty important. However, while optimization should be high on your priority list, you should focus more on providing your clients with quality content. Therefore, you should not be wasting time on learning how to optimize your site properly; instead, you should hire a reliable SEO agency. You can find out more about what this would involve at the OneSEO Blog, or somewhere similar.

2. Promise too much

If you want to set up someone down the line for success, you need to set reasonable expectations – do not tell people that the business is going to be easy and do not promise them too much money. Instead, tell the people about the ups and downs and the ins and outs of the business, and train your MLM downline to be in it for the long run. The fact is, MLM model is one of the leveraged business models and the business is highly competitive (over 150.000 people worldwide sign up for it every week), so while you might make a fortune, it definitely takes time.

3. Send negative messages

Even though you should talk about the good and the bad sides of the business, make sure not to complain about everything to your downline co-workers. To put it simply, it will only amplify the negativity and nothing good will come of it. In addition, if you have some complaints make sure to tell them to your upline colleagues, because they will offer some good advice and probably have the ability to help you resolve the issue.

While it may not be easy at first, after some time you will see that multi-level marketing is actually pretty straightforward. If you offer a quality product or a service to your clients and follow all of the tips presented above, you are guaranteed to succeed as a MLM marketer. Just remember to stay open-minded and take advantage of every opportunity that presents to you.