122 | 5 Ways Social Selling is Hurting the Network Marketing / Direct Sales Industry
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[00:00:00] Hey friends. Welcome back to the Called to Lead podcast. So today's episode is going to be kind of a big one because I'm actually going to be tackling one of the subjects. That I started my podcast with over two years ago. Which was the realization that I had that social selling, which has kind of become the buzz word for network marketing, direct sales. As the rise of social media has impacted well, pretty much everything, but definitely has impacted this industry.
But I realized back then that social selling and the skills and the strategies and all the things. That we're being taught are quite different from everything I had learned in the traditional network marketing direct sales space. And I was feeling confused. I was feeling a little bit frustrated and it actually caused me to completely take my business off of social media.
If anything, to try to kind of prove a point that you do not have to build a huge following in order to build a big business. So I've [00:01:00] shared my entire journey in the two years since then, where I have stepped back into social media and I'll share a little bit of where I am with that thinking and that mindset today.
But today, two years later, I am really sharing why I believe that not only are there distinct differences in the business models of network marketing and social selling. I am just going to put something pretty big out there, which is, I think social selling is actually hurting the network marketing or direct sales industry in some key ways.
So I'm going to be sharing my top five ways or reasons in this episode. But I know this is a bigger conversation that I will be sharing and having an inviting some top. Coaches and people that you've heard of in the industry to kind of share their thoughts on it in the months to come. So I'm going to kind of let this be an episode that I think will kick off a bigger conversation, but let's dive in to the actual episode today where I'm gonna be sharing the five ways that social selling is actually [00:02:00] hurting the network marketing industry.
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Or maybe it's text messages. If you're using an app like project broadcast or go high level, and maybe you aren't making the kind of income to where you got. Personal assistance and people helping you with that [00:15:00] backend stuff, it can be really overwhelming when you have this high volume, especially if it happens suddenly, because maybe you had one of your reels go viral, which I see happen. I mean, again, it doesn't happen that often, but it absolutely does happen and it creates overwhelm.
And I, for example, had a direct artist of mine who was an influencer. She probably had the biggest. Following of anyone that has joined my team. And that's been one of the biggest things for her is just trying to navigate the additional workload that comes when she shares an additional product. And so connection, meaning going deeper, actually getting to know someone, helping them feel seen and heard, holding their hand to get them to that first rank. All of these things are really difficult to do.
When you have a ton of people who are joining you, or you have a ton of customers who you're not even sure who to connect with about the artist program. Or you just have a ton of engagement happening, so connection, which is always going to be the thing that creates [00:16:00] the inspiration, the relationships, the community, the culture, that's the best part of this business model.
It's really, really hard to do when you've got this big following. And when that's, when you're spending your time, your energy and a lot of cases, a lot of money. On building up this big following online. So people, what happens from this because connection is hard is not only are people not growing or not seeing a level of leadership, which is why we call it a pancake.
When someone has enrolled a lot of people, but nobody's really doing anything. And this is what most, not all, but most online influencers are people that really focus a majority of their time and energy on growing their following or growing their personal business on line in a big, big way, but big way you. Should always focus on your personal business.
But what I'm talking about is in this like massive influencer affiliate marketing way. Well, what happens with that is they build a wide team, but there's no [00:17:00] duplication. It doesn't go deep. But what also happens is unfortunately that's a lot of people who potentially could do big things in this business who aren't getting served and there even some influencers. You know, or, I mean, they're technically again, network marketers, but they are pretty upfront about the fact that they don't intend. To lead or do any of the things required? That honestly, I think are a little bit of a responsibility that comes with this business model versus something like the influencer model. And so it breaks my heart because it happens all the time to me.
I know it happens a lot of times to leaders who are ranking and growing and their business is still thriving. They'll have people reach out that are on another team that they're not getting helped or not getting served. And I still help them. I know they do too. And having that abundance mindset is amazing, but that's why this is a problem.
And why it's creating an issue within the network marketing. Business model is because there's all of these people. In fact, I would even say it might even be [00:18:00] a majority of the people that enroll on any company. I know in ours with it being a beauty company, obviously it lends well towards the influencers, but they're enrolling with these. Influencers, and they're not getting served and they're not getting plugged in.
They're not getting that community, the culture, which is the best part. And that is a problem. And that really breaks my heart. And I don't exactly know what the solution is, but that's why I'm having the conversation to begin with. So that's the number three reason is that connection. Which is the key piece to building your business and growing your team.
And duplication is really, really hard to do at that mass level. Okay. Number four reason is also kind of tied to the number three. You can see how each of them builds and that's because there's not really a lot of freedom or personal freedom time, freedom in that. Way of doing it, meaning when all of your income or most of your income is tied to your own personal effort, because you're out there busting your [00:19:00] butt, having high sales. And you're, you know, a top seller and you're going for that.
And you're driven by like, seeing your name at the top of the leaderboard. And that's like where your focus and energy is, but because it's not duplicating, like go to the last one. Right. And you're not having other people have success. Your income is tied a hundred percent or maybe not a hundred percent but heavily towards your own output.
So if you get burned out, if you get overwhelmed, if you confuse your audience by maybe shifting your focus into a bunch of different. You know, different things. ~Um, ~you know, if, if the algorithm which is completely out of our control shifts or like something like tick talk completely goes away. All of these things are going to impact your business because you haven't built the leveraged or passive income.
That is the best part of this business model, which is built by helping other people win, not just having yourself win. Okay. And so, again, I'm not saying that you shouldn't create the content or that you shouldn't pursue the business and maybe it's about managing [00:20:00] expectations. But essentially when you are pursuing this path and this is what, again, people are experiencing a small percentage, but it's what everyone's going for. Not everyone, but what so many people are striving for by trying to emulate what they see these top influencers do.
And assuming they're a top leader, right. It just leads to no freedom. No, which. Is not fun. And so, ~um, ~let me look at my notes here, but yeah. It's oh, so, okay. So that leads to the last, the last thing. So when your income starts to drop again, maybe it's algorithm based, maybe it's the life cycle of your company in some way, maybe you're just tired of it's like, this is a repetition business model too.
That's the thing that builds. Network marketing is it's a system that you do over and over and over and over again. Well, it can be really tiring as an influencer to say and do the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again, you technically can do that. Now your audience might get a little bit [00:21:00] tired of it, but you might could find new people or again, that could be creating this reduction in your sales, or maybe you're again, you're burned out.
So you're not putting. As much out there anymore. And you know, you're, you're not seeing the results because of that. But what happens is when your income is down because your personal performance is down or because your team again is frustrated because they're not living up to the massive results that you've. Achieved, which are, I don't want to say unattainable. But hard to attain.
Very, very hard to attain. At their level. And that leads your paycheck to drop, which guess what? That then does it makes you want to go join another company or add in an additional network marketing product to supplement that income? And a lot of cases, it actually works because again, you've got that following.
They're seeing something new. And when you share whatever it is, in addition to what you're sharing, people are going to jump on it and it'll raise your income. But is that really what you're wanting is a bigger paycheck or are you [00:22:00] wanting something that creates true freedom? True fulfillment. In your business. And so that leads us to the number five reason why I think this is hurting.
And the last one that we'll talk about, at least in this episode, And that it leads to this shiny object syndrome. And it makes people feel like everyone's doing this because you're seeing a lot of these influencers. Divide, you know, by again, using the affiliate marketing strategy of repping multiple companies and being this online influence or presence. And they're sharing multiple products, which is creating the shiny object syndrome.
That's distracting for 99% of the rest of their teams, because they're like, oh wait, do I need to go add in this additional. You know, skincare or this, ~um,~ you know, gut health and wellness thing or this fitness program or whatever, because people do what they see you do and whether you're their leader or whether someone on your team, or like on my team, you know, they're not seeing me do it. But they're seeing other people do it.
And so I even had one of [00:23:00] my amazing directs. She was like, are, are you and I, the only people not doing this? And I was like, no, no, That is not the case. I was like, here's, you know, here's a bunch of people who are not doing it, who are all. You know, amazing leaders, not that the ones who are doing it, aren't amazing people or aren't amazing friends, and I love them and you gotta do what you gotta do, but it looks or can feel like when you get lost in Instagram rabbit hole, like I have been doing. Right. And you're stuck in that, that zone. Every time you scroll, you see someone else like adding another product or adding something else. And especially if your company like ours is St.
In, is in, what's called the shakeout, which is about seven years in five to seven years into every single. Network marketing companies, business model. You're going to have the leaders who didn't have the success that they hoped likely because they weren't creating duplication. And again, in this case, because in a lot of cases, they were building. By using the attraction marketing businesses model, which doesn't duplicate.
They also, there's a recent episode. I [00:24:00] did where, which it says the five reasons your business is going backwards, where I've talked about placing they're placing structure, they're funneling orders to make. You know, their rank or get paid at the rank, which is always a hundred percent of the time gonna make your business go backwards.
It's a short-term gain for a long-term loss, but I see it happen all the time. Or they've got these shiny, fancy, expensive, and a lot of cases, systems that they could never even dream of telling someone else how to do let alone. Then figure out how to do it on their own, because they don't have the time to tell them how to do it.
Right. So there's, and there's more in that episode that I'll also link in the show notes. If you, if your business is going backwards and maybe it's one of those, those things, I'm also, actually one of those other things is it's fear-based right. Like if you're choosing fear of like, oh no, what if my company is not going to, you know, Do as well as I'd hoped it should, because this, you know, top leader influencer is sharing this other product.
Do I need to go do that too? And so again, that's where this is creating this shiny object syndrome where people feel like they have to do it. [00:25:00] And so Bob Haile has done multiple episodes talking about this as well. ~Um, ~so definitely check out his podcast as he's doing an amazing job of, of talking about, about this and how it even relates to the new FTC. Um, non-compete like getting rid of non-competes within all companies, but that of course includes network marketing. And so it's just wreaking havoc essentially on the hearts of. A hundred percent or maybe not a hundred percent, but a huge chunk. ~Um, ~the network marketers that are out there because they're seeing. This happened, where in every case, in every situation, people are looking to the shiny objects, the influencers that again, they think are the top leaders and they feel like they have to do what they are doing in order to be successful in their business.
And I'm here to tell you friends, but that is not the case. It doesn't mean that again, if your gifts and skillsets are centered around content creation, you find joy and fulfillment in that. And you have a dream of being an online influencer, then go for it, [00:26:00] friend. But if that is not you, because I can tell you it's not me. You don't have to do that.
What you do have to do is focus on relationships, connections, conversations with the people, starting with the people that you know, which are very scary. I know this is coming from someone who is terrified to. To talk about the opportunity because I had a bad experience in another, another company.
Right. But I do it anyway. When I feel like someone would be great at what I do. And every time I choose to overcome the fear of whatever the scary thing is and choose the best case scenario that could happen. Every time, first of all, the Lord blesses that because it's faith. And that's what he wants us to do is believe that his plans are better than anything that we could dream for ourselves.
And when we trust those inspirations, especially when they're scary and we dive in and we take the actions and we have the conversation and we post that, that piece of content, whatever that might be, [00:27:00] not with the intention of trying to build some massive following. Whenever we do that, we feel like fulfills because we're. I did it and I didn't die and I can do it again and again and again and again.
And you're always going to have scary things in your business, the entire in life. Right. The entire way. But you shouldn't let fear be the thing that leads to the inaction or fear, be the reason that you choose to go emulate something that I'm telling you is going to. Create an issue when they move to this new company. Because the same problems.
This is a universal problem, I believe. And so I definitely am excited to continue this conversation about these, ~um,~ you know, the social selling versus network marketing, how they're different, how they're impacting each other. And I definitely want to invite against ministry leaders into this conversation as well.
So if you know, you know, Maybe you've got a network marketing coach. ~Uh, ~send this episode to them. That's what I would ask. If you have a top leader or you are a top leader. I send this, you know, [00:28:00] Episode two, your other leaders. Let's get this word out there. And I just really think this is an important conversation to have.
And so thank you for listening today and for joining me in this conversation and I, there's going to be lots more to come. So. Thank you guys. Bye.
