Online Recruiting 101

Online VS Offline

Online recruiting seems like the cat’s meow for many networkers. Some of us actually remember when there was no internet. There were also no cell phones, and the copy machine was a secretary, a typewriter and a piece of carbon paper. My how times have changed, or have they changed ? Really? You know there is one constant in the equation: People.

Back in the day we had no choice but talk to family and friends and go to malls and coffee shops. I even remember before there was Starbuck’s. Gasp! We attended meetings in homes and hotels. We had no choice but pick up the phone and call someone. My times have changed, or have they?

No matter how you slice it and dice it Network Marketing, or MLM, (Multilevel Marketing) is a people to people business and there ain’t no way around it. Ultimately if you don’t talk to people you will not build a sustainable business.

The Age of the internet

The internet and the age of online recruiting has brought a massive revolution to how we do business and conduct ourselves but the fundamentals haven’t really changed. People still do business with people and the money you want is in the pockets of those other people. So given the infrastructure and massive tool we call the internet, how do we find people to talk to? So how do we use it effectively and efficiently? In other words how do we approach online recruiting correctly?

The core and most fundamental skill to online recruiting is still communication. Falling back on Zig Ziglar, “we can get everything we want in life if we help enough people get what they want”. The challenge is most people don’t know what they want. They are pretty good at figuring out what they don’t want but less able to tell you what they do want.

In fact in chapter 3 of Jack Canfields book, “The Success Principles“, The statement is made that, “the indispensable first step in getting what you want out of life is this, decide what you want” Sadly for many, that is a challenge.

Cast A Vision

So in order to help people decide what they want, we must cast a vision for them and help them to see it as not only possible, but possible for them. We must paint a picture of a future with success in it. Most people are asleep at the wheel and we have to wake them up to the possibilities. We have to inspire them and that is one of the functions that social media can help us with immensely.

Social Media

The internet has been called the information highway. True enough but it is much more than that. It is a gathering place, a party, a disco, a bar, a dance floor, a church, an adventure, a library, an analysist, a gym. But, and here is the big but: Social Media is not a used car lot! People do NOT come to social media to be sold. They come to be entertained, to socialize, to meet new friends, to party. They come to communicate, to brag, to meet and greet and occasionally to be educated, but not to be sold.

Selling online

So the question for us business builders and online recruiting specialists is, “How do I sell on line?” The answer is simple, “You Don’t!” For some, that may seem like blasphemy but, before you boo me out of here, listen up! Let me explain.

This may come as a shock but selling online is NOT the approach most likely to win friends and influence people. Then you ask, “what is the point of all that stuff I hear about such as capture pages and funnels and, landing pages and websites, blogs and podcasts?” Isn’t that for selling online? No! Not really. I want to open your eyes to a different perception.

The Two Making Money Strategies/activities

But first let’s talk about the holy grail, the two money making activities. It is often said there are only two money making activities, talking to people and generating valuable content. I am going to argue there is only one money making activity and that is talking to people. Now follow me along here, let’s go for a ride shall we?

Attraction Marketing

We have all heard about attraction marketing but what is that really? Attraction marketing is generating valuable content such as blog posts, video etc. with the idea that people will see your content and be attracted to you. The reason we want to attract people to us is so we can talk to them? Wow! There is that old word “talk” again! So the objective of Attraction Marketing is to take people who do not know who you are (your cold market) and warm them up by entertaining them, educating them or inspiring them. Notice the word “selling“ never appeared in that sentence.
Once we have warmed them up, now we can talk to them. Once we talk to them, maybe, just maybe we can sell them something but let’s come back to that later.

The Business Cycle

It is often said that people do not do business with companies, they do business with people they know, like and trust. If that is the case, why are so many people spamming links all over social media and hawking their wares like used car salesman or snake oil peddlers? Because they are poor misguided souls who have no idea what they are doing. They are fearful, timid little beings who are trying to hide behind computers because their mommy told them not to talk to strangers. They are not leaders! You are a leader!

The internet is full of noise and you have to shine above the noise to be successful.

I am not sure why, but I acknowledge that fear of the phone is real. There is even a name for it and research done on it. Telephone phobia (telephonophobia, telephobia, phone phobia) is reluctance or fear of making or taking phone calls, literally, “fear of telephones”. It is considered to be a type of social phobia or social anxiety. For more insight see my blog post, “The Art Of Phone Conversation”

I am going to say this here and probably repeat it several times but you need to get over it to build this business. We will circle back to this topic

Funnels, Capture Pages and Sales

But Len what the heck are all those blogs and videos, funnels and capture pages and landing pages for if they are not to sell something? Good questions. I’m glad you asked. They are to educate, inspire and entertain your potential client. They are to attract your client to you. You write a blog, post to Facebook, put pictures on Instagram, and make videos to attract people to you. The purpose is to help people get to know you, like you and possibly trust you. The purpose is to build credibility and authority with clients. Not to sell them something, that comes later!

Once you have that credibility and authority, once they know, like and trust you, then maybe, just maybe you can put a sales funnel in front of them and they will buy something.

Building Online

Circle back the wagons to the two money making activities, talking to people and creating valuable content. I believe, as I said earlier, there is only one money making activity and that is talking to people. The purpose of creating valuable content is to warm people up to you so that they will talk to you and when they do, you have developed some credibility, trust and authority in their eyes.

The internet is full of snake oil salesman and you must stand out to be successful. That is why having a blog, making videos and having a fan page helps to expedite the process. But notice it only helps to expedite the process

Long Term Vs Short Term Strategy

So here is the deal. If you want to make a few sales quickly then you need to talk to people. Remember when Ray Higdon was in foreclosure, his goal was 20 “no’s” per day. So how do I find people to talk to on the internet. Simple!

Step 1 Pick a strategy

This so crucial to your success and sanity that if you only take away one thing tonight from what I say, this is it. Pick one and only one strategy in the beginning. There are many different ways you can play on social media. Facebook. Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest to name a few. For most of us, Facebook is the logical and best place to begin. Why?

Facebook Marketing

Why should you be on Facebook. Simple! That’s where your potential customers are hanging out. There are 2 billion with a “B” active monthly users on Facebook. That is almost 30% of the earth’s population. There is something for everyone on Facebook so the best way to start is to find a group or several groups that are into whatever you are into. Underwater basket weaving. Whatever. I for example am into Scuba diving, water skiing, snow skiing. Do you think I can find groups who are also focused on those activities. Sure! When you find a suitable group, you join the group.

For free training on how to use groups and other Facebook features for online recruiting see my webinar seies “Diggin For Gold“! PS IT”S FREE!

Now here is the key to success. You do NOT sell, you do NOT even think about selling in the group. In fact most groups have a policy that if you solicit for business or put up a link, you are out, no second chances. So how the heck are you supposed to sell something. See paragraph one above. You are not!

You are supposed to make friends, win the trust of, and build rapport with a few people. But you say, “I don’t know what to say.” How about “Hello! My name is Susy. I see we both weave baskets underwater, love your work. You comment and share their posts. You put in your own posts. You exchange information. Whatever else you do, you drop the agenda and divorce yourself from the outcome.

Facebook is a party, treat it that way. You wouldn’t walk into a party at a friend’s house with a megaphone and start shouting out about your business would you? If you did, you would be ushered out the front door fairly quickly. The same is true of most groups on Facebook. Don’t do it on Facebook either.

So you ask, “What about all the groups where people do post their links?” We call them spam groups. Do you think anyone is listening? Is anyone buying or are they all yelling so loud they can’t even hear themselves? Those spamfests simply don’t work. Now maybe, just, maybe on rare occasion someone actually buys something or signs up for something but it is not a route to a sustainable, long term business with duplication.

There is also a lot of hype about making lots of money quick with no work, no talking to people and no selling. Anyone who says they will call your leads for you is selling you a pig in a poke. It doesn’t work for building a sustainable long term duplicable business with residual income. Those people are making their money by taking yours and skipping town. Sorry to burn that bridge for you.

Furthermore, if you want to build a team with staying power you need people on your team who trust you and will follow you. You need a team of family and friends, not your Aunt Sally and Uncle Harry, but people you know like and trust. Now don’t misunderstand you should know like and trust Aunt Sally but really, do you want her in your business? Make new friends and treat them like family.

The route to success

So the reality is this, the route to success on the internet and social media is to talk to people. You use social media to find people to talk to then invite them off line to chat with you about something that might interest them. It really helps to get to know them first and find their pain points. So once you know what their pain points are, you can invite them to a private conversation on messenger for example, or heaven forbid, on the phone and say something like, “you know Joe, based on what you told me about your health, wealth, time etc, I have something you might be interested in. Are you willing to take a look?

Now it is not my intention to train on scripts tonight. There is plenty of training avaiable on that. The important message is this, “If you treat social media as a party and you go to the party to make a few new friends, you will ultimately be successful.” The secret to online recruiting is to put on your party hat and don’t do any online recruiting.

What About My Blog?

Do I need a blog? Does your house need a roof? Well only if you want to stay dry in a storm. No you don’t need a blog either, but ultimately you probably want one. Here is the deal. If you want to build big and have a long term, sustainable, replicable business then my answer is “yes” you need a blog. Your blog is your real estate on the internet. You don’t own Facebook or You Tube or Twitter and they can come and shut you down or disable your account anytime they please. They don’t particularly care for work from home, make money, mlm or network mrketing so they can disable your account anytime they please for something you said that they didn’t like. Not so your blog.

You own your blog. The blog serves as your hub and helps build your credibility and authority. But you do not need one right away. You can start today on social media and start meeting people and chatting them up and making a few new friends and talk with them about solutions to their problems. Notice, I did not say chat with them about your opportunity. That is a subtle mindset shift that if you take seriously, I think you will find more success.

Remember people love to buy, they just hate to be sold! And these days they are more distrustful than ever and on the lookout for snake oil salesman, so don’t be one. They will smell you a mile away, run for the hills and all you’ll hear is crickets at the end of the day!

PS if you need some help building your log you might want to0 check out Ray Higdon’s 3 Minute Expert here, today, now!

Create Your Vision Of Success

The most important single factor determining your success or failure in your Home based Business is your mindset. If you mind isn’t in the right place nothing else matters. You are sure to fail unless you program your mind for success! Discover how to program your suconscious for success in this awesome workshop!

We are spiritual beings who have chosen to manifest into a physical universe. As such we are connected to infinite intelligence and we have the power to create our future, our destiny , our abundance. In this workshop we will learn to harness this power!