How to Make Money with Network Marketing Online – 10 Different Ways

Ways to Make Money With Network Marketing

When you think about network marketing you often think about people hosting team events, throwing parties at their houses and showing off products, attending trade shows and setting up their own booths, and maybe even recruiting people in at business events--oh ya, and bothering all of their friends and family.

BUT… This isn't the way that network marketing has to be.

Sure, there is no substitute for in-person face-to-face contact in the real world, but there is also no substitute for being able to sit in one spot and have the ability to reach out to billions of people worldwide-- what I'm getting to here is that, as you already know, you can make money through network marketing online.

Making Money With Network Marketing Online

When it comes to making money with network marketing (both online and off-line) everything falls into 2 main categories…

The 2 Ways to Go About It

1. You can make money by selling products
2. You can make money by recruiting in distributors (aka consultants, representatives, etc) and earn commissions based on their efforts

And yes, both of these ways to make money can be done completely online--if that is how you would want to go about it.

Product Sales:

When you join a network marketing business opportunity you will usually get set up with your own replica website, in which you can send people to purchase products--which will earn you a commission.

The basics of this are just like affiliate marketing--you promote the products online and earn commissions when you help make sales.

Recruitment:

Recruiting in other distributors can also be done online. 

The way this usually works is that when someone goes to join a MLM company (which is all done online) they will enter a sponsor ID number or something along these lines.

Both ways of making money with a network marketing opportunity are completely possible entirely online, at least for most of the business opportunities out there anyhow (all the big ones that might be worth joining).

Below are different methods that you can use to make money in both of these ways strictly online… Many of which I talked about in the article I wrote on generating free leads for MLMs.

10 Methods for Selling & Recruiting

1. Create a Blog

Creating your own blog/website is easily one of the best ways of making money in the network marketing world online.

With your own blog, you will be able to attract an extremely targeted audience with the content that you post--and--this traffic will be 100% free coming from Google and other search engines--great for selling products, getting someone to sign up or just to generate free MLM leads.

It's called SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, and in a nutshell what you do is target specific keywords inside your website content that people are searching for online and that don't have much competition.

One of the great things about creating your own website is that you have complete control over it, which is something that is lacking in the other methods I will be going over.

What to Blog About?

When you want to get free targeted traffic from the search engines what you want to do is write about things that people are searching for--and relevant things of course.

So if you are a distributor for a MLM company that sells essential oils (Young Living for example) you could write a post about the 10 Health Benefits of Thymes Essential Oil, or Best Essential Oils for Stress Reduction. If you write content like this you are going to attract people who are interested in the products you sell, and you can then direct this traffic to your replicated website to make sales.

If you were trying to recruit someone in as a distributor right from the start, instead of trying to sell products, you could write a post about How to Join Young Living or Is Young Living Worth Joining? --anything that what attract people who are thinking about potentially joining the opportunity.

I did a quick search for 'should you join young living' and up popped a post by a distributor on how to get started...

The possibilities are endless really. There are many different angles you can take to attract targeted free traffic from the search engines and then get them to buy products or join the opportunity--both of which will make you money.

And by the way, creating your own blog is super affordable and not as difficult as people think!

2. Start a Youtube Channel

If you don't mind getting in front of the camera and putting your face all over the Internet, then another option you have is to start a YouTube channel. Sure, you could make videos without ever showing yourself, but these tend to be very much less effective and not something I really suggest.

Youtube it's a great way to connect with a targeted audience. People get to know you better and are willing to trust people more when they can hear them and see them, as they can in a video. It is as close as you can get to a face-to-face connection in real life, but is completely online of course.

What to Make Videos About?

The best way to go about it is the same way you would go about writing blog posts--you make videos focused on specific keywords that people are searching for. This is because Youtube videos rank in the search engines just like blog posts do (Google, Bing, etc.).

You can also use 'SEO for Youtube' (not really what it's called) which is when you would target keywords that people are searching for inside Youtube. Not everyone considers Youtube a 'search engine', yet many people use it as such.

Having both a YouTube channel and a blog and using them in conjunction can be much more effective than just using one or the other. You will be able to direct you to traffic to your blog and vice versa, thus having multiple different outlets to make money with and having them both benefit and grow from each other.

3. Set Up a Facebook Page

​Another option is to create a Facebook page to promote your MLM products or opportunities.

You could create a Facebook fan page around the business and post updates including product reviews, educational type content, etc.

Or another route you could take would be to create a Facebook page around the niche that your MLM company falls into. For example, if you are a distributor for Young Living (which sells essential oils as mentioned) you could create a FB page all about essential oils.

With a FB page you could incorporate links directly to the distributor website (or your replica website) so that you can make sales or recruit new distributors in.

4. Join Facebook Groups or Create One

Facebook groups are another great way to make money with network marketing online--and another free way to do so.

Facebook pages are more for keeping people updated on what's going on with you or your brand and building a following, whereas a Facebook group is more for interaction and discussion among members around some specific topic.

Facebook groups can be very effective because of how you can go back and forth with members in discussions and share ideas in a more level playing field.

Types of Facebook Groups

There is pretty much a FB group for every topic you can think of--workout groups, groups for new moms, groups about weight loss, diabetes, back pain, healthcare, Xbox games and so on.

According to Forbes, in 2018 Facebook group membership went up by 40%, with more than half of FB users now using groups every month.

What to Join

There are all sorts of opportunities out there when it comes to groups. If you are looking to bring in new recruits you could possibly join a group about MLM opportunities. Or you could join a group around your niche to promote products.

*Note: You have to be helpful and provide value. If you join a group and start trying to promote products or your opportunity like crazy you will likely get kicked out.

Creating Your Own Group

If you want more freedom to do what you want you also have the option of creating your own group. This can definitely be an advantage since you will be an admin and will have a lot more control over what goes on, yet it will definitely take more work to get going. You will have to put in work to attract new group members and really get it to grow.

5. Pay for Ads

If you have extra money and are up for the risk, you could run PPC (pay per click) ads on places like Google, Bing, Facebook, etc.

I'm sure everyone has seen those ads that appear at the top of the search results whenever you are using Google. This is what I am talking about here. The same goes for Bing. With this type of advertising you simply target keywords that people are searching for, as you do with SEO, and you buy your way to the top of the search results.

With Facebook ads you can target specific groups of people, for example women that are 55 years or older, like cats, and are also into NASCAR racing--not that this is something you'd ever want to actually target. 

When advertising on the search engines like Google or Bing you are going to want a website that you can drive traffic to. It is possible to just send people directly to the distributor website, but that will likely not be nearly as effective. With Facebook ads you can send people to a website or even a Facebook page, both can be effective.

Who Should Do PPC Advertising? 

While PPC advertising can definitely be very lucrative with network marketing or any sort of business, I definitely do not suggest this for people who do not know what they are doing. If you don't have any experience, then you are going to want training because this is something you can blow through a lot of money very fast with.

6. Craigslist

Everyone knows Craigslist. It's only the most popular classified ads website--Probably ever.

There are 2 main approaches you can take with network marketing on Craigslist. These are for people who are looking to recruit in new distributors, rather than just sell products. You can always list products on Craigslist, but I doubt you will get many calls since people use this website mostly defined cheap used items.

#1 - Post a Gig

Some people that are looking to recruit in new distributors will post a gig on Craigslist advertising the job opportunity. These can be somewhat effective but the problem is that many of them get flagged and taken down since MLM opportunities are not something that you are guaranteed to make money with--and since the majority of people fail.

#2 - The Resume Section

There is a resume section on Craigslist where you can find people looking for jobs. This is basically the reverse of posting a gig as mentioned above--people looking for jobs post their resumes and people who have jobs to offer contact those people.

You will likely be able to find plenty of people looking for work from home opportunities or a way to make some extra money on the side, which would be prime candidates for MLMs.

You will be able to easily reach out to these people via email through Craigslist.

7. Online Forums

Using an online forum to promote products and opportunities would be similar to using a Facebook group, because forums are all about interaction among members and discussion.

Reddit is the most popular choice out there, but surprisingly I don't find too many people using it for promotions of such. I don't know, maybe this is because the admins police it too much--who knows..

As with Facebook groups, you can find groups on many different topics within Reddit--which are called subReddits.

So just like before, you could join these groups that are related to the offer you have to promote and go from there.

But be warned: Reddit definitely doesn't take too kindly to spamming links everywhere nor do they like self promotion that much. Focus on being helpful and providing real value--then you will be fine.

Personally I would say that Facebook groups are a much better choice when it comes to this sort of online promotion, yet Reddit seems to be more of an untapped market for such promotions.

8. Question/Answer Sites

Another method for making money online with network marketing that I want to talk about is question/answer sites. What I'm talking about here are sites like Quora and Yahoo Answers. They are free websites that anyone can join to both ask or answer questions.

These sites can be very effective for promoting offers because they are centered around providing help, which is always the best approach to take. They are also very popular and not only do people go to them when they are looking for answers, but questions/answers also rank in Google and this creates another stream of traffic.

Strategies:

Like all of these methods, there is more than one strategy you can use to make money with network marketing here--and with all ways it is paramount to be as helpful as possible.

If you are looking to sell products you could answer questions related to the products you are selling. For example, if you were a distributor for Herbalife you could search for Herbalife product related questions and provide good answers. 

There are plenty of people asking questions and looking for answers...

If you are looking more to recruit people into the business you could answer questions related to the business side of things (this is probably all common sense to you, I know). 

After a quick search on Quora I found this person asking about the perks of joining Herbalife...

This could be an easy question to answer which could potentially bring in good traffic that is looking to join in, but is still in the research phase of things.

Not only will answering questions on Quora provide the person asking them with answers, but many other people will also read them when looking for answers, which is where the real potential is at.

9. Become Instagram Famous

While this photo/video sharing social network might not be the best choice for some (depending on the niche of your MLM), it can be highly effective for others--and it's another free method!

Like everything, there is a plethora of different approaches you can take here. If you are part of a MLM that sells vacation plans (a travel MLM) then maybe you could develop a travel-based instagram account. If you travel a lot already you could post awesome pictures and videos of all the exciting places you go to.

What This Won't Work So Well For

Could you imagine trying to promote something like dental insurance through Instagram? Sure, I bet some people have some success with things like this, but it doesn't seem like it would work to well--not exactly something that would look good in pictures.

Now if you were a part of a fashion MLM like Mary Kay, this is a whole different ball game. This would be a good opportunity to use Instagram--such as by modeling clothing.

10. Twitter Does Still Work

Twitter might have lost its edge that it once had. It may not be what it once was--but it still works and is still relevant.

What I would recommend doing if you want to include Twitter in your arsenal of online marketing methods would be to create a brand around yourself. Brand yourself as an expert and provide value.

Member of Young Living? You could make your username YoungLivingMomma or YoungLivingCoach. These are just two basic examples of many. The point is to brand your twitter account around yourself.

And Don't Spam

Spam on Twitter seems to be pretty common--don't be one of those guys or gals.

Posting things like "join this new incredible business opportunity", "click here to join me", or just posting a bunch of links isn't going to cut it. In fact, it would be best if you only included links that send people to a website you own or maybe a Youtube channel so that you can actually provide them with real value--since you can't really post much on Twitter.

Tips for Increasing Your Online Income

#1 - Be Helpful

It doesn't matter what method you choose to market your products or opportunity online--you need to be helpful in some way.

Being helpful not only feels better, but it also will lead to greater success. If you create a helpful Youtube video it will naturally get more likes and more shares. If you write a very helpful blog post it will naturally get more shares, people will stay on your website longer--both of these will lead to better rankings and thus more traffic.

#2 - Don't Be Pushy

No one likes a pushy salesperson. I'm sure we can all relate to this. Maybe every once in a while I'll buy someone's cheap product after they bother me for too much in the mall or on the street, but generally speaking it doesn't work well.

Focus on being helpful, not making as many sales as possible. 

Yes, you do want to optimize what you are doing for conversions, but this doesn't have to interfere with you being helpful.

#3 - Be Part of Your Target Audience

If you are part of your target audience it will make marketing a heck of a lot easier, because of course you will be able to relate to who you are selling to.

There is a saying that a good salesperson is also a good customer--meaning that if you want to sell essential oils for some MLM company it would be a heck of a lot better if you actually use essential oils and are enthusiastic about them.

So don't join a MLM just because they have a nice compensation plan--join if you like what they represent and like their products. This goes for both if you are selling online or in the real world.

Can You Really Expect to Do Everything Online?

We are at a time where more and more is being done online in the network marketing world. Instead of home parties there are Facebook parties; instead of live training seminars there are more pre-recorded training tutorials, etc.

There is no doubt that real human face-to-face contact is something that there is no substitute for, but it is true that every aspect of network marketing business (from an independent distributor's point of view) can be done online. 

It will depend on the company however--some network marketing companies may have more resources and tools at-hand for distributors to market online.

Which Method of Online Marketing Should You Use?

The methods for marketing your MLM opportunity or MLM products online that will work best depends on your audience, which is why it is very important that you know exactly who your audience is--and why it's best if you are part of that audience.

Does your target audience hang out on Instagram? Probably not if you are selling life insurance.

Does your target audience search for things on Google? Pretty much everyone does--which is why creating your own blog and doing SEO is such a great method.

You must know your audience and you must also think about the offer you are trying to get people to buy into--like I said, using Instagram to promote dental insurance probably isn't the best choice.

I hope you found this article helpful--and if you did please give it a share to help me out!

Take care and be sure to leave any questions or comments below 🙂

Also be sure to take a look at some of my top recommendations for making money online if interested.